American Bittern (male) - Botarus lentiginosus
10 days ago we went over to Sierra Valley and had an amazing wildlife viewing day! We watched a group of five American Pronghorns at fairly close range, for more than half an hour! We also lucked out and observed an American Bittern in its mating plumage, for half an hour! I have never seen American Pronghorns before, and have only seen one American Bittern years ago!!! There were also a few Sandhill Cranes, lots of wildflowers, swallows, waterfowl, and songbirds! It was an incredible day filled with overwhelming beauty!
Sierra Valley is approximately 120,000 acres of "big sky" sagebrush rangeland, and wetlands, located at 4,850' at the base of the northeastern Sierras. It is the largest alpine valley in the Sierra Nevada range, and one of my most absolute favorite places to explore!
American Bittern (male) - Botarus lentiginosus
We intially spotted this American Bittern walking down the road!!! It was as big as a goose, with white feather plumes on its shoulders! Luckily for us, it didn't fly off! It just hopped over the barbed wire fence, and wandered through the wetland grasses for half an hour! This was the second time in my life that I've seen an American Bittern!
American Bitterns are uncommon and usually quite secretive and hard to see with their feather camouflage. However, right now it is mating season and that's probably why this Bittern was so visible. It turns out that only the males display white shoulder plumes during the breeding season. So this one is a male! We also heard and watched it produce a loud, resounding, gulping call. Apparently, only the males make this type of call during the mating season. The following desription of this call is from the website birdsoftheworld.org.
"Call most often heard during the breeding season is low, resonant, and composed of 3 syllables, rendered as pump-er-lunk and dunk-a-doo, preceded by a series of clicking and gulping sounds. This is accomplished through inflation of the esophagus, during which the bird contorts itself violently. Call ventriloquistic and repeated 1 to 10 times in succession; appears to serve dual function as territorial signal and mate advertisement."
Bitterns are almost always solitary, except when they mate (for 15 seconds!). After mating, the female alone will build a platform nest out of reeds and sedges, over water, in dense wetland vegetation. The female will lay 2-7 eggs in the grass-lined nest, and incubate them for 24-28 days. The nestlings fledge from the nest in 7-14 days. The female will for care for them an additional 2-4 weeks, until they are able to be independent.
We intially spotted this American Bittern walking down the road!!! It was as big as a goose, with white feather plumes on its shoulders! Luckily for us, it didn't fly off! It just hopped over the barbed wire fence, and wandered through the wetland grasses for half an hour! This was the second time in my life that I've seen an American Bittern!
American Bitterns are uncommon and usually quite secretive and hard to see with their feather camouflage. However, right now it is mating season and that's probably why this Bittern was so visible. It turns out that only the males display white shoulder plumes during the breeding season. So this one is a male! We also heard and watched it produce a loud, resounding, gulping call. Apparently, only the males make this type of call during the mating season. The following desription of this call is from the website birdsoftheworld.org.
"Call most often heard during the breeding season is low, resonant, and composed of 3 syllables, rendered as pump-er-lunk and dunk-a-doo, preceded by a series of clicking and gulping sounds. This is accomplished through inflation of the esophagus, during which the bird contorts itself violently. Call ventriloquistic and repeated 1 to 10 times in succession; appears to serve dual function as territorial signal and mate advertisement."
Bitterns are almost always solitary, except when they mate (for 15 seconds!). After mating, the female alone will build a platform nest out of reeds and sedges, over water, in dense wetland vegetation. The female will lay 2-7 eggs in the grass-lined nest, and incubate them for 24-28 days. The nestlings fledge from the nest in 7-14 days. The female will for care for them an additional 2-4 weeks, until they are able to be independent.
American Bittern - Botarus lentiginosus
2 days ago we went back to Sierra Valley and unbelievably saw another, or possibly two, American Bitterns!!! It was a cold, cloudy, rainy day and there weren't many songbirds visible. As we were driving along a dirt road bordered by a wetland, I spotted an American Bittern in the tall grasses! This one was really difficult to see, and flew off in about 10 minutes. It didn't have shoulder plumes, so maybe it was a female. At that point I realized that my truck key wouldn't turn in the ignition anymore! Dang! A long story evolved from then on, involving helpful strangers, AAA emergency roadside service, and a huge tow truck! About and hour later, just as they were hooking up my truck, another (or perhaps the same) American Bittern landed in full view! I got a few quick shots and then had to leave with the tow truck! Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, we weren't allowed to ride in the cab with the tow truck driver. Instead we rode in the cab of our truck up on the flatbed of the tow truck! Now that was an experience to remember! It all worked out fine and was quite an adventure, but I think I might just have to go back to Sierra Valley one more time! Who knows what else we might see?
American Avocet - Willet - White-faced Ibis
Recurvirostra americana - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus - Pelagis chihi
Over 230 species of birds have been seen in Sierra Valley, some migrate through, others are residents. Here are some of the ones we saw 10 days ago! Such beauty!
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Pied-billed Grebe - Red-winged Blackbird
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus - Podilymbus podiceps - Agelaius phoeniceus
The uncommon Pied-billed Grebe can submerge by diving or by sinking slowly out of view. It will aggressively defend its nesting territory, and even attack other waterfowl from underwater!
Vesper Sparrow - Horned Lark - Barn Swallow
Pooecetes gramineus - Eremophila alpestris - Hirundo rustica
Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis
Sierra Valley is the southernmost location that Sandhill Cranes nest. I don't know the exact number, but there are probably under 30 cranes that raise their young in Sierra Valley, most nest farther north in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Canada or Alaska. We saw about 3 or 4 distant pairs 10 days ago, and one closer pair 2 days ago. They were incredible to watch!
Hooker's Balsam root - Balsamhoriza hookeri
Sierra Valley was in bloom and glorious! Here are some of the flowers we saw that are unique to this area. Several of them were new to us! The Hooker's Balsam root pictured above smells JUST like chocolate! The fragrance isn't mentioned in any book. We were pleasantly surprised and astonished when we smelled them!
California hesperochiron - Nuttall's larkspur - Tansy leaf evening primrose
Hesperochiron californicus - Delphinium nuttallianum - Taraxia tanacetifolia
Barestem biscuitroot - Lomatium nudicaule
When we came across this plant, I immediately thought it was a type of Buckwheat. However, I couldn't find it in any of my books. When I got back home I looked through the Buckwheat pictures on calflora.org but couldn't find it there either. Luckily, I have a friend who is a fabulous botanist, so I emailed her the photos. She quickly realized it wasn't in the Buckwheat Family because of the pinnate leaves. The umbels of flowers indicated they were in the Carrot Family! I'm so lucky and thankful to have her botanical knowledge so readily available! She's such a treasure!
Needle Navarretia - Unknown - Woolly Marbles
Navarretia intertexta - unknown - Psilocarphus brevissimus
These flowers were all very tiny and low to the ground. I love the name "Woolly Marbles"! (That would be a great name for my "senior" brain!) I'm waiting on an identification of the plants in the center photograph, from iNaturalist.org. I couldn't find it in any of my books.
Western Blue Flag - Iris missouriensis
American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana
While we were birdwatching, a group of 5 American Pronghorns appeared in the distance! I slowly drove closer and closer to them, until they were about 200 yards away. WOW!!! We didn't get out of the car and they didn't take off! They were SO different looking with their unusual horns, banded necks, and wide-spread eyes. They were all so incredibly muscular! After about 30 minutes they ran quite a distance away from us. However, we did spot them in the distance several more times during that day! After reading about them since then, I think that they were a small band of 5 females, as none of them had the markings of a male.
The following information is from the Institute for Wildlife Studies at http://www.iws.org/species_pronghorn.html
"Pronghorn abundance in California once exceeded 500,000 animals, but habitat loss largely reduced this number over time. In 1942, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began conducting winter surveys to count the number of pronghorn annually. From 1956–1970 the estimated population was between 1800-3000 animals and then increased through the early 1990’s. During a severe winter in 1992/1993 the population in the northeastern corner of the state decreased by almost half, and their abundance remains near that number today."
is estimated that up to 35 million pronghorns lived in North America before colonization by western Europeans. By 1924 this number had decreased to less than 20,000. Pronghorn populations have increased since that time and are now considered the second most numerous game species in North America. (O'Gara, 1978)
is estimated that up to 35 million pronghorns lived in North America before colonization by western Europeans. By 1924 this number had decreased to less than 20,000. Pronghorn populations have increased since that time and are now considered the second most numerous game species in North America. (O'Gara, 1978)
American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana
"American Pronghorns are native to California and are an important species economically and culturally to citizens of the state. Their historic range included much of the Central Valley and southern and northeast areas of the state. Pronghorn prefer wide-open habitat including prairie and sagebrush plant communities, but over time this habitat has been depleted from agriculture, fire suppression, plant succession, invasive plants, and human development. Habitat loss has restricted the range of pronghorn to small, isolated populations in the Central Valley and northeastern corner of the state."
American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana
These beautiful Pronghorns are the swiftest animals in North America, and have been recorded running as fast as 59 mph! They can outrun any predator! Their limbs are cursorial (built for speed) but not for jumping. Fences have had a detrimental effect on their population, as they cannot jump over them. They need to live in areas that are wide open and basically treeless, like Sierra Valley. They feed on a wide variety of plants, especially sagebrush in the winter. Their horns are keratinized sheaths which cover extensions of the frontal bone. The sheaths are shed annually. Both male and female have these horns. Breeding doesn't occur until mid-September to October. Right now males are acquiring small harems of females, which they will defend from March through October. The young are born the following spring. What a thrill it was to watch these amazing, wild, native mammals!
Coyote - Canis latrans
We also spotted a lone Coyote at a great distance out in Sierra Valley! Wow!!! The heat waves coming off the valley floor distorted the photo, but it was great to see! Coyotes are predators of Pronghorns, and pray on the old and weak as well as the fawns. It all fits together, one dies another lives. How lucky I am to be able to visit this incredible wildlife-filled valley! It is just amazing!!!
American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
On their way...
The day before and the day after I went to Sierra Valley I saw these birds on the North Yuba River! I think the Pelicans and the Ibis were possibly headed to Sierra Valley, and had to land due to the weather, which had been very rainy and cold.
The day before I saw a flock of American White Pelicans flying east. Later that same day, I spotted two that had landed on the river! These two pelicans must have decided to wait out the storm for awhile. Some American White Pelicans migrate inland to freshwater wetlands and lakes to spend the summer. I've often seen them in Sierra Valley.
The day after, I saw this Ibis on the river shore. It was a sunny morning after four days of heavy, cold rain. Perhaps it got exhausted from the rainstorms or became too wet to fly. White-faced Ibis live in wetlands not rivers. It was a huge surprise to see it this White-faced Ibis in its full mating colors in our neighborhood, especially since I had just seen some in Sierra Valley!
White-faced Ibis and Common Merganser
Pelagis chihi - Mergus merganser
Later that day I was curious to see if the Ibis was still on the river's edge, and it was! Interestingly, a male Common Merganser had joined it! Wow! I went back the following sunny morning to check on them, and they were both gone. The Ibis probably continued on its journey to Sierra Valley, and the Merganser probably just moved on down the river. How interesting!
North Yuba River view - 5/20/20
Weather Update!
Last week we got heavy rain for 4 days, with a total of 3.14" of precipitation! This brings our water-year total to 38.30". The river peaked at 1900 cfs, and has since dropped down to 1130 cfs. The forecast is for hot and dry weather! We're again so grateful for this repleneshing rainfall! I sure hope we get these storms throughout the coming summer!
The Bears are back! I haven't seen them but my neighbors have!
What's happening in the Lakes Basin?
What's Blooming?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
During these days of Covid-19 and uncertainty, I hope you are all healthy and coping with this unusual stress. Get out in nature while you have the time! It can be so healing!
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