Physics Makes for a Beautiful Moment in a Day

This post is off the beaten geo-track today, but there is a little bit of science involved. Our new Science Community Center at Modesto Junior College, which I have mentioned extensively in previous posts, has many remarkable features that represent educational opportunities. There are the big ones like the observatory and planetarium, and there are others built into the functionality of the building, like the stairwell. It is a rather grand circular stairwell that climbs four floors (three stories of labs and classrooms, and a fourth story of astronomical equipment storage and access to the rooftop observatory). Each step has one of the letters representing the DNA sequencing of a protein related to insulin, but the most dramatic aspect is the DNA double helix spiral sculpture that winds from the base of the stairwell to the very top. It is a dramatic way to get to class.

I have an early class and to beat traffic snarls I usually arrive well before 8 AM, and at that hour almost no one is in the building. It is a pleasant couple of moments to wander up the stairs in silence before the start of a busy day. Except for the bird...

For months, there has been a bird singing somewhere in the stairwell (it is an exterior stairway, so the bird isn't trapped or anything). The shape of the spiral channels the bird song and amplifies it, so that it is difficult to tell where it is coming from. I always assume that it is near the top, since that is the least-used part of the stairs, so I will sometimes take the camera and try to find out what species is making such a pretty song. I didn't find it up there, but I looked down from my spot on the fourth floor and realized the bird was way down on the first floor, perched on a support bracket for the DNA spiral.

There weren't any exotic species hiding out on our stairwell, it was a common House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). If I were any kind of real birder, I would have known the song because these birds are at the feeder in my backyard every day. But take the simple song of a finch and put it into an acoustical sound chamber, and the song becomes a symphony. It's a nice way to begin a chaotic day.

The Birds of My Neighborhood: Geotripper Explores the Home Base

These pictures will be familiar to my Facebook friends who have been subjected to several weeks of wintertime explorations of my neighborhood looking for our local bird species. I've always liked birds, but I've lacked a camera with sufficient zoom to capture them easily, and I am pretty bad at remembering names and species. I've been surprised at how many different species can be seen during short walks around the block and through the nearby cow pasture (although I shouldn't be; we live in prime wintertime bird habitat).

The first, and one of my favorite recent pictures, is a Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica) making a meal out of a pecan. The scrub jays are obnoxious and raucous, and at constant war with our cat in the backyard, but they are also a bright splash of color, and are one of my favorites.

The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is a fairly common wetlands inhabitant in our area. They are one of the most graceful birds I see on a regular basis, standing very still will getting ready to stab at fish or amphibians in shallow water (like they did when they got the goldfish in my pond...).

I keep a feeder in the backyard, and it attracts three or four varieties of finches, including the House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), the Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), and the Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). They like their sunflower and nyjer seeds and they are quite vocal in their complaints when I let the feeders go too low.

I thought the gray bird in the picture below was a mockingbird from a distance, but some of my facebook experts suggest that it is a Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis). I am open to being corrected in this identification.

True to the season, here are two doves, but they aren't turtle doves. I was told (and agree) that these are Eurasian Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto). It is an relatively recent invasive species that I have constantly mistaken for Mourning Doves.

On a brief foray along the Tuolumne River near La Grange we found an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) watching for a meal from a telephone pole.

For ten years I've been trying to catch a photo of a Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli), a species unique to California (it is a cousin to the Black-billed Magpie found in much of the rest of the country). They have been very shy when I come around with a camera, but one hung around for a moment before flying away the other day. They've been decimated by the West Nile Virus.

I am familiar with the story of how European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) arrived in America to become a pest (it was a Shakespeare lover of all people), but I had never noticed them around my neighborhood until I started walking a few weeks ago.

The Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a widespread species found all over the Americas, but it holds kind of a special place in our valley. We chose it to be part of our banners and symbols for the new Science Community Center at Modesto Junior College. As if to play the part, a Killdeer set up a nest on the vacant lot north of our building that will eventually become our Outdoor Nature Laboratory. I often hear them when I walk around the campus.

 There must have been a dozen of them running about the cow pasture a few blocks from my house.

The biggest surprise in my recent walks was the drumming of a woodpecker. I've never noticed any near my house, but walking under a telephone I heard one pecking away.

A bit of research suggested that it might be a Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttallii). It's the second kind I've seen in the region so far (the other is the Acorn Woodpecker, farther up in the mountains).

The small bird wandering in the grassland appears to me to be an American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), but I await your confirmation. They hide well, so I've never noticed them before.

The other of many pleasant surprises has been the spotting of some Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) in the trees around the cow pasture. I don't think they've visited our bird feeders.

The pictures I took the other day show a brightly colored male (above), and a slightly more drab female (below). I'd like to see more of them!

I've enjoyed paying more attention to our local bird life, and look forward to adding more of them during my travels. Once again, have a wonderful Christmas and restful holiday!