Down in the Foothills!

Blue Oak - California Poppies  

Quercus douglasii - Eschscholzia californica

The "Other" Spenceville

This week my friend Nancy and I drove down to a Blue Oak woodland in part of the Spenceville Wildlife Preserve and Recreation Area, run by the California State Department of Fish and Wildlife. We had visited this same spot three years ago. It is a beautiful area with rounded hills covered in Blue Oaks, broad open meadows of short green grass, and beautiful wide vistas of the surrounding hills!  There are also quite a few cows!

Hartweg's Doll Lily/Inside Out Lily - True Baby Stars - Caterpillar Phacelia

Odontostomum hartwegii - Leptosiphon bicolor - Phacelia cicutaria

Unfortunately, in the meadows where there were cows, the native wildflowers were sparsely scattered. Instead there were lots and lots of blooming non-native plants thriving throughout the meadows, including Storksbill, Wild Carnation, Tarweed, Thistle, Rayless Chamomile and Hawkbit. However, in the hilltop Blue Oak forests the native wildflowers were more prevalent, perhaps because the cows stick to the lower meadows. There was Roundtooth Ookow, Caterpillar Phacelia, Wally Basket/Ithuriel's Spear, Narrowleaf Flax, True Baby Stars, White Brodiaea, and Larkspur to name a few.

 

A Field of  Blooming Goldfields! - Lasthenia californica

There was one meadow area on the preserve that looked like it had been fenced off from the cows and there were thousands of wildflowers growing there!  There were Goldfields, Frying Pans, Inside Out Lilies, Yellow Mariposa Lilies, White Brodiaea, Seepspring Monkeyflowers, Harvest Brodiaea, and many others. It was amazing to see the difference between the areas where cows were grazing and where cows weren't grazing! Wildflowers definitely did better were there weren't any cows.

California Goldfields - Roundtooth Ookow - Frying Pans

Lasthenia californica - Dichelostemma multiflorum - Eschscholzia lobbii 

On the internet, there is a LOT of information on the pros and cons of cattle grazing on public lands. It is a very complex issue, with valid arguments from both sides often on the "opposite side of the fence".

For the "cons" of grazing I suggest the following website: 

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/grazing/#:~:text=TAKE%20ACTION-,ECOLOGICAL%20COSTS,contaminate%20waterways%20with%20fecal%20waste.

For the "pros" of grazing I suggest the following website: https://www.fb.org/issue/other/grazing-on-public-lands#:~:text=Grazing%20is%20also%20critical%20for,and%20staffing%20at%20federal%20agencies.

un-named pond

There are a few creeks and one pond on the preserve. We spent some time sitting at this pond, enjoying all the bird calls and the sound of the wind in the rustling tree leaves. There were lots of Red-winged Blackbirds perching on the tules at one end of the pond, that were probably nesting there.  We also heard a California Quail calling and calling.  It was so peaceful and alive at the same time!

White Brodiaea - Yellow Mariposa Lily - Ithuriel's Spear/Wally Basket

Triteleia hyacinthina - Calochortus luteus - Triteleia laxa

We were especially delighted to see about twenty Yellow Mariposa Lilies in the preserve.  Most of them have been wiped out locally by development.  Nancy had never see one before!  We were happy that they were still growing in the area fenced off from cows!

Up on the ridge tops we encountered lots of beautiful lichen covered rocks! They were so unique and looked so old! We didn't know anything about the geology of the area, but we found the following information on the website

spenceville.org.

"The gentle rolling terrain of SWA (Spenceville Wildlife Area) varies between 230 and 1,000 feet in elevation. The soil of the area contains generous amounts of clay and is shallow in depth. Underlying bedrock consists of metamorphosed volcanic rock (Rogers et al. 1996) commonly referred to as Serpentine or Greenstone. The outcroppings of this resistant rock type have been dubbed "tombstone rock" due to its likeness to thin, slightly rounded tombstones." 

For the first time ever, I used my phone for my camera that day!  I had forgotten my camera under the seat of my car, but luckily had my cheap, $60 cell phone. It was fun using it!  I couldn't really see what I was photographing, because of the bright sunshine on the screen, but I could see just enough.  It was kind of tricky to hit the button when trying to get a close-up shot of a flower, and bird photos were out of the question due to a lack of "zoom". But, it was way lighter than my camera, fit in my pocket, and I liked the longer, narrower format of the photos!  I was also surprised at the 5MB size of the images and their saturated color and sharpness!  WOW!  I might just make a habit of using my phone in addition to my camera now!  How fun!  Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis

About a week before we went to Spenceville, Nancy and I drove back to Table Mountain to see how the wildflower bloom had progressed. To our delight it was still covered in billions of wildflowers, there was water flowing in the creeks, and surprisingly there were lots of songbirds!  More birds than I had ever seen before!  Without a doubt the most common bird was the Savannah Sparrow.

Savannah Sparrows spend the winter in the southern U.S. or down in Mexico. They breed across the U.S. and up into northern Canada and Alaska. Right now some of them are back on Table Mountain to breed and raise their young!  In fact we even spotted a fledgling (featured below) while we were there! The following information on their nest making habits is from the Cornell website https://birdsoftheworld.org 

"Nests are placed on the ground and well-hidden, in areas that have lots of plant litter, decayed cow dung, and reduced coverage of bare ground. Nest itself consists of two distinct parts, an exterior form of coarse grasses with an internal cup of closely woven fine grasses built within. Nests differ from those of co-occurring sparrows such as Song Sparrows by their smaller size, tendency to be covered, and typical location in grassy habitats away from woody vegetation."

Glassy Wild Hyacinth - Triteleia lilacina

 

Glassy Wild Hyacinths were abundant on the mountain that day. Their glistening centers were amazing to see with a hand lens!

Lark Sparrow -  Savannah Sparrow (fledgling)

Chondestes grammacus - Passerculus sandwichensis

We also saw one Lark Sparrow feeding on the trail! The Lark Sparrows will probably nest here. They build their nests on bare ground, or slightly above ground in a shrub, in habitats like Table Mountain. Right now is their breeding season, and males are known to give a female a twig during copulation, which she then flies off with and places in her nest! 3-6 eggs are laid per clutch, and hatch within 12 days! Both male and female adults feed the nestlings, which can fly within 9 days! I love the markings and colors of the adults! Beautiful!

Kellogg's Clarkia - Triteleia lilacina

We've seen these large, lovely Clarkia's once before on Table Mountain. 

It was a joy to see these beauties again!

Horned Lark ( female - male) - Eremophila alpestris

We saw these two Horned Larks in the same area, and I only realized later that one was female and one was male! Horned Larks prefer to live in bare or nearly bare ground, such as tundra, desert, beach or short-grass prairie. Usually they travel in flocks of several hundred birds, except during the breeding season. Right now they are pairing off, mating, and making nests. Nests are made out of dry grasses, rootlets, animal hair and feathers, in a shallow depression on the ground. The female incubates 2-5 eggs for 11-12 days. The nestlings are altricial when born, and are cared for by the parents for 8-10 days after they fledge. The fledglings can run much sooner than they can fly. They are completely independent in four weeks.

Purple Owl's Clover - Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta

The Purple Owl's Clover was just showing up in some areas when we were there.  I love their bright magenta coloration!

Western Kingbird - Tyrannus verticalis

Kingbirds spend the winter down in southern Mexico and Central America and return to the western U.S. to breed.  They use a wide variety of nesting materials, in a wide variety of sites, but in general they nest in trees or shrubs, not on the ground.  I don't know if this Kingbird will stay or move on to a different area to breed.

Canyon Delphinium - Delphinium nudicaule

Luckily the beautiful vermillion-red Canyon Delphinium was in bloom in the shaded side of a canyon. Table Mountain is the only place where I've seen these gorgeous flowers!

Western Meadowlark (adult) - Mountain Bluebird (female)

Sturnella neglecta - Sialia currucoides

Western Meadowlarks live year-round in California. They spend the winter in the lower elevations. They might nest on Table Mountain or continue up to slightly higher elevations to breed and raise their young. They are such beautifully marked birds!

Mountain Bluebirds spend the winter in the south western U.S. and northern Mexico.  They breed in the western U.S. and south western Canada, except for the coast.  In California they breed up in the mountains, so they are just passing through Table Mountain.  I didn't see any males, but we saw at least four females!

Ravine Falls

New this year we walked to Ravine Falls, which I'd never seen before! It was a lovely thin sheet of water, that dropped straight down from the edge of the canyon, creating a cool, shaded, damp refuge on sunny Table Mountain!

$100 Falls!

This waterfall is one of many small waterfalls that spill over the edge of Table Mountain when there is sufficient rainfall.  It's named "$100 Falls" because of a fake "bet" I made with a friend!  She didn't believe that there was a waterfall in this little ravine, so we made a bet and she lost!  Hence the name! This is where we saw the Kellogg's Clarkia and many other wildflowers!

What's blooming locally?

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

Check back in two weeks for the answers to these questions and more!

After 8 years of doing my blog, I've decided that I'm only going to post my blog twice monthly from now on.  My husband has health issues that need my attention, and it's hard to find the time to post my blog (it takes at least a day to create a new post). So cutting back to two blogs a month will work a lot better for now. My next post will be on the weekend of May 11th. See you then!

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