Local Wildflowers!

Leopard Lily - Lilium pardalinum

In the shady forest and on the sunny slopes there are still lots of wildflowers blooming where I live!  It changes all the time!  Right now, along the streams and in the wet meadows, the Leopard Lilies are starting to bloom.  These gorgeous flowers can be 2-7' tall, with several hanging flowers on each stalk.  Although they are not fragrant, they are gorgeous to look at.  These lilies are the most widespread of the wet-growing lilies in our area.  They reproduce from rhizomes, or continuously growing, horizontal, underground stems which put out lateral shoots and random roots at intervals.  The petals on the one pictured above were unusually deep-red in color, more commonly they are a rich-orange. Such beauty!

Washington Lily - Lilium washingtonianum

  

The Washington Lily pictured above was growing in our local cemetery.! These 4-6' lilies, have tiered whorls of leaves, and clusters of 2-20, 3-5", fragrant flowers.   They smell just like an Easter Lily!  Deer love to eat the buds and often nip them off before they bloom.  They grow in dry shady areas in the forest.  They reproduce from underground bulbs.  They are one of my all time favorite wildflowers!

Leafless Wintergreen - Bridge's Brodiaea/Bridge's Tritelia - Naked-stem Buckwheat

  Pyrola aphylla - Tritelia bridgesii - Eriogonum nudum

I always carry a magnifying hand lens with me when I go exploring.  With this magnifier I can see details in flowers and insects that you can't see well with your naked eye.  It is a world of incredible beauty!  The Bridge's Brodiaea above is so beautiful up close.  It's anthers are blue and the end of the pistil has a lavender cap!  

Hand lenses range in price from $5 to $25 and up.  The one I use is a 10X, glass lens made by Bausch & Lomb, that cost $25.  It's perfect for the field and has incredible clarity.  If you love flowers or bugs, I highly recommend investing in one of these lenses.  You will be amazed!

Clustered Broomrape - White stemmed frasera - Milkwort Jewelflower

  Orobanche fasciculata - Frasera albicaulis - Streptanthus polygaloides

I was thrilled to find the Clustered Broomrape in my neighborhood!  I have never seen one before!  It doesn't have any chlorophyll, so it obtains nutrients from the roots of its host plants, such as Sagebrush and Yerba Santa.  I only saw these two small (4" tall) plants in the entire area!  The White stemmed frasera was another delight to find!  I hadn't seen this plant for many years!  While I was out wandering around my neighborhood this week, I came across hundreds of them on a sunny slope I hadn't visited in years!  Wow!!!  

Monkeyflower (?) - Indian Pink - Buckwheat (?)

  Mimulus sp. - Silene laciniata ssp. californica - Eriogonum sp.

All of these three wildflowers were growing on a dry, sunny, rocky slope.  I'll figure out the species of the Monkeyflower and Buckwheat plants in the near future.  

Seepspring Monkeyflower - Western Ladies Tresses - Scarlet Monkeyflower

  Mimulus guttatus - Spiranthes porrifolia - Mimulus cardinalis 

 

  I found these three species of flowers blooming along the wet roadside ditch I've been observing for the past few months.  I didn't find any tadpoles in the ditch, so they must have changed into frogs!  I was delighted to find the Western Ladies Tresses.  These tiny orchids spiral around the stem, resembling neatly braided hair, hence the common name “ladies tresses”.  Like the Leopard Lily, Ladies Tresses grow from underground rhizomes.  Collection of these rhizomes or any wild plants without a permit is illegal in national forests.  I also discourage picking any wildflowers.  When you pick a wildflower it has lost its chance to produce seeds and reproduce. 

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

River News!

There have been several Spotted Sandpipers along the shoreline, and on the rocks in the river lately.  I just love their beautiful spotted breasts and how they teeter on the rocks.  They have a mating system that's quite different from most birds, in that the females are sometimes monogamous, and sometimes practice polyandry!  They might mate with more than one male, and will often lay three different sets of eggs, in three different nests!  The males do most of the nest building, incubating, and care of the nestlings and fledglings!  The female's job is to defend the multiple nests from any intruders!

Spotted Sandpiper (juveniles) - Actitis macularius

In August of 2018, I happened across this pair of Spotted Sandpiper juveniles!  They were a delight to watch!  Hopefully I'll see some again this year!

Common Merganser female with 16 ducklings - Mergus merganser

More female Common Mergansers and their ducklings showed up on the river this week!  To my delight I spotted this group of 16 ducklings with their mom one morning!  Wow!!!  They were just beautiful and fun to watch!  The little ducklings stayed close to their mom, and followed her wherever she went.  Some of the ducklings even rode on her back!!! The mom also quacked to them if she was alarmed by any unwelcome intruders, and they would quickly group up around her.  

Common Merganser female with ducklings - Mergus merganser

The average brood size of the Common Merganser is 9-12, but they have been known to have as many as 17 ducklings!  I was amazed to see the group of 16 little ducklings!  Within 1-2 days after the ducklings leave their nest, they are capable of swimming, diving, and feeding on their own!  The mom will stay with them for approximately 2 months, warding off predators such as minks, otters, foxes, and herons! In the Fall, they will migrate to southern California or Arizona for the winter.

Common Merganser female with 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

The other female Merganser and her 6 ducklings that I've been observing, is also doing fine.  I first saw them almost a month ago, and they are getting bigger all the time!  They must have been born a lot earlier than the 16 little ones that just arrived.  One morning I saw them all cuddled together, sleeping on a beach just a little downriver! 

Common Merganser female with 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

No matter how many times I see them, it is always a delight and wonder!

Western Tiger Swallowtail & Pale Swallowtail 

 Pipilio rutulus rutulus - Papilio eurymedon

Along the damp shore of the river, butterflies (mostly male) are often found 

"puddling" in large groups.  Puddling is a behavior many butterflies (and a few moths) engage in. Puddling sites can be any of a number of places: mud, dung, fermenting fruit, carrion, urine.  Butterflies are attracted to these sites because they can sip up the salt (sodium) and minerals found there. 

 Pale Swallowtail - Anise Swallowtail - Western Tiger Swallowtail

 Papilio eurymedon - Papilio zelicaon - Pipilio rutulus rutulus

I've seen Pale Swallowtail and Western Tiger Swallowtail butterflies many times.  New this year is the Anise Swallowtail pictured above!  I had never seen one of these before, but they should be found in our area.  They lay their eggs on plants in the Apiacaea/Umbelliferae or carrot/parsley family, such as Spring Gold (Lomatium utriculatum).

Silver-spotted Skipper  - Great Spangled Fritillary - Clodius Parnassian

 Epargyreus clarus - Spyeria cybele - Parnassius clodius sol

Down in our garden there are lots of butterflies and a few skippers.  Skippers, like the one pictured above left, are not  true butterflies.  They have hooked antennae, a moth-like body, and their wings are held at a different angle than true butterflies.  Like true butterflies, skippers have scales on their wings, a coiled sucking mouth part, and a complete metamorphosis.

 

Great Spangled Fritillary (female - male)

Spyeria cybele

Male and female Lepidopterans (butterflies, skippers, and moths) 

may look alike, or they may look totally different!  The male Great Spangled

 Fritillary is black and white in coloration!

What are these fuzzy white things?

Where are the  foxes and bears?

What bugs are buzzin'?

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

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.
Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

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

Lakes Basin Beauty!

I've been hiking in the Lakes Basin for the past five weeks, but haven't had time to write about what I've observed.  So here's an attempt to catch up on what's happening in the Lakes Basin!  First of all, the snow is mostly all gone, except for a few patches here and there, and the trails are open.  It's really lush and green and there are tons of wildflowers in bloom, but there are still lots more to come.  It's early spring up there, and the Corn Lilies are about waist high, and haven't bloomed yet!  Lots of birds are singing in the woods and meadows, and insects are everywhere.  The lakes are chilly and really full, but we've already gone swimming!  The clouds have been gorgeously glorious, and have brought late rains to the area.  It couldn't be more perfectly beautiful!

Sierra Buttes 5/15/20

So if you have the time, get up to the Lakes Basin and go hiking!!!  

(Most of the snow in this photo is now gone, as I took it a month ago.)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (male) in a Bitter Cherry

Setophaga coronata - Prunus emarginata

Lakes Basin Birds

At the beginning of one of our hikes, this Yellow-rumped Warbler zoomed past and landed in a Bitter Cherry bush right next to us!   He posed so beautifully for us, with his incredibly dramatic feathering!  In the Spring they migrate up to coniferous forests to breed, from their winter range in the desert southwest, or even from as far south as Costa Rica!  Their breeding range extends across the western states, and up into Alaska and across Canada.  The Lakes Basin is one of the southern most areas in which they breed. 

(I've identified the birds as male/female or adult.  

If they are listed as "adult", the male and female look alike.)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (male) - Setophaga coronata

They mainly feed on insects and other small invertebrates in the summer, and switch to insects and berries in the winter.  This male conveniently turned its backside to us, and we could plainly see its yellow rump!  It also faced us, and we saw the bright golden-yellow throat, black breast, and white belly!  Such beauty!

Yellow-rumped Warbler fledgling - Setophaga coronata

Last year, I luckily got a photo of a Yellow-rumped Warbler fledgling in the Lakes Basin.  It is so amazingly camouflaged, I just had to post it again this year!  Its head is turned to the side with its beak pointing straight up. You can see one of its eyes if you look above the fuzzy yellow feathers!

Hairy Woodpecker - Red-breasted Sapsucker - White-headed Woodpecker

(male + female - adult - female)

 Dryobates villosus - Sphyrapicus ruber - Dyrobates albolarvatus

On another hike we saw three species of woodpeckers!  In one area there were a lot of beautiful, silver trees that a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers were inspecting.  Hairy Woodpeckers nest in deciduous trees.  Both the male and the female excavate the nest, incubate the eggs, feed the nestlings, and care for the fledglings.  75% of their diet is insects and small invertebrates, including wood-boring beetles, ants, and spiders!  These lovely woodpeckers live year-round across the U.S. and up into Canada.

In California, Red-breasted Sapsuckers migrate up from their winter residence on the coast or Central Valley to breed in the Sierra.  They nest in the trunk, or a dead portion, of a coniferous or deciduous tree.  The male does most of the excavation of the nest.  Both male and female incubate the eggs, feed the nestlings, and care for the fledglings.

They eat mainly sap from trees, as well as insects, tree cambium, fruits and seeds.  Unlike other woodpeckers, Red-breasted Sapsuckers drill horizontal, parallel rows of shallow "wells", in which tree sap collects.

White-headed Woodpeckers live in the Lakes Basin year round!  They usually nest in dead, large conifers.  Both the male and the female excavate the nest, incubate the eggs, feed the nestlings, and care for the fledglings.  Unlike most woodpeckers, their main food is pine seeds from cones, as well as insects and their larvae!

Black-backed Woodpecker (female) and nest 

 Picoides arcticus

We also saw a potential nest of the rare Black-backed Woodpecker!   Typically these woodpeckers chip off the bark around the nest hole.  Although the nest site looked recently created, we didn't see any bird activity.   I saw an actual Black-backed Woodpecker two Springs ago in the Lakes Basin!!!  These birds prefer to live in burnt forests, where wood boring insects are usually plentiful after a fire.  Unfortunately, since burnt trees are commercially harvested these days, their population has alarmingly declined.  I'm going back to the nest site this coming week, to watch and wait to see if this nest is occupied.  That would be SO cool!  

Olive-sided Flycatcher - Green-tailed Towhee - Fox Sparrow

 (adults)

 Contopus cooperi - Pipilo chlorurus - Passarella iliaca

Lots of birds are singing in the Lakes Basin!  

The three pictured above are the some of the ones most commonly heard and seen!

American White Pelican (adult) - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Numerous times during our hikes, we were treated to the sight of flocks of American White Pelicans migrating east!!!  In previous blogs I had stated that maybe they breed in Sierra Valley.  However, one of my blog followers wrote in and told me that they are migrating to Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake, Nevada.  Which is one of the primary inland breeding areas for these Pelicans!  I was at Pyramid Lake once in my life, about 40 years ago.  Maybe I need to go again!  They were so beautiful to watch!

Drummond's Anemone - Anemone drummondii

Lakes Basin Wildflowers!

We saw so many wildflowers on our hikes!  It was gorgeous!  Here are some of the most common ones, as well as a few uncommon ones!  

We found the Drummond's Anemones pictured above, around 7,000' in elevation in one small area.  We've only seen them in this one area of the Lakes Basin!  They are not listed as rare, but are definitely uncommon.  Some were a brilliant sky-blue, others were pale lavender or white.  Just lovely!

  

Purple fawn lily - Snow plant - Peony

Erythronium purpurascens - Sarcodes sanguinea - Paeonia brownii

Bogbean/Buckbean - Spreading Phlox - Spring beauty

Menyanthes trifoliata - Phlox diffusa - Claytonia lanceolata

Bridge's gilia -  Meadow deathcamas -  One seeded pussypaws

Navarretia leptalea - Toxicoscordion venenosum - Calyptridium monospermum

Capitate sandwort - Mahala mat - Three leaved Lewisia 

Arenaria congesta - Ceanothus prostratus - Lewisia triphylla 

Spotted fritillary  -  Fritillaria atropurpurea

I had only seen one Spotted fritillary in my life, until last week when we came across a semi-forested knoll that had about 50-70 of them in bloom!  WOW!!!  Their mottled, grayish-purple color serves as great camouflage, and they were difficult to spot.  Even though they aren't brilliantly colored, they were beautiful to find!  

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel - Columbian Black-tailed Deer

(adult - female)

Spermophilus lateralis - Odocoileus hemonius columbianus

Lakes Basin Mammals!

We saw lots of chipmunks and ground squirrels in the forest on our hikes, but no bears or marmots.  We did however see the doe pictured above, that looked like it was pregnant!  Hopefully we'll see more mammals next time!

What's happening on the River?

Where are the Bears?

What bugs are buzzin'?

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

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you. 

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

Success Stories!

Common Merganser (female) and 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

There are lots of nestlings fledging right now!  I find it so amazing that they survived through the nestling stage!  There are so many factors that can adversely affect nestlings, such as extreme weather, lack of natural food (eg. too cold for insects to be active), parasitic mites, disease, and predators.  Lots of critters prey on bird eggs and baby birds, such as tree-climbing snakes, Pine Martens, Raccoons, squirrels, and other birds.  Nesting periods can be as short as 12 days or as long as 55 days!  

In the case of waterfowl, nestlings are born precocial and leave the nest usually within 24-48 hours after hatching!  Last week I spotted this female Common Merganser and her 6 ducklings on the river!  Yay!  They made it!  The average incubation time for Common Mergansers is 32 days!!!  That's a long time!  They are tree cavity nesters, and prefer to use old Pileated Woodpecker nests, or natural cavities in a tree trunk.  They will also nest on the ground.  As fledglings they need to watch out for predators, such as River Otters and American Mink.  It will probably be 60 to 75 days before they are able to fly. 

Common Merganser (female) and 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

The ducklings weren't tiny and looked like they were probably several weeks old!  I watched them for a long time as they dove for insects, groomed themselves, and swam with their mother!  It was beautiful to watch! 

 

Canada Geese and 2 goslings - Branta canadensis

The two pairs of Canada Geese, and their 4 offspring are still doing just great!  The goslings won't be able to fly for approximately 56 days.  They will stay with their parents for their entire first year.  

Canada Geese goslings - Branta canadensis

Every time I seem them, the goslings have gotten a lot bigger!  It is so amazing to see!  I'm surprised that the foxes or otters haven't eaten them, but apparently the parents are quite good at warding off predators!  

Downy Woodpecker and nestling (both female) - Dryobates pubescens

I'm so happy to tell you that the Downy Woodpecker couple, that I wrote about in my May 9th blog, have successfully raised at least two offspring that fledged last week!  Yahoo!  I watched the parents excavate the nest from April 13-25.  On May 4th, a pair of European Starlings tried to move into a nest cavity right above the Downy's nest cavity.  After 3 days of constant harassment by the male Downy, the Starlings left!  Around May 9th, both parents started flying back and forth to the nesting cavity, bringing food to the nestlings.  23 days later, on June 2, I saw male and female nestlings poking their heads out of the nest, one at a time!  On the morning of June 5th the nestlings were really extending their heads out of the nest, and by that afternoon they had fledged!  I didn't see the nestlings actually leave the nest, but they are no longer in the nest cavity. The parents will apparently feed the fledglings for an additional 3 weeks! 

Downy Woodpecker and nestling (both male) - Dryobates pubescens

I'm really hoping to see the fledglings in the area soon! 

I am just so thrilled that this Downy Woodpecker family survived and is thriving!

4 Steller's Jay nestlings ready to fledge! - Cyanocitta stelleri

On May 28th, I photographed these Steller's Jay nestlings for the first time.  Back then they looked so weak and wobbly!  They fledged from the nest this week, two days after I took the above photo!  The parents will still feed them for approximately another month.  They may even stay together as a family group (but not in the nest) until this coming fall or winter!  They were so fun to watch!  I hope I see them in the area soon!  However, the fledgling stage is full of perils.  The following information on fledglings is from the website toughlittlebirds.com.

"Fledglings are at one of the most dangerous time in their lives, facing an average mortality rate of 42% over just a week or two.  Most of that mortality happens early, just after the little guys have left the nest.  New fledglings have almost no skills: they can't feed themselves, can't fly well (or, in many cases, at all) and can't do anything to defend themselves if something terrifying like a weasel, snake, crow, or even chipmunk decides to eat them.  

So why do they fledge at all?  Because staying in the nest would be even more dangerous.  A flightless baby bird's chief defense is being hidden, and a nest, while it is often hidden, has disadvantages.  After two weeks of the parents feeding their chicks, there is a lot of evidence around indicating where the nest is: the nest will smell like birds; the parents will be in the area noticeably frequently; and if an intelligent predator like a Steller's Jay gets the idea to watch parental movement, it will quickly learn where the nest is.  A baby bird out of the nest can do better, as long as it is capable of running and perching, since it can change hiding places and can hide separately from its siblings."

Sierra Stonecrop - Sedum obtusatum

What's Blooming?

Since we've been getting some rainy days over the past month everything is still lush and green.  There are LOTS of wildflowers in bloom along the highway and in the woods.  Here are the ones I've commonly seen over the past month, and more are still to come!  Enjoy!

Vari-leafed Phacelia - Stream Orchid - Fringe Cups

Phacelia heterophylla - Epipactis gigantea - Tellima grandiflora

Roundtooth Ookow - Bridge's Rose - Crimson Columbine

Dichelostemma multiflorum - Rosa bridgesii - Aquilega formosa

Spotted Coral Root - California Poppy - Hartweg's Iris

Corallorhiza maculata - Eschscholzia californica - Iris hartwegii

Mock Orange - Varied leaved collomia - Little Prince's Pine

Philadelphus lewisii - Collomia heterophylla - Chimaphila menziesii

Harvest Brodiaea - Diamond Clarkia - Mustang Mint (?)

Brodiaea elegans - Clarkia rhomboidea - Monardella sp.

Pacific Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer catenifer

Snakes!

We've had hot and cool weather, ranging from the 50's to the 90's!  On the warm days I've seen a few snakes!  This Pacific Gopher Snake was pretty big and incredibly camouflaged!  Although it looked like a Rattlesnake, it doesn't have a rattle and didn't make a sound.  It did strike up a defensive pose!  I've since read that they will flatten their head and shake their tail in the dry leaves!  However, these snakes are not poisonous and kill their prey by constriction.  They can climb trees and burrow underground.  They feed on rodents, rabbits, birds and their eggs, and occasionally lizards.

Pacific Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer catenifer

I was quite happy that it wasn't a Rattlesnake!

Valley Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. fitchi

This Valley Garter Snake is the inland subspecies of the Red-sided Garter Snake, that's found in the coastal areas of California.  We saw this snake up in the Lakes Basin around 6,500' in elevation!  These snakes are not poisonous, but can bite!  They tend to live near wet areas where they eat fish, toads, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, birds, small mammals, earthworms, slugs and leeches.  I'd never seen one of these before, with it's distinctive red markings!

Western Yellow-bellied Racer - Coluber constrictor mormon

I spotted this Western Yellow-bellied Racer in our garden last week!  This time it held still just long enough for me to take a photo.  Usually they disappear in seconds!  They are not poisonous, and kill their prey by pining it down with loops of their body and engulfing it!  They eat frogs, lizards, small mammals, and insects.

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Mammal Sightings

I saw these two Columbian Black-tailed Deer along the highway this week.  The antlers of these bucks have started to grow and are covered in "velvet", a highly vascular skin which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing  bone.  The antlers will be full-size by this coming Fall.  The females should be having their fawns soon!  I haven't seen any does in a while.  I would love to see one with a pair of fawns!

American Mink - Neovision vision

 

To my surprise and delight, I saw this American Mink on a river bank one morning last week! Wow!!! The last time I saw a Mink was last year on July 14th, when I saw a family of four swimming in the river (" River Life!" blog - July 21, 2019)! This one was clearly hunting among the rocks and boulders of a river bank. It was moving so fast, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a good photo, so I just took a few wide-angle shots and watched it rush along. I only watched it for about two minutes, but it was SO exciting! It wasn't slender, but rather stocky and muscular in appearance. The fur was a rich, warm, dark-brown.

I have since been back to the same site several times, but haven't seen it again. I was hoping that maybe its den was nearby. Their young are born sometime between April and May, and the female alone cares for them. I'll keep checking back. These beautiful animals are in the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, otters and ferrets. They hunt on land and in water, and prey on ducks, fish, frogs, crayfish, amphibians, shrews, muskrats, rabbits, mice, birds, and insects! How lucky I was to watch this lovely creature!

Broad-footed Mole - Scapanus latimanus

I found this dead Broad-footed Mole about a month ago, during a rainy period.  It had been raining heavily for several days.  Sometimes, animals that live underground can get flooded out in periods of heavy rain.  I was sorry that it had died, but it was a great opportunity to examine it closely.  You shouldn't pick up dead wildlife, as they may carry a communicable disease.  Instead, I moved it around with twigs I found on the ground.  It had such amazing front feet!  They were wide and HUGE!  These moles are fossorial in structure, or "built for digging", with big shoulder muscles and front paws.  They dig tunnels underground to live in, and while looking for food. They eat insects, beetles, insect larvae, worms, and occasionally seeds and flower bulbs.  They have tiny eyes and ears, but have excellent hearing.  They also have specialize receptors on their snouts called "Eimer's Organs", that confer a higher degree of touch sensitivity than other mammals.  A good thing to have when you live in underground darkness!

Douglas Squirrel/Chickaree - Western Gray Squirrel

Tamiasciurus douglasii - Sciurus griseus

The Douglas Squirrels/Chickarees  and the Western Gray Squirrel are enjoying the bounty of this green growing season.  If they are females they are busy raising their young, which they keep out of sight until they are almost full grown.

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Where are the Bears?

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

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you. 

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com