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 the least appreciated regions in the west, in part because many of its natural features […]

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 has impressed veteran birders with his sharp eye and quick learning ability. He recently found […]

 In, “How to Really Learn the Birds,” we offered a method that greatly simplifies learning the common local bird species. With the recent publication by Stanislaus Audubon Society of, “The Birding Sites of Stanislaus and Merced Counties,” learning the birds has gotten even easier. The fundamental strategy for really learning the birds is simplification. Almost any field guide has a least seven-hundred species, not to mention the various plumages of […]

The first Christmas bird count was over 100 years ago, in 1900. Today, there are almost 2,000 counts encompassing over a dozen different countries every year around Christmas time. The many decades of records have become an important indicator of the health of both human and wildlife habitats. Before the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge opened to the public, it consisted mostly of easements and agreements between the U.S. […]

Wood warblers are among nature’s most spectacular creations, but often go unnoticed because of their retiring natures, dense leafy habitats and constant movement. Because they can vary a lot in plumage depending on their gender and the time of the year, wood warblers can also be challenging to identify. The strategy here is fundamentally the same as described in How to Really Learn the Birds.  We’ll focus on a common […]

When learning our last target bird, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, we discovered that in learning one bird, we can often actually learn three—a birding trifecta. The trifecta is also possible with our next bird, but finding the third bird in this trifecta is more difficult than it was in the woodpecker trifecta, which featured Nuttall’s, Acorn and Downy Woodpeckers. For many birders and nature lovers, the most welcome sign of the fall […]

Anyone who has never witnessed the migratory passage of Western Tanagers through the parks and gardens of the Northern San Joaquin Valley is missing one of our grander local spectacles. Male Western Tanagers have brilliant, flame-colored faces atop a bright yellow body cloaked in handsome black wings. Though stunning, they are easy to overlook as they pass through only during spring and fall migration. Nonetheless, with a little practice, almost […]