NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – We actually have three different species of white egrets in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region: the great egret, the snowy egret and the cattle egret.

Although at a quick glance they may all look pretty much the same, they’re actually quite different from one another and a closer inspection will help you determine which is which.

The great egret (Ardea alba) is the largest of the three maxing out at about 3.5 pounds with an almost 6-foot wingspan. It has a yellow beak and black legs.

In the breeding season a patch on its face turns bright neon green and it gets long trailing feathers on its tail that it can lift straight up and fan out (like the tail of a peacock). It was these beautiful feathers that nearly brought this species to the brink of extinction in the United States in the late 1800s.

Thousands of the birds were destroyed so their feathers could be used in women’s hats. The National Audubon Society was actually founded in part to protect this species, and the Great Egret is still used as a symbol for that organization.

Male egrets choose “display areas” in colony-like nesting sites and begin the construction of the nests themselves before pairing up with a female to finish the nest and breed.

Great egrets eat a variety of fish, insects, reptiles and amphibians, crayfish, and even small birds and mammals. I once watched a great egret catch a large water vole in a rice field, then walk the rat over to a nearby pond to drown it before swallowing it whole.

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is actually much smaller and more “svelte” that the great egret, weighing in at about 1 pound. Like great egrets, however, snowy egrets also nest in large colonies in tree-tops. Both males and females help to incubate the eggs, and sometimes pass sticks on to one another as they shift positions on the nest. These egrets are also known to cross breed with herons and other egrets producing hybrid species.

Like the great egrets, snowy egrets have bright white plumage, but their beaks are black and their feet are bright yellow. The snowy egret’s yellow feet (which turn brighter in the breeding season) are used in part to feel for prey hiding in the plants and silt in the water.

During the breeding season the snowy’s face will blush pink, and it gets long curling tail feathers. In 1886 these curling plumes were valued at two times the price of gold, and like the great egret this species was almost wiped out before conservationists rushed in to protect it.

The snowy’s diet is similar to that of the great egret, and they use both a stab-and-grab technique for fishing, along with the less dignified let’s-scramble-after-everything technique during which they chase after prey with their wings outspread.

The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) looks something like a great egret with a yellow beak and gray-black legs, but it’s much smaller and stockier.

Unlike the great and snowy egrets, the cattle egret doesn’t really require an aquatic environment. It prefers foraging in open fields and can often be found following after herds of cattle, eating whatever insects and other small creatures run or fly around in the cattle’s wake.

These egrets will also “chase fires,” flying toward plumes of smoke to capture the insects that are trying to escape the flames.

In the breeding season, cattle egrets get a buff-colored wash on their head and chest feathers which can sometimes make them look “dirty.”

Like the other egrets, they form large breeding colonies, but they’re also more social on a daily basis than the other egrets and will often feed in large groups with other cattle egrets.

So, there you have it, a short primer on the three kinds of white egrets in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region.

As you go camping and hiking, keep an eye out for them, and see if you can properly identify them.

Mary K. Hanson is a Certified California Naturalist, a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, and author of the “Cool Stuff Along the American River” series of nature guides available online through www.Lulu.com . Tuleyome is a501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. For more information, visit www.tuleyome.org .

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.” – Anton Chekhov

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's been a winter-wonderland Lake County-style recently, replete with frozen puddles, frost swirling on windshields and lacy, frost-embroidered leaves.

You don't have to look far to enjoy nature's art palate of fanciful design. Frost visits during damp, wintry conditions, when moisture freezes into branches and fractals – those mathematical symmetries.

Since winter has just recently begun, we may be fortunate to enjoy a variety of frost types,  including rime, hoar, window, black, and white frost to name but a few.

Nature did a great job of providing many plants and animals with the ability to withstand freezing temperatures. They instinctively “know” to prepare, hibernate or fly south.

A large variety of insects, like the mourning cloak butterfly has the ability to hibernate during the winter. Many other types of insects, along with spiders, survive the cold months as larva or eggs.

Now is the time of year to find the cold-resistant, red toyon berries growing, which provide wintering birds and deer with a bit of nourishment.

The toyon is a hardy, perennial shrub found in oak woodlands as well as chaparral habitats. Robins enjoy the berries, as do turkey, hermit thrush and cedar waxwings.

Since toyon berries are low in calories and protein they are not as hardy a fare as seeds for the animals, but they do have their place in the animals' winter survival food selection. Since these plants are drought-tolerant they make an excellent choice as an ornamental garden plant, too.

Plants have many ingenious methods of winter survival. Some plants die back to preserve themselves, and others use their circulatory vessels to keep frozen sap from “stopping up” their systems.

Here in Lake County we enjoy a temperate climate, so that most animals do not need to hibernate. Our black bears do not usually hibernate.

Some bats do hibernate here, however, finding comfy tree bark, under deck umbrellas or attics to spend the winters when their prey, insects, is hard to find.

Reptiles and amphibians hide out in winter in the safety of burrows, old logs, and sometimes in the bottoms of ponds throughout the winter.

The ingenuity and endurance of plant and animal survival never ceases to amaze.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service's latest New Year's forecast holds the potential for both rain and snow for the first days of the new year.

Forecasters are expecting a 20-percent chance of rain in Lake County on Saturday, declining to 10 percent during the day on Sunday.

Cold air that's on the way to Northern California early in the first week of the new year may bring rain and snow showers beginning on Sunday night, based on the specific Lake County forecast.

Snow levels may drop to as low as 500 feet, and several inches of snow is expected in some northern parts of Lake County, the forecast said.

The National Weather Service also is forecasting rain and snow showers continuing into Monday morning, with rain also likely on Monday night.

The possibility of snow also is forecast for Tuesday morning before the weather clears and remains mostly clear and sunny for the rest of the week, based on the forecast.

From Saturday through Friday, temperatures are expected to range from daytime highs in the upper 50s to nighttime lows into the low 30s, the National Weather Service said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As the new year arrives, Lake County Animal Care and Control's shelter is filled with dogs needing loving homes.

This new year's day dogs include mixes of American Bulldog, Australian Cattle Dog, beagle, border collie, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, golden retriever, husky, Labrador Retriever, Miniature Pinscher, pit bull, Shar Pei, shepherd and terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Miniature Pinscher

This female Miniature Pinscher has a short black and tan coat and a docked tail.

She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 6696.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua mix has a short brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 6701.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short brown coat and has already been altered.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 6732.

Shepherd-beagle mix

This female shepherd-beagle mix has a short tricolor coat, and has been waiting a long time for a new home.

She's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 6517.

Terrier-Shar Pei mix

This male terrier-Shar Pei mix has a short black coat with white markings and floppy ears.

He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 6505.

Female husky

This female husky has a medium-length red and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 6698.

Border collie-Australian Cattle Dog

This male Border collie-Australian Cattle Dog has a short black and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 6710.

Golden retriever-shepherd

This young golden retriever-shepherd mix has a medium-length gold and black coat and floppy ears.

He's in kennel No. 17, ID No. 6711.

Pit bull mix

This female pit bull mix has a short tan and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 18, ID. No. 6671.

'Rusty'

“Rusty” is a senior male German Shepherd.

He has a long black and brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 19a, ID No. 6715.

Beagle mix

This female beagle mix has a short red coat.

She's in kennel No. 20, ID No. 6727.

Male pit bull

This male pit bull has a short blue and white coat.

He has been sponsored and is available for free to an approved family.

He's in kennel No. 21, ID No. 6665.

Labrador Retriever-pit bull

This male Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix has a short blue and gray coat.

He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 6706.

'Max'

“Max” is a male Shar Pei-pit bull mix with a short black and white coat.

Shelter staff said he already has been neutered, and would do well in a home with no livestock.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 6629.

Male shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short tan, black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 26, ID No. 6630.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat.

He's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 6684.

Yellow Labrador Retriever

This female yellow Labrador Retriever has a short coat.

She's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 6705.

'Tina'

“Tina” is a female American Bulldog with a short white coat.

She's in kennel No. 32a, ID No. 6708.

'Dolly'

“Dolly” is a female American Bulldog with a short white coat.

She's in kennel No. 32b, ID No. 6709.

Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier

This male Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 6707.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Any of the 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring every day who are contemplating a second job in their retirement may want to reconsider, due to an unfamiliar network of federal and state taxes that can serve as significant work disincentives, advises a University of California, Berkeley, economist and professor of law and a team of fellow researchers.

In “Is Uncle Sam Inducing the Elderly to Retire?” a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a team that includes Alan Auerbach, a UC Berkeley professor and director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley, suggests that prospective retirees can forget the Social Security Administration-provided benefit calculations that come in the mail.

“They’re completely meaningless,” said Auerbach.

He said they simply don’t factor in the implicit and explicit taxes that those ages 50 through 79 face from the offsets between income, age and benefits.

Auerbach said the research highlights a need for much more transparency in the nation’s retirement and fiscal systems.

The Social Security Administration could provide the information, he said, but likely needs a push to do so by “someone in government who thinks it’s important.” That someone, Auerbach suggested, could be in the presidential administration or in Congress.

Auerbach and his fellow researchers – Laurence Kotlifkoff, of Boston University and the Fiscal Analysis Center; Darryl Koehler, of Economic Security Planning Inc. and the Fiscal Analysis Center; and Manni Yu, of Boston University – did the math using data collected from older respondents to the Federal Reserve’s 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances and special software they developed.

The Fiscal Analyzer incorporates all major federal and state fiscal programs – such as federal corporate income tax, personal federal and state income taxes, state sales taxes, estate taxes, Social Security benefits, food stamps, disability benefits, Medicare and Medicaid benefits and premiums and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes – and calculates remaining lifetime marginal net tax rates.

First, the good news

“We find that working longer, say an extra five years, can raise older workers’ sustainable living standards,” they report in their paper.

But the researchers report the impact is far smaller than suggested, in large part due to high net taxation of labor earnings. They also warn that many boomers now face or will face extremely high work disincentives arising from the hodgepodge and uncoordinated design of the nation’s fiscal system.

“Our findings show that older workers typically face high, very high or remarkably high marginal net taxation on their extra earnings,” they write, adding that work disincentives are highest for those at the bottom and top levels of resource distribution.

Don’t let the door hit you …

“Our findings suggest that Uncle Sam is, indeed, inducing the elderly to retire,” they conclude.

“Of particular concern is Medicaid and Social Security’s complex earnings test and clawback of disability benefits,” the researchers summarized. A clawback is the recovery of funds disbursed by a company, pension or government.

“But an open question is the extent to which the elderly correctly perceive these disincentives,” the report says. “Indeed … it’s hard to believe that policymakers, themselves, are cognizant of the level and spread of the work disincentives they are imposing on the elderly.”

The researchers found that the marginal net tax rate linked to a significant increase in retirement earnings, such as $20,000 a year from a part-time job, can for many elderly be “dramatically higher than that associated with earning a relatively small, say $1,000 a year, extra amount of money.”

For the lowest 20 percent of the population aged 50 to 79 with the lowest incomes, earning an extra $1,000 raises a household’s expected value of lifetime spending by just around $700, which translates into a 30 percent marginal net tax rate. Even an extra $10,000 of lifetime earnings means another roughly $6,000 in lifetime spending, and a 40 percent remaining lifetime net tax rate on those additional earnings.

Other financial tradeoffs or exchanges cited by the research team include:

• Medicare income limits, Social Security earnings test limits for those retiring before the current full retirement age of 66 and Social Security income tax thresholds.

• Increased premiums for Medicare Part B for retirees earning more money.

• Rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs through higher premiums, higher Medicare Part B co-payments and outpatient care not covered by Part B, as well as projected increases in prescription drug expenses.

• Implicit taxes linked to government benefits such as food stamps.

From bad to worse?

All this is set against a backdrop of an already grim financial picture for many baby boomers’ golden years. Only 67 percent of them have any retirement account, and many of those have very low balances. Forty percent of boomers have no retirement savings at all.

While Social Security was designed as a basic floor for retirees’ living standards, it actually provides at last 90 percent of more than a third of elderly households’ income. Nearly two-thirds of older households rely on Social Security for at least half of their income.

Meanwhile, prospects of increased Social Security benefits to help boomers are dim. Social Security already is 32.2 percent underfunded, according to current actuarial projections.

Kathleen Maclay writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

The year 2017 is beginning with fireworks.

No, not those fireworks …

We’re talking about a lightshow from shattered comet 2003 EH1.

According to the International Meteor Organization and other forecasters, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from the comet on Jan. 3, 2017, producing a shower of meteors known as the Quadrantids.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is one of the most intense annual meteor showers, typically producing meteors at a rate of more than 100 per hour from a point in the sky near the North Star, also known as the shower’s radiant.

The 2017 Quadrantids are expected to peak around 1400 UT – or around 6 am PST.  The timing favors western parts of North America and islands across the Pacific.

The peak of the Quadrantids is brief, typically lasting no more than an hour or so, and it does not always occur at the forecasted time. Observers everywhere are encouraged to be alert for meteors throughout the dark hours of Jan. 3.

“Extra motivation to go out and view the Quadrantids is provided by the shower's reputation for producing spectacular fireballs,” said Brian Day of NASA’s Ames Research Center. “Not only are these fireballs memorable visual events, but also they are of scientific interest. Anyone can participate in a citizen science effort by reporting his or her observations. ‘Fireballs in the Sky’ is a free app that makes this easy. It is made available by Curtin University in partnership with NASA.”

Although Quadrantids can be numerous, they are observed less than other well known meteor showers. One reason is weather. The shower peaks in early January when northern winter is in full swing. Storms and cold tend to keep observers inside.

Another reason is brevity. The shower doesn't last long, a few hours at most. Those willing to brave the elements while keeping their eyes on the skies could be rewarded with a spectacular show!

The source of the Quadrantid meteor shower was unknown until December 2003 when Peter Jenniskens of the NASA Ames Research Center found evidence that Quadrantid meteoroids come from 2003 EH1, an "asteroid" that is probably a piece of a comet that broke apart some 500 years ago.

Earth intersects the orbit of 2003 EH1 at a perpendicular angle, which means we quickly move through any debris. That's why the shower is so brief.

Quadrantid meteors take their name from an obsolete constellation, Quadrans Muralis, found in early 19th-century star atlases between Draco, Hercules and Bootes.

It was removed, along with a few other constellations, from crowded sky maps in 1922 when the International Astronomical Union adopted the modern list of 88 officially recognized constellations. Although the Quadrantids now fly out of the constellation Bootes, the meteors kept their old name.

Quadrantid meteors: they come from a shattered comet and an extinct constellation.

That sounds like they are worth a look.  Bundle up for chilly meteor viewing on Jan. 3. It’s a great way to start the New Year.

For more news about backyard astronomy, stay tuned to http://science.nasa.gov .

NASA's NEOWISE mission has recently discovered some celestial objects traveling through our neighborhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet.

Another – definitely a comet – might be seen with binoculars through next week.

An object called 2016 WF9 was detected by the NEOWISE project on Nov. 27, 2016. It's in an orbit that takes it on a scenic tour of our solar system. At its farthest distance from the sun, it approaches Jupiter's orbit.

Over the course of 4.9 Earth-years, it travels inward, passing under the main asteroid belt and the orbit of Mars until it swings just inside Earth's own orbit. After that, it heads back toward the outer solar system.

Objects in these types of orbits have multiple possible origins; it might once have been a comet, or it could have strayed from a population of dark objects in the main asteroid belt.

2016 WF9 will approach Earth's orbit on Feb. 25, 2017. At a distance of nearly 32 million miles from Earth, this pass will not bring it particularly close. The trajectory of 2016 WF9 is well understood, and the object is not a threat to Earth for the foreseeable future.

A different object, discovered by NEOWISE a month earlier, is more clearly a comet, releasing dust as it nears the sun.

This comet, C/2016 U1 NEOWISE, “has a good chance of becoming visible through a good pair of binoculars, although we can't be sure because a comet's brightness is notoriously unpredictable," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

As seen from the northern hemisphere during the first week of 2017, comet C/2016 U1 NEOWISE will be in the southeastern sky shortly before dawn.

It is moving farther south each day and it will reach its closest point to the sun, inside the orbit of Mercury, on Jan. 14, before heading back out to the outer reaches of the solar system for an orbit lasting thousands of years. While it will be visible to skywatchers at Earth, it is not considered a threat to our planet either.

NEOWISE is the asteroid-and-comet-hunting portion of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.

After discovering more than 34,000 asteroids during its original mission, NEOWISE was brought out of hibernation in December of 2013 to find and learn more about asteroids and comets that could pose an impact hazard to Earth. If 2016 WF9 turns out to be a comet, it would be the 10th discovered since reactivation. If it turns out to be an asteroid, it would be the 100th discovered since reactivation.

What NEOWISE scientists do know is that 2016 WF9 is relatively large: roughly 0.3 to 0.6 mile (0.5 to 1 kilometer) across.

It is also rather dark, reflecting only a few percent of the light that falls on its surface. This body resembles a comet in its reflectivity and orbit, but appears to lack the characteristic dust and gas cloud that defines a comet.

"2016 WF9 could have cometary origins," said Deputy Principal Investigator James "Gerbs" Bauer at JPL. "This object illustrates that the boundary between asteroids and comets is a blurry one; perhaps over time this object has lost the majority of the volatiles that linger on or just under its surface."

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) absorb most of the light that falls on them and re-emit that energy at infrared wavelengths. This enables NEOWISE's infrared detectors to study both dark and light-colored NEOs with nearly equal clarity and sensitivity.

"These are quite dark objects," said NEOWISE team member Joseph Masiero, "Think of new asphalt on streets; these objects would look like charcoal, or in some cases are even darker than that."

NEOWISE data have been used to measure the size of each near-Earth object it observes. Thirty-one asteroids that NEOWISE has discovered pass within about 20 lunar distances from Earth's orbit, and 19 are more than 460 feet (140 meters) in size but reflect less than 10 percent of the sunlight that falls on them.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has completed its seventh year in space after being launched on Dec. 14, 2009.

Data from the NEOWISE mission are available on a Web site for the public and scientific community to use. A guide to the NEOWISE data release, data access instructions and supporting documentation are available at http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/neowise/ .

Access to the NEOWISE data products is available via the on-line and API services of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.

A list of peer-reviewed papers using the NEOWISE data is available at http://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu/publications.html .