I last updated the world on my Thoreauvian Big Year – an attempt to see as many bird species as possible within a 10-mile, foot- or bike-powered journey – in mid-April. Since then, I’ve clawed my way up to 183 species, adding 15 more birds to the year list. There are some interesting ones!
Valley Oak
The valley oak is the monarch of all western oaks, and perhaps of all the oaks of North America. Even in their grandest individuals, few other species attain the vast, sweeping spread that Quercus lobata regularly achieves. Here in Novato, we are fortunate to have some class A, first-rate, top-shelf valley oak habitat. While more coastal parts of the county do excel us in conifer forests, our relatively drier inland climate offers the ample consolation of the noble valley oak savanna.
Seeing Baby Birds
Birds follow a more or less regular schedule: May and June are when baby birds are everywhere you look. Yet except for a few ubiquitous water birds, namely mallards and Canada geese, most birds pass their brief adolescence in near invisibility as far as the human majority is concerned. This article will tell you how to lift that veil – what to look for in order to see more baby birds.
Field Guides to Bay Area Birds
The ideal field guide is one that is perfectly focused on your needs, with species selected exactly for the area where you spend your time and a helpful text that accurately describes those birds’ local range, seasonality, and habitat preferences. If you are in Novato, Marin, or really anywhere in the Bay Area, these are the best available bird guides, ranked from simplest to most comprehensive.
Loma Alta Fire Road
Loma Alta is one of the higher points in Marin, a nearly 1600’ peer of Mount Burdell. For us north Marin naturalists, the name primarily evokes the fire road that leads north from the summit to Lucas Valley Road, a hotspot for late spring serpentine wildflowers and dry, rocky grasslands ideal for a number of birds that are uncommon in much of the county, such as lazuli buntings, horned larks, meadowlarks, and grasshopper sparrows. The views aren’t too bad either!
Backyard Birds II: The Rest of the Top 20
In the first part of this two-part tour of 20 of our most common and notable backyard birds, I covered the finches and sparrows, two groups of birds that often dominate feeding stations and our consequent attention. Today, I present another ten birds, sorted into three batches: woodland birds, nectar-feeders, and a smattering of ubiquitous but non-feeder visiting yard birds.
Backyard Birds I: Finches and Sparrows
There is no better place to start learning the birds than in your own yard. It is much easier and more natural to get acquainted with the limited set of birds that you see regularly, rather than diving immediately into the thick of the full 1000+ species of North American birds. Today, I’ll introduce two of the most obvious and important groups of backyard birds: the finches and the sparrows.
Big Year #4: April Update
What are the 26 new species I’ve found recently in my Thoreauvian Big Year? What spring birds can you see now in Novato? What reasonably common birds did I finally nail down after months of unreasonable elusiveness on their parts? And where are the special hotspots of our area that hide the uncommon, range-restricted, habitat-specialist birds that most casual birdwatchers don’t know about? Let me tell you.
Big Rock Ridge
Big Rock Ridge is the defining topographical feature of Northeast Marin, dividing Novato’s Ignacio Valley from San Rafael’s Lucas Valley. At 1,895 ft, this is the second highest point in the county, and the highest that is untamed and hence unshortened by roads and motors. Some work is required to gain the pleasures of reality rather than reverie, but those rewards are real and numerous: unobstructed 360-degree views and aquiline omniscience, breathing room above the lowland hubbub, and the company of birds and plants that eschew civilization’s crowds and tethers.