More Wildflowers!

The Landscape

This week I went to North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve with some friends to see the spring wildflowers. It is a flat-topped butte, next to the town of Oroville, Ca., the top of which is capped by an ancient lava flow. It became an ecological preserve in 1993, when Francis Carmichael, a local rancher, sold 3,315 acres of it to the State of California, to be managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now it is open to the public. Some cattle are allowed to graze there in the wet months, but apparently cause little impact on the native wildflowers.

There are a few trails you can follow, but usually we just amble across the reserve through acres of wildflowers that are ribboned with small streams. It is easy walking with panoramic views in all directions!

Sky Lupine - California Goldfields (background)

Lupinus nanus - Lasthenia californica ssp. californica

The Flowers!

This year the wildflower bloom was unbelievably spectacular!  Great swaths of yellow, blue, orange, magenta, and white covered the 3,000+ acres of the preserve! This year is the most profuse bloom I have ever seen here!  There were billions of flowers blooming, carpeting the whole preserve!  I was totally entranced! Approximately 400 species of wildflowers thrive on North Table Mountain, 74% of which are native. Here are just a few of the beauties we saw!  I've featured close-ups for a change.  With a hand lens, an even more astonishing level of beauty is revealed!  I highly recommend getting a 25x hand lens to take in the field. You will be AMAZED!!!

Bitterroot - Lewisia redivia var. rediviva

With a hand lens you can often find tiny beetles in among the stamens!

Table Mountain Meadowfoam - Limnanthes douglasii ssp. nivea

With a hand lens the stripes on the petals are actually "see through"!

Red Maids - Calandrinia ciliata

With a hand lens this flower is super sparkly!

Bird's-eye Gilia - Gilia tricolor ssp. tricolor

With a hand lens, the blue anthers are amazing!

Pink Woodland Star - Lithophragma parviflorum

With a hand lens the hairs on this flower are visible, and glisten in the sunlight!

Sky Lupine - Purple Owl's Clover - Blue Dicks - Foothill Poppy (background)

Lupinus nanus - Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta - Dichelostemma capitatum  Eschscholzia caespitosa

Everywhere we walked there were huge fields of multi-colored wildflowers!  That night the beauty of these wildflowers lingered and lingered in my mind.  I was filled with beauty!

We are going back again next week to explore the canyons and waterfalls that edge the top of the butte!  We'll also take more time to check out the birds!  It should be amazing once again!  I'll report what we find in a few weeks! 

 

 

Pronghorn Antelope - Antilocapra americana

Sierra Valley

I also went for a drive to Sierra Valley with my friend Judy this week!  We were curious to see what birds were back!  It is still dry winter over there, and everything is beige and brown, but the waterways are fuller than last time.  Right away we lucked out and spotted three American Pronghorns in the far, far distance!  Wow!!!  The heat waves coming off the valley floor distorted my photos, but it was such a treat to see these uncommon animals!  We were thrilled!

Coyote - Canis latrans

To our delight we also got a great sighting of a Coyote!  Usually they are super far away and disappear from view very quickly!  This one was out on the edge of a wetlands and took its time trotting away once it saw us!  How lucky we were!  It looked stocky and was heavily furred!  Perhaps it still had its winter coat!

Lesser Sandhill Crane - Greater Sandhill Cranes  

Grus canadensis canadensis - Grus canadensis tabida

We also saw 10 (5 pairs) of Cranes that day!  One of the pairs were Lesser Sandhill Cranes, which we had never seen before! Lesser Cranes are shorter by 5" and weigh 3 lbs. less than the Greater Cranes.  They also have rust-colored bodies in the Summer, as compared to the gray bodies of the Greater Cranes.  They both spend the winter in California's Central Valley.  Some of the Greater Cranes will migrate to SE Oregon, NE California, and NW Nevada to breed.  All of the Lesser Cranes, and some of the Greater Cranes will migrate to the high Arctic and into Siberia to breed! 

We are going back again next week to kayak in the valley!  Can't wait!  

I'll let you know what we see in a few weeks!

More Damp Earth Art!

Since we still need more rain, I am continuing to maintain this blog and am again sending out yet another "Call for Art" in celebration of rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some art, or writing, or a photo please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Check out what's already been submitted at dampearthart.blogspot.com

You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.

I will be posting new art weekly. Check it out and pray for rain.

Are anymore plants blooming?

Are birds starting to nest?

What kind of insects are out and about?

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

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