Surprising River Sightings!

Common Merganser (male) in the rain - Mergus merganser

We just had a very rainy week, with a total of 3.35" of rain, and it's still raining today. This brings our water year total to 44.46"!  The river is up, at 5.5', and flowing fast at 1600cfs (cubic feet per second). The water is a chilly 40 degrees!  

North Yuba River - 3/26/24

Almost everyday, I linger on our bridge and check out what's happening on the river. This week, to my surprise and alarm there was an adult doe being swept downriver by the fast highwater!  Sometimes her back was showing and sometimes it was totally submerged!

Mule Deer (doe) in the North Yuba River

In less than 30 seconds the doe was carried downriver as far as I could watch her, and then disappeared around the river bend!  WOW!  I kept hoping that she would veer off and get out of the river, but the current must have been too fast.  Hopefully she got out soon after I lost sight of her!  

Mule Deer (doe) in the North Yuba River

I wondered what had made her go into the river. Perhaps she was being pursued by a Mountain Lion or a dog. I even drove down the highway looking for her, but didn't see her. I sure hope she made it.  My neighbor told me that he has seen deer in the river many times during winter!  One time he was upriver where the river gets narrow, fast, and rushes down between huge boulders. He saw a deer enter the river, get flipped over by the current, and washed down river upside down through the boulders!  When the river flattened out, the deer righted itself and then scrambled up the riverbank!  Wow!  They must be way tougher than I thought!

American Dipper nest - American Dipper

On another part of the river I've been observing an American Dipper nest for the past few weeks.  To my surprise and alarm, when I went to check it out yesterday the nest was GONE and the American Dipper was sitting on the ledge all by itself!!!  WHAT???  I had stopped to see the nest about 4 days before, and I remembered that there had been two Common Ravens in the immediate vicinity that day.  The river is way too high and fast for any humans to disturb the nest right now.  So I think that maybe the Ravens investigated the nest to eat the eggs, and knocked it off the ledge in the process!!!  I'm glad the Dipper is still okay despite the destruction of its nest.  It will be interesting to see if it makes a new nest.  I hope it does, but maybe not at such an obvious location!  I also hope the Ravens stay away if it does!!!  Life is tough out there in the wild.

Joubert's Diggins

Local Pond Update

Since it's been too rainy to hike I decided to drive and visit the three local ponds I watch in the winter. At Joubert's Diggins, the usual Buffleheads and Hooded Mergansers were still in residence, but there were some new arrivals including a Common Goldeneye and a pair of Mallards!  I have not yet seen any Wood Ducks there, but maybe they'll show up in the near future.  

Buffleheads (female-male) - Bucephala albeola

There's a population of about ten Buffleheads on these ponds.

Common Goldeneye (female) - Bucephala clangula

Interestingly there was only one Common Goldeneye on the ponds, but it was the first one I've ever seen there!

Hooded Mergansers (female-male) - Lophodytes cucullatus

So far I've only seen this one pair of Hooded Mergansers on the ponds.

Mallards (male-female) - Anas platyrhynchos

Only the Mallards will stay and raise their young here.

Charles Marsh Pond

Surprisingly at the Charles Marsh Pond there was only one duck visible, a female Hooded Merganser!  All winter longer there has been a population of 8 Hooded Mergansers on this pond!

Hooded Mergansers (female) - Lophodytes cucullatus

Wood Duck Pond - 3/28/24

Wood Duck Pond was inhabited by only a pair of Wood Ducks! I felt privileged to see this pair of beauties once again!

Wood Ducks (female - male) - Aix sponsa

Mendocino Silk Moth - Calosturnia mendocino

This super unusual looking moth turned out to be a Mendocino Silk Moth - Calosturnia mendocino.  Bugguide.net identified it for me!  This is a female and measures 61mm. Males aren't as big as the females, and measure 50mm.  The following information is about their behavior and habitat is from butterfliesandmoths.org 

"Life History: Adults fly in the daytime with a fast and erratic flight. Newly-emerged females fly only after they have mated. Females lay eggs singly or in bunches of 2-6 on the leaves of the host plants. Eggs hatch 1 to 7 weeks later. Loose mesh-like cocoons are attached to stems or branches of the host plants.

Flight: One brood from February-June.

Caterpillar Hosts: Manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and madrone (Arbutus menziesii), both in the heath family (Ericaceae).

Adult Food: Adults do not feed.

Habitat: Chaparral plant communities and the dry edges of redwood forests.

Range: Monterey County, California north through the Coast Range and from Tulare County on the western slopes of the California Sierra Nevada, north through the Cascade Mountains and into southern Oregon."

Sierra Buttes - 3/21/24

Up in the Lakes Basin

Just before the week of rain came in, my friend Diane and I hiked/skied up to Upper Sardine Lake!  There was about 1.5' of packed snow on the roads, so she skied and I walked.  It was a beautiful clear blue-sky day without a cloud in sight. A gorgeous day to be back in the Lakes Basin!

Lower Sardine Lake - 3/21/24

Both of the lakes were still frozen, except for a little thawing on the edge.

Upper Sardine Lake - 3/21/24

The road to Upper Sardine Lake hadn't been driven on

and wasn't packed down. So we punched in the whole way up to the lake and back, and definitely got our exercise!  The view of the lake was well worth the effort! I hadn't been up to the lake in winter since 2021!

Mountain Chickadee - Poecile gambeli

Although there were lots of tracks we didn't see any wild mammals. I did however enjoy a moment with this cute little Mountain Chickadee, whose song was such a familiar "Dee dee dee"!

Table Mountain and the Sutter Buttes

What's happening in the foothills?

What new birds will arrive this week?

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

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

Sierra Valley

Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis

The weather was sunny and warm and the roads were bare this week, so we decided to drive over to Sierra Valley to see how Spring was progressing. The valley was snow-free but the surrounding mountains were still snow covered. The average annual rainfall is less than 20" in the valley, most falling as snow. At 117,292.42 acres, Sierra Valley is the largest intermountain (between the mountains) valley in the Sierra Nevada! 

It became obvious right away that we were a bit too early for wildflowers and waterfowl. The grasses were still all brown, with just a tiny bit of green showing on the ground.  It was warm, and the heatwaves were distorting the distant views. There were however, more Sandhill Cranes than we've ever seen before!  We saw about 24 cranes over the course of the day and we usually only see about 6!

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

The majority of the cranes we saw were in groups of 5-7 adults, along one particular waterway. These birds are huge, with a length of 46" (almost 4' tall), a wingspan of 77" (almost 6.4' wide) and a weight of 10.6 lbs!!! I'm guessing that most of these Sandhills will fly north into Idaho and Oregon to breed, rather than nest in Sierra Valley. It will be interesting to see what happens!

Sierra Valley from the Steel Bridge 3/17/24

There wasn't as much water at the Steel Bridge as last year, but this past winter was a lot milder than the previous winter. I love the big-sky expansive view from the Steel Bridge, where the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Feather River flow. The valley floor is a grassland/sagebrush ecosystem, and the site of extensive freshwater wetlands. These wetlands provide migratory and breeding habitat for more than 17 rare or threatened species of birds. It is also a critical migratory stop for 230 species including Greater Sandhill Cranes, Black Tern, White-faced Ibis and raptors.

American Coot - Fulica americana

At the Steel Bridge the main waterfowl present were American Coots. There weren't any swallows, shorebirds, wrens, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, ducks, or raptors present!  We'll be coming back in April and hopefully the birds will be back by then!

Coots are not ducks, they are in the Rallidae Family and are classified as Rails! They probably spend their winter in lower elevations in California. They will breed and raise their young in Sierra Valley. They make floating nests out of tules and other dry vegetation, that are anchored to standing aquatic vegetation.

Mt. Beckwourth - 3/17/24

To the west of the Steel Bridge, Mt. Beckwourth at 7,234' is the dominant geologic feature. I tried to find some geology about it online, but only found this quote from "Ron Wolf" on Flickr;

"Beckwourth Peak is an eroded volcanic feature with slopes formed by andesitic tuff and breccia from eruptions in the region during the Miocene about 11-13 million years ago. The peak is capped by mafic andesite flows that are about 9 million years old."

Redhead Ducks and a Pied-billed Grebe!

To the east of the Steel Bridge, there is a large wetlands that had lots of birds in it in the FAR distance. I was able to zoom in on more Coots, as well as a few Redhead Ducks and one Pied-billed Grebe! Readheads overwinter in coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico, but it isn't clear where the Pied-billed Grebes from Sierra Valley go in the winter. I need to contact the Plumas Audubon Society to find out. 

Sierra Valley Preserve - Feather River Land Trust

Since there weren't many birds at the Steel Bridge, we decided to go for a walk at the Sierra Valley Preserve, just a few miles away. The views there were lovely of the entire valley and it's surrounding mountains, but unfortunately it was flooded in one area that we couldn't get past. We'll be back again soon!

Horned Lark (male) - Red-winged Blackbird (male)

Eremophila alpestris - Agelaius phoeniceus

On the way home we spotted a Horned Lark taking a dust-bath on a side road! I love their little, black, feather "horns"! These birds are sexually dimorphic, with the male being more colorful. They will breed and raise their young in Sierra Valley. The female alone makes the nest. She starts by digging out a cavity in the ground, which may take 2-4 days! She then weaves a nest of fine plant material gathered nearby, such as grass, small roots, and shredded plant stocks. The inner part of the nest is lined with finer material such as down, fur, feathers, fine rootlets; even lint and string are sometimes used. Usually they travel in flocks of several hundred birds, except during the breeding season. Right now they are pairing off, mating, and making nests.  

We also spotted a few Red-winged Blackbirds at another wetlands! I've seen huge flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds in Sierra Valley. They come to Sierra Valley to nest and raise their young. The female alone builds the nest, by weaving cattail leaves and grasses around upright woody plant branches, and then adding an inner cup made from mud and lined with fine grasses.

White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Neighborhood Bird Sightings

I spotted this gorgeous White Pelican on the North Yuba River just two days ago.  Flocks of these Pelicans migrate over our area in the Spring, on their way to their breeding grounds in Pyramid Lake, Nevada.  Occasionally, some of them land in the river.  Sometimes they don't make it, due to lack of food. These Pelicans don't dive for fish, they herd them to shallow waters and scoop them up. The North Yuba River isn't a good area for that style of fishing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that somehow this one keeps going. It's not easy surviving out there in the wild. I'll keep checking on it!

They are one of the largest birds in North America, with a length of approximately 4', a wingspan of 9', and a weight of 16.4 lbs! During breeding season the color of their feet, bills, and the skin around their eyes becomes a really saturated-orange color! Also, the males and females both grow horns on their upper bills, which are shed once their eggs are laid.

Common Mergansers - Mergus merganser

More and more Common Mergansers are showing up on the river!  They come here to breed and raise their young.  So far I've see 6 adults on the river! Some of them are paired up, and some aren't. I sure hope they raise some babies this year, I just love watching them throughout the summer!

Common Goldeneyes - Bucephala clangula

There's a nice group of 6 Common Goldeneyes that are still on the river!

I was lucky enough to watch them swim underwater this week.  The inset photo above is of an underwater Goldeneye!  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.

Red-breasted Sapsucker - Sapsucker drilled holes

Sphyrapicus ruber

To my delight I watched a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers chase each other  through the trees this week.  I noticed them because one of them was making an unusual call that I hadn't heard before.  It turns out it was making "Squeal Calls" to attract a mate! I watched them for a couple of days!  The male also drummed loudly on the local telephone poles!  How fun!  Hope they nest in our area like they have in the past.

Their name comes from their habit of drilling rows of small holes in the trunks of trees. They will eat the sap that oozes out of the holes, as well as any insects that get stuck in the sap! They will also eat the cambium layer of the tree, that is just under the bark!

Anna's Hummingbird (male) - Violet-green Swallows

Calypte Anna - Tachycineta thalassina

Along the highway, a male Anna's Hummingbird shows up every Spring on this one particular bush.  He just arrived today!  Yay!  He hangs out in this one, open, grassy slope and advertises for a mate!  He's a real beauty! I love seeing him return year after year. Nature is so astounding!

The Violet-green Swallows have returned recently from their winter residence in Mexico or Central America, to breed and raise their young here! There is a small colony of less than 20 pairs of swallows, that nest in the same cutbank on the highway every year. I'm so thrilled that they've returned!

Mystery Moth photo by Rochelle Bell

What the heck is this?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

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

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

Late Winter & Early Spring!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

A Late Snowstorm!

Two weeks ago on the morning of Saturday, March 2nd, the power was out and a blizzard was happening in our neighborhood! I went out for a walk first thing in a couple of inches of new snow, and luckily ran into this doe on our bridge! What beauty!  I stopped walking and turned away from the doe and it kept coming across the bridge.  It turned left, away from me, into a grassy forested area right after the bridge, and started browsing right away! What a lucky sighting! 

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

It snowed most of that day, with a total snowfall of 6". The next couple of days we got rain instead of snow, but up in the Lakes Basin, they got over 6' of snow!  The total precipitation for our area from the 4 day storm was 3.85".

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

That same morning I heard and saw several hundred Sandhill Cranes flying west overhead! WOW!!! They were calling and calling, circling and circling, and then eventually flying west!  Hopefully they found somewhere to land in the foothills!  It was a real blizzard when they flew by!

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

Usually at this time of year they would be flying east and north!

Mountain Quail - Oreortyx pictus

Tracks were abundant that morning in the snow.  I saw squirrel, deer, fox, and Mountain Quail tracks all over our neighborhood.  I was struck by the similarity of the Quail tracks in the snow and the pattern of the distant Sandhill Cranes in the snowy sky!

Western Bluebird - Sialia mexicana

The Western Bluebirds that had recently arrived waited out the blizzard, and puffed themselves up to stay warm!  

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

A large flock of American Robins arrived just before the storm. They come here to nest, after spending the winter in the California foothills or coast, or even as far south as Mexico. Their diet consists of fruit (mainly berries) and invertebrates, such as worms and insects.  It must have been tough to find food during the snowstorm.  Most birds will shelter themselves away from the wind, snow or rain, and become less active on stormy days, to conserve energy.

Varied Thrush (male) - Ixoreus naevius

We were also surprised by the arrival of two gorgeous Varied Thrushes!  They usually show up in the winter, and we hadn't seen them yet this year!  They are so strikingly and beautifully feathered!  They breed north of here, in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska, as well as in western Montana and Idaho. In winter they eat acorns, seeds, nuts and berries.

Fir Cap - around 6,000' in elevation - 3/2/24

The new snow was beautiful and dramatic! It was the snowiest it had been all winter!

I loved watching the sunlight travel over the stormy forest! Such Beauty!

Grizzly Peak 3/6/24

Signs of Spring!

The snow storm was followed by several days of rain, bringing our water-year total to 41.11". Then the weather changed and we got sunny blue-sky days and the temperatures warmed up! I had several surprising sightings in the week after the snowstorm!

Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte Anna

To our delight a male Anna's Hummingbird showed up in our backyard this past week!  I quickly filled up my feeder with sugar water (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) and hung it outside.  It didn't take long for the hummer to find it, and he has been there every day since. I love how his brilliant, iridescent feathers change in the sunlight. The following information at https://www.sciencedaily.com explains how iridescent colors occur in hummingbirds.

"Hummingbirds are some of the most brightly-colored things in the entire world. Their feathers are iridescent -- light bounces off them like a soap bubble, resulting in shimmering hues that shift as you look at them from different angles. While other birds like ducks can have bright feathers, nothing seems to come close to hummingbirds, and scientists weren't sure why. But a new study in Evolution shows that while hummingbird feathers have the same basic makeup as other birds', the special shape of their pigment-containing structures enables them to reflect a rainbow of light.

All birds' feathers are made of keratin, the same material as our hair and nails, and they're structured like tiny trees, with parts resembling a trunk, branches, and leaves. The "leaves," called feather barbules, are made up of cells that contain pigment-producing organelles called melanosomes. We have melanosomes too -- they produce the dark melanin pigment that colors our hair and skin. But pigment isn't the only way to get color. The shape and arrangement of melanosomes can influence the way light bounces off them, producing bright colors.

In birds, you get layers of melanosomes, and when light bounces off the different layers, we see bright colors.

But even among birds, hummingbird melanosomes are special. Ducks have log-shaped melanosomes without any air inside, but hummingbirds' melanosomes are pancake-shaped and contain lots of tiny air bubbles. The flattened shape and air bubbles of hummingbird melanosomes create a more complex set of surfaces. When light glints off those surfaces, it bounces off in a way that produces iridescence."

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

I had been wondering if the American Dippers had started building their nest yet.  Last year I was lucky to watch the building of their nest from start to finish, in seven days!  That was from March 24-30 last year.  So I drove down to their nest site this past week to see what was happening.

American Dipper Nest - Cinclus mexicanus

To my complete surprise the nest was already built!!!  I saw one adult on the rocks in the nearby river, but didn't see any action at the nest itself.  The female may be incubating the eggs on the nest!  I'll keep checking and update you on their progress!  What an early pair of nesters these American Dippers are!

Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus

My husband and I were walking in our neighborhood when I spotted a small bird on the ground ahead of us.  I thought it might be a Hermit Thrush and it was! The Hermit Thrush name comes from its solitary elusive behavior. Right now they are migrating through to their breeding grounds in the higher elevations from their winter habitat in the foothills. Currently they're foraging on the ground for berries and any insects they can find. They are well camouflaged when foraging in shrubs. Hermit Thrushes flit their wings about and pump their tails when they're perching.

Sierra Alligator Lizard - Elgaria coerulea palmeri

I decided to see if the Canyon Wren was back on its section of the North Yuba River this week. I hiked down the steep path to the river, but no Canyon Wren was in sight. However, I came across a Sierra Alligator Lizard that was "frozen" in motion. Being cold blooded, most lizards can't move when the temperatures are 45 degrees or lower. My car temperature gauge said it was 41 degrees outside. So I was able to pick up this lizard without getting bitten!!!  How lucky!    Usually these lizards dart away so fast, I never get a good look at them! It was a real treat to hold one in my hand! Within seconds, the warmth from my hand made the lizard able to move, so I let it go and watched it climb into a mossy cavity.  The following information about this lizard is from californiaherps.com.

"Sierra Alligator Lizards have large scales, a long alligator-like snout, light-colored eyes, and a longitudinal fold on the lower sides of the body. They can be fairly large in size. Active during daylight, they are frequently seen moving on the ground, and occasionally up in bushes. Alligator lizards do not typically bask in the sun out in the open or on top of a rock like many other lizard species."

Unknown Spider - Convergent Ladybird Beetles - Mourning Cloak Butterfly

 species unknown - Hippodamia convergens - Nymphalis antiopa

This largish spider was cruising on the sun-warmed road when we went for our walk.  I don't know what kind it is, perhaps a Wolf Spider, but I will ask BugGuide.net for an identification.

The Convergent Ladybird Beetles are still hanging out in our neighborhood, waiting for the temps to rise before they migrate back down to the foothills.

I was amused at how they had converged on the tip of this broken branch!

Mourning Cloak Butterflies overwinter as adults and migrate up from the Sacramento Valley to breed at higher elevations. They can live for 11-12 months, one of the longest-lived butterfly species!  They will lay their eggs on willows, which their caterpillars will feed on.  This one had its wings pressed down, maybe to keep from being blown away in the wind.  I was amazed how hairy its abdomen was!

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

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

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