Spring in the Central Valley

I just saw my first ash-throated flycatcher of the year. It was outside the kitchen window in the English walnut, flycatching. I don’t know what it’s finding to eat this early in the morning with a chilly north breeze, though last night there were thousands of flying insects in the pathway… in California we are bracing for the onslaught of West Nile Virus, predicted to hit in August. Nobody knows what it’s going to do to the endemic bird populations here—particularly the yellow-billed magpie.

Inspired by Richard Bell’s spectacular Wild West Yorkshire nature diary, I’m going to try my hand at some sketching today. The California poppies have been given a new lease on life with all the rain we’ve had recently. I love to see them in juxtaposition with the lupines-orange and blue, perfect complements-but the lupines are now almost all gone, so to see them together I have to go exploring. There are still some at the UC Davis Arboretum.

I wish I were better at drawing birds, but the way to get better is to go out and do it. Another good excuse not to clean the house…