Nature News
May 31, 2025
Nurturing Nature
By: Carol Suits
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer
Kid Stuff
Visit Liberty Wildlife to see these Liberty Wildlife reptile ambassadors!
Jasper, the gopher snake
Rosie and Rex, the Gila monsters
Sergio, the spiny tailed iguana
Jose, the common chuckwalla
Lydia, the California kingsnake
Elmer, the gopher snake
Zamira, the leopard gecko
Ruby, the rosy boa
Alpo, the Sonoran Desert tortoise
….and many more!
Superhero Club News
The final meeting of the season for the Liberty Wildlife Superhero Club was a fun time!
Everyone learned about cavity nests and the birds that need them to raise their babies.
- They made them out of tissue boxes and covered the outside to look like the outside of trees or saguaro cacti.
- Next, they found soft material outside to place in the nest.
- Then they traveled to the Orphan Care House and presented them to the volunteers to use for cavity nester babies.
The Superheroes were presented with Superhero Awards for being awesome helpers of nature this year.
The Superhero Club welcomes kids grades K – 3 and will start again in October. For details and to apply, contact Carol Suits, carols@libertywildlife.org .
Puzzles!
Enjoy some puzzles to wind down for the day!
No Knife, Fork or Spoon
By: Claudia Kirscher
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer
On a recent trip to Mission Bay in San Diego, I watched in fascination as a Black Skimmer flew just inches above the water surface with its lower mandible skimming underwater feeling for fish.
Closer to shore, a flock of Wilson’s Phalaropes were swimming in dizzying circles. They were creating a water vortex that captures small crustaceans and larvae, spinning them to the top for feeding.
I became curious about different avian feeding/hunting behaviors, many of which I’ve observed while birding but took only cursory notice… but not anymore, what a diversity!
Northern Shoveler ducks also swim in circles, disturbing the floor. They put their heads and beaks in the water, swinging side to side to filter out prey.
Doves are able to drink by dipping their bills into water and sucking up the fluid. Doves also store whole seeds in their crop for delayed breakdown away from predators.
Pelicans use their large throat pouches to scoop up fish, usually by diving.
Gannets, Kingfishers, and Osprey also dive into water for their prey. Of note, Osprey carry their fish head forward for less drag in flight.
Grebes (i.e. Western, Eared, Clark’s, Pied-billed) also dive for their meals of fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans. Interestingly, Grebes add soft contour feathers to their diet, thought to aid in pellet formation.
Great Blue Herons have dagger-like bills to impale their prey. They are also known to drown their prey by holding underwater.
Green Herons have been seen using “bait” of some sort, dropping it on top of the water then snatching the fish that come to the surface.
Acorn Woodpeckers are one of many birds who store or cache food in holes they have made in trees. A single tree may have over 100 holes with acorns stashed.
Nuthatches often take over woodpecker holes to cache their own seeds.
Ravens and Crows are known to cache food in the ground, carefully camouflaging the site with leaves, sticks, and rocks.
Some birds use the whack’em on the ground or branches ’til they are dead.
I’ll save the raptors for another article.
*Published September 2024
Perfect Parenting
By: Gail Cochrane
Liberty Wildlife Volunteer
It was when the dog brought the embryonic chick into the bedroom and lay it gently on the carpet that we knew we had a nest in the yard.
The pup was happy to lead us to it, and we could not believe we had not noticed it earlier. A large aloe and a sprawling elephant food plant grow in a square pot. Under the shelter of the elephant food nestled eight lovely eggs. Quails. And apparently mom had been sitting on them, right under our noses for three weeks. Because that very evening, they hatched.
It seemed a bad place for the couple to nest. The female sat on her eggs just inches from the noisy gate that has to be slammed to properly latch. Also, it’s right next to our pool. Not to mention the dog. As it turned out they were prepared for all of that and more. The quails successfully concealed their eggs from all of us, and especially the inquisitive nose of Eli. Never once did we see that mama fly up from her nest when we passed by.
When the evening of the hatch came, the male positioned himself on the pool deck between the deadly pool edge and the nest. The babies clambered down through the branches of the elephant food and plopped onto the ground, little puffballs that immediately began scurrying about at the base of the pot. The female quickly led them away from the pool and into the side yard, beyond the gate and the reach of the pup.
Mid-morning the next day Dad stood guard on the block wall, and Mom shepherded the chicks past the pool to a large rosemary bush where they sheltered until late afternoon.
I went out back and created some spaces in the wire perimeter screen we have across the fence that opens to the preserve. This screen prevents snake incursions, but it also can be a trap for lizards and baby birds.
Late afternoon the male was again on the block wall and the female brought the chicks out among the river rocks that line the yard. The tiny babies hopped around often disappearing among the rocks only to pop right back up. They followed the female so closely it was if they were attached to her. She led them to the fence but the curb below the wire railing was too high for the chicks. The family enjoyed a dust bath. They browsed among the rocks for awhile and the male came down off the wall and helped lead the babies to the fence again. Three times they went through this exercise with what appeared to be calm and patience.
Finally, the two parents flew over the fence. The babies clustered close to the wall and the parents called from outside. After a while, one bold chick hopped up onto the curb. The others soon followed, but would they find the gap in the screen? Watching from inside, I was beside myself.
One chick dropped through the gap and ran to mom. Immediately all seven siblings followed suit and the family quickly disappeared among the boulders and brittlebush.
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