Orchard Oriole ©Steve Abbott
The holiday season makes for great birding! By this point birds have settled in for the season, wetlands are full of water and teeming with waterfowl, and towns are filled with the calls of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, AMERICAN ROBINS, and dozens of other wintering species. What’s more, many local birders find themselves with extra time to get outside and look for birds! This typically results in an impressive spread of unusual reports popping up around the year’s end, and December 2023 was no exception.
This month saw the discovery of a variety of unusual wintering species. A female-type BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK was photographed at a backyard feeder on 12/13 (reported by CD). This represents just the third winter record for the county. Even more shocking was a BREWER’S SPARROW, the first ever recorded in winter in the county, in a private section of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA) on 12/30 (KD, LWD).
With the winter being mild as of yet, it is unsurprising that wintering insectivores have made an impressive showing throughout the year. This is particularly true of CASSIN’S VIREOS, which have been reported across at least three locations in Davis (NG, SA, NA, SH). Additionally, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS, and WESTERN TANAGERS were all discovered in record numbers on the Putah Creek and Woodland/Davis Christmas Bird Counts, and a HOODED ORIOLE was found on the Woodland Count on 12/29 (reported by BC). All five of these species typically winter much farther south, but have been increasing as local winterers over the past decade.
Notable waterbirds include a “EURASIAN” GREEN-WINGED TEAL at the YBWA, first reported on 12/17 (AE). What is likely the same roving flock of up to eight MARBLED GODWITS were seen throughout the month at a variety of locations including Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant, Davis Wetlands, and the YBWA (KS, JG, JY). For some birders, winter is the season of gulls. Birders on the Sacramento Christmas Bird Count reported two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at the Yolo County Landfill on 12/23 (DW). A TRUMPETER SWAN was reported calling amongst a massive flock off County Line Road on 12/10, though it was never seen (JG). Flooded rice fields in the northern part of the county often host many swans during the winter, and searching through the flocks is a great challenge for birders willing to brave the challenges of swan identification. Also worth noting is a candidate BLACK RAIL, glimpsed in a ditch at the Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant on 12/29 (JG). Despite multiple group efforts, it has not been relocated. Yolo County has just one documented record of BLACK RAIL, from July of 2017.
The Dunnigan Hills in the northern part of the county often produce interesting birds during the winter. The highlight this year has been two different GREATER ROADRUNNERS, one found on 11/25 and continuing into December off County Road 85 (JG), and another found on 12/17 off County Road 12 (CS). Expected in the Dunnigan Hills was a flock of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS off County Road 89 beginning 12/15 (FF), but an additional MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD seen off County Road 30 near Davis on 12/23 was far more unusual (LD).
Rounding out the month were a handful of continuing birds. The famous ORCHARD ORIOLE, first found back in October, continues to hangout in the west end of the UC Davis Arboretum, and has begun molting in a sporty black goatee indicative of a first-year male. The birding paparazzi photographs and reports this bird almost daily. The two candidate WINTER WRENS in Putah Creek Canyon continue, and await review by the California Bird Records Committee. MOUNTAIN PLOVERS continue to be seen at their usual location off Highway 45 south of County Line Road. The WESTERN GULL, returning to Davis Wetlands for its thirteenth winter, was reported each Monday when the wetlands were open to the public. Up to 3 LEAST BITTERNS were heard calling from the reeds there on 12/4 and 12/11 (KS, JG). Also of note was a returning hybrid BUFFLEHEAD x COMMON GOLDENEYE in West Sacramento, which also appears to spend time on the American River when not present in Yolo County (FS). Finally, the family of hybrid GREATER WHITE-FRONTED x CACKLING GEESE have returned to Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant for their fifth consecutive winter. This year the parents have seven offspring in tow.
Thanks to the following for their reports:
Bruce Christensen (BC), Chris Dunford (CD), Craig Sells (CG), Dan Williams (DW), Frank Fabbro (FF), Frank Severson (FS), John York (JY), Josh Greenfield (JG), Kirk Swenson (KS), Konshau Duman (KD), Lily Douglass (LD), Lynette Williams Duman (LWD), Nicole Allison (NA), Scott Hoppe (SH), Steve Abbott (SA)
Photos and Audio Recordings:
Black-headed Grosbeak: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156325694
Brewer’s Sparrow: https://ebird.org/checklist/S157558900
Greater Roadrunner: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155199113
https://ebird.org/checklist/S157042521
Cassin’s Vireo: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156604634
Orchard Oriole: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156604634
Western Gull: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156170926
Greater White-fronted x Cackling Goose family: https://ebird.org/checklist/S157459342
–Zane Pickus