So just about everyone understands that fire is a normal, usually beneficial force in a nature ecosystem. But that’s only when fire is allowed to come and go naturally. In parts of California, fires have been hitting more frequently than normal, and buring much more intensely. These types of frequent, intense fires can actually change [...]

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Yesterday we talked about the end of banding season at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary, but that’s not the only Audubon California site that wrapped up its season recently. Last Saturday, volunteer banders at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary also held their last session of the season. The day’s total included 16 birds [...]

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The Audubon Starr Ranch recently ended its annual bird banding season, and the final day this past week found some very interesting birds in our mist nests. This included Warbling Vireos, as well as hatch year Lesser Goldfinches, Rufous Crowned Sparrows, Common Yellowthroat, and Mourning Doves. The 19 species banded brought the season’s total to [...]

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Looks as though the Barn Owls on the Audubon Starr Ranch webcam are hatching their second clutch of eggs. Check it out live.
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Looks like the Barn Owl couple featured in the Starr Ranch webcam have laid a second clutch of eggs. Fascinating webcam.
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You’ve all seen the Barn Owl cam and the Black-chinned Hummingbird cam from the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary. Now check out the new Pacific-slope Flycatcher cam. Four chicks in the nest — great watching.
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Those of you that have been enjoying the Audubon Starr Ranch Barn Owl webcam should know that a hummingbird has taken up residence in front of our live hummingbird webcam again. This is a Black-chinned Hummingbird that has already laid some eggs. Very cool.
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Every once in a while, we like to let you know what kinds of birds we’re seeing at Audubon California’s various sites around the state. Highlights this time around include Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover (pictured, USFWS file photo), Grasshopper Sparrow and Gray Flycatcher. Here’s the breakdown from a few places:
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The Los Angeles Time’s L.A. Unleashed blog picks up the story of the Audubon Starr Ranch Barn Owl webcam today, and features one of the many, many videos that fans of the owls have put on YouTube. Here’s the video the blog picked, a sweet one from February:

The webcam is still a great way to [...]

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A while back we showed you photos of cougars at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary taken by motion sensor cameras (here and here), well we’ve got some more. More photos below the fold.
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Crews at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County this weekend found a rare wildflower, Pentachaeta aurea ssp. allenii. Not seen for some time, the flower is endemic to Orange County. Thankfully, we’re protecting these wildlands and giving them a place to live. All photos are by Keala Cummings.
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So maybe you haven’t checked in on the Audubon Starr Ranch barn owl webcam lately. You should. It’s never been better.
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Staff at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County caught this rare Coastal Cactus Wren in their mist nests during a recent banding event. After being properly banded and photographed, this elegant creature was sent on its way.
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Staff at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County recently did some bird banding, and we were fortunate to come across a Coastal Cactus Wren, a species of special concern in California. Check it out! Featured in the video — aside from the Cactus Wren — is Jessica Griffiths, biologist/educator at Starr Ranch. The video was [...]

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So we’ve been talking a great deal lately about the Audubon Starr Ranch Barn Owl webcam. Over the weekend, Starr Ranch Manager Pete DeSimone climbed up the tree to clean off the lens and do some maintenance. You wouldn’t think that cleaning a webcam could be so fascinating. Check out the video below:

Great shots of [...]

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