Migration! Millions of birds are on the move, making their way from the tropics of Central and South America to the boreal forests of North America. Warblers, vireos and flycatchers in their brilliant breeding plumages flying over the Central Valley are offered respite in the riparian habitat of Yolo County.

March brought us a month of change, the bridge between the static of winter and the birth of the new year. Oaks are fully budded out, redbuds are in bloom, and the hills of Putah Canyon are glowing green. The growing tension of March builds throughout the month as we

As Mӧtley Crüe once said, “gulls, gulls, gulls”. Oh, that’s not what they said? Close enough. The story of February was the gull action from the Davis Landfill and the County Road 104 ponds. Amongst the thousands of California, Herring, Cook Inlet and Thayers Gulls, a few goodies were picked

January is a month for fresh starts and that is especially applicable to birders. As the calendar rolls into a new year, birders start their year lists anew and wait for January 1st to count their new year Black Phoebe and Anna’s Hummingbird on January 1st. For some of the

The month of December was a relatively slow one for the birders of Yolo County, with storms drenching the Valley and dumping more than a dozen feet of snow on the Sierra. Rivers and bypasses have swollen, making ample habitat for ducks and geese. This influx of water should create

November sees thousands and thousands of waterfowl flood into the Central Valley, filling our refuges, fields and bypasses with the spectacle and deafening sound of geese as they take flight together. The temperature has dropped and the last few western neotropical migrants trickle through as they try to make their

October got off to a fast start with Yolo’s second record of Cassin’s Kingbird being found on the first of the month (CT). This bird worked its way south along the telephone wires of County Road 103 before disappearing after just a couple of hours. Birders who missed it were

September: the best month of the year for rare birds in California and the month that every birder eagerly awaits. It was peak fall migration which often brings out-of-range visitors as birds freshly hatched in the far northern hemisphere find their way south for the first time. As usual for

The summer of 2021 was defined for birders by water, or lack of it to be more precise. Huge droughts throughout the Great Basin saw massive numbers of failed breeders arriving in Yolo earlier than normal for fall migration. Wilson’s Phalaropes, Willets and Black Terns being the most conspicuous, as

It has been a slow start to spring migration with warblers, flycatchers and vireos being seen in low numbers through the month of April. Birders I’ve spoken to down south said that they are starting to see a push of neotropical migrants just now so hopefully the floodgates open for

It was a slow month for the Yolo eBird reviewers but a few great birds kept March interesting for birders. The find of the month was an adult male Allen’s Hummingbird found south of Clarksburg on March 17th. (TU) This is one of very few chaseable records in the county.

Emmett Iverson here, taking over for Steve Hampton after twenty-some odd years of writing monthly reports for the Burrowing Owl. Steve will be sorely missed by the birding community, not only for the birds he finds but for the knowledge, skill and outreach he has provided for the past three decades.