Yesterday (Sunday) Sarah, her mother Diane, and I went for a hike around Bon Tempe Lake in the Marin Municipal Water District. I was looking forward to seeing what was blooming compared to the last time we were here, in early March. We hit the trail at around 11:30 under sunny skies and low-70s temperatures,…
DetailsYesterday was another fine day for a walk at the Palo Alto Baylands after work, if a tad gusty. Immediately upon exiting my car at the Duck Pond, my ears were assaulted by the sound of hundreds of egrets, the adults squabbling and the newly-hatched juveniles begging for food. It’s really quite a comical sound…
DetailsAfter reading reports of a rare influx of Horned Puffins (HOPU) along the San Mateo coast, Sarah & I decided to head over on Saturday and see if we could find one. Our first stop was at Pillar Point in Princeton-by-the-sea, a small seaside fishing hamlet about 25 miles south of San Francisco. We’ve birded…
Details“Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds” is very high on my list of the best nature-writing I’ve read to date. Heinrich, who has written several book about ravens, here examines myriad aspects of their complex lives, from play behavior, mating, following (or leading) predators. From numerous field studies, as well as controlled…
DetailsOops, I just realized I haven’t posted about my most recent birding trip. Unlnike the week of 14 May when I went birding 5 times, I only got out once last week, on Monday the 21st, and then only for another drive-by at the Radio Road ponds. American Avocet (Recurvistora americana) A foragaing alternate-plumaged American…
DetailsTuesday was the last class of the 14-class Field Ornithology series I’ve been taking since January, and I must say I’ll really miss it! It’s been extremely informative, Joe Morlan is a great teacher, and our weekend field trips netted me the following 14 life birds and provided countless tips on identification!
– Black-throated Gray Warbler
– Cassin’s Vireo
– Green Heron
– Northern Rough-winged Swallow
– Pacific Loon
– Purple Finch
– Pygmy Nuthatch
– Red-throated Loon
– Redhead
– Tricolored Blackbird
– Vaux’s Swift
– Warbling Vireo
– White-breasted Nuthatch
– White-throated Swift
Following are my notes from class.
DetailsSunday, 20 May 2007 We went for our annual hike to Alamere Falls on Sunday, and had the pleasure of going with my colleague Ondrej, who is here for business from Prague. Sarah & I have done this hike every year since 2003, and it remains one of our very favorites in the Bay Area.…
DetailsIn between running errands today, Sarah & I stopped by Chrissy Field for a short bird walk that wound up being even shorter than planned due to high winds! Chrissy Lagoon Although we’d planned on walking along the promenade for a ways, it wound up being too gusty, with sand blowing all over the place,…
DetailsToday after work I decided to try somewhere new, and so sought out the oft-mentioned Radio Road ponds in Redwood City. I’m glad I looked at a map, because it’s not somewhere you’d easily just stumble across! For those who, like me, aren’t familiar with where this popular car-based birdwatching site is, you take Highway…
DetailsAfter work today I spent the better part of two hours walking around Charleston Slough and Shoreline Lake (gotta love how late it stays light now!). Although I didn’t see anything unusual, I had a fine time being out and about, and had some fine views of many more common birds. Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri)…
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