2008 NABA Meeting, Kernville, California
Planning
PLANNING YOUR TRIP
Web Pages: Pre-meeting information for the 8th NABA Biennial Meeting in Kernville, California may be found on this web site. Web pages provide information on basic meeting registration, a meeting schedule, accommodations, an area butterfly checklist for late June, field trips (descriptions and sign-up), suggested reference materials, meals, self-guided birding and butterflying, t-shirts, travel information, and what-to-bring information.
Getting to Kernville: The closest commercial airports with major rental car companies are in Bakersfield and Inyokern, each 1.5 hours driving time from Kernville. Burbank Airport and Ontario Airport are 3.5-4 hours and Los Angeles International Airport is 4-5 hours from Kernville.
Facilities: Meeting field trips starts and conclusions, Thursday night’s evening program, and Sunday afternoon workshops will take place at the Kernville School, 13350 Sierra Way. The school is located across the street from the Pine Cone Inn and Kern Lodge in Kernville.
Friday and Saturday’s dinners and evening programs will be held at the Family Life Center, in Wofford Heights (five minutes south from Kernville). The FLC is located at the corner of Panorama and Sycamore one block up from Burlando Road, the main road from Kernville to Wofford Heights.
Accommodations (RESERVE NOW!!!!!): There is no single meeting hotel. A comprehensive list of a full range of accommodations is available (e.g.: B&Bs, cabins, campgrounds, houses, motels, RV parks). In addition, rooms have been reserved at several local motels under the name “NABA.” Be sure to mention that you are coming for the NABA meeting and would like to reserve one of the rooms reserved for “NABA.” You can contact Bob Barnes by E-mail: bbarnes@lightspeed.net or Phone: 760-382-1260 if you need help finding a roommate.
Meals: Registration fees cover box lunches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and dinners Friday and Saturday nights. We will try to accommodate special dietary preferences or needs that you specify on the registration form, but may not be able to do so. Breakfast is on your own. Cheryl’s Diner in downtown Kernville opens at 6am each morning and several accommodations have microwave ovens & refrigerators, kitchenettes, even full kitchens. Be sure to ask. We are hopeful of being able to provide water and snacks to keep you going between meals. Please supplement the preceding by bringing your favorite drinks and snacks with you.
Ground Transportation: Groups will travel to field trip sites by carpooling in participants’ private vehicles. Passengers are expected to split gasoline costs with drivers.
Weather: Daytime high temperatures average in the low 90s with nighttime lows ranging from the 60s to low 70s. Most field trips will spend the warmest part of the day in the mountains where high temperatures will be several degrees lower than on the Kern River Valley floor. Figure 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit lower for each 1000’ of elevation gain.
Field Observations: A printable Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada butterfly list covering those species which have flown in late June is available. A copy will also be in meeting packets picked-up during on site registration at Kernville School, along with a bird list. Close-focusing binoculars are recommended. Cameras and videocams are welcome. No nets are permitted.
What To Bring:
- Binoculars, cameras, field guides
- Books for book signings (and/or purchase books of interest at NABA 08 Meeting itself)
- Cell phone (AT&T/Cingular works best, Verizon and others are spotty.)
- Day pack
- Field clothes – long pants and long-sleeved shirts (Shorts are NOT recommended for field trips.)
- Hat or cap
- Insect repellent
- Layered clothing – including jackets in case needed in the high country
- Walking shoes/hiking boots
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Swim suit
- Two-way radios and batteries (It will be important for communicating in carpools and field trips)
- Umbrella – collapsible to fit in daypack in case of rain shower in mountains or to ward off the sun
- Water bottle holder
- Very casual evening attire! This is rural California. Many people don’t even suit up for church! Come as you are most comfortable is definitely the rule!)
Recommended References (covering the Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada):
Butterflies
Butterflies through Binoculars – The West by Jeffrey Glassberg, Oxford University Press, 2001
Butterflies of Kern and Tulare Counties, California by Ken Davenport, Colorado State University, 2003***
Butterflies of North America by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman, Houghton Mifflin, 2003
Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America by Thomas Allen, Jim Brock, Jeffrey Galssberg, Oxford Press, 2005
Definitive Destination: Lake Isabella & the southern California Sierra by Jim Brock, in the North American
Butterfly Association’s American Butterflies magazine, Winter 2001
An Introduction to Southern California Butterflies by Fred Heath, Mountain Press, 2004
Southwest Leps butterfly sightings
***Available from Gillette Museum Publications.
Copies of the second edition Kern/Tulare County publication are also available by sending $18.50 to Paul A. Opler, Dept. of Bioagricultural Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Copies are also available from Bio Quip Products, 17803 LaSalle Ave., Gardena, CA. 90248-3602. Telephone: (310) 324-0620. E mail: bioquip@aol.com.
Other Insects
California Insects by Jerry Powell and Charles Hogue, University of California Press, 1980
Field Guide to Beetles of California by Art Evans and James Hogue, University of California Press, 2006
Common Dragonflies of the Southwest by Kathy Biggs, Azalea Creek Publishing, 2004
Dragonflies and Damselflies of California by Tim Manolis, University of California Press, 2003
Birds
A Birder’s Guide to Southern California edited by Brad Schram, American Birding Association, 2007
Birding Northern California by John Kemper, The Globe Pequot Press, 2001
California Cornucopia - Birding Kern County by Bob Steele, WildBird Magazine, September/October 2005
Find It Here! The Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada of California by Bob Barnes and Bob
Steele, in the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine, April 2003
Kern and Tulare Counties bird sightings
Other Vertebrates
A Field Guide to the Snakes of California by Philip Brown, Gulf Publishing, 1997
Western Reptiles and Amphibians by Robert Stebbins, Houghton Mifflin, 2003
Mammals of California by E.W. Jameson and Hans Peeters, University of California Press, 2004
Plants
Trees and Shrubs of California by John Stuart and John Sawyer, University of California Press, 2001
Sierra Nevada Wildflowers by Elizabeth Horn, Mountain Press, 1998
Introduction to California Mountain Wildflowers by Philip Munz, University of California Press, 2003
Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and Adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin by Laird Blackwell, Lone Pine Publishing, 2002
Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley by Laird Blackwell, Lone Pine Publishing, 1999
General Natural History
The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws, Heyday Books, 2007
National Audubon Society Field Guide to California by Peter Alden and Fred Heath, Chanticleer Press, 1998
Natureali’s Kern County natural history by Alison Sheehey
17-Feb-2008/ Main Meeting Page