San Francisco State University Sierra Nevada Field Campus June, 2005

In between Nature Trips, we’re usually
out amongst the birds, bees, flowers and
the trees, the moon up above, searching
for and researching California wildlife.
This year we were very fortunate to attend
a one-week class at the SF State Sierra-
Nevada Field Campus entitled “Bird
Identification by Song”. Under the tutelage
of the highly entertaining Jim Steele, a
group of fifteen students studied 100+
Sierra regional bird's calls and songs. We
went on fun field outings in the
magnificent scenery of the Yuba Pass
area, accompanied by intensive recorded
listening, group discussion and somewhat
humbling self tests.

The days began with a group walk in and
around the campus trying to decipher the
hundreds of songs in a “dawn chorus” or,
perhaps a loud, alarming, pre-dawn
wakeup call from a Wilson’s Warbler
perched on your tent only a couple of feet
above your head (that song really stuck).
The dawn walks, which were scheduled by
Professor Steele at 5:45 or quarter to six,
(students choice) were followed by a quick
but delicious breakfast expertly prepared
by the SNFC staff. Immediately following
breakfast came what was for us the most
rewarding part of the class, venturing to a
wide variety of habitats to listen to the
chirps, chucks, chortles, warbles, whistles,
hoots, raps, rattles and the beautiful
melodies that can be heard spring
mornings in the Sierras.

The afternoons were free to wander
around the area birding and sightseeing
and/or to study the provided CD of local
bird song so as to cram for the late
afternoon tests which were followed by
group discussion. As the June sunlight
lasted until almost 9:00 PM, if one was so
inclined, another outing was possible after
the 6:00 PM dinner. The highlight of the
trip was an evening excursion to the Yuba
Pass area where we caught a glimpse of
an adult Bald Eagle soaring in the forest
canopy opening and, as twilight
approached, Jim located a Spotted Owl
for us that obligingly hooted, then
perched in the open for a few minutes
before silently disappearing into the night.
Other exciting moments included a
sighting of the rare Black-backed
Woodpecker at a nest cavity and a day
trip to the Sierra Valley where we saw Ibis
and Cranes amongst many others
followed by a drive up to Antelope Valley
for great views of Lewis Woodpeckers.
We saw Willow Flycatchers at two
mountain locations and a distant view of a
Sage Thrasher in the valley. All in all we
were able to identify by sight or sound
101 bird species for the week up there
including four new species for us: Black-
backed Woodpecker, Lewis’s
Woodpecker, Spotted Owl and Sage
Thrasher. Travelling to and from the
campus we spotted an additional ten bird
species including two separate sightings
of Swainson’s Hawks in the Davis area.

The SF State SNFS has many other
nature science classes to choose from not
only on birds, but also on butterflies,
fungi, mammals, geology, flora and even
fly-fishing (how might you grade that
one?). Fellow bird song student Sarah
Rabkin was beginning a Field Journal and
Illustration class as our class was ending
and we could tell it was going to be great
fun. A group of spider enthusiasts were
performing research simultaneous to our
class and it was easy to see how that
could become a fascination as well. It was
really wonderful to get to hang out with so
many like-minded folks and by the end of
the week to have so many new friends.

Jim Steele’s expertise on California bird
song is nothing short of brilliant and he
shared observations from his over twenty
years of Breeding Bird Survey experience
with the USGS using the “Point Count”
system. The benefit of the class has been
immediately evident to us as we were out
on a trip in the Point Reyes area the day
after our return and heard what we
learned from the class was a Lazuli
Bunting singing from within a Coast Live
Oak. Sure enough, on closer look there it
was and then flew to a high perch for us
to see just how gorgeous they are. A
special thanks to all of our new friends
that were in the class and especially Jim
Steele for a great week. See you out on
the trail sometime soon hopefully!