Recent Sightings: April 2025

Calliope Hummingbird ©Josh Greenfield

Spring migration began late this year, with neotropical migrants not arriving en masse until the last week of April. The late arrivals may be a function of how cold it has been recently, as in Yolo County temperatures have yet to exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless, songbirds were more quiet than usual until the last week of April, when things began to pick up rapidly. Fortunately for birders, the extensive late-winter rains provided fabulous shorebird habitat throughout the region, with the majority of the action centered at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA).
   When the YBWA reopened in the second week of April, birders began scouring every patch of water and mud for migrating shorebirds. Tens of thousands of birds passed through the area this spring, and on any given night one could see clouds of peeps, plovers, and dowitchers. The first rarity of the month came on 4/15, when a SOLITARY SANDPIPER was spotted along the auto tour loop (MP, SH). The next day, two SOLITARY SANDPIPERS were photographed, and a SNOWY PLOVER was picked out amongst the masses of shorebirds (AH, DS, JJ, ZP).
   Shorebird numbers at the YBWA continued to increase, and on 4/17, six SNOWY PLOVERS were found together in a drying rice check (CD). Presumably the same group continued for over a week. The fourth SOLITARY SANDPIPER of the spring was reported on 4/23 (JG). On 4/25, the rarest, and the briefest, shorebird of the year thus far was photographed. A sparkling PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER briefly dropped into a flooded field before picking up and leaving the area (EM, JJ, ZP). Very difficult to find in Yolo County, this is the first PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER in the county since last spring, although that bird was also a one-day-wonder.
   A visit to Davis Creek Reservoir in extreme northwestern Yolo County on 4/18 produced an intriguing list of birds! Most notable was a COMMON LOON, in stunning alternate plumage, swimming and diving on the reservoir proper (JG). It stuck around until at least the next morning when it was observed flying off over the hills. This is the first COMMON LOON seen by multiple birders in Yolo County since 2019. A cavity-filled snag on the shore of the reservoir was being actively defended by a LEWIS’S WOODPECKER. Even crazier was that the same snag was also investigated by a PURPLE MARTIN (JG). LEWIS’S WOODPECKER has never been confirmed as a breeding species in the county, and PURPLE MARTINS are thought to be locally extirpated as breeders since they no longer nest reliably in West Sacramento. Hopefully further visits to the site will provide clarity on whether these birds are truly nesting in the county, or were just exploring the spot.
   Sticking to the foothills, a fly-by PILEATED WOODPECKER was observed on 4/22 flying over Bray Canyon, just north of Putah Creek Fishing Access #1 (JJ). PILEATED WOODPECKERS have become exceedingly rare in the county since the LNU Lightning Complex Fires of summer 2020, which burned much of the old-growth woodland in the county’s sliver of the Coast Ranges. However, April and May is the period in which PILEATED WOODPECKERS often wander out of their normal range, and this makes the third year in a row that one has been found in Yolo County in April.
   A few birders reported notable migrants from their backyards. The rarest was a striking adult BLACK-THROATED SPARROW in south Davis from 4/25 – 4/27 (GS). Normally found well to the east in the Great Basin, this is Yolo’s eighth county record. A LESSER NIGHTHAWK was an exciting find at Uslan Farms in Clarksburg on 4/13 (TU). Uslan Farms also hosted three tiny CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDS on 4/20, and the continuing male ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD made periodic visits to the extensive suite of flowers and feeders there (TU). At night, WILLETS were heard flying over urban Davis on three occasions spanning 4/11 – 4/14 (KD, LWD, SH).
   GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS are a scarce bird in the county outside of their traditional breeding areas in the southern Yolo Bypass. With this in mind, two reports of singing birds in the northern foothills were interesting. One was photographed in the Dunnigan Hills on 4/5, where they have not been reported in 25 years (JJ). Another was reported from a private ranch near County Road 81 in the Capay Valley. While not detected frequently in this area, the Yolo County Breeding Bird atlas from 2010 documented GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS nesting here, so perhaps this remains a regular location for them.
   The month concluded with the first heat wave of the year, and with it came a large pulse of migrants. The first BLACK TERNS of the year, five of them, were at Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant on 4/29 (JJ), along with a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER (RF). Spring migrant Baird’s are very unusual in California but there have been other reports along the coast this year. Northbound PURPLE MARTINS were detected in two locations on 4/30, with a solo bird over the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve (JJ), and a pair over Grasslands Regional Park (JG). The month concluded with the discovery of a female CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD at the UC Davis Arboretum as the sun was setting on 4/30.

Thanks to the following for their reports:
Chris Dong (CD), Ethan Monk (EM), Gregg Schwab (GS), Joshua Greenfield (JG), Julian Johnson (JJ), Konshaau Duman (KD), Lynette Williams Duman (LWD), Michael Perrone (MP), Rob Furrow (RF), Steve Hampton (SH), Tom Uslan (TU), Zane Pickus (ZP)

–Zane Pickus