What’s your favourite hen species?
My favourite hen species is the Western Tanager, as a result of that is the hen that impressed my love for birding after I was simply 9 years outdated.
Wrentit
What’s your identify, and the place do you reside?
My identify is Rachel Clark and I dwell in Fresno, California, which may be very close to the middle of the state.
Hermit Warbler
What are the primary areas or areas you cowl as a hen information?
I cowl many of the Central California space. Most of my guiding is within the central Sierra Nevada from the Sierra Nationwide Forest to the north and the Sequoia Nationwide Forest to the south. Kings Canyon and Sequoia Nationwide Parks are sandwiched in there! Within the San Joaquin Valley, I information from San Joaquin County to the north and Kern County to the south. Alongside the coast, I information from Pacific Grove to the north and Morro Bay to the south.
How lengthy have you ever been a hen information?
I’ve had my firm, Central California Birding Excursions for simply over a 12 months, however I’ve been guiding for over 5 years.
White-headed Woodpecker
How did you get into hen guiding?
I fell into hen guiding kind of by likelihood. I used to be doing it on a volunteer foundation for a neighborhood Audubon chapter that I used to be affiliated with when residing within the Midwest. It started with main native journeys and steadily developed into co-leading birding journeys to locations like south Texas, Florida, and Alaska. I spotted that I had a ardour for guiding and that it was one thing that I wished to do professionally.
Williamson’s Sapsucker
What are the features of being a hen information that you simply like finest? Which features do you dislike most?
The factor that I like essentially the most about guiding is seeing the enjoyment in my purchasers’ faces once they see a brand new hen for the primary time. To me, that’s pure magic, and there’s no different feeling prefer it! The factor that I like least about guiding is the strain I generally really feel when looking for particular targets. Some birds are simply so extremely elusive (Mountain Quail is a primary instance of this), and it may be extraordinarily troublesome to get eyes on them, and I all the time really feel a way of guilt if I can’t make that occur.
Mountain Quail
What are the highest 5-10 birds in your area that you simply assume are essentially the most fascinating for visiting birders?
There are numerous fashionable targets within the Central California space! Whereas California shouldn’t be precisely a hotspot for endemics, we have now many range-restricted species that reside right here. The Yellow-billed Magpie, which is endemic, is a very talked-about goal. Mountain Quail, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, White-headed Woodpecker, Wrentit, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Northern Pygmy Owl, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Hermit Warbler, and California Thrasher are all very extremely requested targets as nicely. A few of these are definitely tougher to search out than others, however every is definitely worth the effort!
Yellow-billed Magpie
Are you able to define a minimum of one typical birdwatching journey in your space? Please briefly describe the areas, the important thing birds and the approximate length of such a visit
A typical journey in my space can fluctuate fairly extensively, however I do have a little bit of a most well-liked route that I take within the Sierra Nationwide Forest, because it covers a variety of habitat sorts and is mostly fairly dependable for yielding a excessive variety of species. This route covers open oak woodlands, chaparral, mid-elevation Sierra combined conifer forests, closely burn-scarred forests (although these can look considerably abysmal, the hen life they host is surprisingly wealthy), streams, meadows, and excessive elevation pine forests. Alongside the best way, purchasers are more likely to see Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Oak Titmice, Rock Wren, American Dipper, White-headed Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Clark’s Nutcracker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Hermit Warbler (relying on the season), Mountain Chickadee, Purple Finch, Cassin’s Finch, and plenty of extra. Northern Pygmy Owl, Mountain Quail, and Wrentit are all doable alongside this route, however generally is a little tougher. This route is most efficient in late spring, however is nice by way of the autumn. Hitting all the habitat sorts alongside this route could make for a protracted day (~12 hours), however the itinerary will all the time be tailor-made to a shopper’s wants and the day may be a lot shorter if want be.
American Dipper
What different solutions are you able to give to birders excited by your space?
For birders coming to my space, I’d advocate avoiding the San Joaquin Valley in the summertime, as it’s BLAZING scorching down right here that point of 12 months! Fortunately, it’s a lot cooler within the Sierra and alongside the coast, even in summer season. It doesn’t matter what time of 12 months you’re birding in my space, or the place you propose to go, I’d advocate having loads of sunscreen and bug repellant available simply in case. In case you’re going to be birding alongside the coast or within the Sierras, undoubtedly be careful for poison oak. I all the time carry particular wipes with me in case anybody unintentionally touches or brushes in opposition to the plant. So far as one of the best time general to go to is, that actually relies on what an individual is in search of. If an individual is specializing in shorebirds and waterfowl, fall and winter are undoubtedly finest (there are some superb wildlife refuges within the Valley, and the coast is tremendous productive throughout these occasions of 12 months). If an individual is focusing extra on songbirds and/or excessive elevation specialties within the Sierra, late spring by way of mid-summer is the perfect timeframe.
Lawrence’s Goldfinch
If any reader of 10,000 Birds is excited by birding with you, how can they finest contact you?
I can simply be reached by way of a number of totally different avenues. My electronic mail is cencalbirdingtours@gmail.com and my enterprise telephone quantity is 559-492-6240. Individuals can attain out by way of my web site, which is https://centralcaliforniabirdingtours.com. I can be discovered on Instagram. My enterprise profile is central_ca_birding_tours and my private profile (which is extraordinarily bird-centric) is tanager_girl.
Northern Pygmy Owl
Is there anything you wish to share with the readers of 10,000 Birds?
I’d like for potential purchasers to know that every journey is tailor-made in keeping with a shopper’s explicit wants. If a shopper has restricted mobility, or for any motive prefers to not spend a lot time birding on foot, I’ll design an itinerary that includes largely automotive birding. Conversely, if a shopper prefers to hike all day, we will certainly try this! I ask every shopper a number of questions comparable to how a lot time they’d desire to hike VS hen by automotive, how lengthy of a day they’re in search of, what species they’d prefer to see, and if they’ve any particular requests/wants. Every itinerary is individually tailor-made primarily based on the solutions to those questions!
