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Tag: San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge

Audubon Bird Count: An Umbrella for All

When the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1987, its primary purpose was to protect winter habitat of the then-endangered Aleutian cackling goose. Since that time, the refuge has provided an “umbrella effect” for over 200 species of birds, ranging in size from the tiny Bushtit, which weighs in at less than […]

Dos Rios: The Many Facets of a Natural Gem

“It looks like a bunch of weeds,” said David Froba when he pulled over to look at an early stage restoration project near the confluence of the Tuolumne, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Rivers, just west of Modesto. The “weeds” may not be as attractive as the ducks, geese, and songbirds that capture the attention of […]

Goose Music Greets Birders for Frosty Count

January 2, Stanislaus County birders and friends scraped the frost off their windshields well before the sun rose and motored out to their assigned areas for the 122nd annual Audubon Christmas Count, a worldwide event that provides a huge database for fluctuations in bird populations around the world. One of hundreds of compilers of local […]

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 […]