Natural History Journal

It is the height of summer, and I often feel that at this time of year there is no place I would rather be than in the Sierra. Summer in the meadows and forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains is one great rush of all that is poetic, romantic, magical and sublime in this world: the heady scent of resinous pine and mountain misery hanging thick in the warm mountain air; riotous colors of wildflowers bedecking green meadows surrounded by spires of tall conifers; thickets of lush and verdant dogwood, willow and alder bisected by clear, cold streams murmuring as they flow over smooth stones; the ethereal call of thrushes rising from the undergrowth as the chatter of chickadees and warblers drifts down from the canopy above; billowing thunderheads rising in the azure sky to crest snow-capped peaks. Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park Here in the Sierra, as John Muir once wrote, "... The sun shines not on us but in us.  The rivers flow not past but through us, thrilling, tingl...

Of all the birds in the Sierra, perhaps none is more handsome, more regal, more raucous than the Steller's Jay.  Stop at any picnic table or parking lot in the Sierra Nevada at any time of year, and you're almost guaranteed a good look at the crested silhouette of this fine forest dweller.  Like other corvids (the family consisting of crows, ravens and jays), the Steller's Jay is not shy, not subtle, and not silent.  The Steller's Jay commands attention, and usually gets it! The Steller's Jay ( Cyanocitta stelleri ) inhabits coniferous forests in the western United States where its dark blue and black coloration blends in with the deep shadows of the woods.  In California, they are found living in flocks from the forests of coastal and northern California to the Sierra.  (In the eastern United States, they are replaced by the ubiquitous and closely related Blue Jay of the same genus.) Like most other corvids, Steller's Jays will feed on nearly anythi...

Last summer, somewhere between buying a house and ripping out the entire kitchen and most of the bathroom within days of getting the keys, I managed to squeeze in a trip or two to one of my favorite places in the world, the mid-elevation mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, and wrote up a quick series about a few of the more common birds encountered in that habitat, birds whose songs contribute to the voice of the forest: flame-colored  Western Tanagers , melodious  Black-headed Grosbeaks , whistling  Western Wood-pewees , and diminutive  Red-breasted Nuthatches . This summer, between trips to the deserts and sky islands of Arizona in May and a visit to the swamps of South Carolina coming up in August, I plan to make a little more time for the mountains and forests closer to home!  We spent the weekend of the 4th of July far from the madding crowds and fireworks of the valley, taking refuge in the quiet woods high in the Sierra.  (But of course....