November 21, 2005
Birds of the Symposium
I was lucky enough to serve as a field trip leader for the 2005 Central Valley Birding Symposium, which provided a great opportunity to explore the diverse birds and habitats of the Valley, to meet up with old friends and to make several new ones. Here are the birding highlights of the last few days.
On Friday, Michael Perrone and I led a group around birding spots in Yolo County. Noteworthy birds at the Davis WWTP included 2 fly-by Great-tailed Grackles, a Western Sandpiper and great looks at flyover Aleutian Geese and my first Tundra Swans of the season. The Yolo Wildlife Area provided outstanding views of many secretive species in glorious sunshine, including several American Bitterns, a confiding Virginia Rail and a Sora. We finished the day along Putah Creek watching a mixed flock of Barrow's and Common Goldeneye.
On Saturday, the Camanche Lakes Fish Hatchery was our destination where good views of Red-breasted Sapsucker, Rock Wren (both found by Sami LaRocca) and Osprey were crowd-pleasers. I ducked out of the afternoon talks to join a group of young (and young-at-heart) birders in a Mountain Plover chase in Solano County. This was incredibly successful, and we enjoyed close-up looks at a flock of over 100 birds.
Unusually, these birds were foraging in long grass rather than their preferred winter habitat of bare fields. They were also engaging in a tail-fanning and -flicking behaviour that none of us had seen before - its purpose is not entirely clear, but it may be to flush insects forward for the birds to feed on.
In the evening we were treated to the spectacle of 17 Short-eared Owls flying all around us - I've never seen so many in one place!
The star birds of Sunday's trip to Flood and Waverly Roads were knockout looks at a Ferruginous Hawk...
... and a scope-filling view of a Burrowing Owl's head peeking out of its burrow. In the afternoon I made two trips for the controversial (see previous entry) Harlequin Duck at Stockton Sewage Ponds. The supporting cast of birds included a Mew Gull, both Yellowlegs, 2 white (probably Snow) geese, lots of Bonaparte's Gulls and Forster's Terns sitting on the water. Not a bad haul!
Posted by rjhall at November 21, 2005 7:36 PM