Category: Valley Nature is Calling
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Two Warblers and a Vireo
By Jim Gain Learn 100 Common Valley Birds is a photo blog series highlighting the 100 most common Valley bird species. Post #20 in the Learn 100 Common Valley Birds series. (Species 30, 31 & 32/100) Wilson’s Warbler – Species #30 The Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) is a small, brightly…
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Burrowing Owl
By Jim Gain Learn 100 Common Valley Birds is a photo blog series highlighting the 100 most common Valley bird species. Post #19 in the Learn 100 Common Valley Birds series. (Species 27/100) Burrowing Owl #27 The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a small, ground-dwelling owl that is native to…
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Fanciful Flycatchers
By Jim Gain Learn 100 Common Valley Birds is a photo blog series highlighting the 100 most common Valley bird species. Post #18 in the Learn 100 Common Valley Birds series. (Species 28 and 29/100) Ash-throated Flycatcher #28 The Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) is a medium-sized bird species found throughout…
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Common Valley Swallows
By Jim Gain Learn 100 Common Valley Birds is a photo blog series highlighting the 100 most common Valley bird species. Post #16 in the Learn 100 Common Valley Birds series. (Species 21, 22 and 23/100 + 2 BONUS BIRDS) Tree Swallow Species #21 The Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) is…
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Black Phoebe – Sayornis nigricans
A medium-sized flycatcher with a sooty-black back and head with a white belly. Typically seen singly or in pairs, usually sitting conspicuously on a low perch often near water. The Black Phoebe can frequently be seen pumping its tail up and down. View from the Valley The Black Phoebe is…
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COVID-19 Birding – A Therapeutic Walk in Nature
Contact with nature benefits our mood, our psychological well-being, our mental health, and our cognitive functioning. For centuries outdoor enthusiasts have given testimony to the joy one can derive from a simple walk in nature. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” ― William Shakespeare “Look deep into nature, and then…
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When One Least Leads to Another
The Discovery It was 6:30 am and I found myself, once again, at the southern part of the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, west of Modesto. The previous morning I had started a run of point counts as a part of the Least Bell’s Vireo monitoring program with the…
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A Visit from the Gray-mantled Gull of Kamchatka
In French, it is known as the Gray-mantled Gull, Goéland à manteau ardoisé. In Spanish, it is the Kamchatka Gull, Gaviota de Kamchatka. In English, we call it the Slaty-backed Gull. For those of us living in California’s San Joaquin Valley, we call it the “Extremely Rare Gull”. So rare in…
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The Raven
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, …” This post was supposed to be about Short-eared Owls, not about the embodiment of a symbolic metaphor for never-ending remembrance. THE PLAN WAS…Early yesterday morning as I saw that there was going to be a break in the…
Reflections of the Natural World 