Birds I'm Watching: Bodega Bay (Oct. 3, 2009)

After pressing the Zinfandel this morning, I went out to Bodega Bay to look at birds. The wind was fierce, but saw quite a lot--28 species, including Red-winged Blackbird, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Turkey Vulture, Scrub-jay, Elegant Tern, Forster's Tern, California Gull, Western Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Semipalmated Plover, Western Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Double-crested Cormorant, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Turnstone, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Surf Scoter, Black Oystercatcher, an unidentified murrelet (looking most like a Xantus's murrelet, but possibly an ancient murrelet--all black back, white up to the chin), and Eurasian Collared Dove. The Forster's Tern was a first sighting for me--as was the Murrelet, although I'm not counting that, as I can't decide what it was.

[Update: I wrote this when I first started birding in Sonoma County. I've learned a lot since then—six years ago now. As evidence, see my website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.]

Wines I'm Making: Pressed Zinfandel This Morning

Pressed the Zinfandel this morning. Pressed 14 gallons of must, which yielded nine gallons of wine, although there was so much sediment in it that I passed it once through cheese cloth. The end result was 8 gallons of wine which is now resting, ahead of malolactic bacteria inoculation, which I will do tomorrow. The primary fermentation was a fairly short eight days.

Wines I'm Drinking: Tasting at Wine Spectrum (Veraison, Krupp Brothers, Blackbart)

I recently attended an interesting wine tasting at the Wine Spectrum wine shop in Santa Rosa, near Railroad Square. Michael Heliotes, of Krupp Brothers, was showing wines from the Blackbart, Krupp Brothers, and Veraison labels. I tasted a 2006 Blackbart Marsanne/Viognier/Chardonnay blend from fruit from the Stagecoach Vineyard called "Black Bart's Bride;" the 2006 Krupp Brothers "The Doctor," a blend of Tempranillo, Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon, from Krup Vineyard and Stagecoach Vineyard fruit; the 2004 Veraison "Synchrony" (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot), also from Stagecoach Vineyard fruit; a 2005 Veraison Cabernet Sauvignon from Stagecoach Vineyard fruit; and a 2006 Blackbart Syrah, also from Stagecoach Vineyard fruit.

I went into the tasting with a great deal of skepticism. Frankly, I can't remember why I decided to attend this one (usually the word Napa turns me off), but, despite my prejudice against Napa wines--which, in my view, are far too often overpriced--I was impressed by all of these. Michael was hands-off, but available for background information and a lot of fun to talk with. His enthusiasm for the wines shows.

The 2006 "Black Bart's Bride" had a peachy nose with hints of caramel at first, later developing scents of roses and peach cobbler. There was also a sappy sort of scent that reminded me of Roero Arneis--a very pleasant fresh vegetable-like scent that nearly all the wines had in the background. Very concentrated on the palate. Powerful. Tasted of peaches and ginger. Very rich, concentrated wine with a long finish. More finesse than a lot of California Viognier wines have. I suspect the addition of the Chardonnay helped to boost acidity and keep this fresh, despite its oomph. Can't imagine what you'd eat with this--créme brulée comes to mind--but a very interesting, tasty wine.

"The Doctor" was not quite like anything I've tasted before. It is mostly Tempranillo (37%) but is 28% Merlot and 21% Malbec, finished off with 14% Cabernet Sauvignon. A nice medium ruby color. The nose was fairly closed at first, but suggested dark berries and something volatile that I couldn't quite pin down. After a few minutes it began to strongly suggest cinnamon, or, more precisely, cinnamon balls. Rich, sweet, and fruity on the palate. The wine didn't taste like any of the grapes I knew to be in it--I'd call it more than the sum of its parts. Perhaps most striking was its balance. Good fruit, good tannins, and just the right amount of acidity. Poised, I would call it. With a little time, it began to develop some slightly exotic scents. I was reminded of ginger, crabmeat, and toasted coconut (yes, I changed my glass after the Viognier-based wine). Not my favorite of the evening--I found myself wanting a more familiar flavor profile, which is more a fault in me than in the wine--but a very well made, solid offering.

The 2004 "Synchrony" had good color--again a medium ruby red. Pronounced meaty scents and cinnamon again. Later, it suddenly smelled of anise and the meat scents became more specifically suggestive of roasted game. Remarkably well balanced. A bit lighter than the "The Doctor," but with a beautiful, pure, core of fruit. It seemed almost ethereal--floating on the tongue. Light tannins, but just enough bite. Began to suggest blueberries on the palate. Had the fresh, sappy scents I noticed in some of the other wines. Delicious. Of all things, this reminded me of Australia's Grange Hermitage (now just called Grange), from Penfold's. It would have made more sense if the Syrah had done so, but life often makes no sense, I've found. In any case, a very tasty, well made wine. Along with the Syrah, it was my favorite of the evening.

The 2005 Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was much deeper in color than the "Synchrony." The nose suggested roses, green peppers, and cinnamon. There was a rather heady, alcoholic tone as well. Rich, sweet on the palate with considerable tannin. Rather closed overall, but later developed chocolate flavors and something spicy. I had trouble with this one. While I enjoyed it, I find it hard to describe. I suspect it will reward patience. I'd like try this again in about five years.

I generally dislike California (and Australian) Syrah. If I want Syrah, I try to drink wines from the Northern Rhone. Too often California Syrah seems sweet (in a cloying way), too fruity, and it has no real character. It tends to be a Kool-Aid wine. I expected to dislike the 2006 Blackbart Syrah.

I didn't. It was delicious. No Kool-Aid here. Clearly an adult wine. Very deep red. Gamey on the nose, in the best sort of way. Hints of citrus--blood oranges, I'd say, because of something bitter in the scent--, and later hints of blueberries. Wonderfully clean on the palate. Again, very nicely balanced between fruit and tannin. If I had to quibble, I'd ask for a touch more acid, a little more brightness, but this wine was notable for the same sort of clarity of fruit that I enjoyed in the "Synchrony." Delicious. I jokingly said to Michael "Your winemaker must be Australian" just from looking at the blends. Turned out I was right. Kudos to winemaker Nigel Kinsman. All five of the wines I tasted were delicious.

I didn't ask the prices. I'm sure I can't afford them. If you can, they're probably worth it. All in all, another fun evening from Pat Moore and the staff at Wine Spectrum (with which, for the record, I have no connections except as an occasional customer).

Images courtesy of the Krupp Brothers Web site.

Wines I'm Making: Rosé fermenting, Cab off to a Slow Start

The rosé fermentation is well under way today. The yeast went in yesterday. I'm keeping the carboy in a big tub with blocks of ice to try to keep the temperature down and achieve a slower fermentation this year. We'll see how it goes. The Cabernet smells wonderful this year--very spicy and Cabernet-like. I inoculated the must yesterday, but the fermentation has been very slow to get started. Usually there are a lot of bubbles within hours, but there has been very little activity so far, probably because it was so cool in the garage last night. Brought it in the house this morning and I plan to leave it out in the sun for a bit today to get it going.

Birds I'm Watching: First Flicker of the Year

Saw the first flicker of the year in the yard this morning, atop one of the evergreen trees behind the grape vines. Also saw a ruby-crowned kinglet--the first time I've seen one in the yard. A Bewick's wren was warbling loudly earlier this morning from the locust tree in the front of the yard.

Wines I'm Making: 2009 Harvest

Harvested the grapes today. The yield was very low. We got only 86 pounds of Cabernet and 64 pounds of Sangiovese. The Cabernet yielded nine gallons of must, which means we'll get about six gallons of wine at best, which would be 30 bottles. The Sangiovese yielded 6.6 gallons of must, which will mean about 4 gallons of wine, or about 20 bottles. That's about half what we usually make. The cold weather at flowering this year caused shatter, and we lost a fair amount to the raccoons again.

The Cabernet must tested at 24.8 Brix with a pH of 3.91--on the high side--and total acidity of .051, which is on the low side. I may have to do some adjustments later. The sugar spiked over the weekend. Sulfited the must to 72ppm, which is rather more than usual because of the high pH.

The Sangiovese must tested at 21.0 Brix (1.086 by the hydrometer) with a pH of 3.70. Total acidity was again somewhat low, at 0.50. Sulfited to about 50ppm. I've decided to make all the Sangiovese into rosé again this year, as it's so nice to have new wine at Thanksgiving. I will try to keep the temperature down more, to extend the fermentation a bit, as the winemaker at Wellington suggested that would improve the freshness. I'll be pressing the Sangiovese first thing in the morning tomorrow, after taking my son to school. The upper photo shows Sangiovese grapes, just picked. The lower shows the crushed Cabernet grapes, ready to be inoculated with yeast.

Tidbits: Alicia de Larrocha--RIP

Alicia de Larrocha died today. Heard her play a stirring recital in Milan around 1994. I have several brilliant recordings by her. Sad, but inevitable.

Birds I'm Watching: Howarth Park (Lake Ralphine)

Spent an hour and a half or so this afternoon taking a break from work by walking along one side of Lake Ralphine, the boating lake at Howarth Park, in Santa Rosa. I've found that this is a good place to see warblers and other small woodland birds. I'm a novice when it comes to warblers, but I'm a quick learner. Today I saw yellow warblers and a Townsend's warbler, along with chestnut-backed chickadees, Oak titmice, bushtits, scrub jays, juncos, Anna's hummingbirds, Canada Geese, snowy egrets, mallards, a pacific-slope flycatcher, a brown creeper, a Nuttall's woodpecker, and a hairy woodpecker--16 species. Not too bad for a two-minute drive from home.

If you care to try this one, take the trail out of the far right corner of the upper parking lot at Howarth Park (far right if you're facing the lake, looking along the long axis of the parking lot). After about 100 meters the path splits. Take the left, lower, unpaved path--the path less traveled by--rather than the main, paved path that begins to rise. The lower path runs right along the side of Lake Ralphine. This entire stretch is a good place to look for birds, particularly in the more open areas toward the end of the lake.

Wines I'm Making: Harvested and crushed 321 pounds of Zinfandel

Harvested the neighbor's Zinfandel grapes today. We took in and crushed 321lbs of grapes. We had to pick a little earlier than would have been ideal because of raccoon losses and because the grapes were not watered much, so the sugar was rising more as a result of dehydration than because of maturity. Still, the must tests at 23.2 Brix and 1.090 by the hydrometer with a pH of 3.6--not too bad. Sulfited to around 55ppm. Will inoculate with yeast tomorrow. This will be my first time making Zinfandel. The Cabernet and Sangiovese grapes in our own back yard have been better cared for. I expect to harvest them in the next week or so. Above is a photo of my grape-stained hand, looking as if cast in bronze.

Following day: Inoculated the must at around 4:30 with Rhone yeast L2226. Must tested at 1.091 by hydrometer, pH of 3.66, and total acidity of 1.080, at 70 degrees. That translates into a temperature-adjusted Brix of 22.3 for potential alcohol of 12.9%--quite respectable.

Wines I'm Making: Harvest in About a Week? (2009)

Checked out all the grapes today. The Sangiovese is at 20 Brix (although at least one berry tested higher a few days ago) and a pH of 3.51 (pH squared times sugar equals 246). I'd like to get the sugar up to 22 Brix at least, ideally 23. So, will wait. The Cabernet is at 22.5 Brix, with a pH of 3.61 (293), again, getting close, but I'd like at least another degree of sugar. I think harvest is likely to be right around the end of the month.

The neighbor's Zinfandel vines that I'm tending this year with the help of our (other) new neighbor, Steve, are at 21.0 Brix and a pH of 3.41 (244), still too early to pick in an ideal world, but, as we all know, the world is not ideal. The problem is that the grapes are fast disappearing to the raccoons, as Ben, the owner of the grapes, didn't want to bother netting them. Looks like we'll be forced to harvest these earliest of the three varieties, probably on Steve's next day off, Thursday.

Food I'm Eating: Tarts at Tartine

Enjoyed the lemon cream and coconut cream tarts at Tartine this morning. I've come to the conclusion that the coconut cream is the tastier of the two, but both are good. The layer of chocolate in the coconut cream tart is unorthodox, but a tasty variation on a classic. Thumbs up.

Later in the day, stopped briefly at Ocean Beach, near the San Francisco Zoo. Saw a small group of Sanderlings playing tag with the waves. Also saw Least Sandpipers, identifying these with certainty for the first time.

Birds I'm Watching: Bodega Bay

I spent the morning and early afternoon out at Bodega Bay today, trying out my new Orion Grandview spotting scope. It's a bit bigger than I anticipated. It's fairly heavy and cumbersome, but considering that I'll generally use it only while touring by car, I'm very pleased. Bright, clear optics. Rather hard to focus through the camera though (I got the camera adapter). In fact, it's so dark, it's hard to see what you're trying to focus on. I think that's partly a function of the focusing screen in my camera. I will have to look into perhaps changing to a more compatible one.

 The photos I took today show that I can't focus it very well. These are Elegant Terns in the photos.

Birds I saw today: Scrub-jay, Common Raven, Crow, Flycatcher sp., Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Harrier, Pied-billed Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pacific Loon, Black Oystercatcher, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Black Turnstone, Ruddy Turnstone, Turkey Vulture, Black-bellied Plover, Western Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Short-billed Dowitcher, Western Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Elegant Tern, Lesser Goldfinch, and Brants.

I think the terns I've seen recently at Bodega that I've been calling Common Terns have probably been Elegant Terns. I like these birds. They look like they are balding with the hair in the back left to grow long. I can easily imagine one at a podium, conducting a seaside opera.

Wines I'm Making: Sangiovese at 22 Brix (2009)

Tested a ripe-looking berry on one of the Sangiovese vines this morning. Showed sugar at 22 Brix, which is a bit surprising for September 4. Looks like the harvest may be fairly early this year. In a day or two I'll start taking representative samples from all the plants to get an idea of where the average is. I plan to pick at about 24 Brix. The seeds of at least some berries already look mature. There is a lot of fruit, even after the raccoons. It's been three nights now with no losses, though. Putting the nets on the outside of the electric fence seems to have been a good idea. It prevents them from pushing up against the plants and stealing fruit through the nets. Wonder whether to make rosé or red wine from the Sangiovese this year?

Today [September 5] I tested one of the riper-looking Cabernet berries in the yard. It, too, was at about 22 Brix. The seeds still looked a little green, but the fruit is well on its way to ripeness. I'll need to bottle last year's wine before too long to make room for this year's production. Looks like it'll be time to pick in about a week or so, maybe a little longer.

For more on the wines I make, use the Wines I'm Making tab.

Birds I'm Watching: Bodega

Spent a very productive day birding at Bodega with a group from the Madrone Audubon Society, the first time I've ever been out with a group of people who know the area well. Usually I go out on my own. Saw a total of 35 species, six of which were first sightings for me--Vaux's swift, long-billed dowitcher, short-billed dowitcher, Wilson's warbler, semi-palmated plover, and pied-billed grebe. Other birds sighted were an immature red-tailed hawk, crow, American goldfinch, turkey vulture, scrub jay, song sparrow, Osprey, Western grebe, Western gull, whimbrel, willet, Western sandpiper, black turnstone, ruddy turnstone, black oystercatcher, brown pelican, white pelican, great blue heron, great egret, Brandt's cormorant, pelagic cormorant, double-crested cormorant, common murre, common loon, pacific loon, brandt, barn swallow, violet-green swallow, and black-bellied plover.

Food I'm Eating: Blackberry Pie

I took a walk around Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake today, to collect blackberries. The bushes were heavy with them. Although picked over, we managed to bring home a couple pounds of fruit. I'm in the process of making a blackberry pie as I write this. I've made the dough and rolled out a crust (now in the oven baking). I've made custard. When the crust is ready, I'll line it with custard, then berries and then throw the whole thing back in the oven. An excellent excuse to try all three of the ice creams I brought home from Whole Foods today.

While collecting berries was my purpose, I managed to see quite a few birds while walking. Besides the usual--Mallards, Canada Geese, California Towhees, Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, California Quail, Scrubjays, Red-winged Blackbirds, Snowy Egrets (many of these), Great Egrets, and a Great Blue Heron, I saw what I think may have been a female Wilson's Warbler and what was definitely a Black-throated Gray Warbler, a first sighting for me. He was in the willow trees between the path and the water about thirty yards before the eastern end of Lake Ralphine.

I ache from the work yesterday of re-setting the nets on the grapes in the backyard and raising the electric fence around them. Those dastardly raccoons are still stealing fruit. Last night nothing disappeared, though. I think I may have finally thwarted them.

Miscellaneous: Musings about Mad Men--Season Three

I've just finished watching the third episode of Mad Men this season (Season Three). Mad Men is slow as molasses. There are many untied loose ends. It's essentially a soap opera with only one hour a week to do what a 30-minute daily drama gets two-and-a-half hours to do each week. I'm beginning to wonder how long it will sustain my interest if it never rises above the soap opera level. There's only so much dallying and office politics people can take. (Maybe I'm wrong about that. Isn't The Guiding Light going off the air this month--after 72 years? And, if pressed, I'd admit that I am wondering what will come of Don's eyeing the teacher dancing round the maypole, I am wondering about the man with his hands on Betty's pregnant belly--will he appear again?) Still, I enjoy Mad Men. It's the only show on TV I make time to see each week--and that's something I haven't done in decades (in fact, since Star Trek--the original Star Trek). I'm asking myself why does Mad Men fascinate?

It's partly style. From the first episode, the creators made it clear they would attempt to faithfully reproduce the period. I was born in New York in 1960, living in Brooklyn. Although we left when I was seven, my earliest memories are of New York, from late 1963 to 1967. My New York memories are those of a small child, but I still feel that the people of Mad Men inhabit an era and a place that I know. I feel like I'm filling gaps, getting glimpses of the backdrop to the earliest period of my life that I can remember.

I take it in, but always with skepticism. Are they getting it right? I hope they are. It's hard for me to say. The people of Mad Men are not the people of my childhood. We moved in different circles. Peggy's mother and sister are most like the people I remember from our apartment in Brooklyn. The cramped living spaces of their home and Peggy's are familiar. In these scenes and others I sometimes find myself looking at objects in the room with more care than at the characters that people those rooms. There's an odd comfort in things like the foldable wooden drying rack that Peggy uses, in a container of spices wearing the package I remember from our Brooklyn kitchen.

Style, in the sense of fashion, is another aspect of the same. I love the men's suits. The women, however, seem overdressed most of the time, which feeds my skepticism, a nagging skepticism I wish I could let go of. It's a shame Mad Men is not actually a show of the era. I wish there were no room for doubt. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the only other TV show I'm vaguely passionate about is the Dick Van Dyke Show. Likewise set in an office and in the homes of its main characters and again in New York in the early 1960s. The Dick Van Dyke Show, too, is a fiction, but at least we can be certain its props are period-correct--no room for doubt. I keep wondering if Rob and Laura Petrie will appear within Mad Men. That would be a nice touch. The Dick Van Dyke Show debuted in October 1961. Don and Betty could be watching it now--but it was slow to take off and it ran five years. There's time. What year is it in the Mad Men timeline? 1963? I noticed that the marriage of Roger's daughter is set for November 23.That won't go off well. JFK will have been assassinated the day before--the first day I remember in my own life.

Perhaps my fascination with the physical details allows me to be less concerned about the authenticity of the interpersonal relationships. I question these less, but I question them nevertheless--especially the office interactions. Would these people really have been as rude to each other as they sometimes are and then, upon next meeting, have behaved as if the slights were never delivered? Would the women really have been treated with so little respect? Are we being fed nothing more than stereotypes--pictures of what we think we already know about the 1960s?

There are so many loose ends. The most bothersome is the relationship between Pete and Peggy. Is Pete so dull that he is entirely unaffected by Peggy's revelation about her baby? Has he forgotten that she told him? He behaves as if he never heard the news. It was never clear what he felt about her in the first place--I'm as confused about that as Peggy herself was (at least while she seemed to care). Roger's health is another loose end. He had two heart attacks and nearly died, but he lives his life as if it never happened--still drinking, still smoking. His lifestyle choice is not the issue. Maybe a man in his position would choose to make no concessions, but he looks far too healthy for a man that has made that choice. What happened to the character that openly announced he was gay? He has disappeared. Where did Ken Cosgrove the short story writer go? There are others loose ends.

There are details that bother me--especially the airline crew in Episode 1 this season. Having been married to a stewardess--excuse me, a flight attendant--for 18 years, I know a thing or two about the habits of airline crew. I can't imagine they would have gone to dinner in their uniforms. Surely they would have checked in to their hotel rooms, changed, and then gone out again. No? A detail, but one that continues to bother me. I'll have to ask my father. He worked for British Airways (B. O. A. C.) through the 1960s and beyond. [Update: My father says this would have been normal until a somewhat later period. As stewardesses got a reputation for looseness, airlines apparently started forbidding them from wearing their uniforms except on the job and to and from the job. Interesting.]

Still, I enjoy watching the story lines unfold. We'll see where things go. We already know there will be a Season Four. I wonder if there will be a Season Five? I think that will depend on how well the creators transition from soap opera to something of a little more substance. [Still looking for an appropriate credit for the photo above, which, fairly obviously, is not by me.]

Books I'm Reading: Physics of the Impossible

I just finished reading Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku (Anchor Books, 2008), a rather engaging writer who looks at the physics behind the stuff of science fiction--examining everything from Harry Potter's invisibility cloak to the phasers of Star Trek to that venerable impossibility, the perpetual motion machine--and classifying each as a class I, class II, or class III impossibility.

The first of these classes he defines as something impossible today but that does not violate the known laws of physics and is likely to become reality this century or next. Among these he lists teleportation, antimatter engines, and certain types of telepathy, psychokinesis, and invisibility.

Class II impossibilities are phenomena that he describes as being at the "very edge of our understanding of the physical world." These, too, do not violate the laws of physics, but are unlikely to be realized for thousands, perhaps millions, of years. He puts time machines, hyperspace travel, and travel through wormholes in this class.

Class III impossibilities violate the laws of physics as we understand them. Kaku points out that there are relatively few of these and that even these may prove possible, but that that eventuality would have to be accompanied by fundamental changes in the way we understand the universe. I have a feeling that affordable health care for all in the United States comes under this last heading. Sad to hear of Edward Kennedy's death last night. It's a shame he wasn't around to participate more in the efforts to achieve reform. But I digress. A good read. Recommended.

Also recently read Stewart O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster (Viking, 2007) and Richard Bausch's short story collection called The Fireman's Wife (Norton, 1990). I particularly liked the last story, Letter to the Lady of the House.

Music I'm Listening To: Jazz in Sonoma (August 21, 2009)

Wow! Great evening of jazz at The Plaza Bistro in Sonoma tonight. Vince Lateano on drums, Peter Barshay on bass, Bob Kenmatsu on tenor sax, and Sam Grobe Heintz on piano. Later in the evening there were two sit-ins--Kent Cohea on tenor sax and Chris Amberger on bass. Really top-notch playing--and free to boot. Well, we had to pay for the food and wine--but that was good, too.

Food I'm Eating: Excellent Lunch at Terrapin Creek Café, Bodega Bay

Had a very good lunch at Terrapin Creek Café yesterday. Hadn't tried this place before, but glad I did. Had a very tasty summer squash soup with a mint and pistachio pesto, crab cakes that were done perfectly and actually tasted like crab, and an excellent cassoulet. Simple, yet delicious. Open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday. A very nice change from the many seafood places along the coast that (while not bad) have nothing special to offer--which is ironic given the proximity to the sea and easy access to sophisticated diners in the area. Highly recommended. At 1580 Eastshore Road (just to the right after you turn left to go down toward Spud Point Marina and Bodega Head from the main highway. Phone: (707) 875-2700. Having said that, I like eating lunch at the Tides when in Bodega because of the excellent view over the bay.

Birds seen during the day at the bay included: Belted kingfisher (three--or the same guy in three locations), common loon, pacific loon, White pelican, common tern, Western gull, ring-billed gull, turkey vulture, willet, marbled godwit, scrub jay, double-crested cormorant, pelagic cormorant, black oyster catcher, Clark's grebe, and Western grebe. Actually, as usual, I'm just guessing about the tern. I can never get close enough to tell which one it is. According to online information from the Madrone Audubon Society (which is our local chapter), elegant terns, Forster's terns, and Caspian terns are all possibilities. They are hard to tell apart at a distance.

Wines I'm Making: Electric Fence On

Turned on the electric fence around the grapes yesterday. Will try to put on the nets today, to keep away the various varmints that eat the fruit. Looking at the grapes yesterday, the crop will be small. Fruit set was pretty poor because of the cool, wet weather we had around flowering. The Sangiovese has done better than the Cabernet. In fact, I should drop some of the fruit on the Sangiovese vines.

[Update] Got the nets on yesterday, the 13th. Already lost some fruit, despite the electric fence. I'm hoping the nets and the fence together will protect the rest. I tested a few berries for ripeness. I was surprised to find them already at 17 brix.

Miscellaneous: Perseid Meteor Shower

Look tonight for meteors late at night, from about midnight. Tonight, and tomorrow should be the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

Enjoyed the show. Saw about 15 shooting stars from the deck. It was an unusually warm night for Santa Rosa.

Music I'm listening to: Jazz in Sonoma

Busy day on Saturday. In the morning I went to the farmer's market at the Veteran's Memorial Building, across from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. It's always hard to park when the fair is going on, but I'm glad I went. I found some good tomatoes and the fish seller had sea urchins. I picked up a couple. I was looking for other things I did not find.

Later, I went to the annual tasting and reception for the wine club members at Wellington Vineyards. I got a chance to taste some of the 2008 wines from the barrel and to talk with the growers and winemakers, which is always useful. I took along a bottle of our 2008 rosé because Toby and Janice in the tasting room and I had talked about it before. They seemed impressed. At the tasting one of the guys pouring wine mentioned that he was a bartender and would be working at the Ledson Hotel, in Sonoma, that evening and that there would be a good jazz group playing, so I went over there later. 1950s-style jazz with a good singer, a pianist, a bass player, and a drummer. Very enjoyable. I only got the name of the singer--Jonathan Poretz. He seems to appear there once a month with a smaller group. He said he brought in a bigger group last night as a rehearsal for an upcoming performance at Yoshi's in San Francisco. Shared a table with two young ladies from Italy--Federica and Lucrezia--making a tour of California. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't have a proper camera with me, hence the bad photo.

Friday night had a good meal at Greens in San Francisco after seeing the Robert Frank show at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I had wanted to see the Richard Avedon show and also the Ansel Adams/Georgia O'Keefe show, but got there too late in the day. Another day. The Robert Frank material was interesting. It was an unusual opportunity to see vintage prints of the entire selection for The Americans. There was a display of various editions of the book over the years. I noticed that the images looked markedly different. That's inevitable because of the variables introduced by printing, but I was surprised to see that in the most recent edition shown the cropping was quite different from that of the earlier editions. I wonder who made that decision?

Miscellaneous: Jupiter and the moon

Look out your hotel window, look out your door, look out your sunroof. See the moon and the bright planet in conjunction with it tonight--Jupiter much closer to the Earth than it usually is. Tonight is the full moon. Jupiter is in opposition, meaning that the sun, the earth, and Jupiter are aligned, with the sun "behind" Earth and Jupiter 180 degrees away, which makes it very bright and easy to view all night long. Beautiful. I will get out the telescope tonight. An unusual alignment. If I knew anything about astrology, I could pretend it meant something.

Miscellaneous: Bird-brained

Looking back over my most recent posts I had to laugh at myself. Reading them you'd get the erroneous impression that bird watching has taken over my life. It's just something I've been doing of late because I've had the opportunity (with the family away until Monday) and because it keeps my mind off other things--not that I don't enjoy it. It's been an odd reliving of a small segment of my childhood. My father used to drag us on bird watching outings as kids in New York. We didn't enjoy it much at the time, but the experiences of youth can stick with you in the most remarkable ways. Busy on Thursday evening. Friday I'll be going into the city with my mother to see what's on at SF MOMA, from around 3:00 or so, and then have dinner somewhere nice--probably at Greens. Saturday I have nothing planned, but will go to the Santa Rosa farmers market in the morning, probably between 10:30 and 11:30--always on the lookout for good tomatoes and smoked fish. Later in the day will attend a wine event at Wellington Vineyards, off of Dunbar Road. Nothing planned on Sunday either.

Birds I'm Watching: Shollenberger Park, Petaluma (August 5, 2009)

I made my first visit to Shollenberger Park, in Petaluma, today. "Park" is a misnomer. It's just a marshy area and ponds surrounded by a dyke with a path, but clearly an excellent place for birding. Even at this time of year, with comparatively little water, I saw Black-necked Stilts, Avocets, White Pelicans, Coots, Ring-billed Gulls, Heermann's Gull, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, a Black Phoebe, a Common Tern*, Mute Swans, and Greater Yellowlegs--not to mention at least two species of smaller sandpiper-like bird I couldn't identify. This last (the Greater Yellowlegs) was a first sighting for me as an adult. At first I took these to be Willets, but a more experienced birder wandering by set me straight.

Having seen them both now at close range, they are very easy to distinguish, but from a distance they can look similar. The key is the yellow legs (the Willet has bluish-grey legs) and the plumage on the  Yellowlegs is a little darker and more distinctly patterned, especially the wings. If you can see the birds fly, they are easy to tell apart because of the black and white on the underwings of the Willet. This is a place that will be great to visit over and over again. I can see that after one visit--and it's only 20 miles from home. I wonder what other birds--migrants perhaps, an occasional visitor from the east--are in the area? There are some in particular I'd very much like to see.

[UPDATE: Went back again two days later. Saw the same birds, but also a Bonaparte's Gull, a first sighting for me, and Killdeer and Mockingbirds--the latter eating blackberries. So that's about 15 species I've seen at Shollenberger Park in my first two visits, a mere 8% of the 195 that are said to be present there at some time or another. I look forward to visiting again later in the year.]

*Reading this ten years later, as a more experienced birder in this area, I note that the bird I took to be a Common Tern very likely was some other type of tern, as Common Tern is fairly unusual here.   

Birds I'm Watching: Bodega Bay

Drove briefly out to Bodega Bay yesterday, not having really planned to do so, but I had nothing better to do. Didn't see a lot new, but did get a clear look at a group of grebes and saw the difference between the Clark's grebe and the Western grebe well enough that I now can say I've seen both, so I add the Clark's grebe to my life list. The latter is a bit paler, especially on its back, and the black on the head stays above the eye. The black on the head of the Western grebe surrounds the eye. In my book Birds of Sonoma County California (Bolander and Parmeter), there is no historical sighting of this bird in the county in August. The book was published in 2000 (revised edition). It probably has been sighted, but, if not, there you go. I'm 100% certain about this one.

Out at Bodega Head I saw a group of birds that I believe were Pacific loons in their winter plumage. Nothing else makes any sense. So, tentatively, I add the Pacific loon to my life list. I also saw what I think were mew gulls, but I'm not certain. Otherwise, I saw the usual on a drive in Sonoma County that includes the ocean: Double-crested cormorants, Western gulls, turkey vultures, scrub jays, Canada geese, black oyster catchers, willets, sandpipers, great egrets, brown pelicans, white pelicans, marbled godwits, and common terns.

Birds I'm Watching: Point Bonita Lighthouse

I went out to Point Bonita Lighthouse on Sunday. It's near Sausalito--that horrid little city with the predatory parking enforcers. Happily, I didn't have to go anywhere near Sausalito itself. I didn't see much interesting in the way of birds, but it was a pleasant drive to a scenic spot. The view of the Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance is wonderful. If you go, expect to spend at least an hour for the visit. The small suspension bridge out to the point is allowed to carry only two people at once, so there's a long wait while visitors alternate in pairs, coming and going.

I saw a lot of cormorants. Frustratingly, I couldn't get close enough to tell which kind they were. The vestiges of past dwellings near the light house were interesting--especially the overlapping, lichen-covered layers of plaster, brick, and native rock (upper photo). When I was out at Point Reyes not long ago, I photographed the distinctive bright orange lichen that favors these wild spots around San Francisco Bay (lower photo). I also noticed strata of natural conglomerate exposed there. More found art.

Birds I'm Watching: Point Reyes (July 27, 2009)

I went bird watching today at Point Reyes. Three new species for me--northern harrier, pigeon guillemot, and Eurasian collared dove. Other birds I saw included: American goldfinch, great egret, willet, brown pelican, Heermann's gull, California gull, Western gull, common tern, white-crowned sparrow, common murre, barn swallow, turkey vulture, and scrub jay.

Interesting rock formations (conglomerate) out at the old lighthouse. Saw the harrier at Limantour Estero, the rest mostly at the two points--Chimney Rock and the lighthouse. The doves were at Chimney Rock. I wish I better understood how these formations were deposited.

Birds I'm Watching: Whimbrels and Willets at Bodega

Haven't felt much like writing in the past week, but had a fruitful day of bird watching yesterday out at Bodega. Near the Tides Restaurant (from the parking lot, actually) saw Western sandpipers (I think), a whimbrel and a Willet. Later spent some time looking at seagulls, which usually go in one eye and out the other, so to speak. Saw Western gulls, Heermann's Gull, and ring-billed gull. The latter two I've certainly seen before, but this is the first time I've actually stopped to figure out what any of them were, so I count these as first sightings. Same for the Western sandpipers, if that's what they were. First sighting also for the whimbrel and the willet. While at the parking lot an Osprey flew over carrying a trout-sized fish. Down closer to Bodega head, on the road that leads out to Campbell Cove, past Spud Point Marina, saw many other birds. Saw these birds on the day:

Osprey, *Whimbrel, *Willet, *Western sandpiper, Western gull, *Ring-billed gull, *Heermann's gull, Black oystercatcher, Snowy egret, Great egret, Marbled godwit, Brown Pelican, White Pelican, Turkey vulture, American Goldfinch, Mourning dove, Western grebe, Great Blue Heron. Birds with asterisks are ones that I've definitively identified for the first time as an adult--not that I've necessarily never seen them before. All in all, a productive day--18 species, four first sightings.

Theater I'm Watching: The Importance of Being Earnest

Just got home from a good performance of The Importance of Being Earnest in San Rafael. It's still funny after more than 100 years.