Wildflowers of North Table Mountain

April 26, 2014. People may think I'm only about birds and wildlife, but there's a plant side to me as well. My passion is for all forms of life, and lately conserving plants has been as important to me as conserving wildlife. So to complement the wildlife tours this year, I decided to sign up for a wildflower tour. It was something I had wanted to do for some time, and being a member of the Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of the Wildlife Society gave me that opportunity. Kudos to a wildlife club that takes its members out to view flowers. Because plants after all are also wildlife, not just habitat.

The trip was to the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve in Butte County, California. This reserve is a geological and biological phenomenon. Just north of Oroville, the expanse of land lives up to its name, as over 3,000 acres of a basalt mesa jet above the general elevation here in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The mesa supports a unique vernal pool ecosystem that is home to a large variety of native, non-native, and endemic plants, volcanic rock formations, and scenic pastures. It's only one of four other ecosystems of its type. So I dragged along the husband, brother, and sister-in-law, and joined wildlife biologists and botanists on an adventure through a natural wonderland, feeling as amazed as Dorothy in the land of Oz.

After brief introductions, we set across the grassland, stopping to try to identify all the flowers we encountered. With a little help from those more knowledgeable and a decent local guidebook, we identified white-tipped clover, sky lupine, butter 'n' eggs, valley tassel, California goldfield, Douglas' sandwort, Sacramento Valley buttercup, Douglas' meadowfoam, common yellow monkey flower, popcorn flower, wild geranium, Stork's bill filaree, variableleaf jewelflower, red brome, and owl's clover--and that's just what I had written down. I'm sure that's not even the tip of the floral iceberg we were surrounded by that day.

California goldfields

Valley Tassels

Meadowfoam

As we topped the first hill, the fields of grass met up with barren rock, presenting a mosaic of green and black patches in an almost surreal landscape.

This is not a scene from Star Trek or Farscape. This is nature in California.

Tucked away in a valley between the mounds of rock we discovered a creek with its own little ecosystem of flora and fauna.

Common yellow monkey flower

White-tipped clover

Horned lark or sparrow nest

Then we continued on. Even though we wandered around and scattered like a foraging herd, this was actually an organized hike with a destination. We decided to hike the distance to the granite-walled waterfall, but there were still many sights to see and enjoy on the way, as well as a little bit of adventure. Where there is flora, there is also fauna; and of course the birder in me did not walk away dissatisfied. We spotted or heard western meadowlark, turkey vulture, western kingbird, horned lark, sparrows, cliff swallow, violet green swallow, red-tailed hawk, and red-winged blackbird. The real surprise, however, was stumbling upon a nest, which one of our biologists assumed was horned lark, tucked in the tall grass, eggs exposed. The parents must have been out foraging and we had to be careful to 1) not step on it; and 2) not attract predators. Nearby, someone spotted a garter snake and we hoped the garter snake didn't spot the nest.

Some participants did get to enjoy handling the snake, as well as spotting a fence lizard and a Sierran tree frog. The most colorful critter we encountered, however, was this very interesting little caterpillar, with intricate markings of green and white stripes alternated with black and yellow spots. He was a true work of art that would metamorphose into a swallowtail (probably anise swallowtail but could also be an old world swallowtail).

Swallowtail caterpillar

Then it was time for some heavy duty hiking. To avoid cutting through private property and getting chased out by an angry landowner, we followed the border of the ecological reserve, traversed a narrow, muddy trail at the edge of a steep canyon, and continued admiring the plants and flowers at the same time. The landscape changed from rolling meadows and rocky outcrops to large basalt lava-rock formations and deep tree-filled gorges--small canyons holding little forests between the arms of large boulders.

We continued gaining in elevation until we reached the lunch spot. This was the spectacular basalt-cliff waterfall, and what a view for a picnic.

Some of the younger, more adventurous types decided to continue hiking down to the bottom of the waterfall, but not me and my tired legs. I and my family units decided to take our leisure return to the parking lot, but got quite disoriented along the way. After traveling over what seemed like a lot of grazing pasture with muddy depressions and cowpies to look out for, we followed distant landmarks until we spotted the giant oak that had welcomed us into the reserve.

After a long and exhilarating day in the great outdoors, we met the parents in Oroville for an early dinner at Applebee's. I am already making plans to return to this place in a wetter year, when the hills of green grass are painted with blankets of yellow and purple carpets of wildflowers. That will be truly "amay-zing".

Greater Sandhill Cranes of Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

January 19, 2014. While on a roll with bird tours, I also signed us up for a greater sandhill crane tour at the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, also known as the Isenberg Crane Reserve. The reserve is in San Joaquin County, just west of the Central Valley town of Lodi, on the eastern edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Now this one is a little closer to home (pun not intended), since I spend a good amount of time on my day job working with sandhill crane specialists to conserve this species in the Bay-Delta region.

The greater sandhill crane is a subspecies of the sandhill crane that is listed as Threatened in the State of California. Like swans, its natural wetland habitat disappeared throughout California, and as a result the crane relies on agricultural crops for its life history needs. The Central Valley population of the sandhill crane breeds mostly in northern California and Oregon and migrates to the Central Valley and southern California for the winter. Their most important wintering grounds are in the rice fields of Butte County and in croplands such as corn fields in the Bay-Delta region. They start to arrive as early as late August and start the migration to their northern breeding grounds in late February. A good majority of the sandhill crane Central Valley population can be found wintering in the central Delta, so a few reserves have been set aside specifically to benefit the species with preserved wetlands and compatible crops and agricultural practices. The cranes can be seen at the Cosumnes River Preserve, Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Staten Island, and the Isenberg Crane Reserve.

Meeting spot

This reserve, owned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, hosts one of the largest concentrations of sandhill cranes in the region. The tour meets at one of the reserve's birding spots for the docents to talk about the life history and conservation needs of the crane.

It starts in the late afternoon because the best time to see the sandhill cranes is in the evening. At dusk, the cranes congregate in shallow-water fields or wetlands to roost for the evening. Spending the night in the middle of these flooded fields keeps them relatively safe from predators such as coyotes, which are apparently deterred by the amount of water between themselves and the cranes. During the day, the cranes forage in the fields and wetlands close to their roost sites, and as if responding to a curfew, they all start flying in at once at the end of their busy day to rest for the night. It's this time of day the volunteers at the reserve bring their guests to the roost site to watch the cranes fly in.

Sandhill Crane roost site

It was beautiful. The cranes flew in as the sun was setting. We observed them from the deck of the reserve's headquarters building, hot chocolate was served, and we also looked for owls roosting in the trees to the west. In this setting we enjoyed casual conversation with our tour guides as the cranes and other waterbirds populated the wetland. It was an unforgettable experience.

At the end of the day, we took advantage of being close to Lodi by eating great Mexican food at Habanero Hots. I caught the end of the football season playoffs for the San Francisco 49ers, who lost to the Seattle Seahawks, and drank a strong margarita to top off the evening. No one can say Lodi, California, is not a destination. I hope to return next year and go to the Sandhill Crane Festival--an event that celebrates this magnificent bird.