Sierra Valley and Carmen Valley once again!

 

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Sierra Valley

Last Monday, my friend Mary and I revisited Sierra Valley and Carmen Valley. We saw a variety of birds, tons of wildflowers, a Pronghorn, three Bald Eagles, and a Beaver!  It was a wonderful day!!!

Yellow-headed Blackbird (male - female) - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds were creating a racket with their coarse, raucous calls from the tules and cattails alongside the road. It's their mating time! Males are polygynandrous and will have up to six mates. The females aren't as gorgeous, being mottled brown in color, but are better camouflaged for nesting.

American Coot and cootling (female) - Fulica americana

To my delight there was one mama American Coot and two cootlings! The cootlings are so comical with their bald heads and colorful downy feathers.

American Coot cootlings  - Fulica americana

Apparently their colorful and unusual head markings stimulate their parents to feed them!

Sage Thrasher (adult) - Oreoscoptes montanus

For the second time in my life, I saw a Sage Thrasher!! They feed mainly on insects, but will eat small fruits and berries if available. They generally nest in or under Sagebrush bushes. Both the male and female construct their bowl-shaped nest with twigs, lined with grasses, fur, and horsehair. They will both incubate their 4-5 eggs for 11-13 days, feed the nestlings for 10-14 days, and care for the fledglings for 7 days or more. How cool to see this uncommon bird!!!

Willet (adult) - Tringa semipalpata

We saw and heard LOTS of Willets over on Harriet Lane. I have always seen them walking in the water among the tules, rushes, and cattails. I've never seen them on a post, but several were on posts that morning!

Yellow Owl's Clover - Lemmon's Onion - Porterella
Castelleja campestris - Allium lemmonii - Porterella carnosula 

There were carpets of wildflowers in some areas, more will be blooming in the near future! 

 American Pronghorn (female) - Antilocapra americana

We visited the Feather River Land Trust Visitor Center while we were in Sierra Valley, and the staff pointed out a very distant female Pronghorn from their back window, that had had her baby that morning!!! We didn't see the baby, but it was super cool to see her!!! She was such a far distance away that the heatwaves made photos impossible.

Pronghorns are not antelopes, and are not related to antelopes, but are often known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, prairie antelope, or simply antelope. They are the ONLY species in their Antilocapridae Family, and the only animal on earth that has branching horns that are shed annually. Many (but not all) pronghorn herds are migratory, traveling long distances to warmer climates in the fall, and back to greener locations in the spring.

Mt. Beckwourth from Carman Valley - 5/18/26

Carman Valley

 

This time we went to the wetlands in Carman Valley.  I love this small wetland! It's off the beaten path, and I rarely see anyone else there. The view is expansive and so peaceful! Additionally, we saw some surprising wildlife while we were there!

Northern Pintail (male) - Mallard (male)

Anas acuta - Anas platyrhynchos

We didn't see many ducks that day, except for some unknowns that flew off and these two males!

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

However, we did see a Bald Eagle! It flew over the wetlands, perched in a pine tree for a while, and then flew off! Bald Eagles are LARGE birds, measuring 31" in height, with a wingspan of 80" (6.5 feet!)!! Fish, waterfowl, and mammals are their main prey. They are uncommon in our area, and it's a rare privilege to see one!

The following information about Bald Eagles is from the Cornell Ornithology website birdsoftheworld.org :

"The Bald Eagle is a large fish-eagle with a dark brown body and a distinctive white head and tail acquired at 4 to 5 years of age. It is opportunistic forager, scavenging prey items when available, pirating food from other species when it can, and capturing its own prey when needed. It consumes a variety of vertebrate prey, but generally selects fish over other food types.

The list of aquatic birds serving as live prey includes not only waterfowl and waterbirds like American Coots, but also gulls, and Great Blue Herons. Large mammals are most often eaten as carrion, especially in winter; small to medium-sized mammals such as hares, rabbits, muskrat, and ground squirrels may be taken live."

Forster's Tern - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Inset photos by Mary Abbott

My friend Mary Abbott spotted this Forster's Tern circling the wetlands!  It repeatedly flew over us as it circled about, and we could definitely see it's dark cap and red/orange beak! Neither one of of us had ever seen one of these birds before! Apparently, it was probably on its way north to its breeding grounds.The overall appearance was a bright white bird with long slender wings!  It would periodically dive into the wetland to presumably catch fish! It flew so fast, it was super hard to get a photograph, but Mary got some good distance shots with her phone! The inset photos above are her photographs! How lucky we were to see this lovely tern!

Carman Valley - 5/22/26

Five days later, we revisited Carman Valley again! This time we went to some wet meadows, a little distance from the wetlands. To our delight they were in absolutely profuse full bloom!!! There were thousands of Bistorts and Camas filling the meadows!!! Such beauty! We wandered in them for several hours, while big cumulus clouds cast shadows and lovely light on the wildflowers!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily - Sticky Cinquefoils
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash - Potentilla glandulosa

Among the Camas and Bistorts were bright, shiny, butter-yellow, Sticky Cinquefoils! It was a botanical paradise!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily 
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash

I took way to many photos, but couldn't help myself!  Such beauty!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash 

The Western Bistorts were in their prime, but the Camas flowers were already starting to dry out!  How lucky we were to be there during peak flowering!

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus

Several Red-winged Blackbirds were perched on the Corn Lilies, hawking insects out of the air!

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

These meadows were right next to the beaver pond we visited two weeks ago. Mary and I decided to walk over and see if there were any beavers present. The first critter we saw was a Great Blue Heron, standing on the beaver lodge!! It really blended in with all the dead, gray branches covering the lodge!

Beaver Lodge and the back of a North American Beaver!

To my delight I spotted a North American Beaver!!! As soon as I saw it, it dove underwater and I didn't get a photo. However, we waited another minute and it surfaced over by the beaver lodge. I managed to quickly get a photo of its backside as it dove underwater again!  How exciting to see a beaver!  We were thrilled!  Wow!!! I'm going back again today to hopefully get some better photos, and to see what else we might be residing in the pond! Can't wait!

What's blooming in my neighborhood?

What migratory songbirds have arrived?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Check back for the answers to these questions and more  in two weeks, on Sunday, June 7th!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated! Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

Black Swan Preserve & Carman Valley

Green Lynx Spider - Peucitia viridans

Black Swan Preserve

Last Monday, my friends Patti and Mike and I were led on a hike by Hank Meals through the Black Swan Preserve. It was a beautiful Blue Oak Woodland, filled with waist-high grasses, wildflowers and RAIN!  One of the absolutely coolest critters we saw was the Green Lynx Spider pictured above!  I spotted it on a yellow wildflower where it's green body stood out!  I had never seen a GREEN spider before, in my whole life, neither had any of my friends! However, it turns out that these spiders are fairly common in California, just super camouflaged! How cool to see one of them! WOW!!! Apparently, instead of making webs, they hangout on or near flowers and prey on insect pollinators!

The following information about them is from bugguide.net. "The lynx-spiders are so called because some species chase their prey with great rapidity over herbage and the foliage of trees and shrubs; they even jump from branch to branch like the attids; but other species lie in wait near flowers and spring upon insects that visit flowers." J.H. Comstock 1912

Hank wrote a blog about the Black Swan Preserve in 2019. Here is an excerpt from that blog, about the history of the preserve. You can read the whole blog at https://yubatreadhead.blogspot.com/2019/01/black-swan-preserve-where-deer-creek.html.

"On the border between Yuba and Nevada Counties is a former gold mining location where nature is reclaiming what was once a stark industrial site. The Black Swan Preserve is located in the blue oak–gray pine savannah belt near Smartsville, CA and it’s at a low enough elevation to be accessible all year. Here the Bear Yuba Land Trust maintains a two-mile loop trail circling a pond and wetland where there was once a hydraulic mine. The trail was made possible by a partnership between the Bear-Yuba Land Trust and California Fish and Wildlife. It’s the first trail in what will eventually become a larger network of trails accessing more diverse ecosystems in the area.

The trail circles an intact wetland that is critical habitat for the endangered Western pond turtle, as well as bass, and an array of waterfowl including the American Dipper and Belted Kingfisher. Known endangered species on the properties include Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, Western Burrowing Owl, and Black Rail. Adjacent grassland pastures, rolling hills and meadows provide habitat for bears, bald eagles, mountain lions and deer. Near the confluence of Deer Creek and the Lower Yuba River there is riparian habitat, blue oak woodland, wetlands and groundwater-fed ponds."

Looking down at the former Black Swan Hydraulic Mine site

Initially the trail led us up to the top of a hydraulicked butte, where we could look down at the pond that was formed after the mining operation ended. Currently, you cannot hike the traditional two mile loop trail, as beavers have taken over the last section of the trail by the pond, and the water is too deep and muddy to hike through.

Hydraulicked Bluff

We then hiked down to the pond's edge, where we could see the hydraulicked bluff we had just been on top of. The overcast created beautiful, soft lighting on the landscape.

Mallard - Canada Geese

Anas platyrhynchos - Branta Canadensis

We didn't see any beavers on the pond, but there was one lone female Mallard and a group of four Canada Geese with one gosling!

Lark Sparrow - Chondestes grammacus

We heard lots and lots of birds, but the rainy weather kept us from stopping and looking for them. I did manage to get a photo of a Lark Sparrow! Love their rusty cheeks and crown!

Deer Creek

Hank led us to this beautiful view of a Deer Creek waterfall! There were lots of swallows nesting along the rocky, bedrock and boulder-lined creek.

Blue Oak Woodlands

We only saw a few other people that day as we hiked a 6 mile loop through the Oak woodlands. The rain started falling around 11:00 am, and by 3:00 pm we were pretty soaked! It was wild and fresh, but luckily not cold! Everything was bespotted by raindrops, which made it even more beautiful! 

Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily - Calochortus leitchtlinii

There was a wide variety of wildflowers growing amongst the grassy fields! Here are some of the ones we saw! Such beauty!

Winecup Clarkia - Common Madia - Narrrowleaf Flax

Clarkia purpurea - Madia elegans - Linum bienne

Roundtooth Ookow - Bridge's Triteleia - Twining Brodiaea

Dichelostemma multiflorum - Triteleia bridgesii - Dichelostemma volubile 

Inside Out Lily - Fairy Lanterns - White Brodiaea

Odontostomum hartwegii - Calochortus albus - Triteleia hyacinthina

Foothill Penstemon - Chines Houses - Slender Larkspur

Penstemon heterophyllus - Calochortus albus - Delphinium gracilentum

California Buckeyes - Aesculus californica

The California Buckeyes were in total full bloom, and so beautifully fragrant!

Hank enjoys the view to the northwest!

It was a fabulous rainy day in the foothills, with Hank as our guide. 

We hope to visit this amazing area for years to come!

Western Buttercup - Ranunculus occidentalis

Carman Valley

On the previous Friday, my husband and I, along with our friends Mary and Patti, drove over to Carman Valley to see what was blooming! Carman Valley is located near Sierra Valley. We were a bit early for the full bloom, but thousands of Western Buttercups filled the meadows as far as we could see! Mixed in with the Buttercups were lots of American Wintercress flowers (pictured below), which are also bright yellow in color. We hope to come back in another week or so, to see the usual thousands of Common Camas, Bistort and Larkspurs in bloom!

American Wintercress/Yellow Rocket - Western Peony - Snowplant

Barbarea orthoceras - Paeonia brownii - Sarcodes sanguinea

On the pine-needled covered, shady forest floor we discovered Western Peonies, Woolen-Breeches, Mahala Mat, and Snowplants in bloom!

Woolen-breeches - Mahala Mat

Hydrophyllum alpestre -Ceanothus prostratus

Unusually the Woolen-breeches have their flowers at the base of their stems, not on the tops! The Mahala Mat flowers are quite tiny, but up-close their yellow stamens, spoon-shaped exerted petals, and folded-in central petals are amazing!!!

Mountain Bluebirds - Sialia currucoides

Perched on an old wooden corral, we were lucky enough to see several brilliant-blue Mountain Bluebirds!  The males are just exquisite with their sky blue heads, breasts and backs, highlighted by their even deeper-blue wings. The females are overall gray in color, with some blue on their wing tips. In the past, I saw one Mountain Bluebird nest in a fence post. Hopefully these will nest here, and we'll see them feeding their young when we come back in a week or two! Apparently they spend their winters in northern Mexico and come here to breed and raise their young!

Wood Ducks - Aix sponsa

We also visited a pond in another part of Carman Valley, and right away I spotted a pair of Wood Ducks! Wow!!! These have probably spent the winter in the foothills or Central Valley of California, and are here to breed and raise their young. The males have such striking, colorful plumage! What a lucky sighting!

Beaver Lodge

The pond may have been created years ago by the damming of beavers! There is a beaver lodge visible at the far end of the pond, and the trees along the edge of the pond have been cut down by beavers for use in the dam as well as their lodge.  Their favorite food is the cambium layer of deciduous trees, not evergreen trees.

 A tree recently being "cut" by beavers. 

They will gnaw a "waist" into the tree, which eventually causes the tree to fall down.

Beaver cut evergreen trees

Here are just a few of the many beaver-cut trees bordering the pond. Since they are gray and bleached by the sun, they were apparently cut down quite a while ago. I hope when we return in the near future, that we get lucky and maybe see a beaver or two!

What's happening on the river?

What migratory songbird birds have arrived recently in our neighborhood?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Check back for the answers to these questions and more on Sunday, May 24th.

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated! Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

Wonders Never Cease!

I apologize that I'm late AGAIN getting my blog posted, but my husband ended up in the hospital for three and a half days this week! Luckily he's okay and back home now! However, I don't have time to write a lot on my blog, so it's mainly photos this week! I happened upon lots of amazing nature in the past two weeks, including the beautiful, sculptural, driftwood heart (above) that I found on the river's edge!  Such beauty! 

American Dippers nest building - 3/9/26 - Cinclus mexicanus

 

Back in the beginning of March, two American Dippers started building their annual nest on a local bridge pillar. For several weeks I observed them in an unusual pattern of nest building! One day there would be bits of moss on the ledge, and then the next day there wouldn't be any moss! This happened again and again over the period of a month. I was a bit worried that something was wrong.

American Dipper Nest - 4/15/26 - Cinclus mexicanus

Then on April 12th, when I checked on the nest, they had built the whole nest perfectly! WOW!!! Since then I have observed them at the entrance to the nest, coming and going. What a relief! Hopefully telltale drips of white bird poop will start showing up, indicating the presence of nestlings. I'll keep checking and let you know how things progress! So happy that they persevered and finally made their usual nest!

Scorpion - Paruroctonus spp.

 On one of our walks in Indian Valley Campground, my friend Mary spotted a scorpion underneath some bark! So I lifted up a piece of bark and immediately found another one! The one I saw was quite small, about 1.5" in length. I'll write all about them in my next blog.

Mink - Mustela vison

My friend Keith came by to tell he thought he had just seen a River Otter on the side of the road! So of course I went with him and walked down to where he had seen it, and it was still there! 

Mink - Mustela vison

But it wasn't a River Otter, it was a Mink!!! It ambled off when it saw us!  I only managed to get two quick photos as it walked away from us into the thicket.  How exciting!!! More info in two weeks...

Annaphila Moth on an Oregon Grape - Annaphila sp., Berberis aquifolium

Wildflowers and shrubs are in bloom everywhere! I luckily caught this photo of an Annaphila Moth on an Oregon Grape that was in bloom!  More in two weeks...

Hartweg's Ginger - Asarum hartwegii

In the shaded areas of my neighborhood, Hartweg's Ginger has been putting on a show! They are one of the "hairiest" wildflowers I've ever seen!  They are not carnivorous. They "hairs" aren't sticky. Why are they so hairy? Some articles say the hairs keep the plant warm, or act as camouflage! More in two weeks...

Hartweg's Ginger - Asarum hartwegii

I think the hairs make them extremely beautiful, especially in the sun!

Indian Rhubarb - Darmera peltata

The Indian Rhubarb flowers are in bloom along the edge of creeks and the river. The flowers have two to three styles (red in color), which may be mistaken for multiple ovaries, but they all connect to one, single-chambered ovary. More in two weeks...

Showy Phlox - Phlox speciosa

I'm happy to report that the one patch of Showy Phlox that I've ever seen, is in bloom again! They are SO lovely! More in two weeks...

Western Wallflower - Erysimum capitatum

I love the bright orange of these Wallflowers! They are a striking contrast to the surrounding, dark green forest! More in two weeks...

My Scarecrows in the Fall

I used to make and sell life-size scarecrows on line. They were called "Garden Folk" and over the years I sold over 600 of them! Sunset Magazine even did an article on them many years ago! I made the heads/faces and created their outfits from thrift store clothes, while my husband made the support sticks! I stopped making them 12 years ago, but I still make some for our current garden. The above photo was taken last Fall. 

My Scarecrows this Spring

A few weeks ago I noticed that the male scarecrow wasn't looking too good, 

and a few days later the head was gone!!!  It turns out that a Douglas Squirrel had been pulling all the stuffing out of its head, to use in a nest!!! How fun! Glad he/she could use the fiberfill! I'll see if I can find the squirrel's nest! It should be pretty obvious, maybe! Hah!

Sierra Buttes 4/7/26

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What migratory birds are showing up?

What's blooming?

What herps are showing up?

Check back for the answers to these questions and more, 

in my next blog (a little less than two weeks from today) on Sunday, May 9th.

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated! Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!