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 […]
Nature
An Audubon Christmas Count with Wray Ladine
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. […]
Target Bird: Yellow-rumped Warbler
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 […]
Target Bird: White-crowned Sparrow
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 […]
Target Bird: Nuttall's Woodpecker
Learning the common birds around you is one of the best ways to appreciate nature. Birds are a “value-added” feature of any region, and knowing the birds often results in a deeper knowledge of your local environment. When used as a supplement to a good bird guide, the forthcoming Birding Sites of Stanislaus and Merced Counties, from Stanislaus Audubon, will make learning local birds even easier. Meanwhile, there’s a short essay […]
How to Really Learn the Birds
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 […]