Participants in the sixth annual Owens Lake Spring Big Day a few weeks ago witnessed a stunning number of birds on the lake. In all, 114,999 birds were counted on the lake in one day. Not only is that a new high, but that blows away the old high, recorded last April, of approximately 75,000 [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Audubon Magazine writes eloquently about the plight of the endangered California population of the Marbled Murrelet, and of the hazards the bird faces at its Central Coast breeding habitat. Read the story, and take a moment to send an email in support of this terrific bird. Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

OK, we can’t be certain that this is the first nest that any American Avocets have built in Central Valley rice fields this season, but we can say it’s the first that we’ve found. And it’s always an amazing sight to see these nests built in these fields. The birds themselves travel all the way [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

When we talk about bird migration, we tend to speak in terms of north and south (ie, north for the spring, south for the winter). But if you read this blog often, you’ve noticed that we enjoy talking about the outliers, the ones that don’t do what every other bird does. Into this group one [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

As our friends at Cornell say, the Yellow Warbler is “a splash of yellow in a patch of willow.” This phrase makes us all the happier to share a photo by Keith Williams of a Yellow Warbler on a willow branch in the Yukon Terrifory. This little bit of sunshine spends its winters in Central [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

  As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, the annual migration to the Central Valley of Swainson’s Hawks from Argentina is one of the more spectacular aspects of spring migration in California. And we’re happy to report that this migration is in full swing right now. Check out the eBird map below from today, showing [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Despite being a bright, colorful bird, the Yellow-breasted Chat is hardly seen because it’s very good at hiding in the low brushy habitat that it favors. Skulking and secretive are two words commonly used to describe it. But those who look carefully are rewarded with the sight of a spectacular olive and yellow wood warbler. [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

We love this pic of Sean Doherty showing Garth Williams and Audubon California’s Kurt Vaughn where he wants to plant native trees and shrubs along a ditch on his property in Colusa County in order to provide food and shelter for birds. Thanks to farmers like Doherty and Williams, riparian birds like warblers and chats [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Audubon California today issued the following statement from Policy Director Dan Taylor regarding the ongoing deaths of Cliff Swallows at the Caltrans construction site in Petaluma: “Audubon California has been greatly saddened to hear that poorly considered measures by Caltrans to keep migratory Cliff Swallows away from its construction in Petaluma has resulted in many [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

KCET is reporting that significant progress has been made between the Army Corps of Engineers and the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society following the Corps’ surprising destruction of natural habitat at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve. Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Because we’re interested in such things, we were watching the NFL playoffs not just for the games, but also for the birds. And we had a lot of birds on the field — Falcons, Ravens, Seahawks, etc. Now that we’re at the Superbowl, it might be easy to think that only one of the two [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Confirming its vital role in the natural health of the hemisphere, San Francisco Bay/Estuary has been designated a “Wetland of International Importance” under the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention. San Francisco Bay is home to more than 1,000 species of mammals, birds, invertebrates and more than 130 species of fish – [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

U~T San Diego interviewed our Andrea Jones and Garry George about our recent Mountain Plover survey results: Mountain plovers — small, migratory birds that trek from the Great Plains to California each year — are showing up in greater numbers in the Imperial Valley after disappearing from parts of Central California, Audubon officials said. That [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

We’re several weeks into the New Year, and by now you’ve probably got a good idea how most of your resolutions are going to fare. But before you close the book on your best intentions, let us offer a few opportunities to make a big difference in the natural world around you. The tips below [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

A rare and secretive grassland bird that migrates between the Great Plains and California’s grassy valleys is increasingly turning up in Imperial Valley agricultural fields (south of the Salton Sea in southern California), according to a recent survey organized by Audubon California. If this trend continues, the Mountain Plover’s shifting habitat could have implications for [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]