In My Neighborhood

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Birds You’ll See in Wooded Areas

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Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

This is the second in a multipart series introducing birds typically found in valley and foothill areas of Northern California. The following “bird bios” describe birds you’re likely to see in heavily wooded areas and woodsy edges, such as in and near Lower Bidwell Park in Chico. These brief descriptions are excerpted from The Birds of Bidwell Park, a handy field guide that offers many more details, as well as finely drawn illustrations by Carol Burr, to help you identify regional birds. At last report the book was available in Chico at Bird in Hand, Made in Chico, C Bar D Feed Store, and ABC Books (next to La Comida). —Editor

Roger Lederer, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at CSU, Chico, has birdwatched in more than 90 countries. Continue Reading →

Filed under: All Stories, In My Neighborhood, Birds, Wildlife

Can You Name That Bird?

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Can You Name That Bird

Many cities point to their open spaces as very special, but Bidwell Park is really the jewel in the crown of Chico. A very distinctive place respected and revered by the citizens of Chico, all seem to think they know it well, but there is a lot more to the park than many people realize. Hikers and bikers know the trails, baseball and soccer participants are familiar with fields, summer users know all the picnic areas, and parents and grandparents know Caper Acres and other children’s play areas.  (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: All Stories, In My Neighborhood, Birds, Wildlife

Cows 1, Bear 0

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Cows 1 Bear 0

This Fall, out at my ranch on Rock Creek, I had a beautiful crop of apples on my heritage apple trees. These old trees have been growing since the 1800s. I had dreams of applesauce and visions of apple jelly, until one morning when I found my apple trees stripped bare. Their limbs were pulled down and broken off, and there was bear scat on the ground. A few mornings later, I saw the culprit galloping across my top field, heading north to the hills. Continue Reading →

Filed under: All Stories, In My Neighborhood

Names and True Names

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Names and True Names

Any place is more than just material objects, landscapes, and homescapes. Things carry names as part of the history of a region. Names give meaning to the raw data of dirt, streams, weeds, and animals in a particular place, and especially to the integration of things. Layers of namescapes cover any landscape. Common names like “blackbird” or “poison oak,” “sparrow“ or “weed” may suit a population of adults and children who participate in everyday interactions with nature more or less absentmindedly, uncritically. Continue Reading →

Filed under: All Stories, In My Neighborhood, Birds, Wildlife

My Little Free Library: #16,408

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The Barber Neighborhood little free library stands just over five feet tall, a boxy, wooden cabinet with two plexiglass doors, supported by three posts. The bottom shelf is thirty-five inches off the ground. It sits in a shady spot right next to the sidewalk in my front yard and holds about forty adult and a dozen or so bound children’s books. As the steward of this book exchange, I am still figuring out what kinds of books people want. Many of us have books we’ll never read again (not to mention ones we just haven’t got around to reading) so sharing or trading enriches us all—without spending too much. Continue Reading →

Filed under: All Stories, In My Neighborhood