No one alive today has seen two of north America’s three species of colonial nesting song birds. Both the Carolina Parakeet and the Passenger Pigeon went extinct in the wild over a hundred years ago. Today, the loss of these magnificent birds is lamented by nature lovers around the world. Unbeknown to most Valley residents, […]
Nature
Rare Visitors Brighten Audubon Christmas Count
Most people wouldn’t give the shallow pond out near the San Joaquin River west of Modesto a second glance. But from a bird’s eye view, it’s like a table set with a holiday feast. That’s why there were Black-necked Stilts, Greater Yellowlegs, and Long-billed Dowitchers feeding along its margins on December 30, when two […]
Target Bird: Bald Eagle
Despite Ben Franklin’s preference for the turkey, most U.S. citizens share our forefathers’ enthusiasm for the Bald Eagle as a stirring symbol of many of the nation’s most enduring virtues. Free, strong, and proud, the Bald Eagle represents a people fiercely devoted to preservation of the values upon which the country was founded. Today’s […]
Dazzling White Visitor Thrills, Puzzles Local Birders
Local birders ran for their cars when Central Valley birding legend David Yee reported an Iceland Gull in northwest Stanislaus County Saturday. It took Modesto residents Jim Gain and Sal Salerno just over thirty minutes to rush to the bird’s location. Oakdale’s John Harris wasn’t too far behind them. All three were treated to […]
Tuolumne River Trust Commits to Dos Rios Restoration
“The people in this room aren’t like other people,” said award-winning outdoor writer Tom Stienstra. “We don’t have blood in our veins, we have river water.” Thus began Stienstra’s animated ode to California rivers in general and to the Tuolumne River in particular. Stienstra, who may know California’s many rivers as well as anyone, […]
Endangered Species: Looking for Love in All the Right Places
Friday, June 15, Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) field biologist Cory Gregory was slated to inventory the bird life on a portion of the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge (SJRNW). He was on a restricted portion of the Refuge, not far as the crow flies from the publicly accessible Pelican Nature Trail. Stopping for […]
Target Bird: Black-headed Grosbeak
Until recently, some of our most exotic Valley birds could be found only by hard core birders with special knowledge not only of what to look for, but where and when to find it. Thus, those who wished to see the spectacular Blue Grosbeak, our most recently featured, “Target Bird,” were limited to a few […]
Otters and Rabbits and Birds: and a Lot More
Otters and rabbits and birds—and a lot more—are out on the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, which until recently was accessible only via the viewing platform near the end of Beckwith Road, west of Modesto. With the recent opening of the Dairy Road entrance just east of River Road in western Stanislaus County, the […]
Chasing the Wild Blues Out on the Refuge
Few things develop one’s appreciation for a region as much as the native flora and fauna. Thus, the California coast, Sierra Nevada, and great southern deserts are special attractions for residents and tourists alike, each region’s allure derived from a special combination of location and unique natural features. For decades the great Central Valley was among […]
LBBs and the Patagonia Roadside Rest Stop Effect
Sparrows are so difficult to identify many birders are content to lump them with similar drab birds, calling them, “LBBs,” short for, “Little Brown Birds.” However, there are ways through the confusing maze of “LBB” identification, and Riverbank’s Ralph Baker seems to have found one or two. Though he’s been birding only two years, Baker […]