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Catching Up, Volume 2 - Posted at 8:54 PM on Sunday, April 29, 2007 by Chris Conard
Before I begin cataloging the excellent time we had on our recent trip to Texas, here are a few snippets of what occurred in Feb and March.

First off, I've been remiss in not adding a link to a blog written by our friends Len and Sue.  They have taken a year+ off to explore the world.  It's been very interesting to explore vicariously through them.

Also definitely worth checking out is Steve Abbott's very nice blog and, for those of you not already regulars on Surfbirds, Richard Hall's blog--another where I can vicariously travel, and the one that inspired me to start my own.
Kimya and I spent a couple of days at Point Reyes over the President's Day weekend.  We did a lot of birding and hiking and enjoying the ocean.  This Merlin was along Pierce Point Rd.

We spent an evening owling, and walked the trails near Five Brooks for a couple of hours after dark without a single owl.  We had Monday off (Washington's, 2/19/07), and saw the report in time to head to Ryer Island in Solano County to see this Northern Saw-whet Owl.  Up to three birds were seen at this location and they stayed well into March.  This is a species that I had only heard before.


January had been the coldest and driest on record.  There were a number of cold days in Feb too, with this interesting ice pattern on my work truck's windshield on the last day of the month.

On 3/10, I made a solo trip to Half Moon Bay to look for recently reported Slaty-backed Gulls.  I did not find them, but did have a single Glaucous Gull there.  I then continued up the coast and looked for the possible Vega or Mongolian or hybrid in Petaluma at Lucchesi Park.  I was told that the bird had flown about 20 minutes before I arrived, but did see this very cooperative Glaucous Gull.

On the long solo drive, I listened to John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience.  I highly recommend the book.  It helps to explain the behavior of the administration that currently occupies the White House.  It also helps explain the continued support they receive from about 1/3 of the populace--people referred to in the book as right-wing authoritarian followers (right-wing authoritarianism).  Any systematic categorization of people will lead to over simplification, but I found the case he made and the work cited by Stanley Milgram and, especially, by Robert Altemeyer very compelling.

On 3/16/07, I was fortunate to be invited by John Trochet to join him for some birding at the privately owned Howard Ranch in southeastern Sacramento County.  We had an enjoyable morning walking through a portion of this wonderful property.  The birding was unexceptional but enjoyable.  Best, perhaps, were several Hooded Mergansers. 

We then joined Jaymee Marty, my friend and former AmeriCorps co-worker in Yolo County, and Larry Serpa from the Nature Conservancy, as they sampled some of the vernal pools for invertebrates.  It was very interesting and another reminder of how there is so much to learn and no excuse to be bored in this world.

Every spring, Kimya and I try to make it to Table Mountain in Butte County.  This year, despite some reservations about how dry it has been, we went on 3/24/07.  The floral display was quite good.

For us, the amphibians are always a highlight.  I turned some logs and found this California newt.

In the small creek, which leads to an impressive waterfall, there were several Pacific tree frogs.  This one was a more typical brown,

while this one was a striking green.

We found clusters of newt eggs.  In some, you can see the developing embryos move...
The adult newts are often seen on the bottom of the pools, and periodically come up for air.
Gulp.

This Rock Wren was singing from a snag instead of the rocks.

And saving the best for last, Dave Johnson found a Northern Saw-whet Owl in his yard in Fair Oaks on 2/24/07.  I e-mailed him that I'd like to see it, but it didn't return the following day.  In fact, it wasn't found again until 3/26.  I went out after work and was able to get this picture (and better video) in very low light conditions (I didn't use flash).  It was absent the next day, but Dave found it again on 3/28, and Kimya and I were able to see it--a much better look than we had on Ryer Island.  We waited until dark, and watched it fly off to hunt for the night.  Dave continued to find pellets, but didn't find the owl again.
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