Yesterday I captured some photos of a Gila woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) drinking from a small puddle of gray water that I use to irrigate certain of my trees with. It has been extremely dry lately, and in fact a record long number of days have passed without a trace of rainfall. Our last precipitation here at D:F Ranch was on September 9, 2017 and today is January 5, 2018 making for a total of 118 days and counting in this dry streak. The old record of dry streak days for Las Vegas, Nevada to my northwest used to be 101 days, but has been shattered at an ongoing 114 days thus far.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the presence of the “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge”, a strong high pressure system that has taken to forming in the northeastern Pacific Ocean in the fall and winter months since about 2012, and preventing moist frontal systems that would normally bring rainfall to California and the desert southwest from migrating inland as they normally do. The RRR also plays a role in bringing the Upper Midwest and East Coast and even the Deep South persistent exceptionally cold weather (not to mention most of Canada) since the storm track that is not coming across mild California is instead being directed up into the frigid Arctic and then downwards across eastern North America.

As a result of the persistent dryness, the birds and other animals are seeking water wherever they can find it, even though normally the short, cool days and chilly nights of winter don’t cause too much stress. You can see the Gila woodpecker drinking from my gray water pool, as well as a number of Africanized honeybees. Lately I’ve seen a bunch of birds picking off the bees as they arrive, since food is also in a bit short supply when compared to normal, and they are eating the stinging insects that might otherwise ignore. I am not sure which birds are the ones that take the bees, pop off the abdominal segment at the end where the sting is, and eat the head and thorax only, leaving the bee butts laying on the ground. It could be the woodpeckers, or perhaps it’s the northern flickers or the mockingbirds or curve-billed thrashers. Whoever is responsible, it leaves a bunch of dismembered bees lying about. Eventually something eats the abdominal segments as well. Odd.

I caught the Gila woodpecker in mid-blink in one photo, which shows the eyelid and how it closes over the lid from the side as opposed to the top or bottom as we are used to in mammalian eyes.

On the use of gray water in my landscape, I made the decision years ago when building the house that I would utilize all gray water from the sinks and shower for plant irrigation on species that would appreciate the extra dosage on a regular basis, and send only the toilet water to the septic tank. I designed a simple system of pipes and valves that I could use to distribute gray water across several areas rather than only one. I simply go outside and flip the valve handles on the otherwise-buried pipes and rotate which plant(s) get water that given day and alternate such that no single one of them is always soaking wet. This is what the woodpecker and bees are drinking from below. (I had just turned the valve and released some water shortly before and it hadn’t had the chance to soak into the soil yet.)

Additionally, I try to conserve water and use a fairly minimal amount of it, usually not more than 8 to 10 gallons a day across two separately plumbed pipe and valve systems. One system comes from the kitchen sink only, and the other comes from the bathroom sink and shower stall. The toilet is the only thing that goes into the septic system. In between the two I usually don’t have more than about 10 gallons or so of water per day in winter, maybe slightly more in summer.

I’ve planted several trees including Eucalyptus sargentii hybrids and Mexican blue fan palms (Brahea armata) near the pipe outlets. Both of these plants and several others appreciate the extra watering and can help absorb and utilize the nutrients contained within the gray water in the form of soaps, detergents, and food particles. The eucalyptus trees in particular have thrived, growing from 5 gallon pots in 2014 to 12 foot tall trees today in only 4 years. And while watering the woodpeckers and bees is incidental, it’s fine if they also want to use the water while we all wait for rain to resume….