Date: 8/2/26 11:26 am From: Zane Pickus via groups.io <zanep987...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Yolo Bypass Laughing Gull!
Hi Birders,
I’m currently on an adult LAUGHING GULL at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area
near Rice Point. The bird is resting in a flooded check with ~150 other
gulls, none of which were present when I checked this field this morning.
The bird is an adult molting into basic with a faint but nearly complete
hood, reddish bill with dark base, and long black primaries. It may well be
the same bird (then a first county record) found by Jonathan Eisen in
mid-June, though not present since. Or perhaps a different adult.
Regardless…
The bird is here:
(38.5563867, -121.6173394)
People will probably have to park on the side of the auto loop road around
here:
(38.5575497, -121.6200585)
Please be sure to pull entirely off the road and allow room for other
vehicles and farm equipment to move along the auto loop. It is a short walk
from the road to where you can see the bird. There is a ton of great
shorebird habitat out here today spread out all the way past Green’s Lake,
with my totals today reaching 14 shorebird species. I’ll post photos and
more details on eBird later.
Good luck to those who chase,
Zane Pickus
Davis, CA
Date: 7/28/26 9:16 pm From: ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Dark Merlin at Yolo Bypass Pass 7/28
Large dark to pale ratio, that is.
EdSacramento
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 09:14:38 PM PDT, ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> wrote:
Yes, Georgia, this is a remarkable date for Merlin in the Central Valley. And this looks like a very good candidate for a "Pacific" Merlin (F. c. suckleyi). In a study that Ed Harper and I published a few years ago (doi.org/10.64555/edr86h97), we found the ratio of the width of the pale tail bands to the dark ones to be very good field mark for this subspecies and your bird shows a large ratio.
Great find.
Ed Pandolfino
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 08:17:40 PM PDT, Georgia Coleman via groups.io <gwc083...> wrote:
Hi all,
As Emily Jones and I were leaving Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area this morning (7/28) we came across a Merlin! I'm not originally from here, so not sure about timing, but it seems a bit early for one to make an appeareance in the valley? Interestingly, it was a really dark individual. I'm not sure if it can confidently be identified as the black/pacific subspecies (or just a really dark taiga... or an intergrade..) but figured folks might be interested. Here is our checklist with photos for anyone who would like to take a gander:https://ebird.org/checklist/S377537149
Best,Georgia ColemanGalt
--
Georgia ColemanColumbia, MO/Galt, CA
Date: 7/28/26 9:14 pm From: ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Dark Merlin at Yolo Bypass Pass 7/28
Yes, Georgia, this is a remarkable date for Merlin in the Central Valley. And this looks like a very good candidate for a "Pacific" Merlin (F. c. suckleyi). In a study that Ed Harper and I published a few years ago (doi.org/10.64555/edr86h97), we found the ratio of the width of the pale tail bands to the dark ones to be very good field mark for this subspecies and your bird shows a large ratio.
Great find.
Ed Pandolfino
On Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 08:17:40 PM PDT, Georgia Coleman via groups.io <gwc083...> wrote:
Hi all,
As Emily Jones and I were leaving Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area this morning (7/28) we came across a Merlin! I'm not originally from here, so not sure about timing, but it seems a bit early for one to make an appeareance in the valley? Interestingly, it was a really dark individual. I'm not sure if it can confidently be identified as the black/pacific subspecies (or just a really dark taiga... or an intergrade..) but figured folks might be interested. Here is our checklist with photos for anyone who would like to take a gander:https://ebird.org/checklist/S377537149
Best,Georgia ColemanGalt
--
Georgia ColemanColumbia, MO/Galt, CA
Date: 7/28/26 8:17 pm From: Georgia Coleman via groups.io <gwc083...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Dark Merlin at Yolo Bypass Pass 7/28
Hi all,
As Emily Jones and I were leaving Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area this morning (7/28) we came across a Merlin! I'm not originally from here, so not sure about timing, but it seems a bit early for one to make an appeareance in the valley? Interestingly, it was a really dark individual. I'm not sure if it can confidently be identified as the black/pacific subspecies (or just a really dark taiga... or an intergrade..) but figured folks might be interested. Here is our checklist with photos for anyone who would like to take a gander: https://ebird.org/checklist/S377537149
Date: 7/28/26 8:08 am From: Dan Applebee via groups.io <applebeedan...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Cache Creek Settling Basin
I'd like to try for the indigo bunting reported twice now at the Cache Creek Settling Basin, but I don't know how to access the site. From Google Maps it looks like you may be able to get there on dirt roads heading north from East Main Street. Is that so, or do you need to use levee roads from where 113 crosses Cache Creek? Or?
Date: 7/23/26 12:40 pm From: Michael Perrone via groups.io <michaelperrone10...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] weird orange-crowned warbler in Solano Co
This morning on Putah Creek, Solano Co, about 100 yd upstream of the Mace Blvd bridge, I saw an entirely gray and white orange-crowned warbler. Gray above, dull white below, including undertail coverts; white supercilium, whitish wing bars like a juv orange-crown. Called like an orange-crown and had the right bill shape and tail length. I got decent looks, especially of the underparts. It came readily to pishing twice.
It matched the juvenile "Taiga" orange-crown in the Sibley guide, save for having a white undertail and the fact that that race is a very late migrant to CA and everywhere else. The closest-looking species, Tennessee, would also be greenish or yellowish below, with a contrasting white undertail.
Michael Perrone
Davis
Date: 7/21/26 1:17 pm From: ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Two California BBA suggestions
In my earlier post about White-breasted Nuthatch subspecies, I should have mentioned that eBird includes S. c. tenuissima within the "Interior West" subspecies group.
Ed PandolfinoSacramento
On Monday, July 20, 2026 at 05:52:09 PM PDT, ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> wrote:
For those of us participating in the California Breeding Bird Atlas (https://www.californiabirdatlas.org/) the following suggestions can help improve the data quality for the Atlas.
1. Continueadding breeding codes (esp. confirmatory ones) even after a species hasbeen confirmed in a block. In addition to providing breeding distribution data,Breeding Bird Atlases are a great source of phenology data (timing of breedingbehaviors). In a rapidly changing climate, capturing this sort of data mayprove even more valuable than distribution data. So please continue to addcodes throughout the life of the Atlas.
2. White-breastedNuthatch subspecies: When diagnostic vocalizations are heard, please assignbreeding codes to the subspecies of White-breasted Nuthatch. This taxon maywell be split and the subspecies found in the western portions of state (S.c. aculeata) will be a separate species from the eastern subspecies (S.c. tenuissima). You can read about their distribution in California here (https://doi.org/10.21199/WB48.1.2),and listen to the diagnostic vocalization here (aculeata typical song https://xeno-canto.org/1094766;aculeata call https://xeno-canto.org/468235; tenuissima calls https://xeno-canto.org/443282andhttps://xeno-canto.org/1153733).
Ed PandolfinoSacramento
Date: 7/20/26 9:01 pm From: Andrew Engilis, Jr. via groups.io <aengilis...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Spotted Owl Records from Central Valley
Hi all, I am working on a paper synthesizing records of Spotted Owl from the Central Valley floor. I have run across possible records from Merced County and Fresno County, but there are no details. Does anyone know the provenance of those records and what type of documentation there might be?
Date: 7/20/26 5:52 pm From: ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Two California BBA suggestions
For those of us participating in the California Breeding Bird Atlas (https://www.californiabirdatlas.org/) the following suggestions can help improve the data quality for the Atlas.
1. Continueadding breeding codes (esp. confirmatory ones) even after a species hasbeen confirmed in a block. In addition to providing breeding distribution data,Breeding Bird Atlases are a great source of phenology data (timing of breedingbehaviors). In a rapidly changing climate, capturing this sort of data mayprove even more valuable than distribution data. So please continue to addcodes throughout the life of the Atlas.
2. White-breastedNuthatch subspecies: When diagnostic vocalizations are heard, please assignbreeding codes to the subspecies of White-breasted Nuthatch. This taxon maywell be split and the subspecies found in the western portions of state (S.c. aculeata) will be a separate species from the eastern subspecies (S.c. tenuissima). You can read about their distribution in California here (https://doi.org/10.21199/WB48.1.2),and listen to the diagnostic vocalization here (aculeata typical song https://xeno-canto.org/1094766;aculeata call https://xeno-canto.org/468235; tenuissima calls https://xeno-canto.org/443282andhttps://xeno-canto.org/1153733).
Ed PandolfinoSacramento
