Posts Categorized: My Nature Journal

If you’re a birder, you’ve heard of the spring ‘fall outs’ of birds, where migrating birds meet cold weather fronts and drop to the ground, exhausted and hungry, In years of birding on the Southern California coast, I’ve discovered we can have mini-fall outs of birds when strong north or northwest winds are blowing.  The… Read more »

    I woke up to gusty northwest winds after another dry weather front had blown through.  I looked out at the islands, and I saw the dark blue water of the Santa Barbara Channel, and I thought:  this is NOT an ideal day to go whale watching. No.  Not at all.  Especially if one… Read more »

THE HIKE TO FORTY-NINE PALMS OASIS The passage  below is from my Nature Journal from APRIL 1, 1987. Late in the day, I began hiking the dusty, rocky trail over the ridge to Forty-nine Palms oasis. The sun was beginning to get low over the jutting rocks of the barren mountainsides, but I was sure… Read more »

    One of the most fascinating habitats in the desert is the oasis.  Oases originate from old underground earthquake fault lines, which allow the groundwater to bubble up to the surface. The water forms pools, streams, and springs. Plants  that ordinarily require a great deal more water to flourish can be found here. Besides… Read more »

I returned to Joshua Tree for a quick visit last week. Once again, I’m astounded at the strange beauty of the Joshua Trees, the views out to snow-capped Mount San Gorgonio and Mount San Jacinto in the distance, and the wonderful diversity of our natural world here in Southern California. The contrast between habitats on… Read more »

    A DAY AT COAL OIL POINT WITH THE BIRDING CLASS   MARCH 5, 2014: Today a group of us walked from Isla Vista along the bluffs to Coal Oil Point, Devereux Slough, and back. It was a perfect day for birding, with gray skies and no wind. At our first stop, we looked… Read more »

    The Nature Journal entry below is one that didn’t make it into the final version of A Naturalist’s Guide to the Santa Barbara Region, but it is still one of my favorites! Nature Journal, March 6, 2001:  A Rainy Night at the Farm Pond   Tonight is clear and starry after 3 days… Read more »

  FEBRUARY 20, 2014 –  What is the “Sixth Extinction”?   A couple of nights ago I went to an event through the Arts and Lectures program at UCSB. The speaker was Elizabeth Kolbert, an investigative reporter for The New Yorker, National Geographic, and other magazines.  Her topic was centered around her recent book:  The… Read more »

LOOKING BACK ON THE ‘MARCH MIRACLE’ OF 1991     As we struggle through a drought cycle in our region this winter, I recalled March 1991, when I wrote the following:   Nature Journal – March 28, 1991: The drought has ended! Since February 28, when a huge storm hit, we have had 13 inches… Read more »

February 6, 2014 – NATURE JOURNAL   Counting Birds:  What is Citizen Science telling us?   Last week I got a call from my friend Melinda Burns, a fine local freelance journalist.  She wanted to know if there was any connection between the Santa Barbara Audubon Society’s recent Christmas Bird Count results and the current… Read more »