Natural History Journal

I'm not much for social media; I take a minimalist approach and stick to the very basics.  (Does e-mail count?)  But within the past year or so, I've discovered a wealth of resources available online for the naturalist.  Some are more interactive than others, like traditional social media, and others are more useful for reference.  But I have found all of them to be valuable tools for sharing and gaining information, and wanted to share my favorites with you. Top Five Online Resources for Naturalists 1. iNaturalist  ( www.inaturalist.org )   iNaturalist.org iNaturalist is quickly gaining momentum in the citizen science   community, and is a wonderful photo-based tool for naturalists of all ages and skill levels.  Kids and families can participate, professors and researchers can participate; and everyone benefits.  The concept is simple: download the app on your smartphone, or visit the website and se...

"Day 37.  The Cranes still do not suspect that I am a Heron.  The plan is working.  I shall continue to blend in with their herd." While birding at Merced National Wildlife Refuge, I came upon this rather amusing scene.  Well, amusing if you're a birder, I suppose...  No great scientific insights here (other than to say that these two species, the Great Blue Heron and Sandhill Crane, can clearly co-exist quite peaceably).  Just a funny photo! Oh, but as a side note, flocks of Sandhill Cranes really are called herds.  And the young are known as colts.  There are your facts for the day!  (I couldn't help myself.)

No surprise who won the match... But it was surprising to look at my photos and realize what a lucky shot I'd gotten! I photographed this Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula ) a couple of weeks ago at Merced National Wildlife Refuge, while it was enjoying an afternoon meal of dragonfly after an expertly-timed mid-air snatch at its prey.  We usually picture egrets waiting at the water's edge to spear small fish, frogs and crustaceans, but they will dine on dragonfly as well, if it's on the menu!  And early fall is prime dragonfly season.

Two years ago, my husband took me on a whale watching cruise in Monterey Bay for my birthday.  It was late October, nearing the end of the migratory season and also the end of peak season for Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) .  It rained all morning, right up until the time our boat left the dock; I insisted on sitting outside anyway, swathed in rain ponchos, right at the bow. The sun came out soon, we ended up only slightly damp, and the two hours of seasickness were absolutely worth it! Humpback whale fluke Monterey Bay, a protected National Marine Sanctuary, is a first-class destination for year-round whale watching, as it is home to resident whales as well as hosts a wide range of migratory cetaceans.  Once on the brink of death, Monterey Bay is now a thriving ecosystem that has been slowly rehabilitated over the past several decades.  The hunting of sea otters to near-extinction had dramatic and far-reaching consequenc...

Black-crowned Night Herons ( Nycticorax nycticorax ) are somewhat secretive wading birds, preferring to roost during the day and emerge at dusk.  Perhaps surprisingly, a few individuals can be seen around the ponds at CSU Stanislaus.  They are a favorite of mine, partially because they are more commonly associated with remote wetlands than with college campuses, and partially because they always look so perturbed at being discovered (not anthropomorphizing, I promise!) Black-crowned Night Heron ( Nycticorax nycticorax ) perched in a Gingko tree. Not what you would expect: a Black-crowned Night Heron perched in a Gingko tree.  But so it is.  We often see the pair of Night Herons on campus roosting during the day deep inside a couple of Coast Redwoods (planted as ornamental trees in the lawn near a pond), which is also far from typical heron habitat.  Black-crowned Night Herons can be found in both saltwater and freshwater wetlands ...

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet ( Regulus calendula ) is a treat for anyone with the good fortune to spot one and the patience to track its movements through the trees for any length of time, for these tasks can be difficult! The first thing you will notice about the Ruby-crowned Kinglet when you do finally spot one is that they hardly ever sit still!  Scarcely larger than a hummingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglets overflow with energy, flitting amongst branches, darting in and out of sight with agility and speed that is frustrating for the birder, and even more frustrating for the photographer!  (And as the following photos prove, I am no photographer!) A brief moment with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet ( Regulus calendula ).  Note the bright white wing bars and black patch below the second wing bar. But once you become acquainted with the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, you will be charmed.  These birds can be recognized first by their tiny size; when identifying a kinglet, you ...

The Common Buckeye ( Junonia coenia ) was one of the first butterfly species I learned to identify, when I was probably somewhere around junior high age.  They are common in central California, as well as across the Southern United States, and prefer open habitat with low vegetation and some bare ground, as well as good sun exposure.  This beautiful Buckeye was found along the Tuolumne River in the Waterford area. Adult Common Buckeyes feed on nectar from a variety of plants, including composites such as aster, chicory and gumplant.  Larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae) such as our native monkey flowers ( Mimulus spp .).  The function of the prominent eyespots on the butterfly's wings is likely to startle would-be predators, giving the butterfly an extra second to escape.

Black-necked Stilts ( Himantopus mexicanus ) are fairly common in California's Great Central Valley, a familiar little shorebird of shallow wetlands.  They are named for their distinctive black and white markings, though perhaps even more striking are their long, bright red-to-pink legs.  Black-necked Stilts are year-round residents of the Valley as well as the Central and Southern California coast, ranging farther north and inland into other western states during the summer months. Stilts are designed for life in the shallows; their long legs allow them to wade into the water in order to find food, aquatic invertebrates, such as crawfish, beetles and brine shrimp, as well as small vertebrates like tadpoles and fish.  Using their long bills, stilts snatch their prey from the water. Feeding behavior of the Black-necked Stilt ( Himanoptus mexicanus ) Stilts nest on the ground, on soft substrate near water, where the male and female take turns exc...

If you can't recall what the song of the Northern Mockingbird ( Mimus polyglottos ) sounds like, you need only hear one sing again in order to jog your memory.  It is a familiar song to many bird enthusiasts across the entire United States. Northern Mockingbirds sing during the spring and summer to secure mates and during the fall to defend their feeding territory; often a male will have differing spring and fall songs.  Mockingbirds sing during the day, and unmated males will sing during the night as well, especially during a full moon.  What they lack in flashy plumage they more than make up for in colorful song!  Mockingbirds sing their own songs as well as mimic those of other birds.  A male mockingbird can learn up to 200 different songs in his lifetime.  It's an amusing sight to watch Scrub Jay calls come from a Mockingbird!   This particular Mockingbird was watching me work in the front yard, singing his heart out from ...

Sparrows can be an intimidating group for beginning birders.  They're little, they're fast, they're flighty... and they're all brown!  How can one even begin to tell them all apart? The Great Central Valley supports an impressive array of little brown sparrows (often lumped in with wrens and finches and dismissed as "Little Brown Jobs"), but there is hope for the new birder!  Pick up a good field guide, and start narrowing your options down by season and by habitat.  For example, determine which species are likely to be in the Central Valley in the winter only.  You'll be left with a shorter list of potential species after a process of elimination. An excellent tool is eBird's Bar Chart feature.  This allows you to select a county (or multiple counties) and displays a chart of monthly (weekly, actually) occurrences for all of the species recorded in that region.  This is an excellent way to become familiar with what species are...

The Sandhill Cranes ( Antigone canadensis , formerly Grus canadensis ) have arrived in the Great Central Valley!  They've been here for a couple of weeks now, though I was just recently able to get out to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge to see them.  And what an incredible sight!  The return of the cranes is an annual event in the Valley, much anticipated by many local birders and nature enthusiasts.  In fact, all of the bird species that spend the winter here give us plenty of reasons to look forward to the upcoming cold months.  There may not be snow in the Valley, but nothing quite compares to a sky filled with thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese!  (The snow geese aren't here yet, but they soon will be!) If you think Sandhill Cranes look prehistoric, a bit like small dinosaurs roaming the grassland, you aren't too far off: the oldest Sandhill Crane fossil is a remarkable 2.5 million years old!  And if you're a...

If you've heard someone referred to as a "naturalist," you might have wondered just what exactly that meant.  An unshaven John Muir-like figure?  Someone living chained to a redwood tree?  A contemplative observer, the reflective Thoreau type?  A scientist?  A hippy?  Just what is a naturalist? The definition of a naturalist is "an expert in or student of natural history."  And natural history can be described as the scientific study of plants and animals, based primarily on observation.  In my definition, I would add the study of geology as well.  Synonyms for a naturalist include natural historian, wildlife expert, and a number of scientific-sounding titles: ecologist, biologist, zoologist, botanist, environmentalist. A Naturalist at work (or play), in Joshua Tree National Park But don't let that deter you!  You need not have a degree in science to be a naturalist!  Children can be naturalists.  R...