Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Procreate
Brushes: 4H Pencil, Rough Graphite Shader, and Kneaded Eraser
10 hours, and 20,015 total strokes
2026 Species Accounts: Plants
Yellow Sand Verbena
Abronia latifolia
- 9/26: Abbott’s Lagoon, Point Reyes, Marin County, CA. There was quite a lot of this in patches on the beach.
2026 Species Accounts: Birds
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
- 9/26: Point Reyes, CA. During a brief late afternoon visit, several of these birds were active near the Olema Marsh Trailhead.
Snowy Plover
Anarhynchus nivosus
9/26: Abbott’s Lagoon, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA. We saw several of these adorable, tiny birds going about their business on the sand between the lagoon and the larger sand dune when we first arrived at the beach. They weren’t particularly shy – quite a few people were watching and photographing them. I also saw Semipalmated Plover and Least Sandpipers in the area. A couple of hours later, on our return to the trailhead, they had moved closer to the lagoon.
Indian Valley, Novato
October 1, 2026
1300 – 1530; Sunny and warm (~79° F), with a mostly clear sky.
I was going to frame this as the first off-campus field trip with my Organismal Biology class, but it’s not really off-campus, since we went to Indian Valley. We were originally supposed to go to Roy’s Redwoods, but I didn’t realize I needed to apply for a permit to bring more than 15 people, so we pivoted today to come to Indian Valley instead (which was also on our field trip list, later in the semester).
Continue reading “Indian Valley, Novato”Abbott’s Lagoon
September 26, 2026
Weather: early in our visit, it was mostly clear with scattered clouds, high of about 69°F. By the time we left the beach to head back to the parking lot (~1600), it had grown overcast, with a slight mist coming in from the ocean, with a slight drop in temperature.
Today, my General Ecology class took our first field trip of the semester to Abbott’s Lagoon. The lagoon, located within the Point Reyes National Seashore, is known as an excellent place for viewing birds, which is the primary reason I chose this location.
It did not disappoint. We had an amazing day of birds and a lot of other plants and wildlife, as well.
Continue reading “Abbott’s Lagoon”Kent Island, Bolinas
August 7, 2026
1000 – 1400. Sunny and cool
I spent a satisfying day on Kent Island in Bolinas Lagoon, joining Marin County Parks staff and volunteers to remove non-native Sea Fig, one of the ice plants growing rampant on the island.
Continue reading “Kent Island, Bolinas”Vampire Squid
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
California Sea Nettle
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Duxbury Reef
January 16, 2026
Late afternoon, sunny and cool.
This was not my first visit to Agate Beach, but it is the first time I’d really taken a look in the wonderful tidepools on Duxbury Reef. This was part of a College of Marin Flex Session, and I really enjoyed this visit. The reef is a remarkable, beautiful place, and I saw loads of interesting organisms.
Continue reading “Duxbury Reef”Birds at the College of Marin
October 30, 2025 – Note: Inspired by the birds who have been visiting the feeders I’ve put up outside of my office window in the Science, Math, and Nursing Building at the main campus of the College of Marin, I thought I’d blog about my sightings. I’ll be making posts about sightings at both the Kentfield and Indian Valley campuses, and though I’ve titled this “Birds at College of Marin,” I’ll document other wildlife here, as well.
October 13, 2025
One of my favorite things about my new office (other than the beautiful view) is the fact that there is roof access that allows me to walk right up to my window on the outside. That, plus a concrete beam that runs along the side of the building, I’m able to hang bird feeders outside of my window!
So, I put Operation Feed the Birds into effect as soon as I could! I got a platform feeder for seeds, a suet feeder, and a bunch of uncooked in-shell peanuts so I could put out a smorgasbord of goodies for my little neighborhood friends. Of course, on my first pass at buying feeders and food, I completely forgot to sort out how I was going to hang them, so I picked up some straps for horse feeding bags, and they’re working great!
Stegosaurus
3-D model created in Blender.
Mountain Lions
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Southern Cassowaries
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
California Rose
Part of a series of plant portraits for the Sonoma State University Native Plant Garden. Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Giant Wakerobin
Botanical Illustration done while teaching a Botanical Drawing workshop. Painted in Procreate on an iPad.
Field Marigold
Botanical Illustration done while teaching a Botanical Drawing workshop. Painted in Procreate on an iPad.
Botanical Drawing at Sonoma State
2/15/25
Sonoma State University
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Cool and sunny
Today was the first session of the Botanical Drawing workshop that Eileen Parent and I are co-teaching. During our first field excursion, I took some photos of the vegatation near the Environmental Technology Center. Lots of interesting plants, even though we only went a very short distance away from the ETC. I also saw and/or heard a few birds, but that wasn’t really the focus today.
Continue reading “Botanical Drawing at Sonoma State”Mulch Maid
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Ellis Creek with Vertebrate Biology
February 7, 2025
9:30 to 12:00
Sunny and cool
We had gorgeous weather – clear, sunny, around 50° F – for our first Vertebrate Biology field trip of the semester. We gathered in the parking lot at 9:30, so I could give an overview of what we’d be doing that day, and had plenty of birds to look at right away. One of my instructions for my students today especially was to focus on making good, accurate observations, and keeping track of the field marks that they see – shape, color, size (as much as it can be estimated), vocalizations, behavior, etc. I’ve asked them to include a description of every species we see today, even the common ones that we’ll probably see over and over throughout the semester.
Continue reading “Ellis Creek with Vertebrate Biology”Grey Whales
Work in progress; part of a zoom-in/zoom-out series. Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Sabretoothed Polar Bear
During a lecture on Pleistocene mammals, one of my students asked if there were any sabretoothed bears. I told him that I wasn’t aware of any fossil discoveries like this, but that even if there weren’t any, there should have been. So, I came up with this speculative portrait. Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
Townsend’s Warbler
Painted in Procreate on the iPad.
2023 Species Accounts: Non-Avian (WIP)
Amphibians and Reptiles
Western Pond Turtle
Actinemys marmorata
- 2/10: Vertebrate Biology SSU Campus Walk. Basking on the edge of the Commencement Lake.
- 3/25: Pepperwood Preserve. I was glad to see a few turtles out of the water at Turtle Pond. First, we saw two of them on a downed tree right at the edge of the pond. Later, one of them swam out to climb onto the basking boards in the middle of the lake. My photos are pretty crappy, but good enough to make the ID. Plus, this is the most likely species to see here, since I understand that they regularly relocate Red-eared Sliders off of the preserve.
White-backed Vulture
Painted in Procreate on an iPad.
African Grey Parrot
Painted in Procreate on an iPad.