White-throated Sparrow ©Zane Pickus Trip Leader: - Zane Pickus and Bart Wickel - TRIP IS FULL Description: Fall migration is largely over and the winter birds are settling in. Join Bart Wickel and Zane Pickus for a local jaunt around Yolo County. The challenge: to find as many species of sparrows as possible. To further the […]
Northern Harrier ©Zane Pickus Event Organizers: Yolo Bird Alliance, Yolo Basin Foundation, Birdwatching Club at UC Davis Description: Trip Postponed You are invited to join the Yolo Bird Alliance, Yolo Basin Foundation, and the Birdwatching Club at UC Davis for a joint event at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area! On Sunday, November 16th we will host […]
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge ©Genevieve Colborn Trip Leader: - Genevieve Colborn and Kelli O’Neill Description: This post-Thanksgiving trip will feature iconic Central Valley wintering birds at two national wildlife refuges. Depending on water conditions, late November at the Sacramento and Colusa National Wildlife Refuges can be a phenomenal birding location. These refuges host hundreds of […]
Bobcat Ranch at Night ©Matt Allshouse Trip Leaders: Matt Allshouse, Autumn Turner, Kelli O’Neill - TRIP IS FULL Description: Take part in this limited opportunity to explore Audubon California’s Bobcat Ranch near Winters for a special evening owling field trip. Bobcat Ranch is a 6,800-acre working ranch that uses regenerative grazing management to restore and manage […]
Peregrine Falcon ©Zane Pickus Trip Leaders: Kevin Guse Description: TRIP IS FULL California’s Central Valley has one of the largest wintering raptor populations in the country. Our goal will be to see how many species of raptors we can find on this annual trip. Highlights of past trips include Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Golden Eagle, Peregrine […]
Red Knot ©Kevin Guse Trip Leaders: Kevin Guse - TRIP FULL Description: You are cordially invited to join us for a trip to one of the crown jewels of Northern California birding: Bodega Bay. On this trip we will be looking for a wide variety of winter bird species, including shorebirds, gulls, loons, grebes, ducks, […]
Mountain Plover ©Frank Severson Trip Leaders: Sharon Kirkpatrick - TRIP FULL Description: Join us for a trip to the pastures of southeastern Solano County to search for overwintering raptors & other winter visitors. The fields in the vicinity of Robinson and Flannery Roads can be a fantastic location to observe locally uncommon grassland species. We […]
Tree Swallow ©Zane Pickus Trip Leaders: Zane Pickus, Emmett Iverson Description: On January 1, 2026, the California Bird Atlas began! This five-year-long participatory science project will document breeding birds throughout all of California, providing valuable insight into the state’s bird populations as well as how species interact with their habitats. All birders, regardless of experience, […]
Wilson's Warbler ©Julian Johnson Trip Leader: Rob Furrow Description: This walking trip focuses on the migrating songbirds passing through Davis. Willowbank Ditch in South Davis has a fantastic mix of mature trees, dense understory, and diverse fruiting and flowering plants. In mid-April, insects abound and plants burst with flowers and new vegetation, attracting migratory warbler […]
Black Phoebe ©Aaron Haiman Trip Leader: Aaron Haiman Description: Spring migration is in full swing and what better place to go than the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve? A morning of birding on this date can produce dozens of neotropical migrants, including warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, and grosbeaks. The Putah Creek Riparian Reserve includes trails both […]
In the October 2025 issue of the Burrowing Owl, we wrote about the habitat restoration project at the Pacific Flyway Pond (formerly known as North Regional Pond, just north of the Woodland Waste Water Treatment Plant). Now, Yolo Bird Alliance, alongside Yolo County Resource Conservation District, has a big planting day coming up at the pond. We […]
Black-chinned Hummingbird ©Manfred Kusch Trip Leader: Manfred Kusch Description: TRIP IS FULL Tour Manfred Kusch’s birding gardens between Davis and Winters. Kusch has cultivated his home garden and surrounding area, which borders Putah Creek, into a true birding extravaganza. He attracts a wide variety of birds in the gardens and habitat around the house, especially hummingbirds […]