Recent Sightings

The star of March was a glowing TROPICAL KINGBIRD at Bridgeway Lakes Community Park in West Sacramento, found on 3/2 for a fourth Yolo County record (AG). The kingbird put on a show for four days, and was enjoyed by dozens of birders. TROPICAL KINGBIRDS are typically found well south

Recent Sightings: February 2025

March 6, 2025

A massive flock of HORNED LARKS, growing to over 4,000 birds, was present in some barren agricultural fields northwest of Knights Landing for most of the month. Unlike most lark flocks in Yolo County, this flock was right off the road on Highway 45, and, with patience, could be

Recent Sightings: January 2025

February 16, 2025

Glaucous Gull | Photo by Julian Johnson With the turn of the calendar year, birders were out covering all corners of Yolo County. The action began with a SUMMER TANAGER on a private stretch of Elk Slough near Clarksburg on 1/2 (EI, ZP). This female was first heard giving its

Yolo Notable Sightings: December 2024

January 10, 2025

December closed out the calendar year with a diverse flurry of rare birds in Yolo County. The month kicked off with a surprising report of a LONG-TAILED DUCK that was shot by a hunter at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA) on 12/4 (per EM). This bird was reported

Yolo Notable Sightings: November 2024

December 2, 2024

November was filled with periods of heavy rain and wind, starting off the wet season by filling wetlands and raising water bodies throughout the county. In spite of the hit-or-miss weather, birders managed to get out and keep Yolo County eBird reviewers busy. By pure rarity, the highlight of

Yolo Notable Sightings: October 2024

November 2, 2024

A rather warm October was highlighted by a handful of county-level rarities and a few migratory species passing through at later-than-typical dates. Many of these birds were only seen briefly, but a few stuck around long enough to be enjoyed by many local birders. In addition to the rarities,

Yolo Notable Sightings: September 2024

October 7, 2024

September is well-known among birders as the heart of fall migration, with many species dispersing and embarking on long migrations to their wintering grounds. With all this bird movement, it’s inevitable that some individuals get lost on their journeys and turn up as “vagrants” well out of their normal range.

Yolo Notable Sightings: Summer 2024

September 6, 2024

Spring and summer 2024 was a birdy period in Yolo County, filled with a wide diversity of rare birds from every corner of the county. This report documents some of the most exceptional reports from the summer of 2024, spanning May through August. While mostly chronological, it begins with two

Yolo Notable Sightings: April 2024

May 6, 2024

Spring migration was in full swing this past month, with migrant songbirds and shorebirds showing up all throughout the county. Nice April weather gave local birders plenty of opportunities to sort through the passing flocks, and the results were pretty exceptional. The highlight of April was the discovery of

Yolo Notable Sightings: March 2024

April 7, 2024

As the days grew warmer and the sunsets later, birds were on the move. March is a month of transition in the bird world, marking the conclusion of winter and the beginning of spring. In the past two weeks, our wintering species have thinned out, and the first migrants have

Yolo Notable Sightings: February 2024

March 6, 2024

While February had multiple periods of intense storms, a few breaks of warm, spring-like weather gave birders a chance to get out and discover some noteworthy birds. The diverse scattering of rarities throughout the county kept Yolo County birders busy and made for an exciting month. February started strong with

Spring migration began late this year, with neotropical migrants not arriving en masse until the last week of April. The late arrivals may be a function of how cold it has been recently, as in Yolo County temperatures have yet to exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless, songbirds were more quiet than usual until the last week of April, when things began to pick up rapidly. Fortunately for birders, the extensive late-winter rains provided fabulous shorebird habitat throughout the region, with the majority of the action centered at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA).
   When the YBWA reopened in the second week of April, birders began scouring every patch of water and mud for migrating shorebirds. Tens of thousands of birds passed through the area this spring, and on any given night one could see clouds of peeps, plovers, and dowitchers. The first rarity of the month came on 4/15, when a SOLITARY SANDPIPER was spotted along the auto tour loop (MP, SH). The next day, two SOLITARY SANDPIPERS were photographed, and a SNOWY PLOVER was picked out amongst the masses of shorebirds (AH, DS, JJ, ZP).
   Shorebird numbers at the YBWA continued to increase, and on 4/17, six SNOWY PLOVERS were found together in a drying rice check (CD). Presumably the same group continued for over a week. The fourth SOLITARY SANDPIPER of the spring was reported on 4/23 (JG). On 4/25, the rarest, and the briefest, shorebird of the year thus far was photographed. A sparkling PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER briefly dropped into a flooded field before picking up and leaving the area (EM, JJ, ZP). Very difficult to find in Yolo County, this is the first PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER in the county since last spring, although that bird was also a one-day-wonder.
   A visit to Davis Creek Reservoir in extreme northwestern Yolo County on 4/18 produced an intriguing list of birds! Most notable was a COMMON LOON, in stunning alternate plumage, swimming and diving on the reservoir proper (JG). It stuck around until at least the next morning when it was observed flying off over the hills. This is the first COMMON LOON seen by multiple birders in Yolo County since 2019. A cavity-filled snag on the shore of the reservoir was being actively defended by a LEWIS’S WOODPECKER. Even crazier was that the same snag was also investigated by a PURPLE MARTIN (JG). LEWIS’S WOODPECKER has never been confirmed as a breeding species in the county, and PURPLE MARTINS are thought to be locally extirpated as breeders since they no longer nest reliably in West Sacramento. Hopefully further visits to the site will provide clarity on whether these birds are truly nesting in the county, or were just exploring the spot.
   Sticking to the foothills, a fly-by PILEATED WOODPECKER was observed on 4/22 flying over Bray Canyon, just north of Putah Creek Fishing Access #1 (JJ). PILEATED WOODPECKERS have become exceedingly rare in the county since the LNU Lightning Complex Fires of summer 2020, which burned much of the old-growth woodland in the county’s sliver of the Coast Ranges. However, April and May is the period in which PILEATED WOODPECKERS often wander out of their normal range, and this makes the third year in a row that one has been found in Yolo County in April.
   A few birders reported notable migrants from their backyards. The rarest was a striking adult BLACK-THROATED SPARROW in south Davis from 4/25 – 4/27 (GS). Normally found well to the east in the Great Basin, this is Yolo’s eighth county record. A LESSER NIGHTHAWK was an exciting find at Uslan Farms in Clarksburg on 4/13 (TU). Uslan Farms also hosted three tiny CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDS on 4/20, and the continuing male ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD made periodic visits to the extensive suite of flowers and feeders there (TU). At night, WILLETS were heard flying over urban Davis on three occasions spanning 4/11 – 4/14 (KD, LWD, SH).
   GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS are a scarce bird in the county outside of their traditional breeding areas in the southern Yolo Bypass. With this in mind, two reports of singing birds in the northern foothills were interesting. One was photographed in the Dunnigan Hills on 4/5, where they have not been reported in 25 years (JJ). Another was reported from a private ranch near County Road 81 in the Capay Valley. While not detected frequently in this area, the Yolo County Breeding Bird atlas from 2010 documented GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS nesting here, so perhaps this remains a regular location for them.
   The month concluded with the first heat wave of the year, and with it came a large pulse of migrants. The first BLACK TERNS of the year, five of them, were at Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant on 4/29 (JJ), along with a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER (RF). Spring migrant Baird’s are very unusual in California but there have been other reports along the coast this year. Northbound PURPLE MARTINS were detected in two locations on 4/30, with a solo bird over the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve (JJ), and a pair over Grasslands Regional Park (JG). The month concluded with the discovery of a female CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD at the UC Davis Arboretum as the sun was setting on 4/30.

Thanks to the following for their reports:
Chris Dong (CD), Ethan Monk (EM), Gregg Schwab (GS), Joshua Greenfield (JG), Julian Johnson (JJ), Konshaau Duman (KD), Lynette Williams Duman (LWD), Michael Perrone (MP), Rob Furrow (RF), Steve Hampton (SH), Tom Uslan (TU), Zane Pickus (ZP)

–Zane Pickus