November 22, 2004
Central Valley Birding Symposium
Just returned from a fun weekend at the 8th Central Valley Birding Symposium. It was great to put faces to names I read on CVBirds regularly, to catch up with old friends and to make several new ones. As a field trip leader I enjoyed some excellent birding in the vicinity of Stockton, with the added bonus of getting all my food (and there was plenty of it) for free! Good Central Valley birds spotted during the weekend included Eastern Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher (an adult male!) and Surf Scoter (found by those sharp-eyed young birders), while unfortunately the Common Black-Hawk eluded us all. Congratulations to David, Sue, Frances and the rest of the committee for putting together such an excellent event - hopefully see you all there next year!
Friday's field trip to Caswell State Park started cold and foggy, with a couple of Western Tanagers and a heard-only Black-throated Gray Warbler being the highlights. The birding and the weather improved at Modesto Sewer Ponds, with everyone enjoying great views of a perched Merlin, most of the regular wintering wildfowl and these 3 Pacific Golden Plovers amongst the Black-bellied.
At nearby Ceres Sewer Ponds 3 species of gull were observed, including a couple of hundred Bonaparte's.
On Saturday I ticked my lifer Salmon at Camanche Lake Fish Hatchery. The birds were showing well in the sunshine too, with many people getting scope views of Rock Wren, Hermit Thrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Fox Sparrow. This drake Common Merganser was new bird for my CV Big Year list.
However, raptors stole the show. The numerous Turkey Vultures were sunning themselves, ...
... this Osprey caught a fish...
... and a rare treat was prolonged views of an adult Red-shouldered Hawk with a freshly-caught Western Gray Squirrel.
In the afternoon I couldn't resist dashing out to see this fine male Vermilion Flycatcher, returning to the Turner Road Winery for its second winter.
Sunday's chase trip missed the Vermilion and the Surf Scoter, but we did get a good look at the Eastern Phoebe at Cosumnes River Preserve ( a state bird for me).
Burping after swallowing an impressively large cricket!
An added bonus was this adult Peregrine, perched obligingly on a radio tower.
I finished the afternoon with Sami LaRocca watching the waterbirds that make the Central Valley justifiably famous. On Woodbridge road we saw a Prairie Falcon, plus many hundreds of Tundra Swans and Sandhill Cranes at close range.
At nearby Staten Island, the sight and sound of thousands of Aleutian Geese flying in to feed was evocative.
This weekend's efforts nudged my CV Big Year List up to 146, so will hopefully break the 150 barrier tomorrow!
Posted by rjhall at November 22, 2004 1:57 AM