May 10, 2004
The Big Day
For those of you not in the know, the aim of a Big Day (or birdathon), is to see as many species of bird in a given geographical region (usually a county, but some UK nutters attempt the whole country!) as possible in a 24-hour period. Yesterday, Marcel Holyoak, Pete Armstrong, Joan Humphrey and I set out at 4am to see what we could rustle up in Yolo County. For those not interested in the gory details, we managed a respectable 143 (one species short of Kevin and Mary's effort in the previous week). Scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click on the 'read more' link for the full species list.
Early May seems to offer the best species diversity in Yolo County: most of the local breeding birds are on territory, spring migration should be in full swing, and you hope to pick up a few late lingering winter birds. We followed the well-known recipe of listening for night birds before dawn, working down from high chaparral in the extreme northwest of the county, through wooded valleys and along a creek, hitting the valley floor for breeders, migrants and waterbirds in the afternoon.
Our first sighting of the day was, appropriately, a Burrowing Owl on the outskirts of Davis (this bird is the enblem of the Yolo Audubon Society). In the pitch dark we successfully listened for Sora and Virginia Rail in the marsh at the end of Road 30, before driving halfway across the county to hear Lesser Nighthawk, Great Horned and Barn Owls near Esparto. By 5am we found ourselves racing against the ever brightening sky to get to the top of Rayhouse Road for Common Poorwill, which we just about got but at the cost of missing Western Screech Owl.
As the sun crept over the ridge, the special birds of the high chaparral came to life: Mountain Quail, California Thrasher, Lazuli Bunting, Rufous-crowned and my life Sage Sparrow were all added to the list. Davis Creek Reservoir made up for a total lack of ducks with a couple of surprise birds: an impressive adult Bald Eagle, and a flyover Phainopepla. A small selection of the expected migrants boosted the day list here. Our attempts at impersonating a Pygmy Owl failed to elicit a reply, but did draw in a selection of angry Oak Titmice and White-breasted Nuthatch, as well as the only Lark Sparrow of the day. Keen-eared Joan managed to hear a calling Pileated Woodpecker from a moving car, and we were treated to excellent flight views of this notoriously tricky-to-find species in Yolo.
Dawn over Rayhouse
At the base of Rayhouse, the territorial Canyon Wren gave us a quick burst of song. Working our way along Cache Creek, we struck gold at the Road 41 bridge with a smart summer-plumaged Spotted Sandpiper and a singing Yellow-breasted Chat (another highly irregular county bird). By 10am I had worked my way through 3 rounds of sandwiches and most of a big packet of vegetable chips - intense birding sure burns up those calories!
Road 78A didn't deliver the hoped-for Lawrence's Goldfinch, but compensated with sightings of Cooper's and Red-shouldered Hawk. Checking sewer ponds and flooded alfalfa fields yielded some more surprises: Great-tailed Grackle and an impressive kettle of 63 Swainson's Hawks! The noisy Tricolored Blackbird colony of Road 27 included an odd-looking male with a crossed bill. 3 late Bufflehead on Winters Sewage Ponds was our 100th species, quickly followed by Swainson's Thrush and Downy Woodpecker under a disused bridge over Putah Creek.
Having talked ourselves into driving up to Monticello Dam, we were rewarded with White-throated Swift, as well as 2 Western Grebes on the water below (presumably escaping the boating activity on Lake Berryessa just over the county line). Non-avian highlight was a River Otter playing in the waters below. The altitude and bright sunlight here did wonders for my 'birder's tan' (scarlet neck with white binocular strap mark)!
After refuelling the car (and myself with a much-needed ice cream), we set off towards Davis, taking in one of my regular haunts (Putah Creek picnic ground). Yesterday's territorial male Black-chinned Hummingbird was, thankfully, still around the tobacco tree, while we also ticked off Moorhen on the nearby ponds. We then had a minor panic attack over when the Vic Fazio wetlands were due to close, and raced over there for singing Savannah Sparrow and Horned Lark, White Pelican, White-faced Ibis and a couple of Lesser Scaup. As we were leaving the reserve a flyover American Bittern appeared in the nick of time. Back in Davis, Slide Hill Park held a single Wilson's Warbler, and Willowbank was disappointingly quiet, save for the ever-vocal Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Having been adding one or two new species at each site visited for the last few hours, things changed gear when we reached the City of Davis Wetlands. The place was teeming with interesting water birds, including Eared, Western and Clark's Grebe, Red-necked and Wilson's Phalarope (the latter was a lifer), and amazingly, 12 species of duck (lots of Redhead, a single Canvasback, Blue-winged Teal and Greater and Lesser Scaup being the most noteworthy). As the shadows grew longer, we devoted the rest of the day to searching fruitlessly for more waders in flooded fields. Silliest moment was the four of us standing on the roof of Marcel's car trying to peer into the locked Woodland Wastewater Pond looking for Black Tern - and we didn't even see one!
As the day drew to a close, we spotted our 143rd bird - a Vaux's Swift - and the same Burrowing Owl seen as we set out at 4am was there to greet us on our return to Davis. Our day list total of 143 is a good, but not exceptional, total for Yolo County. While the general lack of migrants and almost complete lack of shorebirds prevented us from reaching the 150's, we saw a large number of unexpected and excellent county birds. I also achieved my target of pushing my county list over 200. Many thanks to Marcel, Joan and Pete for sharing their excellent company and birding knowledge with me - looking forward to Big Day 2005!
My birding partners in crime: Pete, Joan and Marcel at the end of a long day!
Yolo County Big Day, 9th May 2004
Participants: Marcel Holyoak, Joan Humphrey, Pete Armstrong, Richard Hall
Hours birding: 4am-8:30 pm (16.5 hours)
Major sites/habitats visited: Rayhouse Road (chaparral, oak woodland, riparian, reservoir), Cache Creek, Putah Creek (riparian), assorted farmland and flooded fields, Davis (parkland, riparian), Vic Fazio Wildlife Area, City of Davis Wetlands (wetlands, lakes).
Total species recorded: 143
Species List
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Pintail
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Shoveler
Gadwall
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Ring-necked Pheasant
California Quail
Mountain Quail
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
California Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Common Poorwill
Vaux's Swift
White-throated Swift
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Western Wood-Pewee
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
N Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Western Scrub-Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Canyon Wren
Bewick's Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Western Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Wrentit
Northern Mockingbird
California Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Phainopepla
Loggerhead Shrike
European Starling
Cassin's Vireo
Hutton's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Tricolored Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow