The Great Northern California Birding Circle

After sharing the details of my earlier trip in May with my friend Jeff Manker I dangled the possibility of another trip in early June. I called this one the Great Northern California Birding Circle as the plan was to make a large circle through Northern California over the Sierra, north to Modoc, west to Tule Lake, continuing west to the coast and then south back to Napa.

Birding in the Pandemic - My Annual Visit to Butterbredt Spring

Every year as the spring migration approaches I get the itch to travel to places where this spectacle can be enjoyed as well as reveling in the beauty that surrounds me in such places. Last year Jeff Manker and I did a big day during this time and this year we had hoped to repeat the fun and adventure we had.

Rancheria Road - Kern County

While visiting my mother-in-law in Bakersfield, Pat and I took run to the east up a road I have wanted to travel for sometime. Rancheria Road connects with Highway 178 just before it enters into the Kern River Canyon and winds and twists its way up several different ridges before joining Highway 155 in Alta Sierra at Greenhorn Summit.

A Grand Lassen Loop

Being a birder I am constantly reminded that California has something for everybody. Of all the world’s major biomes it seems that all we lack here is a tropical one. This is one of the reasons why you can possibly see 673 different species of birds here. We have the luxury of deciding what kind of birds we want to find and then choosing that part of the state to plan a trip to. This past week it was the western slope of the extreme north end of the Sierra and the edge of the Modoc Plateau.

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).