Sierra Valley & Carmen Valley

Yellow-headed Blackbird (male) - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

I've gone over to Sierra Valley three times in the past four weeks!  It's such a beautiful area, I can hardly stay away. It is approximately 120,000 acres of "big sky" sagebrush rangeland, and wetlands, located at 4,850' at the base of the northeastern Sierras. It is the largest alpine valley in the Sierra Nevada range, and one of my most absolute favorite places to explore!  It has greened up a bit over the past weeks, but there really isn't much water in the fields and canals.  It is definitely a drought year.  Fingers crossed that fires stay away from this precious valley.

Yellow-headed Blackbird males are so dramatically feathered!  Just gorgeous!  The females are remarkably plain in comparison, with a muted-yellow face and breast, and a brown back, wings, and tail.  Males are polygamists, and mate with up to 8 females which will all nest in his territory.  The females weave cup-shaped nests attached to erect cattails, incubate their 2-5 eggs for 12-13 days, and brood and feed their nestlings for 7-14 days.  The male may feed some of the nestlings, but usually only the ones in his primary nests.  Once the nestlings fledge, the female will continue feeding them for a few more days. Young and adults feed on aquatic insects on the surface of the water in spring and summer, and forage on grains and seeds in the fall and winter. Their winters are spent in Mexico.

Barn Swallow (adult) - Red-winged Blackbird (male) - Vesper Sparrow (adult)

Hirundo rustica - Pooecetes gramineus - Agelaius phoeniceus

Although there aren't the usual number of birds, due to the dry conditions, there are still quite a few birds to observe in the valley.  Over 230 species of birds have been seen in Sierra Valley, some migrate through, others are residents. Here are a few of the ones I saw!  Such beauty!

Sandhill Crane - American Bittern - Black-crowned Night-Heron - (all adults)

Antigone canadensis - Botaurus lentiginosus - Nycticorax nycticorax

This week we lucked out and saw several pairs of Sandhill Cranes, and two American Bitterns!  Last May we watched a male Bittern in breeding plumage for quite a while.  Bitterns are almost always solitary, except when they mate (for 15 seconds!). After mating, the female alone will build a platform nest out of reeds and sedges, over water, in dense wetland vegetation. The female will lay 2-7 eggs in the grass-lined nest, and incubate them for 24-28 days. The nestlings fledge from the nest in 7-14 days. The female will for care for them an additional 2-4 weeks, until they are independent. The one in the photo above (I don't know if it's male or female) is posing with its necked stretched out, showing the bold stripes on its chest.  These stripes help camouflage them among the reeds! I was SO pleased to see these unusual large birds again.

We also saw a beautiful Black-crowned Night-Heron! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, "Black-crowned Night-Herons are opportunists feeders that eat many kinds of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals. Their diet includes leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, mussels, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents, birds, and eggs. They also eat carrion, plant materials, and garbage from landfills. Rather than stabbing their prey, they grasp it in their bills. Black-crowned Night-Herons normally feed between evening and early morning, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day. They may feed during the day in the breeding season, when they need extra energy for nesting."

American Pronghorn - Coyote

Antilocapra americana - Canis latrans

We also lucked out and saw some American Pronghorns and a coyote!  Wow!!!

I've written about them several times in previous blogs. Just use the "search this blog" bar on the top right to read more about them.

Bulson House - 5/27/21

The West Entrance of the 

Sierra Valley Preserve

In another part of the valley, the Feather River Land Trust (frlt.org) has just opened a new part of the Sierra Valley Preserve to the public, the "West Entrance". We decided to check it out last Thursday. It was a cool, windless, blue-sky morning in Sierra Valley. Expansive views of the valley surrounded us, as we followed a lovely, 2 mile round-trip, botanical trail through the sagebrush. There were many small plaques that identified the plants along the trail. It was delightful! Approximately one mile from the trailhead, a 100+-year-old ranch house, the Bulson House, stands deserted but beautiful in the bare landscape. It is totally boarded up on the bottom floor, so you can't go inside, but we enjoyed its colorful, weathered, wooden sides and open rafters.

Vesper Sparrow - Common Raven (juveniles) - Brewer's Sparrow

Pooecetes gramineus - Corvus corax - Spizella breweri

My friend Judy thought she heard some baby birds up in the rafters, and sure enough there was a nest with juvenile Common Ravens in it!  WOW!  They looked HUGE!  We also heard some other baby birds in two different locations in the building, but couldn't see them!  Additionally, we saw and heard lots of Sparrows in the sagebrush as we walked through the preserve. Sparrows are tough to identify, so I relied on iNaturalist.org to identify them for me.

Parrothead Paintbrush - Blue Flax - Aster (?)

Castilleja pilosa - Linum lewisii - (?)

There were many plants in bloom along the trail.  The lovely Parrothead Paintbrush was a new species for me! It was just fabulous that they had the names of most of the plants on little signs!

California Hesperochiron - Sand Lily - Tansy leaf Evening Primrose

Hesperochiron californicus - Leucocrinum montanum - Taraxia tanacetifolia

The Feather River Land Trust is a an amazing preservation/conservation organization. As they state on their website, "As a nationally accredited land trust, we’re experts in conserving lands forever. Since 2000, we've protected over 63,000 acres of ecologically and culturally important landscapes in the Feather River Watershed." Their multi-faceted website frlt.org is beautiful! Check it out and get involved if you can!

Carmen Valley - 5/27/21

Carmen Valley

Carmen Valley is really close to Sierra Valley, but it's a lot smaller. It doesn't have the bird population that Sierra Valley has, but it hasn't been grazed by cows and in wet years the wildflowers are plentiful. This year there was a lot less water and  fewer flowers, but it was still very lovely!

Lesser Sandhill Crane (adult) - Mountain Bluebird (male) - Wood Duck (male) 

Antigone canadensis - Sialia currucoides - Aix sponsa

For the first time ever we saw Wood Ducks in the waterway!  They flew off just about as soon as they saw us, so we didn't get to observe them for long.  My friend Judy spotted a brilliant blue Mtn. Bluebird in a snag, and my friend Tony pointed out a distant pair of Lesser Sandhill Cranes! How exciting it was to see them!

Carmen Valley - 5/27/21

Although it wasn't as wet as usual, one of the meadows was filled with hundreds of beautiful blue Common Camas lilies. In the Nez Perce language, "camas" means "sweet." The bulbs of these plants were the most important bulb utilized by the Native Americans. Areas where these bulbs were abundant were sometimes fought over! 

Blue Camas - Predacious Diving Beetle larva - Snow Plant 

Camassia quamash - Laccophilus sp. - Sarcodes sanguine

There was a small pond teeming with aquatic wildlife in one of the meadows.  We saw tadpoles, damselfly nymphs, and beetle larvae!  I caught one of the larger beetle larva and examined it closely.  It's two curved mandibles were impressive!  It turns out that it was the larva of a Predacious Diving Beetle!  

In the surrounding Yellow Pine forest there were several bright red Snow Plants in bloom.  Snow plant grows in the thick humus of montane coniferous forests from 4000' to 8000', often under pines, blooming from May to July. Since it has no chlorophyll and can't photosynthesize, it supplements its nutrient intake by utilizing the roots of pine trees through mutually shared mycorrhizal fungus. 

Arrow-leaved Balsam-root in the Rain - Balsamorhiza sagittata

More Damp Earth Art!

No rain this past week, and very hot, dry, and windy weather is coming.  It makes me worried.  Anytime I think of it, I focus on rain, rain, 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 rain inspired 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!

What's happening on the North Yuba River?

Where are the Bears?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

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

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