Aspens & Arborglyphs

Quaking Aspens - Populus tremuloides

 

 Thanks to the cooler nights we've been having this week, the Lakes Basin Aspens are really starting to turn a brilliant yellow.  Fall color, in general, is more intense if the days are warm and the nights are cold.  Just a few days ago the aspens in the Lakes Basin campground were mostly green!  Now, some of them are a glorious brilliant yellow, while others have just a hint of yellow.

Quaking Aspens and Grassy Lake

Apens prefer to live in moist meadows or areas where there's lots of groundwater. Aspens usually live for 50-60 years, attaining about 1' in diameter, and 50'-60' in height. Their buds, bark, and shoots are a favorite food of wildlife.

Although a grove of aspen trees may produce millions of seeds, not many are viable! Pollination is inhibited by the fact that aspens are either male or female, and large stands are usually all clones of the same sex. Even if pollinated, the small seeds can only survive for a short time as they lack a stored food source or a protective coating. Instead, aspen reproduce from root-sprouting seedlings! A grove of aspens is also a group of "clones"! Each tree grows from a common root system, expanded by root-sprouting seedlings! The trees in a group of "clones" are genetically identical!  One clonal aspen colony in Utah is considered the heaviest and oldest living organism in the world, at 13,227,720 lbs. and perhaps 80,000 years old!!! Wow!

Common Mergansers (females or juveniles) - Mallard (male)

Mergus merganser - Anas platyrhynchos

While we were at Grassy Lake admiring the aspens, we were delighted to see 2 Common Mergansers, 1 molting male Mallard, and 5 Canada Geese in the lake!

Canada Geese - Branta canadensis

All of these birds will probably migrated down to California's Central Valley

for the Winter.

Arborglyphs on Aspen trunks

Arborglyphs!

Several of the aspen trees in certain parts of the Lakes Basin have arborglyphs, or carved symbols, pictures, or names, on their trunks.  These images were carved by Basque Sheepherders sometime in the last 100 years!  I have a lot more photos of these arborglyphs, but don't have a CD reader to access them.  Rats! Just google "Arborglyphs, Tahoe National Forest" to see lots more images! 

The following information at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ltbmu/learning/history-culture/?cid=FSM9_046612, briefly describes the sheepherders history in the Tahoe National Forest. 

"In 1849, Basques joined throngs of other young men from around the world seeking their fortune in the American West. Before long many were employed in the sheep business and by the turn of the century, "Basque" and "sheepherder" became synonymous. To pass the long, lonely days of summer in the "high country" Basque sheepherders created a unique western cultural phenomenon: they carved on aspen trees, tens of thousands of them in ten western states.

Arborglyphs

Called arborglyphs, these carvings give us information unavailable elsewhere. If you want to know when and where sheep grazed or who the sheepherders were, chances are only arborglyphs could provide answers. Though carving was a widespread activity, the sites were remote and often the trees died before their messages from the past could be recorded. Today, there are very few left dating before 1900, since aspens only live about 100 years.

Most carvings are names and dates, the dry stuff of history. Most of the messages are hard to understand as most are in the Basque language, Euskara. The pictures, however, are easily read (some not necessarily suited for children). Carving topics included news on sheep herding, erotic messages and graphics, Old Country memories, loneliness, references to America, interpersonal matters among herders, humor, swear words, the "goodbye ritual", self-portraits, and Basque symbols. These personal details regarding the lives and thoughts of young Basque men shed light on roughly one hundred years of American Western history."

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

North Yuba River Update!

The river is low but incredibly clear and green!  With the lower angle of the sun right now you can really see into it's depths!  The Common Mergansers are still around feeding on fish and underwater invertebrates.  

Common Mergansers - Mergus merganser

I love watching them swim underwater in these emerald-green pools! So, so, beautiful!  They will probably leave soon for lower elevations as the days get shorter and the temperatures cool off.

Signal Crayfish - Pacifastucus leniusculus

I found a dead, whole Signal Crayfish in the river last week! Signal Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans, that are native to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. They were introduced to California in 1912, and have spread throughout the state. I only noticed them in our river, about 6 years ago, at the beginning of the California drought. I don't see lots of them, but they are definitely residents. Large fish, raccoons, minks, river otters, and Great Blue Herons all eat adult crayfish. I don't know who got this one!

Crayfish mate in the Fall. After mating, each female lays 200 to 400 eggs, which she carries under her tail until they are ready to hatch the following Spring. The eggs hatch into juveniles and molt 3 times before they leave their mother! The main predators of crayfish eggs and young, are other crayfish and fish. They reach sexual maturity in 2-3 years, and can live as long as 20 years! As youths and adults, crayfish feed on animals and plants, living or deceased, and detritus. They are omnivores!

A Crayfish is the same thing as a Crawdad! They are also commonly called Mountain Lobsters, Freshwater Lobsters, Mudbugs, and Yabbies!

Osprey - Red-tailed Hawk

Pandion haliateus - Buteo jamaicensis

The Osprey and the Red-tailed Hawk are still along the river edge.  The Osprey is eating fish out of the river, while the Red-tailed Hawk is hunting mainly for small mammals in the area, not fish.

Coastal Rainbow Trout - Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus

I don't fish, but I went looking for them in the North Yuba River this week! I found a few "fingerlings" in the shallow, slow waters along the river, as well as lots of "fry". I also spotted this medium sized trout in some shallow water!

Fish start as eggs which hatch into larvae. The larvae are not able to feed themselves, and carry a yolk-sac in their bellies which provides their nutrition. At this stage they are called "alevins". When they have developed to the point where they can feed themselves (mainly zooplankton), the fish are called "fry". When they develop scales and working fins they are called "fingerlings". This juvenile fingerling stage lasts until the fish is fully grown, sexually mature, and interacting with other adult fish.

It sounds like the most common fish in the North Yuba River are Coastal Rainbow Trout, which are native to California, but have been planted locally. There are also non-native German Brown Trout, that swim up to spawn from Bullard's Bar Reservoir. Occasionally you might also find a non-native Brook Trout that has flowed out from a higher elevation lake, during the high water of Spring.

Maybe all these fish will attract a River Otter to our local stretch of the North Yuba River! I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Damp Earth Art

Once again, the weather was sunny and in the 80's during the day, but a bit cooler at night.  No rain is in the immediate forecast. 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.

What's going on down in the Garden?

What insects are still out and about?

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

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