Bear Scat? Point Reyes, Upper Meadow Trail, 9 August 2020

There have been bear sightings around Point Reyes before - the most recently reported 2 years ago. There are bears just north in Sonoma and they even wander out into the flat parts of Yolo County occasionally, so this would not be all that surprising.

Tijuana River Valley is Cooler Than You Think

As part of my little run-the-whole-coast project I was back there today - very green and woodsy, which I miss. Highlight: I saw three of the following gorgeous (and talkative) birds:



They were black-throated magpie jays, principally found in northwest Mexico. Since I was only about a mile from the border at the time and I couldn't make out the color at first, my first thought was that the U.S. was getting colonized by quetzales. But these guys are just as cool. Always neat when you see a critter that you've never seen before (even in photographs) and weren't expecting bio-novelty. Credit to LoveYourDog on Flickr not only for the picture but posting it with the species name so I could figure out what I'd seen.

Baby Burrowing Owls is Some Cute Little Bastids

I learned this upon meeting some of them yesterday. I had never seen burrowing owls in the wild, but I ran across mom and dad here, standing guard above the burrow while the three younguns jostled each other to get their impatient curious glimpses of me. The picture below gives you an idea how cute these little dummies are (credit mountaineers.org). There was someone else there who got much better shots, so I hope I get to see those. Notice how I haven't told you where this was: I wish I could, but they're so easy to get to that I worry that any extra attention won't be good for them, even what might come about from this humble blog. If you do happen to hear about where they are or run across them yourself, take care not to disturb them.

What dummy ever said there's no such thing as pure line in nature?

The same day, in the space of an hour in the same park, I also saw (without even trying to) a Western scrub jay, a Bullock's Oriole (harrassing crows three times its size and making its squeak-toy call), three Cooper's hawks and a white breasted nuthatch. I'm not a bird-nut but I was pretty excited to figure out what species these were since I'd never seen any of them before. This was in the same park where, during the winter, I found a flowering eucalyptus tree - the only flowering plant for miles - with the result that it was overrun with dozens of hummingbirds, which made a sound like a living high-tension wire. I've been using the East Bay Parks for over a decade and they never cease to amaze me.

The California Newts Are Out in Force, Watch Your Step!