Great Blue Heron on the Tuolumne River

I was privileged last weekend to participate in a canoe trip sponsored by the Tuolumne River Trust, a short expedition from La Grange to Old Basso Bridge. We traveled about three miles of the river in the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The TRT is a marvelous organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of the Tuolumne watershed from the headwaters in Yosemite National Park to the mouth of the river in the Great Valley and San Francisco Bay.

I was a bit worried about dunking my camera in the "raging" river (the turbulence resulted more from me rocking the canoe than any rapids on the river). But I couldn't resist getting some pictures of the very handsome Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that we saw patiently hunting fish in the shallows. They are very statuesque birds.

There will be a write-up on the paddling trip before long over at Geotripper. In the meantime, enjoy our very large blue bird!

Can you Spot a Spotted Towhee? Here's one on the Tuolumne River

Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? If you are exploring my part of the world, you may indeed be watched by a creature with reddish eyes, hiding in the brush. It's not a scary creature though, just a reclusive one. It's a Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), a large member of the sparrow family. I've posted one picture of the bird previously, a breeding male (it makes them more brave, so they perch on high branches) in the Grand Canyon last summer. I've seen them in the brush at the Joe Domecq Wilderness on the Tuolumne River on lots of occasions, but they've always been too cautious and fly deeper into the forest before I can snap a picture.

The Joe Domecq Wilderness is a special spot on the Tuolumne River where it passes through the Mother Lode of California's legendary Gold Rush. The land here was subjected to gold dredging, which destroyed the riparian forest and left a barren pile of boulders. Time has softened the devastation a bit, and the small park and pond is now a nice spot for birdwatching. It's administered (somewhat) by Stanislaus County (hey folks, the picnic tables need to be replaced).

I was there this morning just prior to meeting a group from the Tuolumne River Trust for a canoe trip down the river for a few miles. It was a marvelous day, and I appreciated the chance to see a section of the river I've never seen before (there are lots of those, actually). The Towhee was darting in and out of the branches of a large oak tree, but it finally stopped long enough for a few relatively sharp shots.

And then, it disappeared again.