CNDDB News Blog

The quarterly update of the Barred Owl Observations Database is available in the BIOS Viewer for CNDDB subscribers. The barred owl database includes barred owl (Strix varia), Strix hybrid, and unknown Strix detections.

Many of the records represent incidental detections made during spotted owl surveys; therefore, this dataset may not accurately represent the current distribution of barred owls in California. Furthermore, this dataset is only available to CNDDB subscribers because it contains references to sensitive spotted owl locations. A public version will be available in the future.

For a copy of the geodatabase or for site-specific inquiries, contact the database manager at owlobs@wildlife.ca.gov.

Summer is officially here, folks! The snow is melting in the Sierras and the sun is shining throughout the valleys. Thank you to everybody who snapped and submitted photos of species taking full advantage of the California sun. Here are our favorite Online Field Survey Form photo submissions for June:

Taxidea taxus – American badger

Submitted by Matthew Grube

Matthew observed this adult badger crossing a road near San Timoteo Canyon in San Bernardino County. It stopped on its way to an open field just long enough for Matthew to catch its stoic pose. American badgers are a Species of Special Concern. Being one of the most popular mammal submissions we receive, there are currently 590 American badger occurrences across the entire state in the database. Thank you, Matthew for this wonderful submission!

Ceanothus gloriosus var. exaltatus – glory brush
Submitted by Heather Morrison

Heather found this exciting shrub in Mendocino County in an opening of a mixed forest consisting of redwood, Douglas fir, and tanoak trees. It is endemic to California and is commonly found along the northern coast in chaparral. Ceanothus gloriosus var. exaltatus more commonly goes by the name glory brush. It is a California Rare Plant Rank 4.3 plant, and you can see these wonderful poofs of flowers from March to June, with the occasional late bloomers still around in August. So, there is still time to see them before they are gone! Thank you, Heather, for the hard work you do and such an awesome photo!

Do you have some great photos of rare plant or wildlife detections? Submit them along with your findings through our Online Field Survey Form and see if your photos get showcased!

CNDDB staff had the opportunity to join Ben Ewing, the Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, and Lake County District Fisheries Biologist, to conduct a backpack electrofishing survey on a northern tributary to Indian Valley Reservoir. The electrofishing gear would stun the fish long enough for a second person to scoop it up with a dipnet and place it in a bucket of water. The collected fish would then later be identified and measured. This area had never been sampled by CDFW, so our findings were useful in setting a baseline for the stream.

We collected and released largemouth bass, California roach, speckled dace, and incidentally detected a foothill yellow-legged frog. A CNDDB query showed that the last time someone searched and found foothill yellow-legged frog was in 1994. Being able to update this 25-year old occurrence was an exciting bonus.

Thank you, Ben, for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us!