A Cherry Festival!

American Robin in cherry tree - Turdus migratorius

There are many wild cherry trees in my neighborhood, which have been slowly ripening over the past two months.  Apparently this week they were ripened to perfection!  Lots of American Robins, Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Band-tailed Pigeons, Steller's Jays, and many other birds ate them for days!  They would all feed on one particular tree one day, and then move on to another tree the next day!  Some birds swallowed the cherries whole, some pecked bites from them, others picked the whole cherry, rolled it around in their beaks, and then spit out the pit!  It was so fun listening to and watching all the birds feasting together in the trees!  Such beauty! 

Western Tanager (female) - Piranga ludoviciana

The Western Tanagers were such a delight to watch 

as they daintily ate cherries bite by bite!

Western Tanager (male) - Black-headed Grosbeak (female)   

Piranga ludoviciana - Pheucticus melancephalus

As you can see the trees were LOADED with cherries this year!  Young Black-headed Grosbeaks and young Robins were the most numerous cherry eaters.  You could hear them calling and chirping throughout the day.  Gray Squirrels, Chickarees, Foxes and Black Bears also dined on them!  I haven't seen any Black Bears yet this year.  However, this week there was a lot of bear scat full of cherry pits on our property!  

Black Bear scat

 If we got a game camera we could get photos of the mammals that are active at night, like Black Bears.  I'm thinking about it.  I'll keep you posted.  One of the best night camera blogs is cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com.  Check it out!  It's a fabulous blog, and his photography is amazing!

Sierra Buttes from the Deer Lake Trail 

Lakes Basin Update!

The Lakes Basin is more or less snow free now!  I went hiking to Deer Lake, Smith Lake, Howard Meadows, and Haskell Peak in the past few weeks.  I've seen thousands of wildflowers, lots of birds, and several mammals!  It's gorgeous up there!  Here's a little information about about each hike, in case you're interested in trying them.

The Deer Lake trail is approximately a 4.5 mile round-trip hike, with about 1,500' gain in elevation.  It's in sun and shade, through rocky terrain and forest, with an incredible view of the Sierra Buttes.  Deer Lake itself is a large, clear water, rock-edged lake in a gorgeous setting. The swimming can be heavenly!  The trail is now part of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and we surprisingly passed about 20 backpackers on our way out!

Smith Lake and Beckworth Peak - Howard Meadow - Haskell Peak

The first part of the Smith Lake Trail is hot and uphill, but after less than a mile you'll be in the shaded forest.  The trail then follows a meandering stream through the woods to Smith Lake, passing a wet meadow filled-to-the-brim with wildflowers!  We saw Death Camas, Bog Asphodel, False Asphodel/Tofieldia, Little Elephant Heads, White Brodiaea, Corn Lilies, Sneezeweed, Leopard Lilies and much more!  Smith Lake is a good size lake with easy access, and is definitely warm enough to swim in.  Although it is large, it is more like a pond with plants along the edge and a muddy bottom.  We pressed onward and upward to several more lakes and eventually swam in Maiden Lake, another pond-like lake.

Howard Meadow is a huge wet meadow, about a 4 mile drive down a rough dirt road off the Gold Lake Highway.  We drove our truck there, and it was easy going.   The meadow was in full bloom with Water Plantain Buttercups, Camas, Marsh Marigolds, Larkspurs, Gilia, Pretty Face, and lots more!  In the drier areas surrounding the meadow there were large sections covered in Dodder, Yampah, and thousands of Mule Ears.  We also saw Black Elderberry bushes, Mariposa Lilies, and Stickseeds to name a few!

Haskell Peak is only a 4 mile round trip hike, but you climb about 1000' (in 2 miles) up to the 8,120' peak!  Luckily you're in the shaded forest most of the way.  We saw several plants along the trail, that we had never seen before including Bulbed Woodland Star, California Waterleaf, and Mountain Snowberry!  The last climb to the actual peak is through a steep boulder field.  The view is spectacular from the top, with views of the Sierra Buttes, Sierra Valley, Mt. Elwell, and Mt. Lola!  It's incredibly expansive and lovely, well worth the climb!

Lodgepole Chipmunk - Chickaree/Douglas Tree Squirrel  

Tamias speciosus - Tamiasciurus douglasii

Lakes Basin Mammals!

Chipmunks seem to be everywhere in the Lakes Basin!  I've often seen them busy eating and foraging for seeds on the forest floor. They usually live in underground burrows, or hollow branches.  They live off of stored food over the winter, so they start stashing seeds early in the season.  Chickarees are also active all winter, but usually live in a nest up in a tree.  They too collect food for the winter and do not hibernate.  The chickaree above is probably a juvenile!  

California Mule Deer - Yellow-bellied Marmot

Odocoileus hemionus californicus - Marmota flaviventris

Although not as common as chipmunks and squirrels, I can usually count on seeing a Mule Deer browsing in the Lakes Basin.  They are herbivores and spend their time eating flowers, grasses, shrubs and tree buds!  Yellow-bellied Marmots are also vegetarians.  They eat lots of plants during the summer, and build up their fat reserves for winter.  They are true hibernators, and will basically sleep throughout the winter in an underground burrow.  Deer will migrate down to the snow-free areas for the winter.

Sugar Stick - Allotropa virgata

Lakes Basin Wildflowers

The Lakes Basin is in full bloom!  I've seen several species that I've never seen before, most notably the Sugar Stick pictured above.  It was off of the Mt. Elwell trail in the old growth, Red Fir forest.  There was only one of them and looked a little past its prime!  It turns out that these plants are related to Snow Plants, and do not produce chlorophyll.  They live off of dead plant material with the help of underground fungi.  Apparently they are not that common!  The following quote is from the California Native Plant Society book, Wildflowers  of Nevada & Placer Counties, California.  "Consider yourself lucky if you come across this rare and striking wildflower." Wow!!!  How exciting!!!  

Hot-rock Penstemon - Mountain Pride - Spreading Phlox  

 Penstemon deustus - Penstemon newberryi - Phlox diffusa

Black elderberry - Marsh Marigold - Stickseed sp.(?)

Sambucus melanocarpa - Caltha leptosepala - Hackelia sp.(?)

Mariposa Lily - Gilia - Yampah sp.(?) with California Dodder ground cover

Calochortus leichtlinii - Gilia leptantha - Perideridia bolanderi sp.(?) & Cuscuta californica

Western Spring Beauty - Mountain Snowberry - Bulbed Woodland Star

Claytonia lanceolata -  Symphoricarpos rotundifolius - Lithophragma glabrum

Red-breasted Sapsuckers (adult and juvenile) - Syraphicus ruber  

Lakes Basin Birds!

There are lots of birds up in the Lakes Basin right now!  In the forest near Smith Lake I saw two Red-breasted Sapsuckers on the same tree trunk!  They were an adult and a juvenile!  The adult was hammering away on the trunk while the juvenile watched!  These sapsucker create small wells in a tree trunk (see above photo).  They eat the sap that pools in these wells, as well as the insects that get stuck in the sap! They also eat the cambium layer of trees, seeds, and fruit. There's not much information on the behavior of newly fledged Red-breasted Sapsuckers.  The website https://birdsna.org states, "Parents appear to try to lead just-fledged offspring to higher elevations or to the vicinity of sap wells. Young fed by parents after fledging but not regularly; young try to feed on their own almost immediately."  I guess I was lucky to see these two sapsuckers together!  In the Fall, they will drop down to the coast and/or central valley of California to spend the winter. 

Fox Sparrow - Western Wood-Pewee - Green-tailed Towhee 

Passerella iliaca - Contopus sordidulus - Pipilo chlorurus

I usually see these three bird species every time I go up to the Lakes Basin.  If you see and hear a bird singing from the top of a tree, it is most often a Fox Sparrow.  These birds are year-round residents of the Sierra, but move down to lower elevations in the winter.  They mainly forage on the ground for seeds and berries, but will also eat insects, plant buds and fruit. The gray head, spotted breast, rusty-brown wings and tail are definitive markings for this species.

The Western Wood-Pewee is the most common Flycatcher in the Lakes Basin.  It is almost all dusky-gray in color, including its breast.  It is usually seen perched on a branch, from which it will hawk insects out of the air.  It breeds in the western half of North America, and spends the winter in the northern parts of South America!

Green-tailed Towhees are a striking sight to see with their olive-green tails and red crests.  They usually pass through my neighborhood in the Spring, while migrating to their breeding grounds in the Sierra, from their winter grounds in Mexico.  They are primarily seed and insect eaters.  They prefer to breed and nest in open brushy areas from 6,000'-10,000'! 

Mallard female with ducklings - Anas platyrhynchos

Several of the lakes we visited had ducks with ducklings!  On Deer and Grass Lakes, we saw Malllards.  Mallards nest on the ground, and will lay 1-13 eggs per clutch.  Only the female hen will incubate and care for the young. The ducklings hatch within 28 days.  They are born precocial with downy feathers and open eyes.  They usually leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching, and start feeding immediately!!  They will stay with their mother for approximately 52-70 days, until they can fly.  During that time the mother will lead them to abundant food sources, issue alarm calls when danger is present, and watch over them.  The photos are of two different Mallard hens and their broods.  We were so lucky to see these little ones!

Mallard female with ducklings - Anas platyrhynchos

Bufflehead female with ducklings - Bucephala albeola

On Kinsey and Maiden Lakes we saw Bufflehead ducks.  Buffleheads nest in tree cavities!  Their clutch can range in size from 4-17 eggs!  Incubation is solely by the female, and lasts 30 days.  The ducklings are born precocial, with downy feathers and open eyes.  They leave the nest within 24 hours and begin feeding right away.  The mother cares for the ducklings until they can fly, in approximately 50 days!  The photos are of two different hens and their broods!  It was so fun to watch them follow their mothers around the lakes.  All of the ducklings in the smaller brood were diving underwater for food! Wow!!!

Bufflehead female with ducklings - Bucephala albeola

What is this bird doing?

What insects are out there?

What's happening on the river?

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

If you suddenly stop getting my blog in your email, you need to sign up again. This is a problem with blogspot.com and I can't figure out how to fix it.

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

River Life!

Common Merganser (female) - Mergus merganser

I had an incredible week of wildlife sightings on the North Yuba River this week!!! In these days of environmental uncertainty, it is with relief and joy that I watch the wildlife return to our river. It is wonderful to see this local ecosystem still intact and thriving! The river has warmed up, the water level is a lot lower, and the flow rate has dropped to 400 cfs. This has made it a lot easier for a variety of fish eaters to catch their prey! 

The Common Mergansers (above) returned a while ago, but their numbers have increased in the past week. They are diving ducks, and hunt underwater for fish, aquatic mollusks, insects, crustaceans, worms, frogs and even some small mammals. They can stay underwater for up to two minutes! Their bills are serrated for grabbing slippery prey. The females nest primarily in tree cavities made by woodpeckers! I haven't seen any baby ducks this year. However, merganser eggs have been known to hatch as late as the end of July, so we may still see some ducklings!

Mink (female with 3 young) - Neovision vision

We were on the river one morning this week, when I noticed some movement in the Indian Rhubarb plants on the opposite shore.  To my absolute delight, it was a female Mink with 3 young!!!  WOW!!!  They were moving really fast upstream, in a compact group along the edge of the river.  They would occasionally scramble up on the rock slabs, rustle through the bushes, and then re-enter the river!  We got to watch them for almost 4 minutes!  They eventually crossed the river and swam out of sight.   It was so incredibly amazing!!!  This is first time, in the 32 years I've lived here, that I've seen Mink!  It was such a pleasure to watch these incredible wild animals swim past!  A few days later I saw one very distant River Otter swim across the river with a fish in its mouth!!  WOW!!!  I live in paradise!

Mink (female with 2 young) - Neovision vision

The young Mink weren't newborns.  They were about half the size of their mother, and probably several months old. These young mink will stay with their mother for 6-12 months.  They will then split off to start their own families.  I have never seen live Mink before!!! How exciting!

Mink (female with 3 young) - Neovision vision

If you see a group or pair of Mink together, it is usually a mother with offspring.  Adult male and female Mink, do not stay together.  They only come together briefly to mate.  The female alone raises the pups.

Gray Fox with young kit! - Uryocyon cinereoargenteus

The morning after I saw the River Otters I went back to the same area, hoping to see them again.  I didn't see any otters, but I saw some movement on the opposite shaded bank.  I zoomed in with my camera and was totally astounded to see a Gray Fox with 2 young kits!  WOW!!!  The kits were so cute!  They moved off quickly into the shade, where they were really camouflaged and hard to photograph.  I was able to watch them for a minute or so, until they disappeared into the brush.  These young kits will stay with their parents for approximately 10 months.  Gray Foxes mate for life, and both parents raise the kits!  

Two Gray Fox kits - Uryocyon cinereoargenteus

From a distance, the young foxes looked like young Mountain Lions, 

with their long tails and rounded ears!

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

Every year a few Spotted Sandpipers return from their winter grounds in the southern U.S. or South America, to our section of the river to breed and raise their young.  I spotted one along the shore just this week!  The females sometimes practice polyandry, and will breed with more than one male.  The males will incubate the eggs and feed the young after they hatch!  In the meantime, the female defends the breeding/nesting territory from predators and other sandpipers!  Last year I was lucky enough to see two fledgling sandpipers!  Maybe I'll see some this year as well!

Belted Kingfisher (female) - Megaceryle alcyon

For many months, I haven't seen or heard a Belted Kingfisher on the river.  Luckily I spotted this female a week ago flying down river.  She stopped and checked me out  from a dead branch for a few seconds, before taking off again.  I've seen and heard one several more times since then.  Kingfishers catch prey by diving from perches into the water.  They eat small fish, crayfish, bullfrogs, tadpoles and insects.  Most fish are caught in shallow water or near the surface, usually no deeper than 60 cm.  Clear water and an unobstructed view of prey are essential for successful foraging.  Since they grab prey with their bill, they do not usually submerge.  They regurgitate pellets of undigested fish bones and exoskeletons!  

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

There has always been at least one Great Blue Heron year-round on our section of the North Yuba River.  However, I haven't seen one for months, probably due to the late occurrence of Summer weather and the extremely wet Spring.  Just this week, one has shown up!  I've seen it on the river the past two mornings.  They are large birds, measuring 4' tall, with a wingspan of 7'!  Their method of hunting is to stand motionless in running water, wait for prey to go by, and grab them with their bill.  They will quickly eat fish, frogs, crayfish, aquatic insects, and even ducklings.  They regurgitate pellets of undigested hair, but can digest fish bones.

  

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Last summer there was an Osprey that frequented our section of the river for months.  I took tons of photos of it during that time.  It was so fun!  Just this week, I spotted an Osprey on the river!  I'll never know if it's the same one as last year, but it could be!  Ospreys overwinter in the fish-rich coastal areas of southern California and Mexico, as well as the, coast, lakes, and rivers of South America.  In the spring, they fly north to breed, mainly in Alaska and Canada.  Ospreys are the only raptors that dive feet first to catch fish.  Fish are 99% of their diet!  Last year I saw one flying with a fish in its talons, as well as one diving into the river!

Blue Dasher Dragonfly - Widow Skimmer Dragonfly

Pachydiplax longipennis - Libellula luctuosa

Dragonflies!

Dragonflies are as much a part of our river as River Otters and birds!  In the late afternoon, I like to go down to the river and watch the dragonflies glinting in the sun.  Sometimes there are hundreds of them!  They are incredible flyers, and can hover, zoom forward, and even fly backwards!  Dragonflies catch other flying insects with their legs, while flying.  They also consume their prey while in the air!  They lay their eggs in or near slow-moving water, often on plants. The eggs hatch into nymphs that live underwater for up to several years, depending upon the species!

Four-spotted Skimmer - Western Meadowhawk Dragonfly

Pachydiplax longipennis - Sympetrum occidentale

Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus ssp. oreganus

Reptile Weather!

Reptiles are ectotherms, and are dependent on external sources to maintain their body heat. To regulate their body heat they will bask in the sun when it's cool, and hide in the shade when it's too hot. With the hot temperatures we've been having, I've been wondering if snakes would be out during the day. It turns out that extremely hot temperatures can kill a snake within 10-20 minutes. So when the air temperature reaches the high 90's and into the 100's, snakes seek out shade and wait for the temperature to drop.  We spotted the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (above) on our property this week!  Although rattlesnake bites are not usually deadly for humans, they can be fatal for pets.  We have a small dog, so we hosed this snake and it quickly scooted off our property and went back toward the creek.   

Its rattle had 8 segments. Rattlesnakes create a new segment on their rattle every time they shed their skin. Snakes shed their skin more than once a year when young, and less than once a year when old, so the number of segments in a rattle does not indicate their age. Additionally, segments can get broken off during a snake's lifetime.  Most Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes are active from dusk to dawn, looking for prey!  They eat birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, and small mammals, including mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and ground squirrels. 

Spiny Lizard (?) - Sceloperus sp.

Lizards seem to be everywhere these days!  I photographed these three lizards down by our garden.  I'm not a herpetologist, so I'm just guessing what kind of lizards they are.  The website www.californiaherps.com is a great resource for identification of herptiles (reptiles and amphibians).  Even so, I still find it difficult to identify some lizards!  Apparently their colors can change with temperature changes!

Spiny Lizard (?) - Sceloperus sp.

Is this a female?  Let me know if you know!

Northwestern Fence Lizard - Sceloperus occidentalis occidentalis

The following information is from www.californiaherps.com.

"These lizards are diurnal. Often seen basking in the sun on rocks, downed logs, trees, fences, and walls. Prefers open sunny areas. Active when temperatures are warm, becomes inactive during periods of extreme heat or cold, when they shelter in crevices and burrows, or under rocks, boards, tree bark, etc. Found in a wide variety of open, sunny habitats, including woodlands, grasslands, scrub, chaparral, forests, along waterways, suburban dwellings, where there are suitable basking and perching sites, including fences, walls, woodpiles, piles of rocks and rocky outcrops, dead and downed trees, wood rat nests, road berms, and open trail edges. Common and easily encountered in the right habitat. This is probably the species of lizard most often seen in the state due to its abundance in and near populated areas and its conspicuous behavior."

 I photographed this Black Bear in the river last year!  

I haven't seen any bears yet this year.  Where are they?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What insects are out there?

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

If you suddenly stop getting my blog in your email, you need to sign up again. This is a problem with blogspot.com and I can't figure out how to fix it.

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

On Vacation!

Snowplant - Sarcodes sanguinea

I'm on Vacation, but I'll be back in a few days. You won't believe what I saw!!! Check back next Sunday for some amazing Natural History News! The bright-red, tentacle-looking photo I posted last week was a close-up of this Snowplant!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated, please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com 

Seeps & Bogs

A steep seep on Hwy. 49 - 6/21/19

Last week we explored a few seeps and bogs. Several were local, others were up north in the Plumas National Forest. Most of them were thriving, but one was heavily impacted by grazing. They were all fascinating!

Seeps

Wikipedia states: "A seep or flush is a moist or wet place where water, usually groundwater, reaches the earth's surface from an underground aquifer."  

There's a steep seep (above photo) right off of Highway 49 that is always noticeably green and blooming long before and way after other local slopes.  I've been watching it for several years.  This year I finally hiked/climbed up it and was astounded by what I found!  It was jammed packed with blooming plants, including Seep-spring Monkey Flower, Elegant Brodiaea, Round-toothed Ookow, Keckiella, Skullcap, Mock Orange, wild onion, Globe Gilia, and Soap Root!  There were lots of insects feeding on the flowers, including Hairstreak Butterflies, Variable Checkerspot Butterflies, Annaphila Moths, beetles and bees!  The ground was moist and squishy with moss!  I've gone back several times and have been delighted with this unique ecosystem!  Here are some of the beauties I saw!

Hairstreak on wild onion - Variable Checkerspot Butterfly on Globe Gilia

unknown species on Allium sp. - Euphydryas chalcedona on Gilia capitata

California Skullcap -  Keckiella

Scutellaria californica - Keckiella breviflora

Seep-spring Monkey Flower - Harvest Brodiaea

Mimulus guttatus - Brodiaea elegans

Annaphila Moth - Long-horned Beetle 

Annaphila lithosina - Judolia instabilis

on 

White Brodiaea - Triteleia hyacinthina

Bog Orchid - Stream Orchid - Sierra Rein Orchid

Plantathera sparsiflora - Epipactis gigantea - Plantathera leucostachys

Orchids

Orchids are commonly found in wet seeps and bogs.  Although I didn't find any orchids in the seep mentioned above, there is another seep alongside Highway 49 that is filled with thousands of Stream Orchids, and many Sierra Rein Orchids!  I stop by to take pictures every year. I also found a green Bog Orchid (left photo) in a bog near Harris Meadow!  I've never seen one of these before! How exciting!

Pitcher Plants in Butterfly Valley - Darlingtonia californica

Bogs 

The Forest Service states:  "A bog is a freshwater wetland of soft, spongy ground consisting mainly of partially decayed plant matter called peat. Bogs are generally found in cool, northern climates. All bogs take hundreds or thousands of years to develop. A bog is formed when a lake slowly fills with plant debris. Sphagnum moss, as well as other plants, grow out from the lake's edge. The vegetation eventually covers the lake's entire surface. Plants decay slowly in bogs, because flooding prevents a healthy flow of oxygen from the atmosphere. Bog soils are oxygen and nutrient-poor, and are much more acidic than other soils." 

We visited two different bogs this past week. On Friday we visited Butterfly Valley in Plumas National Forest.  The Forest Service states:  "Butterfly Valley was designated as a botanical area in 1976, due to its outstanding abundance and diversity of plant life.  It is managed to provide the public with an opportunity to enjoy an undeveloped area of profuse floral display."   I had never seen such an abundance of Pitcher Plants, Sundews, Hastingsias, Bog Asphodels, Sneezeweeds, and Leopard Lilies in my life!  The Pitcher Plants were also HUGE, about 2' tall!  It was an amazingly vigorous and thriving wetland, including a bog, with an astounding variety of plants in full bloom! 

On Saturday we drove up to a local bog near Harris Meadow in the Tahoe National Forest.  This bog is not in a preserve and cows graze in it, which decimates the plant population.  There were probably only about 100 Pitcher Plants, fewer Sundews, and not many other wildflowers.  The Pitcher Plants were also much smaller than the ones we saw at Butterfly Valley, only about 8" tall.  The land is owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, not the Tahoe National Forest.  I visited this bog 13 years ago, and it was in much better shape then.  Unfortunately, lots of logging and road building has occurred in the area since then.  What a shame.

Pitcher Plant Flower & Leaves - Darlingtonia californica

Pitcher Plants are carnivorous plants, and are only found in bogs.  They have largish maroon/yellow-green flowers that dangle from tall stalks above their green, pitcher-shaped leaves.  The rounded top of the leaves are covered with translucent small cells that you can see through!  Another name for the Pitcher Plant is Cobra Lily, which I think fits the plant perfectly!  I found these unusual, exotic plants to be exquisitely beautiful!

The Forest Service states: "Darlingtonia californica is a carnivorous plant; it lures, traps, and dissolves insects with its pitcher shaped leaves. Insects are lured to the slippery pitchers by color and nectar. Once the insect enters the bulbous top of the pitcher it becomes disoriented by the translucent quality of the leaves. Then, the insect has a difficulty determining which way to exit. Eventually, the insect gets trapped inside the tube and slides downward toward the bottom of the pitcher where it is dissolved and absorbed as nutrients by the plant."

Round-leaved Sundew (leaves) - Drosera rotundifolia

These wild-looking, sticky plants were growing in the bog near the Pitcher Plants.  Much smaller in size, the leaves are about as big as the end of your thumb, they are easily overlooked.  However, once you see one of them, you'll suddenly realize there are hundreds of them!  Sundews are carnivorous plants, that are only found in bogs. The genus name, Drosera, is Greek for dewy and refers to the moist, glistening, sticky drops on the leaves, to which small organisms stick. Longer-stalked glands near the edge of a leaf slowly bend inward, securing and placing an entrapped organism in the digestive area of stalkless glands. By feeding on insects, Sundews are able to survive on nutrient-poor soils where other plants are at a disadvantage.  WOW!  What a gorgeous, outrageous plant!

Hastingsia - Mountain Sneezeweed

 Hastingsia alba - Helenium autumnale var montanum

False Asphodel/Western Tofieldia - Bog Asphodel

Tofieldia occidentalis - Narthecium californicum

Four-spotted Skimmer - Goldenrod Crab Spider on Western Azalea

Libellula quadrimaculata - Musumen vatia on Rhododendron occidentale

 Bog Bugs

Lots of dragonflies were zooming all over the bog catching the insects that were feeding on the flowers. They catch insects with their legs, and eat their prey while flying!  My friend spotted a Western Azalea that still had a few blooms on it, in the dry woods.  I zipped over to smell it, as their fragrance is heavenly, and just about bumped my nose on the Goldenrod Crab Spider that was totally camouflaged in the flower center!   I don't think the crab spider would have bit me, but if I had been a flying insect I could have been its lunch!

Washington Lily - Lillium washingtonianum

Forest Flowers

Butterfly Valley is not all bog.  It has forests, creeks, and some wet meadows.  We saw quite a few flowers in these areas, some of which we had never seen before!  The Washington Lily (above photo) was in a pool of sunlight in the dark forest!  It had a lovely, feminine fragrance!  The sunlight dramatically lit this graceful, 4' lily!  Such beauty! Below are photos of some of the flowers that were new to us.  Enjoy!

Douglas's Spiraea - Hedge Nettle

Spiraea douglasii - Stachys albens

Bear Grass near Harris Meadow - Xerophyllum tenax

We saw Bear Grass in Butterfly Valley but it had already bloomed and dried up.  However, at the bog near Harris Meadow it was in bud and in full bloom!  Apparently, the cows didn't eat them because they weren't in the bog.  They were poking out of thickets!  I had never seen these 5' tall plants before!  I lucked out and saw about 25 of them, all in various stages of bloom!  WOW!!!  The "bud" is at the top of a green, asparagus-like, 3'-5' stalk.  The flowers bloom from the bottom of the bud to the top.  Some of them looked like hats!  How lucky we were to see them in bloom!  They were incredible!  

Bear Grass sprouts from an underground rhizome, and doesn't always bloom every year.  However, they will bloom profusely after a forest fire!  Native Americans used the grasses to make cooking bowls, mush baskets, basket hats, small baskets, and braided it for necklaces!  Some tribes boiled the root and ate it!  

Dusky-footed Woodrat Home - Neotoma fuscipes

We came across this Dusky-footed Woodrat home near a creek in a forested area of Butterfly Valley!  It was huge, about 5' tall by 7' wide!  On one side of it, there were several entrances.  We also found some freshly cut vegetation in one of the entrances, a sure sign that the home was inhabited.  Woodrat homes can be quite old.  Some have been documented to be over 60 years old!  Large Woodrat homes have 3 or 4 waterproof sleeping rooms that can also be used as birthing nests and nurseries, as well as leaching rooms, food storage rooms, and latrine areas!  Usually only one Woodrat will occupy a home.  However, several other animals use Woodrat homes for lodging, including mice, brush rabbits, salamanders, snakes, frogs, lizards, centipedes, spiders and insects!  WOW!!!

What is the heck is this?

What's happening with the Bullock's Orioles?

What's happening on the river?

Thanks to inaturalist.org, I found out that these ants are all Carpenter Ants.  
They look different because they are major and minor workers.

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

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