Wildflowers!

Snow Plant - Sarcodes sanguinea

Lots of rain, followed by warm, sunny days is the perfect combination for abundant wildflowers!  Right now wildflowers are popping up everywhere!  Although the higher elevations are still snow-covered there are lots of wildflowers at 6,000' and lower.  I went to Carmen Valley, Sierra Valley, and the Saddleback Lookout this week. Due to the differences in these three habitats,  the wildflowers aren't the same.  Even within one habitat the flowers differed, from wetland to dry land, and from sunny areas to shaded areas.

The most striking wildflower of them all is the Snow Plant, which was growing in the Yellow Pine Forest that surrounds Carmen Valley.  We saw quite a few of them on our visit to Carmen Valley on 6-4-19, but a week later they had already dried up!  Snow plant grows in the thick humus of montane coniferous forests from 4000' to 8000', often under pines, blooming from May to July. It supplements its nutrient intake by parasitizing the roots of pine trees by means of a shared mycorrhizal fungus. 

The following quote from the book Sierra Nevada  (published in 1970) by Verna R. Johnston, describes it in detail.

"Occasional wildflowers brighten the forest floor, snow plant the most brilliant among them.  Its stout, fleshy stems, covered with reddish scales and crowded with bell-shaped crimson flowers, push through the humus just after the snow has melted.  Sometimes there are two stems to a clump; occasionally as many as twenty-two.  Lacking green leaves, the snow plant cannot manufacture its own food as plants with chlorophyll do.  It feeds indirectly on decayed organic matter in the soil through the medium of microscopic fungus that completely covers its roots.  As summer wanes, its flowers produce small red marble-like capsules. By September the parent has one or more well-formed young plants underground at its base, ready to emerge next summer at the first sign of melt."

Western Peony - Woollen-breeches - Spotted Mountain Bells

Paeonia brownii - Hydrophyllum capitatum var. alpinum - Frittillaria atropurpurea

In Carmen Valley the forest was blooming as well as the wetlands.  In the dry forest, we found three flowers that most of us had never seen before, a Western Peony, Woollen-breeches, and Spotted Mountain Bells!  I have come across the peony a few times in the Sierra!  Their maroon-brown, large, nodding flowers are beautiful!  The Woollen-breeches are in the Waterleaf Family. They are unique in that the flowers are on the ground, below the leaves!  We only saw one Spotted Mountain Bells plant.  It was so camouflaged we were lucky to see it at all.  None of us had ever seen this lovely maroon-brown, checkered fritillary before!  Just gorgeous!

Bitter Brush - Blue-eyed Grass - Hairy Owl's Clover

Purshia tridentata - Sisyrinchium bellum - Castilleja tenuis

We also saw lots of Bitter Brush throughout the area, and along the perimeter of the wetlands.  Each bush was loaded with thousands of creamy-yellow blossoms.  The leaves and young twigs are a favored food of Mule Deer.  The seeds are eaten by many birds and rodents, including chipmunks, deer mice, ground squirrels, and woodrats!

The Blue-eyed grass was growing in a wet meadow, and is purple (not blue) with a yellow center!  I often wonder why some species (including birds) have names that don't make sense!  The aptly named Hairy Owl's Clovers were growing in dry, sunny areas and were super hairy!

Nuttall's Larkspur - Common Camas Lily - Common Camas Lily

Delphinium nutallianum - Camassia quamash - Camassia quamash

 The wet meadows were filled with hundreds of beautiful blue (and a few white) Common Camas lilies.  In the Nez Perce language, "camas" means "sweet."  The bulbs of these plants were the most important bulb utilized by the Native Americans.  Areas where these bulbs were abundant were sometimes fought over!  They also used the larkspur flowers to make a blue dye to color feathers, as well as in special ceremonies.

Western Bistort - Acrid Buttercup - Long-stalked Sandwort/Chickweed

Polygonum bistortoides - Ranunculus acris - Stellaria longipes var. longipes

There were also lots of Bistort and Buttercups, in the wet meadows.  Apparently all parts of the Western Bistort are edible, some raw, some cooked.  The name refers to its twisted root.  Among the common Western Buttercups (not pictured), we found a different species of buttercup, the Acrid Buttercup.  However, it is not native to California.  In among the grasses there were a variety of small white flowers, including Long-stalked Sandwort/Chickweed.  It's latin name means "star-shaped".  

The abundant beauty of all these flowers was amazing to see!  

Spring Gold/Lomatium - Arrow-leaved Balsam-root

Lomatium utriculatum - Balsamorhiza sagittata

Later in the week, we drove and hiked up to the Saddleback Fire Lookout. The area was dry but the flowers were plentiful!  Spring Gold/Lomatium was growing in the dry gravely areas. Their umbels of flowers are characteristic of their Carrot, or Apiaceae, plant family.  The Arrow-leaved Balsam-root is easy to mistake for Mule Ears.  One of their obvious differences is the shape of their leaves.  Balsam-root is named after the sticky sap of its taproot.

Twin-leaved Onion - Subalpine Onion - Spreading Phlox

Allium anceps - Allium obtusum - Phlox diffusa

We also came across two types of wild onion on the gravely slopes, as well as an abundance of spreading phlox.  Native Americans roasted and ate most wild onions.  The phlox flowers change from white to lavender once they are pollinated!  It was amazing to see these lovely flowers thriving on the hot, dry, and rocky slopes!

Carmen Valley - Saddleback Fire Lookout - Sierra Valley

Carmen Valley is really close to Sierra Valley, but it's a lot smaller.  It doesn't have the bird population that Sierra Valley has, but it hasn't been grazed by cows and the wildflowers are plentiful.  Both valleys are well worth exploring.  The Saddleback Fire Lookout is located about 8 miles from Downieville, but is only accessible via a dirt road (4WD recommended).  I hadn't been up to the lookout in 24 years!  The last time I was there, I was taking photographs to make drawings for the Tahoe National Forest!  Below is the drawing I did from those photos!  Hard to believe it was 24 years ago!

Saddleback Fire Lookout - Tahoe National Forest - 1995

Black-crowned Night Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax

Birds of Carmen Valley and Sierra Valley

 In Sierra Valley we saw many Yellow-headed Blackbirds, White-faced Ibis, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Cliff Swallows which I've featured in previous posts.  New to us were Ruddy Ducks and a Black-crowned Night Heron!  

The night heron was gorgeous with the water all sparkling behind it!  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, "Black-crowned Night-Herons are opportunists feeders that eat many kinds of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals. Their diet includes leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, mussels, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents, birds, and eggs. They also eat carrion, plant materials, and garbage from landfills. Rather than stabbing their prey, they grasp it in their bills. Black-crowned Night-Herons normally feed between evening and early morning, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day. They may feed during the day in the breeding season, when they need extra energy for nesting."

  

 Ruddy Duck (male - female) - Oxyura jamaicensis

We were astonished by the bright blue of this male Ruddy Duck's bill!  It was incredible!  The female was so camouflaged that at first I thought she was a rock!  I have never seen these ducks before!!

The Cornell Ornithology Lab states, "Both (Ruddy Duck) adults and ducklings eat aquatic insects, crustaceans, zooplankton, and other invertebrates, along with small amounts of aquatic plants and seeds. They forage mostly by diving to the bottom of shallow ponds, straining mouthfuls of mud through thin plates on their bills and swallowing the prey items that are left behind. Occasionally they strain food from the surface of the water. Midge larvae form a large part of their diet. Other food items include water fleas, worms, amphipods, seed shrimp, snails, caddisfly larvae, dragonfly nymphs, predaceous diving beetles and their larvae, bugs, water boatmen, brine fly larvae, crane fly larvae, mosquitoes, mayflies, and plant material from arrowhead, pondweed, muskgrass, bulrushes, bayberry, spikerushes, water lilies, duckweed, and more. Plant material is more common in their diet during migration and winter than during the breeding season."

Western Bluebird (female) and nesting cavity - Sialia mexicana

  In Carmen Valley, my friend Judy spotted a female Western Bluebird fly out of a cavity in a fence post!  The entrance to the cavity was quite large, and at eye level so we took a quick peak inside.  To our delight there were four tiny eggs in a nest!!! 

We left quickly after we saw the eggs, and happily watched the female return to her nest a few seconds later!   

Anna's Hummingbird (Immature) - Calypte Anna

Leave Wild Things Wild

Down at our bird feeders this week I found a sick immature hummingbird on the ground. I had no idea what I could do to help it.  I was on my way to the Wildlife Rehabilitation & Release center that morning, so I brought it with me.  Sadly, the little hummer died on the way to the center. The staff at the center thought that it had probably died from avian pox, which is highly contagious.  

The following quote from the Cornell Ornithology website briefly explains avian pox.

"Two forms of avian pox exist. In the more common form, wart-like growths appear on the featherless areas of the body, such as around the eye, the base of the bill, and on the legs and feet. In the second form, plaques develop on the mucous membrane of the mouth, throat, trachea, and lungs, resulting in impaired breathing and difficulty feeding.

Avian pox can be caused by several strains of the pox virus and has been reported in at least 60 species of birds, including turkeys, hawks, owls, and sparrows. The virus can be spread by direct contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces (e.g., feeders) or by ingestion of contaminated food or water."

The staff at Wildlife Rehabilitation & Release advised me to take down our feeders and clean them with a bleach/water solution, and then wait a few days before putting them back up.  I was REALLY SCARED that other birds at our feeders might die as well, so I called my husband and he immediately took them down.  So far, thankfully, I haven't found any more sick or dead birds.  

I have since decided not to put our feeders back up, and to not feed any wild birds anymore.  There are so many insects, fruits, berries, flowers and natural seeds available right now that I'm sure they will be just fine.  I just want to be sure that I'm helping the birds NOT harming them in any way.  I'm going to really research it.  The death of the hummer really changed how I think about feeding wild birds.  It was a hard lesson.  It is always better to leave wild things wild.  

What kind of insect is this?

Where are the mergansers, heron, and kingfisher?

What bugs are out and about?

Where are the bears?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

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