11/20/2023 0 Comments Acorn woodpecker watercolor paintingLodi, like a lot of other towns in the Valley, are smitten with the wine industry and the prestige that comes with it. Just earlier this month, Lodi celebrated its annual Sandhill Crane Festival which is always a treat. It is that time of year again when sandhill cranes winter in the Central Valley. "Sooty-headed bulbul", watercolor on 9"x12" Lanaquarelle paper. This painting is of a sooty-headed bulbul, an Indonesian species, courtesy of Boas. This talent is probably what separates great birders from ordinary bird admirers like myself. Several times during outings, he heard birds and identified them before seeing it. What amazed me most about him is how his ears were always "perked up" to bird calls. On a short trip to Indonesia, I was lucky enough to bird with Boas Emmanuel, Jakarta's premier bird expert. It may be that he was just fooling us but somehow, I don't think that was the case. Of course, we were all amazed at how he was able to identify all these birds by sound. He named all the birds making the calls and, after a few minutes, we "flushed" the birds from the shrub. I remember one particular class outing where we listened to several bird calls coming from a large shrub. Luckily, there was more to ornithology than looking at dead birds. I was required to take his ornithology class where I had to memorize all the species of California birds using "bird on a stick" avian specimens. Back then, I was studying fisheries since my goal after graduating was to do sustainable aquaculture somewhere. I took my first ornithology class as an undergrad at UC Davis with Dan Anderson.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |