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!
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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
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