Another Year!

Skeleton Weed seeds suspended in spider web threads

Five years ago, on December 23, 2016, I published the first post of my North Yuba Naturalist blog!  272 posts later, I still love sharing my natural history observations and photographs with "the world"!  This year, 7,494 people from 92 different countries visited my blog!  Wow!  A big "thank you" goes to those of you who have sent me your heartfelt comments!  I really appreciate your enthusiasm for my blog!

The smoke and threat of local wildfires curbed my ability to get out in nature this past year, and was also quite stressful. I feel my blogs during last summer and early fall weren't so great. Some were quite brief, some photos were used more than once, and a lot of material from previous blogs was re-used. I apologize for the lapse in focus!  

Despite the smoke, I still managed to see lots of incredible landscapes, birds, wildflowers, and mammals!  I hope you enjoy the photo-composites below of some of the amazing beauty that enchanted me this year!

Pyrocumulus cloud from the Dixie Fire 

Smoky North Yuba River Canyon - Smoky Sierra Buttes

Misty Sierra Buttes from Wild Plum Trail - Spring Blizzard off the Gold Lake Road

Springtime on the Salmon Creek headwaters - Wet meadow near Goose Lake

Helgrammite Lake - North Yuba River

Cottonwoods off of Hwy 49 - Indian Rhubarb on the North Yuba River

Fall pond off the Grassy Lake Trail

I am so grateful for my fabulous camera, a Nikon Coolpix P900.  It has made it possible for me to photograph beauty near and far, time and time again!

Snowy Egrets

Northern Pygmy-Owl - Great Horned Owl

Male Yellow-headed Blackbird - Male American Kestrel

Juvenile Northern Goshawk - Juvenile Sooty Grouse

Sage Thrasher - Male Yellow-breasted Chat

Female Williamson's Sapsucker - Male White-headed Woodpecker

American White Pelicans

I am so grateful for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology 

and their amazing website, birdsoftheworld.org.  The information is incredible as well as the photographs, and recordings of bird songs.

Meadow Penstemon

Showy Penstemon - Showy Phlox

Bitterroot - Naked Broomrape

Confusing Petrophila Moth - Sand/Star Lily

Porterella - Pink Woodland Star

True Baby Stars - Harvest Brodiaea

Mountain Pride

I am also so grateful for the www.calflora.org website. It is an incredible resource for identifying flowers/plants, with 1,000's of photos. The www.bugguide.net website has been my source for identifying the local insects. It too provides 1,000's of photos and an identification service!

American Black Bear female with cubs

Gray Fox - Columbian Black-tailed Deer, doe & fawn

Yellow-bellied Marmot - Lodgepole Chipmunk

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel - Western Gray Squirrel

River Otter - Columbian Black-tailed Deer, buck

Chickaree/Douglas Tree Squirrel - American Black Bear

Pronghorns

I am so grateful for all the information available about our local mammals on the internet, most notably www.animaldiversity.org. It provides excellent information on the habits of our local wildlife.

Best wishes to all of you for 

the coming New Year!

Check back next week for the latest edition of

northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com!

Unfortunately, you can no longer sign up to get my blog via email. Just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com directly. It looks better than the emailed version!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

Winter Solstice

In Celebration of Winter's Beauty

and the passing of the Solstice!

Winter has arrived!

Saddleback - 12/9/21

Winter arrived in a five day storm this week!  We received 10.11" of precipitation, most of it in the form of rain!!! Yahoo! Higher elevations got several feet of snow.  We ended up with about 4" of snow on the ground in our neighborhood! Since then we've had a few sunny but COLD days, with daytime temperatures in the 40's! What a difference from two weeks ago, when the temperatures were in the  70's!  More rain and snow is predicted for the coming week!  I hope the storms keep coming and wash this drought away!

 

Light snow on the Ridgetop

North Yuba River 

Before the Storm!

Before the recent storm, the river was quite low and there was still a little fall color along its shoreline. Right now the river is UP, with a gain of 3' in height and an increased flow rate from 445 cfs to 761 cfs (cubic feet per second).  Almost every single fall-colored leaf has dropped, and now the dominate colors are the beautiful clear jade-green of the river, the ochres and rusts of the bare willows, and tawny husks of the dried grasses. Just beautiful!

Winter River

Bald Eagle above the North Yuba River - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

About a week before the storm, I spotted a Bald Eagle perched above the river!  Although I usually see one during the summer and fall, this is the first one I've seen in the past 6 months! It was scanning the river for prey. Fish, waterfowl, and mammals are their main diet.  I've been looking for fish in the river myself!  The clearness of the water should make fish more visible, but I haven't seen any lately. Right now the river is a chilly 42 degrees! Being coldblooded, trout become less active when the the water temperature drops below 40 degrees. Their metabolism and respiratory rates slow down. Adult trout usually stay in deep pools during fall and winter. To keep from being eaten, young trout stay away from adult trout, and spend the winter in shallower pools near the shore, where overhanging branches provide cover.

Common Goldeneye (females - male) - Bucephala clangula

Also about a week before the storm, Common Goldeneye ducks arrived on the river! Perhaps they are the ones we saw on Salmon Lake about 3 weeks ago! These ducks will spend the winter here. In California, Common Goldeneyes are the only ducks that regularly spend the winter on rivers and lakes above the foothills of the western Sierra. They are diving ducks and eat fish, aquatic vertebrates, seeds, and tubers. When diving, they keep their wings pressed to their sides underwater, and swim with their webbed feet! They are amazing to watch when they're underwater! Right now the males are in their black and white mating colors.  The females have a yellow tip to their bill during mating season.  Right now pair formation is just starting! They will migrate to their northern breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada in the spring.  I am so thrilled that they have returned to our neighborhood for the winter!

 

Common Merganser (male -female) - Mergus merganser

The most common waterfowl we see on the river in the spring, summer, and fall are the Common Mergansers.  They breed and raise their young up here, and migrate down to lower elevations in the winter. Like the Common Goldeneyes they are diving ducks, and eat fish, aquatic mollusks, insects, crustaceans, worms, frogs, small mammals, and plants. Pair formation has just begun, and the males are in their breeding colors! Right now there are still a few of them on the North Yuba River.

River Otter tracks (front feet - front and hind feet) - Lontra canadensis

A few weeks ago, my friend BJ and I hiked down to a section of the river that usually has two lovely beaches.  This year one beach has been divided into two sections by the high water, and the other beach is overgrown with willows!  In the damp sand we came across multiple tracks of River Otters, but we didn't see any of them. 

River Otter - Lontra canadensis 

inset: unidentified swimming mammal

About a week later, I was walking along the open slope when I spotted two River Otters in the river below! They were so far away that it was difficult to photograph them. You can see the head of one lit up in the sun in the photo above. During the following week I spotted a smaller underwater mammal on the same section of the river!  Again, because it was so far away it was hard to photograph (see inset above). The photos are too vague to identify the mammal, but my guess is that it was an American Mink!  Hopefully I'll see these aquatic mammals again this winter!

Damp Earth Art

With the 10.11" of precipitation that we received this week, our water year total (since Oct. 1, 2021) is approximately 30"! Yahoo!  Last year at this time we had only received approximately 8" of precipitation, and our total FOR THE ENTIRE WATER YEAR in 2021 was only 29.58" of precipitation!!!  So we are about half way to achieving our average rainfall of 60+"! WOW!!! More rain and snow is predicted for the coming week! My fingers are crossed that we get lots of precipitation! In the meantime, I'm continuing my constant hope for rain (or snow!). Please join me! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime pray/wish/hope/dance for rain!

What mammals are around?

What else is inhabiting the damp rocky slopes in our neighborhood, 

besides the ferns, lichen, and moss?

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

Unfortunately, you can no longer sign up to get my blog via email. Just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com directly. It looks better than the emailed version!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

Local Ferns

Western Polypody & Dendroalsia Moss

Polypodium hesperium - Dendroalsia albietina

With no wildflowers to distract me, I've been focusing on our local ferns, which have been flourishing in the recent rains. Last winter I mentioned that ferns have a diploid/haploid alternation of generations, but I didn't really explain how that works. This year I decided to do some more research on that topic. Luckily I found the following website, https://www.thoughtco.com/fern-life-cycle-4158558, which is an amazing source of information about ferns.  The following quote from this website explains the fern life-cycle well, and thoroughly.  I have edited it a little to simplify the information.

Giant Chain Fern sori that contain spores - Woodwardia fimbriata

"The fern life cycle requires two generations of plants to complete itself. This is called "alternation of generations".

One generation is diploid, meaning it carries two identical sets of chromosomes in each cell or the full genetic complement (like a human cell). The leafy fern with spores is part of the diploid generation, called the sporophyte.

A fern's spores don't grow into leafy sporophyte. They aren't like seeds of flowering plants. Instead, they produce a haploid generation. In a haploid plant, each cell contains one set of chromosomes or half the genetic complement (like a human sperm or egg cell). This version of the plant looks like a little heart-shaped plantlet. It is called the prothallus or gametophyte.

The Fern Life Cycle

 

Starting with the "fern" as we recognize it (the sporophyte), 

the life cycle follows these steps:

1)The diploid sporophyte produces haploid spores.

2)Each spore grows into a photosynthetic prothallus (gametophyte). 

This plantlet is much smaller than the sporophyte fern.

3)Each prothallus produces gametes. Sperm is produced within a structure called an antheridium. The egg is produced within a similar structure called an archegonium. When water is present, sperm use their flagella to swim to an egg and ​fertilize it.

4)The fertilized egg remains attached to the prothallus. The egg is a diploid zygote formed by the combination of DNA from the egg and sperm. The zygote grows into the diploid sporophyte, completing the life cycle.

Before scientists understood genetics, fern reproduction was mystifying. It appeared as though adult ferns arose from spores. In a sense, this is true, but the tiny plantlets that emerge from spores are genetically different from adult ferns.

Fern life cycle - mariaflaya/Getty Images

Other Ways Ferns Reproduce

The fern "life cycle" refers to sexual reproduction. However, ferns use asexual methods to reproduce, too.

In apogamy, a sporophyte grows into a gametophyte without fertilization occurring. Ferns use this method of reproduction when conditions are too dry to permit fertilization.

Ferns can produce baby ferns at proliferous frond tips. As the baby fern grows, its weight causes the frond to droop toward the ground. Once the baby fern roots itself, it can survive separate from the parent plant. The proliferous baby plant is genetically identical to its parent. Ferns use this as a method of quick reproduction.

The rhizomes (fibrous structures that resemble roots) can spread through soil, sprouting new ferns. Ferns grown from rhizomes are also identical to their parents. This is another method that permits quick reproduction."

Liverworts - division Marchantiophyta

Armed with the knowledge of the fern life-cycle, I went in search of the haploid gametophytes this week. There's a mossy wet bank in our neighborhood that has lots of ferns growing on it.  I examined the bank carefully, and in some damp, recessed, rock shelves I thought I found some gametophytes. They were tiny, about half the size of my little fingernail. I've since asked my friend who is a botanist to identify them, and she said that they were liverworts, not fern gametophytes. So I'll keep looking and maybe I'll get lucky!

Lace Fern & Dendroalsia Moss  

Myriopteris gracillima - Dendroalsia albietina

I've also decided to learn the names of all the local ferns.  Here's a photo gallery of some of the ones I've learned.  The Lace Fern pictured above is easily distinguished by its finely divided fronds with lots of small pinnae (leaflets), and orange hairs on the underside of the fronds.

Giant Chain Fern - Woodwardia fimbriata

The Giant Chain Fern is easily distinguished by its three-foot-long fern fronds!

Western Polypody - Polypodium hesperium

I think lots of these Western Polypody Ferns just sprouted this past fall, when the rains came. I'll have to watch them through the year and see if they die off in the heat of the summer.  I need to be more observant!

Five-finger Fern - Adiantum aleuticum

These delicate Five-finger Ferns die back in the Winter and re-grow in the Spring.

Snow Geese - Anser caerulescens

Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

The day after Thanksgiving, my husband and I made our annual drive down to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in California's Central Valley.  It's always a joy to visit this refuge!  We walked for hours through the reserve, enjoying the countless waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors that inhabit Gray Lodge in the winter!  As in years past, there were thousands of Snow Geese arriving from the arctic, circling around and landing in the refuge, one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen!  

I've written about Gray Lodge in many previous blogs. Just enter "Gray Lodge" in the "search this blog" bar on the top right for more information and photos.

Northern Mockingbird - California Scrub Jay - Golden-crowned Sparrow

Mimus polyglottos - Aphelocoma californica - Zonotrichia atricapilla

In addition to the wetlands, the refuge has many shrubs and Cottonwood trees that birds perch in and inhabit.  

Snow Geese - Anser caerulescens

At certain angles the Snow Geese almost disappear from view!

Black-necked Stilt - Northern Shoveler - Greater White-fronted Goose

Himantopus mexicanus - Anas clypeata - Anser albifrons

The shorebirds and waterfowl, besides the Snow Geese, are also numerous and beautiful to watch!

Snow Geese - Anser caerulescens

I never tire of watching and hearing the hundreds of Snow Geese arrive at the refuge!

Raindrops on bare Maple branches

Damp Earth Art

We received .69" of rain over the past week! Yay! Heavy rain and snow is predicted for the coming week!  My fingers are crossed that we get lots of precipitation! In the meantime, I'm continuing my constant hope for rain (or snow!). Please join me! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime pray/wish/hope/dance for rain!

Is there any Fall color left?

What's happening on the river?

What mammals are around?

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

Unfortunately, you can no longer sign up to get my blog via email. Just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com directly. It looks better than the emailed version!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!

Berry Eaters

American Robin (male) - Mountain Dogwood

Turdus migratorius - Cornus nuttallii

This past week, American Robins and Cedar Waxwings have been flocking to several dogwood trees in our neighborhood and eating all the "fruits"! I've really enjoyed watching them for hours as they descend on the trees. It's taken a week, but they have effectively stripped the trees bare of their fruits! Once the berries are all gone, they will probably head down to the foothills and the Central Valley to spend the winter.

Cedar Waxwing (adult) - California Rose 

Bombycilla cedrorum - Rosa californica

 

Cedar Waxwings are fruit eaters year-round. They migrate through our neighborhood in flocks, several times a year when fruit becomes available. They also eat insects, flowers, and buds. I photographed the one above down in the Central Valley last year, where there was a small flock of them that appeared to be eating the rose hips off the leafless bushes!

Their name comes from their habit of eating "cedar" (actually "juniper") berries, and for the red waxy tips on the ends of their secondary flight feathers. The reason for the waxy tips, found on both males and females, is uncertain. Cornell University states, "Red secondary tips may be important status signals that function in mate selection." These handsome birds migrate down to lower elevations during the winter. Some even travel as far south as Costa Rica!

Oak Mistletoe - Phoradendron leucarpum

Another favorite food for many critters during the winter months are Oak Mistletoe berries! Over 28 species of birds in California eat the berries, as well as gray squirrels, raccoons, pine martens, chipmunks, porcupines, and ringtails! Mistletoe plants are dioecious, with the male and female species being separate plants. The female plants are the ones that produce berries! Apparently mistletoe berries are so popular that some mammals and birds, including Bluebirds, actually spend the night in them! They may do this to establish "ownership" of the berries, or for the warmth of the dense clumps, no one knows for sure! If you squish a mistletoe berry between your fingers, it will stick to your finger and you can't shake it off! They have a thick, viscous substance that makes them sticky. Being sticky, the seeds are easily transported to new areas by birds and mammals.

Western Bluebirds (2 males - 1 female) - Sialia mexicana

We just saw a flock of Western Bluebirds yesterday, up in a mixed conifer/oak forest near Sierra City.  They were just beautiful to watch!  There was lots and lots of mistletoe visible in the bare-limbed Black Oaks. The ones above, I photographed in my neighborhood last fall. 

Toyon - Western Bluebird (male)

Heteromeles arbutifolia - Sialia mexicana

Toyon bushes grow in the foothills, where I photographed this Western Bluebird feeding on the berries several years ago.  The Toyon berries form in June or July, but don't ripen until December! When they are green they contain cyano-glucosides in their pulp. When a bird tries to eat a green berry, cyanide gas is released and deters the bird! The un-ripened berries are also full of bitter tannins that discourage foragers! Over time the cyanide compounds gradually move into the seeds and the tannins diminish. In December, when the berries are bright red, they aren't bitter and the pulp no longer contains cyanide compounds! 

Approximately 20+ species of birds eat Toyon berries during winter! In addition to Western Bluebirds, you might see Band-tailed Pigeons, Cedar Waxwings, Hermit Thrushes, and Varied Thrushes feeding on them! Foxes, Brush Rabbits, Black Bears, and Coyotes also feed on the ripened berries

Big-leaf Maple leaves - Acer macrophyllum

Fallen Leaves

Almost all the leaves have fallen off of the deciduous trees and have carpeted the forest floor.  It made me wonder what happens to all those leaves over time.  The following information, from https://soilsmatter.wordpress.com/, briefly explains the decomposition process.

"Invertebrates, such as earthworms, beetle larvae, millipedes, mites, slugs and snails, that live in the soil shred plant materials into smaller and smaller pieces, increasing the surface area on which soil bacteria and fungi can prey.

Next up is fungi. Fungi can “send out” filamentous threads, called hyphae, that operate much like plant roots. These hyphae release acids and enzymes necessary to break down dead plant material. This makes nutrients available to plants to sustain their growth.

As the leaf fall is consumed by the decomposer food web, water and inorganic nutrients (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus) are released into the soil, where they can be taken up again by plants to foster new growth."

fungal hyphae

Chantrelles maybe - species unknown

More Fungi!

There are still lots and lots of mushrooms popping up in our neighborhood! I recently came across a cluster of over 50 Questionable Stropharia mushrooms, and a log covered with large Chantrelle-like mushrooms! More rain is predicted for the coming week as well as some snow.  The colder temperatures may put an end to the fungi season.  We'll just have to see what happens.  

Puffballs and Puffball look-alikes

species unknown

Toothed Jelly Fungus - Questionable Stropharia 

Pseudohydnum gelatinosum - Stropharia ambigua

Dark-eyed Junco (male) in the rain

 Junco hyemalis

Damp Earth Art

The past two weeks have been dry, with daytime temperatures in the 70's.  It reminded me that we are indeed still in a drought.  More rain is predicted for the coming week, but not a lot.   So once again, I'm going to start focusing on hoping for rain.  Please join me!  Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime pray/wish/hope/dance for rain!

What's happening in Gray Lodge?

Is there any Fall color left?

What mammals are around?

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

Unfortunately, you can no longer sign up to get my blog via email. Just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com directly. It looks better than the emailed version!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!