Fall is here, and the bird season is changing too. We have a wide variety of field trips for you in the upcoming weeks. A new one is Alison Kent’s Introduction to Nature Journaling on October 12th. Try your hand at sketching—Alison is a great teacher. I’m on the board of directors of Audubon CA, […]
Photo courtesy Corey Shake
The Natural Resource Conservation Service in Yolo County
From a modest office near downtown Woodland, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and its local partner, the Yolo County Resource Conservation District, help farmers and ranchers with a range of business matters. More importantly for Yolo Audubon, they also help rural landowners create and improve habitat for birds. For example, in the ranching […]
Sanderling, © Bart Wickel
Yolo Notable Sightings: September 2019
September saved its biggest treasures for last, with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper found Sept 28 at the Woodland/Davis Clean Water Facility (SHo). Only the third county record, it didn’t stay more than a few hours before it was flushed by a Peregrine Falcon and never returned. The previous day, a Tennessee Warbler was discovered at Grasslands […]
From the President: September 2019
Welcome back to Yolo Audubon for the 2019-20 season. I hope everyone had a great summer and saw some good birds. The highlight of my summer was photographing a wonderful variety of species in British Columbia. Here’s a picture of me with Yolo Audubon friends JoAnne Fillatti and Lynda Goff and others getting a close […]
Glaucous-winged Gull, © Bart Wickel
Yolo Notable Sightings: Mid-to-Late Summer 2019
The biggest mid-summer/early fall migrant surprises were a Glaucous-winged Gull in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA) on July 4 (SH, BW)—and seen later at the Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), a female Calliope Hummingbird in the town of Yolo on July 29 (BC, KSe) and a Black-and-white Warbler at the Sacramento Bypass on Aug […]
Juvenile Western Bluebirds; © Deb Ford
Nest Boxes in the City
A while ago I wrote about the marvelous success of the nest box installation program along Putah Creek masterminded by Yolo Audubon’s own Melanie Truan. Over the years, those nest boxes have produced nearly fourteen thousand fledgling Tree Swallows, Western Bluebirds, Ash-throated Flycatchers, House Wrens, and others. The effort has shown that demand for nest […]
Swainson's Hawk; Yolo County; © Deb Ford
A Letter to Yolo Audubon Supporters
Dear Friend of Yolo Audubon, As we get ready to start the 2019-20 season of programs, field trips, and other special activities, I’d like to encourage you to make a donation of $10, $25 or more to Yolo Audubon. We recently held a retreat for the board of directors, and we’ve made plans for a […]
Field Trip Report: Sierra Valley/Yuba Pass
June 8-9 2019 The Prelude to this trip was two one-day scouting trips. On Memorial Day all the roads were passable and temperatures mild, but the diversity of birds was really low. Six days later the birds had arrived and birdsong was everywhere. Our trip was six days after that. We had an odd start…at […]
Male Summer Tanager, © Gene Trapp
Yolo Notable Sightings: May 2019
With the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area closed due to flooding and water levels high everywhere, spring shorebird migration appeared to be a bust. That changed dramatically when the Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant (DWTP) decided to pump out one pond. Acres of mudflats appeared at the height of shorebird migration and the result was remarkable. Twenty-three […]
Field Trip Report: Putah Creek Nestbox Highway
Tour of Putah Creek Nestboxes. Photos Hanika Cook We looked inside 22 of the nestboxes to see nests, eggs, and chicks of several cavity-nesting species, including Western Buebirds, Tree Swallows, House Wrens and White-Breasted Nuthatches. Guests were able to look inside, take pictures, and ask questions about the birds and the Putah Creek Nestbox Project. […]
Ruff, © Bart Wickel
Yolo Notable Sightings: April 2019
The flooded Yolo Bypass prevented access thru the month, but one enterprising birder still picked out a Ruff from the levee on Apr 21 (AH). It or another one was found eight days later at North Regional Pond in Woodland (KB). The latter bird, seen at closer range, was identified as a non-breeding plumage male. […]
Swainson's Hawk, © Deb Ford
Conservation in the Yolo Habitat Conservancy
The Yolo Habitat Conservancy is the County agency charged specifically with protection of native species and their habitats, as well as management of environmental permits for development in the County and its cities. Toward that end, the Conservancy spent several years developing a combined federal Habitat Conservation Plan and state-level Natural Community Conservation Plan (Yolo […]