Sierra Valley Revisited

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

American White Pelicans

Last week, my friend Judy and I returned to Sierra Valley to kayak and watch wildlife.  There wasn't enough water to kayak any distance, it was way too shallow, but the wildlife was amazing!  As we approached the Steel Bridge, a flock of American White Pelicans flew overhead.  To our delight a group of about 20 of them landed near the bridge and commenced "fishing"!  As we watched, they paddled along shoulder-to-shoulder in a tight-knit group.  Then all at once they would plunge their heads under water, presumably to catch fish, and then after a few seconds resurface in unison!  It was incredibly beautiful to watch!

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

These large Pelicans eat up to 3 lbs. of fish daily, which they scoop up in their large expandable bills as they swim along. They do not dive to catch fish. They will also scoop up crayfish and amphibians. They are one of the largest birds in North America. They are approximately 4 feet tall, weigh 16.4 lbs., and have a wingspan of 9 feet!

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

During breeding season the color of their feet, bills, irises, and the skin around their eyes becomes a really saturated-orange color! Also, the males and females both grow horns on their upper bills, which are shed once their eggs are laid. These pelicans do not breed in Sierra Valley.  This particular population is probably migrating to Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Which is one of the primary inland breeding areas for American White Pelicans! 

Not all American White Pelicans breed every year.  David Lucas describes their behavior in the following quote from his book Birds of the Sierra.

"A significant proportion of the population does not breed each year and spends the spring summer, and fall loafing and wandering widely is search of places to feed. Nonbreeding birds are frequently joined by breeding adults who switch nesting duties every 3 days and use their days off to find food."

American White Pelicans - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

I was so thrilled to see this amazing small group of Pelicans fishing together in the vastness of Sierra Valley!  The grace and unison in their movement was overwhelmingly beautiful!  I've never been privileged to observe this behavior before!  I am so so lucky!

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

Sierra Valley Birds!

More and more birds are showing up in Sierra Valley!  Some come here to breed, while others are just stopping to rest and feed on their migration north.  I have written about most of these birds in past blogs (use the "search this blog" bar on the top right), so this week I'm only writing in detail about the new species we saw.  I'll be returning to Sierra Valley later this month when even MORE birds will be present.  

Western Meadowlark - Tree Swallow - Sage Thrasher

Sturnella neglecta - Tachycineta bicolor - Oreoscoptes montanus

The Sage Thrasher was a new bird species for us!  We spotted it because it was singing a lovely loud song from the top of a fence post.  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.  I hope to see these lovely desert birds again soon!  Maybe even on a nest!

Greater White-fronted Geese - Anser albifrons

Although these Geese are not new to me, this is the first time I've seen them in Sierra Valley.

Greater or Lesser Yellow-legs - Gadwall (male) - American Pipit

Tringa melanoleuca or flavipes - Mareca strepera - Anthus rubescens

 I am not a good enough birder to distinguish if the Yellow Legs was the Greater or Lesser species!  Do any of you know?

Brown-headed Cowbirds on a cow!

Molothrus ater

I've seen Cowbirds many times before, but NEVER on the back of a cow!  I've read that they hang around cows and horses and eat the ground dwelling insects that they stir up, such as grasshoppers and beetles.  I've never read that they eat insects off the cow itself, and can't seem to find any information about that. Perhaps these Cowbirds were just enjoying the warmth from the dark fur of the cow!  I have to do more research!

Pronghorn - Antiolocapra americana

Pronghorns in Sierra Valley!

We've gone to Sierra Valley twice in the past two weeks.  On both trips we lucked out and saw a few Pronghorns! The second time we saw them they were a lot closer, so the heat waves rising off the valley floor didn't distort my photographs.  They were SO different looking with their unusual horns, banded necks, and wide-spread eyes.  They were all so incredibly muscular!  We lucked out and watched them for a good ten minutes before they moved to a more distant location. 

Pronghorn (2 males, 1 female) - Antiolocapra americana

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 antilocapra genus. 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.

Pronghorn ( 2 males, 1 female) - Antiolocapra 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. 

Pronghorn (female, male) - Antiolocapra americana

Their horns are keratinized sheaths which cover extensions of the frontal bone.  The sheaths are shed annually.  Both male and female have these horns. The horns of the males grow up to 11.8–19.7 inches, female horns are smaller at 2.9-3.9 inches. Males have lyre-shaped horns that curve inwards whereas females usually have straight horns. The female's horns are generally smaller than their ears, or absent, and aren't pronged. Additionally males have short black manes on their neck, as well as a neck patch and a black stripe that runs across their forehead from horn to horn.  Females lack these black facial patches, but have a small mass of black hair around their nose.  Breeding doesn't occur until mid-September to October when males acquire small harems of females.  One to two offspring are born the following spring.  They are usually weaned in three weeks, but will remain with their mother for a year and a half.  What a thrill it was to watch these amazing, wild, native mammals!

Scarlet Fritillary bejeweled with dewdrops!  

Fritillaria recurva

Earth Day is this Thursday, April 22.  I hope this year brings better environmental awareness and action than in the recent past.  We can't do enough to protect our precious earth!  Get out in nature as often as you can, and make it part of your life.  The beauty and peace is endless!

"For me it is simply instinct, and perhaps this is all that a person can try to put into each of her days: attention to the radiance, a rise to the full chase of beauty."    Ellen Meloy - The Anthropology of Turquoise

Cherry Blossoms and Storm Clouds

Weather Update

This week we had several days of beautiful dark gray storm clouds and a little rain, .16".  It was gorgeous outside with all the fruit trees in bloom in sun and shadow, against the stormy skies!  A chance of rain is forecasted for this coming Wednesday and Thursday.  I hope it pours!  We are indeed in another drought year, so my fingers are crossed.  

Judy kayaking in Sierra Valley!

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What 's blooming locally?

What birds have recently arrived?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well... However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version. I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!

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

Nesting Time!

American Dipper at nest - Cinclus mexicanus

American Dippers are building a nest!

To my delight I came across a pair of American Dippers building a nest this week! Both the male and female were participating in the nest building. However, the female does most of the building and the male assists. As I watched, one would land with a beak full of moss and lichen. If the nest was empty, and it was presumably the female, it would go straight in. When the male landed it would wait outside until the female took the lichen/moss that it had brought, or it would just leave the nesting material and fly away! Their nest was large, about 10'' wide and 8" tall! Dippers make their igloo-shaped nest with a thick outer layer of moss, and a 5.5" inner chamber, globular in shape, composed of grass and leaves. I couldn't find the exact length of time it takes for them to build a nest, but I would imagine it would be at least a week or two. 

American Dipper at nest - Cinclus mexicanus

This nest was built on the ledge of a bridge pillar, out in the river, about 20' above the river.  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states: 

"Natural sites commonly include cliff ledges and cliffs, behind waterfalls, under boulder piles, midstream boulders.  Occasionally among roots, in hollow tree stumps, and under overhanging dirt banks.  Readily uses human-made structures: under bridges, dam spillways and sluiceways, culverts, and buildings. Uses nest boxes placed on midstream stake or under bridge, if inaccessible to predators. Basic requirements for nest sites: close to water (usually fast water, usually with high noise level), inaccessible to predators, protected from floods, and a horizontal ledge or crevice for support. Locations close to fast water or deep water augment inaccessibility."

American Dipper at nest with nestlings - Cinclus mexicanus

4-5 eggs will be laid a week or two after the completion of the nest. The female does all the incubation for 14-17 days. The male feeds the female while she is on the nest. She also feeds herself. Young are born altricial, and remain in the nest for approximately 25 days. Both the male and the female parents feed the nestlings. Fledglings can feed, bathe, and have limited flight within one day after leaving the nest! Parents keep feeding fledglings for 4-35 days. Juveniles beg for food by fluttering wings rapidly, calling loudly, dipping, and then raising their head and gaping. Even when capable of foraging for itself, a juvenile follows its parents and waits for the parents to bring food. Forty-five days after fledging, the juveniles disperse into the wild!

American Dipper Nest

Last year I saw a nest in the exact same location, with nestling American Dippers in it! I watched the parents feed them on many occasions! Unfortunately, in the Fall the nest was no longer there. Someone must have taken it. It may seem tempting to collect bird nests, however it is totally illegal! The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 states, “No person may take (kill), possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such bird except as may be permitted under the terms of a valid permit." It is also illegal for anyone to keep a nest they take out of a tree or find on the ground unless they have a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So bring your camera or binoculars and enjoy what you see, but please leave wild things wild!

 

Downy Woodpecker (male) - Dryobates pubescens

Lots of other birds are building nests locally!  I've been seeing Robins, Steller's Jays, Brewer's Blackbirds, and Woodpeckers busy at their nest sites.  To my delight the Downy Woodpecker that nested in a snag outside my window last year has returned!  I saw him hammering on the same snag on April 2nd, just one day later than last year!  He hasn't been back every day, but every once in a while he shows up and starts hammering.  It would be so cool if the two Downy Woodpeckers nest there again.  It was fascinating watching them excavate the nest, chase off an intruding Starling, and feed their nestlings.  I'll keep you posted on what develops.  In the meantime you can read what happened last year in my May 9 and June 14 blogs. 

 

Brewer's Blackbird (female) with nesting material

Euphagus cyanocephalus

Steller's Jay with nesting material

Cyanocitta stelleri

Sierra Gooseberry - Ribes roezlii

Our local flora is gradually starting to bloom. One afternoon we came across this beautiful blooming Sierra Gooseberry!  What a surprise!  The flowers are wind pollinated, and don't rely on insects for fertilization.  It will produce round, reddish, bristly berries, that are eaten by Black Bears, rodents, Mule Deer, and birds.

Brewer's Rock Cress (?) - Sicklepod Rock Cress

Boechera breweri (?) - Boechera sparsiflora

Along the highway I found ONE purple Brewer's Rock Cress in bloom. Further up the road, I came across a dozen or more Sicklepod Rock Cress plants.  The Sicklepod flowers are tiny, and the whole plant is well camouflaged against the rocks. The  Brewer's flowers were thumbnail size and much showier.  Both plants are in the Mustard family, Brassicaceae, with flowers that have 4 petals. 

California Saxifrage (?) - Silk Tassel Bush

Micranthes californica (?) - Garrya fremontii

California Saxifrage was the first plant that bloomed on the Canyon Creek Trail.  You can find it blooming on the sunny, rocky seeps along the trail.  The Silk Tassel Bush finished blooming a few weeks ago.  These bushes are dioecious.  The one I found in bloom was a female!  The individual flowers are amazingly intricate, and together form a long hanging raceme.  Just gorgeous!

Kellogg's Monkeyflower - Vari-leaf Collomia

Diplacus kelloggii - Collomia heterophylla

I found a few Kellogg's Monkeyflowers up a wet slope at Canyon Creek.  With a hand lens the color is amazing, as are the stamens and pistils!  The Vari-leaf Collomia flowers are just a little bit bigger than a ladybug!  Tiny, but again,

lovely with a hand lens!  

Northern Flicker (female) in Cherry Tree - Colaptes auratus

More Damp Earth Art!

Since we are indeed in a drought situation, I am continuing to maintain this blog and am again sending out another "Call for Art" in celebration of rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some art, or writing, or a photo please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Check out what's already been submitted at dampearthart.blogspot.com

You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.

I will be posting new art weekly. Check it out and pray for rain.

Sierra Valley - 4/8/21

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

What kind of insects are out and about?

What birds have recently arrived?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well... However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version. I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!

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

More Wildflowers!

The Landscape

This week I went to North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve with some friends to see the spring wildflowers. It is a flat-topped butte, next to the town of Oroville, Ca., the top of which is capped by an ancient lava flow. It became an ecological preserve in 1993, when Francis Carmichael, a local rancher, sold 3,315 acres of it to the State of California, to be managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now it is open to the public. Some cattle are allowed to graze there in the wet months, but apparently cause little impact on the native wildflowers.

There are a few trails you can follow, but usually we just amble across the reserve through acres of wildflowers that are ribboned with small streams. It is easy walking with panoramic views in all directions!

Sky Lupine - California Goldfields (background)

Lupinus nanus - Lasthenia californica ssp. californica

The Flowers!

This year the wildflower bloom was unbelievably spectacular!  Great swaths of yellow, blue, orange, magenta, and white covered the 3,000+ acres of the preserve! This year is the most profuse bloom I have ever seen here!  There were billions of flowers blooming, carpeting the whole preserve!  I was totally entranced! Approximately 400 species of wildflowers thrive on North Table Mountain, 74% of which are native. Here are just a few of the beauties we saw!  I've featured close-ups for a change.  With a hand lens, an even more astonishing level of beauty is revealed!  I highly recommend getting a 25x hand lens to take in the field. You will be AMAZED!!!

Bitterroot - Lewisia redivia var. rediviva

With a hand lens you can often find tiny beetles in among the stamens!

Table Mountain Meadowfoam - Limnanthes douglasii ssp. nivea

With a hand lens the stripes on the petals are actually "see through"!

Red Maids - Calandrinia ciliata

With a hand lens this flower is super sparkly!

Bird's-eye Gilia - Gilia tricolor ssp. tricolor

With a hand lens, the blue anthers are amazing!

Pink Woodland Star - Lithophragma parviflorum

With a hand lens the hairs on this flower are visible, and glisten in the sunlight!

Sky Lupine - Purple Owl's Clover - Blue Dicks - Foothill Poppy (background)

Lupinus nanus - Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta - Dichelostemma capitatum  Eschscholzia caespitosa

Everywhere we walked there were huge fields of multi-colored wildflowers!  That night the beauty of these wildflowers lingered and lingered in my mind.  I was filled with beauty!

We are going back again next week to explore the canyons and waterfalls that edge the top of the butte!  We'll also take more time to check out the birds!  It should be amazing once again!  I'll report what we find in a few weeks! 

 

 

Pronghorn Antelope - Antilocapra americana

Sierra Valley

I also went for a drive to Sierra Valley with my friend Judy this week!  We were curious to see what birds were back!  It is still dry winter over there, and everything is beige and brown, but the waterways are fuller than last time.  Right away we lucked out and spotted three American Pronghorns in the far, far distance!  Wow!!!  The heat waves coming off the valley floor distorted my photos, but it was such a treat to see these uncommon animals!  We were thrilled!

Coyote - Canis latrans

To our delight we also got a great sighting of a Coyote!  Usually they are super far away and disappear from view very quickly!  This one was out on the edge of a wetlands and took its time trotting away once it saw us!  How lucky we were!  It looked stocky and was heavily furred!  Perhaps it still had its winter coat!

Lesser Sandhill Crane - Greater Sandhill Cranes  

Grus canadensis canadensis - Grus canadensis tabida

We also saw 10 (5 pairs) of Cranes that day!  One of the pairs were Lesser Sandhill Cranes, which we had never seen before! Lesser Cranes are shorter by 5" and weigh 3 lbs. less than the Greater Cranes.  They also have rust-colored bodies in the Summer, as compared to the gray bodies of the Greater Cranes.  They both spend the winter in California's Central Valley.  Some of the Greater Cranes will migrate to SE Oregon, NE California, and NW Nevada to breed.  All of the Lesser Cranes, and some of the Greater Cranes will migrate to the high Arctic and into Siberia to breed! 

We are going back again next week to kayak in the valley!  Can't wait!  

I'll let you know what we see in a few weeks!

More Damp Earth Art!

Since we still need more rain, I am continuing to maintain this blog and am again sending out yet another "Call for Art" in celebration of rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some art, or writing, or a photo please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Check out what's already been submitted at dampearthart.blogspot.com

You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.

I will be posting new art weekly. Check it out and pray for rain.

Are anymore plants blooming?

Are birds starting to nest?

What kind of insects are out and about?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well... However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version. I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!

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

Blue Oak Grasslands

This week we went down to another oak woodland in the foothills, which is part of the Spenceville wildlife preserve and recreation area run by the California State Department of Fish and Game. I had never been to this area before. Unlike the South Yuba River State Park, cattle roam the Spenceville preserves. The difference in the landscape and vegetation was immediately obvious. There was a definite lack of shrubs and weeds! It was gloriously open with clusters of Blue Oaks on the hillsides, broad open meadows of short green grass, and beautiful wide vistas of the surrounding hills! It was spectacular!

However, instead of cascades of wildflowers, there were scattered thin patches of tiny wildflowers on the grassy slopes, the small creek and scattered ponds were trampled and polluted, and there were cow pies everywhere! Although I am very glad that this oak woodland hasn't been developed for housing, I wasn't pleased with the effects of the cattle. 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 websites: https://content.sierraclub.org/grassrootsnetwork/sites/content.sierraclub.org.activistnetwork/files/teams/documents/BLM_References_Critique130612-6.pdf

and

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/grazing/

For the "pros" of grazing I suggest the following websites: https://www.ebparks.org/about/stewardship/grazing/benefits.htm

and

https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17709

Scattered Wildflowers

 

On the sunny slopes most of the wildflowers were sparsely scattered, and quite tiny.  Surprisingly one area near a pond was carpeted in Frying Pans and Goldfields!  The cattle were right among them, so perhaps these flowers weren't palatable.  So pretty!  

Frying Pans - California Goldfields

Eschscholzia lobbii - Lasthenia californica

All of these flowers were less than an inch in diameter.  Quite little!  The True Baby Stars were only about half an inch across!  It was great to have a hand lens to examine these tiny beauties! 

Butter & Eggs - True Baby Stars - Cowbag Clover

Triphysaria eriantha - Leptosiphon bicolor - Trifolium depauperatum

The Waterways

Most of the canals and small creeks were trampled and polluted.  We were surprised to come across this rather large pond (above) that wasn't too badly damaged!  There were lots of birds in the surrounding reeds and willows and we even saw a turtle (hopefully not a Red Slider!) swimming by!  In another tiny pond, there were surprisingly LOTS of tiny little fish! How they got there, and how they're going to survive is indeed a mystery!

Tiny Fish and Turtle (inset)

The Hillsides and Ridges

As we walked up the hills to the ridgetops we encountered a lot more wildflowers among the ancient looking lichen-covered rocks.  We guessed that the cows can't  easily forage in the rock outcrops, and thus the wildflowers are spared!  The rocks, Blue Oak forest, and wildflowers were absolutely stunning!  We also saw a Coyote run off in the distance!  Too fast and far away for a photo! (Rats!)

Caterpillar Phacelia - Blue Dicks

Phacelia cicutaria - Dichelostemma capitatum

Caterpillar Phacelia - Manroot (fruit) - Dove's Foot Geranium

Phacelia cicutaria - Marah fabacea - Geranium molle

The fruit of the Manroot looks prickly but the spines are soft and pliable.  While we were looking in our field guides, we learned that the origin of the name "Manroot" comes from the fact that its root can reach the size and more or less the shape of a man!  WOW!!!  Never would have guessed that one!

Western Bluebird (male - female)

Sialia mexicana

The Birds!

There were lots of birds in the Blue Oak forests, that were all calling and singing!  It was lovely to hear them!  Other than the Western Bluebirds, I never see these birds in our neighborhood.  We kept hearing a loud repeated call and finally figured out it was the White-breasted Nuthatches! Like the Red-breasted Nuthatches in our area, these little birds climb up and down the trunks and branches of trees, gleaning insects from the surface and crevices.

White-breasted Nuthatch - House Finch (female)

Sitta carolinensis - Haemorhous mexicanus

Lewis's Woodpecker (adult) - Meadowlark (adult)

Melanerpes lewis  - Sturnella neglecta

I really enjoyed our time there, despite the cows!  We probably saw at least 50 cows, but I didn't take a single picture of them!  It was peaceful, beautiful, and so different from where we live!  A lovely, lovely day! 

 

                                                                

                                                                   Spring Umbrellas - ©KoK 2010

More Damp Earth Art!

Since we still need more rain, I am continuing to maintain this blog and am again sending out yet another "Call for Art" in celebration of rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some art, or writing, or a photo please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Check out what's already been submitted at dampearthart.blogspot.com

You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.

I will be posting new art weekly. Check it out and pray for rain.

Sierra Buttes and Sardine Lake (frozen) - 3/22/21

Lakes Basin Update

Last Monday I walked up to Sardine Lake on the snow!  The snowmobile track was packed and easy walking.  Off the track I sunk in the snow about 1.5'!  Surprisingly the lake was totally frozen!  It was a gorgeous blue sky day and wonderful to be back up there!  I also drove up to Yuba Pass to see how much snow was there.  On the way, the north facing slopes were still quite snowy!  There was only about 2.5' of snow at the Pass.  So we still have a snowpack, though definitely not a lot.  Sure hope more storms keep coming!

 Dead Man Peak - 3/22/21

Are anymore plants blooming?

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

What kind of insects are out and about?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well... However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version. I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!

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