Sightings from January 2007
The first month of 2007 turned out to be Sacramento’s driest in the 158 years of record keeping. It was also one of the coldest, with ice over an inch thick on sheltered waters. There were several excellent finds, with the Grizzly Island Snowy Owl continuing through 1/25. Other headliners included a heard-only Brown Thrasher reported on the 1/2 Rio Cosumnes Count at the Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) and again on 1/5. A Common Grackle was found at a private ranch in Galt from 1/16 to 1/18. It was a first record for this species in Sacramento County and, somewhat surprisingly, received a lot of attention in the press. This led to some confusion, since Great-tailed Grackles, a different species, are regularly seen in the area. To the south of our area, a Smew was seen by many just east of Sonora from 1/20 to 1/29. If accepted by the California Bird Records Committee, this would constitute just the third state record for this stunning Eurasian merganser.
Out-of-season species found on the 1/2 Rio Cosumnes CBC included a gorgeous male Bullock’s Oriole at CRP and a Blue Grosbeak on Merritt Island in Yolo County. Additional Yolo highlights included a Eurasian Green-winged Teal on 1/7 at the Yolo Wildlife Area (YWA), a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker reported at the Putah Creek picnic area south of Davis on 1/7, the continuing Eastern Phoebe from private land near Winters on 1/30, the return of last year’s Ovenbird to the Mace Ave bridge over Putah Creek, and the continuing American Tree Sparrow at YWA on 1/21. Among the many Yolo gull reports were an amazing three adult Glaucous Gulls on 1/27 at the Yolo Central Landfill. On 1/7, three McCown’s Longspurs were reported along County Line Rd in northern Yolo, and again on 1/28 along with a Lapland Longspur. Another Lapland Longspur was reported on 1/1 at “Longspur Corner” near Rds 16 and 90B.
Other birds of interest include single Surf Scoters from the Turner Rd Vintners on 1/10-12 and from Beal’s Point on 1/15, the continuing male Red-breasted Merganser at Sailor Bar on the American River Parkway (ARP) through at least 1/2, a Western Gull at the Gristmill Access (1/16-20), the continuing Red-naped Sapsucker at Larchmont Park throughout the month, and the continuing immature Northern Shrike near the entrance to Jepson Prairie through at least 1/28.
Many of these birds were first reported on the Central Valley Bird Club Listserv. Visit www.cvbirds.org and click “Listserv” for details. Thanks to all for their reports.
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