(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Daily Bucket. American Valley full circle. Nothing in particular; Open Thread [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-28 One of the "rustic" scenes available to the eye along Chandler Road, Quincy, CA March 27, 2023. Quincy, CA. The day developed by 10:00 a.m. into bright and fair. There’s a “full-circle” bicycle ride around American Valley that I’ll undertake from time to time, given the right weather conditions and gumption on my part. It’s about ten miles and I give it a full two hours (at least) to casually complete. Come on along with me and enjoy the sights; I wish I could also bring you the sounds and smells and skin sensations, but you’ll have to accept my proxy and let my photos do what they will for you. Consider this also an Open Thread. The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow. I’ll use this “map” as an assist to the story of my ride. This shows the majority of American Valley, Plumas County, encompassing the town of Quincy and its surrounds. The numbers shown are the general locations of my stops for photos along the ride. The different color large arrows only indicate my direction of travel, but they’re also what I consider the main “legs” of the excursion. Pink is Lee Road and then Highway 70 once out of town (traveling to right, eastward, of location #1), orange is Chandler Road, green is Quincy Junction Road. It takes me a little under thirty minutes to get from my apartment (at lower left) to my #1 location. After that it’s start-and-stop as photo ops and my desire to rest occur. (Incidentally, the brownish blotch just to left and under center is Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill.) For the most part the bicycle ride is generally level roadway; there are some very minor bumps to climb but they’re short and insignificant. Stop #1 is on the eastern outskirt of Quincy metro; this view is looking east and south across Thompson Valley (lower right in map photo). I tried setting my camera to its “panorama” mode but for some reason it didn’t want to work (I checked later. I was doing it wrong; I’ve never used this mode before.) So I tried my hand at creating my own panorama shot, pieced together from two separate photos. This American Robin just presented itself in the trees as I was taking a stop to look across Thompson Valley before reaching Chandler Road. I’m in the mood for the day to photograph whatever I can see and capture in my lens. Stop #2, just after turning off Highway 70 and onto Chandler Road. California Mule Deer are ubiquitous around my area. Stop #3 is at this small creek that crosses Chandler Road. I like this spot because during the summer it’s always nice and cool and shady. Today the ice formations caught my eye and I thought I’d go ahead and capture what I could of this fleeting form of non-animal nature. Stop #4 lent itself to this scenic view of these old barns. When I was growing up in Quincy, I knew the people who owned this property. They also happened to own about half of all the valley floor of American Valley itself. These horses are just for you, Appy. Between stops #4 and #5 I saw these other California Mule Deer and the Sandhill Cranes. Heh heh. If you know right where to look, you can see bears along the side of the road. Stop #5. While pausing to take these photos I heard a Bald Eagle, but search the trees and sky as I fervently did I never caught a glimpse of it. At location #6 I stopped and watched as this Great Blue Heron flew in and landed a couple hundred yards away. Directly into the sun, of course, for my camera. Best one can do in the circumstances: Finally, the best treat of the day but not my best photography, alas. Location #7; American Kestrel. I decided to extend my ride a little bit once I had arrived back at nearly my starting spot just before reaching my apartment and trundle down the town’s bicycle path. Lesser Goldfinch here illustrates the difficulty of modern photography and auto-focus when small tree branches are in the foreground of your subject. Such is life. One last place to go, a quick check-in over at Dellinger’s Pond, and this Song Sparrow and Pied-billed Grebe. Oof! Back home just after 1:00 p.m. and my legs were feeling the exercise, but as usually is the case it was a good feeling. I’m fortunate that at age 68 I can still get out as much as I actually do. Maybe the bicycle riding is self-sustaining in that regard, eh? Now it’s your turn. What’s up in your world, nature-wise? Let us know in the comments and as always please include your location, and photos if you got ‘em! 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