Natural History Wanderings

The Plumas County Bloom Blog has the following wildflower report from Joe Willis.

Joe  writes: I’ve been watching the sequence of wildflowers blooming on my daily loop from downtown Quincy out Highway 70 west to Chandler Road to Oakland Camp and back via Quincy Junction Road. Most of today’s flowers are blooming in several places along this route.

Other hot spots include the creek/drainage ditch than runs in front of Safeway and the weedy areas along Lee Road. Besides a dozen or so species of flowers still blooming, there’s an increasing variety of insects and spiders using them as landing pads, food sources, and stages for mating. My most exciting find in the latter category was the Red Milkweed Beetle mating at the edge of Chandler Road. Scroll through the last week or so of posts on my blog,  blackoaknaturalist, for lots more photos of the activities of bugs, especially this beetle.

There are lots of other flowers blooming along the three creeks that flow into Spanish Creek in the Oakland Camp area: Berry Creek, Tollgate Creek, and Gilson Creek.

Flowers in bloom include Leopard Lily, Gumplant, Chicory, Pennyroyal,Mullein Showy Milkweed Goldenrod, St. John’s Wort, and  Fireweed

For a change of pace and a flashback to spring, try the high elevation meadows around Bucks Lake, Brady’s Camp, and, of course, the Lakes Basin. I’m hearing good reports from Bucks Creek Loop and the Mill Creek Trail. Will investigate tomorrow and send my findings.

See photos and older posts at Bloom Blog Wildflowers.