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Jun 14
2010
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"A California Bestiary"Posted by Bruce Robinson in wildlife , salmon , open space , history , environment , California , author , art , animals |
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From the extinct California Grizzly to the omnipresent California ground squirrel, a carefully chosen 12 animal species are featured in the small, reflective and beautifully illustrated new book, A California Bestiary.
Rebecca Solnit drew on both personal experience and background knowledge, focused field trips with illustrator Mona Caron, and some updated research to prepared for writing this book.
Two of the dozen species featured in the Bestiary, are insects—both butterflies. Solnit says she chose the Monarch and the Mission Blue as a minor study in contrasts.
The full list of animals included in A California Bestiary is as follows:
Acorn Woodpecker
Bluebelly Lizard
California Condor
California Grizzly
California Ground Squirrel
Chinook Salmon
Desert Tortise
Elephant Seal
Misson Blue Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
Mountain Lion
Tule Elk
In the additional illustrations by Mona Caron shown below, note how the background includes the human-created obstacles that have become a part of the landscape for the native species.


Tamalpais Walking is the most recent in a series of collaborations between Killion and poet Gary Snyder, Their previous joint effort was 
Killion's website


The sounds of the natural world are changing, and not for the better. Bernie Krause (left) has tapes that document that trend.
While Krause has been recording and tracking the changes in aural environments around the world over the past several decades for his business, 

Daniel Judd celebrates his contest victory, sharing a high five with Clo the Cow as girlfriend Andrea Duszynski looks on.