Valleys / Lakes

Bear Valley

After Friday lunch at the picnic grounds in Loyalton, we drove down Smithneck Road, pulling off at a number of spots on the right. The best was the Lion’s Picnic area, where Lewis’s Woodpeckers were nesting in a phone pole, and Green-tailed Towhees, Lazuli Buntings, and Bullock’s Orioles inhabited the cottonwoods and dry hillside.

Carman Valley

Saturday morning a couple of us birded pre-breakfast in Sierraville, successfully finding Wilson’s Snipe and Long-billed Curlew, while some others birded the stone-wall road, finding some cooperative warblers. Then we went to Carman Valley, and arrived there after only one false start. Specialties were Mountain Bluebirds, Green-tailed Towhee, Common Nighthawk and Pygmy Nuthatch. Late in the morning we drove to Plumas-Eureka State Park and picnicked on the grass, and then walked down to the campground where we enjoyed a Dipper on a nest under the bridge. Dinner was a good buffet at the lodge, where Bob and an all-girl quartet separately serenaded the group. We counted up our birds and found we were at 92. Would the morrow break 100? 

Sardine Lake

Sunday morning we met at Bassetts, and Carol and Steve mentioned they’d heard Sora in the valley the night before. The feeders at the store added Calliope and Rufous Hummingbirds, and our walk along Sardine Lake contributed Dusky Flycatcher, MacGillivray’s and Nashville Warbler, and Osprey. Yellow-bellied Marmot welcomed us to the top, and Upper Sardine Lake, and a beautiful adult Bald Eagle flew overhead. It was a super weekend, with a total of 101 species, and some great memories.