Fall Happenings
The Central Valley Birding Symposium will celebrate its 30th anniversary November 19-22 at the Stockton Hilton with four days of amazing workshops, speakers and field trips for birders of all levels. The schedule and registration information can be found here. Yolo Bird Alliance is one of the CVBS sponsors and is pleased to have board member and UC Davis graduate student Lynette Duman as an organizer for a special program of student presentations at the event. Hope you can make it!
Time to think about the Christmas Bird Count!
It’s not too early to make plans for our 2026 Putah Creek Christmas Bird Count (CBC) which will take place on December 20th. A good place to start is by reading last year’s count writeup. In spite of less than perfect weather for most of the day, we were able to count 144 species and hope to increase the total this year.
Also, be sure to save the date for our popular bird count I.D. workshop led by Zane Pickus at the members’ meeting on December 9th. Besides reviewing hard to identify birds that may be seen on the count, CBC Compiler Bart Wickel will also introduce area leaders and briefly describe the 10 count areas. This is a good time for CBC participants to sign up for their favorite birding location within the count.
Besides the CBC itself on December 20th, for the first time instead of a potluck, we’ll hold the post count gathering at Lamppost Pizza, where YBA will provide the pizza, and we’ll socialize while discussing the highlights of the day.
More details to follow, but mark your calendars now!
Yolo Bird Alliance announces Small Grants Program for 2026
The Yolo Bird Alliance is now accepting applications for small grants from individuals and non-profit organizations. The grants, of up to $3,000 each, are to be used for research, habitat restoration, and education related to avian natural history and conservation. The program is open to non-profits for education, but independent student research projects will be prioritized. Although preference is for studies located in Yolo County, projects located outside of Yolo that benefit Yolo County avian conservation will also be considered. YBA has supported several such projects in past years, and last year supported five research studies and two education programs. These included assessing the long-term benefits of nest boxes for bird conservation, to conducting the first Northern Harrier nest success study in the Sacramento Valley, to analyzing American Kestrel fledgling diets and adult movement in the greater Davis area.
It is hoped that two to three projects will be funded on an annual basis with money raised by YBA memberships and other fundraising efforts. Application deadlines for this season are December 15th, 2026 and March 15th, 2027. Please contact Lynette Williams Duman, Yolo Bird Alliance Grant Committee Chair, if you have questions and would like more details and a grant application.
YBA looks forward to supporting more students and promoting more avian research and conservation with generous donations from our membership.
YBA Pelagic Trip canceled again
Unfortunately, the second sold out pelagic trip that was to leave from the Sausalito Harbor on November 1 was canceled due to bad weather. Trip leaders Zane Pickus and Emmett Iverson have now decided to wait until spring 2027 to try again. Stay tuned!
–Genevieve Colborn and Ann Brice