Out of the bag!

Bagworm Bag, Photo by Bob Wenrick, 12/15/10

I've posted about Bagworms before, but I didn't know they were so ugly in the caterpillar stage until Christmas day in the afternoon, when I was walking in the riparian area above the dam with my family. Inspecting the willow with multiple bagworm bags, I saw a maggot-like caterpillar come about a centimeter out of the top of the bag and proceed to crawl - very slowly - with the bag still hanging down. Of course, my photographer daughter was busy taking the 'follow the water' photos, and didn't hear me shouting. Jean and Mark and company came along, though, and I was sure they'd be able to confirm my sighting. As I called them over, gesticulating frantically, I either created turbulence or brushed the branch ever so slightly. In any case, the caterpillar pulled the bag back up and pretended to look like a perfectly stationary bagworm bag. Sigh. Here's basically what I saw, albeit vertical.

Nests to know

Click on the name for a photo of the bird. And you might want to bookmark the site: All About Birds, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Everything you've ever wanted to know about birds and more!

Bell's Vireo Nest, photo by Bob Wenrick

Bell's Vireo nest description from the site above: Open bag-like or basket-like cup of grass, straw-like stems, plant fibers, small skeletonized leaves, paper, and strips of bark fastened with spider silk; lined almost invariably with fine, brown or yellow grass stems. Outside decorated with spider egg cases. Suspended from forks of low branches of small trees or shrubs.

Cactus Wren nest, Photo by Bob Wenrick

If you are fortunate enough to run into Mark Hengesbaugh in the canyon, ask to see the bird app on his i-phone. Very cool. Cactus wren in French - Troglodyte des cactus - not so much. 

Verdin nest, Photo by Bob Wenrick

Cool Fact: The Verdin builds nests for both breeding and roosting; roosting nests are much smaller. The outer stick shell is constructed mostly by the male, while the female does most of the lining.
And, according to the 'Canyon Grape Vine', Ned Harris is doing great after surgery. Remember, you read it here first!

Don't follow this guy!

Hog-nosed Skunk

Mark Hengesbaugh writes: Jean and I caught this skunk this morning (12/27/10) just a few yards upstream from the dam, rooting around in the leaf litter that's accumulated among the Arundo stumps.

Follow the water

All photos by Ellen Green, 12/25/10

All the best to Ned for a speedy recovery and even more super powers.

White water

Photo by Bryna Ben-Asher, 12/24/10

After the rains from Wednesday evening, there is again water flowing over the dam. What a wonderful sound.

Who do you see?

Rock Face, Photo by (not of) Carol Tornow

Tree

A tree for all seasons

Photo by Carol Tornow.

Javelina babies

Photos by Gayle from 12/16/10

Lots of info about javelinas here

Fun fact: More young are raised in rainy years. Not so fun fact: Birthing mothers retreat from the herd so that their newborn(s) aren't eaten by other group members. (Even though they are primarily herbivores.)

Mexican Yellow

Mexican Yellow, 12/15/10 Photo by Bob Wenrick

For another cool critter seen on the nature walk last week, go to Margarethe's blog post "A different kind of hawk" and scroll down. And then rejoice that her photo shows the critter larger than life.

The eyes have it!

Canyon Tree Frog, 12/15/10
Photo by Bob Wenrick

This little guy was hiding in a crevice in the dam wall. I've never seen one in a tree, have you?

Fruit and nut

Desert Cotton

Acorn

Photos from Carol Tornow, 12/17/10. Take a walk along the road for these and other sights.

Stop 8 is great!

Some very nice gneiss

waterfall and pools

Can't beat the views!

Carol Tornow (all photos) took me on a tour of this canyon paradise today. Get out there and see the sights!

Perfect 10!

FON on the Bluff trail. Photo by Peggy Wenrick

FON at the dam. Photo by Peggy Wenrick

Nine Friends of Ned (FON) joined Ned on his Wednesday (12/15) Nature walk. If you'd like to have fun with FON, join us on Wednesday at 8.30am in front of the visitor center. FON will commune with nature in Ned's stead for a few weeks. He's having some titanium installed, but will be back as soon as his back is back.

Don't be an 'item' for this guy!

Gopher snake, Photo by Bob Wenrick 12/08/10

Who said herpetologists don't have a sense of humor? My favorite line in this article: "Living prey items are dispatched by constriction." Thankfully, Bob managed to snag a photo without becoming a prey item. Snakes are out and about - not many, of course, but my family also saw a gopher snake as well as its false twin, a western diamondback, in Sabino canyon last week.
An update on the pronunciation of leucism/leucistic. As I suspected, it's from the Greek for white. Think 'leukocytes' (white blood cells) and say: 'Luke, I'm your father.' Luke-ism  or Luke-istic.

Bird and Word of the Day

Phainopepla Male - leucistic

Thanks to Bob Wenrick for the photo and the word of the day. This male Phainopepla (fain [rhymes with pain] Say: fain - oh - PEP - luh) is white and grayer than he 'should' be. He's not the victim of a bad dye job at the salon, but rather has a mutation that prevents pigment from being 'properly' distributed. Leucism is not the same as albinism. Albino animals generally have no pigment expressed, although there are various levels of this mutation as well. I'll ask Bob how to pronounce leucism/ leucistic and get back to you.

Getting squirrelly

Guys, guys, I said: Put your right foot in. Not: Shake it all about.

Round-tailed ground squirrels are my favorite desert mammals. (At least they are today.) Arizona is one of the very few places on earth where you can find this little guys. They go underground in the winter here, but they don't hibernate; they just slow down their metabolism - kind of like what hummingbirds do at night.

More beauty

Ocotillo Flowers, April 2010, Photo by Matt

Cattails, June 2010, Photo by Matt

Sunflower

Photo by Ellen Green

Red birds OR How to tell your 'cardinals' apart

Northern Cardinal - male (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Pyrrhuloxia - female (Cardinalis sinuatis)

The Northern Cardinal male is clearly brighter in color than the Pyrrhuloxia (say: 'peer uh LOX eee uh') of both sexes. The 'trick' is telling a female Northern Cardinal (much grayer/browner/duller than the male) from a Pyrrhuloxia of either sex. For identification on the fly (pun intended), look to the beak. Both species have short, solid, seed-cracking beaks; but Northern Cardinals have beaks of red/orange; and Phyrrhuloxia beaks are yellowish at their brightest (in the male, usually). All photos from Red, er, Ned Harris.

More color

Clouds make for great sunsets!

Fall color

From the Bluff trail, photo by Ned Harris

This might not be as dramatic as fall color in, say, New Hampshire, but the science is the same. The process in a nutshell here. Get out there and enjoy it!

Don't kiss under this mistletoe!

Mistletoe berries, Photo by Matt

Phainopepla (female) with dangling deposit
Photo by Bob Wenrick, 12/1/10

Mistletoe reproduction for kids of all ages: Berries are fruits. Fruits are one way for seeds to 'get around' (i.e., for plants to make more of themselves). Phainopeplas are animals (specifically, birds). Phainopeplas love to eat mistletoe berries. Every animal poops. (Check mesquites for more evidence.)

Deck the halls with puffballs

Photo by and quarter from Ned Harris, 12/1/10

There are a number of these puffballs in the riparian area above the dam, especially around the hummingbird tree (where the 2nd AZ Walnut is located). This one looks like a 'mature' (i.e., full of spores) puffball. If you step on it, a yellowish cloud will explode from within and there will eventually be more fungus among us. According to the mushroom expert, some puffball species can grow to be truly humongous fungus. Some species are edible, some are deadly. Just say 'no' to any chocolate-covered ones. Happy December!