Cassin's Finch

 ♂ Cassin's Finch, Haemorhous cassinii

Cassin's finch is a small rosy-tinged songbird found within the mountains of western North America. Though similar in appearance to house finches and purple finches, Cassin's finch is larger with whiter bellies, peaked head shape, and thick, straight-edged bill. While both male and female Cassin's finches have thin, white eyerings, males are more rosy with an intense red crown whereas females and immatures are more brown and white. Their range and environment also differ with Cassin's finch prefering conifer forests. They are semicolonial with nests sometimes built within close proximity to each other, but often it is only tolerated if nesting time is far enough apart. While their diet is mostly of seeds, insects and fruit are also consumed. They are categorized as a Near Threatened species, but the factors leading to population decline have not yet been identified.

Weathered Roots

Weathered roots along the Bear Lake Trail of the Rocky Mountains.

A bit short on time today, and I forgot to plan ahead. So for today, a simple picture. During the Colorado trip, we came across some beautiful examples of what time and weather will do if you wait long enough.

Red and Grey Fox

Wild Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Although red foxes and grey foxes are sometimes confused, they are of a completely different genus. Similar to the red fox, grey foxes occupy most of North America, but with a range extending further south and hardly into Canada. While they prefer forest type environments, grey foxes are also opportunistic much like red foxes, preferring meat but eating whatever is in abundance. They also mate during the winter, having litters of up to seven pups.

Legally Rescued* Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Despite their similarities, there are distinct differences between red and grey foxes. A grey fox is an ample climber and one of the only climbers of the canine family. They often den in tree hollows as high as 10 meters (32 feet) up. When escaping pursuit, their preference is to climb out of reach or hide rather than run like their red fox cousin. Unlike the red fox, a grey fox has a distinctive black line running the tail length and no white tip. While they have reddish-brown patches of fur and a white chin, the grey fox lacks the black stockings often seen on a red fox.


* The above grey fox resides at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary after legal rescue and transfer by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. It is on display under the education display permit EDU-0609-114 from Texas Parks and Wildlife. It is illegal to hold any native wildlife in the state of Texas (or native bird in the United States) without a proper permit.

Red Fox

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

The most widely distributed carnivore in the world, the red fox may or may not be native to the United States. While the Europeans brought the red fox into the southeast around 1750, there may have been a few scattered populations already in the far north of the continent who later interbred. While the origins are unclear, there are currently 10 recognized subspecies spanning most of North America. They live in a wide range of habitats from deserts to the barren arctic.

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

While meat composes of the majority of the diet of a red fox, it changes with the season. Fruits, nuts, and insects are common during seasons of abundance. They will also eat grasses and carrion. During the winter, they will either dig a den or use an abandoned burrow. There are often at least two openings, with more than one den found to have up to nineteen openings. It is also during this time foxes meet to mate, producing one litter per year during the spring of up to seventeen pups.

Lightning

Compilation of lightning strikes in the Rocky Mountains.

As clouds grow, the ice particles within collide, fracture, break, and acquire charge. The larger particles are thought to gain more negative charge while the smaller particles acquire a more positive charge. Gravity, updrafts, and other influences separate the particles leaving the lower portion of the cloud more negatively charges and the upper portion with positively charge particles. Lightning is an electrical discharge from the enormous electrical potential between positively and negatively charge particles.

There are number of different types of lightnings. One of the best known, and most dangerous, is cloud-to-ground lightning; however, intra-cloud lightning is the most common type of discharge. The charge is usually restricted within the same cloud, but not always.

While fatalities by lightning are rare, life-long health concerns, including heart and lung damage, are more common. Lightning safety is important to know, especially if the hairs on your neck begin to stand on end. Always seek shelter during a storm, but if it is unavailable, crouch down into a ball with only your feet touching the ground (in other words, do not lie down).

Upcoming

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Sorry for the delays the past week. Although I will likely take a brief hiatus next week, I am planning an interesting post for this Thursday. Until then, here's another photo from my trip in Colorado. I will be following through with more on red foxes the first week of January!

Brown Trout

Brown Trout, Salmo trutta

Brown trout are a non-native species first introduced in the United States in 1883 from Germany. These fish are relatives of Atlantic Salmon and popular with anglers which contributes to their purposeful stocking in a number of states. While brown trout have become well established in many areas, other place still periodically add more for the purpose of fishing. They are a very competitive species that often drive out natives. A brown trout will feed at night on other fish and invertebrates, and they can withstand environmental disturbances better than natives. A number of natives such as brook trout and Lahontan cutthroat have had severe population declines most likely due to brown trout populations.

Gray Jay

Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis

The Gray Jay, although much more common in Canada and Alaska, can be found year round in patchy areas of the western United States. These birds have very thick plumage that envelopes the legs and feet when puffed, and feathers that cover its nostrils. They cache food during the summer to sustain through harsh winters. Their sticky saliva is used to glue small food items to branches above eventual snow lines. Gray jays have been observed making over 1,000 sticky caches within one day. This adaptation not only allows for survival during the winter far north, but makes late winter nesting possible.

Also known as Camp Robber, or Whiskey Jack.

Rather than attempt a second brood in the summer, they prepare for the winter and take advantage of all food sources possible. Omnivorous gray jays have been observed eating not only arthropods, berries, fungi, carrion, and eggs, but also baby bats and blood-filled ticks off other animals. These birds are well-known for their bold behavior, gaining nicknames such as "Camp Robber" and "Whiskey Jack" in their search for food.

Pygmy Nuthatch

Pygmy Nuthatch, Sitta pygmaea

The Pygmy Nuthatch is a songbird with preference for long-needled, open pine forests, especially older ponderosa pine forests. It is a small bird reaching only 9-11 cm (3.5-4.3 in), about a full 2 cm (1 in) smaller than other nuthatches. These birds are found year round in patchy ranges of the western North American continent. They eat insects and seeds, and will cache seeds all year, saving them by hammering the seed into crevices or under flakes of bark.

Unlike most other songbirds, the Pygmy Nuthatch breeds in large extended-family groups, and have nest helpers. These helpers, relatives and grown offspring, help defend the nest and feed the incubating females and chicks. Pygmy nuthatches do not roost alone, with one observation sighting 150 of these birds in a single roost hole. During the cold nights and after breeding season, these birds will huddle with other pygmy nuthatches in their tree cavity nest. The roost site changes to accommodate seasonal weather variations. A summer, breeding site generally has a larger entrance hole near branches, whereas a winter, non-breeding site will have a small hole, but larger space within to allow more birds inside.

Hummingbirds

♂ Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus

Hummingbirds are known for their coloration which has earned them the nickname of flying jewels. Birds with colors such as red or yellow are due to pigmentation within the feathers. Those of blue are a result of selective scattering of light due to particles dispersed in the material of the feathers. Green coloration comes from a combination of pigmentation and light scattering, but iridescence, as seen in hummingbirds, comes from interference. As observed by Newton, thin film on the feathers of birds cause an interaction of light waves. This is why some species, such as the Broad-tailed Hummingbird, often look to have a black chin rather than the characteristic red expected depending on the viewing angle.

♀ Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus

Hummingbirds are often associated with red flowers, but the associate of the two is not exclusive. The assumption that these birds prefer red has always been prevalent, but it does not hold up to experimentation. While a reasoning for a higher prevalence of red floral colors in hummingbird flora is seen, the reason has not been found. What has been discovered is hummingbirds visiting a vast variety of colored flowers, not just red flowers; however, there is a clear link between flower shape and hummingbirds. As expected with long bills, tubular flowers are properly associated with hummingbird. There has even been evidence of a link between sexual dimorphism in some hummingbird species and the flowers they visit. The bill differences in particular of male and female Purple-throated Carib Hummingbird of the Caribbean is a reversal of floral dimorphism of Heliconia plants, of which these birds are the sole pollinators. One species, Heliconia caribaea, is associated with the short, straight bills of males, while the species, Heliconia bihai, relates to the long, curved bills of females.

Hummingbird with a bird band on its leg.

The flying and hovering abilities of hummingbirds are well-known and studied. Although there are musculoskeletal differences between species within the family Trochilidae, the aerodynamic mechanisms hummingbirds employ are somewhat similar to those used by insects. As with other birds, the downstroke contributes the most to weight support, but upstroke plays an important role for hummingbirds in particular. The added creation of tip vortices from the wingbeats also helps to support the body weight of hummingbirds. While hovering is essential for hummingbirds, it proves an interesting issue with banding. Unlike most birds, if a hummingbird spots a mist net, it can stop midair before collision. A pull-string trap is often used to capture and band hummingbirds instead of mist nets. As expect, the bands themselves are incredibly small, varying in diameter to 0.3 mm up to 35 mm.

Hummingbirds

Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus

Hummingbirds, nicknamed Flying Jewels, are found throughout the American continents from sea level up to an altitude of 5,000 m (16,500 ft). While most live in the tropics, they can also be found in habitats such as the mountains and plains. Within the Trochilidae family, there are 328 identified species of hummingbird. They consume not only nectar, but also a number of insects including mosquitoes, spiders, gnats, and aphids.

Hummingbirds are of the family Trochilidae.

With such a variation of habitats, many hummingbirds have evolved to adapt to those needs. Some hummingbirds, such as the Broad-tailed Hummingbird, enter a state of torpor during the cold nights to conserve energy. The Tooth-billed Hummingbird of Ecuador and Panama, as well as the Lucifer Hummingbird of the extreme southern United States and Central America, have bills to help with nectar robbing. While hummingbirds often serve as pollinators, reasons, such as competition with other creatures, may force adaptation to instead steal nectar.

Hummingbirds are extremely agile flies.

Many of these small eighth of an ounce birds are migrants travelling around 800 km (500 mi) a year. The Rufous Hummingbird travels 4,800 km (3,000 mi) from Mexico to Alaska. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird migrates at least 3,200 km (2,000 mi) from its wintering grounds as far south as Panama, to its breeding grounds as far north as Canada. This particular species is one of 16 species which breed in North America, and the only species that breeds in the eastern half of the continent.

Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake along the Bear Lake trail

Along the Bear Lake trailhead is Emerald Lake. Resting at 3075 m (10,090 ft) is a lake carved by Tyndall Glacier between Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain. A glacier is an area with more snow accumulation than loss each year. The old snow becomes dense, hard ice under the weight of new snow. As with all glaciers within Rocky Mountain National Park, Tyndall is a cirque glacier. These are usually remnants of larger valley glaciers, but are small and occupy bowl-shaped basins at the head of a mountain valley.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Trail to Bear Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses over 1075 km² (415 mi²). The highest point within the park is Longs Peak at 4,346 m (14,259 ft). A variety of wildlife from marmots to pika, and everything in between, can be found within the area.

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I recently got back from another visit to the park and am still settling in. Thursday will be a better day of posting, and the goal is for next week to be hummingbird week!

Happy Holidays

Rocky Mountain National Park

Happy Holidays! A break for this week, but I'll be posting again next year!

Hibernation

Yellow-bellied Marmot(s), Marmota flaviventris

Common throughout the class Mammalia, hibernation involves a profound change in behavior, morphology, and physiology as they undergo a remarkable phenotypic switch. Hibernation is one of the major forms of dormancy in mammals.  It is characterized by a prolonged winter reduction of metabolic rate and body temperature near ambient temperature. Another definition of hibernation is extended bouts of torpor where minimal body temperature can fall as low as -2.9°C. The factors that induce hibernation are still under discussion, but blood distribution is argued as one of the most important. Limited resources in terms of food, composition of food, cold, and the absence of external stimuli contribute to inducing hibernation. The external cues of seasonal influence, darkness, and CO2 concentration are not essential.

Torpor

♀ Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Selasphorus platycerus

Torpor, hibernation, and estivation are three major forms of dormancy that have been classified in mammals. The first, torpor, can be exhibited in a number of small mammals and birds, especially during cold nights or cold winter months. It may either be seasonal, or non-seasonal. The depth and duration of torpor vastly affects energy savings. While torpor can be defined as a substantial reduction in metabolic rate, body temperature, and other functions, the basics of torpor in mammals and birds has evolved separately. There is also variation between masses on whether the metabolic reduction is a temperature effect or a physiological inhibition.

The use of torpor also varies per species, and can rely on a number of factors. The migratory hummingbird retains the ability to enter nocturnal torpor all year round, but there is a strong seasonal component. For certain seasons, the use of torpor is for "energy emergencies" while at other times torpor may be used to minimize time needed for premigratory fattening.

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

Found throughout most of North America, the White-breasted Nuthatch is a common feeder bird. They forage by creeping up and down tree trunks where they search out hidden insects. Often confused for other nuthatches, this particular species prefers deciduous trees but can be found in mixed deciduous and coniferous forests. The common name nuthatch comes from their tendency to whack large nuts into tree bark, then with their bill thus hatching the nut. The White-breasted Nuthatch does not migrate, and does scatterhoard surplus food, especially closer to winter.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Yellow-bellied Marmot, Marmota flaviventris

The Yellow-bellied Marmot is a hibernating, thickset rodent found within the Sciuridae family alongside Prairie Dogs and Ground Squirrels. They can be found from Colorado westward, and north to the southern portions of Canada. In general, the elevation of their habitat is higher the further south in the range they are found. Much like other communal rodents, the yellow-bellied marmot has an alarm call system which is used when a potential threat is observed. The sound may be a chuck, trill, or whistle and varies depending on the stimulus. The alarm is set off once that particular individual is back at their burrow minimizing the risk involved in sounding the alarm.

American Pika

American Pika, Ochotona princeps

Found within the order Lagomorpha alongside rabbits and hares, the American Pika can be found in alpine regions of the western United States and southwestern Canada. They live near mountain meadows on rock faces, cliffs, and rocky areas known as talus. Their diet is composed of grasses and herbs which pikas cut and dry to form hay piles for winter consumption. This densely furred species does not hibernate. Instead, they spend most of their time in their den during winter along with the rest of the colony.

Unfortunately for the American pika, they have become a symbol of global warming. The threat of climate change not only threatens this species arguably more than the polar bear, but they may be among the first to extinction. Already living at a high elevation, the pika has no place to migrate to when temperatures rise. A den does not mitigate extreme temperatures like a burrow does, nor has the American pika evolved to migrate large distances. The curing of vegetation, a period of high activity, would occur during hotter temperatures which could create direct thermal stress on a creature that cannot dissipate heat easily.

Studies on climate change and the American pika are still conflicting. This may be due to the lack of many long-term studies. As this species lives in isolated colonies, there is some hope that a complete extinction will not happen. The effects of global warming on sensitive species such as the American pika have been gaining more attention and more monitoring. This not only allows better prediction for the survival of this species, but others like it as well.

Sun and its Significances

Sunset over the Rocky Mountains.

The influence the Sun has had not only on evolution, but also human culture is astounding. While the importance of the Moon is not clear to many, the life giving rays of the Sun are and have been for millenia. The tremendous mass of the Sun allows for the fusion of atoms. It is this process that generates the energy to sustain life on Earth in the form of ultraviolet radiation, visible light, and infrared radiation. Neither a liquid nor solid, the Sun is composed of a number of gaseous layers. The lower density photosphere is where most visible light originates from and is often referred to as the "surface" of the Sun. The less dense, dim layer above the photosphere is called the chromosphere. This layer can only been seen with special filters or during a total solar eclipse where the photosphere is blocked. While the temperature drops between these two layers, from 5800 K to 4000 K, the temperature rises to about 10,000 K at the top of the chromosphere. Between the chromosphere and the corona, the outermost region of the Sun's atmosphere, is a section known as the transition zone. This zone is where the temperature skyrockets up to 1 million to 2 million K. The rise in temperature is due in part to the highly ionized elements found in the corona.

The Sun has received much reverence, but for a star it is quite average. In stellar classification, the Sun falls in with main-sequence stars. The Balmer-based spectral types are arranged by surface temperatures for the OBAFGKM sequence where O is the hottest and M is the coolest. Classification is then broken up further into ten temperature subdivision. These are designated by integers where 0 is hottest, and 9 is coolest. As a G2 spectral type, the Sun is grouped with the common main-sequence stars of M, K, and G. Compared to other stars, the Sun also has an average mass and a lower luminosity. Still, from the cultures of the ancient Egyptians to that of the Chinese, the ancient religions of Greece to those of modern day, the Sun remains an inspiration.

EDIT: I was recently shown this article on the Sun and the argument that it is not truly average. It's an interesting read and perspective, and as I have way fewer credentials, I don't think I rightly can disagree; however, I will say perspective is everything. This focuses on mass present day. There is little mention to the fact that giants and supergiants have very short lifespans especially compared to red dwarfs and brown dwarfs. I had been taught that we still haven't a clue as to the life cycle of brown dwarfs and red dwarfs because they have such an exceedingly long life. I'm personally curious as to how the Sun would match up compared to all the giants, supergiants, brown dwarfs, and red dwarfs that ever existed. Either way, looking at different perspectives is important, as is giving others the ability to see it!

I'm pretty sure I'll be bringing up more astronomy here in the future. While I try to keep posts a relatively nice length, there is still much left unsaid and other topics and photos left untouched.