The Helgramite Lake Area and Lincoln Meadow

Mt. Elwell, Long Lake, and Mud Lake

This past week I was able to go for a hike by myself up in the Helgramite Lakes area. It was fabulous to be back in the Lakes Basin, and on my own. I saw SO much!  For this blog I'm starting at my end destination and working back to the beginning of my hike (and a surprise sighting!).

The Helgramite Lakes Area

This was the view I had while I ate my lunch! Such beauty! I had planned to do a strenuous loop hike that day, but I had tripped and whacked my leg a few days before and it was a bit painful. So I decided to not hike the loop and to just explore the meadow and ridges above Helgramite Lakes, one of my absolute favorite areas. I had never had the time to really check this area out. So I lingered and explored for hours! It was delightful!

Rocky Ridge

In the northwest end of this area there is a rocky ridge that has dropped incredible squared-off giant boulders! The boulders are huge, and some of the surfaces are as flat and even as sliced rocks! I have yet to hike to the top of the ridge, but would love to do it some day soon!

Hemlocks and rockface

 The "holes" in the above slab of rock are probably where some of these boulders came from. It's quite incredible to see!

Hemlocks and rockface

In the rockface above you can see where a giant squared off piece of rock has fallen off! I have no idea what has happened here geologically. I'll see if I can find out!

Looking east at the meadow and Upper Helgramite Lake

I also walked up a usually flowery slope, to the west of the meadow and Upper Helgramite Lake. Almost everything had gone to seed, except for a few asters and paintbrush. 

Garden of California Fuchsias - Epilobium canum ssp.latifolium

However, to my delight I found a small garden of a thousand California Fuchsias! In person, the flowers were a shocking brilliant orange-red! Unfortunately my camera didn't get it right!

California Fuchsia - Epilobium canum ssp.latifolium

This close-up shot gives you a better idea of their brilliant color!

The Meadow wetland and tracks

The Meadow was still quite green but not as wet as it usually is. I was able to walk in the grasses out to the edge of the water. Surprisingly there were some tracks in the mud, which abruptly ended! I tried to get close to the tracks but sunk about a foot deep into the mud and turned around. Perhaps a duck took off in flight, and that's why the track ended???

Upper Helgramite Lake and Mt. Elwell

Upper Helgramite Lake was still quite full and had several Mallards feeding in it!

Helgramite Lake

Helgramite Lake was also full!

Mallard (juvenile) - Anas platyrhynchos

One lone juvenile Mallard was on the lake. I watched it for some time as it foraged along the shoreline!

Yellow-Bellied Marmot - Marmota flaviventris

To my delight I saw a Yellow-Bellied Marmot lounging on the top of a rock, between the two Helgramite Lakes!  I looked like it had a lot of bulging fat reserves that it will live off of during its winter hibernation!  How cool to see one of these uncommon mammals!

Mountain Bluebird (females) - Salia currucoides

There were LOTS of birds perching in the trees and shrubs along the trail. Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaires, Dark-eyed Juncos, and surprisingly Lewis's Woodpeckers!

Townsend's Soitaire (adult - juvenile) - Myadestes townsendi

Dark-eyed Junco - Lewis's Woodpecker

Junco hyemalis - Melanerpes lewis

Cooper's Hawk (juvenile) - Astur cooperii

This is the surprise sighting I saw at the beginning of my hike that day, a juvenile Cooper's Hawk! WOW!!!  It landed in a tree about 15 feet away, and 30 feet up the trunk, and stared at me!!!  Then it moved back into the branches for a few seconds, and then flew of to a more distant tree. It stayed there  a few more seconds and then flew of into the forest!  I managed to get some bad photos of it in the seconds that I had!  I am amazed at the length of its tail!  So cool and rare to see one of these gorgeous raptors! It was an exciting sighting, one of the several I had that day!

Lincoln Meadow 8/17/26

Lincoln Meadow

My husband and I went up to Lincoln Meadow to have a picnic and enjoy the beginning of fall color. We weren't disappointed! The meadow grass was turning yellow green, the bushes were a variety of yellows and ochres in color, and lots of dry grasses were blowing in the wind!

On the distant edge of the meadow, some kind of tall whitish grasses created beautiful cresting waves in the wind!

While my husband sat and enjoyed the view, I cruised around in the meadow, and along its edge.  I found a tree with five nest holes in it!  Two of the nest holes had a large area around the nest hole where the bark had been removed. The Black-backed Woodpecker is known to peel the bark off around its nesting hole! So maybe... The weren't any woodpeckers around, the nests were empty of residents. But maybe last Spring they raised some young here. That would be so cool!  I'll have to come back next Spring to see if they're reusing or making new nests!!

Nesting Material

One of the nests, that didn't have the bark peeled off around the nest hole, was packed with this nesting material. It was kind of silty and "dirty" feeling. Kate Marianchild described finding this nesting material in the nest of a particular bird, which I can't remember.  She was stumped as to what the nesting material was, until she figured out they were collecting owl pellets and making a nest out of them!  Maybe the fine silty powdery stuff is good at killing feather mites! I'll have to email her and ask what bird was using the owl pellets!!!

Creek in Lincoln Meadow

There's a lovely little creek in the middle of Lincoln Meadow.

Rainbow Trout - Ochorhynchus mykiss irideus

I also enjoy looking for Rainbow Trout in this little creek, and I always see some! I wonder how they got there?

Before we headed home after several hours of soaking in the beauty, I spent an hour destroying a giant fire ring right on its edge! I carried all the rocks rimming it to distant places. I also tossed all the burnt branches into a remote area. Then I covered it all up with dirt and dry grasses. I hope no one reuses that fire ring, especially now when the fire danger is so high! Glad they didn't start a forest fire!

Hope to be back there again soon!  Next time I'll bring a shovel, with fingers crossed that I won't have to use it!

What's happening on the River?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin Meadows?

Check back in two weeks, on Sept. 6th, for the answers to these questions and more!

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

Jamison Lake - Plumas National Forest

Unfortunately, due to my husbands health I don't have time to post a blog this week. I hope to have one up by next weekend, so check back on 8/23/26.

Thanks!

Back in Sierra Valley!!!

American White Pelicans in the headwaters 

of the Feather River on 6/20/26

 (looking south from the Steel Bridge in Sierra Valley)

This past week we had company for three days, and we decided to go over to Sierra Valley to see what we could see. I had also been over there twice, a month before, but hadn't had a chance to post my observations. So this month, I've combined those three trips to Sierra Valley in this blog!  One trip was on June 20th, one on June 23rd, the other was on July 26th. Enjoy the adventures!

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

On June 20th, I was lucky enough to watch these five American White Pelicans fishing together! 

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

They paddled along the shore in a tight group. Apparently herding fish into the shallows!

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

Then they all dunked their heads underwater in hopes of scooping up fish with their large pouches!!! This procedure was repeated many times!  It was unbelievably beautiful and fascinating to watch!

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus

 

On July 23rd, I drove over to go bird watching at the Steel Bridge fairly early in the morning by myself. To my complete delight, right away I saw a very distant American Bittern in the reeds, before I even got to the bridge!!! Wow! I hadn't seen an American Bittern in several years! These Bitterns are secretive and uncommon, so every time I see one I am thrilled! This one fortunately froze in position and didn't move for a couple of minutes!!! 

The following information is from the Cornell Website at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/."American Bitterns are solitary foragers, standing motionless or walking slowly with outspread toes in search of food. They hunt during the day and especially at dawn and dusk. Possibly the most famous aspect of bittern behavior is the stance it assumes when it perceives a threat. It points its bill skyward, elongates its body, and even sways with the breeze, all to blend in with its reedy surroundings. This pose is so ingrained that bitterns sometimes adopt it even when they’re out in the open." 

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus

After lingering for some time observing that Bittern, I drove on to the Steel Bridge.  When I got there, there was a Bittern in the tules to the left of the headwaters!  Wow!!!  I watched this one for five minutes before it disappeared in the tules! I was totally thrilled to have seen two Bitterns within 15 minutes!!!

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus

Bitterns are large birds, though not long legged. Their body is 28" long, their wingspan is 42" and they weigh 1.5 lbs! The following information is from the Cornell Website at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/.  

"American Bitterns eat insects, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Their most common insect prey include water striders, giant water bugs, water beetles, water scorpions, grasshoppers, and especially dragonflies, which the birds sometimes manage to capture in midair. Frequently consumed fish include eels, catfish, pickerel, sunfish, suckers, perch, killifish, and sticklebacks. Rayfish, crabs, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, garter snakes, water snakes, and meadow voles round out the diet. American Bitterns usually forage in dim light, at shorelines and the fringes of vegetated areas."

American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus

"A foraging bird may sway its neck, perhaps to see past glare from the surface of shallow water, or to warm up its muscles for a quick strike. A characteristic strategy is to stand stock-still with bill held horizontal, gradually aiming the bill downward with nearly imperceptible movements—until, with a sudden darting motion, the bittern seizes the prey in its bill, bites or shakes it to death, and swallows it head first. Indigestible parts of prey animals are regurgitated as pellets."

Sage Thrasher - Oreoscoptes montanus

Just last weekend, on July 26th, we saw numerous Sage Thrashers in the vicinity of the Steel Bridge! I was privileged to hear their beautiful song in the springtime! They will migrate down to Mexico for the winter.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states; "The Sage Thrasher has a long, melodious song of great variety, reminiscent of a mockingbird's song, and is found mostly in shrub-dominated valleys and plains of the western United States. It is considered a sagebrush obligate, generally dependent on large patches and expanses of sagebrush steppe for successful breeding."

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.

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

 In the spring, Yellow-headed Blackbirds migrate to the Prairie Pothole wetlands of the U.S. and Canada to breed, as well as to the wetlands along the eastern side of the Sierras. We've seen them in Sierra Valley in the spring, where they nest every year!  This week we were surprised to come across this group of males! Where were the females??? In another month or more they will begin the migration to their wintering grounds in the southern U.S. and down into Mexico.

Blue-winged Teal (males & female) - Anas discors

We saw four young Blue-winged Teals in one of the small ponds. These ducks feed during the day on seeds, snails, aquatic insects and crustaceans, and roost on shallow water at night. Blue-winged teals spend the winter in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as parts of the southern United States. They are long-distance travelers that leave their northern breeding grounds early.

 American Coot (juvenile) - Fulica americana

There were lots and lots of juvenile American Coots at the Steel Bridge and in the small ponds. They will spend the winter in California's Central Valley, or Mexico, or even as far south as Central America and Panama!

Virginia Rail (juvenile) - Rallus limicola

To our complete surprise we came across 7+ juvenile Virginia Rails cruising around in a shallow pond near the Steel Bridge!  They feed on seeds, small fish, frogs, worms, slugs, and snakes! In the winter, seeds make up most of their diet. Most will migrate south to Mexico or west toward coastal regions for the winter. Virginia Rails are listed as "uncommon and secretive", but these juveniles were out in the open looking for food and jabbing each other once in a while!!! How lucky we were to see them!!!

Virginia Rail (juvenile) - Rallus limicola

View of Beaver dams looking north from the Steel Bridge

To our delight the beavers had built some small dams right by the Steel Bridge. On June 23 they had just started cutting down plants. Now there is a 6" mud dam that ran parallel to the bridge and connected with their lodge!!!! In the distance I saw a beaver swim across the channel to an underwater path in the tules, but it was too quick for a photo!

Beaver - Castor canadensis

Then when I looked on the other side of the bridge I saw this furry, rounded backside of a Beaver!!!  Wow!  I've never seen one at the Steel Bridge before, even though we've seen their lodge there for a little less than a year! I surprisingly don't have a photo of their lodge, but it is right at the Steel Bridge, quite large, and covered with branches!!! I thought when I first saw it that it was manmade because of all the branches. Where did the beavers get them, out in this vast wetlands? It remains a mystery to me, unless somehow they're old sagebrush branches??? Anyway it's exciting that they're there! I will write more about them after I do some research!!!

What's blooming in the Lakes Basin?

What's happening in my neighborhood?

What's happening on the North Yuba River?

Check back in two weeks for my next blog on August 16th, for the answers to these questions and more!

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