From the Co-Presidents

Welcome back Yolo Bird Alliance friends!  

We hope you’ve had a great summer. We just had a YBA board meeting and have been making plans for the upcoming season. John Sterling will kick off our monthly members’ meeting on September 16th with a presentation on his recent travels to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea – see below. We will have the fall field trip schedule out soon, so stay tuned on our web site and Facebook page. 

Aerial firefighting at Bobcat Ranch ©Matt Allshouse

We are pleased that the fire that affected Bobcat Ranch earlier this summer was fairly quickly contained. While there was significant damage to oak trees and other impacts, no structures were lost. Audubon California and staff at Bobcat are still working on the post-fire recovery and reviewing the fire risk at Bobcat and other Audubon properties in California. Bobcat is the most frequently burned property owned by Audubon in the state. Data on past fires from 1954-2026 shows an exponential increase starting 12 years ago. Impacts over time include major vegetative changes, erosion and water degradation, and loss of ranch infrastructure. Audubon staff at Bobcat, including the current manager Matt Allshouse, have developed a close relationship with CalFire that includes a Vegetative Management Plan, fuel mitigation, and restoration projects. On the positive side, nearly every fire that has burned onto the property, including this summer’s fire, has been stopped at the grazed portion of Bobcat Ranch before it reached neighboring communities. This partnership and mitigation measures taken have helped protect neighbors and community, but the ranch has suffered impacts, including post-fire erosion and impacts to water quality and roads. Improvements to trails, roads, bridges and fencing are needed so they can continue to be reliably used by visitors (including our Phenology Survey volunteers), staff and fire fighting vehicles. Look for more information from Yolo Bird Alliance soon on how we might be able to help support Bobcat Ranch in meeting some of these needs.

    Garrett Spaan, the manager of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, announced that dove season started on September 1st and lasts two weeks, and then the Wildlife Area prepares for the opening of waterfowl season on October 24th. This includes a two-week resting period for the birds before the 24th. Now is a good time to visit the area and enjoy the migrating shorebirds and early waterfowl. Be sure to check the Recent Sighting column below for rarities that have been spotted there over the summer. A big change has been implemented at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area – now everyone who visits is required to purchase and carry a Land’s Pass.  Visitors who have their own valid California hunting or fishing license are exempt from the requirements as are school and organized youth groups. Currently most of the funding for management of state wildlife areas comes from hunting and fishing license fees. The purchase of Lands Passes involves all visitors in helping to support these important areas. Click here (https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Lands-Pass#purchase) for more information from the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife. Our wildlife area is a wonderful amenity for the people of the region. Please recognize the importance of helping to support it by keeping your annual pass current. Single day use passes can also be purchased as an alternative to the annual pass.

  On a sad note:  John Mott-Smith recently passed away. He was a former Yolo Bird Alliance Board Member and a fixture in the Yolo County environmental community. Many people especially valued his well-researched and timely articles on climate change which appeared for decades in his “PerCapita” column in the Davis Enterprise. He will be greatly missed.

 –Genevieve Colborn and Ann Brice