Valley named a special place for songbirds

The Kern River Valley is paradise for the bird watcher. In a newly released book, the Southern Sierra area is celebated as one of the two hot spots for birding in the Western Hemisphere.

Bob Barnes-Special to the Sun

The Southern Sierra Nevada (including the Kern River Valley) has been called one of two hot spots for summer songbird diversity in the entire Western Hemisphere in a new book, “Songbird Journeys: Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds.”

Author Miyoko Chu writes, "Summer bird watching is especially exciting where different habitats converge, bringing diverse bird species together in the same region ... California's Kern River Valley and surrounding areas offer spectacular contrasts in landscapes and wildlife, from lush riparian woodlands to the towering sequoias of the Sierra Nevada to the Mojave Desert and foothill chaparral habitats..."

In the three-page section of the book entitled "Southern Sierra Nevada and Kern River Valley, California," Chu refers to the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Audubon-California's Kern River Preserve and the South Fork Kern River as some of the best natural areas found in the region. She then goes into some detail on specific birds to look for in different habitats: Great Basin, Mojave Desert, chaparral, forested mountains of the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Kern River Preserve's riparian habitat.

The author's writings on the Kern River Valley include visitor information, such as special activities (including art, astronomy, birding, geology and rafting), and provides links and other sources for more information.

Chu is an ornithologist and staff science writer at Cornell University's internationally recognized Laboratory of Ornithology. She is editor of the Lab's Birdscope newsletter and assistant editor of Living Bird magazine. She lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband and two children.

For more information on the book “Songbird Journeys” and its author, visit www.songbirdjourneys.com.