The Valley Habitat

January/February 2019

Environmental

Scholarship

Available!

Pass it on!

The Yokut’s Group is

offering a $1000 schol-

arship for the Donna

Durham Memorial for

the 2019/2020 academ-

ic school year.

Applicants must

demonstrate a com-

mitment to an envi-

ronmental or conser-

vation project, and or

course of study

through a degree pro-

gram. Possible envi-

ronmental projects or

degree programs could

include, but are not

limited to, organic

farming, solar studies,

green building practic-

es, recycling, water

conservation, reducing

fossil fuel use, green

and/or sustainable

business practices, or

(continued on page 6)

A joint publication of the Stanislaus Audubon Society and the Yokuts Group of the

Sierra Club

Attention Please! 2

Recent Sightings 3

Audubon Field Trips 4

Nature Walk! 5

Inside this issue:

Sierra Club Monthly Programs January/February 2019

College Avenue United Church of Christ, 1341 College Ave. Modesto 95350

Members Slide Show Friday, January 18, 2019, 7:00pm

Share the secrets of your nature and birding adventures and expeditions at

the annual Member’s Slide Show. All Yokuts and Audubon are invited to

share pictures and videos of recent trips. Bring your files on a flash drive

and limit presentations to about ten minutes. Community members are wel-

come to come and take a look to discover more about the Sierra Club’s

Yokuts Group and the Stanislaus Audubon Society.

Banding Cavity Nesting Birds in the San Joaquin Valley

Steve Simmons

Friday Feb. 15, 2019, 7:00pm

This presentation will showcase Steve’s adventures over the last 45 years

banding wood ducks, screech owls, barn owls, burrowing owls, kestrels,

Western bluebirds and other small birds. He will also bring a variety of nest

boxes and "equipment" that he uses in banding so he can demonstrate tech-

niques that he has developed over the years. During the past 45 years of

working with the birds, Steve has developed many tools to catch the birds,

and he has banded over 30,000 birds and reached having his 100,000th bird

hatch out one of the boxes two years ago. He does all of the work as a hobby,

helping the birds have a safe place to nest and raise their young. In his oth-

er life, Steve taught wood shop for 38 years at Merced High School.

Harder Elected!

Congratulations to Josh Harder for his election victory over incumbent Jeff

Denham to serve as congressional representative in California District 10. It was an

uphill battle for Mr. Harder and an extremely close race, not decided until over a

week after election day.

The victory can be attributed in large part to Mr. Harder’s non-stop energy,

connecting with voters and getting out his message of health care reform, immigra-

tion reform, tackling water issues, and implementing clean energy alternatives. He

ran a well-organized campaign, relying on a skilled staff and volunteers. Many of

the Yokuts management committee and other Sierra Club members canvassed,

phone banked, wrote letters to the editor, and worked to receive the national Sierra

Club endorsement for Mr. Harder. The Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club looks for-

ward to working with Harder on environmental issues.

~Kent Mitchell, Political

Years ago, I was one of

a group of birders who had

spent hours aboard a pelagic

trip out of Monterey Bay. The

boat was speeding back to

shore, and virtually all of the

birders were either huddled in

the cabin or on the benches.

If their thoughts ran like mine

did just then, they would have

been thinking about the next

meal or the drive home. Todd

Easterla, however, was

perched at the stern of the

boat, intently scanning the

horizon. Suddenly, he straight-

ened up and shouted,

“Streaked Shearwater!” We all

scrambled to the stern. Roger

Wolfe and Todd tried to get

others to see the rarity, but I

was not one of them. Once

again, Todd had found a rare

bird; once more, a story was

added to his legend.

Last year, I was one of a

group of birders in Oregon

who had just started hiking on

the trail of a wilderness area.

At the outset, fourteen birders

stopped and stared, stalked

and listened, with little conver-

sation between them, except

to point out the birds they saw

and heard. After an hour or

so, seven of the fourteen con-

tinued birding, while the others

talked of birds they had seen,

of places they had been, of

cabbages and kings. After

two hours, three of the four-

teen birders were stalking and

stopping, looking and listening,

while the other eleven either

became chattier or walked

directly ahead, perhaps think-

ing of returning to their car.

Finally I asked, “Are we still bird-

ing?” A woman behind me re-

plied, “Well, we all have our

attention spans.”

The common ingredient

in those two examples is the

focused attention of birders

who continually perform the

skill for as long as they are in

the field. As sensory creatures,

we have an innate resource

available to us—our ability to

pay engaged attention to our

surroundings. Fortunately, this

resource can be nurtured over

time, with practice and a di-

rected effort of will.

An attention span is a

curious thing. We apparently

have the power to expand it if

we are really motivated to do

so. Unfortunately, we also al-

low ourselves to be readily dis-

tracted, thereby fragmenting

the attention that we give to

our object. On a birding field

trip, it takes a special quality of

concentration to be able to

focus on every sound and sight

that is not human, and that is

not easy to cultivate.

If you’ve been birding

on enough field trips, you know

that clusters of birds are ran-

domly distributed in the field.

This means that you must un-

cover as many of them as possi-

ble to identify and study them.

Also, it means that the more un-

common birds, or even that one

rare bird, will be mixed in among

the more common ones. The

“best bird” of the day, a county

record or new life bird, the bird

that “makes the headline,” may

be perched at the parking lot

when you return, perhaps ex-

hausted, from a hike of several

hours. Will you be the one who

still has your Attention light on at

the very last moment?

As I round the bend of this

reflection, I pass a mirror and see

that I am not flawless. I realize

that my own behavior in the field

does not always rise to the high

standard that I am proposing. I

can spin a line of gab too, and I

can also lose my concentration

on a slow day. I too have spent

an inordinate amount of time

talking or listening to other birders

instead of birding. It is human

nature to be interested in other

humans, and I always find some-

thing intriguing about the folks

with whom I share the trail. But I

do try, however, to cast the

beam of my attention for as long

as possible. I can only practice

what I recommend, within the

limits of my imperfection.

To paraphrase the saying,

any journey worth taking always

begins with a new step. The next

time you go birding, whether in

the field or in your backyard,

open your attention and let it

grow. The less you say, the more

you can see and hear. What is

that bird, just at the end of the

focused light of your attention?

MAY THEY HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE? by Salvatore Salerno

PAGE 2 THE VALLEY HABITAT

Jim Gain found an AMERICAN

GOLDEN-PLOVER* at Modesto

Wastewater Treatment Facility

on October 28, also seen by

three other birders. Dale Swan-

berg and Rich Brown had a

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on

Dunton Road on November 6.

Jim Gain had two SHORT-EARED

OWLS at the same location on

the same day. Eric Hopson had

a SHORT-EARED OWL at the San

Joaquin River N.W.R. on No-

vember 18. Harold Reeve had

two HORNED GREBES at Turlock

Lake S.R.A. on November 19.

John Harris and three other

birders had a GREATER SCAUP

at the Modesto Wastewater

Treatment Facility on Novem-

ber 25. Harold and Sherrie

Reeve had a male BARROW’S

GOLDEYE at Knight’s Ferry on

December 1. This is presumably

the same bird that was with the

Common Goldeneyes there

last winter.

Stanislaus Audubon Society Recent Sightings of Rare or Uncommon Birds

PAGE 3 THE VALLEY HABITAT

STANISLAUS COUNTY

(*committee review)

Jim Gain had a RED PHALA-

ROPE* at the Modesto

Wastewater Treatment Facility

on October 14, also seen by

three other birders. If the bird is

accepted by the committee, it

would be the most recent

sighting since 1997. Joe Devine

had a CASSIN’S KINGBIRD on

Beckwith Road on October 16.

Harold and Sherrie Reeve

found a COMMON LOON on

October 20 at Dawson Lake.

Garry Hayes saw a CASSIN’S

KINGBIRD at the west campus

of Modesto Junior College on

October 25, possibly the same

kingbird he had found there in

November of 2017. Dale Swan-

berg had a CASSIN’S KINGBIRD

on Orestimba Road on Octo-

ber 25. That location is a prob-

able nesting site for that spe-

cies.

Red Phalarope © Jim Gain

American Golden-Plover

© Harold Reeve

Rough-legged Hawk© Rich Brown

MERCED COUNTY

Dale Swanberg had a

WHITE-THROATED SPAR-

ROW at McConnell State

Park on October 29. Dale

also saw a RED-NECKED

GREBE at O’Neill Forebay

on November 13. Kent

Van Vuren saw a BLACK

SCOTER (second county

record)

along with ten RED-

BREASTED MERGANSERS

at O’Neill Forebay on No-

vember 20. Andrew Rush

had a VERMILION FLY-

CATCHER on November

26 at Santa Fe Grade

Road, which has been

the site of that species in

previous winters.

Black Scoter© Kent van Vuren

Short-eared Owl© Calvin Lou Cassin's Kingbird© Garry Hayes

PAGE 4 THE VALLEY HABITAT

Audubon Field Trips

Sunday, January 20 & Saturday,

February 16 - San Joaquin River

National Wildlife Refuge.

This refuge near Modesto offers

diverse habitats, including

mixed species transitional are-

as, riparian forest, oak wood-

lands, grassland, and seasonal

wetlands. Meet at the Stani-

slaus County Library parking lot

(1500 I Street, Modesto) at 7:00

a.m. We will return to Modesto

early-to-mid-afternoon. Trip

leader: Ralph Baker

(SASFieldTrips@yahoo.com).

Sunday, January 13 - Con-

sumes River Preserve.

This exquisite area lies on the

lower reaches of the only river

in the Central Valley that flows

free and undammed out of the

Sierra. This creates many pre-

served natural habitats which

we will visit. Also, some areas

are being managed back to

their natural condition, and

we’ll visit them too. At this time

of year it should be packed

with wintering waterfowl,

cranes, etc. Trails are numerous

and made with birders in mind;

it’s a birder's paradise! Trip

leader TBD, contact Ralph

Baker

(SASFieldTrips@yahoo.com) if

you have any questions. Meet

at the Stanislaus County Library

parking lot, 1500 I Street, Mod-

esto, at 7:00 a.m. Bring lunch or

snacks as we will return to Mod-

esto mid-to-late-afternoon.

Saturday, Feb 2 – Copperopolis

and Salt Springs Valley

On this field trip we’ll explore the

Salt Springs Valley, looking for

birds of open grasslands includ-

ing raptors such as eagles, Ferru-

ginous and Rough-legged

Hawks, and others, as well as

water birds on the Salt Springs

Valley Reservoir and Copperop-

olis Pond, and riparian and oak

woodland birds on our way

home. We’ll return to Oakdale

by mid-afternoon, returning via

scenic Rock Creek Road. Meet

at the Cost Less Market, 888 N.

Yosemite, Oakdale, at 7:00 a.m.

Bring lunch or snacks. Trip Lead-

er: John Harris at (510) 504-2427

or johnh@mills.edu

STANISLAUS AUDUBON SOCIETY REQUESTS DONATIONS

The Board of Directors is requesting donations from the mem-

bers of our local Audubon chapter. One targeted need is for

the A.J. Grayson Scholarship, given yearly to a promising stu-

dent in Environmental Sciences at C.S.U. Stanislaus. The last of

the $600 scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2019. We

hope to continue this scholarship for the next five years, at a

cost of $3,000.

The second targeted need is to cover printing and postage

costs of The Valley Habitat. Although membership dues to Na-

tional Audubon cover part of those expenses, we still mail 400+

copies every two months, at a cost of $2,500 per year. In addi-

tion, we also pay stipends to program presenters, and have

other outgoing costs.

If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please send a

check to Stanislaus Audubon Society, P.O. Box 4012, Modesto,

CA 95352. You will receive a receipt of acknowledgment .

“Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of

being which we may strive to attain.”

~Douglas Coupland

The new representative for Califor-

nia’s 10th district, Josh Harder,

with supporters Elaine Gorman

and Kent Mitchell.

Stay involved with efforts to bring

more environmental awareness to

Central Valley residents by engag-

ing often with Harder. You will be

able to find his contact infor-

mation once he is seated, here:

h t t p s : / / w w w . h o u s e . g o v /

representatives#state-california

PAGE 5 THE VALLEY HABITAT

Community Nature Walk

Saturday January 19

9 AM - 11 AM

River Bluff Regional Park, Ceres

Join Audubon and Sierra Club members on a

3-mile walk along the Tuolumne River at River

Bluff Regional Park in Ceres. We will explore

and learn about the natural history of this ri-

parian habitat. Audubon members will

share their knowledge of local birds. Sierra

Club members will discuss natural and cultur-

al history. There is a small pond that we can

explore, which usually provides us with good

views of many types of water birds. This

walk will be geared to families and begin-

ners.

All members of the community are invited to

participate. Wear comfortable walking

shoes, sun hat, jackets, and bring water. Bin-

oculars will be helpful. We will depart

promptly at 9 AM, from the parking lot near

the concession stand/restrooms.

The park is located on Hatch Road, east of

Mitchell Rd. (about 1/2 mile past the

Walmart, turn left into parking lot). See the

link below for more information.

https://www.ci.ceres.ca.us/250/River-Bluff-

Regional-Park

Rain will cancel this event

For more information, contact :

Elaine, 209-300-4253 or

Ralph at:

sharks_hockey_maniac@yahoo.com.

Please join Yokuts members and the neigh-

borhood group for the monthly clean-up

along the Helen White Memorial Trail

Wednesday, January 23

Wednesday, February 20

The group starts the cleanup at 8:00 AM.

Meet us at the King Kennedy Center, 601

Martin Luther King Dr., Modesto. We finish

by 9:00 AM. For more information about

this activity, contact Elaine Gorman at 209-

300-4253. You can also sign up on S-M-S

Sierra Club Meetup. Rain will cancel this

activity.

Bring gloves and a trash bag!

Helen White Memorial Trail

Clean Up

Recycle at the Yokuts

Monthly program!

Yokuts member Ray Nichols will accept

these materials for recycling at our monthly

programs:

Magazines and books

Household batteries

Button batteries

Burned out light bulbs, CFLs

Eye-glasses

Old cell phones

Please tape over the contacts on 9 volt bat-

teries.

THE VALLEY HABITAT PAGE 6

Stanislaus Audubon Society Board of Directors, 2018-2019

President: Salvatore Salerno bees2@sbcglobal.net

Vice President, Website: Jim Gain

Treasurer: David Froba froba@comcast.net

Secretary: John Harris johnh@mills.edu

Conservation: Jody Hallstrom ponydr@pacbell.net

Field Trips: Ralph Baker sharks_hockey_maniac@yahoo.com

Christmas Bird Counts: Harold Reeve birder@sbcglobal.net

Online Newsletter: Jodi Smith; Events: Chris Magaña, Ralph Baker, Kathy Rasmussen;

Education: Daniel Gilman, Jim Gain, Harold Reeve, John Harris, Xavier Sandoval.

Visit our website: www.stanislausbirds.org

Join our Meetup Group and/or Like us on Facebook.

New or renewing members $20 From National Audubon Society: www.audubon.org/renew

Chapter Code C 36 Membership expiration date is printed on newsletter labels.

(Scholarship, continued from page one)

or mitigating solutions for greenhouse gasses. Interested students must complete an application

form and submit an essay of 200 words but no

more than 500 words supporting their environmen-

tal work or study and how this scholarship will

help further their goals.

A panel of the Sierra Club’s Yokuts Group mem-

bers will choose the winner. Preference will be giv-

en to students living, working, or attending school

in Stanislaus County.

Applications can be found on our website:

https://www.sierraclub.org/mother-lode/yokuts

Application deadline is April 1, 2019. Contact Rick

Delvin with any questions 209-743-9252

This Scholarship is named in honor

of Donna Durham, an avid hiker,

camper, birdwatcher & fisherwoman

and Modesto native. She was a

member of various organizations in-

cluding the Sierra Club, the Audu-

bon Society, the Mono Lake Commit-

tee & the National Association of Education for

Young Children. If there you know any college students with an interest in

conservation, please encourage them to apply.

2018 Holiday Party

Thanks to everyone who came to the 2018

Holiday Party. This party was smaller than

most due to the many members who were

traveling this year, but those who were here

had a wonderful evening with food, friends

and caroling.

I love sharing my holiday decorations and it

is always a game to find the "new" one!

Special thanks to those members who sup-

plied raffle baskets this year…seven total!

Congratulations to the winners of the bas-

kets. It was a fun time and one we are sure

to repeat next year!

Best wishes for an outstanding 2019 and

hope to see you all at our January meeting

at the College Avenue Church of Christ in

Modesto for the Members Slide Show.

~Kathy Weise

Happy New Year!

Yokuts Group of the Sierra Club

Management Committee

Chair: Rick Delvin: rick.delvin@gmail.com

Vice Chair: Elaine Gorman

Political Chair: Kent Mitchell

Secretary: Sandra Wilson

Treasurer: Steve Tomlinson

Hospitality: Candy Klaschus

Program Chair: Elaine Gorman

Membership: Anita Young

Mailing: Kathy Weise

Publicity: Dorothy Griggs

Conservation Chair and

Population Chair: Milt Trieweiler

Calendar Sales: Doug Hardie

Outings Chair: Randall Brown

Outings Leaders:

Sandy Wilson

Randall Brown

Elaine Gorman; , vevado@yahoo.com

Newsletter: Maryann Hight

To send stories to the Habitat, email

mhight@csustan.edu

Website:

http://www.sierraclub.org/mother-lode/yokuts

For hikes and other outings

http://www.meetup.com/S-M-S-

SierraClub

PAGE 7 THE VALLEY HABITAT

Yokuts Election Results for 2019

Elections for members of the Yokuts Executive

board just took place, and I am happy to an-

nounce our new Vice-Chair: Elaine Gorman, our

returning Treasurer: Steve Tomilinson, and returning

Membership Chain: Anita Young.

Thanks to all those members who took the time to

vote!

Yokuts Group Non-Profit Organization

Mother Lode Chapter U.S. Postage PAID

Sierra Club Permit Number 139

P.O. Box 855 Modesto, CA

Modesto, CA 95353

CURRENT RESIDENT OR