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 […]
Trip Leaders: Henry Witsken and Peyton Bounds Description: As spring migration and baby season continue to kick off, please join us at Bridgeway Island Pond and the Deepwater Shipping Channel in West Sacramento! Bridgeway Island Pond is one of the premier locations in California to observe large concentrations of Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal at close […]
Lesser Nighthawk ©Zane Pickus Trip Leader: Zane Pickus, Bart Wickel, Julian Johnson Description: Nighthawks are a family of cryptically colored, primarily nocturnal bird species that are a favorite of many birders. Cache Creek is the summer home of the Lesser Nighthawk, which winters in Central and South America before returning to California to breed. Lesser […]
Trip Leaders: Zane Pickus, Emmett Iverson, Julian Johnson Description: Summer in the Sierra Nevada mountains is a wonderful place to be as a birder, with the endless conifer forests and wet meadows filled with beautiful breeding neotropical migrants and uncommon montane species. Wright’s Lake campground in the El Dorado National Forest is a premier location […]
Praire Warbler ©Zane Pickus Note: this trip is now full. Trip Leaders: Kevin Guse, Zane Pickus Description: This is the annual Terry Colborn memorial field trip to Point Reyes. Fall migration at Point Reyes can be spectacular and makes this area a well-deserved birding hotspot. Depending on the weather, the numbers and diversity of songbirds […]
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2026 Time: 8:00am Trip Organizers: Michael Perrone and Sonjia Shelly Yolo Bird Alliance offers ‘Birding for Beginners’—a series of bird-watching walks. New this fall, Yolo Bird Alliance is offering a series of bird walks in the local area for people who are new to birding. The first walk is Saturday, […]
Departs from and Returns to Sausalito Harbor Trip Organizers Zane Pickus, Emmett Iverson Description There is truly no experience in birding quite like that of being aboard a boat on the ocean. Dedicated pelagic birding trips offer a unique opportunity to witness a variety of spectacular seabirds that are not visible from land, such as […]
Date: Saturday, October 31st, 2026 Time: 7:30 am- 10:00 am Trip Leaders: Michael Perrone and Sonjia Shelly Description Come look for birds and friendly goblins at the Davis Cemetery District and Arboretum on this Halloween morning bird walk. The 28-acre cemetery is a National Wildlife Federation certified wildlife habitat. Many species of birds are attracted […]