South Yuba River

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Nevada County Sketches

I returned to the South Yuba River, along the Buttermilk Bend Trail. This time I was with my sister-in-law and my two nieces and nephew.

At this time the hillside reflected the state of California’s drought, which was sans flowers and golden-brown.

We walked about a mile down the trail (up river) and then headed down to the South Yuba River for some nature loafing. The oldest, used her time taking pictures of the rock and river, the middle boy commenced to design and build his own cairn, and the youngest aggressively nature loafed along the riverside.

And Corvid Sketcher does what he always does when near a river: throw rocks or do a sketch and I did both. My river sketch is the featured sketch.

When we returned to my mother’s house I found a new subject to sketch: the active acorn woodpecker nest in the backyard. The nesting cavity was in a valley oak and the begging calls of the nestlings could be heard every time an adult few up with food.

An adult acorn woodpecker with, what else, acorns. I love the symmetry of the perfect circle of the nesting cavity entrance.
Feeding the young is truly family affair with the parents and members of last year’s clutch helping to collect food for the growing acorn young.
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Family: The Gift of Dippers

To collect myself in nature I headed to South Yuba State Park on the famous Buttermilk Bend Trail.

This trail parallels the South Yuba River and nature loafers come here on mass to in the spring see the wild flowers. The lupine where on show on this April weekday. The most prominent species was spider lupine (Lupninas benthamii).

The Buttermilk Bend Trail with it’s wildflower lined trail that parallels the South Yuba River.

I headed down the two mile, there-and-back trail, looking down at the river with it’s white water and I thought about one bird: American dipper. It was only a matter of time before I saw or heard one.

As I was about a mile in, I heard the joyous song of America’s only aquatic songbird, rising up from the river. A dipper was here and I looked for the closest trail down to the river.

At the riverside I spotted a tightly woven tangle constructed on a riverside boulder with a trail of white washed carpet at its entrance. It had the appearance of a sweat lodge than a nest.

A riverside dipper nest on the Yuba River.

Within a few minutes an adult flew in to the nest and reappeared shortly after. This adult was perched on a rock directly across from the nest, dipping up and down. It’s song was loud enough to be heard above the roar of the rapids. Two juvenile birds flew in and followed the adult around as it foraged among the river rocks.

Not a dead-beat dad. A dipper with some food for it’s two fledglings.
This is how a juvenile dipper says, “FEED ME!”

An indigo brush pen sketch of a bird that always puts a smile on my face (and I sure need that now). This is also my favorite quote about the dipper from John Muir.