Natural History Journal

For the past two years, the 26th of September has been a special day for me as a naturalist, as it has marked my personal FOS Sandhill Crane sighting. (For those not up to snuff on birding lingo, "FOS" stands for "first of season," and helps keep a record of the timing of migration by denoting when the first individuals of a migratory species show up each spring or fall.  Over time, a pattern of certain migrants arriving earlier or later can point to larger-scale phenomena, like climate change.  So, if you're out birding, be sure to note your FOS-es!) During the last few weeks of September, I begin to feel it: a change in the air (despite the high temperatures), a restlessness in the natural world.  Things are happening!  I begin scanning the skies, checking the wetlands, listening a little bit more carefully.  And then one day I hear it: the distinct croaking call of the Sandhill Crane! Yesterday, I heard the call and was delighted to look up into th

Summer has officially drawn to a close, and autumn is upon us, despite the lingering heat.  Soon, some of my favorite winter migrants will be showing up in the San Joaquin Valley, like Cedar Waxwings  and Sandhill Cranes . The summer has flown by (no pun intended) in a whirlwind of activity, as I have found myself up to my ears in new projects, like demolishing our kitchen, building shelves for our library, and beginning a complete overhaul of our new quarter-acre property!  But I did manage to squeeze in exactly two birding trips to the Sierra Nevada (which is not nearly enough).  One of my most memorable encounters was with a diminutive denizen of mixed conifer forests, the Red-breasted Nuthatch.  The photo below is not the best quality, but it will have to do since it's the only one that turned out at all! Red-breasted Nuthatch ( Sitta canadensis ) Predominately birds of coniferous forests, the Red-breasted Nuthatch ( Sitta canadensis ) is found across much of the Uni