My Side of the Mountain

I can hear the Nuttals' woodpecker drumming on the top of the dead oak out back.  He has been pretty consistent out there since the weather warmed up.  I can only see him from one tiny spot on the property, which is outside, down a bunch of steps, around a corner, at just the right head tilt through the Bay leaves.  I'm determined to show him to my 3 year old, but he's never awake when it is consistent - and I don't think hauling him out of bed into the morning chill for this will quite endear him to nature the way I envision.  He inevitably hears him at some point during breakfast though, and asks "Is that a woodpecker"?  That works!

We live in a section of predominately California bay laurel woodland, which is interspersed with Oaks (mostly coast live, some black, and one spindly valley) and Madrone.  We are near the upper part of a gully in the hills, with a seasonal stream that flows only for a few days after rain on one side.    The oaks primarily grown on the south facing slope of the gully, and the Madrones grow mostly on the north facing slope.  Right up the middle is mostly the bay trees, with some redwoods further down the hill.

We are right on the urban/wildland interface.  This property is a little speck, but it adjoins extensive wildlands of Marin County Open Space and Marin Municipal Water District.  We have a select group of wildlife neighbors who consider this their land, and we can count on their visits regularly, daily or seasonally.  We've watched young just born and exploring, and then return as parents, and then the cycle repeats.  Aside from the more visible species, such as the locally ubiquitous deer and chickadee's, I have a IR camera up the hill to let me see a snippet of the lives of the more elusive visitors, such as bobcat and gray fox.

This "My Side of the Mountain" series will just be updates on the local flora and fauna, with photos when available.

There are a flock of crows that roost at the nearby horse pasture.  There have been no ravens until just this year, when a pair took up residence on the south ridge.  I saw one of them recently carrying nesting material from the horse pasture, chased by some vocally opposing crows.  A family of red-shouldered hawks cruises over the valley, calling much of the day - I can hear one of them now.   Occasionally we see them cruising by low, then into the forest canopy.There is also a bold Steller's jay who stands on our front porch roof and mimics the hawks, although we usually just have scrub jay's that clear out the bird feeders. A regular flocks of chickadee's, junco, and oak titmouse frequent the area, and become much more prevalent if we put out a feeder.  Sometimes diminutive bushtit's will join in as well.  We get visited by hummingbirds, primarily Anna's.  During the spring, we always have some lesser goldfinch.  I know there are raccoons, because we have garbage cans...and they leave their tiny hand shaped footprints all over the cars if something inside smells enticing.  I've heard a handsome pileated woodpecker calling just up the hill for years, and I've seen him on our oak a small handful of times.

We are just starting to put up nest boxes, and hopefully will have some nest cams in the next couple of years.  We were planning to encourage some screech owls, bats, and with the inspiration of the Camera Trap Codger, the oak titmice, to nest in them.

I'll share photos in posts about the individual critters as they come up.  Thanks for joining me in the journey!