May 12, 2011
Located off the Zzyzx exit from I-15; arrived at 16:35
88°/32° Clear, very warm

After a long drive on the first day of our Vertebrate Biology field trip, I took a short solo walk near Lake Tuendae, where I saw a family of American Coot (with four chicks!) and a Mourning Dove. I then headed out past the swimming pool, and along the Soda Lake salt flat. Here, I spotted Desert Cottontail, Say’s Phoebe, and Yellow Warbler. I also heard (but couldn’t spot) a Phainopepla. The excitement for this day was was one of the birds I’d most hoped to see on this trip: the relatively uncommon Lucy’s Warbler. Super cute! I saw the bird bopping around in some mesquite.

May 6, 2011
07:30, 59° F, light breeze

Vertebrate Biology field trip to the Palomarin Field Station, part of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, to see the techniques they use for mist-netting and banding. We walked the net route twice, but did not see any birds caught in the net. We were able to view at close range three birds that had been netted earlier, however, so we got to see the banding and data collection process. The PRBO staff were very helpful, and were happy to help me ID some of the bird calls we heard while walking the site, particularly Wrentit, whose call was familiar to me, but I’d never been able to identify it before.

April 15, 2011
11:30, 73° F, overcast

This was another Vertebrate Biology field trip. Safari West is located at 3115 Porter Creek Road in Santa Rosa, about 7 miles east of Hwy 101. We took a driving tour of the large animal enclosures, as well as a visit to the walk-in-aviary. This journal entry records only the native and non-captive wildlife I saw during my visit to the park, most of which were seen on the jeep tour.

April 8, 2011
Arrived 10:30, 68° F, sunny and clear w/light breeze

I visited this SSU property on a field trip with Vertebrate Biology. We stopped at several locations in the preserve, looking for specific target species at each location. 

March 21 and 24, 2011

For the Vertebrate Biology class I am taking this semester, we’re required to keep a detailed field journal of all our wildlife observations. I took two walks along the main channel of the Laguna de Santa Rosa for making observations that I could include in my journal.

May 2, 2005

Early on Monday, Vicky and I took the kids to Cleland Wildlife Park. It was FANTASTIC! We saw loads of great animals, and were able to hold a Koala, although in this entry I’ve journaled almost exclusively wild birds and animals that we saw in the park. New species for me included White-throated Treecreeper.

May 1, 2005
Afternoon

On Kevin’s last day in Australia, we visited a local recreation area, Belair National Park. It’s a lovely park with all sorts of things to do and different habitats. We spent most of our time at the children’s play area (which Eclipse loved), but Mark, Vicky, Arran and I also went for a nice walk along one of the trails into the heart of the park. We saw loads of birds and several Koala. New species included Common Brown butterfly and Red-browed Finch.