Glaucous Gull | Photo by Julian Johnson
With the turn of the calendar year, birders were out covering all corners of Yolo County. The action began with a SUMMER TANAGER on a private stretch of Elk Slough near Clarksburg on 1/2 (EI, ZP). This female was first heard giving its classic, squirrel-like chatter calls, and was eventually tracked down by birders participating in the Rio Cosumnes Christmas Bird Count. This is the first record for the count, and just the second winter record for Yolo County.
For many hard-core birders, winter is the season of gulls, and by January the Yolo County Central Landfill is the place to look for rarities and work through the many identification challenges. A second-cycle LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was found on 1/10 (EMo), and was joined by an adult at the same location on 1/27 (JG). This species continues its rapid expansion throughout the region (Yolo’s first county record is from 2009), and is now annual in winter in large gull congregations. This season many gulls have been utilizing the County Road 104 Ponds, adjacent to the main landfill, and on 1/25 a striking first-cycle GLAUCOUS GULL was discovered (ZP, JJ, EM). It was relocated later that day about a mile to the north off County Road 27, and has since moved all throughout the area. The locally-famous WESTERN GULL at the Davis Wetlands continued in its usual haunts. It is now well into its fourteenth winter at the location. Another WESTERN GULL was reported from the main landfill pond on 1/29 (MH).
It has been a couple of years since the county’s last wintering HOODED ORIOLE, so a male photographed in a Woodland backyard on 1/27 was a nice surprise (RW). Also of note was a GREATER ROADRUNNER, a tough bird to find in the county, along County Road 6 in the Dunnigan Hills on 1/28 (CD). Somewhat surprisingly given the species’ tendency to wander, this bird was successfully relocated the next day and may still be in the area.
Many birds discovered in previous months continued to be seen in the new year. These included the immature male VERMILION FLYCATCHER at Wild Wings Golf Course in Woodland. This flycatcher was last reported on 1/11 despite multiple visits since that date, so it may have moved on. The COSTA’S HUMMINGBIRD in the Wildhorse Neighborhood of Davis continues to be reported regularly, as does the flock of MOUNTAIN PLOVERS on Highway 45 south of County Line Road.
An AMERICAN DIPPER in its usual spot on Putah Creek just downstream of Monticello Dam was reported infrequently, yet there has been no sign of the second dipper since mid-December. The immature YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER at the same location was refound on 1/9 after having not been reported since November (JG). A “Eurasian” Green-winged Teal has spent the past month-and-a-half at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.
A pair of returning interesting hybrid birds remained into 2025. The COMMON GOLDENEYE x BUFFLEHEAD continues in West Sacramento, marking the eleventh year this drake has spent in the region. Meanwhile, the YELLOW-BELLIED x RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER at the North Davis Farms greenbelt remains loyal to its favored pepper tree, the seventh winter it has spent there.
LEAST BITTERNS have been on the rise as a detected wintering species, likely thanks (at least in part) to an increase in birder awareness of the “KAK-KAK-KAK” calls they frequently give in the nonbreeding season. Up to three birds remain at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (JG), and a new bird was photographed at Bridgeway Island Pond on 1/18 (eBird). HUTTON’S VIREOS have also been increasing in recent months, following a massive decline regionally over the past few years. Around a half-dozen total reports from both Davis and Putah Creek Canyon are hopefully a sign this bird is returning to historic numbers in Yolo County.
Thanks to the following for their reports:
Chris Dunford (CD), Emmett Iverson (EI), Ethan Matsuyama (EMa), Ethan Monk (EMo), Joshua Greenfield (JG), Julian Johnson (JJ), Marcel Holyoak (MH), Rick Williams (RW), Zane Pickus (ZP)
Photos and Audio Recordings:
Summer Tanager (audio): https://ebird.org/checklist/S207760395
Lesser Black-backed Gulls: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210958778
Glaucous Gull: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210706066
Western Gull (Davis Wetlands): https://ebird.org/checklist/S210956229
Hooded Oriole: https://ebird.org/checklist/S210939681
Least Bittern: https://ebird.org/checklist/S209794722
–Zane Pickus