It’s a tree you may not notice until it turns saffron yellow in the autumn months. You’ll see the natural blanket of fan-shaped leaves that unfolds beneath its trunk as the tree sheds. And you may stop in awe, not realizing how many times you’ve passed this tree without a glance and only now, see…
Archives for 2008
Identifying Bird Songs
I helped a fellow volunteer with a class presentation this month — on the topic of birding by ear. I was asked to help, not because I can, in fact, identify birds by ear. But because I’m reasonably adept at editing sound files and attaching them to Keynote (or Powerpoint) slides. I can’t post any…
The Waxwings Are Back
I don’t know exactly how long they’ve been back, the Cedar Waxwings. Serious birders** know from the hour. I only know by the near-silent whistles that suddenly populate our trees. And I know because we got our first injured Cedar Waxwings at the hospital in the past two weeks — immobilized by window strikes. Today,…
A Quiet Nation of Shorebirds – San Francisco Bay Area
I try to stop by Arrowhead Marsh when I’m in the vicinity of Oakland Airport . . . which is quite a lot, considering I’m with a guy who, essentially, commutes to work by plane. It’s my consolation in solitude to stroll through the marshes with my camera after I bid farewell to Southwest or…
A Day in the Life of a Corpse Flower
Well, more than a day actually . . . It’s supposed to smell like rotting flesh, hence the name. But during our visit with the corpse flower (Titan arum) at UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, the plant was nice enough not to pulsate and stink up the joint. The smells come in pulses, often more pungent…
