Cedar Waxwings

Photo by Dr. Roger Lederer

A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), probably about thirty strong, have eaten every berry off of the Cotoneaster bush at our front door. Waxwings eat fruits, like my Cotoneaster and also cedar (or juniper) berries, almost exclusively year round. They are supposed to be able to eat, process, and defecate a berry in 16 minutes! As is evidenced by the berry poops on the windshield of my truck...

There have been dozens of Robins (Turdus migratorius) bouncing around the yard and in the oak tree outside my office window. There was also a Nuttall's Woodpecker (I think) in the office oak for a few moments too.

I just planted my garlic. From the north to the south: California Red, California Pink, German Red, Early California. Nothing fancy; just what they had at our local farmers markets.

Today's lesson in Entomology

OK, this something is I've never seen let alone found, or should I say that Obi found.  This is apparently a carrion or burying beetle (genus Nicrophorus;  about the size of a bumblebee) with  pinhead-sized phoretic mites covering it.  Phoretic, from phoresy which is "an association in which one animal clings to another to ensure movement from place to place". The beetle and mite relationship is commensal so, except for making the beetle so top heavy it could barely walk, the mites are not harming the beetle.  In fact, the mites go with the beetle to feed on fly larvae that are also attracted to the beetle's carrion dinner.  So, in a way, they share the food. Yikes!

I think I have finally identified one of the birds that for me, marks the arrival of fall by the arrival of their song around the property.  I believe my 'fall song' bird is the Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla). A very close approximation of what we hear each fall can be found here.

The other two birds that mark the arrival of fall for me are the Northern Flicker (previous post) and the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). I saw my first Kestrel yesterday afternoon on the power lines at the corner of Stony Point and Jewett.