Flying Foxes

With short legs, flexible forearms, and recurved claws, gray foxes readily climb trees.   

What is the "fantastic fossorial fellow according to Roald Dahl" and the final flying visitor to the Dipper Ranch persimmon tree in 2013? None but Fantastic Mr. Fox, or specifically at the Dipper Ranch, the spirited, leaping and tree climbing common gray fox.

A Persimmon in Every Pot - the Woodpeckers

Female hairy woodpecker showing a black back with a white blaze down the middle and white checkering on her black wing feathers.
09/28/13 

The sapsuckers were the flashiest woodpeckers at the persimmon tree this fall. But there were several other woodpeckers that made appearances on the ripe glowing fruit and they challenged me to finally learn the difference between the hairy and downy woodpeckers. Well, at least the hairy part.

A Persimmon in Every Pot - the Sapsuckers

An agile red-breasted sapsucker feasts on a ripe persimmon.
11/10/2013  

Everybody likes the persimmon tree in the backyard in the fall. I've written about deer and coyotes picking up fallen fruit beneath the tree, and a raccoon family climbing its branches to feast, but this fall the tree's flying visitors caught my attention. And not all those flying visitors were birds.

Antler Eve

"Look, we've got visitors," said Mr. Gingerbread Boyfriend as he watched the sunset on Christmas Eve from the new bathroom window.

Sharpy Wins

Forest sharp-tailed snake showing its ladder-striped underside, sharp-spined tail,  orangish lateral stripe, blunt nose and overall small size.

The sharp-tailed snake squeezed ahead as the favorite choice for the label on the 2013 Dipper Ranch walnuts.  All-in-all, it was a great choice.  Who knows when I will see another sharp-tailed snake on the Dipper Ranch? And it was exciting to document it as the forest sharp-tailed snake species. I was pushing to pick a rattlesnake in the superstitious belief that maybe if a rattlesnake was finally on the label, no rattlesnakes would show up at the farmhouse next year.  Hah!

Snake video follows.

The 2013 Walnut Label Runoff

A top view of the forest sharp-tailed snake showing the red-brown line down each side, spine-tipped tail, and blunt nose.  

The 2013 walnuts have been harvested and I've cracked the first batch.  They're yummy as usual.  But I can't make the 2013 Dipper Ranch Walnut label yet because there is a tie between people's favorite snake to go on the label. So I figured I would share a few more photos of the two remaining contestants: #2 the forest sharp-tailed snake and #9 the crenulated rattlesnake from the springbox.

Vote for the 2013 Walnut Label

Not an advertisement for Stihl helmets, just a place to keep a small California mountain kingsnake safe while putting down the Stihl brushcutter. Amazing how the colors match.  

It's that time. Walnut harvest time. I was expecting a small crop this year since last year we harvested over 200 pounds from two trees, but the yard behind the barn is littered with  English walnuts while the first batch is drying in the guest bedroom.

The dusky-footed woodrat who lives in the barn is pleased to know this. So are my co-workers and neighbors who are coming to harvest walnuts, watch the sun set, and potluck it.

Walnut harvest means it is time for the annual reader poll. From all the snakes seen at the Dipper Ranch this year, you get to vote on which one will be featured on the 2013 Dipper Ranch Walnuts label.

More Owl Mysteries with a Goatsucker Thrown In

In the family of "goatsuckers", I first starting seeing these small birds hunkered down on the ground at night at the Dipper Ranch after we put a thick layer of gravel on the driveway.  

After the interesting comments on the driveway owl - whether it is a great-horned owl or a western screech owl - I want to share more owl photos.  Especially a small owl that shows up at the Newt Spring and then a goatsucker that surprised me on the driveway tonight.

Those night critters.