North Yuba River - Summer
It's been really HOT! Temperatures have been in the mid 90's! Luckily, smoke from distant fires has been minimal and the skies have been clear. When it's this hot, it's time to go to the river! The river is down, but it's perfect for swimming. This week the water was 72 degrees! I have spent many hours at the river since I came back from my vacation! I truly live in paradise!
Twelve-spotted Skimmer (dragonfly) - Libellula pulchella
There are several different species of numerous dragonflies hovering over the river these days. Dragonflies spend their youth as underwater nymphs. After living underwater for months, or in some cases years, the nymphs emerge from the water and climb up a nearby plant stem. As they dry out, their exuvia (skin) splits open along their back and they emerge out as adults. It then takes several hours for the adult dragonfly to straighten its wings, dry out, and take to flight. Adult dragonflies catch and eat insect prey with their feet, while flying. The adults usually only live for a week or two. During those two weeks they will mate. The females will then lay batches of hundreds of eggs in plant stems, or leaves, or rotten wood, or mud that is close to the surface of water, or in water! The eggs hatch into nymphs in 2-5 weeks, or the following Spring. As nymphs, they will prey on live aquatic insects, fish, and even other nymphs!
Mallard (female) - Anas platyrhynchos
River Birds!
I watched this female Mallard dabble, swim, sleep and preen along the river one afternoon! I didn't seen any other Mallards in the area, and she is the first one I've ever seen on the river! I was amazed at the detail and complexity of her feathers. So beautiful! I'll go back to the same area in a few days and see if she's still around!
Mallard (female) - Anas platyrhynchos
Common Merganser (female) - Mergus merganser
Yesterday morning, I went down to the river early and watched a female Merganser and her ducklings wake up! The sun was just starting to shine on the gravel bar they were sleeping on. At first, the group of ducklings looked like a dark brown fuzzy mound. As the sun warmed them up, they stood up and stretched, scratched, and walked over to their mom. I'm pretty sure this is the same female Merganser and ducklings, that I photographed a month ago. The ducklings are a lot bigger now! I was happy to see that she still had 6 ducklings. Many ducklings don't survive and are eaten by herons, foxes, snakes, and River Otters!
Common Merganser ducklings - Mergus merganser
Eventually they all went into the river and started hunting for food under the surface of the water, such as aquatic insects and small fish. I watched them for a total of 15 minutes! How lucky I was to happen upon them at just the right time!
Common Merganser female with ducklings - Mergus merganser 
Columbian Black-tailed Deer (male) - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
Mammal Update!
My neighbors have seen lots of animal activity this week! Just down the street a Mountain Lion killed a deer one night! A Black Bear has been seen eating green apples! Groups of bucks have been seen grazing early in the morning. I haven't seen the bear or the Mountain Lion, but I have seen several bucks cruising the neighborhood. The Chickaree is still busy feasting on bird seed. I also spotted a fox peaking through the willows! Maybe I'll get lucky and see a River Otter soon!
Chickaree - Tamiasciurus douglasii Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Yellow-bellied Marmot (adult) - Marmota flaviventris
Yosemite!
Last week we were on vacation in Yosemite! We did several day-hikes in the Tuolumne Meadows/Tioga Pass area. On one hike we ended up at a beautiful unnamed alpine lake at 10,439' in elevation! The lake had a lovely sandy beach and incredible views of the surrounding peaks. Although it was smokey, from the wildfire near El Portal, CA, it was still gorgeous. Of course we had to jump into the clear cool lake water! It was heavenly! We also saw several Yellow-bellied Marmots near the lake!
Yellow-bellied MarmotsYellow-bellied marmots inhabit vegetated fortified slopes or rock outcrops in meadows, which serve as support for the burrows that they reside in, as well as sunning and observation posts. The main entrance of burrow, which they dig themselves, is usually about 0.6 m deep into the ground, and extends about 3.8 to 4.4 m horizontally into the hillside. Many short tunnels branch from main passageway, sometimes connecting to other burrows. Burrows stay relatively stable and thus serve as preferable places to raise young, hibernate, and hide from potential predators. Burrow availability may affect marmot distribution, as well as visibility and safety from predators. Most yellow-bellied marmots occur around 2000 m in elevation. usually live above 6,000' in elevation, in rocky talus slopes near vegetated meadows. They dig underground tunnels, with many side passages, in which they raise their young, hibernate, and hide from predators. Adults range in size from 18.5"-27.56" in length, and weigh 3.5-11.5 lbs. Most marmots live colonially, but will also live singly or in pairs. All males and most females leave their communal burrow after their first year. Marmots are herbivores, and eat mainly flowers, grass, shrubs, and seeds. In the Fall, they put on a layer of fat that sustains them through hibernation. Hibernation usually lasts from September through May, depending upon the weather. During hibernation, young marmots will lose up to 50% of their body fat! There is only one breeding season per year, which starts two weeks after they wake up from hibernation. The females give birth to 3-8 pups, after a 30 day gestation period. The main predators of marmots are coyotes, followed by badgers, martens, bears, and Golden Eagles!
Pacific Onion - Allium validum Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium
Alpine Lily & Monkshood - Lilium parvum & Aconitum columbianum
We also explored Lundy Canyon near Lee Vining. There were more wildflowers there than in any area of the Sierra Nevada that I have seen! The trail roughly follows the creek bed for several miles, and ends at a beautiful waterfall. We were astounded by the beautiful Aspen groves, thousands of wildflowers, grassy meadows, the clear-water creek, and the surrounding gorgeous metamorphic canyon! Not only the abundance of wildflowers was amazing, but the height of some of them was astounding! We saw larkspurs taller than ourselves, and monkshoods were commonly 4' tall!
Cow Parsnip - Heracleum lanatum Rangers' Buttons - Sphenosciadium capitellatum
Paintbrush & Sulphur Buckwheat - Castilleja sp. & Eriogonum umbellatum
Mountain Larkspur - Delphinium glaucum Monkshood - Aconitum columbianum
Little Elephant Head - Pedicularis attolens
Red-breasted Sapsuckers - Sphyrapicus ruber
(juvenile - female - juvenile)
The campground where we stayed was a haven for woodpeckers! One morning I was out bird watching and the Red-breasted Sapsucker above landed on a post with a metal sign, about 10' from where I was standing! She proceeded to hammer on the metal sign with her bill, and created quite a racket! Within a minute three juvenile Red-breasted Sapsuckers landed on nearby tree trunks! Wow!!! I have no idea if she was "calling" them in, but I felt so thrilled to see them all so closely!
White-headed Woodpecker - Picoides albolarvatus Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana
Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
I also saw a White-headed Woodpecker in the campground, a Black-crowned Night-Heron in Lundy Canyon, and several Clark's Nutcrackers in the higher elevations! I bought a new camera last week, and was thrilled to get these photos with my new 83X Optical Zoom!
White-headed Woodpeckers live year-round in coniferous forests between 2,000'-7,500' in elevation. They feed mainly on pine seeds and insects. They nest in the trunks of dead pine or cedar trees, usually approximately 8' off the ground! We watched a pair of these woodpeckers forage on the pollen cones of a pine tree near our campground. They must have been eating insects, as they are not known to eat pollen! I don't see many of these woodpeckers in the Lakes Basin near my home. It was a real treat to watch them around our camp!
Black-crowned Night-Herons usually forage at night and in the twilight hours. They hold still and watch for prey in ponds, and streams. Fish, snakes, crayfish, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates are their prey. Usually these herons live in large colonies. We were so lucky to watch this single heron during the day, on a beaver pond in Lundy Canyon!
Clark's Nutcrackers live year-round around at 7,500'-9,500' in elevation in the Sierra Nevada. They are altitudinal migrants. They spend spring and summer in the higher elevations and move to the lower elevations in the fall. They will cache 1,000's of pine seeds, usually whitebark, pinyon, and Jeffrey pine, to live on during the winter. They have a sublingual pouch at the base of their tongue, that can hold up to 150 seeds, which is used to transport seeds to caches! It is estimated that one nutcracker alone can store 22,000 to 33,000 seeds in 7,500 different locations!!! These birds have an incredible memory, and have been know to dig down through 4' of snow to get to a cache of seeds! WOW!!!
How are the Hairy Woodpeckers doing?
What's happening at the Bullock's Oriole nest?
The conical pits in the sand (pictured 2 weeks ago) were made by Antlions.
The Northern Flicker (pictured 2 weeks ago) is classified as a woodpecker.
I have not yet figured out what the two birds (pictured 2 weeks ago) are, but I will.
What kind of insects are these?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
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