Geotripper's California Birds

This was a rare event for Mrs. Geotripper and I. The Tundra Swan ( Cygnus columbianus ) is not a rare bird, but we've only seen the...

The Cosumnes River in California's Sierra Nevada and Great Valley is unique in one very important respect: it is the only free flowing...

We were in the eastern Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley last weekend for a geology field study course, but of course I was on the lookout fo...

I made one last quick visit to the Beckwith Road viewing platform on the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge this week. It's cl...

In early October the birds numbered in the dozens or hundreds. By late November they were in the thousands and tens of thousands . And th...

The next members of the goose parade have arrived at the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge. I have no idea if they were here last week ...

Greater White-fronted Geese at the San Joaquin NWR Between storms this week, I made the drive out to the viewing platform on Beckwith Ro...

Winter can be a tough time for birds. Some can tolerate severe snows and survive at high altitudes or far northern latitudes. Many Arctic ...

These are birds who have traveled a very long ways. They breed and feed all summer in the far northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, but i...

I took a short break at work this afternoon to see if anything was up at the Beckwith Road viewpoint for the San Joaquin National Wildlif...

Winter is marching on, and the winter migrants are having to work harder at finding food in the refuges here in the Great Valley. The Beck...