Vernal Pool Expedition

This morning Numenius and I met some friends to look for reported grasshopper sparrows in the old Glide Tule Ranch, which was recently bought by the California Department of Fish and Game and adds 12,000 acres to the 4,000 preserved wildlife wetland area just to the east and south of here.

Furtive and easily overlooked, grasshopper sparrows have rarely been reported in Yolo County. However, it looks as though there may be some breeding pairs in this one section; at least four, and possibly five, males were singing their little buzzy insect-like song. Because the plants are still short, they emerged onto taller dock stalks to “sing,” an unusual treat for so secretive a bird.

Around them were depressions in the cow pasture, a different color green than the rest. These are the dried-up vernal pools, which this year, because of the late and profuse rains, have been spectacular in their blooms. At right is a photo of Pogogyne douglasii, which stayed put longer than the sparrows.