Hammond’s Flycatcher ©Julian Johnson
A rainy gray December kept birders at bay for much of the month, but nonetheless, an interesting mix of rarities were discovered before the end of 2025. The highlight was a RED-NECKED GREBE that was found on Lake Washington on 12/10 (CD). The bird stuck around for a few days, allowing local birders time to stop by for a look as it dove for fish. This was the first chasable RED-NECKED GREBE in the county since 2021.
When it comes to searching for rare gulls, there is no better place than the Yolo County Central Landfill in winter. A striking LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was found there on 12/1 (JG, CL). On the same date, the locally-famous WESTERN GULL returned to the City of Davis Wetlands for its fifteenth (!!) winter (JG, CL). This individual has a metal band on its left leg and a white band on its right, which has been used to determine that this bird was banded as a chick in 2008 on the Farallon Islands (per MB).
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK is now a real rarity in Yolo County, a prime example of the decline of grassland bird species throughout the continent. Once a winter regular in the rolling pasturelands of the Central Valley, it has been all but absent in recent years. However, this winter an irruption of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS has reached Northern California, with dozens of reports from areas where the species has not recently occurred. Despite individuals popping up from counties all around, only one individual was reported in Yolo. A single bird was found north of County Road 22 on the Sacramento Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the first in the county in at least two years (CH, LB).
The 12/27 Sacramento CBC also produced a NASHVILLE WARBLER, just the third winter record for the county, at Elkhorn Regional Park on the Sacramento River (KT). Additional wintering insectivores were found during a fantastic morning at Village Holmes in west Davis on 12/14, highlighted by a CASSIN’S VIREO and five WESTERN TANAGERS, likely a new Yolo County winter high count (AH, EI, GS, JJ, ZP). A pair of HOODED ORIOLES, seemingly increasing as winterers in the past decade, were photographed in a Woodland backyard on 12/26 (PS). Another individual spent the month nearby (per RW). Far less expected was a molting (and tail-less!) HOODED ORIOLE found in a ditch in the Dunnigan Hills on 12/27 (JJ). Birders on the Putah Creek CBC discovered a HAMMOND’S FLYCATCHER along Putah Creek near Winters on 12/21 (EM, JJ). While any winter Empidonax flycatcher is rare, Hammond’s is the most likely and seems to be increasing as a wintering species in recent years. This individual was a first for the Putah Creek CBC.
Thanks to the following for their reports:
Adrian Hinkle, Chris Dunford, Cindy L, Cliff Hawley, Emmett Iverson, Ethan Matsuyama, Gregory Schilling, Joshua Greenfield, Julian Johnson, Kevin Thomas, Linda Barth, Matt Brady, Rick Williams, Zane Pickus
Photos and Audio Recordings:
Red-necked Grebe: https://ebird.org/checklist/S288082814
Lesser Black-backed Gull: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286998092
Western Gull: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286997431
Nashville Warbler: https://ebird.org/checklist/S290646289
Cassin’s Vireo: https://ebird.org/checklist/S288668176
Hooded Oriole: https://ebird.org/checklist/S290910394
Hammond’s Flycatcher: https://ebird.org/checklist/S289609052
–Zane Pickus