Natural History Journal

I am continually overawed by the beauty of California's grasslands.   Golden through the heat of summer and autumn, winter rains bring transformation to the hills, cloaking them in verdant splendor to rival any other landscape for beauty.  Though fleeting, the glories of spring on wildflower-spangled grasslands are a delight to behold. Just have a look for yourself! Grasslands in eastern Stanislaus county at sunrise. Sunrise is without question my favorite time on the grasslands.  Check out this article to experience an autumn sunrise at this same location! More than just aesthetically pleasing, California's grasslands provide critical habitat for a number of species that are in decline as their habitat shrinks, like Horned Larks and Grasshopper Sparrows . Learn more about the value of California's grasslands , along with how and why to protect them, in this article. Tiny treasures in the grass, wildflowers are undoubtedly the stars of the spring grasslands. ...

Winter is not only the best time in Central California to head out to the wetlands , but also the prime season for viewing a diverse array of raptors on the prairies.  Largely reduced to a fringe of remnants ringing the Great Central Valley, California's grasslands support a number of very special species that are with us only during the winter months.   ( Follow this link to learn about the value of California's grasslands! ) Ferruginous Hawk North America's largest hawk, the Ferruginous Hawk (pictured both above and below), breeds in open prairies of the West.  In California, these regal raptors begin to arrive in October and November, and stay through March. Ferruginous Hawk Arctic-breeding Rough-legged Hawks migrate south in the fall to spend the winter months in open country across much of the United States.  The small bill and small feet are hallmarks of this Arctic species, along with feathered legs, a trait shared only with Ferruginous Hawks and Golden E...

2021 has been the year of the sparrow for me, with several rarities turning up near home, a successful Harris's Sparrow chase , and the discovery of a couple breeding pairs of Grasshopper Sparrows (a Species of Special Concern in California) in one of my local birding patches.   Boring and brown and altogether uninteresting to nonbirders, I find sparrows, in all their vast array and subtle markings, just beautiful!  And most of them sing lovely songs as well!   Sparrows belong to the family Passerellidae, which also includes juncos and towhees.  Fifteen species of sparrows are relatively common in California's Great Central Valley and surrounding foothills, with various species likely to be encountered in different habitats and at different times of the year.   But I can promise you that on any birding outing, you will meet at least a few sparrows!   Now, it's time to meet them all - albeit briefly - in one place.   Like meet...

Meet the Grasshopper Sparrow.  Five inches long, half an ounce in weight, and washed in subtle yet striking shades of buff, fawn, chocolate and gold, the Grasshopper Sparrow is tailor-made to disappear into its grassy home.   A bird of dry grasslands, the Grasshopper Sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum ) is an uncommon breeding bird across what is left of California's prairies.  Its song, for which it is named, is a high-pitched insect-like buzz that is easily overlooked in a land of swaying grasses and blowing winds.   But it was only due to this bird's humble song that I was able to find it at all! Driving slowly while birding across private rangeland, following a creek deep into the grasslands, birds sang and called all around: Western Meadowlarks in the tall grasses; Red-winged Blackbirds in the cattails along the creek; California Quail in a thicket of brambles; a Red-tailed Hawk soaring above; a Bullock's Oriole in a distant cottonwood.   As the...

Probably a good candidate for the distinction of "most common bird that non-birders have never heard of," the Spotted Towhee ( Pipilo maculatus ) is at home across much of California and the West wherever suitable habitat is present.   A large, chunky sparrow, the Spotted Towhee hangs out in thick underbrush and tangles of vegetation in chaparral, dry woodlands, forest edges, and even the brushy edges of fields and backyards.  I come across these striking birds just about every time I venture out, from the mountains to the coast: they are common residents in the undergrowth along Central Valley rivers, like the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin, in brushy edge habitat around wetlands and grasslands, and in pockets of shrubby vegetation in oak woodlands and dry forests.  One even showed up - briefly - in my own backyard!   The photos below were taken last week in a small riparian area along a creek, an island of vegetation in a grassland sea.  Overgr...

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of protecting California's remaining grasslands .  Today, I would like to introduce you to two very special, very important grasslands that are both near and dear to my heart - as well as my hometown.  Designated as Important Bird Areas by the National Audubon Society, the La Grange/Waterford Grasslands and Merced Grasslands collectively cover nearly 400,000 acres along the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley and the western extent of the Sierra foothills. Merced Grasslands on a foggy winter morning Important Bird Areas are regions that the National Audubon Society, the United States' partner with BirdLife International , has determined encompass the most critical and important habitats for birds in the US.  In California, a few of these areas include famed birding hotspots such as the Mono Lake Basin, Point Reyes and Tomales Bay, Humboldt Bay, Carrizo Plain, the Salton Sea and Imperial Valley, and the Lower Colorado River ...