Central Valley Field Trip Report, January 18-20
Llano Seco Wildlife Viewing Area photo by Karen Wilkinson
A record number of MCAS members were treated to an especially spectacular trip to the Central Valley this year due to exceptional weather, an enthusiastic and sociable group of birders, and, best of all, tens of thousands of brilliant Snow Geese and gorgeous winter plumage ducks.
On Saturday morning we headed straight to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge, north of Williams, where we saw our first huge flocks and liftoffs of Snow, Greater White-Fronted, and Ross’s Geese, as well as White-faced Ibis. There were high numbers of Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal here this year, which were a treat to see—some extremely close—as well as thousands of Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Gadwalls, Wigeons, and other ducks. We also saw Horned Larks, Ring-necked Pheasants, two Loggerhead Shrikes, an American Bittern, a good number of Wilson’s Snipe, and a Canvasback. We headed further north to Llano Seco wildlife viewing area, near Chico, for sunset and for some great sightings of Tundra Swans and Sandhill Cranes along the way.
Day two was mostly spent exploring the extensive Gray Lodge Wilderness Area, where we viewed thousands more ducks and geese, in addition to a scraggly but cooperative Phainopepla, a Burrowing Owl camped out on the side of the road, a couple of Great-tailed Grackles, a huge number of Common Gallinules, and several Sora uncharacteristically feeding out in the open for hours.
Monday morning was windier, but no less birdy! We spent the first half of the day at Colusa Wildlife Refuge, spotting a hybrid Eurasian x American Wigeon, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a close-up of a Great-Horned Owl in broad daylight, and a huge group of 120+ Black-crowned Night Herons roosting in their usual place. By the end of the day most folks had left for home, but in the foothills west of Williams, for those of us who stayed until the trip’s end, we glimpsed a flock of the increasingly scarce Yellow-billed Magpies, and shortly after found a Greater Roadrunner who didn’t only run but flew a short distance over a creek. A rare sight for this hard-to-find bird!
Our species total for the trip was 107, and you can see the eBird trip report of all our sightings here. Our group at its biggest was 17-20 people, and having so many eyes certainly helped us find all these great birds! The Pacific Flyway was in full action on this trip, and it was truly breathtaking for us all to experience.
See the full list of species and eBird checklists here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/322763
Sacramento NWR photo by Mike Petrich