Natural History Journal

Summer is upon us, and with any luck, that means vacation.  For those of us who love nature and the great outdoors, that usually means traveling to visit North America's beautiful National and State Parks.  And for the binocular-toting crowd in particular, an experience in the outdoors is not complete without a few memorable encounters with the wonderful wild animals that call these places home.  Visit any National Park in North America and a traffic jam is sure to mean one thing: Wildlife.  (Or, possibly, lack of parking spots.  But hopefully it's wildlife.)  A critter pauses along the roadside anywhere from Acadia to Joshua Tree, and all the break lights flash on. We can't help ourselves.  Wildlife enthralls us. I roll my eyes at tourists who stop their cars in Yosemite Valley to gawk at Mule Deer, a common, ho-hum species here in the West.  Yet when we visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year, I did the exact same thing when I sp...

Tucked away in the southeastern corner of California is an ecosystem like no other: the vast Mojave Desert. While it may not look like much to passing motorists, the arid Mojave Desert is brimming with wildlife.  Birds, mammals, reptiles, insects: It's all here, thriving against the odds in an undeniably harsh environment.  Cold winters bring snow flurries to high elevations as temperatures drop well below freezing, and summer highs can soar to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit, baking the desert pavement.  The wind is fierce and rainfall is minimal all year, a scant three to nine inches annually.   Clearly, living conditions are tough. Yet despite the odds, here in these wide open spaces lives a very special suite of characters, all perfectly designed to make the most of life in this inhospitable place.   This is the wildlife of the Mojave Desert. Last week, we spent a couple of days exploring Mojave National Preserve, enjoying lovely desert scenery an...

As a group, mammals are surprisingly diverse.  While all mammals breathe air, have fur or hair, and give birth to live young, they vary significantly in their habitats and modes of transportation.  While most walk or hop while moving about on land, some fly and others swim, some spending most or all of their lives in water!  While some of these aquatic mammals spend a good deal of time on land at the water's edge, like seals and sea lions, other mammals, such as whales and dolphins, never leave the marine environment they were exquisitely designed to inhabit. With 840 miles of coastline (ranking third in the nation behind Alaska and Florida), it is perhaps not surprising that marine mammals make up a significant portion of California's wildlife. Let's explore the variety of mammals that may be seen along California's beautiful coast and within its offshore waters. Sea Otter, Elkhorn Slough Sea Otters, the most aquatic members of the weasel family, only rarely come asho...

Tree Swallows are, in my opinion, one of our most beautiful birds, with their pure white undersides and iridescent blue heads and backs.  As aerial insectivores that feed almost exclusively on flying insects, Tree Swallows are a great boon to have in the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, like many other aerial insectivores, their numbers are in decline .  As secondary cavity nesters, Tree Swallows' struggle for survival is exacerbated not only by a decline in the insects they feed on, but a lack of the natural cavities they require for nesting as well.  Secondary cavity nesters rely on nest cavities excavated by other species (usually woodpeckers), often in standing dead trees.  The widespread practice of removing such trees in recent decades has led to a sharp decline in available nesting sites.  And Tree Swallows aren't the only species that depend on these increasingly rare nesting sites.  Western Bluebirds, Ash-throated Flycatchers, House Wrens, White-...