YAS Board Members Michael Perrone, Sonjia Shelly, and John Hansen installing bluebird boxes at Capay Open Space
In November 2018 this column discussed ongoing and planned habitat improvements at the Open Space Park on Cache Creek, along County Road 85 just north of the town of Capay. […]
Slaty-backed Gull; © Bart Wickel
The new year featured several returning birds. On Jan 3, last winter’s Garganey was re-found at Bridgeway Island Pond in West Sacramento (LS, MS). The male is currently in eclipse […]
Northern Pintail; © Deb Ford
Just a reminder that California Duck Days is coming up on February 22nd at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters in Davis. The event includes workshops, field trips, many on-site […]
Indoor Cat Birdwatching
A recent study by the Smithsonian Institution and the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats kill about 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals each year […]
Bridgeway Island Pond; © Ann Brice
Bridgeway Island Pond is a birding hotspot in the Southport area of West Sacramento, famous for its excellent close-up views of an assortment of waterfowl, waterbirds and shorebirds. The pond […]
Barred Owl; © Bart Wickel
It all started on Dec 11 with an Instagram post among non-birders, clearly showing a Barred Owl perched on a rafter in a barn in south Davis. The post made […]
White-breasted Nuthatch; © Erna Tarara
The Putah Creek Riparian Reserve, owned and managed by UC Davis, is a well-known birding spot. The publicly accessible Yolo portion is on the north bank of the creek, mainly […]
Swamp Sparrow; © Kirk Swenson
Perhaps overdue, a first county record Brant was found among a thousand Greater White-fronted Geese at the Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility on Nov 7 (TE). Enjoyed by many birders for […]
Wintering waterfowl are arriving, which is a great excuse to talk about our annual drawing at the meeting on December 4th. Our grand prize this year features a lovely winter […]
Worm-eating Warbler; © Steve Hampton
We were treated to a late fall mega-rarity, a reasonably cooperative Worm-eating Warbler, a first county record and one of very few for the Central Valley. Despite howling winds, the […]
Black-chinned Hummingbird at Nest; Davis; © Deb Ford
Projects to map the distribution of breeding bird species in a given area have covered numerous California counties. Called breeding bird atlases, they describe abundance, timing of breeding, and aspects […]
Fall is here, and the bird season is changing too. We have a wide variety of field trips for you in the upcoming weeks. A new one is Alison Kent’s […]