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John Reginato River Access Trail

By on August 15, 2022 in

Peregrine Falcon

Join us for a walk in the shade of the big oaks along this Sacramento River trail. It is a haven for wildlife near the big development going on at the new Costco shopping area. This is a great place to see a large variety of the year round resident birds like wrens and towhees in the dense, shrubby vegetation, various woodpeckers in the oaks and birds of prey on the open river – eagles, osprey, and if we’re lucky, maybe a Peregrine Falcon.

Meet at 8am Saturday morning, September 10th, at the canoe, kayak and raft launch at the John Reginato River Access at 3810 South Bonnyview Road.  This area is also known as the South Bonnyview boat ramp.  We will spend about two hours walking less than two miles on a rocky path with river cobblestones.  Hiking boots are recommended.  There is a port-a-potty at the boat ramp.

Contact trip leader Tricia Ford at triciathebirdnerd@gmail.com or 530-246-4404 for more information.

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World Migratory Bird Day Outing to Gray Lodge

By on August 15, 2022 in

Blue-winged Teal Drake

Gray Lodge’s diversity and location along the Pacific Flyway make it a haven for wildlife. Surrounded by miles of rich agricultural lands, the approximately 9,100-acre area is managed for the wildlife that call Gray Lodge home for all or part of the year. Reflective ponds, grassy fields and wooded riparian areas provide food, water and shelter for more than 300 species of resident and migrant birds and mammals. We will look for Sandhill Cranes in the flooded fields along the highway during the two hour drive to the refuge. Meet at the Kutras Park parking lot at 6:30am to carpool or at parking area 14 at the refuge at 8:30am. Bring a lunch and water as it looks to be in the high 80’s by the afternoon.

Gray Lodge Public Access Map

A CDFW Lands Pass must be in possession by each visitor who is 16 years of age or older, however, visitors who are in possession of a valid California hunting or fishing license in their name are exempt from this requirement. Lands passes may be purchased on-line, by phone at (800) 565-1458, or in-person at locations wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold. They are also available in the parking area at Gray Lodge for $4.50.

All participants, ages 5 and older, must provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to the field trip.

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Songster of the Conifers–beautiful but invisible?

By on July 31, 2022 in BirdWords
Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

If you have entered the world of the conifers above the Central Valley, or throughout most of North America for that matter, you stand a good chance of having heard an ongoing, nasal ankh, ankh, ankh, ankh. It is the song of the red-breasted nuthatches, elfin birds of our pines and firs.

 

They are harder to see than hear; they don’t seem shy, but they are small, and much of their living happens far over our heads. Nuthatches are built for prying insects from the bark of trees. Their bill is slightly dished up and stout enough to shovel bugs from crevice hide-aways. Their shoulders are broad, relatively speaking, and provide the heft to wield their strong bills. Their long hind toe is used, uniquely in the bird world, to hold them in place while they hunt face-down on a tree trunk or branch. Their tails are stiff, allowing them to prop against a tree as they pound against it.

And what do they pound? In addition to picking insects from cracks in tree trunks, these nuthatches gather seeds from cones at branch-tips. They often wedge hard pine-nuts into crannies in the bark and then crack them open with hammer blows from their bills. Also, these versatile gymnasts, like woodpeckers, carve out their own cavities for nesting. No fools, they prefer the softer wood of dead limbs and snags for their home-building.

Males often begin several nesting holes as part of their courting. A female takes over and shapes the chosen cavity to her liking, taking about two weeks to complete the excavation. Both adults apply sap to the hole entrance–he on the exterior, she on the interior. The tiny nuthatches dive right through the hole without getting gummed up, but predators, from owls to ants, can be deterred by the sticky goo.

He begins feeding the female, and she lays a handful of eggs in their nest. The young hatch, naked and blind, after two weeks of incubation. Another two weeks and, having been fed and protected by both parents, the young fledge into the world.

There, if you enter that world of the conifers, you may be able to see them. A little luck and a decent pair of binoculars will let you enjoy the red-breasted nuthatch’s gray-blue back, chestnut underside, and black eyeline under a white eyebrow. Otherwise, at least you may enjoy their ubiquitous song–ankh, ankh, ankh…

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Wintu Audubon Annual Picnic

By on May 29, 2022 in

Lawrence’s Goldfinch Male

Join us for the return of a long-standing tradition!  For many years, the last general meeting before our summer hiatus was held at the Tower House Historic District in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. The 2018 Carr Fire and then the pandemic put the tradition on hold for the past three years. We will restart the tradition by meeting at the parking lot for the Tower House Historic District at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, June 8th. It is located on the south side of Highway 299 West just west of the turnoff to French Gulch. Bring your own brown bag dinner and we will eat by the creek and then go birding on the Camden Water Ditch Trail. This is a one-mile dirt trail that loops around the historic Camden House, Tenant Farm House, barn and outbuildings. Hiking boots are recommended. We hope to see Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Lazuli Buntings, Bullock’s Orioles, Western Tanagers, and maybe an American Dipper. An entrance pass is required to use the area and can be purchased online at Your Pass Now. Senior, Access, Military and the Interagency Annual Pass can also be used. Contact trip leader Tricia Ford at triciathebirdnerd@gmail.com for more information.

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Red-winged Blackbirds: Tule Tycoons

By on May 29, 2022 in BirdWords

Red-winged Blackbird Male

Nearly anywhere in the US, and throughout most of North America, pick your springtime pond or marsh or ditch–any place with a stand of tules or cattails–and you are apt to see and hear red-winged blackbirds. The males perch boldly atop the reeds, their glossy black feathers adorned with large scarlet epaulets, usually fringed in yellow. They sing loudly, a pond-side staple often transcribed as conk-la-ree!

Throughout the winter they congregated in numbers that can reach into the millions, and created in the sky the flowing flocks that have been joined to grand and fluid classical music. Now, come spring, they spread over the nation’s shallow waters and ephemeral cattail patches, bring out their bright feathers, and unleash their song.

The males stake out their breeding territory with both vocals and aggressive policing, vigorously chasing encroaching males for much of each day. Successful males end up sprinkled over their reed-patch perhaps thirty feet apart. Each will breed with a handful of females, sometimes as many as fifteen, who will nest in his territory. For all his energy, however, they do not limit their breeding to this local lord of the manor. Studies indicate that 25%-50% of the young in his fiefdom are sired by different males–either a nearby turf-holder or some landless bird.

The local males marshal to drive off potential predators who wander too close to their nesting grounds, creating vigorous sorties that are thorough-going even if not always discerning. Objects of their harassment regularly include hawks, crows, cats, people, and even horses–anything, it seems of known danger or suspect unfamiliarity.

Red-winged Blackbird Female

For their part, the females maintain a lower profile. Their feathers are brown, with undersides heavily streaked. They build a cup nest low in the reeds, and there they incubate and feed 2-4 young birds, bringing hatchlings from blind and naked to flying in two weeks.

Being widespread, red-winged blackbirds have regional variation in their size and looks. Interestingly, when eggs are relocated to “foreign” variants, the young grow substantially into the forms of their adoptive parents. Regarding these in-species variations, environment seems to affect the growing birds more than their genetics.

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