Gloria Nagler: Tale of two wasps

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

“Hand over the goods and nobody gets hurt,” said Gus the Great Golden Sand Digger Wasp to the wasp eating eagerly. 

Gus figured with that, with one antenna missing, he had to substitute with some moxie.

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Birdy banter...

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

What IS that over there, photog?

Photog, being a fuddy-duddy, replied: please don’t talk with your beak full, Harry the House Finch.

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria's critters: Delores

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

I asked Delores the Chestnut-backed Chickadee why such a big piece? She replied:

Seize the day! Isn’t that what you humans say, photog? Well, that’s what I’m doing. Seize the nut!

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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That's right, photog,

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

 we Dougies practice yoga, too. Note the adroit paw placement!"

(Downward Dougie’s his fave)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Nagler: Contentious Corvids

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

When they bickered, Clara and Claude sometimes just couldn’t look each other in the eye...

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Wild creatures among us: The incomparable Douglas' Squirrel

This article was originally published in March of 2018

By John W. Lewis and Gloria Z. Nagler
Photos by Gloria Z. Nagler

We have somehow managed to reside in Lake Forest Park for over twenty years and not notice a Douglas’ Squirrel (aka “dougies” for the purpose of this article) until two years ago!

"I heard an owl"
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Now, of course, we’re besotted with the miniature squirrels. We have included three recent photos Gloria made of the three dougies who hang out in and near our yard. One of our neighbors says she has never seen a dougie near her home, though everyone in our neighborhood sees the ubiquitous Gray Squirrels.

Douglas’ Squirrel is named after Scottish naturalist David Douglas, who travelled to the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century and named many animals and plants, including the Douglas Fir. And, yes, Douglas’ Squirrels enjoy eating seeds from Douglas Firs.

Dougies are also known as pine squirrels and chickarees. Pine squirrels because they eat and bury pine seeds (and help propagate pine trees thereby!) and chickarees perhaps because of their chittery call, which you’ll hear often if you are visited often by a dougie.

John and I are not alone in adoring dougies. According to Wikipedia, John Muir described dougies as “by far the most interesting and influential of the California Sciuridae”. Can’t argue with Muir.

How are they different from Gray Squirrels? 

First, according to Washington NatureMapping Program, dougies average 10.5 to 14 inches in length, but get this: that’s including their bushy tails that are 5 to 7 inches long! The body size of all other squirrels in Washington average eleven inches (excluding tail) according to UW Resident Squirrels website, or close to twice the size of dougies.

Dougie and leaf
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Look at the photo we’ve included, for scale, of the dougie next to a fallen leaf. And while we are on the subject of tails, we have included one photo that displays a dougie’s tail in all its splendor – looks like a bottle-washer brush, doesn’t it? It doesn’t appear soft and furry like their cousins’ tails.

Second, according to eMammal (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute), grays and dougies differ dramatically in how they hoard. Gray Squirrels engage in scatter hoarding, burying their nuts in several places (and even fake burying nuts if a competitor is watching). They recover about 40 to 80% of their caches, says eMammal.

Dougies, however, do larder hoarding, concentrating their food in one spot. Though we have yet to find research on the issue (still looking!) one could imagine that scatter hoarding may be advantageous. If a competitor finds one of your many spots, little harm; but, if it raids your only cache, you are bankrupt! Foresters sometimes take dougie hoards to get seeds for replanting.

Dougies have tails like bottle brushes
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Douglas’ Squirrel along with its similar but more widespread cousin, the American Red Squirrel, is being displaced by the Eastern Gray Squirrel, which was introduced to Washington in 1925 and has spread rapidly.

Professor Stephen Harris from the University of Bristol notes that Grey Squirrels are hardier than their red cousins and can live in a wider range of habitats, which gives them a significant advantage.

Douglas’ Squirrel is not endangered, according to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It is however protected by law, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

By the way, do you know what a group of squirrels is called? A scurry, or a dray. Personally, we prefer a scurry – it’s alliterative and also sounds like their locomotive style.

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Gloria Nagler: House Finches found our feeder...

Male House Finch
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

“What exactly is this stuff”, wondered Henry House Finch. “If photog is a true bird lover she ought to post a menu for us, spelling out our options!"

(Although online descriptions tell us House Finches are ubiquitous here in the continental U.S., I still get excited when I spot one of these lovely birds. They colonized our State beginning in the late 19th century, according to Google.)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Jenny the Jumping Spider says...

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

“Yeah, in kindergarten the kids used to call me Four Eyes, but then I got contact lenses and they stopped…”

Saw Jenny on a fencepost at a park the other day. Ain’t she beautiful? Especially the reddish marks above her eyes. They don’t use spider webs to catch their prey/food, but instead, yes indeed, they jump on ‘em. 

They need and have excellent depth perception thanks to their eyes. Harmless to humans, as are almost all spiders.

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Anna's Hummingbird says...

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

 Up there, photog, that’s my Happy Place. Flying free, and finding feeders...

--GZN

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Gloria Nagler: Darling little mammals

Dougie on lookout
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Birds are my usual photographic subject, but darling little mammals are nothing to shake a stick at! (If that phrase even works here:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Sandy the Spitting Spider

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Lucky enough to spot this Spitting Spider outside, hanging out on a wall of our home, when I was armed with a camera and macro lens. They’re recognizable by their brownish, humped body and striped legs (I love the pattern on their legs!). 

Like almost all spiders they are harmless to humans. Google says less than one tenth of one percent of all spiders could be harmful to us. I worked to show my son early on that we should be kind, or at least peaceful, toward spiders.

Spitting Spiders don’t build webs, but instead cover their prey with a sticky, venomous “spit”. Sandy here was kind enough to give me a shadow to shoot, as well. And they eat mosquitoes, so what’s not to like?:)

And if I got the i.d. wrong, lemme know.

Love to you all and spideys, too,

--Gloria

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Dark-eyed junco front and side

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

I like my off-center portrait. More interesting, doncha think?

(Dark-eyed Juncos are quite discerning)

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Dark-eyed Junco courtesy of Nature; leaves courtesy of AI:)

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Gloria Nagler: Recycling Purple Finch

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

OK, now that I’ve cracked the seed, can I recycle the rest, photog? I hate to add to the planet’s problems!

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Nagler's backyard birds: Townsend's Warbler

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Saw 8 species in the first 20 minutes out in my yard! 

Here’s one who always stands out - a Townsend's Warbler. And she’s flipping the nut with her tongue:)

(She’s either an adult female, or a juvenile. Adult male is much darker.) 

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Why did I pose on a branch of dead leaves, photog?

Junco on Dead Leaves
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Because every leaf speaks bliss to me.

(Well, o.k., Emily Brontë said it first)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Nagler: Varied Thrush

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

This lovely Varied Thrush caught my eye the other day. Her feather patterns are ingenious, all the more so because they’re natural! -GZN

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Gloria Nagler: Car Door Cartoon

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Sometimes you have your compact camera set to “cartoonize” and the car door is the only cooperative subject!  --GZN

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Gloria Nagler: Hey photog, thanks for the portrait, said Dougie

Photo by Gloria Z. Nagler

Shows me as a balanced individual with neat eating habits...not bad for a wild animal!

--Gloria Z. Nagler

 

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Gloria Z. Nagler: Recent Visitor

Photo by Gloria Z. Nagler

Photog! I've told you a bazillion times that just because I come into your yard for a few peanuts, I am not giving you permission to photograph me. Now clear out!

(I photographed Ms. Coyote through the window with my iPhone, so not the clearest pic. But I couldn't resist trying to get something :-)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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Gloria Nagler: My -- and Hank Williams, Sr.'s -- Ode to a Cedar Waxwing

Cedar waxwing
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Say hey, good lookin', what you got cookin’?

How's about cookin' somethin' up with me?

Hey, sweet baby, don't you think maybe,

We could find us a brand new recipe?

(My, my, he's one hunky dude! Sky courtesy of Photoshop, waxwing courtesy of Nature:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler

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