Yesterday at 4:30 AM we got up and left Denver Airport at 8:00 AM. We arved in Reno and the birding was on! After the first five minutes we had 17 bird species and weren't even into California. Our next stop was Donner Lake where we located 3 new birds; Golden-crowned Kinglet, a life bird, Williamson's Sapsucker, and Lesser Goldfinch. Now in the 70 degree heat of the Sierra Mountains we moved on to central valley and Sacramento, the Capitol of California. Colusa NWR was the place to be. Here was where all the birds where. We saw:
4 Black Phoebes
6 American Bittern
120 Greater White-fronted Goose
8 Savannah Sparrows
20 Black-necked Stilt
49 Great Egrets
54 Black-crowned Night-Heron
5 Snowy Egret
1 Lincoln's Sparrow
15 White-faced Ibis
6 Turkey Vultures
12 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 Barn Swallows
16 Tree Swallows
25 Marsh Wrens
30 Long-billed Dowitcher
2 Least Sandpiper (life bird)
1 Dunlin (life bird)
3 Lesser Yellowlegs
2 Common Moorhens
3 Ring-necked Pheasant
1 Loggerhead Shrike
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 California Towhee (life bird)
2 Nuttal's Woodpecker (life bird)
1 House Wren
California birding is some of the best birding I have ever seen. I hope that you can visit this wonderful birding destination.
Skyler Bol
152
Glad that your first day was a success. I hope that the good trend continues. Hopefully you'll brake 200. My number 200 on my Junior Big Year was Red-necked Grebe. Maybe it will be yours too? Can't wait for another update.
ReplyDeleteGO SKYLER!
Nice job Skyler. Tell me what I should look for when I go out there for the summer this year. The Wilson's snipe is starting to leave Colorado. I hope you can be here before it leaves. I'm planning a trip to go see it. Best of luck, Christian.
ReplyDeleteDying for another California update :)))
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