February 1932

YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES FEBRUARY, 1932

THE PUBLICATION OF THE YOSEMITE EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT AND THE YOSEMITE NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Published Monthly Volume XI February 1932 Number 2 The Thrill of Hunting With a Camera By C. C. PRESNALL, Junior Park Naturalist Hunting with a camera may be so tame that they will pose nice sound tame, but it is far more thrilling for pictures, and then take the ing and calls for much greater camera apart in their eagerness to skill than the old scatter-gun sport. see the result. That is during the True, a camera makes no noise, nor open season for tourists. When win does it indicate hits or misses until ter comes, the bears go. Then the after a session in the dark room, yet would-be photographer must bribe no one can question its pre-emi the sleepy bruin with chicken bones nence in sport after having seen and bacon rinds to persuade them such camera classics as those proto pose in the snow instead of hi duced by the Johnsons. Successful bernating in caves as all respecta wild animal photography demands ble bears do. Those that accept the wide knowledge and keen observa bribe are not respectable. They first tion of animal habits, and the best allow their seducer to suffer slow a man can muster in stealth, quick death by freezing, then dash out ness and nerve. for some bait, and as quickly run That's what I read in a book away. The film shows an excellent once, only it forgot to say that view of the north end of a bear camera-hunting also demands all of going south. Or perhaps one big a man's spare cash, judging by my black fellow stays in the woods un- own amateur, film-wasting efforts. til dusk, and then comes out to It's quite a thrill, all right, to sit the bait line, secure in the knowl- three hours in a snow bank wait- edge that the flashlight powder ing for a bear who appears to late has been left in camp. in the afternoon that an under-ex- No, photographing wild animals posed film is the result. When you isn't what it's cracked up to be. discover that your ears and toes Even the squirrels show their utter have been over-exposed, that's an- lack of respect by climbing over the other kind of a thrill; it must be— camera lens, and then retiring nothing could tingle more. rapidly to the top of the highest

BRUINS SHY IN WINTER

tree with the proffered peanut, and Yosemite bears are supposed to as for securing a good photograph

of a bird—but why rave on? There ment. Setting the shutter I slowly are some compensations, such as in rose to look over the ridge—just the case of a certain coyote seen in time to see the coyote whirl and near El Capitan one morning, dash off to cover. Apparently the

SNEAKING UP ON COYOTE

slight click of the shutter had been I first spotted him 150 yards away. enough to warn him, and he had as I descended the talus near Eagle undoubtedly seen the top of my Creek. He was busy with something head before I saw him. Although in the snow and didn't see me, so failing to get a picture, I at least I ducked behind some rocks and had the immense satisfaction of commenced a rapid detour to get stalking to within camera range of down wind from him. That maneua coyote, which is one of the most ver being successfully completed, I sagacious animals in Yosemite. started a slow advance directly to National Park. ward him, moving cautiously from tree to tree. He remained occupied with what I later found to be a bone retrieved from the bear feeding platform nearby, but became suddenly alert when I advanced to within 50 yards. A long wait was necessary before it was safe to venture across the open space between my sheltering tree trunk and a low ridge that extended quartering toward the coyote. Finally gaining that cover, I crawled carefully to a point opposite the animal and about 20 yards from where he had been last seen. Now for the critical moment. Setting the shutter I slowly rose to look over the ridge—just in time to see the coyote whirl and dash off to cover. Apparently the slight click of the shutter had been enough to warn him, and he had undoubtedly seen the top of my head before I saw him. Although failing to get a picture, I at least had the immense satisfaction of stalking to within camera range of a coyote, which is one of the most sagacious animals in Yosemite National Park.

Sierra Creeper By ENID MICHAEL Ranger-Naturalist The Sierra creeper (Certhia familiaris zelotes) is a little brown bird with a white throat and breast. Like other small birds, he is busy from daylight until dark, apparently forever searching for food. Long have I wondered if this incessant search for food was necessary to keep the appetite satisfied and the body nourished. As is well known, the creeper has a peculiar method of feeding, and its activities are confined almost exclusively to tree-trunks. While the nuthatches, also trunk-feeding birds, travel with equal ease either up or down the tree-trunk, the creeper always works upward. The creeper is a deliberate and systematic gleaner; he works up the tree-trunk by a series of hitches, pausing often to peer into a crevice in the rough bark. His white breast acts as a reflector to throw light into the dark cracks, and his long, curved bill forms an efficient pair of tweezers to pick out mites of insect life. That no morsel of food be overlooked, the creeper often drops back to the base of the tree on which he

is working to slowly work upward casual observer, for its color again; often he spirals the tree; scheme so well matches the bark on occasionally he drops back a few which it works that it is rendered inches, tail first, but head first quite inconspicuous. Besides, it is never. His long tail, with stiff, a small bird and its wiry notes are pointed feathers, works very well pitched so high that they are likely as a brace in his upward course, but to escape the untrained ear. should he travel head downward, The creepers are early nesting this same long tail would prove a birds in Yosemite, and it is believed handicap, to tilt his body into an that they often rear two broods of awkward position. young in a season. A slab of bark

NOT BOTHERED BY COLD

sprung loose from a dead or dying The Sierra creeper, winter and tree offers a site suitable to the summer, is found commonly in all nesting needs of a pair of creepers. sections of the valley. During the To best suit the creepers the crack winter months bird life is concen- that leads behind the bark must be trated about the warm alluvial fan narrow, and the space between bark that spreads out at the mouth of and tree trunk limited. Strips of Indian Canyon. The Sierra creepers, cedar bark and twigs are wedged however, apparently take no part into the crack to form a foundation in the cross-valley migration that for the nest proper. The cup of the takes most of the resident birds to nest is lined with soft material, the warm side of the valley. Their such as shredded inner bark fiber peculiar feeding habits assure them and feathers. The shape of the sustenance in any given section nest is determined by the shape of throughout the year, and they seem the crack, and, naturally, it is near immune to cold. The shadow of the ly always flat with a crescent great wall means no inconvenience shaped hollow to cradle the eggs. to them, for during the daylight The average height of the creepers' hours they actively tread up the nest above the ground is probably great tree trunks in search of food 10 feet. They nest as low as two and at night they tuck themselves feet above the ground and as high warmly away in some snug-fitting as 40 feet. The suitable crack de furrow of pine or cedar bark. Like termines the elevation and also the chickens, they come home each species of tree, for the creepers night to roost. have a catholic taste in the matter

THEY PAL WITH KINGLETS

of nesting-sites. An unusual nest While quite independent in their was noted this spring: The birds manner of living, the creepers are had tucked their nest in a crevice not unsociable, and during the win where the bark hung loose from a ter months each little band of gold horizontal branch. This nest was en-crowned kinglets is likely to be 40 feet above the ground, and, in accompanied by a creeper or two, stead of the usual narrow gravy creepers feeding on the tree trunks dish type of architecture so favored the kinglets feeding in the outer by the creepers, it had the cup foliage tufts, but all birds moving; shaped form common to so many In company through the forest. other species of birds. Young creepers left this nest on June 12, which Although the Sierra creeper is was rather late in the season for one of the more common birds of the creepers. the valley, it is seldom seen by

First Snow Gauging Trip Of Year. The snow gauging patrols which assistance of my companions Assist are made regularly each month during Chief Ranger John Wegner and ing the winter by the Rangers of State Snow Gauger Sam King. The Yosemite National Park, in cooper- work of a snow gauger is arduous at ation with State Snow Gaugers, of best and is so all absorbing that ma fer an excellent opportunity for ob ny details would escape the attent serving a little known phase of the ion of one man working alone. natural history of the Park. Last Animal and bird life seemed to year the writer was privileged to be but little affected by this unusu accompany one of these expeditions ally severe winter with its except to Tuolumne Meadows and in Janu tional snowfall. The region over ary of this year he joined the party which we traveled, between 5000 and that covered the southern patrol to 9000 feet elevation, had been blank Chinquapin, Peregoy Meadows, Deer eted in snow since November 14 and Camp, Johnson and Crescent Lakes at the time we visited it (Jan. 20-27) Buck Camp and Moraine Meadows. we found in certain spots over nine This region seems to be especially feet of hard packed snow containing rich in bird and animal life, hence an unusually high percentage of water many interesting observations were (one measurement showing the made, some of which will be record equivalent of 45 inches of rainfall. ed in the March issue of Nature To date this is the heaviest snowfall Notes. in Yosemite since 1906, although the Observations throughout the trip total of both snow and rain was were made more complete by the heavier in 1916.

The Yosemite School of Field Natural History C. A. HARWELL, Park Naturalist The Yosemite School of Field Park Service institution. Its exten Natural History is a summer school sive collections are available to stu for the training of naturalists, gov dents, and its library, lecture room ernment ranger-naturalists, and and well equipped laboratories af teachers of natural history, where ford the best facilities for intensive emphasis is placed on the study of work. living things in their natural envi TERM The session will open ronment. June 23 and will terminate August

PURPOSE

10 thus coinciding with the Univer Its aim is to train students to city of California summer session study and interpret living nature, at Berkeley. The high mountain that they may better enjoy life and field trip begins August 3 and ends also lead others to similar profit August 10. This matchless excursion and enjoyment, thus making an ed terminates the work of the season. ucational contribution to the con This will be the eighth session of servation of natural resources. this popular school in the moun The establishment of the Yosem tains. its School of Field Natural History REGISTRATION AND MA resulted from a demand for a training in field studies and a desire on TRICULATION The number of the part of the National Park Serv students in each summer session is ice and the California Fish and limited to 20. Students are accept Game Commission to establish a ed on the basis of written applicat training school for ranger-natural ion, showing training, experience ists, teachers of natural history and and other qualifications for this Boy Scout and Camp Fire Girl lead course. Application blanks are sent ers looking toward better knowl on request. Four years' college work edge of wild life and its conserva or the equivalent are required. tion. This school seemed a natural SMALL EQUIPMENT FEE Text outgrowth from the now well-estab books, stationery, drawing lished Yosemite Ranger-Naturalist terials and laboratory supplies are Service. Students of past seasons provided by the school. Expense have made good use of their train is thus limited to a $5 registration ing during succeeding years and fee to cover sundry materials, such many have found places as natural as reference books, collecting ap ists or nature councilors in summer paratus, etc., and to the student's camps and in National and state transportation, food, housing and parks. clothing.

LOCATION

Further information will gladly With easy accessibility to its ex be supplied by the National Park tensive fauna and flora, typical of Service. Inquiries should be ad five life zones, and its unique geol dressed to the Park Naturalist, Yo ogy, Yosemite National Park con semite National Park, California. stitutes an ideal location for a For the 1932 session 26 applications school of field natural history. have been received, but others are Headquarters are maintained at asked to apply since final selection the Yosemite museum, a National will be deferred until April 1.

Feeding Habits of the Woodpeckers in the Yosemite Valley Enid Michael Pileated Woodpecker (Phloeotomus pileatus ableticola)—The pileated ed woodpecker is a rare bird on The daily forage beat of a pair of the floor of the Valley; in fact, at pileated woodpeckers may cover a the present time I believe that there distance of eight or ten miles. A is not a single bird here. However, pair that formerly hunted together in times past we have had opportunity to study their feeding habits. In foraging the pileated woodpeckers here in the Valley show a preference for cottonwoods — at least we have discovered them at work most often in this species of tree. They do, however, we have learned, have a catholic taste and on occasion they may be found in any sort of tree. In all trees, no matter of what species, they usually work in dead wood, although at times they may be found working in the beetle-infested bark of living trees. They use their powerful bills both as a wedge and a chisel. In the cottonwoods, using their bills as a wedge or a pry, they often send thudding down chunks of bark a foot long. In the dead wood they chisel away with heavy and deliberate blows until they can wedge the bill to pry off a slab. When a slab of bark or wood is pried off exposed insects or larvae, the the pileated examines the spot for what is to be had, and once more sets to work. In a rich-paying section of wood a pileated will oft dig a cavity three inches deep and a foot long. Everything that a pileated woodpecker does is done on a large scale. He may be known by the size of the chips he leaves under the tree, or he may be known by the sound of his heavy hammer ing. And his drumming roll-call is louder and more deliberate than that of any other woodpecker. here in the Valley had a patrol that led from Mirror Lake to the bear pits; the round-trip distance is at least eight miles. They would ar rive at our camp before 9 in the morning. First they would visit the great yellow pine with dead spike crown, and then they would drop down into our cottonwood grove where they would whack about for 15 or 20 minutes. Next they would probably visit the cottonwood grove below the village, a half-mile away. In this fashion on they would go working their way down the valley. Late in the afternoon we would hear their far shouted call notes, and looking up we would see them winging their homeward way.

lost his mate his habits were not by the promoters of the tourist so regular. His forage lanes led trade, the California woodpeckers devious ways and we could never had certain "cupboard trees" where tell where to find him. holes were drilled to receive snugly One winter this lone male spent each single acorn that was to be nearly all of his time working in a stored. To drill a hole for each group of four dying Douglas firs. individual acorn was a prodigious Here he did a prodigious work, task; a task that is not now chiseling off bark from top to bottom necessary under the present storing methods. work neatly and by chiseling off the ridges of the bark he left a layer of inner bark planed to a uniform smoothness. Having a neck long in proportion to his great body, the pileated woodpecker gets a long swing and he can strike a blow of amazing force. A man swinging a geologist pick through an arc of about eight inches would perhaps fairly duplicate the noise and the strength of a hard-working pileated woodpecker. The pileated woodpecker is not entirely a meat-eater, for he has been seen to feast on the ripe berries of Cornus nuttallii. California Woodpecker (Melanerpes Formicivorus Bairdi) The feature that sets the California woodpecker apart from all other woodpeckers, and the feature All the buildings of the for which he is justly famous, is are either roofed with shakes his acorn storing habit. shingles. Where the shingles Owing to their foresight the Cali shakes lap together along the edge fornia woodpeckers have more of the roofs or at the eaves there leisure than most birds. In the are crevices which the woodpeck fall of the year they gather and ers have learned to utilize as stor tuck safely away a store of acorns age bins for their winter supply of to tide them over the winter. When acorns. It would be difficult to the harvest days are over they have store full round acorns in the time to play, or to loaf in the sun cracks between the shingles but the shine, which they frequently do. woodpeckers obviate the difficulty Here in Yosemite valley these wise by hulling the acorns and poking and thrifty woodpeckers have more them away half at a time. Man leisure than ever now that they moves into Yosemite valley and have adopted up to date storing cuts down the woodpecker's storage methods. In times past, before the trees; the woodpecker retaliates by valley was made bigger and better pounding acorns between the

shingles of man's dwellings.

OUR NEW ASSISTANT

The California woodpeckers are

PARK NATURALIST.

not particularly shy, that is, they may be approached closely when

C. A. HARWELL

busy among their beloved oaks. But Park Naturalist they are suspicious birds by nature and not inclined to respond to the Mr. Matthew Edwin Beatty on friendly overtures of man. We did, January 6, joined the National Park however, manage to get on some Service family in Yosemite to take what friendly terms with one pair the position of Assistant Park Nat of California woodpeckers. These uralist which was vacated last March birds came often to the feeding 15 by the transfer of George Crowe table to eat suet, but never were to be Custodian of Devils Tower they able to quite overcome their National Monument in Wyoming. suspicion, and always did they ap Mr. Beatty graduated from Oregon proach cautiously, making many State College in 1924 with a B. S. false starts before finally coming to degree in Mining Engineering. the feeding table. But once on the After graduation he represented the table they would hold their own Oregon State Chamber of Commerce against all comers until they had at Portland in their tourist bureau. their fill of suet. For the past five years he has been In spring it is a pretty sight to in the employ of the Shell Oil Co. see the California woodpecker's at Los Angeles. During most of leaving the orchard with cherries that time he had charge of from five in their bills. The cherries just to twenty men in the field on geo match in size and color their glori logical work. ous crown patches. Later in the We in Yosemite are glad that season they come to this same Mr. Beatty heard there was to be a orchard to feast on apples. If the flicker is considered as an Civil Service examination for this omnivorous feeder, how about Mel position; we are glad that he passed anerpes? He has a much more and that he was willing to give up varied diet. He not only eats more his interesting mining career to ac varied kinds of fruit, but he also sucks cept this position. It is good that eggs and occasionally eats young his major field of interest is geology nestlings. He is a great flycatcher, because in Yosemite the understand too, and he does not hesitate to ing of the story of the granite and tackle big game. Once he was seen other geologic factors is of prime to take on the wing a western importance to our Museum and Nat wood pewee. uralist program. In early spring when the snow Mr. Beatty's experience in printing first melts away the California is also to our advantage because woodpecker is often seen feeding the Assistant Park Naturalist is re on the ground in the manner of a sponsible for the publication of these flicker. When feeding on the NATURE NOTES once a month. ground he eats greens, bits of shat We hope that all our readers upon tered acorns, ants, spiders and any their next journey to Yosemite will other sort of insect that happens visit the Museum and become better to come his way. acquainted with our new Assistant.

Digitized by Yosemite Online Library Dan Anderson