Valley Habitat 1

The Valley Habitat February 2014

A Joint Publ icat ion of the Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety

and the Yokuts Group of the S ierra Club

Trimming the Carbon Footprint

by Steve Tomlinson, Yokuts Treasurer

Hi folks. Needless to say there are several

transportation options which help to reduce the burn-

ing of fossil fuels. In our area this would include

Amtrak, bus services, hybrid vehicles, electric cars, or

bicycles. Personally I have not driven a car for over

eight years. My primary focus today will be on elec-

tric bikes or E-bikes. I recently spent a day in Sacra-

mento and purchased my third E-bike. It was quite

convenient as the bike shop is three blocks from the

Amtrak station and close to good food as well as a

Starbucks. I test drove a couple of bikes on an asphalt

trail along the Sacramento River. After the first ride

I said "It's FUN" when asked how the ride was. The

bike is a "pedal assist" bicycle in that you can regulate

how much the electric motor assists your pedaling. Or

you can go with throttle only. The range of mileage

on a battery charge ranges from about 10 to 25 miles.

Top speed is 20 m.p.h. There are lots of electric bikes

available with a range in prices as well.

I could talk for days about alternate transporta-

tion and E-bikes. I am more than open to anyone's

questions.

However the prevalent concern for me

is whether individuals are willing to make a change or

sacrifice to help save the planet.

The bike shop owner tells me that environ-

mental reasons account for about 5%-10% of E-bike

purchases. The #1 reason is to have "fun". Behind fun

are saving money and health. Of course change is not

always easy, even when done for good reasons. Re-

sistance, rationalizations and excuses are always easy

and convenient. My experience is that cutting the car-

bon or making a lifestyle change is not really that

hard. New habits can take the place of old ones.

Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club Program 7p.m. Friday, February 21, 2014

Adam Blauert : New and Future Hiking Opportunities in California

Adam Blauert is a correspondent to the Merced Sun-Star. He's an avid outdoorsman who enjoys

fishing, backpacking, and exploring the western states.

His talk will center on new and future hiking opportunities in California. For those who want a sneak

preview of what Adam could present, take a look at

some of his columns in the Merced Sun-Star at mercedsunstar.com. His topics range from the dessert to the

coast, the mountains to the Central Valley.

Be sure to explore his galleries on Bodie, Death Valley and the Black Rock Dessert.

College Avenue Congregational Church 1341 College Avenue - Refreshments and socializing begin at 6:45 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. -Non-members are always welcome! The program is free and open to the public.

The beautiful 2014 Sierra Club Engagement Calendars and Wall Calendars will be sold, discounted, at the

Ferbruary 21st program or you can call Doug Hardie at (209) 524-6651 to order them.

Valley Habitat 2

Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety RECENT SIGHTINGS OF RARE OR UNCOMMON BIRDS

MERCED COUNTY:

On November 30, Justin Bosler had a PALM WARBLER at Dinosaur Point in San Luis Reservoir; that is only the second Merced County record for this species. Kent van Vuren had three PECTO-RAL SANDPIPERS and a RUFF at the restricted access Los Baos Water Treatment Plant on De-cember 4. At that same location on December 18, Kent had a SAGEBRUSH SPARROW, a species which was split from the newly named Bells Sparrow last summer. Gary Woods saw six MOUN-TAIN PLOVERS off Sandy Mush Road on December 7. On December 28, another RUFF was found by Al DeMartini and Peter Metropulos at the Los Baos Water Treatment Facility ponds. Dale Swanberg found a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL at Henderson Park near Snelling on December 30.

Although not a county record, this was the first visual sighting of this species of owl in Merced County. On January 3, Kent van Vuren reported four BROWN PELICANS continuing at San Luis Reservoir. Also on January 3, Kent Johnson had a male adult VERMILION FLYCATCHER on Santa Fe Grade Road. This is possibly the same bird returning to that location over several previ-ous winters.

STANISLAUS COUNTY:

Harold Reeve, Bill Amundsen, Eric Caine, and Ralph Baker had a female GREATER SCAUP on December 8 at the

Modesto Water Quality Control Facility. On December 11, Sal Salerno had a TOWNSENDS SOLITAIRE in Del Puerto Canyon. Harold Reeve found a HERMIT WARBLER associating with Townsends Warblers at Tuolumne River Regional Park on December 24. While re-finding this warbler at that park on December 28, Frances Oliver had a

WESTERN TANAGER. The Hermit Warbler and tanager are apparently overwintering, which is possibly due to the

warm, dry climate that our county had in December.

Sherrie and Harold Reeve found a juvenile female YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on Sonora Road, one mile

west of Knights Ferry, on December 30. If this sapsucker is accepted by the S.B.R.C, it would be only the third record of this species since 1987. Jurgen Lehnert, a birder visiting California from Germany, found a BELLS SPARROW in Del Puerto Canyon on January 6.

(NOTE: The LARK BUNTING found on November 1 was still seen by several observers on the Caswell-Westley

Christmas Bird Count on January 5.)

HERMIT WARBLER

John Sterling YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER John Harris

Stan islaus Audubon Soc iety

Valley Habitat 3

All birdwatchers, from

backyard enthusiasts to ornithol-

ogists, began as beginners. During

that learning curve, each of them

has wondered, Why doesnt that bird in the field look like this one

in the book? Intermediates still get

stumped, and even advanced bird-

ers have been known to retract

their initial calls. In exploring

some reasons for misidentification,

I will have to state the obvious

again. But if we remember how

mistakes were made, we will not

only make fewer of them, but also

we will forgive ourselves, and each

other, when we inevitably stumble.

I would like to highlight

three issues with misidentification:

observers misinterpreting the bird,

the birds themselves being abnor-

mal, or books misaligning from

actual birds.

1. ITS NOT YOU, ITS ME! First, lets put observers

on the spot. Our minds often gain

an unfair advantage over our sens-

es. What we actually see is often

distorted by what we expect or

wish to see. If we swiftly assume

the bird we see is a particular com-

mon species, our minds will em-

phasize only marks that confirm

our assumption, while overlooking

other details that may actually be

there. That bird we dismiss as just

another Savannah Sparrow with a

glance may really be an uncom-

mon Vesper Sparrow with closer

scrutiny.

This observer bias can run

in the opposite direction, too. At

times, we may wish to see a rare

species so urgently that we may

temporarily turn a common bird into a rarity by bending what we

see and hear to our wishes. We

dont want to trust our senses be-cause of what is at stakeso much traveling, so much searchingso we allow our imagination to run,

like wild dogs rampant in the field.

It would seem these

perceptual errors would be reduced

with multiple observers, but there

is often a collective hypnosis among like-minded birders. If a

field trip leader (or someone who

just acts confidently) makes the

first call on a bird, nearly everyone

may not only believe that call, but

will choose to see what they have been told is there. Years ago, I

tramped in the rain with birders in

Humboldt County to see a Spotted

Owl that was called in, and merely

glanced at, by our leader, until an

astute birder borrowed my binocu-

lars and named it correctly as a

Barred Owl.

Yes, we should let our

senses get ahead of our minds, but

no, we cannot always trust our

senses. Optical illusions abound in

the field. Estimating a birds size is tough enough, but a dark back-

ground can make a pale bird ap-

pear larger than the others, while a

light background can cause a dark

bird to appear larger than the rest.

A bird viewed near the horizon

among trees, or seen flying through

fog, or even spotted through a

scope, may appear larger than a

bird flying directly overhead or

flying in a clear sky, or larger even

than a bird seen closer to us with

binoculars. One shorebird by itself

is often more difficult to size than one that is foraging with Dunlins

and Least Sandpipers, which can

provide helpful reference sizes for

comparison.

Judging a birds shape may be made more difficult by its

differing postures, not to mention

its constantly altering feather ar-

rangements. A perched bird facing

the wind may have a sleeker shape

than when foraging on the ground.

A bird may fluff up its feathers

when cold, pull its feathers down

when frightened, or raise its feath-

ers when annoyed, changing its

sh