Written by Emily Domanico, fourth year majoring in History of Art and minoring in Chemistry.
Following bird songs, naturalist Joseph Grinnell photographed this nest of a black-chinned sparrow while on a collection trip in the San Jacinto Mountains back in May 1908.
One hundred years later, the Natural History Museum of San Diego is conducting a resurvey project of the San Jacinto region hoping to compare what Grinnell saw (and heard) then with what is there today. Grinnell’s account of the bird songs and this field trip can be found in the digitized scans of field notes taken that day can be found online in the museum’s EcoReader. Also, check out audubon.org for a recording of the bird song that brought Grinnell to the nest.
