Find it Here! The Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada of California by Bob Barnes1 and Bob Steele2 1P.O. Box 953 Weldon CA 93283 [email protected] 2P.O. Box 592 Inyokern CA 93527 [email protected] BB is Outreach Director for Audubon-California’s Kern River Preserve. For twenty-five years he has spearheaded efforts to protect the region’s natural environment and led hun- dreds of Kern River Valley and southern Sierra Nevada bird- ing field trips. BS is an engineer with the U.S. Department of Defense. A Kern County resident for nearly twenty years, he is an avid bird photographer, birder, and volunteer with local bird conservation organizations. 156 Birding • April 2003 Just say “Yes”. Titmouse, and Tricolored Blackbird: Hermit Warblers singing within a mag- Six thousand Western and Clark’s Central California? nificent giant sequoia grove? Wrentits Grebes tallied on a Christmas Bird “Yes.” and Black-chinned Sparrows foraging Count: San Diego, California? Twelve Two hundred nesting species, in thick chaparral? A thousand hundred tanagers migrating north including: The southwestern range Tricolored Blackbird pairs and two from a riparian woodland corner on an limit for Blue Grouse and Pileated hundred Lawrence’s Goldfinch pairs early May morning: High Island, Woodpecker? The northwestern nest- nesting in a 9,000-acre river valley of Texas? Two thousand hummingbirds ing limit for Brown-crested Flycatcher lush riparian forest with a string of swarming a yard full of feeders in and a disjunct population of Bendire’s small, freshwater cattail and tule early August: Ramsey Canyon, Thrasher? The interface of Ladder- marshes in the mix? Arizona? Five thousand diurnal rap- backed and Nuttall’s Woodpecker “Yes.” tors passing over a single point on a ranges? All of the preceding questions have late September day: Cape May, New “Yes.” been answered “Yes” by birders Jersey? Five hundred Pinyon Jays noisily exploring within 25 miles of a single “Yes.” making their way past a Plumbeous place. That place? California’s Kern Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Vireo pair feeding fledglings in a piny- River Valley and surrounding southern and Indigo Bunting: Georgia? Le on pine forest? Cactus Wrens and Sierra Nevada. Conte’s Thrasher, Black-throated Greater Roadrunners loudly projecting According to John Kemper (Birding Sparrow, and Scott’s Oriole: southern their distinct calls from a Joshua tree Northern California, Falcon Press), Nevada? Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak woodland? Townsend’s Solitaires and “Kern River Valley must be counted as The Kern River Valley and southern Sierra Nevada provide an amazing diversity of habitats for birds and birders alike. Elevations in the watershed range from 700’–14,000’, and birders may find everything from Costa’s Hummingbirds to Hermit Warblers, from Brown-crested Flycatchers to Townsend’s Solitaires, from Le Conte’s Thrashers to Pileated Woodpeckers. Kern County, California; September 2002. BOB STEELE www.americanbirding.org 157 Kern River Valley & Southern Sierra Nevada one of the best birding sites in California because of its diversity. The South Fork of the Kern River supports the largest remaining stand of Great Valley cottonwood-willow riparian for- est in California, and it has been desig- nated a Globally Important Bird Area, because it is a major migration path for Turkey Vultures (28,000 per year), because of its breeding “Southwestern” Willow Flycatchers (a federally endan- gered subspecies), and because almost the entire world’s population of “Kern” Red-winged Blackbird is located in the valley.” ♦ ♦ ♦ A Setting to Remember The Kern River Valley lies at an eleva- tion of 2,600 feet, up the spectacularly BOB STEELE scenic and ruggedly deep Kern River This five-day-old Yellow-billed Cuckoo nestling at Kern River Preserve will likely fledge when it is only seven days old. Canyon 45 road miles northeast of Researchers at the preserve are making important advances in our understanding of the demographics and genetics of the Bakersfield. It is surrounded by imperiled occidentalis race of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Kern County, California; July 2002. 6000’–8000’+ tall mountains of the southern Sierra Nevada that lie within the Sequoia National Forest. The valley’s east end is dominated by California’s largest contiguous Fremont cottonwood and red willow forest, which borders the South Fork Kern River for its lower 14 miles. This area was designated one of the first ten Globally Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the United States by the American Bird Conservancy. A total of 327 bird species has been documented in the South Fork Valley, including a remarkable 134 nest- ing species, with 244 total and 89 nest- ing on the 1,127 acres of Audubon- California’s Kern River Preserve alone. Birding access to significant parts of the IBA is available on over 5,000 acres of protected land comprising the Kern River Preserve, Sequoia National Forest’s South Fork Wildlife Area, and the California Department of Fish and BOB STEELE Game’s Canebrake Ecological Reserve. The elusive Le Conte’s Thrasher is a Kern River Valley desert-nesting species. Visiting birders may wish to drop in on an The west end of the valley is dominated Inyokern back yard, forty-five minutes to the east, where this species nests, is present year round, and frequents seed feed- by 568,000-acre-foot Isabella Reservoir. ers. Inquire with the lead author to make an appointment. Kern County, California; March 2002. The Kern River watershed above the 158 Birding • April 2003 CANYON INYO Pacific KERN Not shown on map – Scenic To Lone Pine, Bishop L. South America, Mt. Whitney TKHE ERN Crest (approx. 20 mile to the north) valley is amazingly diverse. The head- RVIVER ALLEY GIANT NATIONAL Trail Olancha GOLDEN TROUT WILDERNESS Natl. AND Little K S. Fork waters of the National Wild and Scenic SEQUOIA ern K SOUTHERN ern River North Fork Kern River rise at Sequoia River ern NATL. FOREST SIERRA K River National Park’s north end at Lake South EVADA 190 N N Quaking Black W E MONUMENT Aspen Forks of Rock S. SIERRA America. The river flows south through CG the Kern Ranger WILDERNESS S To Porterville, Station Troy 0 16 TULARE CO. Kilometers one of the deepest canyons in the Highway 99 SEQUOIA Meadow INYO CO. Hwy. CG Divide Bald Mtn. Miles Western 0 United States, passing below 14,494’ Botanical Area 10 Kennedy Redwood Meadow CG Johnson- Bald Mtn. Meadows dale (El. 9,382 ft) Mount Whitney and through the heart Trail of 100 Giants 22S05 Sherman Rd. Holey Meadow CG 99 Pass (El. 9,200 ft.) of the 303,287-acre Golden Trout NATIONAL SACATAR 23S16 Sierra TRAIL 99 K DOME Portuguese ern WILDER- Wilderness. The 327,769-acre Sequoia LAND NESS Pass CHIMNEY 395 Way To Fountain Springs, (El. 7,280 ft.) River WILDER- To Porterville Highway 65 NESS River PEAK S. Fork LongWILDER- National Monument, managed by ern K Valley NESS Chimney FOREST Rd. Creek CG INYO COUNTY Sequoia National Forest, flanks the river TULARE COUNTY 24S15 OWENS KERN COUNTY KERN COUNTY MTNS. Riverkern Fay Sunday Peak Canebrake Rd. PEAK Greenhorn Ranch Ecological on the west. (El. 8,295 ft) Summit Rd. WILDERNESS 155 (El. 6,102 ft) Kernville Reserve ChimneyPeak Owens To the north is the Kern Plateau, Old State Rd. 155 Kern Peak S. ForkRiver (El. 8,453 ft) Sawmill Rd. River 521 Preserve ern headwaters of the National Wild and K Walker China 65 Isabella Pass 395 Valley SEQUOIA (El. 5,250 ft.) Lake Lake 178 Kelso Scenic South Fork Kern River. Kern S. Fork NATL. 178 Valley FOREST Lake S. Fork 178 14 Plateau habitats grade from west-slope Isabella Wildlife Ridgecrest Area KIAVAH GREENHORN Sierran habitats on the west to Great Rd. 120 WILDERNESS River MTNS. Bird Spring To Kern & Pixley 214 483 SEQUOIA 539 Basin pinyon pine forest on the east. Natl. Wildlife Refuges NATL. Pass (El. 5,300 ft.) Kern FOREST BRIGHT STAR Cerro Coso 218 Rd. Community Here is the interface of Cassin’s Vireo WILDERNESS College 99 Piute Mtn. Dove 178 Landers Spring and Plumbeous Vireo ranges. 501 Breckenridge Mtn. Natl. Meadow Butterbredt 475 Pacific (El. 7,548 ft) Spring To the east, southeast, and south, are Garlock Rd. Bakersfield Scenic PIUTE 58 Crest three “sky island” ranges—Owens Peak 99 14 Trail Jawbone Red Rock- To Highway 58, Interstate 15, ’ Canyon Randsburg Rd. San Diego (the highest, at 8,475 ), the Scodie To Tehachapi, Rd. To California City, Mountains and the Piute Mountains. To Interstate 5, Los Angeles California City Interstate 5, Los Angeles Kern Joshua tree woodland with silver cholla mixed in dominates the lower slopes and desert flats. Extensive piny- on pine woodland dominates the mid- elevations, including the area around 5,250’ Walker Pass. Higher elevations support stands of Jeffrey pine and white fir. A few wet meadows are found in the Piutes. The Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada traverses all three sky islands. To the southwest is the massive “sky island” of Breckenridge Mountain, peaking at 7,544’. It supports the southern limit of habitats typically used by west-slope Sierran avifauna and is the bridge between the drier Piute Mountains to the southeast and the wetter Greenhorn Mountains to the north. To the immediate west is the spine of the Greenhorn Mountains. The Greenhorns support Pileated BOB STEELE Woodpeckers and Winter Wrens at the From April through June of each year, the Kern River Valley is “The Lawrence’s Goldfinch Capital of the World”. southwestern limits of their nesting Peak numbers occur between 20 May and 10 June, and in recent years flocks of 225–250 individuals have been ranges. The highest point is 8,295’ recorded daily during this window of time.