Tag Archives: Tan Oaks

It's okay to play favorites, isn't it? I love the Acorn Woodpeckers that share the Mendonoma Coast with us. They are beautifully marked, have a unique call and have great swooping flights as they come to our feeder. They particularly love sunflower seeds. Their main food source, though, is acorns and there are many Tan Oaks on our property.

Siegfried Matull photographed a male Acorn Woodpecker and has kindly allowed me to share his photo with you here. You can tell it's a male because there is no black between the white and red on its forehead.

Below is a photo I took of our bird feeder. I entitled it, "Are you done yet?" These are two females. Note the black in-between the white and red on their foreheads.

Acorn Woodpeckers work hard to store acorns in a granary tree. Here are two such trees on my neighbor's property. There are hundreds of holes in these trees. I was only able to photograph the top 1/3rd of the tall tree so you'll just have to imagine how big these granary trees are. Each hole will have an acorn stuffed in it in the fall. They will have to defend their food from raiding Jays.

It would have been a hardship for our Acorn Woodpeckers if my neighbor had taken these dead trees down. Thank goodness she didn't! They are serving a higher purpose.

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Sugarstick, also called Candystick, is a very unusual plant that grows on the West Coast. Its Latin name is Allotropa virgata. "Allotropa" means turned differently and refers to the flowers that turn outward or upward on this plant. It's unusual in that it doesn't have chlorophyll and is incapable of photosynthesis. So how does it survive? It obtains its food from fungi that are associated with host trees such as Douglas-Fir and Tan Oak.

It's a rare treat to find one. Nan Brichetto photographed this beauty and I thank her for allowing me to show it to you here.

A gift of several used picnic tables got Rick and me to think outside the box. We decided to create an outdoor room. In the autumn when we get our hot weather this shaded table will be an oasis. We are fortunate to have a lot of large rocks on our land, which add beauty and interest. This is a mixed forest of Bishop Pines, Douglas Firs, Redwoods and Tan Oaks. Wild rhododendrons, huckleberries and manzanita grow beneath the trees, giving cover and shelter to wildlife.

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One of the most spectacular wildflowers is about to bloom in the shadows of a forest of Redwoods, Douglas Firs, Tan Oaks, Madrone and Bishop Pines. It is the rare and lovely Red Clintonia. I'm hoping that this year a Deer won't eat the blossom before it's in full bloom! The leaves are a glossy green and seem to shine from within. Yesterday Princess, our adopted Ragdoll cat, decided to join us on our afternoon walk. She is quite  character and often hides in wait for Huckleberry, our Golden Retriever. But he's on to her now and gives her a wide berth as he trots by her hiding place.
       All the best! Jeanne Jackson, Gualala

Yes, it's late in the season but who can turn down more gifts in the forest? Horn of Plenty, Craterellus cornucopioides, was found fruiting in under Tan Oaks and, rather unusual, Bishop Pines. Mushroom foragers in Mendocino County and Sonoma County call these mushrooms Black Trumpets and often shout for joy when we find them. These were found by Irma Brandt and photographed by Miriam Owen, both of Gualala. Thank you, Mother Nature!