Date: 12/9/23 8:50 pm From: Glennah Trochet <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Cosumnes birds the last couple of days
Dear Birders,
Today I helped out on the monthly River Walk bird survey, a tour of the public trails led by Jim Rowoth, at the Cosumnes River Preserve. Waterbirds were a tad disappointing, but the list of terrestrial birds ended up being pretty good. Since I started at the TNC Barn ponds, I didn't see everything and Jim and John Yoo didn't cover the ponds thoroughly in early afternoon. But what I recall of our better findings were these: blue-winged teal- 1 merlin- 1 common raven- 3 golden-crowned kinglet- 5 red-breasted nuthatch- 2 brown creeper- 1 Pacific wren- 1 varied thrush- 1 purple finch- 1 Savannah sparrow- 230 great-tailed grackle- 1 black-throated gray warbler- 1 Townsend's warbler- 1
That Savannah sparrow number was just mine from the barn ponds. I saw a bit of movement in some dry tules, and when I pished, a Lincoln's sparrow, a handful of white-crowned sparrows and 210 Savannah sparrows popped up. That was fun.
Yesterday I visited behind the Farm Center gate, covering a large swath of that area west of Wood Duck Slough. The highlights were these: Steller's jay- 1 golden-crowned kinglet- 1 varied thrush- 27 purple finch- 2 orange-crowned warbler- 18 western tanager- 1
Date: 12/9/23 9:09 am From: Glennah Trochet <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Pacific wren at CRP
Dear Birders,
As part of Jim Rowoth’s crew conducting the monthly River Walk bird survey, John Yoo just found a Pacific Wren on the Wetlands Walk at the Cosumnes River Preserve. The bird was on the west side of the north footing of the more northerly metal bridge, almost under where the bridge railing begins.
It appears a member of the group had their email compromised. I've put them
back on moderated status until they can confirm they have the issue fixed.
Remember that is a post doesn't make sense from a birding group don't click
the links. No email asking people to send money in a birding group is going
to be legitimate. With that I'm closing the thread. Definitely love to hear
what birds everyone is seeing. Good birding,
Cliff Hawley, Moderator
Sacramento, CA
On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 9:04 AM Ray Rozema <rrozema54...> wrote:
> Hello
>
> FYI I received an email that looked very much like it came from someone,
> that I know, in the CV Bird group and it appeared very much to have come
> via the CV.io group yesterday. However the followup email was clearly a
> scam.
> Beware
> Ray Rozema
>
>
>
--
Clifford Hawley
Sacramento, CA
(916)300-2495
"For, what are the voices of birds...
But words, our words,
Only so much more sweet?"
Robert Browning
Date: 12/8/23 9:22 am From: Kathy Blankenship via groups.io <kathy.blankenship...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Scam Alert
I received it, too! It is a shame that we need to keep our defenses up and question email messages from friends. I didn’t fall for it.
Kathy Blankenship Davis, CA
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
On Friday, December 8, 2023, 9:13 AM, Ann Yasuda via groups.io <annyasuda...> wrote:
I received a suspicious email from a known group member too! Do not assume that you are being friended by familiar names, but not acquaintances.
Ann YasudaDavis
On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 9:05 AM, Ray Rozema<rrozema54...> wrote: Hello
FYI I received an email that looked very much like it came from someone, that I know, in the CV Bird group and it appeared very much to have come via the CV.io group yesterday. However the followup email was clearly a scam.
Beware
Ray Rozema
Date: 12/8/23 9:13 am From: Ann Yasuda via groups.io <annyasuda...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Scam Alert
I received a suspicious email from a known group member too! Do not assume that you are being friended by familiar names, but not acquaintances.
Ann YasudaDavis
On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 9:05 AM, Ray Rozema<rrozema54...> wrote: Hello
FYI I received an email that looked very much like it came from someone, that I know, in the CV Bird group and it appeared very much to have come via the CV.io group yesterday. However the followup email was clearly a scam.
Beware
Ray Rozema
Date: 12/8/23 9:04 am From: Ray Rozema <rrozema54...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Scam Alert
Hello
FYI I received an email that looked very much like it came from someone, that I know, in the CV Bird group and it appeared very much to have come via the CV.io group yesterday. However the followup email was clearly a scam.
Beware
Ray Rozema
Date: 12/7/23 8:48 am From: Sami <Sami.larocca...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Sami LaRocca
Sorry to bother you, Please do you've a free moment over email? I need a favor from you, I am unable to talk on the phone right now due to a serious sore throat.
Sami
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
We offer possibilities for birders with limited mobility to support this count. Please contact the listed leaders on the YAS web page <https://yoloaudubon.org/christmas-bird-count/> directly if you want to join the count, or reach out to me in response to the email if you have other questions.
To get an impression of what we typically see during this count, check last year's trip report <https://ebird.org/tripreport/92252> on eBird.
Young stands of equally aged trees (usually white fir, incense-cedar, and ponderosa pine) densely packed due to exclusion of natural and cultural fires. Such thickets are highly susceptible to insect outbreaks, diseases, wildfire, and mechanical damage from snow and wind.
On Wed, Dec 6, 2023, 8:56 PM rickypaws via groups.io <rickypaws= <yahoo.com...> wrote:
> What is a doghair oak? > John Trochet mentioned it. > > Thanks > Martha Breed > >
Date: 12/6/23 4:11 pm From: Kevin via groups.io <bionerdkevin...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Apparent Tropical Kingbird at Natomas Regional Park
Just the messenger, there is an apparent tropical kingbird at the Natomas Regional Park, Sacramento. The bird was photographed on baseball field #2 perched on some chain link fence.
The red-necked grebe continues at the same location in the pond.
Sorry, organizer is Dan Williams, <jaegermaestro...>
Sylvia
Sylvia Wright
<sciencewrighterphotos...> <Sylvia.L.Wright.1...>
I use Comic Sans font to make my emails more accessible to everyone.
On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 9:27 AM Sylvia Wright via groups.io
<sciencewrighterphotos...> wrote:
> The terrific Alison Sheehey has compiled a CA counts list for 24 years.
> It's here, along with many interesting facts about previous counts and bird
> trivia: https://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm >
> The Sac count is Dec. 23.
>
> Sylvia
> Nevada Co.
>
> Sylvia Wright
> <sciencewrighterphotos...> <Sylvia.L.Wright.1...>
> I use Comic Sans font to make my emails more accessible to everyone.
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 8:35 AM Michael Perrone via groups.io
> <michaelperrone10...> wrote:
>
>> Can someone tell me the date of the Sacramento Christmas bird count and
>> contact information for the organizer? I found nothing on the Sac Audubon
>> website.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Michael Perrone
>> Davis
>>
>>
>
>
The terrific Alison Sheehey has compiled a CA counts list for 24 years.
It's here, along with many interesting facts about previous counts and bird
trivia: https://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm
The Sac count is Dec. 23.
Sylvia
Nevada Co.
Sylvia Wright
<sciencewrighterphotos...> <Sylvia.L.Wright.1...>
I use Comic Sans font to make my emails more accessible to everyone.
On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 8:35 AM Michael Perrone via groups.io
<michaelperrone10...> wrote:
> Can someone tell me the date of the Sacramento Christmas bird count and
> contact information for the organizer? I found nothing on the Sac Audubon
> website.
>
> Thanks
>
> Michael Perrone
> Davis
>
>
>
Date: 12/6/23 8:35 am From: Michael Perrone via groups.io <michaelperrone10...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Sac Audubon CBC
Can someone tell me the date of the Sacramento Christmas bird count and contact information for the organizer? I found nothing on the Sac Audubon website.
Thanks
Michael PerroneDavis
Because I have a CBC to run in New Mexico's Zuni Mountains in a couple of weeks, I needed to do both my monthly bird surveys this past weekend. Yesterday I did the Lost Slough survey. Except for a white-throated sparrow early on, I could have dry-labbed this one. Nothing else was notable.
In contrast, Saturday's survey of the Tall Forest and vicinity was a treat. The clouds (and sprinkles) before dawn made for poorer-than-usual light at our first stop, the Love Shack. We flushed thousands of geese, both white-fronts and snows, which we could hear just overhead but could not really see. The din continued when in a bit better light several minutes later, Wendell Flint's dogs were taken out for exercise and thousands more flushed and flew over us. That was the day's auditory highlight.
On Friday I got a call from Alex Cabrera, TNC's on-site manager for the preserve. He had a couple of points to make. First, he had just seen a puma cross the road between the Bottoms and the Tall Forest. He knew that I would be out there the next day, so he gave me a heads up. Second, he told me that a team with chainsaws would be in the Bottoms by 9AM to thin some of the doghair oaks. With that knowledge we changed the sequence of coverage of the route to beat the work team to that area. And it really paid off.
The visual highlight of the day was finding two Steller's jays in the oaks growing on the Bottoms. These were my first for the lower preserve. The only other observation, as I recall, was that of Andy Engilis in the late 1980s, when he was the preserve manager.
Lesser lights included two lesser yellowlegs, a short-billed gull, a western screech-owl (I did about 75 minutes of owling before meeting the participant at the gate at 06:15), three golden-crowned kinglets, 24 varied thrushes, six purple finches, a white-throated sparrow, a gray-hooded orange-crowned warbler, and a Townsend's warbler.
We spent a fair amount of time at places that recently had other seasonally uncommon birds. We may well have encountered the same flock that had a western flycatcher in it just before Thanksgiving, but we couldn't pull it out. We also struck out with red-breasted nuthatch, black-thoated gray warbler and western tanager. It was a fairly good day for mammals, and we saw, among others, raccoons, otters, and a skunk. We were not surprised to have missed the puma.
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) (1)
- Reported Dec 02, 2023 09:39 by Mackenzie Hollender
- North Natomas Regional Park, Sacramento, California
- Map:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-121.5184021&<ll...>,-121.5184021 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155618365 - Media: 8 Photos
- Comments: "Wow!!!! At the back end of the lake by North Bend. Gray and
black bird, medium sized neck. Dark top of head, face is an unclean grayish
white. Side of the neck has dark rufous coloration. Back of the neck is
dark. Bird’s back is an unclean sooty grey. Breast is white with very very
light rufous tinge. Head shape is rather squarish and the back sides of the
head are slightly raised. Bill is thin and sharp with a yellowish lower
mandible. The bird was resting on top of the water and had its head tucked
in its feathers in the sleeping position for most of my observation,
however, it did raise its head periodically to preen and scratch its neck
with its webbed feet for short amounts of time. During one of its bouts of
preening, I watched the bird pluck one of its soft flank feathers, hold it
in its bill and then swallow it. This bird seemed very tired as it did not
make very many big movements and I assume it just got here and is trying to
catch up on its rest. iPhone through scope pics."
Date: 11/26/23 2:29 pm From: naturestoc via groups.io <Naturestoc...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Nighthawk in Merced Cnty
The Lesser Nighthawk continued on the same branch (I assume) on 11-24-23. Here's link to my ebird list with photos. Dan Brown, Sacramentohttps://ebird.org/checklist/S155126633
On Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 10:12:54 PM PST, John Fulton <merced_birding...> wrote:
There is still a Lesser Nighthawk on Santa Fe Grade Rd at Wilson Rd , a couple miles NW from Hwy 165, north of Los Banos.I stopped by the stake-out spot on the way home from the Symposium, at 4pm this afternoon. Because it was before I actually got home, and it may qualify (?) for the tabulation of species seen for the Symposium, (with an asterisk?).
This location is the same as the location where there were at least 8 Lesser Nighthawks in August.
John FultonLos Banos, Merced County
Today I had a really enjoyable day birding. It was also a day of nice color, on the clouds in the east at sunrise and in the trees and especially in the wild grape of the Tall Forest.
I started at the Love Shack before heading to the Accidental Forest. There I left my car and went on a decent walkabout: north along the west bank of the river to Wendell Flint's place, southwest along the edge of the Triangle Pond back to the equipment pad, down the west side road past the Tall Forest Giant to Warbler Woods, out to Oak Island and thence through the portion of the Bottoms grown up mostly to valley oaks, out to the tower pump and over the berm into the southern Tall Forest proper, back up Wood Duck Slough to the pad, then out to the Accidental Forest again. I've walked most of that stretch of river from the Orr Forest side in the past (not for a few years), but I think that I had never done so before from the Tall Forest side. There's a lot to recommend that hike in terms of bird habitat. There were lots of highlights: western flycatcher- 1 (bird of the day; on the east side of Wood Duck Slough south of the pump) Hutton's vireo- 5 (a very good number recently) yellow-billed magpie- 22 (at the shack early) common raven- 2 red-breasted nuthatch- 1 (heard only, across the river in Orr Forest) varied thrush- 13 (concentrations on the east side of the Triangle Pond and in Warbler Woods, plus scattered singles) purple finch- 7 (2 near Wendell's place and 5 on the north side of the Triangle Pond) common yellowthroat- 1 (much harder to come by than most years) myrtle warbler- 2 (likewise) Townsend's warbler- 2 western tanager- 3 (1 heard only in Orr Forest, 2 seen only together in Warbler Woods)
Of birds seen the last 10-14 days, I missed brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet, cedar waxwing, white-throated sparrow (actually, it's been four weeks since I saw my only one so far this fall) and black-throated gray warbler. I also missed fox sparrow. This last one has been in astonishingly short supply this autumn.
I walked more slowly than usual, since I didn't have an audience that I needed to show what was available behind the gate. I did spend some time visiting the rice in mid-afternoon, hoping to run into a common crane or two, but no such luck. Another array of ponds is being flooded, flushing arthropods and mice from refugia, so there were lots of cranes to look through.
I made one serious mistake. Since it was 25 degrees F. at the Accidental Forest first thing, I didn't think to take my insect repellent with me. By late morning the ravenous mosquitoes found me DEET-less and I spent the next few hours swatting at those buggers ineffectively.
The drive out was highlighted by a really black dark morph adult red-tailed hawk, a lovely bird.
Date: 11/22/23 5:53 pm From: John Fulton <merced_birding...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Nighthawk in Merced County
I saw a single Lesser Nighthawk, again today, in the same pine tree, above the same window of the same trailer. The location is Santa Fe Grade and Wilson Road, about 4 miles north of Hwy 152 and 2 miles west of Hwy 165, same location where it has been roosting since at least August.
This trailer window, 8 to 10 feet below the bird, is actually one of the group of adjacent windows on the left (SE) end of the trailer, on the long face/side that is parallel to Santa Fe Grade. The window with the white venetian blinds is the one that has been below the Nighthawk most frequently. There is no sign of the other 7 that were present in August. It is assumed that those left as is expected for Nighthawks in the San Joaquin Valley There were 2 Nighthawks at Lake Yosemite in the Eastern part of Merced County this summer. They left on their migration about 6 weeks ago, as expected, right on time. EBird had flagged my most recent observations because prior to my reports, there had never been any reported sightings in Merced County after early October.
John Fulton Los Banos, Merced County
________________________________ From: dee vee <deevee312...> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2023 1:44 PM To: John fulton <merced_birding...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Nighthawk in Merced Cnty
Not yet I love Nighthawks but it’s almost 2 hr drive for me Thanks for following up On 22 Nov 2023, at 12:58, John fulton <merced_birding...> wrote:
Don, did you find the Nighthawk?
I am thinking about checking again this afternoon to see if it is still there.
If you have the patience to sit and await its dusk flight out from the roost to feed, it might be easy to see against the darkening sky. While roosting it is very well camouflaged and very hard to detect. It looks like a broken limb, among dozens of actual broken limbs. I have been seeing it consistently perched on 3-4 inch diameter horizontal limbbs, in one part of one pine tree, an area of maybe 10 feet square, right above the windows of the light trailer, as you look due south from Santa Fe Grade. The trailer is part of the duck club at the north end of Wilson Rd .
Good luck.
John F
________________________________ From: dee vee <deevee312...> Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2023 10:41 PM To: John Fulton <merced_birding...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Nighthawk in Merced Cnty
Is there a particular time of day it can be spotted? Early AM , late PM Thanks Don
Date: 11/21/23 5:46 pm From: L Markoff via groups.io <canyoneagle...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] male Varied Thrush - Snipes-Pershing Ravine, Orangevale
Hello CVBirds!
At about 3:40pm today, I saw a male Varied Thrush 60-80 feet past the
Snipes-Pershing Ravine footbridge, down in the ravine. I heard American
Robins vocalizing, but the VATH was silent. I know their vocals well, for
they were yard birds during winter for the 6 years that I lived in Eugene,
OR.
It was on a smallish fallen tree. As I watched it, a Spotted Towhee came at
it from the left, and the VATH turned to face it. They stared at each other
briefly, and then the VATH flew up into an over-hanging oak tree, fairly
high up. I kept watching, hoping to see it again, but several people then
passed through, including one on a bike which made a bit of noise, and I
never saw it again.
Here are a few photos/video of the bird and the location:
Date: 11/19/23 10:12 pm From: John Fulton <merced_birding...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Nighthawk in Merced Cnty
There is still a Lesser Nighthawk on Santa Fe Grade Rd at Wilson Rd , a couple miles NW from Hwy 165, north of Los Banos.
I stopped by the stake-out spot on the way home from the Symposium, at 4pm this afternoon. Because it was before I actually got home, and it may qualify (?) for the tabulation of species seen for the Symposium, (with an asterisk?).
This location is the same as the location where there were at least 8 Lesser Nighthawks in August.
Date: 11/19/23 8:35 am From: Sylvia Wright <sciencewrighterphotos...> Subject: Re: [centralvalleybirds] Question from visiting birder: Pileated Woodpecker
Ralph, we have them reliably here in the Sierra Foothills, uphill from
Sacramento in Nevada County; about 1.5 hours drive via I-80 and Calif Hwy
49; at 2,500-3,000 feet elevation. Few folks up here reliably post on
eBird, though.
I'll put out a query to birders who likely have them in their back
yards (literally) and get back to you directly.
We can adjust for recent sightings and weather when your visit approaches.
Sylvia
Penn Valley (near Grass Valley)
Sylvia Wright
<sciencewrighterphotos...> <Sylvia.L.Wright.1...>
I use Comic Sans font to make my emails more accessible to everyone.
On Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 7:12 AM Ralph Achenbach <ralph.achenbach...>
wrote:
> Dear Central Valley Birders,
>
> I will be visiting the Sacramento area from Germany for just a few days in
> late December/early January. One of the birds I have been longing to see
> for some time now is the Pileated Woodpecker. Are there any good areas in
> the vicinity where the pecker is likely at that time of year? Would anyone
> be interested in joining me for a half-day search or so? I will be checking
> ebird for any sightings closer to the time, and in the meantime would be
> grateful for any additional information and advice you may be able to
> provide.
>
> Thanks so much, and warmest wishes,
>
> Ralph
>
> Ralph Achenbach
> Bonn, Germany
> Twitter: @BirderBro <https://twitter.com/BirderBro> >
>
>
Date: 11/19/23 7:12 am From: Ralph Achenbach <ralph.achenbach...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Question from visiting birder: Pileated Woodpecker
Dear Central Valley Birders,
I will be visiting the Sacramento area from Germany for just a few days in late December/early January. One of the birds I have been longing to see for some time now is the Pileated Woodpecker. Are there any good areas in the vicinity where the pecker is likely at that time of year? Would anyone be interested in joining me for a half-day search or so? I will be checking ebird for any sightings closer to the time, and in the meantime would be grateful for any additional information and advice you may be able to provide.
Date: 11/18/23 7:39 pm From: Sally M. Walters <bajaowl...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Reports of COMMON CRANES
It seems many Sacramento county birders aren’t reporting on cvbirds. Somehow i got on this exclusive list “Whats App” likely through Sacramento Audubon facebook? A common crane or 3 have been reported the last few days on Desmond Road and Cosumnes Preserve. Thats all i know.
Good luck
Date: 11/12/23 10:17 am From: Denise and David Hamilton <2napabirders...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Question about Gates & Mix Canyon Roads, Solano Co.
Hi all,
David and I were up on Mix Canyon/Blue Ridge Rd. last month and we noticed that the gate was now open and a sign was posted for Gates Canyon Rd. We have never driven that road before, so wondering if anyone has driven it before - if it is in good condition and if it is worth it bird-wise. Any information would be appreciated!
Backyard bird watching has been incredibly slow in the usual busy time of year. A DARN Cooper's Hawk is sitting somewhere (occasionally coming into the yard) for well over 3 weeks now! I hope it will move on soon!!!
Date: 11/11/23 10:55 am From: Chris Conard <conardc...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Steller's Jay at Folsom Pt, SAC
Hi folks,
I heard it call as I walked near the eucalyptus patch just south of the boat launch. It then flew from there and landed in an oak near the restrooms. Had it in my scope and saw it clearly as it flew across and landed.
Not much on the water. Had a single, distant Common Loon and a flyby Osprey.
Chris Conard Sacramento --please excuse this brief message sent with my phone
