The Hummingbirds of Inyo County

Perhaps the question we are most often asked about hummingbirds is “When should I put up and take down my hummingbird feeders?” This question reflects the concern that feeders might entice hummers to remain too long in fall, which might cause them irreparable harm. In...

2010 Fall Fallout in Inyo County

Some Falls can be a little slow and others can be exciting but sometimes a flood of rare species arrive inundating the record books. This season accumulated a list of highlights so lengthy that this article will only deal with the crème de la crème. The two rarest...

Eastern Sierra Thrushes

[Originally appeared in the Sierra Wave newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 5, May-Jun 2010 – click here for original with photos] The thrush family, Turdidae, is found almost worldwide and, with over 300 species, is one of the largest families in the avian world. Just...

“Oh boy, an obscure sparrow!”

[Originally appeared in the Sierra Wave newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 4, Mar-Apr 2010 – click here for original with photos] He was right. We were wrong! Thirty years ago in an Ecuadorian forest, we were complaining about how difficult a group of greenish, seemingly...

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