Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Procreate
Brushes: 4H Pencil, Rough Graphite Shader, and Kneaded Eraser
10 hours, and 20,015 total strokes
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
Procreate
For many years, a large Great Horned Owl lived in the eucalyptus tree in the empty field across the street from the house where I grew up. Although I often played in that field, and even climbed that tree, I didn’t see the owl very often, although there were a number of occasions where I did, including at least two times on Halloween. On this particular Halloween (1971 or 72), I was trick-or-treating with some neighborhood children when the owl flew down right in front of us, and landed in the middle of the Holzer’s front yard. How could I forget an event like that! One of my earliest “birding” experiences, and one which definitely made an impact on my young psyche, probably predisposing me to my current fascination with birds.
2026 Species Accounts: Birds
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
- 9/26: Point Reyes, CA. During a brief late afternoon visit, several of these birds were active near the Olema Marsh Trailhead.
Snowy Plover
Anarhynchus nivosus
9/26: Abbott’s Lagoon, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA. We saw several of these adorable, tiny birds going about their business on the sand between the lagoon and the larger sand dune when we first arrived at the beach. They weren’t particularly shy – quite a few people were watching and photographing them. I also saw Semipalmated Plover and Least Sandpipers in the area. A couple of hours later, on our return to the trailhead, they had moved closer to the lagoon.
Indian Valley, Novato
October 1, 2026
1300 – 1530; Sunny and warm (~79° F), with a mostly clear sky.
I was going to frame this as the first off-campus field trip with my Organismal Biology class, but it’s not really off-campus, since we went to Indian Valley. We were originally supposed to go to Roy’s Redwoods, but I didn’t realize I needed to apply for a permit to bring more than 15 people, so we pivoted today to come to Indian Valley instead (which was also on our field trip list, later in the semester).
When we arrived, I was happy to run in to Tealy, who runs the Organic Farm. She didn’t have time to give us a tour of the farm, but graciously unlocked the gate so I could take the students in and show them around. In addition to giving them an overview of the farm, right away, we started seeing some interesting wildlife. A Turkey Vulture soared overhead, and a Great Egret hunted amongst the rows of vegetables. A Pallid-winged Grasshopper flew/hopped past and landed in the path to give us a good view. The first excitement of the day was a tiny Western Fence Lizard who crawled up the leg of one of my students. I was able to get it in hand, so everyone was able to take a closer look. Throughout the day, we saw several fence lizards – mostly pretty small, but a couple of medium sized ones. I’d estimate that we saw at least a dozen during our time in the area.
Another fun sighting was a Black-tailed Jackrabbit near the back fence. We also saw a pretty Field Skipper on our way out of the farm. As we regrouped outside the gates, a couple of my students spotted an Emerald Moth resting on the side of one of the college buildings. Around this time, a California Scrub-jay flew past.
Next, we made the short hike to Pacheco Pond. Along the way, we saw lots of characteristic California woodland/riparian vegetation: lots of Coast Live Oak, Coyote Brush, California Bay, Common Manzanita, and more Pacific Madrone than I remember ever seeing before at one site. There was a large stand of Armenian Blackberry, and quite a lot of Pennyroyal throughout the area, and just a few Poison Oak plants. I also spotted a Gray Buckeye and Mylitta Crescent near the trail.
At the pond, we found a Great Blue Heron perched on a log in the middle of the pond, and lots and lots of Western Mosquitofish. (Didn’t find any tadpoles, but it seems a bit late in the season for them). Scrub-jays were heard in the nearby trees, and a Black Phoebe was hunting at the far side of the pond, which was ringed by some sort of cattail or bulrush. (I need to get more familiar with these plants).
We spotted some turtles swimming in the pond, and sure enough, they were Northwestern Pond Turtles! In addition to the swimmers, we also found the empty carapace of a NWPT near the edge of the pond. I asked my students to explore a bit and make some observations, and a couple of them spotted a juvenile Western Skink which was sheltering in a hollow at the base of a small tree.
After walking back from the pond, I decided that we’d take a look at the Amphibian Restoration Project area. The swale and all nearby ponds were completely dry, and we didn’t see any amphibians, but one of my students gave a great overview of the project. In this area at the far side of the ball fields, I saw a couple of (Red-shafted) Northern Flicker, a Black Phoebe, and a Golden-crowned Sparrow. Oh, and I took a little break while Lily was explaining the amphibian project, all the while accompanied by a smallish Western Fence Lizard who was sitting on a rock about 2 feet away from where I chose to sit.
After visiting the amphibian site, we were all a bit warm and tired, so I let everyone head home. A couple of my students stayed longer to do some butterfly surveying, and found a gorgeous Ceanothus Moth (which I wish I’d stayed to see).
Species List
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), Great Egret (Ardea alba), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), Borage (Borago officinalis), Field Skipper (Atalopedes campestris), Emerald Moth (Dichorda illustraria), California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica), Purple Star-Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa), Armenian Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), Gray Buckeye (Junonia grisea), Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii), Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta), Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans), Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis), Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), Coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum), Northwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), Pacific Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), Common Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita), Western Skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus), Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
Abbott’s Lagoon
September 26, 2026
Weather: early in our visit, it was mostly clear with scattered clouds, high of about 69°F. By the time we left the beach to head back to the parking lot (~1600), it had grown overcast, with a slight mist coming in from the ocean, with a slight drop in temperature.
Today, my General Ecology class took our first field trip of the semester to Abbott’s Lagoon. The lagoon, located within the Point Reyes National Seashore, is known as an excellent place for viewing birds, which is the primary reason I chose this location.
It did not disappoint. We had an amazing day of birds and a lot of other plants and wildlife, as well.
Continue reading “Abbott’s Lagoon”Field Marigold
Botanical Illustration done while teaching a Botanical Drawing workshop. Painted in Procreate on an iPad.
Botanical Drawing at Sonoma State
2/15/25
Sonoma State University
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Cool and sunny
Today was the first session of the Botanical Drawing workshop that Eileen Parent and I are co-teaching. During our first field excursion, I took some photos of the vegatation near the Environmental Technology Center. Lots of interesting plants, even though we only went a very short distance away from the ETC. I also saw and/or heard a few birds, but that wasn’t really the focus today.
Continue reading “Botanical Drawing at Sonoma State”Ellis Creek with Vertebrate Biology
February 7, 2025
9:30 to 12:00
Sunny and cool
We had gorgeous weather – clear, sunny, around 50° F – for our first Vertebrate Biology field trip of the semester. We gathered in the parking lot at 9:30, so I could give an overview of what we’d be doing that day, and had plenty of birds to look at right away. One of my instructions for my students today especially was to focus on making good, accurate observations, and keeping track of the field marks that they see – shape, color, size (as much as it can be estimated), vocalizations, behavior, etc. I’ve asked them to include a description of every species we see today, even the common ones that we’ll probably see over and over throughout the semester.
Continue reading “Ellis Creek with Vertebrate Biology”2023 Species Accounts: Non-Avian (WIP)
Amphibians and Reptiles
Western Pond Turtle
Actinemys marmorata
- 2/10: Vertebrate Biology SSU Campus Walk. Basking on the edge of the Commencement Lake.
- 3/25: Pepperwood Preserve. I was glad to see a few turtles out of the water at Turtle Pond. First, we saw two of them on a downed tree right at the edge of the pond. Later, one of them swam out to climb onto the basking boards in the middle of the lake. My photos are pretty crappy, but good enough to make the ID. Plus, this is the most likely species to see here, since I understand that they regularly relocate Red-eared Sliders off of the preserve.
Copeland Creek, Rohnert Park
May 25, 2023
9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; hazy and cool
I had helped to organize a Steelhead release on campus, as part of a program where elementary school students released trout that they had raised in the classroom. I was able to release a few of the fish, as well, which was fun. And during down time between groups of children, of course I took the opportunity to listen for birds, and do some plant photography.
Continue reading “Copeland Creek, Rohnert Park”Wildlife Camera Spring 2023
April 7 through May 2, 2023
Continue reading “Wildlife Camera Spring 2023”Sonoma State University BioBlitz
May 19, 2023
9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Today, I hosted the annual BioBlitz for my Vertebrate Biology students. We only blitzed for one hour this year, but still had a pretty good day. Collectively, we ended up seeing 142 species in total: 49 Vertebrates, 16 Invertebrates, 1 Fungus, and 76 Plants. The complete list is just below the cut. (My own personal list is at the very bottom of this post, under “Species List).” I didn’t bring my DSLR, so all photos were taken on my iPhone. Not great for wildlife (especially since many of the birds I identified were heard only), but good for plants.
Continue reading “Sonoma State University BioBlitz”Agate Beach, Bolinas
May 12, 2023
Early afternoon, sunny, slight breeze
After our visit to Palomarin, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were at Point Reyes, but instead of walking some of the trails, I had a tip from one of the grad students that a Gray Whale had beached or washed up onshore. This was an opportunity to see something unusual (and definitely related to the field of Vertebrate Biology), so, we made the short drive down to Agate Beach to have a look at the remains of this whale.
Continue reading “Agate Beach, Bolinas”Vertebrate Biology trip to Palomarin Field Station
May 12, 2023
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Once again this year, my Vertebrate Biology students had the opportunity get a glimpse into the amazing work being done by Point Blue Conservation at their Palomarin Field Station when we were given a demonstration of the mist-netting and bird banding they do at the station, to collect valuable information about songbird populations. We all met at the Field Station first thing in the morning, and after an introduction to the work, we set off down the trail to check the system of mist-nets, to see if any birds had been caught. I decided to hang back, rather than hiking the entire route, and I busied myself trying to get some nice photos of birds. There is always such a wonderful diversity of birds here . . . BUT it’s definitely easier to hear them, than to spot them.
Continue reading “Vertebrate Biology trip to Palomarin Field Station”Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area
May 7, 2023
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
It was time to head home from our trip to the desert, although we did still have one more adventure ahead of us (in addition to a loooooong day of driving). After packing up the vans, and taking the traditional Zzyzx “swings” photo (although the swings are apparently long gone), we headed north to California City, to the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area. A few of us had stopped here last year, and had some fantastic sightings, although the weather was oppressively hot. The weather was much more comfortable this year, and we had even more amazing sightings that on our previous visit!
Continue reading “Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area”Bajada near Kelbaker Road
May 6, 2023
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Our first stop today was an area of Bajada up a dirt road off of Kelbaker Road. We were able to explore the alluvial fan area, as well as some rocky hills. Wildflowers were abundant (and gorgeous!), and we saw a nice variety of wildlife.
Kelbaker Road Night Drive
May 6, 2023
8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
On our final night in the Mojave Desert, of course we took one last night drive. Tonight, since several of the folks on the trip opted to not come along, we were able to get into just one van, and headed off down Kelbaker Road.
Continue reading “Kelbaker Road Night Drive”Desert Studies Center
May 6, 2023
Late afternoon
Back at the Desert Studies Center, I had some time to spend before dinner and night driving, so I wandered past Lake Tuendae, and then through my favorite part of the site: past the old wading pool, through the strip of vegetation with the rocky hill on one side and Soda Lake on the other. I was pleased with the variety of birds and plants that I saw.
Continue reading “Desert Studies Center”Mid-hills Campground
May 6, 2023
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Back in 2011, this was one of my favorite locations, where I saw a lovely Brown-crested Flycatcher. So, I’d given my students a head’s up that, as soon as we arrived, I was going to wander off on my own to look for birds, and that they should PLEASE not start calling my name unless I’d been gone more than half an hour.
Continue reading “Mid-hills Campground”Kelbaker Road, Volcanic Rocks
May 5, 2023
3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Because we’d arrived so late at Kelso Dunes, rather than going up to Mid-hills today, I thought we’d be better off trying to find a lava flow area to look for Chuckwalla nearer to Kelbaker Road. Turns out there is a fantastic place literally right next to the road – a spot where some rocky cliffs meet the desert and where, in 2011, we did a night-time walk to look for scorpions and herps. Today, we parked at that spot, and then crossed the road to explore some dark-colored volcanic rock formations.
Continue reading “Kelbaker Road, Volcanic Rocks”Kelso Dunes
May 5, 2023
12 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., 73°F
We arrived at Kelso Dunes later than intended, but for the best of reasons: because of all the great wildlife we’d stopped for on the drive here. We stopped first at the main trailhead to use the facilities, and right away, we spotted a Western Tiger Whiptail crossing the desert between a couple of Creosote bushes. We also saw a pretty little California Patch butterfly.
Continue reading “Kelso Dunes”Zzyzx and Kelbaker Road
May 5, 2023
Before breakfast, I wandered around the south end of the property, mostly to take some photographs of the abandoned resort buildings. I was feeling an apocalyptic Camp Crystal Lake vibe, and wanted to be able to put together some sort of photo essay once I returned home. I saw a few smallish birds that I wasn’t able to identify (probable Yellow-rumped Warbler and Lesser Goldfinch, plus one of the Empidonax flycatchers). In this area, Honey Mesquite, Alkali Weed, Athel Tamarisk, and Mesquite Mistletoe are growing, along with ornamental Date Palm and Mexican Fan Palm.
Continue reading “Zzyzx and Kelbaker Road”Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx
May 4, 2023
It’s that time again: the Vertebrate Biology field trip to the Mojave Desert! We spent the day driving down to the Desert Studies Center, with no stops other than lunch and bathroom breaks. I didn’t spend much time trying to make observations while driving, but I did see a few birds, including a Black-necked Stilt, several Northern Raven all along the route, and a probable Eurasian Collared Dove.
We arrived at Zzyzx around 7:00, and while we were having our orientation tour, a female Calypte hummingbird (either Anna’s or Costa’s) flew quite close to us on the patio. Such a great close look, but not long enough for me to get the species ID). It was still great for me (and my students) to see this adorable bird so close up.
Continue reading “Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx”Santa Rosa Plain, Sonoma County
April 28th, 2023
12:00 to 2:00
My Vertebrate Biology students were invited to visit the field site of grad student Jess Schmieg, to learn about their research study on the interaction between California Tiger Salamander and predaceous diving beetles. We met out at the vernal pool site, and were able to see the experimental design and data collection techniques.
Continue reading “Santa Rosa Plain, Sonoma County”
Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)
Procreate
Sonoma State Native Plant Garden
April 19, 2023
Sunny, light breeze
Today, one of my colleagues and I investigated the Native Plant Garden on campus. This garden (or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a series of gardens) was established in the mid-1970s, along with trailer markers and a lovely trail guide and map that described the plants found in the garden. We wanted to see whether or not the map and guide were still accurate after nearly 50 years of plant growth. (Spoiler alert: they aren’t, but that is something we can fix).
Continue reading “Sonoma State Native Plant Garden”