travel

May 1, 2025: Favorites

Posted on by Tim

“What is your favorite UC reserve?” That’s one of the most common questions students in my class ask me. It’s an absolutely fair question, but unfortunately, I still don’t have a solid answer. I’ve been to 24 of the 42 field stations in the University of California’s Natural Reserve System, and they each have something interesting to offer. I love the Granite Mountains in the Mohave Desert because of the amazing scenery. McLaughlin Reserve in Lake Country has weird serpentine soils leading to incredible botany. Rancho Marino on the San Luis Obispo coast has the best tide pooling that I’ve ever experienced. Angelo Reserve is idyllically nestled in a beautiful meadow along the pristine south fork of the Eel River. James has rare frogs, Sagehen has rare fens, and Hastings has a storied history. The point is, I don’t have one favorite reserve, I have many.

              I have trouble with “what’s your favorite…” questions in general, and that’s especially true with natural history type questions. How do you ever pick a favorite bird or flower or mountain? There are just too many options and the field is too crowded. Narrow it down a little and I might have an answer: Favorite duck—Barrow’s Goldeneye, favorite plant in the Borage family—Phacelia nashiana, favorite peak in Colorado—Mount Bellview. But even then, I reserve the right to change my mind or give you multiple answers.

              I think my wanderlust is a separate but related phenomenon. When vacationing or travelling, I tend to prefer going to new spots rather than revisiting favorites. For me, the allure of the new experience trumps the assurance of a trusted spot. It’s one of the reasons I love my job. Each of my twenty runs of the California Ecology and Conservation class has had a unique combination of students, weather, research project topics, and critters. And I’ve never gone to the same reserves in the same order.

But as I close in on three years of my life on course, I have developed some habits. Every time I visit Angelo, I climb Black Mountain to see my favorite hybrid oak tree. At James, I visit the local population granite spiny lizards on the Four Saints Trail. At Rancho Marino, I check specific rocks for the endangered black abalone. And when I return to Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, I’ll say hello to the California tiger salamander larvae in a nearby pond. These habits, combined with the interesting year-to-year comparisons that come with returning to the same places at the same times do have a certain appeal. While I’m nowhere near ready to stop visiting new places, I am becoming more excited about returning to the same ones. And that includes some local spots near my new Winston-Salem home. With my return to North Carolina a couple weeks away, I’m already getting exited to bird, botanize, and herp my new favorite haunts.

January 31: Trip Prep

Posted on by Tim

January 31, 2025 Trip Prep

Jenny and I are about to embark on a two-week road trip to Austin, Texas. While a big motivation for the trip is to explore the food and culture, we have some nature-oriented goals, as well. For this post, I wanted to briefly describe what goes into preparing for a successful naturalizing expedition.

  1. Identifying targets. A few months ago, when we settled on a drive to Austin, I began looking up interesting critters along the route. I plan my trips by using some amazing advanced search functions on specific websites. My three favorites are Calflora, eBird, and iNaturalist. With all of these sites, you can choose a geographic area and search for records that match specific parameters. For example, on iNaturalist I searched for February records of amphibians listed as threated within 100 miles of Montgomery. On eBird, I searched for birds found in Texas in winter that I had never seen before (based on my submitted checklists). After fiddling around like this for a couple hours (and consulting Jenny), I settled on three targets: the red hills salamander in Alabama, Whooping Crane on the Gulf Coast of Texas, and cave salamanders near Austin. I love having targets, because even if I don’t find them (for instance, the red hills salamander is a long shot) I end up visiting amazing places. That’s because unique species tend to hang out in unique habitats!
  2. Researching. For each target species, I use the same websites as to determine accessible locations where folks have seen them. Then I plan my specific route. I like to have a main spot and a couple back-ups. I look up as much as I can about the organisms in field guides (both online and print). Specifically knowing the microhabitat requirements and behaviors of a species really helps me focus my search. Finally, I scout out what other critters might be in the area. Sometimes this “bycatch” ends up being the trip highlight!
  3. Packing. Bringing the right equipment is also super important to a successful trip to Here’s a list of naturalist-related gear that I’m bringing to Austin:

binoculars, spotting scope, work gloves (for flipping rocks and logs), spade and hand rake (for sifting though dirt and leaf litter), hand lens, headlamp, aquatic net, clear container (for close-up photography), field guides

Despite all the planning, success often involves being flexible enough to adapt the plan due to weather, road closures, or unforeseen opportunities. I’m definitely looking forward to this adventure!