Naturalist Adventure rain beetles & other fall sights
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Lisa Millbank
Oct 19, 2014, 6:09:57 PM10/19/14
to Mid-valley Nature
Our group hiked the Section 36 Loop at McDonald Forest today. It
started off foggy, but gradually turned into a sunny day.
We were seldom out of earshot of Golden-crowned Kinglet flocks high in the canopy, and got a few glimpses when they came down low. There were a few other high-pitched voices in the forest like Brown Creepers and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. We got a good look at a Hairy Woodpecker. Varied Thrushes were hopping around on a few shady edges of the road, and a flock of Evening Grosbeaks flew over, and a few Pine Siskins were calling.
Many Oregon Rain Beetles were active today, something we don't get to see very often. In a brief period after the first rains, males fly around looking for the flightless females on the ground. A Cross Orbweaver had caught one in her web and wrapped it in silk--a huge meal. OPB covered the beetles in 2001 with the Fairchild family who live in the woods west of Philomath: http://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/segment/oregon-rain-beetles/
Banana Slugs were common enough to make us watch our step, and we had to avoid the occasional Rough-skinned Newt too. Notably common mushrooms were tiny Douglas-Fir Cone Mushrooms (Strobilurus tullisatus) but we found others like various russulas, Dyer's Polypore and Western Grisette. We saw a runner carrying out an enormous Pacific Golden Chanterelle, but didn't find any ourselves.
Just before leaving Peavy Arboretum, we saw a flock of 25 Wild Turkeys.
Don Boucher & Lisa Millbank
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
We were seldom out of earshot of Golden-crowned Kinglet flocks high in the canopy, and got a few glimpses when they came down low. There were a few other high-pitched voices in the forest like Brown Creepers and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. We got a good look at a Hairy Woodpecker. Varied Thrushes were hopping around on a few shady edges of the road, and a flock of Evening Grosbeaks flew over, and a few Pine Siskins were calling.
Many Oregon Rain Beetles were active today, something we don't get to see very often. In a brief period after the first rains, males fly around looking for the flightless females on the ground. A Cross Orbweaver had caught one in her web and wrapped it in silk--a huge meal. OPB covered the beetles in 2001 with the Fairchild family who live in the woods west of Philomath: http://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/segment/oregon-rain-beetles/
Banana Slugs were common enough to make us watch our step, and we had to avoid the occasional Rough-skinned Newt too. Notably common mushrooms were tiny Douglas-Fir Cone Mushrooms (Strobilurus tullisatus) but we found others like various russulas, Dyer's Polypore and Western Grisette. We saw a runner carrying out an enormous Pacific Golden Chanterelle, but didn't find any ourselves.
Just before leaving Peavy Arboretum, we saw a flock of 25 Wild Turkeys.
Don Boucher & Lisa Millbank
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
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