The North Yuba River

The North Yuba River - 7/5/21

Almost every day I wander along the North Yuba River in our neighborhood.  This week I saw an amazing variety of wildlife in the river, including mammals, waterfowl, crustaceans, and insects!  I feel so privileged to have this river of life right outside my door!  It is a constant source of beauty and surprise!  During this unprecedented spell of HOT weather, it is also a cooling and refreshing refuge. 

This summer the river is very low. The river widens and slows down where we live, so the underwater river rocks are covered in sediment which algae will soon take over. We haven't had a high-water for two years, which would normally scour and clean the river rocks. However, the willows along the river are thriving because they haven't been dislodged by the force of a normal high-water. Everything is changing all the time. We'll just have to wait and see what climate change brings.  In the meantime, I treasure all the beauty I see and experience every day!

Common Merganser female with 8 ducklings - Mergus merganser

River Waterfowl!

I've been watching two different female Mergansers and their ducklings on the river, for more than a month now.  One group of ducklings is older and bigger than the other group.  Amazingly, none of the ducklings have gone "missing" and each family still has 8 members!  Usually, several ducklings get eaten by predators, such as otters, minks, foxes, and possibly hawks and herons!  I saw both groups from our bridge this week!  Such beauty!

Male mergansers do not participate in the incubation of the eggs or the raising of the ducklings. Although the male and female form a pair bond that may last from December until Spring (usually a much shorter length of time), the male departs soon after the eggs are laid. The female alone raises the ducklings. The female will guide and protect her offspring for approximately 30-50 days, and then leaves them on their own.  At that point they are more than capable of taking care of themselves.  Soon after, when they are around 60-75 days old, they are able to fly and migrate to lower elevations for the winter.  

Common Merganser female with 8 ducklings - Mergus merganser

This is the older group of ducklings, and they appear to be almost full-grown, and identical to their mother!  They are probably not all females.  When their first mating season happens, the males will molt into their black and white feathers.  Until then, it is difficult to distinguish what sex they are.

Great Blue Heron and two River Otters!

Ardea herodias - Lontra canadensis

River Mammals!

Just last Tuesday my husband and I spotted two River Otters on our morning walk!  WOW!!!  At first they were swimming across a large pool-like section of the river and we could just see their heads popping up.  All of a sudden they swam to shore and scrambled up a rocky bank together.  Something was attracting their attention!  You can see their humped backs and long tails in the top left corner of the above photo.  They only stayed on land for a few seconds before they re-entered the river.  Simultaneously a Great-blue Heron landed right near them!

Great Blue Heron and a River Otter!

Ardea herodias - Lontra canadensis

Once they got back into the river they started swimming over to where the Great Blue Heron was standing!  These two otters were a mother and its offspring.  Adult male and female River Otters only get together briefly to mate, and do not hunt or swim together. 

 

Two River Otters! - Lontra canadensis

The heron took off and the River Otters climbed up on the rock it had been standing on!  (You can just see the burred head and tail of the second otter right behind the body of the otter in the foreground)  They sniffed all over, and then slid back into the river.  We then watched them swim up-river, where they fed underwater for several minutes.  Before long they were heading further up-river and out of sight!  The whole encounter lasted for 5 minutes!  My husband had never seen an otter out of the water before!   What an amazing sighting it was! 

Black Bear in the River! - Ursus americanus

A few mornings before we saw the River Otters, I happened to see a Black Bear crossing the river downriver from the bridge!  OH WOW!!!  I hadn't seen a Black Bear in more than a year!  About three years ago I saw a bear crossing the river in just the same spot!  Perhaps this was the same bear?  The sighting was brief, and only lasted for about 15 seconds!  The bear was swimming, getting out of the river, and walking behind the willows in the blink of an eye!  How lucky I was to happen across this beautiful, unusual sight!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer crossing the River!

Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

About and hour later I went back to the bridge on the off-chance that the bear might be crossing the river again, and to my surprise there was a buck crossing the river!  OH WOW AGAIN!!!  It was crossing further downriver than the bear, where the water is shallow enough to wade across.  It's antlers were covered in velvet.  This sighting was a little longer, but only about 30 seconds long.  Again, what a lucky sighting!  Such beauty!

California Giant Stonefly exuvia - adult - Pteronarcys californica 

On the stems of the Indian Rhubarb plants that line the river, I recently found lots of California Giant Stonefly exuvia!  These are about half again as big than the numerous Shortwing Stonefly exuvia (Claassenia sabulosa) you can find on the river rocks.  There were about 20 of these exuvia on the plant stems!  They are quite large, about 2" long including their tail filaments!  I had never seen them before!  Stoneflies will live underwater for 1-3 years as nymphs.  When it's time for them to molt and emerge out as adults, they will climb out of the water onto plant stems or rocks.  As their exuvia dries, the back will split open and they will pull their fully developed adult body out of the exuvia, pump up their wings and fly away.  It can take several hours for this process to be completed.  As adults, California Giant Stoneflies communicate by drumming their abdomen on the branch or ground. The males call the females, who often respond with their own drumming. The pair sing or drum for a while in a duet that often ends in mating. The female may lay her eggs right away or live for a while in the riparian zone and lay her eggs later.

Signal Crayfish (youth) - Small Minnow Mayfly (adult)

 Pacifastucus leniusculus - Callibaetis spp.

 

 I don't often see crayfish in the river, mainly because they come out from under the rocks at night, when I'm not on the river.  I do find parts of them from time to time, obvious leftovers from some animal's dinner!  My neighbors have a pond with crayfish in them, and this week they showed me a tiny, tiny little crayfish they had caught!  It was exactly like an adult only, half an inch long!  It will take 2-3 years for this tiny one to become an adult!  They said that there were lots and lots of them in their pond.  Every once in while, a River Otter visits their pond and feasts on their adult crayfish!

This tiny adult mayfly won't live for very long, as it has no mouth parts.  They too live as underwater nymphs.  As adults their sole purpose is to mate!

Black-headed Grosbeak - Pheucticus melanocephalus

A Cherry Festival!

For two full days this past week, pigeons and songbirds devoured the last of the cherries in our neighborhood.  A lot of non-native volunteer cherries grow here, and the birds just LOVE them!  Some of the cherries ripened a month ago, but a particular yellow-pink variety apparently just ripened to perfection!  The main consumers were Band-tailed Pigeons, but there were also lots of Black-headed Grosbeaks, Robins, Western Tanagers, and Bullock's Orioles feasting on the cherries.  To my delight there were many juvenile birds eating along with the adults!  

Their constant chattering and movement was fascinating to watch and hear!

I was enchanted for hours!  It was just beautiful!  

This week's Clouds!

More Damp Earth Art!

It was once again TOO hot this week, over 100° for days! At least at night it's been getting down into the 60's, which is a relief. No rain is in the forecast, but 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 in the Lakes Basin?

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

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