October got off to a fast start with Yolo’s second record of Cassin’s Kingbird being found on the first of the month (CT). This bird worked its way south along the telephone wires of County Road 103 before disappearing after just a couple of hours. Birders who missed it were lucky when the third record of Cassin’s Kingbird was found calling at the Davis Cemetery and Arboretum on October 29th (JL). This bird has continued to have been seen by birders through November 1st.
News got out that a Magnolia Warbler, third county record, was found near the town of Guinda in the Capay Valley late in the day on October 6th (ES). A small group of birders were lucky to see it early the following morning but once access was arranged for an afternoon visit the bird had vanished. This was the first chaseable Magnolia Warbler for Yolo with the other two coming as a roadkill specimen that was collected in 2019 and a bird that was photographed near Babel Slough last fall.
A Chestnut-sided Warbler was found flitting in Valley Oaks at Elkhorn Regional Park along the Sacramento River on October 2nd (EI). It hung around for a few birders to see the following day. A Northern Waterthrush was found wagging its tail along the rapids of upper Putah Creek near the Monticello Dam on October 21st (BW). This bird was last reported on October 23rd but given that a Northern Waterthrush spent the winter at this exact same location in 2018, it may be worth birders checking it out to see if it is still around. A Black-and White Warbler was reported from the UC Davis campus on October 8th (AE), but was never relocated by the ensuing chase party.
Huge storms late in the month filled up water treatment plants and the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, with the high water levels, so it was no surprise when a Red-breasted Merganser was scoped at Woodland Water Treatment Plant on Halloween (SH). This bird stuck around for a day before being observed flying off far to the southeast the following morning.
A big thanks to the following birders for their reports: Cameron Tescher (CT), Jasen Liu (JL), Elliot Schoenig (ES), Emmett Iverson (EI), Bart Wickel (BW), Andy Engilis (AE), and Scott Hoppe (SH).
eBird checklists, most with photos:
Cassin’s Kingbird (Oct 1st): https://ebird.org/checklist/S95447198
Cassin’s Kingbird (Oct 29th): https://ebird.org/checklist/S96860679
Magnolia Warbler: https://ebird.org/checklist/S95726481
Chestnut-sided Warbler: https://ebird.org/checklist/S95488954
Northern Waterthrush: https://ebird.org/checklist/S96522102
Red-breasted Merganser: https://ebird.org/checklist/S96952438
Compiled by Emmett Iverson, Davis, CA