A day in the field, training point count protocol followed by recon of Piru Creek sites, the northern peak of Least Bell’s Vireo expansion. There were < than 10 vireo pairs on the Santa Clara River in the 1980s, now there are several hundred. A pale swallowtail on prickly phlox in Piru Canyon.

The deep pool of black light that is a Coastal California Gnatcatcher’s eye. These are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

We found this buddy while exploring Least Bell’s Vireo habitats and damage from an invasive beetle in the Tijuana River Valley last week.

A lovely California Towhee from Amy Tan. I’ve spent several years working on an endemic Mojave Desert population of them in the Argus Range. I love unique takes on species we think of as ‘common’!

Thank you @abcbirds.bsky.social for sharing this with me ❤️