The Crystal Cover December 2020

was strolling through Moro Canyon one lovely morning and mass. The head contains Ienjoying the experience in nature when a couple passed me the mouth and sensory who were playing music on their phone. The music trailed for organs in all classes, except awhile after they passed and then I heard a bird call and said the bivalves, in which to myself “that’s the type of music I want to hear when I am the head is indistinct. walking in the park.” Rather than the beat of a popular song I The fleshy foot is used want to hear the drumming of a woodpecker, the singing of a for crawling, swimming, bird, the whispering of the wind, or the rustling of the leaves. I or burrowing. Organs of Kelp Snail don’t want to hear anything electronic, techno, or human-made. respiration, circulation, Norrisia norrisi Rather I wish to escape, if only temporarily, from the dense reproduction, digestion, urban civilization, and immerse myself in the natural world and and excretion are located in the the simple pleasure of quiet reflection while being serenaded by visceral mass – the main part of the melodies and tunes resonating from Mother Earth. the body. These organs include a heart, a stomach, intestines, The last month our interpretive office was invaded by Argentine gonads, and kidneys.” The part that Ants. Usually I eat lunch while sitting at the computer, but I I find most intriguing is the fact that Abalone didn’t want to give those irritating even a crumb of (Haliotis sorenseni) these living organisms, without the fodder. So I have been sitting outside instead while I dine and slightest resemblance to the human have been catching up on my reading. Lately I have been body, have the same bodily organs as perusing “The Seaside Naturalist” which is a guide of sorts we do to keep them alive. Mollusks have a mantle (underlying skin), a siphon (fleshy tube), gills (breathing organs), and a hard shell (most do anyways). We don’t have any of those body parts, nor any apparent physical similarities and so it is hard to envision that a snail, an oyster, or a cuttlefish also has a heart, stomach, intestines, gonads, and kidneys…just like us. I am not as mystified when imagining that mammals and birds, even amphibians, fish, and reptiles have these familiar organs, but that invertebrates Black Phoebe like clams, abalone, (Sayornis and squid do too, nigricans) intrigues me. California Mussel (Mytilus californianus) While sitting outside for my repast I have for studying the seashore. I found the chapter on Mollusks, been enjoying the daily a Latin term meaning soft-bodied, particularly interesting as serenade from a Black the authors wrote: “The phylum Mollusca contains 100,000 Phoebe who perches and divided into seven classes, four of which are found sings in the bare oak tree close to shore: snails, bi-valves, chitons, and squids and octopi. outside the office. These small, Despite the apparent lack of similarities between these classes, plump songbirds, with black eyes, all mollusks have several features in common. Their body is beaks, and legs and look to be divided into three regions: the head, the foot, and the visceral dressed in a tuxedo, sit The Crystal Cover

December 2020 - Page 2 erect on low perches near water and make short flights to annual route, so it was perplexing to see these juvenile birds catch insects. While resting they pump their tails up and down parked on the pavement. They looked tired, but content and and call loudly with a high-pitched “chip.” Black Phoebes are indifferent to our human presence, and after a short while usually spotted near the water be it the ocean, shoreline, a got up, stretched, squawked, and took off. Because they were pond, or even a cattle tank. They feast mostly on insects like napping peacefully we got a good chance to view them. The bees, flies, beetles, grasshoppers, and termites. As “flycatchers,” most noticeable trait of Snow Geese is found in their faces. phoebes perch from a premium lookout spot high enough Their pink bills have a dark line along it, often called a “grinning off the ground to keep a sharp eye out for their moving prey. patch” or “black lips. I’m uncertain if this twosome was alone, Once they detect something, they dart away to catch their but Snow Geese are monogamous and mate for life, choosing meal from the air, scoop it up it as it crawls, or snatch it from a partner with the same color morph (white or “blue”) as the the surface of a pond and then quickly return to their perch. family members they grew up with. This was a fun wildlife Unless it’s the breeding season, Black Phoebes stay solo, but sighting. when it’s time to find love, the male will sing a long series of repeated notes to defend his territory and attract an interested I also glimpsed another unusual “park visitor” when I arrived mate. He will also make soft chattering sounds to further at work one recent morning and noticed a large green entice the prospective partner. As if house hunting, the male sunbathing near my parking spot. The trippy looking shows the female potential nest sites by hovering in front of creature, which I found on a shrub in the Coastal Sage Scrub, a desirable spot. If she approves, the newly mated pair “move in” and the female begins constructing the nest. After laying the eggs in a mud, moss, and grass nest the mama spends two weeks incubating the 3-6 eggs. The chicks hatch helpless, with closed eyes and just a light cover of downy feathers and remain “at home” for a few weeks before venturing alone out into the world.

Seeing these pretty little local Black Phoebes is not unusual, but this past month a very uncommon bird, actually two of them, flew into Crystal Cove State Park presumably during the fall migration. A pair of Snow Geese alit in the parking lot at lower Moro, a seemingly strange place for waterfowl. California However, given that they may have just flown from the Arctic ( californica) Peter Bryant tundra (their breeding locale), perhaps they simply didn’t have it in them to cross the finish line and touch down on the sand at Moro Beach. All Snow Geese populations migrate kept rotating its head like an owl. Turns out that the native (there are four North American flyways), making epic journeys California Mantis, like all Mantids, can turn their heads a full which are broken up by long rests often in saltwater habitats. 180 degrees (whereas owls can swivel theirs 270 degrees). This They fly with steady wingbeats high and fast in the sky with green insect, which can also sport a brown exoskeleton, is a flocks sometimes numbering in the thousands heading due species of Praying Mantis native to the Western United States. south from the breeding grounds up north These large carnivores feed on flies, grasshoppers, moths, and to a wintering site at roughly the same others of their ilk, including members of their own species. longitude. Our coastal southern California With such unusual physical traits including triangle shaped area is not along their heads, bulging eyes, flexible necks, and elongated bodies Praying get top billing in a horror movie! Because their front legs appear to be bent in a “praying” motion their name in Latin, Mantis religiosa, is quite fitting. These predators reign supreme over the insect kingdom, and the interesting nuggets about them are countless. For example, in addition to those two huge bulging compound eyes, a Praying Mantis

Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) Laurel Gifford The Crystal Cover

December 2020 - Page 3 also has three simple eyes As Thanksgiving approaches which make for both a wide and even in a year fraught field of vision and stereo vision. with one challenge after In other words…they see all! another many of us still feel Another fun fact is that they thankful for certain things camouflage well and can in our lives. I started this day therefore easily stalk and catch with a rejuvenating hike in the their prey like spiders and backcountry. There was a lot crickets. They have sharp claws, of bird activity on this crisp a slender shape, move quickly morning and I felt a sense of and are ferocious enough to calm while walking on the take down a hummingbird. canyon floor. I am filled with They are extremely agile and gratitude for my beloved job have been observed jumping at Crystal Cove State Park and with extreme precision and to actually still be gainfully can contort their bodies in air employed during these difficult in order to land on their target. times. Of course I am thankful Other intriguing facts about for a wonderful family and dear Mantids (or not, depending on friends and am particularly how grossed out you are by appreciative for the bounty insects), is that they are closely of beauty that Mother Earth related to cockroaches and provides. I am grateful that termites, females sometimes I get to see the ocean every eat their mates, and they have day, breathe fresh air, and only one ear which is located on observe the most exquisite full their underside. They don’t live moons rising from the canyon very long though, only about a behind my home. As Ursula year, so they have to pack in all Goodenough wrote: those cool Super Hero features in a very short life span. “We are moved to awe and wonder at the For many regular park users the festive Christmas Tree Lighting grandeur…the richness of natural beauty; it fills us in the Historic District is an annual tradition. Alas, nothing has with joy and thanksgiving.” been normal or regular in 2020 and so, this adored tradition Hope you have a very happy holiday and enjoy the super low has been cancelled. The tree will still tower and the decorations tides at Crystal Cove State Park. will still shimmer, so throughout the month park visitors can still take their beloved holiday photos with the ocean in the background. Winter