Due to the colder temperatures, recent rains, and shorter days my neighborhood is showing the beginnings of Fall. The now dry grasses are a variety of rich golden-yellows, browns, rusts, and grays. Seeds from dried flowers cling to spider webs among the grasses. Dark clouds bring rain and mists to the brittle fields and forests. Mushrooms  seemingly sprout overnight. The leaves of deciduous trees change into reds, oranges, and yellows. And the rich fragrance of damp earth permeates the air!

Dry papery seed heads abound in these forests, 

and make a lovely, soft, rustling music in the wind!

 

Raindrops bejewel the tangled webs of spiders in the dry grasses.

Leaves surprise us all by turning a variety of rich, warm colors, 

that are all the more saturated by the rain.

The river becomes covered in concentric rings of raindrop ripples, 

that overlap each other in fluid, shifting, patterns.

Poison Oak Berries - Toxicodendron diversilobum

Fall is also the season for berries! In my neighborhood right now, most of the blackberries are past their prime, but grapes, apples and pears are in abundance. There are also the often overlooked native berries that are now ripe and ready to be eaten!  Most of the native berries are toxic to humans, but are readily eaten by birds and mammals! Pictured above are poison oak berries. Although they may not be toxic to humans, picking them would transfer an oily resin, urishiol, to our skin and cause an itchy, itchy, long-lasting rash. The following information about them is from the website at https://mcrcd.org/willits/the-value-of-poison-oak.

"Over 60 species of birds depend on this plant’s waxy, white berries which are loaded with vitamins and other nutrients. The berries are used by migrant birds moving through our area in late summer and winter and by our resident birds to make it through the sparse food times of winter. The list of mammals that dine on poison oak include black-tailed deer, tule elk, black bears, wood rats and chipmunks. The shrub is home to many small mammals and birds including California quail, rabbits, and voles."

Mistletoe - Phoradendron californicum

The mistletoe’s white berries are toxic to humans but are favored during autumn and winter when other foods are scarce, by mammals and birds.

The following info about mistletoe is from the website https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/not-just-kissing-mistletoe-and-birds-bees-and-other-beasts-0

"The phainopepla is just one of many birds that eat mistletoe berries; others include grouse, mourning doves, bluebirds, evening grosbeaks, robins, and pigeons.

Additionally, the berries and leaves of mistletoe provide high-protein fodder for many mammals, including deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and even porcupines, especially in autumn and winter when other foods are scarce.

Birds also find mistletoe a great place for nesting, especially the dense witches’ brooms [branches]. In fact, northern and Mexican spotted owls and other raptors show a marked preference for witches’ brooms as nesting sites. In one study, 43 percent of spotted owl nests were associated with witches’ brooms. Similarly, a USGS researcher found that 64 percent of all Cooper’s hawk nests in northeastern Oregon were in mistletoe. Other raptors that use witches’ brooms as nesting sites include great gray owls, long-eared owls, goshawks, and sharp-shinned hawks. Likewise, some migratory birds also nest in witches’ broom — gray jay, northern beardless-tyrannulet, red crossbills, house wrens, mourning doves, pygmy nuthatches, chickadees, Western tanagers, chipping sparrows, hermit thrushes, Cassin’s finches, and pine siskins."

Bitter Cherry - Prunus emarginata

There were lots and lots of Bitter Cherry shrubs turning a lovely lemon yellow on the way to Howard Meadow a few weeks ago. Their name is quite apt, and I highly discourage even tasting these lovely red berries!  The following information about them is from https://www.wildflower.org/.

"A thicket-forming shrub or small tree with rounded crown, slender, upright branches, bitter foliage, and small, bitter cherries.

This is the most common western cherry. The scientific name describes the notched petals. As the common name indicates, the fruit is not edible; like the bark and leaves, it is intensely bitter. However, the fruit is consumed by many songbirds and mammals and the foliage is browsed by deer and livestock."

Mountain Ash - Sorbus californica

Mountain Ash have bright red berries that are edible, however they are quite bitter to eat raw. It is recommended to freeze or cook them before eating. They contain cyanide, which reduces naturally as the berries get frozen. The berries also contain parasorbic acid, which can cause stomach upset. Cooking changes it to palatable sorbic acid. 

Lots of critters eat Mountain Ash. Robins, Jays, Cedar Waxwings, finches, woodpeckers, and Chickadees all feed on Mountain Ash berries. Mammals also feed on the berries, or twigs, bark and foliage, such as squirrels, rodents, rabbits, bear and deer.

Red Osier Dogwood - Cornus sericea

 

These whitish berries are unpalatable to humans, but are consumed by a variety of birds and mammals. The following information about them is from the website https://plants.usda.gov/Wildlife.

"The fleshy fruits of dogwoods are very valuable to wildlife. The fruit ripens in late summer, and besides being available through the fall, some of the berries may persist on the plants into the winter months. Wildlife browse the twigs, foliage, and fruits. Birds known to eat the fruit include: grosbeaks, orioles, robins, sapsuckers, tree swallows, tanagers, vireos, warblers, cedar waxwings, grouse, and woodpeckers. Mammals that eat the fruit and foliage include black bear, beaver, mountain beaver, cottontail rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and rats. Deer, browse the twigs and foliage."

 

Blue Elderberry - Sambucus mexicanus

I wasn't able to pin down an authoritative source on the edibility of Blue Elderberries for humans. Some website say they are edible only after they are cooked. Others say that they are edible raw. You will have to make your own decision on the edibility of this plant.

 The following information is from 

The Law's Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada.

"Although Blue Elderberry fruits can be eaten raw, all other parts (even small stems) can produce a bitter alkaloid and also a glycoside that, under certain conditions, can produce poisonous hydrocyanic acid. I do not recommend eating this or other elderberries."

On the other hand, lots of birds and mammals feast on the berries. The following information about them is from https://nativeplantspnw.com.

"Blue Elderberry is an extremely valuable shrub for wildlife. It provides valuable cover and nesting sites for birds and small mammals. Its fruit provides food for many species of birds including: jays, woodpeckers, pigeons, grosbeaks, robins, thrushes, bluebirds, towhees, tanagers, and many others. Squirrels and other small mammals also eat the fruit. Flowers are mostly pollinated by insects but hummingbirds will visit the flowers for nectar. Elk and deer browse the foliage."

Lakes Basin News!

My husband, his son, and I decided to drive up to Howard Meadow to see what was happening a week ago. To our dismay the sheepherders had recently passed through with hundreds of hungry sheep. Most of the  meadow was trampled and eaten down to nubs!!! I have never seen it look like this, although we have seen sheep poop her before. They probably come through here every year, but I've never seen their impact. Hopefully next Spring, the meadow will be back to normal once again!

Merlin - Falco columbaris

While we were there, a flock of small birds erupted from the meadow and flew away in a group followed by a small raptor! Just a little bit later, I spotted a raptor on the top of a distant dead tree. Luckily it posed for a minute or more and I was able to identify it as a Merlin! 

They are tiny raptors, measuring only 10" long including the tail, with a wingspan of 6.5", and a weight of 6.7 ounces! Their main diet is small to medium size birds. They usually hunt from a perch. Prey is pursued with lightning speed (30 mph or more), and caught mid-air. In the fall they eat a lot of dragonflies! Sometimes they even hunt cooperatively with another Merlin!

Merlins don't breed here, they breed farther north across Alaska and Canada, as well as Russia! They are not numerous in population, but they are widespread. They are uncommon visitors to our area in the fall and early winter, during their migration to their winter residence in Mexico/So. America, or Europe. How lucky we were to spot this one!

Mountain Quail - Oreortyx pictus

As we drove back to the Gold Lake Highway, we came across another small raptor on the dirt road with a dead bird!  It flew off as we approached, so we stopped immediately. I waited for a while, hoping the raptor would return but it didn't. So then, I walked up to the dead bird and was astonished to find it was a Mountain Quail missing its head!!! How odd! 

When I got home, I looked up headless birds on the  internet and apparently it's not that uncommon! The information I found wasn't on the Cornell or Audubon websites, so it's a bit questionable. Apparently, raptors and other birds are known to eat the head of their prey first. Sometimes they return and feed on the carcass, but often they don't return!  I'm going to research this some more, and I'll share what I find in my next blog. What an unusual sighting this was!

Sierra Buttes and Young America Lake

Two weeks ago, my friend Nancy and I hiked up to the overlook of Young America Lake. We hadn't done this hike in several years. It was a beautiful blue-sky day and no one else was on the trail. We hiked up about 3.5 miles to the top of a ridge until we could see the lake. What a beautiful view it was!

Young America Lake

We have been down to the actual shore of the lake twice in the past. One time we boulder hopped down from the ridge to the lake. Another time we hiked down from the PCT, which was very steep! It's a lovely turquoise lake!

Rock Wren - Salpinctes obsoletus

While we were enjoying the view, a young Rock Wren landed nearby and checked us out!  How fun to see one of these uncommon birds!

On the hike back to our car, we cut off the trail and went cross country down through the forest. Then we reconnected to the trail and paused briefly at Lower Tamarack Lake before we headed home. Glad to be back in the Lakes Basin again, sorry to have to leave, but I'll be back soon!

What kind of bird is this?

What else is turning Fall colors in the Lakes Basin?

What's happening on the North Yuba River?

After 8 years of posting my blog, I've decided that I'm only going to post my blog every TWO weeks. Check back on October 18th for my next natural history blog.

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