Sierra Buttes - 5/17/22
The snow has been melting up in the Lakes Basin, so we've started hiking up there again! It is so nice to be back in our favorite, local, "wilderness"! Around 6,000' most of the snow is gone, but there are still lots of big patches of snow at higher elevations. Spring is JUST starting up there, and wildflowers are springing up! Songbirds have returned, and the air is filled with their songs, calls, chirps, and warbles! It's wonderful!
Long Lake - 5/24/22
One of the hikes we went on was to Hidden Lake, via a cross-country route. We hiked up a snow-free, south-facing boulder field to get to it. We like to go there to see these uncommon flowers, Drummond's Anemones, that bloom in the early Spring. Our route was snow-free until we got to the forest near Hidden Lake, where there was still 6" or more of snow on the ground! Needless to say, the Drummond's Anemones weren't even tiny plants yet. The area where they usually grow, was still snowy and flooded from snowmelt! It was still a great hike with fabulous views to the south of Long Lake and the Sierra Buttes! We'll have to go back again in a few weeks to see if the anemones have blossomed!
Snow Plants - Sarcodes sanguinea
The bright-red Snow Plants are just starting to emerge in the Lakes Basin. These unusual flowers have no chlorophyll, and are parasitic on False Truffles (Rhizopogon ellenae). The truffles themselves have a symbiotic relationship with tree roots. The tree roots supply fixed carbon to the truffles, and in return the truffles provide mineral nutrients, water, and protection from pathogens to the tree! The snow plant takes advantage of this symbiotic relationship, and taps into the fungal/root network and steals sugars! They can grow to be about a foot or more in height, and an inch or two in stem width!
Steer's Head - Dicentra uniflora
This flower is one of the most aptly named flowers I've ever come across! It indeed looks like a Steer's Head skull, except that it's a miniature one! These flowers are one of the first to bloom as the snow recedes, but they are so little (about half the size of your pinky fingernail) that they are super hard to find. The leaves are way more visible, but they closely resemble the leaves of the local violets, which often cause "false hopes"! Also, there aren't a lot of them around. During the course of one whole day we only saw three of them! They do tend to grow near each other. So if you see one, carefully look for more in the immediate vicinity. Additionally, they flower and go to seed within a week or so, so luck needs to be on your side if you want to see them in bloom! Good luck! They're delightful!
Fawn Lily - Erythronium purpurascens
Fawn Lilies are also one of the early bloomers in the Lakes Basin, popping up in graceful beauty soon after the snow melts! They grow from bulbs, but can also produce seeds. Once the flowers are pollinated the petals turn from white to pale pink! These lovely "ladies" can grow in large groups of a hundred or more individual plants!
Spring Beauties are another tiny early-spring bloomer on the forest floor. The plants can be numerous and cover large areas. The flowers are tiny, approximately the size of your fingernail. Their real beauty is only visible if you look at them closely. The petals have fine, branching, magenta-purple stripes that radiate out from the center of the flowers. Get down on your hands and knees to enjoy their finely detailed beauty!
Spreading Phlox - Phlox diffusa
Blooming in the areas that are exposed and already hot and dry, are carpets of Spreading Phlox. Thousands of these flowers grow low to the ground, colored from white to rosy-purple. Their fragrance is one of my favorite "bouquets" that signal the arrival of spring in the Lakes Basin. Luckily these plants keep blooming into the summer, and their fragrance greets me on hike after hike!
Globe Gilia - Gilia capitata
Back in my neighborhood, wildflowers are thriving! Here are some of the ones that have blossomed in the last few weeks! Enjoy!
Canyon Dudleya - Sierra Stonecrop
Dudleya cymosa - Sedella pumila
Sierra Iris - Iris hartwegii
Mountain Jewelflower - Milkwort Jewelflower - Mountain Jewelflower
Streptanthus tortuosus - Streptanthus polygaloides - Streptanthus tortuosus
White Brodiaea - Roundtooth Ookow
Triteleia hyacinthina - Dichelostemma multiflorum
California Skullcap - Scutellaria californica
Bridge's Rose - Winecup Clarkia - Kellogg's Monkeyflower
Rosa bridgesii - Clarkia purpurea - Diplacus kelloggii
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
New River Residents!
A few new birds have arrived on the river this week! We usually have just one Great Blue Heron year-round on our river. However, this week another adult has shown up!!! Perhaps these two will become a mated pair! How exciting!
Common Merganser (female) and 8 ducklings
Mergus merganser
To my delight, last Wednesday my husband and I spotted a mama Merganser on the river with her eight ducklings!!! We had just been talking about the fact that we hadn't seen any female Mergansers in a couple of weeks. We had guessed that they were probably incubating their eggs, and then we saw this little family on the river! How wonderful!
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
The Spotted Sandpipers returned this week to raise their young! Yay! I saw three or more of them flying and calling down by our swimming hole! I just love their polka-dotted breasts and bellies!
Damp Earth Art
It was HOT and WINDY again this week. Luckily it rained last night, and there's a 20% to 50% chance for rain today and tonight! I hope it POURS! Hopefully more storms will come through soon. Please join me in my continuing hope for precipitation! 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.
Wishing for peace in Ukraine and
an immediate end to this senseless war!
What's happening at the local ponds?
What's happening in Carmen Valley?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
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Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!
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