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. Now I am happy to report on the success of the project, which has had help from YAS. The forty-acre park was recently part of […]
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 plumage, but should molt as the winter progresses. On Jan 9, December’s Barred Owl made another appearance on Instagram, photographed in a backyard along Willowbank […]
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 kids’ activities, and an exhibition hall. Go to the Yolo Basin Foundation website to learn more. Duck Days is a great community event, and Yolo Audubon members […]
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 in the lower forty-eight states. This is far higher—and probably more accurate–than previous figures, and likely exceeds all other sources of human-related losses of these […]
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 and adjacent marsh often attract more Blue-winged Teal than any other place in northern California, and last spring it hosted a Garganey, the second one […]
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 its way to Emmett Iverson, who immediately recognized the significance of the photo. That evening, he and several others were able to confirm the bird […]
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 between County Road 98 (called Pedrick Road in Solano County) and Brooks Road. The Reserve was established in 1983. We have a good picture of […]
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 several days, it’s not the only inland Brant this fall; they have also been reported in northern Idaho, southern Idaho, and eastern Arizona. The other […]
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 wetlands scene donated by Lorna Belen. The framed and signed Robert Bateman print is entitled “Across the Sky—Snow Geese” and is valued at $1,000. We […]
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 bird was found Oct 27 in south Davis near Willowbank Ditch (ZP) and was enjoyed by dozens the following day. The other bird that brought […]
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 of life histories. Trained citizen scientists do the field work. Their observations are synthesized into species accounts and maps, which reveal a great deal about […]
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 Introduction to Nature Journaling on October 12th. Try your hand at sketching—Alison is a great teacher. I’m on the board of directors of Audubon CA, […]