tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20241960091624174042024-03-14T02:37:00.614-07:00Camera Trapping CampusJKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.comBlogger253125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-71129289024013714102018-06-02T22:23:00.003-07:002018-06-02T23:03:05.851-07:00Summer Bird Count -- Stanford UniversityHey something about campus! More 50% on brand posts. And a same day post, what the what?!?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dry Lake Lagunitas in the morning</td></tr>
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Christian and I headed out to the Stanford campus for the annual Audubon Society Summer Bird Count. The trip was lead by <a href="https://ebird.org/profile/Mzg1Njc/world">Rob Furrow</a>, a most gracious teacher and gifted birder. We were also joined by <a href="https://ebird.org/profile/NjQ5NTg4/world">Jason</a> and Alexander, two Stanford students.<br />
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We met up at the somewhat redundantly named Lake Lagunitas at 6:30am. Oh, but its also not a lake, at least not this year. Wasn't really even a vernal pond. Sadly it didn't hold water like last Winter. No toad <a href="http://cameratrappingcampus.blogspot.com/2017/08/toad-superbloom.html">SUPERBLOOMS</a>. However, it didn't get mowed this year leaving lots of great seeding plants for birds to feed on.<br />
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Jacket weather lasted about 20 minutes. We could tell it was going to be a hot one early. It turned into a scorcher reaching 90°F by noon. We ended the day with 62 species and about 6 hours and 10 miles of birding by bike.<br />
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I have done other Christmas Bird Counts and Summer Bird Counts on campus, but this was the first time I brought my camera. Even so I didn't really spend much time taking pictures. Our goal was not only to count birds, but to observe any evidence of breeding success. We saw quite a bit of that. Fledgling Western Bluebirds, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Oak Titmouses (Titmice?), Song Sparrows, and the rusty chest of 3 White-tailed Kites were abundant at Lake Lagunitas. Young Mallards were swimming in San Fransquito Creek. White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches were seen feeding fledglings in the riparian habitat along the creek. Even cooler was a greedy little Brown Creeper getting fed by two adults in an oak tree. We saw Acorn Woodpeckers feeding young and a young Nutall's Woodpecker sticking his head out of a nest cavity. The most abundant birds of the day were House Finches, many of whom were also feeding fledglings.<br />
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The early light and leisurely pace was good for some Western Bluebird photography in the dry lakebed.<br />
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An adult male Western Bluebird looking regal as all hell<br />
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And one of the fledglings waiting for mom or dad to come back with breakfast.<br />
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This fairly rough looking Red-tailed Hawk was on the ground in the Arboretum doing a pretty piss poor job of looking like a tree trunk.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peek-a-boo</td></tr>
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I got 4 new campus birds today, breaking 100 for a total of 102. A flyover Double-crested Cormorant was actually bird #100 (pretty lame #100 if you ask me). I didn't realize that I was missing Kestrel, otherwise I would have been more excited as it flew over my head (and only my head, the other guys were looking for a group of 30 wild turkeys reported to us by some golfers with robot caddies that followed them like a puppy. Oh Silicon Valley).<br />
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One of the two Hoover Tower Peregrine Falcons was present for a brief glimpse, but quickly flew off to figure out a way to give more tax cuts to rich people and start another war in the Middle East.<br />
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Western Fence lizards were out in full force, but it was a snakeless day. I thought for sure we'd stir up a Yellow-bellied racer or a Gopher snake in the dry lakebed.<br />
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<a href="https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46242515">Full ebird list</a> can be found here.JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-29671995860305519512018-05-08T17:20:00.002-07:002018-05-08T17:20:56.799-07:0024 hours in Pt. ReyesI met up with Ken to head up to Pt. Reyes to meet up with some UC Berkeley folks for 1 day of adventure in and around Pt. Reyes National Seashore. We planned to do a little small mammal camera trapping, birding, herping, and mammaling(?).<br />
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Since this is supposed to be a camera trapping blog I will start with a few pictures from an old barn where the targets were mice and small carnivores. In one night the only guy to show up was a <i><a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/16672/0">Peromyscus maniculatus</a></i>, Deer mouse. Handsome fellow. The scat on a board we found didn't seem to entice anyone.<br />
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On the mammal front, on a lead from Christian (a different one) we staked out a structure within Pt. Reyes at sunset trying to grab a few pictures of a gray fox in the after sunset fading light. Considering the photography conditions I'll take this photo 8.5 times out of 10.<br />
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The benefit of hiking with a herper is that we are looking down a lot. It means we can miss a lot of birds because they tend to be up, but in this case it allowed us to find this little owl. I first noticed the large amount of whitewash on the trail, which made me look up into the darkness of a tree overhanging the trail and see a little ball of puff 10-12 feet off of the ground. Again the photography conditions were brutal (This was the catalyst that pushed me over the edge to buying a monopod currently in route).<br />
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<b>!!!LIFER ALERT!!!</b></div>
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A Northern Saw-whet owl. If I am being honest with you, we mis-ID'ed this one in the field though. We thought it was a Pygmy Owl until looking at the photos at home (and adjusting the exposure a bit). It just seemed so small IRL. Does it still count after being misidentified in the field? We'll have to ask the birding rules committee. Either species would have been a (non-heard-only) lifer so real-time excitement was not diminished.<br />
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Zoom in on that mess.<br />
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Don't forget to look down sometimes and then back up when you see a whitewash.<br />
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On CTC's secondary brand - the herping - it was amazing. We found ~25 snakes and I had two of the best cover boards of my life. But before those we saw a couple of <i>Thamnophis elegans </i>garter snakes on a short hike including one sad DOR youngster. I still don't have a macro lens for my newish camera so herp photos are limited and taken on my phone.</div>
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The first snake under a board was a 2-3' <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/p.c.catenifer.html">Pacific Gophersnake - <i>Pituophis catenifer catenifer</i></a> that I didn't manage to take a picture of because seconds after I lifted that board, screams from another board being lifted gave a hint to at least 8-10 Pacific Ring-necked Snakes, <i>Diadophis punctatus amabilis. </i>Here I hold 3 of them in my hand at once. Most were in shed, which seemed slightly curious.</div>
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Under the next board was a smorgasbord of snakes. I think we got 2 of 3 species of garter snakes but in the chaos and fleeting looks as snakes darted in every directions I can't be 100% sure.</div>
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(1) <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.atratus.html">Aquatic Gartersnake -</a><i><a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.a.atratus.html">Thamnophis atratus</a> </i>likely integrades in Marin County.</div>
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(2) <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.e.terrestris.html">Coast Gartersnake - <i>Thamnophis elegans terrestris</i></a>. There may have been some integrades with Mountain Gartersnake - <i>Thamnophis elegans elegans</i> because some of the individuals we saw had a lot of blue and almost no red at all to them, but I am not really sure if that is the best field mark for determining subspecies, certainly not better than location that suggest <i>T. e. terrestris</i>.</div>
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(3) <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.s.infernalis.html">California Red-sided Gartersnake - </a><i><a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.s.infernalis.html">Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis</a>. </i>I believe this is the one we dipped on, but it might have been in there as there were some snakes with a lot of blue like I said above (but not a lot of red).</div>
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Garter snake IDs were incomplete because under that same board there were better snakes to grab including several <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.c.mormon.html">Western Yellow-bellied Racer, <i>Coluber constrictor mormon</i></a>.</div>
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But the real winner and Snake O' the Day was a male Northern Rubber Boa - <i>Charina bottae. </i>What a treat!</div>
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Other mammals seen were loads of Tule Elk, distant coyote, a bobcat, and several raccoons.</div>
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At Bolinas Lagoon we didn't spot any otters but the Harbor seals were making noise and a Clark's Grebe was looking regal.<br />
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All in all a fantastic 24 hours in Pt. Reyes.</div>
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JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-68554597150096849882018-01-21T09:38:00.000-08:002018-01-25T12:20:58.991-08:00Autumn Adventures: F Raccoons, New Birds & The CincoAutumn 2017 will be a time etched in the memories of Bay Area residents.<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c4133717-a575-43c7-80da-736113a062b3" id="e2004849-265e-4bdf-923e-16677897558d"> The raging inferno across the North Bay and its voluminous smoke trail were a sobering moment of reflection, with a fresh appreciation for time and all that one has, materially and in the community. On a personal level, a little mammal was also welcomed into the world the first week of October and has blown the collective mind at home.</gs><br />
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That appreciation of time <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="773562ee-5a84-4e08-921a-cf03b6600147" id="034cf87b-99f0-4a12-894b-389aee917eeb"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b834cc2-b784-4669-a39b-9fb6cd66caf3" id="003487f3-270d-4e6d-b1f7-4adacfc35fdc"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="92810511-1a16-416d-8094-2ed55a8cfec3" id="86ab2efe-a28c-4d8d-b468-ca7232500b05">is truly been</gs></gs></gs> a focus personally and when it comes to adventures outdoors, they are <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="773562ee-5a84-4e08-921a-cf03b6600147" id="e8d097f3-bd6e-408f-8c26-675d1218ac6e"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="0b834cc2-b784-4669-a39b-9fb6cd66caf3" id="b41f07df-8a4d-49f7-873a-eefef539f2ca"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="92810511-1a16-416d-8094-2ed55a8cfec3" id="c80f54ee-7e1c-4f32-9d9d-6e2e020687c4">primaily</gs></gs></gs> in the realm of work with my students. They continue to put in the effort <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="c476ae03-9442-42cd-b2ff-df227a0579ae" id="dcfe11f7-cd2b-40dc-83b7-2d649100e0de"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b48e18e9-4a88-42ec-9e18-7fc753ef3584" id="5dd50c21-988c-4685-8bea-907b5940f451"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a03e2c9f-f7b9-4688-8363-81358d443187" id="11597a71-ec79-417f-900d-c97f216af650">with</gs></gs></gs> the river otter study, which has reaped unique results.<br />
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<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="89865fa2-7def-44ca-9cb0-80f98231ad11" id="f51022e5-b03b-463f-9224-72401f0236b9"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="aea159bb-f637-429c-85cb-1844a438aa8f" id="39598fe2-8e11-4c7d-a70e-330ef3563502"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="7dc473b6-0426-4184-b41e-f2e9f4208284" id="b7f2b3ac-f347-4dfa-bba2-2d4f599c3926">New</gs></gs></gs> (expected, but never captured) mammals have been present in our sets with glimpses of a coyote and the invasive muskrat.<br />
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Several new species of birds have shown up -- some of them the more secretive sort that we don't often see <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f68d36ab-bd96-473a-8915-5910aabf126d" id="2c31997f-e785-4a5d-866a-b48679ee30b8">during field </gs>visits -- offering opportunities to discuss a variety of organisms and their behaviors.<br />
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I think this is the year I finally got the Hutton's Vireo/RC-Kinglet distinction down <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="26b2fdaf-2d3b-48b8-9221-819303e16116" id="edf1482c-8242-4faa-aa93-5d1f8d595d3f">sof</gs> course, <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="26b2fdaf-2d3b-48b8-9221-819303e16116" id="3c29cd5b-1133-42b8-bdff-a4c11003aaca">omebody</gs> will say this is actually a Hutton's)</span></div>
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After a down year in 2016, the otters have been reliably present and pretty consistently in a pack of 5. The Cinco, as they have been dubbed by my students -- possibly due to slight adjustments in camera placement -- have been on our cameras with a much <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="8c640b92-9458-45fb-80ed-67de9ba4a719" id="96e17170-768c-4408-b59a-1964eb93c5fd">greater</gs> frequency this past autumn and now into winter. During a two week stretch around <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="114c016d-a88f-4227-b090-7402b93722a0" id="17744dcc-4055-4d5d-8284-55880f0510fb"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="17fd22f9-a126-4c65-8470-8be6af36e2c4" id="b2cab7e5-efff-4678-b2ce-332b68ec6221"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="b16bdd88-dadf-4a5d-a00c-3bb50c76eed2" id="ac84fc09-9f76-49d2-9e96-7c5c1095474c">Thanksgiving we</gs></gs></gs> had 29 unique visits - a new benchmark by a hefty margin.<br />
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For every success, we must recognize our failures<gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="08730990-448b-4ff7-9531-f9540853f0e6" id="44dd7b24-afbf-44a7-b7e9-ba486d6bea13"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="005281ea-aee1-4efd-b123-fd7643ff6abe" id="3db44178-9c42-4d41-919c-fe860f5837d9">...</gs></gs>which will be entirely blamed on raccoons.<br />
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Rascals or Assholes?<br />
<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-2746219270070681582018-01-16T09:11:00.000-08:002018-01-16T09:11:00.272-08:00Soooooooooooooong SparrowSo its 2018 and I am going to try and post again this year. I have had trouble making the time to post the last couple of years, and although I don't have more time, I am going to try and up the blogging. Not sure how many people, if any, still read this thing, but it is a better format than Instagram and Twitter (I don't Facebook) for sharing photos and a few thoughts. So we'll see if anyone if still out there in the wildlife biology blogosphere.<br />
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Yesterday, I headed out to the bayside trail along the public part of the Facebook campus to see if I could find the Harris's sparrow that was first reported by Don Pendleton on December 12, 2017.<br />
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<b>Spoiler alert:</b> I dipped.<br />
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But I did see/hear 4 Song Sparrows, including this one. I am not good enough to know for sure that this is a juvenile, but it looked a bit awkward and skinny and kinda sucked at singing so it felt very much like teenager to me. Other calls in the area were much sweeter than this dude's.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the middle of a Sunny Day Real Estate cover</td></tr>
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Hey, I didn't claim that blog posts were going to be good or epic or anything, just that they should exist in larger numbers.<br />
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Quantity over quality in 2018.<br />
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<br />JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-24777278465790719462017-10-23T07:30:00.000-07:002017-10-23T15:56:14.978-07:00Adventures in Monterey Pt 1On my way down to Carmel to meet Christian, among the hellish labor day weekend traffic, I made a quick stop at Jetty Road/Elkhorn Slough to take a look at the Sea Otters that frequent the area. I thought I only had about 20 minutes before I needed to get back on the road so that Christian and I would have a similar Carmel ETA. Turns out traffic was even worse for him and I could have taken longer and worked a bit harder to learn the camera and get better photos, but these will serve as try #1.<br />
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The otters were mostly sleeping in a big raft when I got there, so the opportunity for adorable action shots weren't there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one floated a bit away from the main raft and was the closest otter, but the bastard did nothing but backfloat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wait, wait, an exciting eye scratch</td></tr>
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Cute little critters that would eat your face off if you give them a chance.<br />
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Note: Edited for egregious typosJKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-25833086042544291502017-10-10T18:41:00.000-07:002017-10-10T20:33:38.395-07:00Dusky WarblerWent hunting for the Dusky Warbler at Coyote Point Marsh in San Mateo first found by Logan Kahle and Bob Toleno on 10/8.<br />
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Admittedly this is a bird I never would have IDed correctly if I had run into it by myself without knowing it was there, but once you know what to look for and a shit ton of patience we were able to find it. That supercilium almost makes it look like a wren.<br />
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Arrived a touch after 10am and a few people were already staked out. After maybe 30 minutes Adam Dudley and <a href="http://thespeckledhatchback.blogspot.com/">Dorian Anderson</a> got a quick 3 second look, while I was busy looking at the wrong bird, a dull common yellowthroat. Then a lot of time went by without hearing or seeing it. At about 1pm I decided to give up and head back to the car. On the path back I ran into another birder, Patrick, that separated from the group and had just got on the bird. This time the bird gave us much better looks. Still skulking in the shadows and not sitting still for very long, but longer than 3 seconds. We saw it off and on for about 45 minutes, when I decided it was finally time to go into lab.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what a dusky warbler's butt looks like</td></tr>
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I got a new camera recently and I have gotten it out only a few times so far. Damn grant writing and bench science screwing up my photography game. This yellow-rumped warbler is far from crushed, the focus is a bit off, but I am posting them anyways to be able to compare to 6 months from now when I get a little better with the camera. Hopefully my easy bird picture taking abilities improve quickly<br />
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Speaking of easy birds, this black phoebe was sitting on the same culvert that the dusky warbler was skulking around. Use that as a reference if you go out on the search.<br />
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And finally a couple of Mallards and a coot, because why not, new camera.<br />
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The endJKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-62203289695663074532017-08-22T10:00:00.000-07:002017-08-22T10:00:06.677-07:00Toad SuperBloomLet's stay down south, but go back to a campus.<br />
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In late May, CTC met up on JK's turf down on the Farm. The plan was for a birding excursion at Lake Lagunita: in the weeks previous stunningly full from a year of plenty, but at this time returning to more of a vernal pool state.<br />
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The day was blustery and there really wasn't much action as we walked the first half of the loop. A pair of Hooded Orioles -- the day's winged highlight -- had just scattered off into the foliage when JK somehow scoped:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkMIydE7KME/WYGFFG-ZUzI/AAAAAAAADSM/JiXypp8CtsMnzRedOcYZHUE-x20ZXZVrwCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20170526_134658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkMIydE7KME/WYGFFG-ZUzI/AAAAAAAADSM/JiXypp8CtsMnzRedOcYZHUE-x20ZXZVrwCKgBGAs/s640/IMG_20170526_134658.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Anaxyrus <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a6efc2f3-ad1d-4f97-a439-845fb085558e" id="56a627e8-ea1a-426f-ad9f-13bc5772942b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ae9c7470-b2d7-4b2d-b189-44ab3b6e6f6a" id="578cb673-7abb-4c93-9f17-81ae2d57a7f9">boreas</gs></gs> <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a6efc2f3-ad1d-4f97-a439-845fb085558e" id="1df15021-2bd2-4081-8ae8-7db8acc01556"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ae9c7470-b2d7-4b2d-b189-44ab3b6e6f6a" id="a7f29598-2640-4981-9f9c-4968ddd6773a">halophilus</gs></gs></i></td></tr>
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A Western, or California Toad! While one of <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="4a6ed4ef-9d7c-4e57-aab3-c2d503da9dec" id="87da2f17-872d-43d2-9d59-ad9752acaeea"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ce04926d-02a1-4376-9611-ee1bd21b4573" id="a197300e-65be-4233-9d5a-1644175415df">the more common</gs></gs> amphibian species in our state, either of us had not come across one in a while -- and pretty neat to find as a <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="4a6ed4ef-9d7c-4e57-aab3-c2d503da9dec" id="58fb347e-5359-4e89-a35c-5d0281c29b70"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ce04926d-02a1-4376-9611-ee1bd21b4573" id="ff86b0c4-6e62-4aec-809d-d25ded7584cd">toadlet</gs></gs>.</div>
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So after trying to photograph the hell out this poor jittery youngster, we continued down the trail, coming upon where the diversion from San Francisquito Creek feeds into the lake. </div>
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It was there where the thousands of our previous friend's brothers and sisters revealed themselves in a an almost hallucinatory manner. Each step we placed down on the earth, toads took to the air. Inside every burrow, hole and divot, their horizontal pupils were watching. In undulating waves, floating down the stream like Huck & Jim.</div>
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By now the sharp wind had calmed to a light whisper and we moved on, leaving the toads to continue their journey...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="da0e26b8-4243-466e-8aca-e137e832bfb5" id="2022839a-00c8-4d36-8699-8597741f0044"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a8a9ebf2-da2d-4a36-9790-a36e6d3f6881" id="c70e04d7-0396-4f60-ba13-02d1646c1f32">toad</gs></gs> <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="da0e26b8-4243-466e-8aca-e137e832bfb5" id="89f29b4a-5d8d-4444-adb7-9e102f6ca6a2"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="a8a9ebf2-da2d-4a36-9790-a36e6d3f6881" id="276a776b-72a9-4348-a59b-0d32e01915ee">motherload</gs></gs> location</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="046c6a98-1bfb-4e41-b43a-b3907990f274" id="862cd2b1-144f-4cf1-abb2-c6b448451e1d"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="dffc783d-edaf-49c1-aeaf-813d556a7625" id="2b07af3e-562b-49e5-8123-2eb829e520de">this</gs></gs> was one <gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="046c6a98-1bfb-4e41-b43a-b3907990f274" id="5c1f6b5b-260c-4de9-b61f-790b7c5bc0fe"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="dffc783d-edaf-49c1-aeaf-813d556a7625" id="5c82557d-1ce9-480e-b8a2-6066691601c3">many</gs></gs> being carried down the stream</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d8b77886-ebf2-4cfd-91a0-3b4bf535fc8d" id="c254f5ed-7a1b-48b6-9a35-3b8be575759b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="e920fde0-6a5a-400a-a472-9dfbcd7cdbcf" id="57fe720a-7530-46ce-a539-e0cb601605a5">the</gs></gs> light stripe down the back is a key ID mark</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="44efc88e-3ceb-44a9-8ce1-c8338fec7833" id="679f607c-6712-4c3e-a9c7-3be587c86f1b"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="7618ce79-874a-4269-b1f0-bfe652091f33" id="ff74373d-cb62-43e3-8d56-904544b165f0">flooded</gs></gs> burrows were another common hangout</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="506a19b7-c27c-4108-9198-505754133fed" id="b9bacf56-dc5c-4084-b41f-09b99a12d7b3"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="36fd9527-7409-48c3-94f9-f74e29ffe873" id="1d7a4bd5-be32-4a68-859f-07c391824516">getting</gs></gs> in close</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="ad8593a0-a9af-4289-b05e-2245cb3866bb" id="3a3bce83-8467-47ef-ad0e-db0150203c85"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="15649f8f-6cbc-4aca-90f0-deb2c199d49a" id="f80cfffb-ce68-4e92-aa4c-904479cf0711">what</gs></gs> is your count? (<a href="https://ibb.co/e4374k" target="_blank"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="af5cfbfc-39f7-4e2a-849c-0ff35f317038" id="f98d8634-5c23-4836-afce-526bf06a8cbd"><gs class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="9bb185d5-dffb-477c-b4ed-52bcfdc26bec" id="b273ed78-9edc-477f-9e63-ea67b4eba718">higher</gs></gs>-res</a>)</td></tr>
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<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-40004978493121094892017-08-17T21:56:00.000-07:002017-08-17T21:56:56.877-07:0050% Dipping at Devil's SlideThe other day Christian and I met up quick at <a href="http://parks.smcgov.org/devils-slide-trail">Devil's Slide</a> to look for the <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/1st-northern-gannet-found-on-Farallones-4468257.php">wayward Northern Gannet</a>. I had seen it once almost a year to the date at Maverick's beach in Half Moon Bay, and once very poorly on a pelagic with <a href="http://alvarosadventures.com/">Alvaro's Adventures</a>, but Christian had yet to get a glimpse worth counting. With reliable reports for a couple of days running we headed over in the afternoon. Turns out morning would have been better. Or any of the next 5 days. We dipped hard.<br />
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But we did get a chance to see the Rock Wren family at the Egg Rock overlook and snapped a few pictures before my camera battery died. The damn birds don't hold still long and some long grass was between them and my lens so while none of these qualify as a crushing it was nice to get out for a bit and try my hand at some photography again. Its been awhile.<br />
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Here is Egg Rock, where the Gannet likes to hang out, but just a bunch of murres and cormorants occupying during our visit.<br />
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Decent Birding!JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-65903621207752318662017-07-27T01:04:00.000-07:002017-07-27T01:04:15.530-07:00The ReturnLast summer, there were optimistic thoughts for the river otter field studies my students and I were engaged in. Our cameras had been collecting consistent solid videos each period, the students were learning signs of otter in the field and we were observing several critters during our field work, including an epic hunt of a coot.<br />
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The new school year rolled around and the pendulum swung back. Cameras malfunctioned, were swallowed up by a rising pond and with new human disturbances, the otters vanished.<br />
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Environmental Science curriculum shifted away towards studies of coho salmon and coast redwoods. The responsibilities of Adult Life also intensified and with it, camera traps began to capture nothing but dust and cobwebs.<br />
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Late in the school year, a handful of otter reports began to trickle in (<i>PSA: please submit any observations you have to <a href="http://www.riverotterecology.org/otter-spotter-citizen-science-project.html" target="_blank">Otter Spotter</a> !</i>) and with the days winding down, I finally mustered up the opportunity for the class to ramble down and check things out with our own eyes.<br />
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8 months of disappointment were pushed aside as we were given another hunting performance (unsuccessful) and the scat-splattered trail gave communication that several otters were likely residing.<br />
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Cameras were deployed in two new locations, with a homebrew being used for the first time.<br />
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A few other critters dropped by to check in:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this raccoon vibing the return of Twin Peaks</td></tr>
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Hopefully these charismatic beasts continue to stick around for next year's students to study. </div>
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<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-16920238697547041332017-02-16T10:00:00.000-08:002017-03-26T22:04:28.331-07:00A Fleeting Glance: Birding in HavanaCuba is a confusing and at times truly frustrating place, but one with a magnetic culture, history and ecology that has intrigued me for many years.<br />
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April 2016 marked my second trip to the island, the first occurring nearly five years ago in 2012. The first trip was a wild, whirlwind of a trip with three co-workers, one of whom would become my wife. There is a bit more to that side of the story, but that will be saved for the Special Ed teacher tv series script (in progress).<br />
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Relevant to this blog, exploring natural history that first trip took a backseat to a frenzied week in Havana that focused on Cuban staples such as music, baseball and gallons of rum, all with the attractive aura surrounding us as Americans in Cuba <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93Cuban_Thaw" target="_blank">pre-Thaw</a>.<br />
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Last April's trip was with my wife only and while much of our plan was a continuation of her family discoveries from the first trip, we also set aside some time for deeper explorations based on our own interests -- so I got some vinyl crate-digging in and a birding trip to the Jardin<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Botánico</span> Nacional, just south of the city.<br />
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It was a brutally hot day and we were half-delirious from lack of sleep and Zika paranoia after three nights of unwilling participation in a mosquito buffet...yet we chose to walk the grounds rather than explore all 500 acres on the tractor tour? Anyway, we stumbled around the gardens for a couple hours which were at times, loudly soundtracked by Mockingbirds and legions of Greater Antillean Grackles.<br />
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Anoles were ever present, clinging to broad leaves and sides of structures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuban Green Anole</td></tr>
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This dead snake is notable because it is the first and only snake seen in Cuba, counting both trips.<br />
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A few more birds !<br />
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Bonus city bird:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thoughts and plans for trip number three to the island are already brewing, with Viñales and the Zapata Swamp part of the itinerary !</span></div>
christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-74861211047308340472017-02-12T18:20:00.001-08:002017-02-12T18:20:52.397-08:00Siberian / Sub-Tropical Saturday Search SocialHi.<br />
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It has been said that these are dark times and here in California this has been experienced psychologically in the mindframes of stunned and outraged progressives/rational beings/humans with a soul, but also literally with the onslaught of storm after storm.<br />
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Yesterday the clouds kindly parted to make way for glorious sun, an invitation to voyage and embrace the light.<br />
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The winter storms have brought in some unusual characters to the Bay Area and after the last Pineapple Express came through, there was a determination to see a couple of these visitors before they took off -- or <a href="http://www.hmbreview.com/news/rare-arctic-bird-leaves-fans-flying/article_62136bd6-dda0-11e6-b4f7-0b70227c7ff4.html" target="_blank">met a darker fate -- RIP little Ross's Gull :( </a><br />
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First stop was in Pacifica for the Emperor Goose. An inhabitant of the Siberian and Alaskan tundra, records do show appearances in CA -- primarily the Northern part of the state -- about every other year. This is the second record of the bird in San Mateo County.<br />
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Many locals were also stoked on the sunshine and walking along the Sharp Park levee required a decent amount of navigation around strollers, oldsters and frisky canines.<br />
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However, the Emperor abided and performed well for the half-dozen or so birders inching towards the park fence.<br />
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While it appears that the two goose species were on friendly terms, whenever the Emperor would forage near a Canada, the larger cousin would immediately turn, hiss and nip at the intruder from the north.<br />
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Also of note on the ocean side were several large rafts of Surf Scoters. I don't have a ton of sea -watches under my belt, so this was a unique and cool sight. No images because my lens is too weak.<br />
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The Emperor was first observed on January 23rd -- will it stay for the spring?<br />
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Following the great success of the morning, next up was the quick trip across to Colma, where JK was waiting at Cypress Lawn Cemetery. Yes folks, birding with the dead... initially kinda awkward, but one quickly gets back into the birding spirit, especially while on the quest for the brilliant <span style="color: red;"><b>Vermilion Flycatcher</b></span>!<br />
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Now the Vermilion is a more common visitor in CA, particularly in the south, but for a Sonoma County boy a real treat (ebird shows only one record from north of the Golden Gate to Humboldt).<br />
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This bird was first discovered in November of last year and the fear was in us that the day-glow freak was gone after the latest round of soakings. Brief cries of alarm were attributed to finches with their red hues and there were moments where we tried to convince ourselves and the two other kind birders we teamed up with that the flash in the foliage we had seen was It.<br />
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A leisurely loop around the stakeout point did yield some nice stuff: a large flock of Cedar Waxwings, a Western Bluebird clan and the always welcome Say's Phoebe.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>the lord Say's</b></td></tr>
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When it was just about time to throw in the towel, an intensely out-of-place dab of color came into focus in the distance.<br />
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The spectacular creature let us creep forward to truly bask in its splendor before zipping off.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottosv/32055881563/in/photostream/" title="Vermilion Flycatcher"><img alt="Vermilion Flycatcher" height="382" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3737/32055881563_ac0fab4861_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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These are the best shots I got and they do no justice to this fine specimen. Truly paralyzing in person.christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-90469429583810661452016-12-16T16:32:00.002-08:002016-12-16T16:32:39.881-08:00Pathetic Attempts in Mushroom IdentificationHey look what a little bit of rain will do.<br />
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Fungi sprouting up everywhere. A few I saw on the walk from the parking lot to the lab. Pulled out the cell phone and snapped some pictures, but didn't bother touching them up at all.<br />
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What are these things? God if I know, but I figured a weak attempt might be in order. But a post that actually has to do with something on Campus might be appropriate.<br />
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So I pulled out my trusty new mushroom guide: <a href="http://www.pegasusbookstore.com/book/9781607748175">Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast</a>, and immediately had a panic attack. Holy crap there are a ton of different mushrooms in the area, and holy crap do a lot of them look alike. I figured maybe I could settle for Genus, but quickly realized that I don't have much of a clue to even figure out what group any of these guys belong to. This is going to much harder than I thought.<br />
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So stopping at any attempt to mis/identify any of these, I just present pictures.<br />
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There were a couple of groups of this one. The cap appeared a little slimy or wet.<br />
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Only saw one or two of these below. The cap seemed very dry on these ones<br />
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These next two are the same individual with my hand for scale (note: my hand is larger than PEOTUS's tiny fingered hands)<br />
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I think I only saw one of this one with the red/pink edges to the cap.<br />
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The next two images are from the same individual and were in close proximity to the one above. Similar cap, but no red/pink in them. I failed to get a top picture of the cap.<br />
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Finally lots of these guys that kinda reminded me of chanterelles, but not quite. Were both under oaks and eucalyptus. Some had wider stalks like the first picture and some had skinnier stalks like the second and third picture. Its also possible these aren't all the same. They were growing mostly in groups and popping up through the natural mulch<br />
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I thought birds were hard, but damn fungi ... They may hold still but its hard to even know where to start. If anyone want to chime in with hints or full IDs it will be much appreciated. Mad respek for the mycologists.</div>
JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-23911066424854995642016-10-18T13:54:00.000-07:002016-10-22T15:24:31.375-07:00Herp Holiday 2016 plantsBack in August I shared some pictures of the herps we saw on our <a href="http://cameratrappingcampus.blogspot.com/2016/08/herp-holiday-2016.html">Herp Holiday Extravaganza 2016</a>. I'll share a few pictures of some of the plants and flowers we saw on our trip.
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The downside to waiting so long to post photos, especially of plants is that I have forgotten most of the IDs and all that hard work of keying out IDs back in May have gone to waste. Oh who am I kidding, keying out plants on the desert trip almost always consists of asking <a href="http://natureofaman.blogspot.com/">Randomtruth</a> "Hey man, what's this?" and "I know I asked you an hour ago, but what is this again?"<br />
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So I am going to do my best to re-ID these flowers, but I am not going to let a couple of unknown plants hold this post up for another 6 months.<br />
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Please feel to correct any IDs. [Thanks for the ID help Christopher Moore and Randomtruth]<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert Willow<br />
<i>Chilopsis linearis</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Desert Willow</span><br />
<i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Chilopsis linearis</i></td></tr>
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The Desert Willow flower has strong scent and and when trees are in full bloom like this one, the desert smells like a glorious perfume. Some say like the gentle scent of a high class lady in nearby Vegas.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apricot Mallow<br />
<i>Sphaeralcea ambigua</i></td></tr>
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Apricot Mallow is probably my favorite of the regular desert flowers we see. I really need to get some seeds and see if I can grow it in the backyard.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert Senna<br />
<i>Senna armata</i><br />
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Yes, you can make a tea with Mormon Tea, and its natural ephedra will have you champing at the bit and hiking a little bit faster than your friends. This plant may or may not be a certain friend's favorite part of visiting the Mojave. Although as Christopher in the comments pointed out this isn't Mormon Tea which has cone shaped flowers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown-eyes Suncup<br />
<i>Chylismia claviformis</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Barrel Cactus</span><br />
<i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ferocactus cylindcaceus</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barrel Cactus<br />
<i>Ferocactus cylindcaceus</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Fishhook Cactus <br />
<i>Mammillaria tetrancistra</i> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Canterbury-bell<br />
<i>Phacelia campanularia</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palmer's Penstemon<br />
<i>Penstemon palmeri</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 12.8px;">
Palmer's Penstemon</div>
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<i>Penstemon palmeri</i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert Thistle<br />
<i>Cirsium neomexicanum</i></td></tr>
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I have found a few images online of these same insects in this thistle. Not sure what the are, but maybe they specialize on this particular flower?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mojave-aster<br />
<i>Xylorhiza tortifolia</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert Indian Paintbrush<br />
<i>Castilleja chromosa</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckhorn Cholla<br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Cylindropuntia </span>acanthocarpa</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Buckhorn Cholla</span><br />
<i style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Cylindropuntia </span>acanthocarpa</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Beavertail Cactus</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Opuntia basilaris</i></span></td></tr>
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<i>Cylindropuntia echinocarpa</i></td></tr>
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<i>Echinocereus engelmannii</i></td></tr>
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When RandomTruth saw the below flower we were walking along a dirt road listening to group of young coyotes go apeshit at the scene of mom or dad returning with an early dinner. These young 'yotes were howling, squealing, and making the kind of ruckus that made all the rabbits nervous.<br />
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RandomTruth was so excited to see this mound of dirt flower that at first I thought his screams of joy meant he's found a <i>Heloderma</i>. Imagine my disappointment when it was <i>just</i> a plant. Oh, but wait, this wasn't <i>just</i> a plant! Look at this glorious little turd flower!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scaly-stemmed Sand Plant<br />
<i>Pholisma arenarium</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Scaly-stemmed Sand Plant</span><br />
<i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Pholisma arenarium</i></td></tr>
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JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-34141767112044535572016-08-12T13:25:00.001-07:002016-08-13T11:34:28.504-07:00Herp Holiday 2016For the first time since starting my postdoc I was actually able to make it down to the Mojave Desert with the gang (blogmate Xian and <a href="http://natureofaman.blogspot.com/">Randomtruth</a> included) for a few days of herping, botanizing, and general tomfoolery.<br />
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It was a bit of a weird trip. Despite being the latest trip in the year we have ever done it may have been the coldest. The wind blew and hoodies and jackets were necessary as soon as the sun went down. These factors lead to very poor night driving conditions and we put in only minimal effort during the witching hours on the road.<br />
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Most of the herps we saw were during the day including this nice Speckled Rattlesnake, <i>Crotalus mitchellii</i>. We saw this nice girl in sunning herself on some rocks in a wash near the <a href="http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needles/wilderness/trilobite.html">Trilobite Wilderness</a> in the Marble Mountains.<br />
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This was a new area of exploration for us and a place I'd really like to check out further. We saw plenty of sign of Desert Bighorn Sheep, but no actual animals. Still sweet though. While fossils looked pretty picked over there seemed to be a few one could see still in big rocks (to my untrained eye). I would love to go out there with someone who really new their geology. There was a lot of this really cool seafoam green rock. The camera didn't capture the color as it was IRL.<br />
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I like to think there was some dinosaur out there with heart shaped feet making these marks, but alas just Mother Nature being random and my human eyes picking out a familiar shape.<br />
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We found a very cooperative Desert Iguana not far from the car on the way back from the end of the hike in Trilobite.<br />
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Our single night of driving the roads gave us only two living species with a few individuals of each. First a very young Sidewinder, <i>Crotalus cerastes</i>.<br />
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Then a black and white morph shovel-nose<br />
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And a few Desert Banded Geckos, <i>Coleonyx variegatus variegatus</i>. This one and a few others appear to be hypomelanisitic. We have noticed apparent hypomels before in the Eastern Mojave, but it would be nice to know if they bred true and this was a simple genetic trait. Maybe someone out there has done this research.<br />
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Next a Desert Patchnose, Salvadora hexalepis mojavensis, that we found in the Granite Mountains.<br />
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And finally the best herp of the trip, a baby Desert Tortoise. It is always so great to see the majestic tortoise, but even better to see a young one, knowing that recent breeding efforts have been successful. This baby was found less than a mile in the same wash that we found an adult female a few years ago. Maybe it is her offspring?<br />
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A flower post to follow, maybe in something like 18 months from now with the rate of posting I have accomplished the past couple of years.<br />
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UPDATE: Meant to include the statement that we do NOT collect on these trips, just in case anyone was worried.JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-24030714149932090202016-07-27T15:54:00.002-07:002016-07-27T15:54:23.279-07:00A Semester with the Otters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A quick review of the first six months of this past year's Biology class adventures with Las Gallinas Valley River Otters:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River Otters chasing down waterfowl <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(image courtesy Frankie Frost/Marin IJ)</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students identified latrine sites</td></tr>
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<br />Cameras were placed based on field surveys. The otters emerged and began to appear on camera from April on with a regularity.<div>
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Some grooming and general otter spazziness has been observed.</div>
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Students were able get a nice glimpse of their swimming patterns.</div>
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In addition to the otters, students have been able to get to know other local fauna. One of their favorites, CA kingsnakes, were out frequently this late spring/early summer.</div>
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The school year ended July 1st, but I have continued to collect data and craft curriculum this summer for next year's class, which transitions into Environmental Science.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>not sure if there is a young one among this bunch</i></span></div>
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This has been a pretty awesome experience to share with my students and I hope that their appreciation for the natural world and the possibilities for citizen science have grown as a result. </div>
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Next "year" is coming up soon and hopefully the adventure continues deeper into the story of the otter!</div>
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christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-13729244141263432082016-05-30T15:31:00.002-07:002016-05-30T15:31:03.642-07:00Introducing the OttersGreetings loyal readers!<br />
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As mentioned a couple of months ago, my high school Biology classes are taking part of a pilot program with the River Otter Ecology Project, completing data surveys through camera trapping and scat collection.<br />
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Several initial disappointing camera checks frequently resulted in many captures of newish local resident, the devil bird:<br />
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...Or tremendous growth in shore plants that <i>did </i>offer a meditative atmosphere:<br />
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Throughout these trap fails, students were still able to build skills in identifying signs of otters, collect scat that is currently being analyzed at SF State, develop a greater understanding of the local ecosystem and from time to time, see them swimming at a a distance.<br />
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In April, with some minor camera adjustments after Spring Break, the students finally captured the local otters:<br />
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With a month left in the school year, students will close out this first otter school season with two more weeks of data, then compile a best of video. Exciting times!<br />
<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-29843717626148728602016-03-23T18:15:00.000-07:002016-03-23T18:15:39.976-07:00Blergh<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8RiXMX8nKE/VvM8r_j9CyI/AAAAAAAABM4/dUYdJGhUvAE3AUkYm5EXQ-yrRfCsImgdg/s1600/DSC03289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8RiXMX8nKE/VvM8r_j9CyI/AAAAAAAABM4/dUYdJGhUvAE3AUkYm5EXQ-yrRfCsImgdg/s640/DSC03289.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>11.2015 San Francisco Peninsula</i></td></tr>
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this image sums up the feelings toward March 23rd, 2016</div>
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also RIP Phife Dawg</div>
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christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-42237960128440122522016-03-20T14:23:00.002-07:002016-03-20T14:23:51.855-07:00SHADOW OF THE CHICKAREE<div style="text-align: center;">
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As mentioned in a <a href="http://cameratrappingcampus.blogspot.com/2016/02/deadmans.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, Deadman did not prove to be a highly successful camera trap trip in winter 2014-15.<br />
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This mysterious footage was all that was recovered from a video set.christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-53384151009903178412016-03-10T09:00:00.000-08:002016-03-10T09:00:14.583-08:00Face Off<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Hummer isn't quite in focus, but I'll take it from a camera trap.<br />
Same spot as the glorious <a href="http://cameratrappingcampus.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-hello-there.html">bathing spotted towhee</a><br />
Mariposa County: April 2015JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-49410926148803401942016-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:002016-02-23T08:30:07.450-08:00Backyard BusinessFor the first time since I left my parents' house, I have a backyard and it is glorious.<br />
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The idea of a yard list was such a foreign concept and I never thought that I would be able observe so many species from the comfort of a back porch and yet here I am. It adds to that strange feeling like I am actual adult... Terrifying!<br />
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With this new territory to examine, experiment with and observe throughout the changing of the seasons, the clamor of the cities -- despite all of their draws -- are not missed.<br />
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Birds & herps are the most common fauna and right off the bat, slender salamanders have been under nearly every flipped rock.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this February '16 slender was about half the size of a dime</td></tr>
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The most exciting herp thus far has been a juvenile Arboreal Salamander:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">making use of prehensile tail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">climbing the great succulent pot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a look at the underside reveals organs and glands</td></tr>
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The birds have also been visiting with decent number and variety. The annual winter appearance of a Flicker has been a highlight. Here is last year's visitor:<br />
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Camera trapping stories to follow...christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-26823450259719528042016-02-13T14:22:00.002-08:002016-02-13T14:25:31.215-08:00In the newsLet's keep a post streak going.<br />
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Camera Trapping Campus has recently gone back to its name for inspiration.<br />
My 9/10th grade Biology classes have teamed up with the mighty River Otter Ecology Project for some outdoor project based learning.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.riverotterecology.org/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://ddw.com/sites/default/files/W_RiverOtter_1.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">click me!</td></tr>
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And my students made the<a href="http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20160119/NEWS/160119762" target="_blank"> local newspaper</a> !<br />
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Looking forward to posting some of our adventures and misadventures.</div>
christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-14883524553155148612016-02-04T20:29:00.001-08:002016-02-04T20:29:43.310-08:00Deadman'sWell, I am going to try and get back into this blogging thing in 2016. Lab work hasn't slowed down any, but time to stop using that as an excuse. I still have photos from Belize 2014 and some great herps from Okefenokee Swamp 2014, not to mention some camera trap stuff in the backlog.<br />
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So let's start emptying this backlog and hopefully people still have us in their RSS feed or like.<br />
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Last winter we set up on Deadman's Scree with the Codger and Carl. <a href="http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/2015/06/scree-in-winter.html?m=1">You can read the Codger's post</a>. It wasn't a very successful trip from a camera trapping perspective. We hoped to get Pika or white weasels and got neither. So if <a href="http://natureofaman.blogspot.com/2015/10/winter-readiness.html">Pika pictures</a> are what you want make sure you saw Randomtruth's. Weirdo <a href="http://cameratrappingcampus.blogspot.com/2014/11/exclusive-new-goose-species-discovered.html">Scree Goose</a> was found.<br />
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I set my cam under these rocks to protect it from what ended up being non-existent snow on November 10, 2014. It only ran for a little under a month because of the mice below. We picked the cams up in May with quite a bit of disappointment.<br />
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I think these are <i>Peromyscus boylii </i>because the ears don't look big enough for <i>truei</i>, but my mouse ID is quite rusty at this point, so feel free to chime in.<br />
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One visit by a Douglas Squirrel, with the ever frustrating foggy lens<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/27145142@N00/24457695589/in/album-72157664132234512/" title="DSC01677"><img alt="DSC01677" height="480" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1453/24457695589_06d349c7df_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Back to the mouse
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My <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra">Chupacabra</a>, Zoe, made the trip up and down the mountain with us. She was a trooper jumping over deep crevasses and holes in the scree pile big enough to swallow her. However, she would not cross the Yuba River as you can see in the last picture (Thanks Codge).<br />
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<br />JKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-39740190717994097302015-07-10T10:05:00.003-07:002015-07-10T10:08:09.895-07:00#FAILI was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and saw <a href="http://www.traerscott.com/nocturne-creatures-of-the-night/">this book</a> in the <a href="http://www.artic.edu/">Art Institute of Chicago</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzNSF6kzARI/VZ_7Ht4nyyI/AAAAAAAABVs/53V-Ueo56iw/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PzNSF6kzARI/VZ_7Ht4nyyI/AAAAAAAABVs/53V-Ueo56iw/s400/cover.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>
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Books with a Fennec Fox on the cover are always going to grab my attention.<br />
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As I flipped through it I enjoyed the photographic style<br />
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But then ....<br />
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Epic FAILJKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16614141904786915153noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-79091339663624494872015-06-19T20:27:00.000-07:002015-06-19T20:27:07.858-07:00EGGSLast year I put up a nesting box at school.<br />
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The past few weeks we have spotted a pair of Western Bluebirds coming out of the box and hanging out on the power line nearby.<br />
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Today, we confirmed our hopes!<br />
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School ends next week, but I hope to tell more of their story...</div>
<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024196009162417404.post-88290157478525172622015-05-31T14:34:00.000-07:002015-05-31T21:02:13.872-07:00Finding the Freaks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottosv/18131736478" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="image by Christian, on Flickr"><img alt="image" height="340" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/484/18131736478_1163cc3652.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Calochortus tiburonesis</i>, or my white whale of the botany world</td></tr>
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Many years ago, as a curious young person interested in the outdoors, I would spend hours researching locations in the Bay Area to explore through the site <a href="http://www.bahiker.com/" target="_blank">Bay Area Hiker</a>.<br />
It was here where I first learned of the Tiburon Mariposa Lily, while reading of hikes in Ring Mountain Open Space.<br />
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Along this wind-swept Tiburon ridge and its serpentine rocks, the freakish lily and several other rare plants have found a home in what would be a usually toxic soil.<br />
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For the lily, the ridge is its only home.<br />
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Many visits were made over the years and I never caught glimpse of the rare flower during its brief bloom -- either I was too early, too late or too poor of a observer.<br />
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Yesterday, I happened to be in Marin for CPR training and the thought randomly popped in my head to check on the lilies once more.<br />
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On what was a perfect CA spring afternoon, my partner and I ambled up the Phyllis Ellman trail along the dry grass landscape. Ithuriel's Spear were still out in strong numbers and provided a nice contrast to the yellow-brown background.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottosv/18315662042" title="image by Christian, on Flickr"><img alt="image" height="478" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/517/18315662042_22748ff792_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
Perhaps it was just my time, or my lady is a good luck charm -- immediately upon coming in sight of the 14 marker that is referenced as lily habitat, I spotted one right next to the trail, then another... they were all over the place!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">about a half dozen in bloom</td></tr>
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It reminded me of searching for owl pellets, how usually once you find that first one, then all the sudden it is like you can see the matrix, and the ground is actually covered in pellets.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottosv/17698923083" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="image by Christian, on Flickr"><img alt="image" height="640" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8853/17698923083_e2e70f0d9c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so weird!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
And then of course another great feature of Ring Mountain is that once you have brought your attention away from the ground, a few other things look pretty cool around you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ottosv/17698921873" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="image by Christian, on Flickr"><img alt="image" height="478" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7775/17698921873_846de5df2a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yeehaw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />christianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17949844088996490968noreply@blogger.com1