Part One is here.
Part Two is here.
As I mentioned in Part One, the wetlands and stream channels of the Sierra Valley and the SV Preserve form the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Feather River.
Darrel Jury, narrator and at 2:25 in the video below, was one of my college teachers here at Feather River College in Quincy.
This is fourteen minutes long, but well worth the watch before you read the rest of this diary. Please give it your time. You’ll be glad you did.
“For the Middle Fork, leave it wild.”
Yeah, that says it all.
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Today’s diary covers the Sierra Valley Preserve west side entrance, which is primarily a botanical walking tour. I snapped photos of the several interpretive signs that are along the well-maintained trails in this spot.
I admit, botany is not my pursuit. I’m not the one to confer with on matters of plant identification or lore. Which is one reason I love signs out in my nature areas like the one above. Now I will know, at least for the time I’m out on that specific location, the names and characteristics of some of the flora. I’m the wiser for that.
And now, once again, I’m wishing I had taken some trail photos, to let you all see what the place looks like. Here’s one, though, a happy accident.
The trails and interpretive signs and tag signs identifying the various plants are really well maintained on this portion of the preserve. To first visit the east side, with all its marvelous wetland and mountain meadow and bird diversity and then this dry Sagebrush Scrub on the west side is to fully take in and appreciate this marvelous locale. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
And what about that old ranch house, back up there in the video? The Bulson House? I took one photo of my own:
Now this would have been hard-scrabble existence; not a neighbor for miles and what does one “ranch” or “farm” out in the sagebrush anyway? I’m sad to say there was no interpretive sign for the house itself. I wasn’t able to find out very much about its history. It is currently maintained in a state of “arrested decay”. All the windows and doors are heavily boarded over so you can neither go inside nor even look inside. Still, a Common Raven has found a long-term roost. Can you see it, above?
The Feather River Land Trust, a nonprofit land conservation organization, has recently undertaken a cultural resource protection project at the Sierra Valley Preserve — the preservation and stabilization of the historic Bulson House.
The 100-year-old farmhouse located near A-23 on a high spot overlooking the Middle Fork wetlands was on the verge of collapse. With funds from generous donors, and with staff time and expertise, FRLT contracted with Corporate Project Management, a construction firm from Fresno.
CPM, with lead contractor Wayne Wilson and crew Kyle Sanford and Jerry Rieborn, worked in cold and windy conditions to carefully and expertly stabilize crumbling walls and to rebuild support beams and the roof. The first stages of this longer-term project went from October through the first week of December.
Plumas News, Dec. 29, 2017
https://www.plumasnews.com/sierra-valley-icon-preserved-bulson-farm-house-walk-tour/
Here are some other photos gleaned from the internet, various sources, not my photos.
Now, to wrap up this diary series, here are my final two new (for me) bird species, bringing my life list to one hundred seventy-four, so far. I find myself amazed at that number.
Vesper Sparrow.
Hmmm… kind of looks like a Song Sparrow. How do you tell them apart?
This streaky brown sparrow has a thin white eyering and flashes white tail feathers in flight; two features unique to the Vesper Sparrow. Although its most characteristic feature is a small chestnut patch on the shoulder, it's often hidden from view. As its name suggests, it frequently sings in the twilight of vespers—a sweet series of musical slurs and trills.
All About Birds
It also helps to have John Hackney (DKos “2n10”) along as your birding i.d. expert. He pointed it out to me, said “Vesper Sparrow!” and that was all I needed to be convinced and confident.
Vesper:
Song Sparrow, May 2022:
And now, the bird you’ve all been waiting for, the last and final and ultimate bird (so you can finally ditch this diary, eh?, and go find something actually meaningful and fulfilling to do)…
😉
Gray Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher’s unassuming pale plumage fits perfectly with the color palette of the gray-green shrublands and foothills it inhabits. This flycatcher is a member of the notoriously difficult-to-identify genus Empidonax, but it has a telltale move that gives it away. The bird habitually dips its tail downward, recalling the way a phoebe wags its tail rather than the upward tail-flicking of some of its fellow Empidonax. Gray Flycatchers forage nimbly for insects in sagebrush, pine, and juniper habitats—often very low in the vegetation and sometimes on the ground.
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Gray Flycatchers can be surprisingly easy to find in habitats that at first seem vast and even monotonous. Walking through tall sagebrush, especially from late April through late May, when males sing through much of the morning, should bring luck. These delicate flycatchers usually perch on sage or the lower parts of trees to sing and forage, making them conspicuous despite their pale plumage. Their environment is often very windy, so try for them on calm mornings for best results.
All About Birds
Again, all my thanks and deepest heartfelt appreciation to John Hackney, for being a fantastic birding partner and source of “picking them out”. To recap the new-to-me species from this trip:
- Brewer’s Sparrow; Spizella breweri
- Northern Pintail; Anas acuta
- Horned Lark; Eremophila alpestris
- American Bittern; Botaurus lentiginosus
- Black-necked Stilt; Himantopus mexicanus
- Willet; Tringa semipalmata
- Vesper Sparrow; Pooecetes gramineus
- Gray Flycatcher; Empidonax wrightii
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Now it’s your turn. What’s been up in your world, nature-wise? Please share any observations or thoughts you may have in the comments. Kindly include your location, and of course any photos if you have them and would like to share.