Why So Many Turkey Vultures on the Mokelumne River? Oh Yeah...

 Let's face it: Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) can be really creepy. Not so much when they're soaring on the thermals; that's when they are actually beautiful. No, it's when they are perched on the branches right over your head staring at you. It's like they're hoping you'll have a heart attack so they can have some lunch.

I was walking along the Mokelumne River this morning near the fish hatchery just below Camanche Reservoir. I had not yet reached the river and was looking for other birds, but I couldn't help but notice that nearly every tree had a Turkey Vulture perching on the top branches. They were all over the place. So yeah, a bit creepy.

As I got closer to the river I heard odd splashing sounds, and suddenly it occurred to me. It was the Chinook Salmon run! The spot where I was walking is the end of the road for the salmon, as Camanche Reservoir blocks their upstream progress. I wondered if there was a fish ladder, and there was, but it led only into the fish hatchery where workers collect the eggs for rearing in the complex. The fish ladder was closed, presumably because their holding tanks were full, so the upper pool of the river was full of Chinook trying to go farther upstream. And the vultures were waiting for a tasty lunch.

Here's a short video of the fish swimming in the Mokelumne River.

Bird of the Day: California Towhee on the Mokelumne River

It was a pretty good weekend for birds in the Sierra Nevada. Saw around six new species (for me, anyway), including the White-breasted Nuthatch from yesterday's post. Today's bird was a California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) on the Mokelumne River at the Highway 49 crossing. Actually the crossing was a new discovery for me, as I did not know there was a parking area with river access. How long has that been there?

The Towhee was singing and lurking in an oak tree overhead, and I wasted a few pixels trying to catch a shot, but then it jumped down onto the parking lot for a few moments. It finally hopped onto a boulder and posed against a colorful backdrop of dry weeds and fall foliage. 

California Towhees can be considered a California endemic if you consider both Baja and Alta California (range extends just a little into Oregon). They're common enough, apparently, but I've only just started at this, and this little one was the first to pose for me.