Lately, I’ve been taking a few photos and doing a little birding between the storms, but haven’t had time to write or process my photos.  This afternoon, Kimya and I drove down to Cosumnes River Preserve (www.cosumnes.org) to see the flooding from the recent storms and levee breaks.  The water had gone down quite a bit, so it wasn’t as dramatic as expected.  On our way crossing the Cosumnes River on Twin Cities Rd, we saw quite a few shorebirds, including my first-of-season Whimbrel, and several black-headed Bonaparte’s Gulls.

We drove out to Michigan Bar Road, where there were a lot of Western Kingbirds.  It is nice to see these birds again in numbers—a sure sign of spring, despite all of the recent rain.

At the Bufferlands and the lower part of Cosumnes, Say’s Phoebes usually depart before the first of the kingbirds arrive, but out there in the low foothills, we found three Say’s Phoebes today, along with many Western Kingbirds.

A pair of Swainson’s Hawks was circling around a tree with a stick nest on the south side of the river.

We crossed the Cosumnes at the Michigan Bar Bridge and watched the Cliff Swallows collecting mud for their nests.  The road seemed to have dried out pretty well, so we continued up the hill, dodging potholes. 

This Lincoln’s Sparrow hopped up on the fence.

About a mile before reaching Latrobe Rd, we flushed a Vesper Sparrow from the road.  The wind blew back its scapulars, revealing its rufous lesser coverts.

We headed down the hill, wondering if we could make it across Crevis Creek.  At one stop, there were a couple of Sara orangetips.

At one of several sections where the creek crosses the road, Lesser Goldfinches and this Yellow-rumped Warbler were bathing in the creek.

As we reached the major crossing, the water was up and we decided not to chance it, and returned the way we came.

On Thursday night, 4/6/06, Tim Fitzer, Maureen Geiger, Cathie LaZier, and Andi Salmi joined me for a tour around the Bufferlands (www.bufferlands.com) prior to an Audubon Field Activities meeting (www.sacramentoaudubon.org).  The water is way up from recent storms, so we had limited access.  Highlights included my first Caspian Tern for the season at the Bufferlands, two Clark’s Grebes that had been present for the previous two days, a Merlin (right after we had been talking about Merlins), and at least five Lesser Yellowlegs in with a mix of Long-billed Dowitchers and Greater Yellowlegs.

A couple of weeks ago, Kimya and I went to Davis where we unsuccessfully tried for the Evening Grosbeak, but we saw this Yellow-billed Magpie collecting nest material.

Along the River Road near West Sacramento, this pair of Swainson’s Hawks was quite active and vocal.