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NAME: Bob McClellan
LOCATION: Beside the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area near Fort Jones, Siskiyou County, California, USA
AWARD DATE: June 30, 2008

ANIMALS

• MAMMALS

1. American black bear - Ursus americanus
2. Cougar - Felis concolor
3. Bobcat - Lynx rufus
4. Coyote - Canis latrans
5. Gray fox - Urocyon cynereoargenteus
6. Raccoon - Procyon lotor
7. Fisher - Martes pennanti
8. Opossum - (Virginia opossum) Didelphis virginiana
9. Western gray squirrel - Sciurus griseus
10. Chipmunk - In this area could be Allen’s Chipmunk (Tamias senex)
    or Siskiyou Chipmunk (Tamias siskiyou). There are 13
    members of the chipmunk family in California, and
    positive identification can be difficult.
11. California ground squirrel - Spermophilus beecheyi
12. Douglas (pine) squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii
13. Deer mouse - Peromyscus maniculatus
14. Blacktail deer - (Columbian blacktail deer) Odocoileus hemionus
15. Beaver - Castor canadensis

• SNAKES

1. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus viridis oreganos
2. Gopher snake - Pituophis melanoleucus

• BIRDS

1. Western Scrub Jay - Aphelocoma californica
2. Stellar’s Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri
3. American Robin - Turdus migratorius
4. Varied Thrush - Ixoreus naevius
5. Towhee - (California Towhee) Pipilo crissalis
6. Oregon Junco - (Snowbird) Junco hyemalis
7. Spotted towhee - Pipilo maculatus
8. Bushtit - Psaltriparus minimus
9. Plain Titmouse - Parus inornatus
10. Acorn woodpecker - Melanerpes formicivorus
11. Hairy woodpecker - Picoides villosus
12. Lewis’s woodpecker - Melanerpes lewis
13. European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
14. Red-tailed hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
15. Sparrow hawk - American Kestrel - Falco sparverius
16. Sharp shinned hawk - Accipiter striatus
17. Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis
18. Cooper’s hawk - Accipiter cooperii
19. American Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
20. Golden eagle - Aquila chrysaetos
21. Great horned owl - Bubo virginianus
22. Barn owl - Tyto alba
23. Western Screech owl - Megascops kennicottii
24. Osprey - Pandion haliaetus
25. Turkey vulture - Cathartes aura
26. Raven - Corvus corax
27. Rufous hummingbird - Selasphorus rufus

• INSECTS

1. Praying Mantis - (California Praying Mantis) Stagmomantis californica
2. Honey bee - Apis mellifera

PLANTS

• WOODY PLANTS

  1. Pacific yew - Taxus brevifolia
  2. Douglas fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii (P. menziesii var. menziesii - Coastal Douglas fir)
  3. White fir - Abies concolor
  4. Pacific Ponderosa pine - Pinus benthamiana
  5. Western red cedar - Thuja plicata
  6. Black oak - Quercus kelloggii (California black oak)
  7. Madrone - Arbutus menziesii
  8. Red alder - Alnus rubra
  9. Dogwood - Cornus sessilis
  10. Aspen - Populus tremuloides
  11. Manzanita - Arctostaphylos manzanita
  12. Blue elderberry - Sambucus nigra caerulea
  13. Goose berry - Ribes hirtellum
  14. Wild rose - Rosa Californica
  15. Thimbleberry - Rubus parviflorus
  16. Blackberry - Rubus ursinus
  17. Oregon grape - Mahonia aquifolium
  18. Chinquapin - Chrysolepis sempervirens
  19. Mock orange - Philadelphus californicus

• NON-WOODY PLANTS

1. California poppy - Eschscholzia californica
2. Tar weed - Holocarpha macradenia
3. Cheat grass - Bromus tectorum
   

REMARKS ON THE THREE SPECIES
OF MOST INTEREST TO BOB:

The life form I consider to be the most interesting may surprise some who consider it to be a common insect; but the fact is the PRAYING MANTIS is the only one I have ever seen, and the sighting came quite unexpectedly. I was about to feed my horse, and I broke open a bale of fairly recently cut hay. Out popped the mantis! Considering the pale green color, and where I live, I am guessing that it was a California praying mantis, although there is no way to verify that now. I picked it up and carried it over to my garden area where I released it. I have never seen it or another like it since.

Number 2 on my list of interesting creatures is the CHIPMUNK, strictly because of something I learned while compiling this list and looking up the scientific names of species. Chipmunks are a dime a dozen around here, and I had always just assumed that a chipmunk was a chipmunk. It turns out there are 13 different species of chipmunk in California. Fortunately the different species are found mostly in their own geographic area. Where I live, both the Allen’s chipmunk and the Siskiyou Chipmunk are likely to be found. Differences are subtle, and it would probably take a true expert to separate them, and would likely be impossible in the field.

For number 3 I really have to combine 2 different birds, the ACORN WOODPECKER and the HAIRY WOODPECKER. What is interesting to me is that these birds will eat seeds or grain, an interesting discovery that I was unaware of. At least they will during tough times of especially hard winters. I have a small flock of free ranging chickens, and when the snow lays deep on the ground I scatter scratch feed under the eves of the house where the ground is bare. The chickens gobble it up, but there is always plenty left for the wild birds that appreciate the handout, and I have a ringside view through the sliding glass doors of my diningroom. During one hard winter, when the snow just would not go away, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers and a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers were daily visitors, right along with the usual assortment of birds that one would normally associate with seed and grain.