Carman Valley

 

Carman Valley 5/6/22

One of my absolute favorite places to go in mid to late Spring is Carman Valley.  It is a lovely valley west of Sierra Valley, with a mile or more of wet meadows along Carman Stream. The valley doesn't have the bird population that Sierra Valley has, but it hasn't been grazed by cows in its recent past, and the wildflowers are plentiful. This year the wildflowers were more abundant than I've ever seen before, and the meadows were still full of water!  I've been over there twice already, and hope to go again soon before the meadows dry up!

View of Beckwourth Peak from Carman Valley 5/6/22

I've been a bit overbooked lately, putting on a community art show, so this blog is filled with photos, not words!  Next week I'll have more natural history information to share!  When I came home from Carman Valley, my camera was filled with beauty!  Hope you enjoy the photos!

  

Common Camas Lily - Camassia quamash

The wet meadows were overflowing with thousands of beautiful, knee-high, brilliant purple-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!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily

Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash

Among the Camas Lilies, thousands of Western Bistorts were also blooming! 

 Apparently all parts of the Western Bistort are edible, some raw, some cooked. The name refers to its twisted root.

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily - Buttercups

Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash - Ranunculus sp.

Among the Camas and Bistorts were bright, shiny, butter-yellow, Buttercups!

It was a botanical paradise!

Common Camas Lily - California Hesperochiron -  Beckwith's Violet

Meadow Baby Blue Eyes - Fan Weed/Penny Watercress

Camassia quamash - Hesperochiron californicus 

Viola beckwithii - Nemophila pedunculata - Thlaspi arvense

In the drier areas different flowers were blooming, along with a few Camas.  Everywhere we went we found new kinds of wildflowers!  So exciting!

Water Plantain Buttercup - Ranunculus alismifolius

We found two species of Buttercups in the meadows, Water Plantain Buttercup (pictured above), and Acrid Buttercups (not pictured)!  Beetles were feasting on the Buttercup pollen!

Hooker's Balsam Root - Balsalmorhiza hookeri

Hooker's Balsam Root is another favorite of mine!  It grows in the hotter, drier areas and is low to the ground.  What's REALLY cool about it is that it smells like CHOCOLATE!  Check it out next time you see some of them.  The fragrance is unmistakable!

Mountain Bluebird (male) - Sialia currucoides

We didn't see a lot of birds in Carman Valley, 

but we saw some beauties and one "uncommon" species! 

Mountain Bluebird (male - female) - Sialia currucoides

The brilliant sky-blue feathers of the male Mountain Bluebird are just incredible! Such Beauty!

Great-tailed Grackle (?) - Quiscalus mexicanus (?)

I'm currently trying to positively identify this UNCOMMON Grackle.  It's probably a Great-tailed Grackle, as one was seen in Sierra Valley last year.  There's a very rare chance that it could be a Common Grackle.  If I had seen its tail, the identification would be instant, but I didn't.  Maybe it will still be there when I return again this coming week. Fingers crossed!

Killdeer (adult) - Charadrius vociferous

I love the bold feathering and the red eye-ring of these handsome shorebirds!

Recent raindrops on a Cherry tree leaf

Damp Earth Art

It was HOT and WINDY this week. There was even a small forest fire about 40 minutes away from us! Luckily the firefighters contained the fire and only 20 acres burned, and one structure was lost! Still kind of scary!

VERY WARM weather is coming this week, and possibly the following week. Hopefully another wet storm 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 the Lakes Basin?

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!