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American Beavers: Ecosystem Engineers Extraordinaire

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While it's always fun to come across any indication of a beaver's presence in the landscape , without a doubt seeing one of these amazing creatures in the wild is much more exciting!  Here in California's Central Valley, I've found those sightings to be rather rare - and therefore all the more special when they do occur.  While I regularly come across signs of beaver activity , such as felled trees, gnawed branches, dams, lodges and tracks, it's less frequent that I get to spend time watching these critters go about their daily business.  So, when I came across this beaver on a small reservoir in the foothills, I savored the experience.  Any moment with a beaver is an excellent opportunity to sit quietly beside the pond, watch and learn! American Beaver in a small reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Beavers are best known for their sturdy dams, which they construct of logs, sticks and mud.  These dams are placed across streams and other areas of flowing wa...
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North American Porcupine

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Instantly recognizable by its prickly appearance and known for its [mistaken] reputation of throwing dangerous barbed quills toward would-be attackers, porcupines are perhaps simultaneously one of North America's most and least well-known mammals.   How well do you actually know this large rodent of the forest?  Read on to find out, and to learn the official term for baby porcupines (which is probably my favorite fun fact about this amazing creature)!  Members of the order Rodentia, North American Porcupines ( Erethizon dorsatum ) are North America's second-largest rodent, after the American Beaver.  Measuring between 2 and 3 feet in length and weighing 20 pounds or more, they are fairly sizable mammals!  As rodents, they are characterized by a set of strong, continually-growing incisors that must be worn down by daily gnawing on the plant material that makes up the entirety of their diet.  Like beavers, these front teeth are orange in color, thanks t...
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Birding in the UK: British Moorland Birds on Grassington Moor

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Last June, Eric and I had the opportunity to spend the month in the UK, taking in its incredible natural beauty and rich history.  A few of our favorite days were spent in the Yorkshire Dales, where we enjoyed a cool, drizzly hike up onto bleak but beautiful Grassington Moor.  Here, high above the verdant pastures, the rocky, heather-covered hills were wild and rugged, and the birds were both abundant and interesting!  European Golden-Plover One of the most abundant species we saw on the moors (as well as in other habitats throughout the UK) was the Meadow Pipit, a close relative of our familiar American Pipit.  Meadow Pipit Meadow Pipit A species I wasn't expecting to find on these moors was Northern Wheatear - and we stumbled across a whole family of them, with recently-fledged young! Northern Wheatear Northern Wheatears are birds of open country, breeding in treeless habitats like rocky tundra and the UK's high moorlands.  Previously, I've encountered these p...
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A Bit of the Boreal Forest in Northern California

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Earlier this January, we spent several days exploring the lush, ferny redwood groves and mossy Sitka spruce forests of northwestern California, and while hiking through this enchanting habitat, observing the plants, birds and other wildlife, it occurred to me that in a sense, winter in California's Humboldt and Del Norte counties is a little bit like summer in North America's vast boreal forests.   Varied Thrush Also called taiga, the world's boreal forests form a lush, green ring around the top of our planet, covering much of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia.  These dense forests are comprised largely of coniferous trees, particularly pine, fir, and most notably, spruce.  At such high latitudes, long, cold winters are characteristic of the boreal forest, but even so, these often-snowy forests are vital to the health of our planet.  Boreal forests are massively important on a global ecological scale, as they hold more surface freshwater than any other biom...
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About Me

Named after the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I am a naturalist and avid birder based in Central California. Above all, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, our amazingly good Creator God whose magnificent creation is an unending source of awe and inspiration for me. I hope to inspire others to appreciate, respect and protect this beautiful earth we share, and invite you to come along with me as I explore the nature of California and beyond!
- Siera Nystrom -