As a wild biologist, every time I travel to a new habitat, or go on a small adventure, I think about what interesting animals I might find living there. At the end of every outing, I generally make a list of all the species I see or at least hear in my head. Eventually this list, (which I must admit is more often than not biased towards vertebrates) will make it into my journal for antiquity. During our time on the Tuolumne this June, we saw some rare and spectacular animals that I for one, am stoked to add to my lifetime list. I’m not sure that anything can top our sighting of the Bald Eagle, complete with a nest and rearing juvenile. This was my first time seeing a Bald Eagle and in the setting of the epic and gorgeous Tuolumne River, in awe of its beauty, I will never forget it.
Reptiles
Western Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris)
Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus oregnaus)
Birds
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Acorn Woodpecker
Tellar's Jay
American Dipper
Canyon Wren
Greate Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Common Merganser
Black Phoebe
Ciolet-green Swallow
American Raven
Amphibians
Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii)
Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)
Western Toad (Bufo boreas)
Mammals:
California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)
Deer Mouse (Peromyscus sp.)
Fish:
Sacramento Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis)
Sacramento Sucker (Catostomus occidentalis)
California Roach (Lavinia summetricus)
Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)