• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

Rare Visitor from Siberia is 319 for Stanislaus County

December 14, 2015 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Black-headed Gull by Ralph Baker
Black-headed Gull by Ralph Baker

When Harold Reeve moved to Stanislaus County in the early 1980s, he thought it would be fun to develop an official Stanislaus County bird list. Back then, local birding was in its infancy and county birding, which requires birders to keep a list of birds they see in each county they visit, was practiced by only a handful of birders.

Today, the official Stanislaus County bird list comprises 319 species, and Reeve has seen over 300 of those species himself. He’s also kept over thirty years of meticulous records of the birds he sees when he manages to free himself from the duties of family, job, and church.

As the years have accumulated, it’s become harder and harder to add new birds to the list. Birders like to add spice to their game by predicting which new birds they will see next, and Reeve has always kept a mental list of birds most likely to show up in Stanislaus County.

He’s also kept a short “wish list” of birds he’d really like to see that are highly unlikely to appear in Stanislaus County, either because they’re rare statewide or because they would be too far out of range and habitat to be expected.

One of the most tantalizing birds on Reeve’s wish list was the Black-headed Gull. It was tantalizing because a Black-headed Gull appeared several years in a row in San Joaquin County in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Those appearances were the only records ever recorded anywhere in the Central Valley. Of the twenty-plus California records of Black-headed Gull, almost all have occurred along the coast. The Stockton records were one of the inexplicable anomalies that make birding so exciting—because they fly, birds can show up almost anywhere.

Black-headed Gull with Bonaparte's Gulls
Black-headed Gull with Bonaparte’s Gulls

Sunday, Reeve was doing his bi-monthly census of birds in a restricted-access location where he’s found a number of new species over the years. When he saw of large flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls, he decided for no particular reason to take a picture of the group with his digital camera. Bonaparte’s Gulls are increasingly more common in Stanislaus County, and can be expected in large numbers in fall and winter.

Again, for no particular reason, Reeve immediately pulled the picture up on the camera screen for review. Imagine his shock when, in the center of the frame, he saw a Black-headed Gull.

Very similar to Bonaparte’s Gulls, the Black-headed Gull is slightly larger, paler on the mantle, and has a larger bill with a red base. With two birder friends, Reeve frantically scanned the flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls, which contained well over a hundred birds.

Within a few minutes they had found the Black-headed Gull and reviewed the crucial field marks which distinguish it from Bonaparte’s Gulls and the very similar Franklin’s Gull. There then followed a flurry of photos, because when a bird as rare as a Black-headed Gull appears in California, it helps to have proof—birders are a friendly but skeptical group.

Almost certainly from Siberia, Stanislaus County’s and California’s latest Black-headed Gull is only the fifth appearance of this species in the state since 2004. Overall, it is the twenty-seventh state record and number 319 for Stanislaus County. For Harold Reeve, it is literally a wish come true, and a reminder that nature always has a surprise in store for those who learn to appreciate its infinite variety.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Nature

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

?This is where society fails to have an answer?: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
“This is where society fails to have an answer”: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
Data includes support for possible measures, including a court system with the power to order people into mental health treatment.
www.mercurynews.com
?Monster Fracks? Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
“Monster Fracks” Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
A Times analysis shows that increasingly complex oil and gas wells now require astonishing volumes of water to fracture the bedrock and release fossil fuels, threatening America’s fragile aquifers.
www.nytimes.com
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has 'paralyzed' California cities
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has ‘paralyzed’ California cities
The Democratic governor’s intervention lays down a mark in a legal dispute with potentially profound implications for one of California’s most pressing issues.
www.politico.com
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
www.propublica.org
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How bad is hunger in California? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but now is being reduced.
calmatters.org
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population….
www.mercurynews.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
How the fentanyl crisis’ fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
The epidemic’s staggering scale and infiltration of communities is laid bare in a new study.
www.bbc.com
Can licensed tent villages ease California's homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Can licensed tent villages ease California’s homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Taking people off the street and into tents is a new twist on homeless shelter being explored by the San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy in two tent villages operating in Los Angeles and Culver City.
www.latimes.com
Mississippi has problems, but it's handling homelessness better than L.A.
Mississippi has problems, but it’s handling homelessness better than L.A.
The public tends to blame homelessness on poverty, drug use, crime or even warm weather. But other cities don’t have L.A. levels of street homelessness because they have more available housing.
www.latimes.com
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
The demonstrators raised “Heil Hitler” salutes and waved flags with swastikas.
www.thedailybeast.com
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom's CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Gov. Gavin Newsom?s experiment to push Californians with mental illness off the streets and into treatment, CARE Court, starts soon.
calmatters.org

Find us on Facebook

pp
The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design