May 14, 2011

With another full day ahead, I started out with a short solo walk on the property before the rest of the day’s activities. I saw a good number of birds, plus a Desert Cottontail. New birds included a Green Heron flying along the salt flat, a Spotted Sandpiper tail bobbing on the fountain in Lake Tuendae, a Belted Kingfisher flying and calling at the lake, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks on the rocks near the road between Zzyzx and Baker – the first hawks I saw on this trip.

May 13, 2011

Desert Studies Center

(07:30; 87° F) On our first full day in the desert, I woke up early in the morning and took a short walk on site before breakfast. I walked past the swimming pool and south along the alkali flats. I didn’t see a lot of wildlife here, although I did spot another Lucy’s Warbler, and a Mourning Dove. Near Lake Tuendae, I saw the American Coot family, and a White-throated Swift flying over the lake. During breakfast, a Killdeer flew overhead while vocalizing, which made it easy to ID.

May 12, 2011
Located off the Zzyzx exit from I-15; arrived at 16:35
88°/32° Clear, very warm

After a long drive on the first day of our Vertebrate Biology field trip, I took a short solo walk near Lake Tuendae, where I saw a family of American Coot (with four chicks!) and a Mourning Dove. I then headed out past the swimming pool, and along the Soda Lake salt flat. Here, I spotted Desert Cottontail, Say’s Phoebe, and Yellow Warbler. I also heard (but couldn’t spot) a Phainopepla. The excitement for this day was was one of the birds I’d most hoped to see on this trip: the relatively uncommon Lucy’s Warbler. Super cute! I saw the bird bopping around in some mesquite.

May 6, 2011
07:30, 59° F, light breeze

Vertebrate Biology field trip to the Palomarin Field Station, part of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, to see the techniques they use for mist-netting and banding. We walked the net route twice, but did not see any birds caught in the net. We were able to view at close range three birds that had been netted earlier, however, so we got to see the banding and data collection process. The PRBO staff were very helpful, and were happy to help me ID some of the bird calls we heard while walking the site, particularly Wrentit, whose call was familiar to me, but I’d never been able to identify it before.

April 15, 2011
11:30, 73° F, overcast

This was another Vertebrate Biology field trip. Safari West is located at 3115 Porter Creek Road in Santa Rosa, about 7 miles east of Hwy 101. We took a driving tour of the large animal enclosures, as well as a visit to the walk-in-aviary. This journal entry records only the native and non-captive wildlife I saw during my visit to the park, most of which were seen on the jeep tour.

April 8, 2011
Arrived 10:30, 68° F, sunny and clear w/light breeze

I visited this SSU property on a field trip with Vertebrate Biology. We stopped at several locations in the preserve, looking for specific target species at each location. 

March 21 and 24, 2011

For the Vertebrate Biology class I am taking this semester, we’re required to keep a detailed field journal of all our wildlife observations. I took two walks along the main channel of the Laguna de Santa Rosa for making observations that I could include in my journal.

May 2, 2005

Early on Monday, Vicky and I took the kids to Cleland Wildlife Park. It was FANTASTIC! We saw loads of great animals, and were able to hold a Koala, although in this entry I’ve journaled almost exclusively wild birds and animals that we saw in the park. New species for me included White-throated Treecreeper.

May 1, 2005
Afternoon

On Kevin’s last day in Australia, we visited a local recreation area, Belair National Park. It’s a lovely park with all sorts of things to do and different habitats. We spent most of our time at the children’s play area (which Eclipse loved), but Mark, Vicky, Arran and I also went for a nice walk along one of the trails into the heart of the park. We saw loads of birds and several Koala. New species included Common Brown butterfly and Red-browed Finch.

May 1, 2005
8:30 to 10:00 a.m.

Birds seen on a morning walk in Mark and Vicky’s neighborhood. One new species today: Yellow-faced Honeyeater.

April 30, 2005
Warm and dry (90° F)

On the way home from Renmark, we stopped to visit a Ramsar wetland complex called Banrock Station. I’d been looking forward to this hike throughout our the whole trip. It’s a beautiful location, but the weather was a bit too warm for my comfort during our long walk around the lake nearest to the café.

April 27 through 30, 2005

This morning marked the half-way point of our trip, which meant it was time to head west, back toward the Liba Liba base. Although we wouldn’t be going further upriver, we still had plenty of time left on the boat, and I knew we’d still have plenty of great things to see and do on the way back. Going back seemed to go more quickly (maybe it did, maybe it was just my imagination), but we did do some different things. We stopped at places we hadn’t visited before to go walking and looking for birds. And, of course, it just felt good to be on the boat, on the river, rolling along without a care in the world. Unsurprisingly, we mostly saw the same species that we’d seen on the way east, but there were a few surprises.

April 26, 2005

Today was the mid-point of our trip, and in the morning, we had to make a decision: should we keep going upriver and see new things? Or would we be better off turning back now, and then maybe going a ways past the Liba Liba base in the other direction? The area on the other side of the base was more developed – farmland, rather than wilderness, so we might see different birds . . . but definitely less chance of Emus, which were still at the top of my “to see” list. My companions left the choice up to me, and I decided that we should continue east for the rest of the day in favor of more wilderness. (Spoiler alert: this turned out to be a very good decision). 

April 26 and 27, 2005

In the early afternoon today, as we floated along, I spied through the trees a lake, separated from the river by just a narrow strip of land. Thinking that a lake might attract a somewhat different community of birds. So, we pulled the boat up to the river’s edge to get out and take a look. To be honest, I don’t know if it was even a public space; there was no signage or nature trails. After returning home, however, I was able to find it on a map and determine that it’s called Scottie’s Billabong.

April 25, 2005

Our third day on the river, we were still heading east. We spent the entire day floating through the Chowilla Game Reserve, mostly in South Australia, but toward the end of the day, we reached a point where the river was split right down the middle between Victoria (to the south) and South Australia (strangely, to the north). 

First thing in the morning, I saw a flock of Domestic Sheep who ran in the other direction when they saw me. Superb Fairy-wren were bopping around in the bushes, while Hooded Robin and Mallee Ringneck were up higher in the trees. Australasian Darter and Red-rumped Parrot were frequently seen along the river, and Welcome Swallow continued to swoop over the river alongside the boat.

April 24, 2005

I woke before dawn, as had become my habit in Australia, and went out for a solo walk right as the sun was coming up. Not only is this a great time to see birds, but I loved feeling like I was the only person awake for miles and miles. (And on this trip, I might have been the only person awake for miles and miles). This morning, my first bird of the day was an Australian Pelican swimming right near the boat, and during my walk I saw Yellow Rosella, Red-rumped Parrot, and Gray Fantail. Superb Fairy-wren and Striated Pardalote were foraging in bushes, and I heard a Laughing Kookaburra. I also enjoyed watching Black-faced Cuckooshrike playing and calling to one another very near the boat.

April 23, 2005

One of the highlights of our trip to Australia was a week spent on a houseboat on the Murray River. We started at the Liba Liba base in Renmark, South Australia, and headed east, which took us through a bit of New South Wales and Victoria, too. It was a WONDERFUL week, with nothing to do all day but relax on the boat and look at birds. I took a few photos, too (somewhere in the vicinity of 3,000).

April 22, 2005
Afternoon

Today was relatively quiet, but we did go for a short afternoon walk in the botanical garden near Vicky’s house. Not as grand as the garden in Sydney, but nice. Before our walk, we had lunch at Vicky and Mark’s church, where we did make one new friend – an enormous Cinnamon Huntsman that was clinging high up on the wall, right out in the open.

April 21, 2005

Our second day of the tour took us to more wildlife-friendly places. (YAY)! I did start the day, however, with a morning walk along the beach, like I’d done the previous day.