Windy Hill - Fire Ant

Fire ants are stinging ants with over 280 species worldwide. Their bodies are divided into 3 sections. Fire ants eat young plants, seeds, and sometimes crickets. When they are in colonies, however, they can group together to kill small animals. They get their name because when they bite a human, they inject a toxic alkaloid venom called solenopsin. This causes a stinging sensation that almost feels like a burning sensation. These ants nest in the soil, often near river banks or ponds and normally are in small colonies, but can exist in larger colonies.

Windy Hill - Lazuli Bunting

The Lazuli Bunting is a small songbird with a short, thick bill and two wingbars. Males have blue heads and backs with a red chest and white belly (pictured above). Females and nonbreeding males ore dull brown. Diet - These birds eat seeds, fruit, and insects. They also occasionally go to bird feeders. Habitat/Range - These birds reside on the west coast of North America. They only come to California, however, in the summer when they are breeding (which explains why I saw a breeding male). They like to live in bushy hillsides, wooded valleys, sagebrush, chaparral, and residential gardens. Behavior - These birds often perch on stems of grasses and other plants and remove seeds with their bills. They flycatch for insects and hop on ground eating seeds. They nest in open cups of coarse grasses, rootlets, and strips of bark and leaves wrapped in silk. These nests are places in a shrub close to the ground.

Windy Hill - Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpeckers are medium-sized woodpeckers that usually have a black back and grey chest with a black white and red head. Diet - These woodpeckers like to eat insects, acorns, sap, and fruits. Habitat/Range - Acorn Woodpeckers live in oak and pine-oak woodlands normally in mountains. They are also common in urban parks and suburban areas where oaks are common. Behavior - These woodpeckers like to catch insects by flycatching high above the tree canopy or by gleaning off tree limbs. They sore huge numbers of acorns in trees. They usually nest in tree cavities where there is no actual structure, but wood chips in the bottom of the cavity.

Windy Hill Open Space Preserve

Windy hill is a park located in Portola Valley and is comprised of 1,132 acres of conservation land. There are multiple trails to get to the top, but the 6 mile hike starting near Sand Hill Road is the most scenic trail. From the hill, hikers can see views from Stanford University to the San Francisco Bay. Overall, the hike was long, but well worth it.

Filoli Trail - American Robin

The American Robin are large songbirds with a large, round body, long legs, and a long tail. They are gray-brown to black birds with warm orange underparts and dark heads. Diet - These robins eat both invertebrates and fruit. Especially in the spring and summer, they eat a lot of earthworms and insects and some snails. The fruits that they eat are chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood, and sumac fruits and juniper berries. Habitat/Range - American Robins are found across North America in gardens, parks, yards, fields, tundras, deciduous woodlands, pine forests, and shrublands. Behavior - These stern birds stand erect and tilt their beak upward to survey their environment. In fall and wither, they form large flocks and gather in trees to roost or eat berries. They usually nest in sites with horizontal branches hidden in or just below a layer of dense leaves in the lower half of the tree.

Filoli Trail - Mourning Dove

Mourning doves have plump bodies and long tails with short legs, small bills and a head that looks small when compared to its body. Pointed tails are unique to North American doves. These doves coloring usually matches their open-country surroundings. They are light brown to buffy-tan colored with black spots on the wings and black-bordered white tips to the tail feathers. Diet - Mourning Doves eat mostly seeds including cultivated grains and peanuts as well as grasses, weeds, and occasionally berries. Habitat/Range - These birds are usually found in North America in open country, scattered trees, and woodland edged areas. During the winter, some roost in woodlands. When they are feeding, they go to grasslands, agricultural fields, backyards, and roadsides. Behavior - These birds fly fast with powerful wingbeats. They sometimes make sudden ascents, descents, and dodges. Their nests are usually made of pine needles, twigs, and grass stems and the nests are usually placed in dense foliage on the branch of an evergreen, orchard tree, mesquite, cottonwood, or vine. It is also quite common for the nest to be put on the ground.

Filoli Trail - Myosotis

Myosotis is a small blue flower that is more commonly known as Forget-Me-Nots. There are approximately 50 different species of myosotis but most have flat, 5 lobed blue, pink, or white flowers with yellow centers. These plants bloom in spring and prefer moist habitats and habitats where they are not native (such as Filoli) and can tolerate partial sun and shade. Most species are native to New Zealand or Europe, but because they are commonly used in gardens they are now found in Europe, Asia, and America.