Natural History Journal

With bright red heads and brilliant yellow bodies, Eric calls them "Popsicle Birds."  Western Tanagers ( Piranga ludoviciana ) are abundant in the mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada during the summer months, filling the canopy with their beautiful song.  (For a few weeks during migration, they can be seen in the Central Valley, particularly along riparian corridors.)  Though they are one of our most brilliantly colored songbirds and their voice is a staple part of any summer soundtrack in the Sierra, they tend to keep to the canopy and are not as frequently glimpsed as might be imagined.  You have to really want to see a Western Tanager - or just get lucky, like I did with this bird that was having a snack at our campsite's picnic table when we pulled in. While true tanagers are birds of the neo-tropics, Western Tanagers are more accurately placed in the Cardinal family, along with Grosbeaks and Buntings.  The Western Tanager breeds in the Sierra, in semi-

The evidence is there: I am a proponent of the underdog, and that sentiment extends to underappreciated habitats.  Marginalized, abused and underappreciated habitats abound in California, right alongside majestic Sierran peaks and captivating rocky Pacific shorelines.  From coastal dunes to deserts , sagebrush scrub  to the grasslands and wetlands of the Great Central Valley, much of California's less glamorous habitats have been largely degraded.  The coastal salt marsh is certainly one such habitat.   Picklweed-dominated salt marsh, with shallow salt pan and dunes in the background, blooming gumplant in the foreground. Salinas River NWR. Coastal salt marshes, also called tidal marshes, occur in protected areas of bays and estuaries that are subject to tidal influence but sheltered from the strong winds and waves found elsewhere along the coast.  Salt marshes are found widely scattered along California's coast, and in an unaltered system they function in conjunc

In some parts of the world, magical places really do exist.  Glittering snowcapped peaks ,  oasis pools of turquoise  and ferny fairylands are all out there, just waiting to be discovered!    A couple of weeks ago while exploring the Morro Bay area with my mom (visiting that part of the state for my cousin's wedding), we came across an enchanted place unlike any other: El Moro Elfin Forest.   The Elfin Forest While there are no actual elves, fairies, pixies, dryads, or other small woodland folk inhabiting this forest (that we saw), the miniature woodland is certainly possessed by its own type of botanical enchantment.  The landscape is filled with an abundance of flowering jewels (wildflowers and flowering shrubs), fluttering gems (butterflies and birds)... and beautifully sculpted dwarf trees, for which the forest is named.  Though the graceful forms of dwarfed Coast Live Oak ( Quercus agrifolia ) look like they may have been twisted and set in place by the hand o

One year ago today, on the first of June, 2017, I awoke in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of Barred Owls caterwauling in the Coast Redwood tree directly above our tent.  That night, I drifted to sleep listening to the enchanting and ethereal melody of a Swainson's Thrush spiraling upwards into the canopy.    And in between those two idyllic bookends to our day, Eric and I managed to hike six miles along the Prairie Creek Trail before lunch, and nearly six more miles along the James Irvine Trail after lunch.  (Just a short hike, I know *winks*)    Hiking in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park   We saw an abundance of wildflowers and nearly every shade of green imaginable represented in the diverse plant life.  Forest birds serenaded us along the way: the energetic, effervescent song of the Pacific Wren, the single whistle of the Varied Thrush, the taunting two-part "hey you" call of the Pacific-slope Flycatcher, so often heard, so rarely seen.  (D