Roll down your windows to take in the sights and sounds of snow geese, roadrunners, and maybe a bald eagle or two
https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/central-california-wildlife-refuges/
Merced National Wildlife Refuge
Our 2019 honors go to Chamong Xiong of Fresno, CA for his rare and unique photo of a Leucistic Black Phoebe. A hardy native bird normally colored black, this genetic anomaly is a rare sight making this picture a unique view very few would ever see.
Remaking California’s Central Valley wetlands was a complicated project that took much of the 20th century. Resurrected from degraded farmland and cash-strapped gun clubs, assembled by bulldozer and backhoe, the current patchwork of national wildlife refuges, state wildlife areas, and county preserves is much diminished from the four million acres of primeval wetlands that spanned the Central Valley before it was farmed.
https://placesjournal.org/article/the-land-where-birds-are-grown/?cn-reloaded=1
Merced National Wildlife Reserve
"Down Highway 99 to Merced and then head west. Best time to visit the preserve is November through March to find 30,000 to 40,000 Snow and Ross' geese spending their time there. If you are patient enough you can see or photograph thousands of these geese taking to the air at one time."
The Mariposa CBC will occur Saturday, December 15. Contact Len McKenzie at (209) 769-0566 or lenmckenzie@yahoo.com for more information and to get instructions and assignments to specific zones within the Mariposa count circle. (Please note that participants will not assemble in town for a pre-count meeting that morning, as in previous years, but rather will go directly to their assigned areas to meet their party leaders.)
The Yosemite CBC, started in 1932, is slated for the following day, Sunday, December 16. Prospective counters should contact Sarah Stock, sarah_stock@nps.gov, to register and receive zone assignments for the Yosemite count.
The Lost Lake CBC in Fresno County will be held Saturday, December 29. Visit FresnoAudubon.org for details.
The Merced National Wildlife Refuge CBC will occur on Thursday, January 3, 2019. Contact Larry Parmeter, lanpar362@gmail.com, for additional information and instructions.
The Oakhurst CBC will take place Saturday, January 5, 2019. Participants should meet at the Burger King in Oakhurst at 7:00 a.m. that day for instructions and zone assignments. Call (559) 760-6327 or email Vernon Johnson at roygbiv@nctv.com for more information.
The thousands of birds that populate the rolling hills of our foothill and Sierra landscapes never fail to fascinate us in their variety, habits and colors. Birdsongs and calls, like the warbles of red-wing blackbirds perched on fences in grasslands or the red-tailed hawks’ screeches as they loft high above a field fill the air and our lives with thrilling enjoyment, gifts nature bestows on us; all we have to do is listen to birds’ beautiful symphonies.
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/sierra_lodestar/article_5edebaa0-e781-11e8-a344-9b8c16b82709.html
When scientists at UC Merced seek to better understand California’s biodiversity, they turn to cutting-edge genomics. They also turn to their neighbors.
On a sunny Saturday in April, scientists joined forces with members of the local community to take part in UC Merced’s inaugural eDNA BioBlitz.
http://www.ucmerced.edu/news/2017/community-members-aid-cutting-edge-research-‘bioblitz’-project
Kestrels are a fixture among the birds on the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve Opens a New Window. adjacent to campus.
Though they are not endangered, the small falcons’ population has declined by 60 percent in California over the past half-century because of changes in land usage.
http://www.ucmerced.edu/news/2017/bird-researcher-expands-knowledge-about-reserve’s-kestrels
