New Video on the Birds of Stanislaus and Merced Counties (Audubon)

I had a fine afternoon at our local State Theater watching a locally produced movie on the birds of Stanislaus and Merced Counties. It was produced by David and Sharon Froba of the Stanislaus Audubon chapter. If you haven't been following Geotripper's Birds, you might be surprised to find that more than 300 bird species are known from the two county area. There aren't many places in the country with this kind of species diversity!

The richness of the birds follows from the varied habitats in the region: the Coast Ranges, the rivers of the Great Valley, the grasslands, and the Sierra Nevada foothills, including the reservoirs. There was a time when I would have thought the Great Valley a boring place. Since I've lived here, I've found this not to be the case at all. Not just the birds, but the geology! California's first ever dinosaur was discovered here, along with mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and the ice age mammals like wooly mammoths, mastodons, sabertoothed cats, short-faced bears, and many other strange and wonderful species!