Thursday, September 3, 2015

Sierra Gold

by Jim and Shirley White

There IS "gold in them thare hills". Sometimes at the foot of a rainbow or sometimes in the marshes and waterways of Sierra Valley. The forcast of "thunder storms in the Sierra" or "rain north of highway I80, often sends use running for Sierra Valley, in Sierra County, California. 

We are wildlife photographers and do not pass up a good secnic landscape shot either. Cattle and hay ranches make up most of this Alpine beauty. Migratory birds from Alaska to Argentina travel back in forth thru this fertle landscape. My almost every trip joke is " maybe we will run into a herd of Wolverines this time". We have only see 2 for real in our lifetime and it was not in Sierra County. But it could be!! Check out these critters. Antelope in Sierra Valley! 
What we really like to see is Sandhill Cranes in Sierra Valley. During this dought year much of the marshes in Sierra Valley are gone. But the good size pond and marsh along Marble Hot Springs road had maybe 30 feet of shallow muddy water last Satuday. This is what we saw:
Sandhills, Egrets and White Faced Ibis. Also nearby was a doe deer lying in the heavy grass out of the wind. A Cottentail scooted accros the road and hawks dove on some pesky blackbirds nearby.
The wind blew sweet, the air a slight chill, and all was well in our "Wild Places" in Sierra Valley.