Date: 7/2/25 5:38 pm From: Glennah Trochet via groups.io <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Cosumnes birds the last several days
Dear Birders,
Last Friday I helped Chris Conard on his bird survey at Orr Ranch, a closed parcel of the Cosumnes River Preserve east of the Tall Forest that features grassland expanses now growing up with tarweed, a beautiful, mature grove of valley oak-dominated riparian forest along the Cosumnes River and some cottonwood-willow gallery woodland along Moyer Slough. It also has a large area of "failed" managed wetlands in the southwest. I say failed because somewhere there is a sand lens in those wetlands that prevents them from retaining water pumped into them. Little by little Goodding's willows and cottonwoods are taking over there. The birds of Orr Ranch and around the Tall Forest almost completely overlap, though Orr lacks the rice fields around it that attract more waterfowl and shorebirds to the area behind the Farm Center gate. The level of human visitation at Orr is even less than at the Tall Forest. On Friday we had a few things of interest. Foremost was a singing orange-crowned warbler at a spot on Moyer Slough that has hosted breeders of that species in the past. Chris noted that the bird was carrying food. So there's at least one breeding pair of orange-crowned warblers at Cosumnes this year. A bald eagle was also tallied, a rare species on this survey. Otherwise it was a seasonably slow morning of birding.
On Saturday the 28th, I visited behind the Farm Center gate once again. At the Accidental Forest a few male yellow warblers continued to countersing. A western flycatcher uttered a few songs near where it sang a week earlier during the Tall Forest bird survey (probably breeding by a breeding bird atlassing criterion). I nearly missed the summer tanager at the Tall Forest. He sang only briefly near the south end of Warbler Woods. Near the equipment pad, the flooded fallow rice fields had several shorebirds: black-necked stilt- 9, killdeer- 20, greater yellowlegs- 16, Wilson's phalarope- 14 (eight adult females, two adult males and four juveniles; did they breed locally this year?).
On Monday, I started at Lost Slough East, hoping for American bitterns before dawn in the north side tules. No luck with that. So far as I know the preserve no longer has summering bitterns, thanks to the waterfowl focus of a previous preserve manager. Nor were there any northern rough-winged swallows along Lost Slough East itself, the slough being mostly overgrown with water hyacinth. There were a few greater yellowlegs and an early (?) Wilson's snipe (I don't get those before the 4th of July, and uncommonly that early). I then went to the Accidental Forest. No western flycatcher today, though two male yellow warblers continued to sing. I spent most of my time recovering the trail from the parking area north to the Triangle Pond. I should do the same for the track on the north and west side of that woodland block. I then went to the Tall Forest. The continuing highlight is the male summer tanager. He was singing almost continuously for 50 minutes from the north end of Warbler Woods, from Oak Island and from cottonwoods northeast and west of Oak Island. He sang a bit from the north part of the Bottoms and then fell silent. I never saw him except once when he flew between perches. I last checked the flooded fallow rice fields northwest of the pad. There were a few shorebirds, some killdeer (I neglected to count those), 14 stilts, 19 greater yellowlegs and eight Wilson's phalaropes.
This morning I started at the Love Shack, which was very quiet. I then checked a small Westervelt mitigation early successional forest plot from its perimeter, hoping for blue grosbeaks. These have been in short supply this year, and I didn't encounter any today. An early walk along Wood Duck Slough and out the west side road failed to turn up the summer tanager, though from Oak Island a few hours later I heard it sing from the north end of Warbler Woods for about four minutes before ceasing to sing or flying out of earshot. At the Accidental Forest I missed the western flycatcher. Four yellow warblers continue to sing out there. Another species harder to come by than usual this year is Hutton's vireo. One sang this morning along the east side edge. I made three passes at the shorebird fields, the first before sunrise nearly a bust but the other two were worthwhile. Minimum numbers were the following: killdeer- 28 black-necked stilt- 22 American avocet- 5 (FOS) long-billed curlew- 1 least sandpiper- 31 (FOS) western sandpiper- 5 (FOS) greater yellowlegs- 29 Wilson's phalarope- 1 One of the rice fields adjacent to Johnson's pastures had 14 more long-billed curlews, the largest number I've seen at Cosumnes in years. The mammal highlight today was a mink at the twin pumps. I rarely see these outside of spring.
I understand that preserve staff will be preparing publicly viewable fields for shorebirds soon. Right now there isn't much except behind the Farm Center gate.
Date: 6/27/25 9:02 am From: Chuck & Barbara Vaughn via groups.io <cevaughn...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Upcoming Fort Bragg pelagics
Greetings Central Valley Birders-Â I am forwarding a message from Peter Pyle regarding two July pelagic trips out of Fort Bragg.
There are still some spaces open on both of these trips out of Fort
Bragg. July 15th is a 10-hour trip and the 16th a 5-hour trip. If you
are coming up for one, you might as well do both!
Due to deep water being close to shore we do get plenty of good birds on
the 5-hour trips including, this spring, Short-tailed Albatross,
Murphy's Petrels, Hawaiian Petrels, the Heradlish Petrel, Laysan
Albatross, and all the pelagic regulars. If weather is good enough (as
is usually the case mid-July) we can make it out to 15 miles where we
had some 18 Cook's Petrels on our June 15th trip. See our trip report
for some nice photos of these:
Given dozens (and up to 600+) Black-footed Albatross on all of our trips
to Noyo Canyon, we're anticipating one of the Southern Hemisphere
species of albatross out there one of these days, and summer is as good
a time as any.
Whales are also starting to show up and we regularly get Humpbacks,
Fins, and Blues on the half-day trips, and Sperm Whales have been seen
over the years out there in summer.
Hope to see you up here next month or later in the fall! Peter
Date: 6/26/25 7:59 pm From: Glennah Trochet via groups.io <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] a few returning shorebirds
Dear Birders,
I have had a few shorebirds this week at the Cosumnes River Preserve, mostly behind the Farm Center gate. On Monday I had 11 black-necked stilts, 28 killdeer, one fly-over long-billed curlew and eight greater yellowlegs. A brace of close dowitchers flushed from one pond, one dowitcher giving a few short-billed dowitcher calls. I don't think I heard anything from the second bird.
Yesterday there were fewer shorebirds, but they included a flocklet of five adult female Wilson's phalaropes.
Date: 6/25/25 1:39 pm From: Sally M. Walters via groups.io <bajaowl...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Chew schew of mockingbird
Thanks Joyce. It is the call recorded by Will Hershberger in Maryland on July 05, 1997. It sounds perfect on my computer, not on my cell phone. Thanks so much! It was slow and monotonous between calls.
Sally M. Walters
Sacramento
<bajaowl...>
> On Jun 25, 2025, at 11:18 AM, Joyce Bond <chantedor...> wrote:
>
> Hi Sally,
>
> My Audubon California app (now discontinued) has a recording of this called the "Chewk" call. And I found a description of the "chew" call on Cornell's All About Birds website, where the second sentence probably describes what you've been hearing: "Northern Mockingbirds make a harsh, dry chew or hew when mobbing nest predators or chasing other mockingbirds. Mates exchange a softer version of this call during incubation and nestling periods, or when the female leaves the nest while incubating." See https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/sounds.
>
> Joyce Bond
>
> On Wed, Jun 25, 2025 at 10:38 AM Sally M. Walters via groups.io <http://groups.io/> <bajaowl...> <mailto:<gmail.com...>> wrote:
>> Slowly paced single chew or schew call of mocking bird adults with nest and young. Adults have been doing this call for last 2 months mostly when hidden. It drove me nuts trying find the source. Merlin app did not recognize it. None of my books mention it. Any thoughts?
>> Sally M. Walters
>> Sacramento CA
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
Date: 6/25/25 10:38 am From: Sally M. Walters via groups.io <bajaowl...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Chew schew of mockingbird
Slowly paced single chew or schew call of mocking bird adults with nest and young. Adults have been doing this call for last 2 months mostly when hidden. It drove me nuts trying find the source. Merlin app did not recognize it. None of my books mention it. Any thoughts?
Sally M. Walters
Sacramento CA
Date: 6/18/25 5:37 pm From: Glennah Trochet via groups.io <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] recent birds at the Cosumnes River Preserve; variant bird survey this Saturday
Dear Birders,
So far as I know, several of the scarce, less than annual breeders are absent at CRP this season: western flycatcher, Oregon junco, and orange-crowned warbler have so far evaded my detection. Yellow warblers have made a pretty good showing, with 3-4 pairs near the Accidental Forest and up to 7 males in the western Bottoms. At least one nest at the former spot has been successful in fledging warblers and not cowbirds. I'm not sure when, but the bald eagle youngster has fledged from the nest on the east side of the Tall Forest.
On Sunday, I visited the McCormack-Williamson Tract for the first time in two years. As Andy Engilis and Jason Riggio told me, a lot has changed in the perimeter levee system (I covered all of it) and in the vegetation. There's a permanent breach in the levee at the south end, near Wimpy's, and two other low water crossings. There's now permanent water in much of the interior that ebbs and flows with the tides. Tidal marsh has grown up impressively. An interior levee protecting KCRA's broadcast antenna is growing up to good-looking mixed riparian, including California sycamore. Taking the bad with the good, a nice stretch of cottonwood-willow on the west side is now permanently inundated, and the trees are mostly dead. Habitat for breeding Savannah sparrows and horned larks is gone. I didn't find any birds of great note, but the osprey nest in the north looked to be active still, and the one in the south might be as well. That seems late to me. Afterwards I headed to the Tall Forest, where I found a male summer tanager along Wood Duck Slough. It was still there this morning. Vocal output has been uneven, great on Sunday, poor on Monday and middling today.
On Monday a bobcat sprang into view near the Accidental Forest. I spent 50-60 minutes watching adults tending to fledglings of a bunch of avian species: song sparrows, tree swallows, house wrens, spotted towhees, black-headed grosbeaks, Bullock's orioles, bushtits, oak titmouses, and yellow warblers mostly. I was basically stationary, slowly wheeling around to take in all the activity. I just happened to be facing in the right direction when a bobcat leaped some 6-7 feet into the air attempting to snag a song sparrow youngster perched in a willow tree about 35 feet away. I think all the young sparrows were safely away when the cat descended to the ground. I'm quite sure that I was seen during that descent, for the cat landed very low to the ground and quickly scuttled away, its course betrayed by rather minimal shuddering of the vegetation it moved through. I would have thought that I should have been scented, but I had on loads of DEET. That has concealed me in the past from lots of different mammals.
On Saturday 21 June the next Tall Forest bird survey will take place. It will be somewhat abbreviated because of a scheduling conflict. Kathy Schick is running the annual butterfly count at the preserve, and I try to do that every year, too. Butterflies were my first love in natural history, and they can still drive me to distraction. So the plan is to cover the bird survey route as well as we can but be done by 10AM or 10:30, then switch to the butterfly survey route. Bird survey participants not wishing to stay out until 2PM or later can be let out the Farm Center gate before I devote my attention to leps. But if you'd like to do both, you'd be welcome to do so. If you have a net and a butterfly field guide, bring those as well as your binoculars. There are still a few spots open for these surveys. If interested, please reply to this e-mail and I will let you know where to meet and the departure time, etc.
Date: 6/17/25 12:42 pm From: ed pandolfino via groups.io <erpfromca...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Black-throated Sparrows and burn areas
Amy, both Black-throated and Black-chinned Sparrows make occasional 'irruptive' movements into northern CA from time to time. We were able (in the paper below) to link the BC Sparrow irruptions to southern CA drought, and I suspect the same is true for Black-throated. They do seem to irrupt on similar schedules, but I haven't looked into this carefully.
https://wwjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/10/Pandolfino_etal_WW_2022.pdf Both usually show up in these post-fire landscapes, as long as there are some recovering shrubs around. Among other species that tend to concentrate in these same areas, the Lazuli Bunting is particularly common to abundant.
Ed Pandolfino
On Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 12:19:38 PM PDT, Amy Williamson via groups.io <amywillbird...> wrote:
Hey Birders,
Having upgraded from a 2010 to a 2020 vehicle I've been boldly going out farther into areas without cell signal that i haven't yet explored here in central/northern Cali.
Yesterday i went to find some of the Black-throated Sparrows reported in El Do Co very recently, and i have a couple of questions.
These birds are described in guides as "desert species," but have been reported periodically over the years in El Do Co. (I'd previously seen them in SoCal and other deserty areas.) All About Birds shows a couple of breeding areas north of El Dorado County.
The birds I found yesterday were in a revegetating burn area (thanks to Zane Pickus, Julian Johnson, Aidan BruBaker for including in their bird list:Â "They seemed to especially like areas with moderate vegetation return, characterized by spots of bare dirt distributed amongst patchy areas with a mix of low chaparral-type greenery and dead wood."Â Â This helped me locate some of them in precisely this sort of habitat.)Â
I'm wondering if this species regularly occupies burn habitat as an adaptation to post-wildfire "opportunities." What do we know about how and/or how often they end up in these areas? I've read that Black-backed Woodpeckers like burn areas. What other species should we be on the lookout for, too?
Curiously,
Amy WilliamsonEl Dorado CountyÂ
Date: 6/17/25 12:19 pm From: Amy Williamson via groups.io <amywillbird...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Black-throated Sparrows and burn areas
Hey Birders,
Having upgraded from a 2010 to a 2020 vehicle I've been boldly going out farther into areas without cell signal that i haven't yet explored here in central/northern Cali.
Yesterday i went to find some of the Black-throated Sparrows reported in El Do Co very recently, and i have a couple of questions.
These birds are described in guides as "desert species," but have been reported periodically over the years in El Do Co. (I'd previously seen them in SoCal and other deserty areas.) All About Birds shows a couple of breeding areas north of El Dorado County.
The birds I found yesterday were in a revegetating burn area (thanks to Zane Pickus, Julian Johnson, Aidan BruBaker for including in their bird list: "They seemed to especially like areas with moderate vegetation return, characterized by spots of bare dirt distributed amongst patchy areas with a mix of low chaparral-type greenery and dead wood." This helped me locate some of them in precisely this sort of habitat.)
I'm wondering if this species regularly occupies burn habitat as an adaptation to post-wildfire "opportunities." What do we know about how and/or how often they end up in these areas? I've read that Black-backed Woodpeckers like burn areas. What other species should we be on the lookout for, too?
Date: 6/12/25 8:47 am From: Liam Huber via groups.io <Liamhuber24...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Roseate Spoonbill - Glenn County
Hello all,A Roseate Spoonbill was photographed on Rd. 57 in Glenn County on June 9th. This is just a couple miles north of Sacramento NWR. The bird was originally reported on Reddit, then spread more widely on WhatsApp yesterday morning. Here is the original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/birding/comments/1l7oz5v/roseate_spoonbill_in_northern_california/Myself and a couple hours spent much of the day yesterday searching many of the rice field roads north of the refuge. No luck. The best spots for egrets in the area covered yesterday seem to be:Flooded field directly east of Willows Cemetery (north side). This spot had decent numbers of herons and egrets, and provides a viewing point for herons and egrets coming and going from nesting sites in town. 39.524899,-122.183759Fields on Rd. 57 where the bird was first discovered. This spot had the best concentration of mixed egrets and herons:39.494320,-122.157722I will be out most of the day today searching. Best of luck to anyone else that joins in.It seems very plausible that this could be the same bird observed in San Joaquin and Stanislaus (perhaps Kern as well) counties last year.Â
Date: 6/5/25 10:22 am From: L Markoff via groups.io <canyoneagle...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Common Raven nest from our backyard - Citrus Heights
Hello CVBirds,
This is the second season in a row that a pair of Common Ravens has nested
in a Redwood tree on the street behind us. We have a good view of it from
our backyard. I first noticed the pair carrying nesting material into the
top of the tree on March 22. So far, I have been able to see at least two
nestlings. The family has been remarkably stealth, and with the nest being
so high, most people probably don't know that they are there. The nestlings
have gotten noisier since getting larger, but even now they go for long
periods without vocalizing.
Date: 6/3/25 10:42 pm From: Andy Engilis via groups.io <aengilisjr...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Late Spring Migrants— observations in Yolo County
Hi Zane, nice summary. I just returned from 8 days in Arizona and indeed there were lots of migrants moving through there, many late. We had numerous Hermits, Townsend, pewees, and Olive-sided Flycatchers in many desert habitats
On May 31, along the Colorado River (Palo Verde Ecological Reserve, we had numerous migrants moving through. I suspect we will continue to see birds trickling through into mid-June, many probably too late to breed.
Andy
Andrew Engilis, Jr.
Curator
Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
University of California, Davis
(530) 754-8813
<aengilisjr...>
https://mwfb.ucdavis.edu/
________________________________
From: <centralvalleybirds...> <centralvalleybirds...> on behalf of Zane Pickus via groups.io <zanep987...>
Sent: Tuesday, June 3, 2025 9:58:18 PM
To: <centralvalleybirds...> <centralvalleybirds...>
Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Late Spring Migrants— observations in Yolo County
Hi Birders,
There has been much discussion amongst birders throughout California about how late spring migration has been this year. This certainly was noticeable in the Central Valley. While some have noted the slow start to spring and the relatively poor showing of migrants in April, things seemed to pick up in May. Now we have reached what is typically the tail end of migration, and yet I continue to see exciting numbers of migrants for the late date. I felt it worthy to report the following observations of notably-late migrants that I have both personally observed and seen reported in the past week in Yolo County.
Hermit Warblers: Prior to this week there were no June records of this species for Yolo County. Julian Johnson observed one yesterday at the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve for a new late spring record. That record was quickly broken this morning when Julian and I had a singing male in a riparian patch at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA). I see that Sean Smith also reported a female Hermit in Davis today on eBird. Perhaps more will be found in the coming days. There are very few June records for the Central Valley overall.
Townsend’s Warblers: Usually gone by the last week of May, I have observed Townsend’s Warblers at nearly every passerine birding stop I have made in the past week, including three individuals this morning in random willow riparian patches at the YBWA. Others have observed additional Townsend’s Warblers in the county in the past week along Putah Creek and elsewhere.
Black-throated Gray Warbler: Sean, Julian, and I had a female at the Cache Creek Settling Basin on 6/1. There are just a small handful of June records for the county.
Western Sandpiper: A healthy-appearing adult was photographed at the YBWA on 5/31 by Joo Tan, which looks to be the latest spring record for the county.
Purple Finch: Not known to nest in the county, Joshua Greenfield reported two birds, including a singing male, on Rayhouse Road in the Coast Ranges on 5/29. These could either represent the latest spring migrants or a potential first breeding record for Yolo County.
Migrants of other various other species that tend to straggle into June (Willow Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Western Tanager, Swainson’s Thrush, and Black-headed Grosbeak, to name a few), all continue to be reported in Yolo County daily. One intriguing theory for the late spring is how mild the temperatures have been for the time of year. In Yolo, we have only reached temperatures of 100F for two days (last weekend), far below the run of hot weather that usually occurs by June in the valley. Perhaps there are other factors at play as well, but the lack of hot days to get birds moving north may well be playing a role in migrants passing through later than expected.
Regardless, spring migration is still very much underway and I encourage everyone to get out and see what you can turn up in your local patches!
Date: 6/3/25 9:58 pm From: Zane Pickus via groups.io <zanep987...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Late Spring Migrants— observations in Yolo County
Hi Birders,
There has been much discussion amongst birders throughout California about
how late spring migration has been this year. This certainly was noticeable
in the Central Valley. While some have noted the slow start to spring and
the relatively poor showing of migrants in April, things seemed to pick up
in May. Now we have reached what is typically the tail end of migration,
and yet I continue to see exciting numbers of migrants for the late date. I
felt it worthy to report the following observations of notably-late
migrants that I have both personally observed and seen reported in the past
week in Yolo County.
Hermit Warblers: Prior to this week there were no June records of this
species for Yolo County. Julian Johnson observed one yesterday at the Putah
Creek Riparian Reserve for a new late spring record. That record was
quickly broken this morning when Julian and I had a singing male in a
riparian patch at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA). I see that Sean
Smith also reported a female Hermit in Davis today on eBird. Perhaps more
will be found in the coming days. There are very few June records for the
Central Valley overall.
Townsend’s Warblers: Usually gone by the last week of May, I have observed
Townsend’s Warblers at nearly every passerine birding stop I have made in
the past week, including three individuals this morning in random willow
riparian patches at the YBWA. Others have observed additional Townsend’s
Warblers in the county in the past week along Putah Creek and elsewhere.
Black-throated Gray Warbler: Sean, Julian, and I had a female at the Cache
Creek Settling Basin on 6/1. There are just a small handful of June records
for the county.
Western Sandpiper: A healthy-appearing adult was photographed at the YBWA
on 5/31 by Joo Tan, which looks to be the latest spring record for the
county.
Purple Finch: Not known to nest in the county, Joshua Greenfield reported
two birds, including a singing male, on Rayhouse Road in the Coast Ranges
on 5/29. These could either represent the latest spring migrants or a
potential first breeding record for Yolo County.
Migrants of other various other species that tend to straggle into June
(Willow Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Western Tanager, Swainson’s Thrush,
and Black-headed Grosbeak, to name a few), all continue to be reported in
Yolo County daily. One intriguing theory for the late spring is how mild
the temperatures have been for the time of year. In Yolo, we have only
reached temperatures of 100F for two days (last weekend), far below the run
of hot weather that usually occurs by June in the valley. Perhaps there are
other factors at play as well, but the lack of hot days to get birds moving
north may well be playing a role in migrants passing through later than
expected.
Regardless, spring migration is still very much underway and I encourage
everyone to get out and see what you can turn up in your local patches!
