Sierra Valley and Carmen Valley once again!

 

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Sierra Valley

Last Monday, my friend Mary and I revisited Sierra Valley and Carmen Valley. We saw a variety of birds, tons of wildflowers, a Pronghorn, three Bald Eagles, and a Beaver!  It was a wonderful day!!!

Yellow-headed Blackbird (male - female) - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds were creating a racket with their coarse, raucous calls from the tules and cattails alongside the road. It's their mating time! Males are polygynandrous and will have up to six mates. The females aren't as gorgeous, being mottled brown in color, but are better camouflaged for nesting.

American Coot and cootling (female) - Fulica americana

To my delight there was one mama American Coot and two cootlings! The cootlings are so comical with their bald heads and colorful downy feathers.

American Coot cootlings  - Fulica americana

Apparently their colorful and unusual head markings stimulate their parents to feed them!

Sage Thrasher (adult) - Oreoscoptes montanus

For the second time in my life, I saw a Sage Thrasher!! They feed mainly on insects, but will eat small fruits and berries if available. They generally nest in or under Sagebrush bushes. Both the male and female construct their bowl-shaped nest with twigs, lined with grasses, fur, and horsehair. They will both incubate their 4-5 eggs for 11-13 days, feed the nestlings for 10-14 days, and care for the fledglings for 7 days or more. How cool to see this uncommon bird!!!

Willet (adult) - Tringa semipalpata

We saw and heard LOTS of Willets over on Harriet Lane. I have always seen them walking in the water among the tules, rushes, and cattails. I've never seen them on a post, but several were on posts that morning!

Yellow Owl's Clover - Lemmon's Onion - Porterella
Castelleja campestris - Allium lemmonii - Porterella carnosula 

There were carpets of wildflowers in some areas, more will be blooming in the near future! 

 American Pronghorn (female) - Antilocapra americana

We visited the Feather River Land Trust Visitor Center while we were in Sierra Valley, and the staff pointed out a very distant female Pronghorn from their back window, that had had her baby that morning!!! We didn't see the baby, but it was super cool to see her!!! She was such a far distance away that the heatwaves made photos impossible.

Pronghorns are not antelopes, and are not related to antelopes, but are often known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, prairie antelope, or simply antelope. They are the ONLY species in their Antilocapridae Family, and the only animal on earth that has branching horns that are shed annually. Many (but not all) pronghorn herds are migratory, traveling long distances to warmer climates in the fall, and back to greener locations in the spring.

Mt. Beckwourth from Carman Valley - 5/18/26

Carman Valley

 

This time we went to the wetlands in Carman Valley.  I love this small wetland! It's off the beaten path, and I rarely see anyone else there. The view is expansive and so peaceful! Additionally, we saw some surprising wildlife while we were there!

Northern Pintail (male) - Mallard (male)

Anas acuta - Anas platyrhynchos

We didn't see many ducks that day, except for some unknowns that flew off and these two males!

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

However, we did see a Bald Eagle! It flew over the wetlands, perched in a pine tree for a while, and then flew off! Bald Eagles are LARGE birds, measuring 31" in height, with a wingspan of 80" (6.5 feet!)!! Fish, waterfowl, and mammals are their main prey. They are uncommon in our area, and it's a rare privilege to see one!

The following information about Bald Eagles is from the Cornell Ornithology website birdsoftheworld.org :

"The Bald Eagle is a large fish-eagle with a dark brown body and a distinctive white head and tail acquired at 4 to 5 years of age. It is opportunistic forager, scavenging prey items when available, pirating food from other species when it can, and capturing its own prey when needed. It consumes a variety of vertebrate prey, but generally selects fish over other food types.

The list of aquatic birds serving as live prey includes not only waterfowl and waterbirds like American Coots, but also gulls, and Great Blue Herons. Large mammals are most often eaten as carrion, especially in winter; small to medium-sized mammals such as hares, rabbits, muskrat, and ground squirrels may be taken live."

Forster's Tern - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Inset photos by Mary Abbott

My friend Mary Abbott spotted this Forster's Tern circling the wetlands!  It repeatedly flew over us as it circled about, and we could definitely see it's dark cap and red/orange beak! Neither one of of us had ever seen one of these birds before! Apparently, it was probably on its way north to its breeding grounds.The overall appearance was a bright white bird with long slender wings!  It would periodically dive into the wetland to presumably catch fish! It flew so fast, it was super hard to get a photograph, but Mary got some good distance shots with her phone! The inset photos above are her photographs! How lucky we were to see this lovely tern!

Carman Valley - 5/22/26

Five days later, we revisited Carman Valley again! This time we went to some wet meadows, a little distance from the wetlands. To our delight they were in absolutely profuse full bloom!!! There were thousands of Bistorts and Camas filling the meadows!!! Such beauty! We wandered in them for several hours, while big cumulus clouds cast shadows and lovely light on the wildflowers!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily - Sticky Cinquefoils
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash - Potentilla glandulosa

Among the Camas and Bistorts were bright, shiny, butter-yellow, Sticky Cinquefoils! It was a botanical paradise!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily 
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash

I took way to many photos, but couldn't help myself!  Such beauty!

Western Bistorts - Common Camas Lily
Polygonum bistortoides - Camassia quamash 

The Western Bistorts were in their prime, but the Camas flowers were already starting to dry out!  How lucky we were to be there during peak flowering!

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus

Several Red-winged Blackbirds were perched on the Corn Lilies, hawking insects out of the air!

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

These meadows were right next to the beaver pond we visited two weeks ago. Mary and I decided to walk over and see if there were any beavers present. The first critter we saw was a Great Blue Heron, standing on the beaver lodge!! It really blended in with all the dead, gray branches covering the lodge!

Beaver Lodge and the back of a North American Beaver!

To my delight I spotted a North American Beaver!!! As soon as I saw it, it dove underwater and I didn't get a photo. However, we waited another minute and it surfaced over by the beaver lodge. I managed to quickly get a photo of its backside as it dove underwater again!  How exciting to see a beaver!  We were thrilled!  Wow!!! I'm going back again today to hopefully get some better photos, and to see what else we might be residing in the pond! Can't wait!

What's blooming in my neighborhood?

What migratory songbirds have arrived?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Check back for the answers to these questions and more  in two weeks, on Sunday, June 7th!

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