Natural History Journal

Arid scrublands.  Desert washes.  Dry grasslands.   Perhaps these words don't conjure up images of idyllic natural beauty for most people, but for one very special bird, these marginalized habitats are prime.  This bird is just one of several reasons  why I love deserts  and desert-like places, and this special bird, I think, has a special message for all of us. A few days ago, I encountered a pair of these incredible nocturnal birds not too long after sunrise on the grasslands, and was delighted to snap a few photos that capture this species' remarkable beauty.   As residents of the arid Southwestern United States, Lesser Nighthawks are perfectly equipped to handle life in hot, dry climates.  Nocturnal (active at night) and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) behavior is a classic example of how many species have been designed to handle the heat, as flying during the cooler, darker hours prevents them from overheating while hunting on...

When most people visit San Diego, they hit the beaches.  Or Balboa Park, or Old Town, or the many other iconic San Diego destinations.  Generally speaking, they do not drive an hour east into the desert to the tiny border town of Jacumba Hot Springs.  But all those people on the beaches are missing out on seeing some very special birds that have moved into the neighborhood from across state lines, and now call the quiet town of Jacumba, California home. It probably goes without saying that a high priority on my  somewhat unique list of things to do on our recent visit to San Diego was to make the drive over to Jacumba to find these birds.  But, you might ask, what kind of bird would entice me away from the heart of sunny San Diego, into a tiny town of 597 people, nestled in the rocky desert and known for its "magical, mystical waters," "energy vortex," and excellent view of the border wall? The answer: Harris's Hawks. Most commonly a resident of scrubby desert r...

*This is an edited re-post from last Easter.  Life.  New life.  Abundant life. There is so much life all around us, and I delight in it!  Birds and wildflowers, biology, ecology, the environment, the entire natural world around us: it's all about life.  And there is no better season to celebrate new life than spring, as buds break open, wildflowers bloom, birds fill the air with song and adorable baby animals pop up all over the place!   In the spring, we celebrate as Life is resurrected, miraculously reborn, all over Creation! On Easter, Resurrection Sunday, it is appropriate to celebrate this new life.  But let's not forget the One who makes it all possible, the One who paid the penalty for our sins and defeated death, once and for all, so that those who believe in Him can experience both abundant life now and eternal life in the future. Jesus tells us, "I am the way and the truth and the life."  (John 14:6) This spring, this Easter, as you...

Eric and I recently returned from a week-long camping trip in California's eastern Sierra Nevada, where we hiked, paddled, and birded around Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, and the White Mountains.  The following is a recap of some of my favorite bird encounters from the trip. East of the Sierra: Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes Basin & the White Mountains Our first stop was at the popular fishing resort of Virginia Lakes, nestled below Dunderberg Peak just north of Mono Lake and west of Highway 395.  While the resort (which consists of a small store, a few cabins, and a campground) caters to anglers, it also maintains a few bird feeders outside the general store, next to the parking lot.  This arrangement is delightfully convenient and draws one particular bird that many birders come especially to see: the Gray-crowned Rosy-finch.  Gray-crowned Rosy-finches are birds of high elevations, making their living far above the range of the average biped, on alpine fell field...

Like most folks, our travel plans for this summer have been scrapped.  As we try to come up with alternative plans compliant with social distancing regulations and such, I've been looking back at some of the magnificent places we have been fortunate enough to visit in the past several years. Two years ago, during our semi-annual desert pilgrimage, Eric and I spent a couple of days around the Salton Sea, California's largest and most imperiled lake. The tale of the Salton Sea stretches far back into geologic time to the Pleistocene (between about 2.5 million and 11,000 years ago), when the meandering course of the Colorado River shifted north as it crossed its broad delta at the northern edge of the ancestral Gulf of California.  This type of shift happened more than once, causing the Salton Basin (or Salton Sink) to alternately fill with water, then evaporate, then fill again.  The cycle was repeated several times, as evidenced by the presence of wave-cut shorelin...

As you may already know, I adore California's deserts: high deserts redolent with sagebrush, low deserts of sunny cactus gardens and shaded palm oases, and mid-elevation deserts with Joshua Tree forests and pure stands of fragrant creosote bush. Vibrant colors after a spring rain at Mojave National Preserve California is home to three distinct desert ecosystems: the Great Basin, Mojave and Colorado deserts.  Beyond California's borders, the Colorado desert flows seamlessly into the Sonoran desert of Arizona; the fourth North American desert, the Chihuahuan desert, reaches the southeastern corner of Arizona and covers a portion of southern New Mexico and western Texas. Late winter and spring are the ideal times to visit California's deserts, and for the past several years, we've been fortunate enough to make annual pilgrimages to some of these special places.  This year, of course, travel is out of the question.  We will be staying home, admiring photos and vide...