Natural History Journal

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...

In a state known for its incredible biodiversity , one county stands above the rest in terms of sheer number of species: San Diego County.  Tucked in the southwestern corner of California and bordered by two extremes - the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Colorado Desert to the east - San Diego county encompasses a wide range of habitats.  And within those diverse habitats live more species of wildlife than any other single county in the country.   On an early spring visit to San Diego county, we tallied up nearly 150 species of birds over the course of a couple of days as we made our way from quintessentially Californian chaparral-covered hills and sandy beaches, to arid desert scrubland and even out onto the open ocean. Yellow-crowned Night Heron As we wandered through salt marsh habitat at the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, we were surprised by the abundance and prominence of Yellow-crowned Night Herons at this location.  These close relatives of o...

White Wagtails are one of the most familiar species of songbird across much of Europe and Asia, but here in North America, any time one of these Old World beauties shows up as a vagrant, it causes quite the stir in the birding community.  And just before Christmas, that is exactly what happened on the coast of Central California, near the beach town of Santa Cruz. Rare White Wagtail in Santa Cruz, California Earlier this week, Eric and I drove over to Wilder Ranch State Park, where this bird has been reliably re-found almost daily for the last three weeks, to try to get a glimpse of this rarity.  The catch was that this small seven-inch-long black-and-white bird had been hanging out on a beach that is closed to human visitors (to protect Snowy Plover nesting habitat) and viewable only from a cliff-top overlook.  The beach is nearly a quarter of a mile in length, and at times the wagtail was reported to have been spotted only very distantly, way down at the far end of the...

A few weeks ago, one of our best friends texted Eric and me the link to an amusing news story about a rare Yellow-billed Loon that had temporarily taken up residence in the pool of Las Vegas' famous Bellagio fountain.  The fountain show had to be stopped so that the loon could be relocated, but not before a number of birders were able to see this incredible rarity.  ( Read the whole story here. )  When Eric texted back, joking that we should all take a road trip to Vegas to see the loon, I casually mentioned that there had also been a Yellow-billed Loon hanging out in Bodega Bay for the last month... much closer to us than Vegas!  I hadn't made an attempt to see it yet because, while much closer than Vegas, Bodega Bay is still a good three-hour drive away from our home, and, you know, responsible adult things have to get done.   Then our friend's wife (who also happens to be one of my dearest friends) chimed in that she would much rather go to Bodega Bay th...

With all the less-than-great news floating around out there these days about the future of the environment in general, and birds in particular, it's refreshing to pause and reflect on the success stories the world of conservation has seen in the fifty years since the implementation of the Endangered Species Act in December of 1973. While human activity has undoubtedly caused bird populations to decrease drastically in that span of time, (and sadly those numbers may continue to drop) conservationists across North America have managed to make some pretty incredible changes for the better for a number of species as well.  The Endangered Species Act has protected over 1,600 species in its fifty-year history, and is credited with saving nearly 300 species from extinction.     The California Condor is one such example, a species that would be gone today if it weren't for the incredible work of a massive team of researchers and conservationists.  Other success stori...

For your daily dose of adorable, and to liven up the dreary days of winter, have a look at this family of Pygmy Nuthatches I encountered last July while birding on the coast near Carmel! Juvenile Pygmy Nuthatch in a Monterey Cypress Tipping the tiny scales at about one-third of an ounce (or around nine grams, the equivalent weight of nine paperclips), Pygmy Nuthatches are the smallest of the four North American species of nuthatch.  Though small, these little mites of the pines make their presence known as they call to each other with an incessant series of high-pitched piping notes that has been likened to a rubber ducky being squeezed.  Often, this sound pelting down from the treetops is the first indication that these active little birds are in the area. Juvenile Pygmy Nuthatch, begging for food. Juvenile Pygmy Nuthatch, awaiting its meal delivery. Pygmy Nuthatches do everything together: they breed cooperatively, with relatives helping a mated pair raise its brood of up t...