Another Big Day With Jeff Manker

Thirty six years is a long time. A whole lot can change in the world in that wide expanse of time. Empires can rise and then fall, Sports teams can go from also-rans to dynasties and back again - 3 times, a millennial can already have had five different careers, Donald Trump can actually have made at least one truthful statement - or not. Thirty six years is a long time, it’s the number of years that have passed since Jeff Manker and I have done a big day together.

High School Ornithology With Jeff Manker

My college roommate Jeff Manker has reached a milestone in his life - retirement from teaching. Along the way he has created something amazing enough to be written about in the American Birding Association blog written by Nate Swick. In his post Swick suggests that Jeff's model of a High School Ornithology class can be replicated across the country and that Jeff's article might in fact serve as the spartk. Click this link to read Jeff's opinion piece in Birding Magazine.

The M-10 Transect

For some years now there has been a growing movement in Northern California to provide better management and protection to a large tract of land that stretches from Mendocino County in the north to Napa County in the south and encloses a large portion of the Coastal Range in this part of the state. Several bills have been introduced in Congress calling for the creation of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, the most recent of which, sponsored by our local congressman Rep. Mike Thompson and others, in Feb. 2015.

A Rare Shrike - Brown or Red-backed?

In early March a wildlife biologist for the California State Parks found and photographed what she originally thought to be a Loggerheaded Shrike at the mouth of Alder Creek in Manchester Beach State Park. Her photos were subsequently seen by others who determined that this bird was a Brown Shrike (this would be the 5th CA record).

Fall 2013 Notes

Somehow I never managed to get these notes posted. Oh well, better late than never . . . .

This fall has had its share of interesting birds around Northern California. In Napa County we had a first ever record of a Hudsonian Godwit while all along the coast of California, including here in the north, there's been an eruption of Blue-footed Boobies who have wandered far from their normal range in the Gulf of California.  These spectacular airborne diving sea birds have come some distance in search of food that is apparently not as abundant in their home waters. Other Booby species are also being found with regularity in the waters of Southern California, probably extending their ranges for better food supplies as well.

The Hudsonian Godwit made his appearance at Huichica Creek mid-week of the second week of September. This was the first record for this species in Napa County and is not a regular visitor anywhere in California, so this bird caused quite a stir. For the next week and a half there was a regular stream of birders looking for this guy at Huichica Creek, a spot many of them had not visited before. On several occasions I had a chance to educate these visitors on our ongoing marsh restoration work in the Napa marshes.

I was able to get a few other excursions in around our area but did not have any noteworthy sightings. Over the Christmas I did chase a rare bird up in Mckinleyville, a town in which I once lived. This unusual Asian visitor was a Little Bunting and I missed him by a day and a half. Always nice to get up to Humboldt county but it was a lot of driving for one day.

In Search of the Black-backed Woodpecker

The summer of 2013 will be remembered as my search for the Black-backed woodpecker. This elusive bird was the focus of our earlier trip to northeastern California and the Warner Mountains. While the trip was an unqualified success, we did not see the woodpecker. Over my many years as a birder I have been in plenty of prime habitat for this species but for whatever reason have not seen any so when I read on the listserv of a nesting pair on a creek in the Desolation Wilderness I thought this might be my best chance yet. I couldn't drop everything and make the trip so I had to wait a few days for the chance and I also convinced Pat that a little creek exploring would be a fun adventure.

Early Summer Tour of Northeastern California

After a long absence I had been hoping for a return to the Modoc Plateau and further exploration of a country I have always had an affection for. With school ending and Danette having to postpone her summer for a week due to some professional development, the opportunity for Patrick and I to take off on an adventure was too good. On many occasions in the past I have traveled to Tule Lake and Lava Beds over the Thanksgiving holiday but only a few times have I been here in spring or summer.  This year Patrick was excited to see the Lava Beds and particularly the caves created by the ancient lava flows that have shaped this landscape.

Spring in a National Wildlife Refuge

All winter long I look forward to spring break because I know that at least one of those days will be spent in a fantastic natural area looking for birds and enjoying the newly emerging season of spring.  Last year we were down south and went over the mountains to the edge of the Mojave and Butterbredt Springs (you can read about that here), this year Pat and I went to check our Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and then tour our way through some of the foothill country on the west side of the central valley as we made our way back to Napa.  We started the tour route at SNWR just after eight and were almost overrun by Jack Rabbits, along the route we saw many of the expected waterfowl species including a few late Pintails and some small concentrations of Canada and White-fronted Geese.  The Snow Geese had already left the refuge but we were treated to many Ring-necked Pheasants a few of which were fighting for the amusement of a possible mate.  White-faced Ibis and a roosting Great Horned Owl rounded out our more interesting sightings at the refuge.  After stopping briefly for lunch in Willows we headed east on Hwy. 162 and then south on some very small country roads into a beautiful valley called Bear Valley.  I don't know how many different valleys in California share this name but certainly it is a considerable number.  This speaks to what must have been a considerable bear population in the state at one time.  Probably referring to both Brown and Grizzly species as both were present during the days when english place names became fixed to various geographic spots. This long valley has a companion creek and a cattle ranching operation that is no doubt the present day iteration of the outfit that gave the valley its name.  The highlight of our trip through this valley was a mature Golden Eagle that appeared the moment after I took the photo at the top.  He was moving through the trees on the side hill on our left and I turned the camera a got off a few quite images of him flying and figured that that would be the end of the show.  I watched him sail behind a stand of oaks and he did not emerge on the other side so I figured he must have landed in one of the trees.  After pacing back and forth along the road looking for him we gave up and got into the truck to continue on down the road and around the brow of a hill.  As soon as we came around the hill I looked up to the left and there was our eagle and he had just dropped onto a meal!  We could never tell what it was he was tearing apart as it was down in the grass at his feet but he was not in the least concerned about us as we watched him from down on the road.

As we came to the bottom end of the valley we entered a narrow canyon whose passage would take us out to the intersection of Highways 20 and 16. Here we came upon the distressing sight of a cattle operation that was causing major stream degradation of Bear Valley Creek.  All along this stretch the cattle were in the water or on the banks and we spotted at least two carcasses as well.  The land and creek were signed private property along the road and I don't know enough about land use and water laws to know if this was something I could report to a management agency, let alone which agency I should contact.  It was distressing after such a great day out and I will try and follow up on it.  We did see a nice pair of Wood Ducks in a stretch that was not marred by the cattle.

From here we were back on main roads and followed Hwy. 16 down along Cache Creek and into Capay Valley.  We stopped a few times to look at the creek which is surprisingly large for an east flowing stream.  Checking my maps later I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised as it appears to be the outfall of Clear Lake. We eventually arrived back home in Napa at 5 pm. a full day's adventure in hand.