Nuts are still ripening on the oaks and tanoaks, the Douglas fir tree pantries are full of empty holes, and cackling acorn woodpeckers are playing hard-to-get. Chipmunks, despite serenading me with chirpy alarm calls, have been much more cooperative.
My car's thermometer read 64 degrees near Rock Spring despite a stiff, warm breeze. I actually felt hot as I mosied around under mostly sunny skies and slipped off-trail to check up on my camera traps. I wondered if the car's thermometer was busted. The weather forecast said today's high up there would be 70 degrees, but I'd have guessed it was at least 75.
I was surprised to see the fog so low on the mountain this morning since the web cam has shown several days of it rising nearly to the top of East Peak.
In the distance, a few wild turkeys gleaned their way over the golden hills.
Acorn woodpeckers are busy making new holes for the coming harvest.
Numerous pine siskins are still in the area, and still going for drinks at the Rock Spring water tank.
Pretty Young Junco
Caught this guy with a sharp tooth on display.
Family Portrait
Although it's still easy to spot trees infected with Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum), there seem to be many fewer than there used to be. Apparently the trees are doing much better at managing the pesky microbe.
Still Bearing Spots
Speaking of playing hard-to-get, the spotted towhees are really sticking to cover.
I thought it was a bird in the bushes about to go after these poison oak berries, but it was fun to see a chipmunk interested instead.
I'd heard a kestrel calling out when I was hanging out earlier with the deer family. Later it wheeled above me before flying off to more private hunting grounds. (Composite photo.)
A lone tom turkey looks for seeds and grasshoppers as it makes its way through fields of brittle grass.
The rest of the photos are stills from the camera traps, with a five-minute YouTube video at the end.
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