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“Birder’s Logic” Leads to a Rare Pair in Stanislaus County

Jim Gain’s tours through nature can be seen here. So it’s a hot day in the San Joaquin Valley, the chores are done, you’ve got a few hours to yourself and you choose to visit one of the most unlikely places the average person might think of. Maybe only a dedicated birder could figure out […]

Fanciful Flycatchers: #18 in “Learn 100 Common Valley Birds” (Species 27 and 28/100)

An educator and naturalist, Jim Gain is also a superb photographer. We’re proud to publish his series, “Learn 100 Common Valley Birds.” Here is post #18. Be sure to visit Reflections of the Natural World for more of Jim’s fine work. ed. Ash-throated Flycatcher: Species # 28 The Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) is a medium-sized […]

Learn 100 Valley Birds #12: Wintering “White” Geese – Part II

In Part I of the Our Wintering “White” Geese post, we learned about the larger “white Goose with the Grinning Patch”, the Snow Goose. In this post, the star of the show is the smaller Ross’s Goose. Introduction The Ross’s Goose is a Fairly Common Winter Visitor found almost exclusively in winter in the Central […]

Learn 100 Valley Birds #11: White Geese Part I, Snow Goose

“Your first indication of their presence is the distant sound of baying hounds. As you look up, you see the sky flecked with tiny white moving shapes, which appear like snowflakes drifting lazily across the azure sky.” naturalist J. B. Grinnell There are two species of “white” geese in the Valley. The Snow Goose — […]

Learn 100 Valley Birds #6: Loggerhead Shrike

The Loggerhead Shrike is a Fairly Common Resident in the San Joaquin Valley and can be found in grasslands, freshwater wetlands and chaparral habitats. There are two species of shrike regularly found in the US, the Loggerhead Shrike and the Northern Shrike. However, the Northern Shrike is a very rare vagrant to the Central Valley. […]

Learn 100 Valley Birds #2: Anna’s Hummingbird

Jim Gain calls Anna’s Hummingbird, the second in the “Learn 100 Birds” series, a “three-fer” because it illustrates one of the basic tactics for building a local birding list. This tactic involves knowing a birding fundamental: Learn the most common bird and you will often also learn one or two other similar but less common […]

Birders Agog When (Neo)Tropic Comes to Stanislaus County

Few things excite birders more than seeing a new bird for their “Life List.” It’s even more exciting when the new bird is also a “first” for a given region, often the birder’s home county. When the bird is exceptionally rare and out of range, the excitement builds even more, so when Ralph Baker found […]