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Peregrine Audubon's board meetings generally take place the first Thursday of each month, September through June, at 7 P.M. Contact a board member for details. Board meetings are open to the membership. You are always welcome and encouraged to participate.
The chapter meetings are held the third Thursday of each month, September through May, at 7PM in the City Council Chambers inthe Ukiah Civic Center at 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah. Exceptions: The December meeting is held on the first Thursday to prepare for the Christmas Bird Count, and the May meeting and CBC potlucks are held at the Grace Hudson Meeting Room at 431 South Main. Refreshments available after the meetings. The public is always welcome.
Click in the table below for more information as it becomes available.
After the field trips are over, click in the completed table link for a trip report.
Directions to City Council Chambers in the Ukiah Civic Center: from Hwy 101: take Perkins St. west to North State St.; turn left and head south; take the third right (Seminary Ave) and go to the end.
Directions to Grace Hudson Museum: from Hwy 101 take Perkins Street west to the stop sign at Main Street. Turn left and proceed south for three blocks. After you cross Clay Street, look for a driveway on the left. Drive to the back and park. The Meeting Room is on the west (left) side of the museum.
Antarctica: A Photographic Journey
by Linda Rohr
Are you the kind of person who relishes spending your free time in the cold violent desolate parts of the earth? Would you like to take a cruise in frigid Antarctic waters in a Russian icebreaker as it steams its way past icebergs that tower above it? As the seas become more violent those bergs disappear and all that you see are walls of water. If that is not enough, how about spending hours in the Drake Shake? If you are not inclined to that sort of vacation, could we interest you in a vicarious trip? Come join Peregrine Audubon Society for its season opener, Antarctica: A Photographic Journey, presented by Bill Rohr on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ukiah City Council Chambers.
It was in November 2005 that Rohr, a local orthopedic surgeon and photographer from Fort Bragg, and his wife Linda voyaged to the end of the earth, better known as Shackleton's "White South", by crossing the infamous Drake Passage and cruising the Antarctic Peninsula - all the while capturing its magnificent splendor through the lens.
An unexpected storm forced them to take refuge in a sheltered area for several days. This actually became one of the highlights of the trip, which allowed more zodiac boat excursions, and photographic opportunities of glaciers, icebergs and wildlife. During this time, one could hear a pin drop, or the sound of broken off pieces of glacier splashing into the depths of the unknown, all while a storm passed by!
Nature lovers and birders especially will be fascinated by the images of penguins, seabirds, and the wandering albatross, as well as the spectacular wilderness of snow, ice and rock with its gigantic icebergs found nowhere else. Learn how to distinguish the Antarctic from the Arctic tern. Experience, close-up and personal, encounters with three species of penguins: Chinstrap, Adelie and Gentoo. Learn some of their behaviors and courting rituals during their nesting period. Take a journey through "Iceberg Alley" and the beautiful Lemaire Channel, proudly displaying her mountainous terrain. This journey will enlighten you as to the reasons why so many people are attracted to this continent, and will show you that Antarctica is more than a flat sheet of ice and snow! Except for the explorers, scientists and tourists, it has virtually no human contact. It is not owned by anyone. There are no cities, restaurants or hotels. In no other place will you find air as crisp and clean, water so clear and crystal-like and the only sounds heard being those of ice cracking, wind blowing, or penguins squawking. It is truly amazing that such a place on earth still exists. Maybe that is what keeps drawing people back for a 2nd and 3rd time. All it takes is layers and proper clothing to keep warm, so the climate really doesn't even enter into the equation and one finds it very easy to adapt and to forget about the cold.
Traveling to Antarctica is like visiting no other country. For a short moment in time, let Bill take you there!
This Peregrine Audubon event is free to the public and begins promptly at 7 p.m. A hat will be passed for donations.
The Ukiah Civic Center is at 300 Seminary Avenue. From 101 take Perkins Street west to State Street (third light). Go left on State Street. Seminary Avenue will be the fourth street on the right. Take it to the end.
Mysteries of Migration: Slideshow and Lecture by Ron Levalley
by Kate Marianchild
Bird migration has mystified humans since we acquired a sense of wonder. Birds disappeared in the fall and arrived in the spring, and no one had any idea where they had been in the meantime. Ancient people would have been astonished to know that the beautiful flyers that came and went twice a year were more familiar with distant and exotic lands than they were. As humans began traveling long distances across the world by ship and by air we gained knowledge of the destinations of migrant birds, and over the last several decades we have learned that birds navigate by the sun, the stars, magnetic fields, and smells. But no one has ever known exactly what happens during migration: do the birds stop to eat or drink? if they eat, what do they eat? do they sleep? do they fly a straight course or meander? how high do they fly? The mystery has always been compounded by the fact that many birds migrate exclusively at night.
Well, exciting new developments are on the wing. With the use of tiny transmitters and satellites scientists can now sit in front of computer screens and watch migrating birds all around the world as they eat, sleep, and veer off course to feed on islands in the middle of the ocean. Ron LeValley, an eminent biologist, ornithologist, and photographer, will deliver a slideshow lecture on this fascinating subject on Thursday, October 18, at the Ukiah Civic Center at 7 p.m. LeValley's talk will focus on seabirds that migrate extraordinarily long distances and the challenges facing small-population migrants. This Peregrine Audubon Society event is free to the public but donations will be gratefully accepted.
It is a common and comfortable myth that migrating juvenile birds are led to their wintering grounds by their parents. In fact it is only among geese, cranes, and some other fresh-water waterfowl that such parental shepherding occurs. One of the birds that LeValley will talk about is the Bristle-thighed Curlew, a long-legged shorebird that nests in a small area of western Alaska called Beringia. The adult females of the species desert their chicks as soon as the chicks can fly, at four weeks old, and fly to a food rich area in the Yukon where they fatten up for their upcoming migration. The males soon take off as well, leaving the chicks to frantically feed and practice flying on their own. In late August and early September the adults begin their migration, the endpoint of which is sometimes 5,000 miles away on remote islands in the South Pacific. They make the flight non-stop, as they lack waterproof plumage and therefore cannot rest on the water. The juveniles leave a few weeks later and fly the same distance without adults to guide them, relying on genetically programmed cues. No one knows exactly how either the adults or juveniles find their tiny island destinations in the vast Pacific, but most arrive safely.
Another bird we will learn about is the Laysan Albatross, a seabird that nests on the northwest Hawaiian islands and flies several thousand miles to the coasts of California and Alaska to collect oil-rich squid and other fish for its chicks. LeValley will also bring us up to date on avian migration records. The Arctic Tern, which migrates 22,000 miles round trip from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, may now be challenged for its title as the longest-distance migrant in the world.
Ron LeValley is founder and senior biologist of Mad River Biologists in McKinleyville. He is the California coordinator for the Pacific Coast Joint Venture, a public/private partnership funded by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to promote conservation. LeValley lectures all over the western United States at Audubon meetings, bird festivals, and ornithological conferences, where he is frequently the keynote speaker. He is also a founding member of the Mendocino Coast Photographer Guild and Galley in Fort Bragg, where he displays his nature and wildlife photographs. His passion for the natural world is rivaled only by his desire to share that passion.
"Wild." "Wildlife." "Wilderness." These words stir longing in many of us a yearning for the time when humans lived in intimate connection with the rushing of wind and water, the rustle of foxes in the night, the rising and setting of celestial bodies. Seeking to renew that connection, we carry heavy backpacks into the mountains, re-finding our primal selves in landscapes largely unchanged by humans. We cherish our glimpses into the lives of wild animals, telling and retelling others about our sightings of eagles, bears, or beavers.
But the land right around us was pristine once also, and we can start renewing our connection with the wild right here at home. We can study our local landscapes and begin restoring them to a near-primeval state. Complete restoration is impossible, according to Brock Dolman, co-director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center's Wildlands Biodiversity Program and director of its WATER Institute, but tremendous improvements can be made.
The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC) has been working for the past several years to recover 70 acres that were once heavily logged. Woodlands congested with small spindly trees are on their way to becoming stately and fire-resilient forests. Water that once roared through gullies and carried sediment into streams now flows across the surface and soaks into the land, recharging the water table. Tree frogs, snakes, and dragonflies are populating the edges of rainwater ponds. For those interested in learning how and why these changes have come about, Brock Dolman will deliver a slide lecture entitled "Trending to the Wild: Promoting Wildlands Biodiversity" on Thursday, November 15, at the Ukiah Civic Center, 7 p.m. This Peregrine Audubon Society program is free to the public, though donations will be gratefully accepted.
"Wildlife," Dolman says, "needs Food, cover, water, and sex." He suggests that a landowner or agency can start by figuring out what the bottleneck is for any target species. If water is in short supply, he will suggest measures to "slow it, spread it, and sink it." In the process you may turn a seasonal creek back into a year-round creek or start dry springs flowing again. If a forest is so thick that Cooper's Hawks can't hunt and deer can't forage, you can thin the trees and turn the resultant debris into a 'brush plug' at the top of a gully. The brush plug will slow rainwater run-off and provide cover for salamanders at the same time. If there are few nest cavities for Western Bluebirds and Oak Titmice, you can leave dead trees standing and put up nest boxes.
Dolman will teach us how to think about a piece of land, using OAEC's program as a case study. He will offer hands-on, low-budget, site-specific methods for the restoration of water tables, wildlife, and plants. Some methods not yet mentioned include spot burning, replanting native bunch grasses, and digging contour swales. (The OAEC offers classes in some of these practices, such as one for landowners entitled "Facilitating Fire in the Landscape").
Dolman will also touch on topics from his "Thinking Like a Watershed" lecture that he delivered to rapt Ukiah and Willits audiences in early October. In that talk Dolman explained that the demand for fresh water grows twice as fast as populations. He pointed out that everyone lives in a watershed, and that when watershed groups come together to conserve water and reduce erosion they are, in effect, building a lifeboat against the coming flood. With his ever-present humor he repeated his favorite mantra several times: "Planning is best done in advance."
Brock Dolman is a thought-provoking speaker whose style is pragmatic, poetic, and often amusing. An ornithologist and wildlife biologist by training, Dolman is also a Sonoma County Fish & Wildlife Commissioner, a board member of the Russian River Watershed Council, an occasional advisor to various water control agencies, and a nationally recognized permaculture instructor and consultant. The work of Dolman and the OAEC has been so effective that the California Department of Forestry, the University of California, and the California Department of Fish and Game include the OAEC on their teaching-tour circuits. For more information about the OAEC's programs go to www.oaec.org
If you are someone who would like to learn which birds live here in the winter, which live here in the summer, and which ones only migrate through our area, the CBC slideshow or count might be for you. If you have ever seen a bright blue bird that you just knew wasn't a jay, but couldn't figure out what else it might be...well, the CBC might help. The slideshow is a good introduction to the birds that spend the winter here, and the count itself is an opportunity for beginning or intermediate bird watchers to go out with more experienced birders and learn to recognize birds. Novice or intermediate bird watchers might see cedar waxwings, with their velvet-sleek feathers and bandit eyes, for the first time. Others might learn that most osprey migrate south in the winter, but a few usually stay behind (to please the counters). Even if you know nothing about birds you can help by spotting movement in the tree tops or keeping tallies on a clipboard. You are welcome! The Ukiah Civic Center is located at 300 Seminary Avenue. From 101 take Perkins west to State Street (3rd light). Go left on State Street and turn right on Seminary. Take Seminary to the end.
The Lowdown on Mountain Lions: Slideshow and Lecture by Scott Koller
Article by Kate Marianchild
If you were a mountain lion, you'd be like the rest of us: you would love living in Mendocino County! There are lots of Black-tailed Deer, your favorite food, and you'd enjoy the variety in your diet provided by raccoons, opossums, ducks, beavers, and porcupines. During the day, when you werenít hunting, it would be easy to tuck yourself away and hide because so much of Mendocino County is wild and uninhabited.
"You'd also find it pretty easy to get in trouble in Mendocino County, especially if you were a young male mountain lion," explains Scott Koller, Associate Wildlife Biologist and Wildlife Resource Manager for the Department of Fish and Gameís Mendocino Unit. "First-year mountain lions who arenít yet fully capable as hunters are more likely to go after easy prey such as sheep, dogs, cats, and goats. In fact," Koller says, "in Mendocino County more depredation permits have been issued in the last five years than in any other county in California." A depredation permit allows the shooting of a "nuisance" mountain lion.
Koller, who finds mountain lions fascinating, will give an illustrated lecture on the habits of these reclusive top predators on Thursday, January 17 at 7 p.m. at Ukiah Civic Center. The lecture will contain surprises for many people. Do you know what kind of relationship mountain lions have with water? Have you ever wondered what animal is the primary predator of mountain lion kittens? Do you know how long kittens stay with their mother?
Koller will also discuss Department of Fish and Game policy regarding the issuance of depredation permits and will explain how experts tell the difference between mountain lion attacks, coyote attacks, and bear attacks. "There will be some pretty graphic pictures of livestock kills," warns Koller, "so consider whether you want to bring children." Koller will bring mountain lion skulls to demonstrate the razor-like teeth they have in the back of the mouth. He might also bring a bear skull.
A year ago local naturalist, Bob Keiffer, volunteered and was subsequently selected to be a member of one of seven different teams that continued the search for the "elusive" Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the bottomland forest of the White River National Wildlife Refuge in 2007. These 9-person teams, who provided their entire support with the exception of housing, were organized by Cornell University and have conducted two-week searches in this area since 2005. Join us tonight when Bob will share a photo presentation portraying his experiences, the search methodology, and his team's findings. Also, having observed an amazing variety of habitat types in the search area, he will describe many of the other wildlife encounters he experiences during that two week period. For a bit of background Bob has suggested that, prior to hearing his presentation, you may wish to review the Cornell University IBWO website at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory and specifically the 2006/2007 reportIvory-billed Woodpecker painting by Chandler.
Bob wades through Arkansas or The search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
article by Kate Marianchild
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a magnificent bird native to swampy forests of the southeastern United States and Cuba, was declared extinct in 1921. In the late 20's and 30's a few nesting pairs were found, but the last reliable photograph of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in this country was taken in 1938. By the 1970s the third largest woodpecker in the world was widely, but not officially, assumed to be extinct in the United States and possibly also in Cuba.
Then, between February of 2004 and February of 2005, 15 sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers were reported in Arkansas's Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. The stunning discovery thrilled bird and wildlife lovers across the nation and the world. Those reports, however, have not been documented with reliable photographs or sound recordings, and are now considered questionable.
Do any Ivory-billed Woodpeckers still glide through the virgin forests of the Southeast? Does their loud drumming still ring in the swamps? Bob Keiffer, Principal Superintendent of Agriculture at Hopland Research and Extension Center and sub-regional editor of North American Birds, has something to say on that subject. Part of a team organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Keiffer spent two weeks last February canoeing and wading through the hardwood bottomlands of White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, hoping to see and document the existence of the legendary bird.
Keiffer didn't see any Ivory-bills, but he was able to take excellent photographs of the wildlife in the wet woodlands, including wood ducks and other water fowl, white-tailed deer, coyotes, swamp rabbits and more. Keiffer will present his slides, along with the history of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the story of its decline, and a summary of the evidence that it still may exist, in a presentation at the Ukiah Civic Center on Thursday, February 21, at 7 p.m. This Peregrine Audubon Society event is free to the public, though donations will be welcome.
This will be a very different and, we think, very popular program tonight. How much do you think you know of the life of John James Audubon? His story is actually a very dramatic and surprising one. He saw more of the North American Continent that virtually anyone of his time and came to stand for America - the America of wilderness and wild things. In this significant and new Americn Masters Series movie Audubon is shown to be a self-taught artist and a self-made man whose life was rife with action and contradiction. He played the debonair European when he visited the American frontier, and then the wild woodsman in the drawing rooms of Europe. This fascinating story follows J.J. Audubon's life from Haiti to France to the United States where he began his life-long study of natural history and painting birds.
As an artist and naturalist his achievements are monumental. The Birds of America - an astonishing collection of 435 life-size prints - was the largest book printed in the 19th century. Audubon was not only the artist; he was the writer, publisher, and promoter. His early subscribers included the kings of England and France.
Join us and learn something of our natural heritage and ENJOY a great night at the movies. The production was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanites and the National Endowmwnt for the Arts.
Slideshow of Ecuador Birds to be Presented by Roger Foote
by Kate MarianchildThe tiny South American country of Ecuador looms large in the minds of nature lovers: the vast Amazonian jungle, huge rivers, snow-capped Andean peaks, magical cloud forests. It also happens to be home to more species of birds per acre than any country in the world. The size of Nevada, Ecuador boasts almost twice as many birds as all of North America. "It was a bit overwhelming," says Roger Foote, who traveled in Ecuador with his wife Holly Brackmann and two other local couples in late June of 2007. "The profusion of life is unbelievable. There wasn't enough time to capture it all with my camera, much less look through my binoculars."
Foote will give a slide presentation depicting the often colorful, sometimes odd, and occasionally rare birds of Ecuador that he and some of his traveling companions caught in pixels with their digital cameras and spotting scopes during last year's trip. The other members of the trip were Chuck and Barbara Vaughn, Cheryl Watson, and Geoff Heineken. The slideshow will take place on Thursday, April 17, 7 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center.
Roger Foote once worked as a biologist in Columbia, Ecuador's neighbor to the north, which gave him a head start on Ecuador's flora and fauna and contributed to the fluent Spanish that he speaks. He was a very effective president of Peregrine Audubon Society for five years until stepping down last summer. This Peregrine Audubon program is free to the public but donations will be gratefully accepted.
This is the last meeting of our birding year, and it will be special, different, and very likely, quite enjoyable. We will share a potluck meal beginning at 6 p.m. and enjoy a TBA fabulous program!
Please bring a tasty dish to share as well as your own beverage of choice. Also, if you can remember to bring your own plates and silverware, that would be appreciated.
George Chaniot will lead a September trip to the consistently best birding spot in the Ukiah valley. Water levels fluctuate weekly in the ponds making for ever-changing habitat, and this results in different species being present over time. Late September is still fall migration, and there are often unexpected sightings. Although the treatment plant is undergoing remodeling, there is no construction occuring on the weekends. The public hours are restricted, however, to 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We will leave from the Long's Drug Store parking lot at 8:45 a.m. and carpool to the south Ukiah facility for a couple hours of interesting birding.(See Field Trip Guidelines below.)
Lots of bird species, it's nearby, there are picnic tables, a beautiful lake, and it's October and a simply wonderful time to be outdoors. This has consistently been one of the most satisfying birding excursions that the Peregrine Chapter conducts. From Ukiah it is approximately an hour's drive to scenic Clearlake State Park which is about 12 miles east of Lakeport. We will likely have the park mostly to ourselves as we stroll around with binoculars and spotting scopes visiting various creeks and lakeside riparian habitats. Most species including American White Pelicans and at times intersting marsh birds (Bittern, Rail, Sora) have been found at the mouth of Kelsey Creek. We have also at times had close-up views of Wood Ducks, Great Blue Herons, Pied-billed Grebes, and many varied passerines. On our return to Ukiah a visit to Rodman Slough on the northwest shore of the lake usually produces views of a few different avian species. We will depart in the morning from Ukiah Long's parking lot at 7:30 a.m.(See Field Trip Guidelines below.)
Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Ukiah Long's parking lot or at 8:00 a.m. at the Willits High School. Chuck Vaughn will again lead this field trip into one of California's most beautiful valleys. In past years birds of note here have included Horned Larks, Ferruginous Hawks, Lewis's Woodpeckers, Peregrine and Prairie Falcons, Merlins, and Canyon Wrens.(See Field Trip Guidelines below.)
Christmas Bird Count: A Century-Old Tradition Continues in Ukiah This Year
by Kate Marianchild
At the turn of the 20th century a common Christmas Day activity was the "side hunt" a "social outing" during which participants shot as many birds and small mammals as possible. Shocked by the slaughter, a group of 27 conservationists proposed, in the year 1900, to count birds on Christmas Day rather than shoot them. Led by a man named Frank Chapman, they organized bird counts in 25 communities, unwittingly launching a tradition that has changed the course of history and saved the lives of thousands, perhaps millions, of birds: the Christmas Bird Count. Over 50,000 people across North America now participate every year in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), having fun and contributing important information about the health of bird populations at the same time. Every participating community divides a 15-mile radius circle into sections, and enthusiastic bird watchers sign up to count birds under the direction of a section leader. The results of the CBC contribute to an understanding of increases and declines in bird populations in the northern hemisphere and help scientists assign conservation priorities. Ukiah's Peregrine Audubon Society will hold this year's local CBC on Saturday, December 15, and invites all interested persons, experienced and otherwise, to participate.
To help participants prepare for "Count Day," local bird expert Bob Keiffer will present a slideshow on local birds on Thursday, December 6 at the Ukiah Civic Center at 7 p.m. The slideshow, which was compiled by Keiffer and birder/photographer Matthew Matthiessen, emphasizes the field characteristics of birds likely to be seen during the CBC. The slideshow is open to all, including people who do not wish to participate in the Count. The evening will also include team sign-ups (optional) and instructions for "Count Day." The official Count Day lasts for 24 hours, though most birders participate for 3-8 hours, depending on interest, stamina, and weather. At the end of the day participants share a potluck "Compilation Dinner" to celebrate another successful Count and to hear the results of the day's effort. The compilation dinner takes place at 6 p.m. at the Grace Hudson Museum Public room.
We will leave from the Ukiah Long's parking lot at 7:00 a.m., and although this tends to be a somewhat long drive, it can result in a spectacular trip. The birds will be massed on the refuges treating us to a variety of species, some seldom seen in Mendocino County. Sandhill Cranes, White-faced Ibis, Black-necked Stilts, Eurasian Wigeon, and Snow and Ross's Geese, to name a few species, are regularly observed at Gray Lodge. There are usually also excellent views of Blue-winged, Green-winged, and Cinnamon Teal as well as Northern Pintails, Redheads, and Canvasback ducks. If the weather cooperates, all of this is observed against the background of Mount Lassen. Consider lunch, binoculars, warm clothes, and rain gear de rigueur(See Field Trip Guidelines below.)
Peregrine Audubon has had a very popular Fall field trip to Clear Lake State Park for many years now, but there are other neat places to bird around that ancient shallow watery basin, and we're going to point some of them out to whomever joins us on this bright, clear, Saturday morning. We will depart from the Ukiah Long's parking lot at 7:30 a.m. for a multistop tour beginning at Rodman Slough and ending at Borax Lake.
Leading us will be Dr. Floyd Hayes of Hidden Valley, a dedicated Lake County birding expert, known to all Mendobirds subscribers for his frequent, detailed accounts of the birds he finds around that great lake to the east. An yes...., we WILL stop for Phainopepla.
We'll walk south on an easy trail along Forsythe Creek, starting on the east and crossing over to the west side. We'll look for birds in the riparian habitat and the Valley Oak Woodland on both sides of the creek, noting the habits, songs, and calls of the birds. We'll particularly observe what they are eating, where they perch, and what shrubs they use for cover. We'll also hope to note some early nest-building activity. This walk will be approximately one mile round-trip with the possibility of more. Limited to 12 people. Please call Steve Stockstedder at 707-508-8729 to register. Rain cancels. We will leave/carpool from Long's parking lot in Ukiah at 8:30 a.m. or, if coming from Redwood Valley, Willits, etc., meet at 9:00 a.m. at the Ridgewood Ranch field station - near the RV park.(See the Field Trip Guidelines below)
Directions: From Hwy. 101 northbound turn left into Ridgewood Ranch (at the end of the highway road construction). Coming from Willits, Ridgewood Ranch is the first right past the summit. Having entered the property, go straight for about 1 mile (don't turn right toward La Vida school).
Chuck Vaughn, who has worked at the UC-HREC for over 30 years, will lead us on a birding tour through various ecosystems at this 5300 acre University of California research facility. Habitats include creeks, ponds, oak woodlands, grasslands, upland chaparral, and much more. We usually see and hear a variety of spring migrants as well as many year-round residents. Expect to see California Thrashers, Sage Sparrows, and Rufous-crowned Sparrows. If our timing is good, we might also see Golden Eagles, Grasshopper Sparrows, and Lawrence's Goldfinches. There are always surprise migrants seen. We will leave from the western edge of the Ukiah Long's parking lot at 8:00 a.m., or you can meet us at the center at 8:30. Bring your lunch, water, binoculars, and favorite ID book.See the Field Trip Guidelines.
This trip will be led by George Chaniot. Warblers, chats, grosbeaks, vireos, and possibly Purple Martins occur here. The primary birding is done along the locally scenic main stem of the Eel River with stops at the Pioneer Bridge, Trout Creek, and possibly Burris Lane. MacGillivray's Warbler and Hermit Warbler are two species usually seen here which can be difficult to find elsewhere in the county. In a good year there is a lot of singing and a lot of color darting among the trees. We will leave from the Ukiah Long's parking lot at 8:00 a.m., or you can meet us at the old Potter Valley bridge site along the Russian River (1/4 mile north of Highway 20) at 8:30 a.m. Bring your lunch, water, binoculars, and favorite ID book.See the Field Trip Guidelines.
Last revised April 19, 2008
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