Things I Learned on The

The Crystal Cover November 2017 Things I Learned on the Web he other day molt for the first TI was staring time.” He looked out my great at me with great room window big eyes and enjoying the proceeded to ask golden light more questions illuminating the about spiders. I hills outside my hope our little house when chat instilled in movement him a life-long dancing in the love for these corner of my eight-legged, peripheral vision eight-eyed jolted my gaze. arthropods. It turned out Many people to be a huge don’t like spiders, spider who was Silver Argiope but even those dangling down Argiope argentata who recoil from as she spun them couldn’t a web from the deny the beauty of the one I spotted last upstairs deck, along the potted plants, and month by the Beach Cottages Rental Office. to the BBQ. After concentrated inspection It had texture (looked like a crunchy nougat (using my nifty close focusing binoculars,) I candy,) along with color and a gorgeous determined she was an orb weaver of sorts pattern. The Silver Argiope is a spectacular and then remembered a time, many years ago, orb-weaving spider frequently seen in when friends were visiting with their young Southern California during later summer and son and I went to a spider lecture. When I into fall often on prickly-pear cactus. The returned the little boy asked in his adorable spiders are master web builders who weave little boy voice (which I can still hear) “what did a zig-zag design, called stabilimenta, into the you learn about spiders?” I looked at Connor web possibly to deter birds from flying into it and said “well, one of the things I learned is and destroying it. As is common in the spider that all spiders have silk, but they don’t all spin world, the male Silver Argiope is much smaller webs. There are orb webs, and sheet webs, than the female. One potential reason why and some that look like tangled cobwebs. males may be significantly smaller and weigh Then some spiders, like tarantulas and wolf a fraction of what their female counterparts spiders use their silk to spin an egg sac which A letter from Winter weigh, is due to a spider behavior called Bonnin, Crystal Cove females drag behind them while they search “bridging.” Bridging is a transportation mode State Park Interpretive for their prey. After the babies hatch the (think George of the Jungle) for spiders living Naturalist and mother tears open the silky sac and they climb Volunteer Coordinator in trees and other types of vegetation. In up her abdomen and ride along until they bridging, a spider casts a strand of its silk into The Crystal Cover November 2017 • page 2 the wind, which is then carried to a neighboring plant. The along the edges of streams, lakes, and estuaries, searching spider then pulls the strand taut and crawls upside-down for small fish. In order to eat they either plunge directly from along the strand to its new home (think Spiderman,) all the their perch, or hover over the water, before diving after their while searching for a “girlfriend” or a meal. There’s a great you aquatic prey. The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird tube science series from NSTA called “Next Time You See…” species in which the female is more brightly colored and a recent trailer I watched was about appreciating than the male: both are a dusty blue-gray, but males the marvels of spider webs. If you just can’t get have one blue band across the white breast, while enough of this stuff check this out or if you really females have a blue and a chestnut band. With fall want to learn about spiders check out the Laguna migration in swing we can expect to see more Coast Wilderness facebook page and see the blog visitors stopping by the creek to by Resource Specialist Laura Cohen who is truly one rest and rejuvenate. of the most knowledgeable naturalists I know. Year round along the beach near the mouth Although I have been hyperfocused on “creepy of Muddy Creek we regularly see a “flotilla” of gulls crawlers” lately, my interest never strays too far including Western, California, Ring-billed, and from birds, especially during fall migration. Heerman’s gulls of various ages and in varying Last week I was walking along the beach plumage. So it was a big surprise to me to read and stopped by Muddy Creek to check that Heermann’s Gulls are a out who might be hanging around species of at risk of population in the water, along the banks, and decimation, are considered “near in the vegetation. Muddy Creek, threatened,” and are included on the Belted Kingfisher a tributary that drains the San Megaceryle alcyon International Union for Conservation of Nature Joaquin Hills meets the Pacific Red List. This bird’s in trouble! The reason for the concern is that Ocean at the bottom of the southern ramp from the Reef 90+% of the total world population of Heerman’s gulls breed on Point parking lot. Although the creek often appears “yucky” Isla Rasa, a tiny desert island along the coast of western Mexico. it is actually a healthy, thriving ecosystem that consistently The good news is the island is deemed a seabird sanctuary (the meets state health standards for bacteria levels. Surrounded gulls share their breeding space with nearly the entire world’s by wetland plants like cattails and tules, Muddy Creek provides population of Elegant Terns,) but given the limited nesting shelter, food, and serves as a nursery for birds and fish. I sites, the population is teetering on fragility. This news got me love this area as it is one of those spots in the wondering because we see Heerman’s all the time at CCSP, or so park where the wildlife changes by I thought. Apparently, they regularly spend the winter on west the day. Recently, for example, coast beaches but by early spring are almost exclusively confined a pair of Least Sandpipers, to the flat, 150-acre island in the Gulf of California. In fact, the “winter” visitors, were hanging Heermann’s Gull is the only North American gull that around, and then a few days later nests south of the United States and journeys north I watched a pair of Killdeer, a Snowy to spend the nonbreeding season. By late July Egret, and a Belted Kingfisher. I heard after breeding is over, the gulls fly north, some the kingfisher first as it flew out of its making their way to southern Canada. The hiding place, circle, and then head back Santa Monica Bay Audubon chapter raised into the creek, squawking all the while. concern about these gulls and how due Like those of us who are avid travelers, to the lack of prey fish their nesting Belted Kingfishers have shown up in cool success has been compromised spots all over the world including such disparate these last few years. Click here locations as the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, the British for some cool video. Isles, the Azores, Iceland, Greenland, the Netherlands Heermann’s Gull and occasionally here at Crystal Cove State Park. These Larus heermanni colorful, but funny looking birds with the “bad hair day” spend much of their time perched alone The Crystal Cover November 2017 • page 3 One of the main on No Name Ridge all the way down past the Deer Canyon goals of California campground. They even attempted to work on brush removal State Parks is to on Rattlesnake trail which is a feat to be conquered! Thanks to The protect, restore, TAV’s Martha Welch, Andy Tucker, Brad Larkins and Steve “Bowl” and maintain native Larson and to both park and Crystal Cove Conservancy staff plant populations. who have worked on these trail improvement projects. Therefore, amongst the many A few weeks back Orange County WILD celebrated the 20th functions of our anniversary of the ever popular and fabulous day of continuing Natural Resource education…Docent Day. For 20 years, our team has been Management team hosting an outstanding event filled with presentations by is removing non- local researchers, biologists, and specialists who share their native vegetation (weeds like black mustard, tree tobacco, and knowledge and wisdom with OC docents, trail guides, and park Russian thistle,) and restoring the land with appropriate native naturalists. This year our presenters were a veritable “who’s who” plants (such as sagebrush, black sage, and monkeyflower.) The of local ecological and environmental “Rock Stars” and included goal is that by planting native plants native insects will return such tantalizing topics as Animal Tracking (Dick Newell and the which will then bring back the birds that eat them and so on OC Tracker team,) Teaching Techniques for the Trail (the amazing and so on in the great food chain. In Moro Canyon much of Helen de la Maza,) Plant Adaptations (Bob Allen, author of the coastal sage scrub, the dominant plant community, as well Wildflowers of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains,) as native grasslands have become degraded over time due to and Bird Coloration (Trude Hurd, the queen bird lady herself.) heavy grazing and presumed tilling for agriculture in years past. Docent Day is one of my favorite professional days of the year One area in the backcountry referred to as “the bowl,” an area when like-minded local folk get to network, learn from legends, that has been subjected to several past restoration efforts with and are reinvigorated to interpret our natural world.

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