The Skies are Clearing!

After 10 days of heavy smoke, the sky finally cleared briefly on Thursday morning! We were even able to see clouds again! The smoke was back a few hours later, but the forecast is for sunny skies starting this Saturday. The heavy thundershowers and lightning that were predicted for this past Tuesday, didn't really materialize. We got a few sprinkles of rain instead! Thanks goodness! We don't need anymore lightning! There are still hundreds of fires burning in California, but the two closest to us are essentially extinguished. My sister's home isn't in any danger, although that fire is still going strong. Whew! What's scary is that this is JUST the beginning of the fire season. We still have 2 or more months to go before it will be over. I just hope for rain, without lightning, every day, all day. Thanks again to the firefighters who have been battling these blazes and putting their lives on the line!

 

Rain drops dotted the river rocks!

Scarlet Monkeyflower - Mimulus cardinalis

Neighborhood News!

Among the river rocks the Scarlet Monkeyflowers are still blooming!  I find this amazing, since I first saw them blooming on June 22, more than 2 months ago!  They are such a brilliant contrast to the surrounding greenery!

Bouncing Bet/ Soapwort - Lady's Thumb

Saponaria officinalis - Persicaria maculosa

Two non-native, invasive plants are also thriving among the river rocks, Bouncing Bet and Lady's Thumb. Bouncing Bet/Soapwort has long been used as a cleansing agent, as the roots contain a lather that serves as a soap substitute. The deer will not eat it.  Apparently its name comes from buxom barmaids shaking the plants in a bottle to create suds.  Was it the barmaids or the plants that were bouncing?  Hmmm...

The Lady's Thumb is so called, because of a dark green splotch on the leaves, which supposedly resembles a lady's thumb! Now THAT takes a stretch of the imagination!  I would have named it "Pink Pearls" or something like that.  I am, however, glad that the plant name wasn't named "Lady's Thumb" after its flowers, because that would had to have been inspired by a rather sore, diseased, and distressed thumb!

Mallard (juveniles?) - Anas platyrhynchos

New this week, I spotted a group of 6 juvenile Mallards on the river!  They aren't commonly seen here, but I have seen them in the past during the Fall.  The Canada Geese and the Common Mergansers have joined with others of their own species, and are currently in groups of 14 Geese and 13 Mergansers!  They could be large groups of juveniles, or molting adults, or juveniles and adults together.  I'm not sure what is going on!

Great Blue Heron (juvenile - adult) -  Ardea herodias

I've been seeing 2 Great Blue Herons on the river lately, and only just realized that one was a juvenile!  The overall dark gray head and streaky breast indicate that it is a juvenile!  So now my question is if Great Blue Herons nest in colonies, where did this juvenile come from?  The Cornell Ornithology site states, "Juveniles tend to wander in late summer."  I need to do some research and find out where this juvenile was possibly born.

Northern Flicker (juvenile, male) - Western Tanager (juvenile)

Colaptes auratus - Piranga ludoviciana

Lately I've seen a fair number of juvenile birds!  The Northern Flicker will probably live here year-round, unless there is too much snow on the ground.  If it can't find food to eat, it will migrate to the foothills where snowfall is typically little to none.

The juvenile Western Tanager will migrate to southern Mexico or Central America for the winter.  They will start leaving our area within the next week or two!  They are so colorful for juveniles!  Just beautiful!

Black-throated Gray Warbler - Bushtit

Setophaga nigrescens - Psaltriparus minimus

                                                                                                                                                                                

I've also seen two flocks of little birds in the trees lately.  One was a flock of Black-throated Gray Warblers!  At first I thought these were Mountain Chickadees, but after looking at the photos, I realized they were warblers!  I'd only seen one of these before, just last spring.  These are little birds (5" long) and usually breed in Pinyon Pine/mixed pine woodlands, with brushy undergrowth, although sometimes in mixed conifer/oak woodlands.  They may have bred on the east side of the Lakes Basin, where there are Pinon Pines.  They eat mainly small caterpillars and insects that they glean from leaves. They have already started on their migration down to southern Mexico for the winter.  They probably just stopped by to forage for food on the way!

The other flock was a group of tiny Bushtits!  Apparently these tiny birds (4.5" long) live all over California except for the desert and high mountain areas.   For the most part, they breed and nest in brushy habitats such as chaparral, residential areas, and second growth forests.  Their nests are an unmistakable, long (6"-12"), sock-like nest made out of spider webs, lichen, and plant parts!   I've never seen one of their nest in our area, even though it is possible they breed here.  Their breeding season is over, so they are probably just here temporarily, foraging for insects and spiders!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

I've seen Columbian Black-tailed Deer fairly often in my neighborhood lately.  The Mountain Lions must not be around!  They're almost always foraging on vegetation.  They always see me way before I see them.  They must have keen hearing and sight, coupled with a well developed sense of smell!

Coastal Rainbow Trout - Onchoryhncus mykiss irideus

The most common species of fish in the North Yuba River is the Coastal Rainbow Trout, which are native to California, but have been planted locally. On Monday, June 23 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife planted 3,000 lbs. of rainbow trout into the North Yuba River at Downieville!  I finally got a photo of one this week!  They are super camouflaged, because they have a LOT of predators!

Rufous Hummingbird feeding on Anderson Thistle

Selasphorus rufus - Cirsium andersonii

Revisiting the Hummers Thistle Patch!

On Monday, August 17th, before the smoke enveloped our area, I revisited the patch of Anderson Thistles where dozens of Rufous Hummingbirds feed.  Luckily, the thistles were still blooming and the hummers were still feeding!  My husband and I had initially visited this area two weeks before.  To my delight, dozens of hummers were still chattering away as they flew, hovered, and fed in the thistle patch.  It is truly one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!  This must be one of their favorite stopovers on their migration south to their winter grounds in southern Mexico!

Red  Mound Ants and Aphids on Anderson Thistle

Formica integroides - super family Aphidoidea - Cirsium andersonii

As I walked around and observed the hummers, I found a thistle that had red ants on it!  There was only one of them like this.  As I looked closer, I realized that there were aphids on the thistle as well.  The Red Ants were probably "milking" the aphids for the "honeydew" that they excrete!!! 

Anderson Thistle going to seed!

Cirsium andersonii

I also came across this GORGEOUS thistle head that had started to go to seed.  I was astounded by its delicately colored beauty!  Wow!  I am going to collect some seeds and try growing them in my area!

Mountain Quail (male)- Oreortyx pictus

Every so often we would hear the Mountain Quail calling from the bushes.  I went looking for them and saw several coveys of Quail dash for cover as I approached, but never got a photo.  I took the photo above in our neighborhood a few years ago.  They are so beautiful aren't they?  They come up from our neighborhood to breed in the higher elevations.  They'll start their return down-slope migration soon!

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel - Lodgepole Chipmunk

Spermophilus lateralis -Tamias speciosus

Down where we live, these two critters never show up.  They prefer to live in the higher elevations, and live off of stored food during the winter.  I love watching them leap, climb, and eat in the woods!

Anderson Thistle - Winter Wren

Cirsium andersonii - Troglodytes hiemalis

This Anderson Thistle has dried all the way up and is ready for the wind to scatter its seeds!  Nearby, I watched this little Winter Wren search for invertebrates in the dead trees on the ground.  I'm pretty sure this is a Winter Wren, as I observed it around 6,700' in elevation.  It will probably migrate down-slope to avoid the snow in winter.  It was incredibly camouflaged among the dead tree limbs. 

 

Rufous Hummingbird feeding on Anderson Thistle

Selasphorus rufus - Cirsium andersonii

I was reluctant to leave this magical spot, and hope to return again soon before the thistle have all dried up!

What the heck kind of spider is this???

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Are the bears still around?

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

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Hot & Smoky!

North Yuba River - 8/21/20

California is on fire! Right now about 600 wildfires are burning in our state! The largest fire being the LNU Lightning Complex Fire (including Sonoma and Lake counties) at 314,217 acres! My sister lives near the top west side of this fire, and had to evacuate yesterday evening. So far their home is okay. Whew!!! My fingers are crossed! Luckily for us, there are no local fires happening. We do have a LOT of smoke coming into our area from fires to the east, west, and south of us. The local forecast for Sunday night through Monday night is, "A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Chance of precipitation is 20%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms." I'm hoping for buckets of rain and minimal or no lightning! Please!!!

North Yuba River 

Downriver view and Upriver view

We are so grateful for all the fire fighters who are out risking their lives,

battling these fires!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Copper sparkles from the smoky sunrise

A Morning on the River

Needless to say, I haven't been up in the Lakes Basin hiking in the heavy smoke.  However, I have been wandering along the river for several hours early every morning, before the gnats and smoke get in my eyes.  One morning in particular was amazingly beautiful!  The rising sun was a brilliant magenta through the smoke, and the resulting sparkles on the river were copper in color!  It was marvelous to watch!

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

The river life doesn't seem to be affected much by the smoke!  This American Dipper was just bobbing up and down on the rocks and occasionally diving in and searching for food underwater.  The copper sparkles just added to its beauty!

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

From the other side of the river, I also saw the Merganser mom that started out with 16 ducklings 2 months ago.  Currently she has 8 juveniles that are just about fully grown.  Right around now, or in another 2 weeks, they should be able to fly.  They will migrate to a southern part of the U.S for the winter, or maybe just down to California's Central Valley.  Their migration will start in October.  I'm glad these 8 siblings have survived!

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

I saw two Ospreys that morning, and one of them had a large fish!  It amazes me that they can catch a fish by diving feet first into the river!  They usually catch  fish in shallow water, but have been known to dive up to 3' in depth!  Scales on the soles of their feet have sharp points, which makes them able to hold onto slippery fish!  I've never actually seen and Osprey catch a fish.  Now that would be something!

 Osprey (juvenile - adult) - Pandion haliaetus

 

The two Ospreys I've seen locally are easy to tell apart.  One of them is a juvenile and has a pure white breast. The other one is an adult and has a smattering of gray feathers on its breast.  Unlike the field guide, the juvenile has golden eyes, not red ones.   Apparently juvenile eye color changes from red to yellow in their first Fall.  I have usually only seen one Osprey on the river.  It makes me curious to see two of them now, often in communication with each other.  Are they a male and a female?  Are they related?  I know so little! 

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

For the past two months there have been 4 adults, and 3 juvenile Canada Geese on our section of the river.  That morning 12 Canada Geese flew by!  Have 5 new geese just arrived and joined our 7 local Geese?  Or is this an entirely new group that flew over from Sierra Valley?  I'll see what evolves and get back to you!

Anna's hummingbird (male) - Calypte anna

Down in the Garden!

We have a large beautiful garden filled with flowers and vegetables.  Almost every day I spend a few hours out there weeding and watering.  Right now the Sunflowers are in full bloom and the bees are buzzing!  The hummingbirds are feeding on the Zinnias, Bee Balm, Hollyhocks, and Phlox.  We mainly get Anna's Hummingbirds, but once in a while a Rufous Hummingbird stops by. 

Hummer feeding on Zinnias

Last year, I decided to not feed the birds anymore ("To Feed or not to Feed" Dec. 15, 2019 blog), and am happy to see them feeding on our flowers instead of the feeders!

Yellow Garden Spider (female, top & bottom) - Argiope aurantia

To my surprise I found this huge spider on its web in our garden last week!  Including the legs it measured more than 3" long!!!  WOW!  The brown and yellow topside was super camouflaged among a bunch of blooming yellow composites.  I watched it for 4 days, and then it was gone!  It mainly remained motionless near the center of its web, waiting for prey to get caught in the sticky spiral threads.  The last time I saw it, it was busily wrapping up a grasshopper with its silk!  I don't know where it went, or if some critter ate it.  Later in the week, I found 3 more of this same species of spider, in their webs above a roadside ditch along the highway! 

It turns out that these spiders are commonly found across Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Central America.  I haven't seen these spiders before!  I just haven't been a close enough observer.  En.wikipedia.org has the following interesting information about its reproduction method.  

"Yellow garden spiders breed twice a year. The males roam in search of a female, building a small web near or actually in the female's web, then court the females by plucking strands on her web. Often, when the male approaches the female, he has a safety drop line ready, in case she attacks him. The male uses the palpal bulbs on his pedipalps to transfer sperm to the female. After inserting the second palpal bulb, the male dies, and is sometimes then eaten by the female.

The female lays her eggs at night on a sheet of silky material, then covers them with another layer of silk, then a protective brownish silk. She then uses her legs to form the sheet into a ball with an upturned neck. Egg sacs range from 5/8" to 1" in diameter. She often suspends the egg sac right on her web, near the center where she spends most of her time. Each spider produces from one to four sacs with perhaps over a thousand eggs inside each. She guards the eggs against predation as long as she is able. However, as the weather cools, she becomes more frail, and dies around the time of the first hard frost"

In the spring, the young spiders exit the sac. They are so tiny that they look like dust gathered inside the silk mesh. Some of the spiderlings remain nearby, but others exude a strand of silk that gets caught by the breeze, carrying the spiderling to a more distant area."

Dragonfly sp. -  Western Meadowhawk

species unknown - Sympetrum occidentale

Lots of dragonflies are flying and perching in our garden.  There must be bugs for them to eat!  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! 

Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus oreganus

For the first time ever, I came across a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake in our garden this week!!!  It rattled before I saw it, and luckily I didn't step on it!  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera.  Rats!  (The one pictured above, I found dead on the highway a while ago.)  I quickly ran and got my camera, but when I returned to the garden the rattlesnake had vanished!  Hope I see it again, but from a distance!

  

Common Gartersnake - Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi

News Flash!!!  I just went down to our garden to pick some tomatillos and I spotted this tiny, young Common Gartersnake up in some Feverfew flowers, about 3' off the ground!  WOW!!!  It was so thin and only about 6" long!  I had been weeding nearby, and maybe it climbed the Feverfew to get away from me!  Anyway, it was so tiny and pretty in the flowers!  The flowers in the photo are about as big as the end of your thumb.  Hope you enjoy this photo!

Tiny lizard (species unknown)

I've been seeing lots of these little lizards in our garden.  Most of them are only 2.5" long!   I think they might be Side-blotched lizards, but I'm not sure.   I'm hesitant to try and catch them, because I don't want to stress them out!  They are so camouflaged in the dry grasses and weeds!  These little ones won't be full-sized till next Spring.  Soon, cool temperatures will cause them to bury themselves under the decaying leaves on the forest floor, where they will spend the winter in a state of torpor.

California Tent Moth Caterpillars - Malacosoma californicum

All over our area there are "tents" of silken threads in the leafy trees.  The one pictured above, is in a walnut tree right above our garden.  These translucent tents are made from the silk of California Tent Moth Caterpillars. The tents are created for the protection of the caterpillars, while they eat the leaves of their host tree. They are native to North America. These caterpillars have recently hatched from a mass of eggs, that were laid by an adult moth last fall.  They will pupate soon, then hatch out as adult moths and lay more eggs.  In some areas of North America these caterpillars have created a lot of damage to trees, especially aspens. Luckily in our area their population is not at an infestation level. We see them every year, but not in huge concentrations.

Giant Blazing Star - Evening Primrose sp.

 Mentzelia laevicaulis - Oenothera sp.

There's almost always something blooming in our neighborhood, even when it's hot and dry.  I found these three, lovely yellow species in full bloom along the highway!  The descriptions below are from the excellent field guide Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California - Second Edition, published by the Redbud Chapter of  the California Native Plant Society in 2017.

"(Blazing Star) Flourishes in the summer heat in largely inhospitable places.  Blooming begins after most other wildflowers have faded and given way to the summer heat.  A coarse plant with pretty flowers, but is unpleasant to touch because of barbed hairs on the foliage."

"All evening primroses open with a sudden quick motion that some claim can not only be seen but can also be heard.  They open at night or late evening and close by midday.  The flowers have a perfume that attracts moths.  The genus name is Greek for "wine scented."  It blooms throughout the summer." 

Rosin weed - Calycadenia truncata

This unusual two-petaled flower is growing in many areas along the highway.  The blossoms look like little butterflies!  Last night my friend Peggy, who is an amazing botanist, identified it for me as Rosin weed - Calycadenia truncata!!!  The number of petals varies.  About 10 feet away from the plant pictured above, I found the same species with 5 petals!  I thought it was a weed, but it is a native plant!  

Rosin weed glands with sticky droplets

Peggy also told me about the glands on the plants.  So I went back this morning, examined the plants, and found the tiny tiny glands with droplets on them!  WOW!!  You never know what you might see out there!  It's all amazing!  Thank you Peggy!

Smoky Sun 8/21/20

Are the bears still around?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

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

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Exploring Sierra Valley

Sierra Valley - 8/10/20

One evening last week, my husband and I drove over to Sierra Valley.  My friend Mary, had told us about a few uncommon birds that she had seen earlier in the week, out in some shrinking wetlands in the valley.  So we took a picnic and went on a bird search!  To our delight, there were incredibly beautiful dark rain clouds over the valley!  The intermittent play of sunlight on the valley and its surrounding ridges was mesmerizing!  It was cool and hushed and peaceful!  The big sky and receding fields of tawny grasses felt so vast and unrestricted.  To me, it feels so full of life out there! 

Sierra Valley and Rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosus) - 8/10/20

The play of light continued the whole time we were there!  

It was a heavenly evening out in nature!

Virginia Rail (juvenile) - Sora (juvenile)

Rallus limicola - Porzana carolina

Wetland Critters!

We lucked out and saw several uncommon birds, and one mammal that evening!  At the first small pond we stopped at, I saw a juvenile Virgina Rail right away!  In another two minutes a Sora appeared!  WOW!!!  I had never seen either one of these two birds before!  Both of them are classified as Rails, in the Rallidae family.  According to my field guides they are often seen in the company of each other!  They are both; secretive and more commonly heard than seen; live in shallow fresh water wetlands with emergent vegetation, such as cattails; feed on seeds and aquatic invertebrates; prefer to run rather than fly; and migrate at night!  The juveniles we saw, weren't actually very secretive and were easy to photograph!  If they got "spooked" by us, they ran into the thicket of stems that the surrounding cattails provided, but didn't stay long.  It was around 6:30 pm that we saw them.   Apparently they do most of their foraging for food in the evening and at night!  How lucky we were to have seen them!

Virginia Rail (juvenile) - Rallus limicola

In the summer, Virginia Rails eat more insects and fewer seeds than Soras.  They also feed on small fish, frogs, worms, slugs, and snakes!   In the winter, seeds make up most of their diet.  Most will migrate south to Mexico or west toward coastal regions for the winter.  These birds are fairly large, almost like a small chicken in size!

Sora (juvenile) - Porzana carolina

Rather than probe in the mud for invertebrates like Virginia Rails, Soras prefer to peck insects and seeds off the surface of the water.  In the winter, they primarily eat seeds. They migrate down to Mexico, or even as far as the north end of South America, for the winter.  They are slightly smaller than Virginia Rails in size.

Barn Swallow (juvenile?) - Wood Duck (male) - Savannah Sparrow 

Hirundo rustica - Aix sponsa - Passerculus sandwichensis

We also saw lots of swallows and sparrows in the vicinity of the wetlands, as well as an American Bittern that flew off before I got its picture.  Surprisingly, I spotted a male Wood Duck in its eclipse plumage!  Eclipse plumage is temporary plumage, that occurs in most ducks after the breeding period.  In the summer, ducks molt their flight feathers all at once, can't fly, and are vulnerable to predators for about a month.  In male ducks, the molt begins with the brightly-colored body feathers.  These are replaced with mottled brown feathers that provide better camouflage, and coincidentally make them resemble females!  Once the flight feathers have regrown, the birds molt again, and by October the full colors are back.  Even though the Wood Duck pictured above is in its eclipse plumage, I could tell it was a male because of its red eyes and the red markings on its bill.

American Kestrel (male)  - Red-tailed Hawk (adult)

Falco sparverius - Buteo jamaicensis

Several raptors flew overhead while we were out in the valley, but I only got a few photos.  Luckily this handsome American Kestrel posed for me!  We watched it fly over the grassy fields and "kite" in one spot as it searched for food, mainly other birds!

The Red-tailed Hawk perched on a power pole and scanned the grasslands for prey.  They mainly eat mammals, such as gophers and ground squirrels, but will also eat snakes and a few birds.

 

Muskrat - Ondatra zibethicus

On our way back home we lucked out again and happened across two Muskrats busily eating plants in the first pond we had visited!  Wow!  These aquatic mammals measure 12.5" in length, with a 9.5" tail, and a weight of 24-63 oz.!  They live in swamps, marshes, and wetlands in large family groups.  Marshes where the water level remains constant are their preference.  They are proficient swimmers, can stay underwater for 12-17 minutes, and have partially webbed hind feet!  Their fur is thick and traps air, which provides insulation and adds buoyancy!  The roots of aquatic plants, and other vegetation is their main diet.  They eat one third of their weight daily!  Burrows are dug in the banks of wetlands, to stay in during the heat of the day as well as at night.  Nests are built out of piles of vegetation on a base, such as a tree stump, typically surrounded by water.  What amazing little critters these are!

 

Muskrat - Ondatra zibethicus

Beckwourth Peak from Carmen Valley

Beckwourth Peak

From almost anywhere in Sierra Valley you can see Beckwourth Peak, at 7,252' in elevation.  You can also see it from several Lakes Basin trails!  For many years, we have wanted to go up to its top.  Last week my friend Mary drove me up there!  The dirt road is 4 miles long, and 4WD is essential for the last 2 miles (get directions online).  There is a gate at the 2 mile point that can be locked.  Luckily it was open, and we were able to drive to the top!  There were people working on the several microwave towers located near the peak, so we explored the area before the towers.  We found a few penstemons, as well as sagebrush, rabbitbrush, manzanita, Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, and Jeffrey Pine.  It was very dry from the hot summer sun and drying winds!  The view from the top was obscured by haze from wildfires but it was still impressive!

View north from Beckwourth Peak - 8/6/20

We passed several fascinating basalt-column formations on the way up.  I don't know much about the geology of this area, and I've been reading about it since we visited Beckwourth Peak.  I came across a brief explanation of the geology in  William Harnach's publication, "ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE FLORA OF THE SIERRA VALLEY REGION OF SIERRA AND PLUMAS COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA", dated 2/17/16.

 

 "The geology of this region is complex but in simplistic form it is a down-faulted block basin (graben) that is filled with volcanic ash deposits and lake sediments and is similar to Lake Tahoe in geologic origin. The depth of these ash deposits and lake sediments in some areas is well over 1000 feet, as determined by geothermal drilling done in the 1970’s and 80’s. Within the region there are three main geologic features. The main one is the valley fill, consisting primarily of volcanic ash capped with recent erosional material that makes up approximately 60% of the Sierra Valley region. To the southwest, in the Calpine, Sattley, and Yuba Pass areas, and also in the northeast area of the valley in the Beckwourth Pass and Chilcoot areas are the granitic zones. Finally, the rest of the surrounding area is covered with pyroclastic flows and ash deposits. There are also several remnant volcanic plugs within the valley, with the most notable being Sugarloaf near Beckwourth." 

I also found the following brief geologic history of Sierra Valley on en.wikipedia.org. 

"An intermontaine valley at approximately 4,850 feet  elevation, Sierra Valley is surrounded by mountains ranging in elevation from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. The huge valley, 120,000 acres, is a down-faulted basin, formerly a lake of similar geologic origin to Lake Tahoe to the south, now filled with sediment up to two thousand feet thick. The former Lake has the suggested name of Lake Beckwourth and existed until approximately 10,000 years ago."

I need to do a LOT more research!  I'll keep you posted!

Basalt column formations on Beckwourth Peak

Frenchman's Canyon - 8/6/20

After we came down from Beckwourth Peak, Mary drove me to Frenchman's Canyon, about 18 miles east of the peak.  It was an amazing volcanic canyon, with dramatic formations and a lovely creek named Little Last Chance Creek!  I had never been there before!  We drove for a few miles through the canyon until we came to Frenchman's Lake, a favorite of local fishermen.  On the way back we pulled over and bird watched along the shaded creek.  To our delight we saw five juvenile Townsend's Solitaires feeding on the bugs flying above the creek!  I had read that they prefer to live on the east side, and there they were!  Wow!  The one pictured below is in the process of acquiring its adult feathers and losing it's juvenile, spotted appearance!

Left: Volcanic wall above Little Last Chance Creek 

Center: Townsend's Solitaire (juvenile) - Myadestes townsendi

Right: Fishermen on Little Last Chance Creek

What's happening in our garden?

Are the bears still around?

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...   However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version.  I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com