Focusing on shorebirds, this morning I visited the shallow ponds and mudflats along Desmond Road and Franklin Boulevard, and walked the boardwalk before checking similar habitat behind the Farm Center gate. Good numbers of peeps were seen on the move over the TNC Barn ponds, but I did not check these. The shorebirding was pretty good. The highlight was the best number of black-bellied plovers that I've seen at the preserve since 1998. Here's what I turned up: black-necked stilt- 75 american avocet- 20 black-bellied plover- 129 (all on the county property east of the Love Shack and nearly all close to full alternate plumage) killdeer- 35 semipalmated plover- 1 (along Desmond early; not found 150 minutes later) whimbrel- 2 (early fly-by along Desmond Rd.) dunlin- 55 least sandpiper- 750 western sandpiper- 180 short-billed dowitcher- 1 ( heard on the county property among a flushed flock of some 45 dowitchers but not with certainty visually picked out) long-billed dowitcher- 240 Wilson's snipe- 4 lesser yellowlegs- 3 (all on the county property) greater yellowlegs- 70
A merlin flew by in review over the county property also, but made no pass at the shorebirds beneath her. She disappeared out of sight heading almost due north.
This Saturday is the next Tall Forest bird survey. Preserve staff ask that you sign up on the website, www.cosumnes.org. Click the events button and you'll see the survey listed among the Saturday goings on. I expect that most of the shorebird habitat now behind the Farm Center gate will dry out before then, but some should remain. We'll certainly look. We will depart through the locked gate at the corner of Bruceville and Desmond Roads promptly at 5:30 a.m. Bring mosquito repellent (though they haven't been bad yet) and rubber knee boots. It will be a close run thing trying to get to the Accidental Forest and across the berm into the southern Tall Forest proper, since the river is still just out of its banks in the survey area. The forecast is for a high temperature near 80 degrees, and some of us may opt to wade over our boots to get to these places.
After a quick check of water levels on the floodplain east of the Tall
Forest, I visited the two public trails and the TNC Barn ponds this
morning. Highlights were two cackling geese, 13 blue-winged teal, fair
numbers of shorebirds (nothing special), three acorn woodpeckers, one
western flycatcher, two ash-throated flycatchers, three Hutton’s vireos, a
western tanager and four black-headed grosbeaks. The Point was by far the
best spot on the route today.
Date: 4/12/24 12:26 pm From: Robin Leong <robin_leong...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Bald Eagle nesting on Mare Island, Solano County?
Hi,
Patricia Hickey alerted me that a Bald Eagle is nesting on Mare Island. I checked on 4/11 at 11:20 AM for an hour, but there was a nest, but no birds. She told me that a pair usually come in around 6:30 PM. I returned at 7:10 PM. The pair was there as Patricia pointed out. She said that there is an adult and an immature. Sure enough, that is what I saw, my raptor id book says it is a transitional bird. The younger one was seen moving branches around the nest and trying to break nearby branches. The adult was just looking over what the younger one was doing. They did bump chests, but I didn't see any copulation or dancing.
Today I returned at 10:10. The transitional bird was on the nest trying to move sticks again. The nest is huge, I think they have been doing this in previous years. It is pretty late, but we'll see if they will produce a successful brood.
The location of the nest is best seen by entering Mare Island and driving on Azuar Road. Drive south until you get to the roundabout. Go around it past the Marine Commandant's house, and drive until you see a pullout. Drive past this to a driveway. Park. There will be a house on the West side in front of you. Look to the right past the house in the eucalyptus trees. You'll see the nest.
Robin Leong
Vallejo, CA
Date: 4/11/24 9:49 am From: kuschmanfred via groups.io <makusch...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] More spring arrivals
By now, all three locally breeding swallow species, Tree, Barn and Cliff swallows have arrived and in that particular order. I noticed the first Cliff Swallows yesterday at Stevenson Bridge where they have a breeding colony. Tree Swallows are building nests in several nest boxes near my house , and three pairs of Barn Swallows (solar) are beginning to attach the first pellets of mud under the roof of my front and back porches as the foundation for their nests.
Hooded and Bullock’s orioles arrived during the last 10 days of March, first three Hooded and then 5 days later the first Bullock’s, initially only the males but by now the first females have shown up also.
After the early arrival of a single Western Kingbird in late March I noticed yesterday what seemed like a wave of them, with a number of them perching on power lines in the neighborhood.
While Rufous Hummingbirds, both males and females, continue to pass through my garden I was very surprised that Black-chinned Hummingbirds who normally arrive during the last days of March and during the first week of April had not made an appearance. But late yesterday afternoon I finally noticed a first male at one of my feeders, certainly the latest arrival date I can remember.
Manfred Kusch
3 miles west of Davis
South bank of Putah Creek
This morning I ran this month's Lost Slough bird survey at the Cosumnes River Preserve in southern Sacramento County. The weather was great, the season quite advanced over when I last saw it 18 or so days ago, but the bird species mix little different. Before I left I noticed that only Bullock's orioles had arrived. A few other passerines were noted (by me) for the first time this season today: ash-throated flycatcher, western kingbird and Wilson's warbler. This last one was only 15-20 meters from where I turned one up in January, so it might have wintered locally. The one shorebird of note was a solitary sandpiper. Other birds that interested me for their infrequent detection on this survey included a white-tailed kite, a merlin, and four great-tailed grackles.
Date: 4/1/24 5:42 pm From: patheagy via groups.io <pheagy2002...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Bird ID help - Golden Eagle or Bald Eagle?
Hi - I took these photos of an eagle at Gray Lodge Wildlife Mgmt Area on Jan 30 2024. I think it is a Golden Eagle, but I have trouble telling the juveniles apart. Thoughts?
This morning, Mackenzie Hollender found the Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron at the Night-Heron and Western Cattle Egret rookery at the North Natomas Regional Park lake. I observed it from the north shore of the lake. It was in the tree almost adjacent to a palm tree on the east island. A scope is definitely helpful. Lots of Black-crowned Night-Herons, so it took awhile to pick through them.
--
Dan Tankersley
Lincoln, Placer County
