My wife and I took a wonderful hike at Oakland Feather River Camp which is on Spanish Creek downstream from Quincy. In a couple of hours we saw over 50 kinds of wildflowers. Warmer weather seems to have arrived for good. The flowers and the insects know it as they are out in abundance. We first hiked up Tollgate Creek to the dam, then hiked downstream along Spanish Creek about a mile and a half from camp. Bird life was amazing, too, as we were surrounded by song. I was excited not only by what I saw, but by what is about to happen. The purple milkweed is already blooming, but the narrow-leaf milkweed will soon follow as the plants were about two feet tall with buds. Soon afterwards, we'll see the showy milkweed. It's only about a foot tall, and doesn't yet have buds in this area. However, I did see buds on showy milkweed at my "milkweed spot" on Lee Road. That's the place I monitor almost daily as the milkweeds attract a variety of beautiful beetles and butterflies. The beetle fauna is already good at Oakland Camp. One of the exciting things about a narrow canyon and a winding river is the great variety of micro-habitat. A certain flower may be in full bloom in one pace, then, around a corner where there is less sunshine, the same plant may not yet be flowering. Then, in an especially sunny spot it may have already gone to seed. My previous post showed yellow salsify blooming - that was in Quincy, near the animal shelter. In my yard, known locally as the cold spot, the salsify don't have buds yet. At Oakland Camp, they have already gone to seed. So, one can view about a month's worth of the salsify cycle in a single day by visiting these spots that are at the same elevation but only a few miles apart. This is only a small sampling of photos from Sunday's hike. More to follow.
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