Naturalist's Almanac

What to look for this Winter

David Lukas

January

Once confined to the Pacific slope from northern Baja California to San Francisco Bay, Anna’s hummingbirds have dramatically expanded their range since 1930 to stretch from Alaska to Texas. Because this expansion is due in part to their widespread use of cultivated yards, this is one of the easiest birds for people to observe. Despite their diminutive stature, these hardy dynamos begin vigorous courtship and nesting activities even as winter rains fall or snow accumulates on the ground. In each region these activities are timed to coincide with heavy crops of nectar-rich flowers specific to that area, such as when chaparral currant blooms along the coast. Researchers have suggested that this strategy allows Anna’s hummingbirds to complete the most demanding phase of their life cycle before migrating hummers, especially highly aggressive rufous hummingbirds, arrive to compete for limited nectar supplies. Backyard feeders anywhere west of the Sierra Nevada provide ideal opportunities to observe the antics of this species.

For a tree that grows as tall as a football field is long and can live for more than 2,000 years, life starts on a minute scale. During the winter rainy season, male cones of Coast Redwoods release streams of pollen grains that drift through the forest and settle on female cones no larger than peppercorns. After a year, fertile cones that have blossomed to the size of an olive release 60 to 120 tiny seeds. With production reaching 10 million seeds per tree, the forest floor may be carpeted with seeds in January and February. While only a handful of these seeds ever survive to become seedlings, it’s enough to maintain one of the most magnificent types of forest on the planet. Redwood viewing is possible at Muir Woods National Monument, but some of the state’s largest stands are at Redwood National Park, (707) 464-6101.

February

Confined to the Central Valley and the southern Coast Range, yellow-billed magpies have the distinction of being the only found solely in California; in fact, it may be the only bird in the continental United States whose world population is restricted to a single state. Found in noisy social flocks throughout the year, these birds are even more conspicuous while building their bulky, three-foot-diameter, domed nests—a time-consuming process that occupies much of January and February. Egg laying begins in March, after which females spend most of their time inside the nest. Populations of these vividly black-and-white patterned birds are on the rise in the Sacramento Valley, and if Christmas Bird Count numbers are any indication, farmlands and parks around Marysville are the best place to go.

Although rarely seen except at low tide, red sea urchins are very common along rocky stretches of the California coast. Looking like four-inch tomatoes armed with long spines, these critters spawn from February to March. While exact counts are difficult to make, a related species is estimated to produce 20 million eggs per year. With these numbers, it’s not surprising that red sea urchin populations have soared in the absence of predators such as sea otters. In some areas, urchins are decimating vast kelp beds through their voracious grazing. Tidepools at Point Lobos State Reserve offer opportunities to search for both red and purple sea urchins, (408) 624-4909.

Striped skunks get to show their sweeter sides for a few moments, for this is their mating season. Later in May, four to seven wrinkled, furless young are born in a hollow log or underground chamber. These youngsters may be spotted following their mother in single file through woodlands and fields through the summer.

March

In the first warming days of March, huge aggregations of one of California’s most common insects, convergent ladybirds, awake in the canyons and hills of the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada where they hibernate. Crawling out of sheltered wintering sites to bask on sun-warmed surfaces, these brilliant reddish “ladybugs” may cover the ground, branches, and trees in a seamless tapestry. From a distance it’s difficult to figure out what’s going on, and it’s surprising when closer inspection reveals these familiar insects. After warming, ladybirds lift into dizzying mating swarms that saturate the air with color over the course of several days, then disperse to valleys where they feed on aphids until the vegetation starts to dry in May and June. The locations of these wintering aggregations are often closely guarded secrets due to the threat of commercial collecting, so it’s always a joy to stumble across this spectacle in your ambles.

After pupating since the previous spring, large and attractive silkmoths,Saturnia mendocino, suddenly appear in March. Red-orange with a black-rimmed “eyespot” on each wing, these moths are common inhabitants of coastal and mountain chaparral. Transparent windows in the cocoon casings help pupae monitor day length, allowing all moths to emerge within three days of each other and maximize their reproductive opportunities. Mating and egg laying swiftly follow, and the new larvae hatch exactly as warm weather triggers the budding of fresh manzanita foliage. Well before summer comes, these larvae have matured and are patiently waiting in their cocoons.

Wildflower Display

Remote and vast, the 250,000-acre Carrizo Plain National Monument contains an extravaganza of wildflowers from February to May with a peak in late March. This display provides a rare glimpse of the colorful splendor that, according to John Muir, once carpeted the Central Valley in “one smooth, continuous bed of honey-bloom.” Not only is this new national monument a botanist’s paradise, but it is also home to 13 protected species including bluntnose leopard lizards, kit foxes, giant kangaroo rats, and San Joaquin antelope ground squirrels. One advantage of an early spring visit lies in avoiding the brutal summer heat on the plain. Carrizo Plain National Monument, (805) 475-2131.