The North Yuba River

North Yuba River - 6/2/23

The North Yuba River is running at 3,170 cfs (cubic feet per second) with a height of 8.5'. It was a lot higher back in January of this year, with a rate of 10,000 cfs and a height of 13'!  However, last year in June, it was running at only 600 cfs with a height of just 3.75'.  Where we live the river widens, flattens out, and slows down.  Upriver the riverbed narrows, the descent is steep, and right now white water is crashing down the canyon!  It's amazing to see!

North Yuba River - 6/2/23

Here's a short video of some white water on the North Yuba River.

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius

Due to the rapid flow and increased volume of the river, things have changed on the North Yuba River.  There aren't any Ospreys or Bald Eagles catching fish in the river, as it is too fast. The number of adult Mergansers and Canada Geese is about the same, but I haven't seen any ducklings or goslings yet.  Right now the river would be pretty treacherous for tiny waterfowl.  Additionally, I haven't seen any River Otters, or bear or deer on the river.  Again, the rate of flow is probably the deterrent.  Maybe everything is just being delayed, and in another month things might get back to normal.  Or maybe not.  We'll just have to wait and see.

To my delight the usual small population of Spotted Sandpipers has returned!  I noticed them just a few weeks ago. Currently they can be found along the river's edge foraging for aquatic and airborne insects.  So lovely to see them back in our neighborhood, after spending the winter in Mexico or as far south as Brazil! 

Spotted Sandpipers are quite unusual in their breeding and nesting habits. The females usually arrive before the males, in the Spring. The females practice polyandry and will mate with up to 3 different males, if they are available. However, some females are monogamous, and will mate with only one male. Competition between females can be quite aggressive, if the male population is low. The nests are begun by the females and finished by the males. The nests are built on the ground, in the shade of shrubs, and about 100 yards from the shore. Each mated male will have it's own nest. The males brood 3-5 eggs for 19-22 days, and protect the baby birds when they hatch. The females may help with the care of the baby birds, if they only have one mate. The young birds are born precocial, and can walk and feed themselves within hours!!! Their main food is flying and aquatic insects. They are able to fly within 18 days! 

Common Mergansers (females - males) - Mergus merganser

 

I've seen a few pairs of Common Mergansers on the river so far.  Hopefully, they will produce some ducklings in another month or so.  They probably spent the winter in California's Central Valley or coastal areas.

Since I haven't been able to explore the Lakes Basin due to the snowy conditions, I've been admiring all the local wildflowers this past month.  Highway 49 is currently bordered in a profuse display of wildflowers.  

Here are some of the ones I enjoyed!

Purple Milkweed - Asclepias cordifolia

Pipestem - Heermann's Golden Sunburst - Deerbrush

Clematis  lasiantha - Pseudobahia heermannii - Ceanothus integerrimus

Roundtooth Ookow - Foothill Penstemon - Forktooth Ookow

Dichelostemma multiflorum - Penstemon heterophyllus  

Dichelostemma congestum

I'm not totally positive on the identification of the Forktooth Ookow.  What was amazing about these plants is that they had long, 3'-4' lily-like leaves! The leaves are what caught my eye a month ago, and now the flowers are finally blossoming!  So lovely!

Brewer's Rock Cress - Showy Phlox - Wild Carnation

Boechera breweri - Phlox speciosa -  Petrorhagia dubia

The first half mile of the Canyon Creek Trail is sunny and usually covered in wildflowers at this time of year!  I've been going there quite often to see what's blooming.  It parallels the North Yuba River, and sometimes I see River Otters!

Yellow Cat's Ear - Calochortus monophyllus

Mountain Jewel Flower - Sierra Iris - Common Manroot

Streptanthus tortuosus - Iris hartwegii -  Marah fabacea

Canyon Dudleya - Pacific Sedum - Wallflower

Dudleya cymosa - Sedum spathulifolium - Erysimum capitatum

Tollbridge Road parallels the North Yuba River on the shaded south side.  Different flowers grow here than out in the sunny areas.  It is a delight every time we walk it!

Arrow-leaf Balsamroot - Interior Rose - Slender Larkspur

Balsamorhiza sagittata - Rosa woodsii var. ultramontana

Delphinium gracilentum

Small-leaved Montia - Star Flower - Douglas' Sandwort

 Montia parvifolia - Lysimachia latifolia - Minuartia douglasii

Western Wood Pewee - Tree Swallow - Cedar Waxwing - (all adults)

Contopus sordidulus - Tachycineta bicolor - Bombycilla cedrorum

New Arrivals!

Some new birds have arrived this week, including a Western Wood Pewee, a Tree Swallow, and surprisingly a Cedar Waxwing!  Cedar Waxwings usually eat fruit, but at this time of year they feed on insects and flowers!  A few years ago a Tree Swallow nested in a nearby telephone pole.  Hopefully this one will too!  A Western Wood Peewee has made a nest on the river's edge for several years in a row.  Maybe this is the same Pewee! How fun to see these new birds!

Bullock's Oriole (female) -Icterus bullockii

To my absolute DELIGHT I saw a female Bullock's Oriole this week!!!  I've seen several males this past month, but no females.  Usually by now, they are nesting in our neighborhood.  In fact, for the past six years a female has nested in a tree right across the road from us!  This year she hasn't shown up and I've been hoping and hoping that she will. Just this week, I was out wandering one morning and I heard an Oriole calling!  I scanned the trees and spotted a female, searching for insects in a Live Oak tree!  She moved too quickly for a good photo, but at least I finally saw a female! Yay!!! Fingers crossed that she nests in our neighborhood! She has flown all the way from her winter home in Mexico or perhaps even Guatemala!

Sierra Buttes -  5/31/23

Lakes Basin Update!

I didn't hike on snow up in the Lakes Basin this week but we did drive up the Gold Lake Road. The county had it plowed almost a mile past the road to Salmon Lake.  They estimate that they won't have it all the way open until the middle of June!  WOW!  I'm going back up to hike on the snow on this coming Monday, and I'll let you know how it goes

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What's blooming in Carman Valley?

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

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