SAS Field Trip: Mississippi Bar on Lake Natoma, 9/11/25
Leader Nicole Barden reported: On this overcast morning a group of 17 birders, including 6 young birders between the ages of 4 and 12, met at the Shadow Glen Riding Stables for a walk at Mississippi Bar along the Shady Trail. From the parking lot we had a flock of White-throated Swifts and a single male Phainopepla fly over our group. The trail we took passed by the horse stables, along the edges of grasslands, and eventually a gravel road that led to Lake Natoma, where we then took the Shady Trail back. The vegetation seen was mostly dried grasses and Oaks, with Cottonwoods, Elderberries, and Poison Oak mixed in, among other species. Throughout our trip we had good looks at common birds including Acorn Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, California Towhees, European Starlings, Lesser Goldfinch, Oak Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch. At one point along the walk, we had quick looks at a kestrel above the canopy, that we were sadly unable to re-find. Everyone in our group had really good looks at Rufous-crowned Sparrows—we saw at least 3 individuals. The highlight for me was finding a beautiful Townsend’s Warbler bouncing around in an oak tree near the end of our adventure. In total, we had 27 species and our eBird list from the day can be seen here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S273448806
SAS Field Trip: Putah Creek Riparian Preserve, 09/13/25
Leader Sonja Sorbo reported: Migration is in full swing, and Putah Creek is a great place to view birds on their way to points south as well as year-round residents. Our group of 10 people enjoyed a gorgeous summer morning, tallying 44 bird species. Standing in the parking area, we logged a half a dozen species including Yellow-billed Magpie, Mourning Dove, Northern Mockingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Bushtit, California Scrub-Jay, Barn Swallow, American Crow, Common Raven, White-breasted Nuthatch, and a flyover of about 70 White-faced Ibis. After dropping down from the parking area to the trail, we had barely walked 20 yards when we began hearing warbler “chips” all around us. Nearby oak trees were a hub of activity, harboring Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers and House Finches. Not to be ignored, a Western Tanager called loudly. A few American Robin swooped around.
A bit farther west on the trail, a Belted Kingfisher zipped downstream, looking for a morning snack. It passed under two Red-shouldered Hawk who entertained us with some aerial acrobatics before landing on branches in beautiful light, much to the delight of our two camera-toting birders. The photographers also got great shots of a Black-headed Grosbeak, a Warbling Vireo, and a Western Flycatcher, clinching the birds’ identities. Woodpeckers seemed to be everywhere; we achieved a “grand slam” of Acorn, Nuttall’s, Downy, Northern Flicker and…… Lewis’s!!! The Lewis’s was first spotted perched across the creek in Solano County but it breached Yolo County airspace as it flew northwest, so we could add it to the Yolo list. Shortly thereafter, we were privileged to see a Great Horned Owl perched across the water in Solano County, seemingly unfazed by 10 two-legged admirers. (It got its own Solano County eBird list!). When we could tear our eyes away from views of Yellow Warblers, we looked upward and were able to find a pair of Red-tailed Hawk circling, the ubiquitous Turkey Vulture, a Cooper’s Hawk, Cedar Waxwings, and a Great Egret flyover. A Western Wood-Pewee sat silently on a snag, watching seven or eight Western Bluebird fight over who got to sit on top of a metal post. Several species were heard but skulked around unseen, including California Towhee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bewick’s Wren, and House Wren.
SAS Field Trip: Nimbus Fish Hatchery, 09/13/25
Leader Molly Shea reported: The recent bird walk at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery went swimmingly! Things are becoming more active along the American River with sightings of Belted Kingfishers, Spotted Sandpipers, Common Mergansers, and more! We weren't restricted to just birds either -- within 30 minutes of starting the walk, we saw a family of river otters playing in the water. A delight! Our group collectively identified a juvenile Yellow Warbler after much discussion and admired the tenacity of the Black-crowned Night Herons that had snuck into the hatchery raceways hoping for a tasty snack. While looping back to the hatchery on the bike path, many cyclists were curious to know what we were looking at and we happily shared, "BIRDS!" We rounded out the trip with a sighting of a juvenile Bald Eagle soaring overhead.
SAS Field Trip: Seasonal Transitions at the Bufferlands, 9/14/25
Leader Chris Conard reported: We had a nice morning with a group of 20, focused early on riparian habitat and switching to shorebirds for the last hour. We saw a distant Osprey, an active group of three juvenile Cooper's Hawk chasing around, and two lingering Swainson's Hawks. Two Lincoln's Sparrows were the first detected on the property for the season. We saw an Orange-crowned Warbler, a dozen Common Yellowthroats, a few Yellow Warblers, a couple Wilson's Warblers, and a few Western Tanagers--many of the migrants were heard and viewed fleetingly. Two apparent family groups of lingering Blue Grosbeaks were a nice surprise along with a couple of Lazuli Buntings. Switching to shorebirds, we had a possible family group of four Spotted Sandpipers. We then found a continuing Solitary Sandpiper as well as a continuing Baird's Sandpiper among the more expected species.
SAS Field Trip: Napa-Sonoma Marshes WA—Huichica Creek Unit, 9/16/25
Leaders Amy McDonald and Nancy Gronert reported: Six enthusiastic birders showed up at Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area at the Huichica Creek Unit for a beautiful, sunny, mostly windless day. Birders observed the usuals: Loggerhead Shrike, House Finches, Black Phoebes, Savannah and Song Sparrows, a heard only Virginia Rail, Double-crested Cormorant, many White Pelicans, Snowy and Great Egrets, White-tailed Kites, Northern Harriers, a Red-shouldered Hawk, Marsh Wrens, Western Bluebirds and Red-winged Blackbirds. Birders had close looks at a Great Horned Owl perched over the path. Thousands of peeps, hundreds of Least Sandpipers huddled on downed trees very close at high tide, and many other shorebirds quite a distance across mudflats: American Avocets, several Semipalmated Plovers, Black-necked Stilts, a Marbled Godwit, Greater Yellowlegs, Red-necked Phalarope, Dunlin, and a dowitcher. Incoming winter birds included a Say's Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Shovelers and some gulls.
SAS Field Trip: William Pond Park, 09/20/25
Leader Mark Martucci reported: 16 birders detected 49 species of birds on an early morning walk along the American River Parkway. Migration was very slow with only 3 species, 1 Western Tanager (heard only), 2 Yellow Warblers, and 1 Black-throated Gray Warbler. Early returning wintering birds were Cedar Waxwings, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Other notable birds included Lark Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Sandpiper and Yellow-billed Magpie.
SAS Field Trip: Teal Bend, 09/21/25
Leader Mark Martucci substituting for Leader Richard Barbieri reported: A small group of five detected 53 species of birds on a calm morning along Teal Bend Golf course. Migration was in full swing with over a dozen Yellow Warblers, three to four each of Wilson's, Orange-crowned and Black-throated Gray Warblers. Other migrants included Western Wood-Pewee, Western Flycatcher, and six Western Tanagers. Early winter arrivals were Cedar Waxwings, Lincoln Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrows. A nice surprise was a flyover Long-billed Curlew.
SAS Field Trip: Point Reyes for Vagrants, 09/27/25
Leader Dan Williams reported: Wind dominated the storyline for our day at Point Reyes, but 7 of us persevered and managed to make a lovely day of it despite the unrelenting tempest. The difficulty opening our car doors upon our arrival at the Lighthouse immediately indicated that hopes of finding any of the rare warblers reported at the Point that week were likely scuttled. Nevertheless, we made the climb up the road from the Lighthouse parking lot through the bush lupines and cypresses and managed to find a few returning winter sparrows: "Gambel's" White-crowned, Golden-crowned, and Fox, in addition to the resident "Nuttall's" White-crowned and Song Sparrows. A Rock Wren was piercing the wind with its call close to the Lighthouse visitor center and a couple of Northern House Wrens called from the bush lupines. No warblers to be found.
Down the road at the Fish Docks, the wind was equally persistent. A few birders that were at this location earlier in the morning reported they had managed glimpses of the continuing Blackpoll and Black-throated Blue Warblers there, but those rarities did not make appearances for our group. We managed fleeting glimpses of one Black-throated Gray Warbler and otherwise settled for enjoying scope views of a snoozing Great Horned Owl, and the activity on Drakes Bay below which included several Common and Pacific Loons, and hundreds of Heermann's Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Brandt's Cormorants, and Elegant Terns. The loafing elephant seals also put on a nice show as did a trio of river otters along the rocky bay shore.
We continued on to Drake's Beach, with a brief stop at Mendoza Ranch Pond which yielded a newly returned Horned Grebe, and another quick detour at a pond near Historic D Ranch where a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers had landed after flying (or more accurately being blown) right across our windshield. In a flooded area just west of the Drake's Beach parking lot, a pair of Blue-winged Teal remained right where they had been reported all week, as well as a few Least and Western Sandpipers and a Snowy Egret. However, if the super rare Mourning Warbler was still present that had been there just the previous day, there was no way it was making an appearance with the ongoing gale.
Finally, we decided to give up on the Outer Point and head inland to bird the Inverness area and the Earthquake Trail at Bear Valley before heading home. The Inverness Tennis Club was very quiet with the exception of a few Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Acorn Woodpeckers, a Yellow Warbler, and a Pacific Wren. The Earthquake Trail proved to be our most productive passerine birding of the day, with more Chestnut-backs and Pacific Wrens, Band-tailed Pigeons, Pygmy Nuthatches, two Warbling Vireos, a Wilson's Warbler, a Townsend's Warbler, a Western Wood-Pewee, and a Swainson's Thrush. Somehow, despite our misfortune with the wind, we managed to see north of 80 species and as always had a great time in great company in one of the most beautiful places in California.
SAS Field Trip: Beginning Birder Walk, William Pond Park, 09/28/25
Leader Larry Hickey reported: On an overcast September morning at the William Pond section of the American River Parkway, 12 of us enjoyed a morning of birding. Yellow-billed Magpies were loud and perching together at the top of a bare tree, giving us excellent views. We also had excellent views of several Red-shouldered Hawks, including one directly above us that one of the beginning birders spotted. It was a relatively quiet morning, but we were delighted to see and hear several species that just recently returned for the winter including White-crowned Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Cedar Waxwings. We had good views of Great Blue Herons and an interesting-looking juvenile Belted Kingfisher. Highlights were Western Tanagers first heard then seen, and a large adult male deer with a full rack of antlers running at full speed along a trail right in front of us.
SAS Young Birders Club Field Trip: Cache Creek Preserve, 09/28/25
Leader Mackenzie Hollender reported: Two young birders and one parent met my father and I on this cloudy morning at the Cache Creek Preserve. Immediately in a young valley oak, we saw a Black-throated Gray Warbler foraging. In the big pond below the preserve center, we noticed many Wood Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, a Belted Kingfisher, many flyover California Scrub-Jays, and a flyover Yellow-billed Magpie. All around the preserve we noted our club’s first of the fall season birds! Our first White and Golden-crowned Sparrows chirped from the chaparral bushes lining the pond, our first Ruby-crowned Kinglets flitting in the young oaks, and our first Northern Flickers flapped across the mature forest behind the pond. In the mature forest and along the creek, we noticed a small group of Killdeer making a continuous fuss about a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk that was hunting nearby. A medium-sized flock of Long-billed Dowitchers flew speedily down to the creek shore. The woods were quite silent, except for a few American Robins, and a Western Wood-Pewee perched at the top of a tall cottonwood. Once the woods opened up, and more berry-providing Elderberry bushes lined the path, we were surrounded by Western Tanagers, and an Orange-crowned Warbler. A Downy Woodpecker called from the top of a bare tree. In some young oaks, two Warbling Vireos foraged. Other notable sightings from the trip included Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Common Raven, and Lesser and American Goldfinches. Overall, it was a very interesting day, a transition between two seasons, where the last of the fall migrants were passing through and the winter residents were beginning to arrive, mixing at this site.
SAS Young Birders Club Field Trip: Folsom Lake SRA-Folsom Point, 10/4/25
Leader Mackenzie Hollender reported: Six young birders and three parents met my father and I on this sunny morning at Folsom Point. We met at the lower parking lot, where in the big oaks, House Finches, White-breasted Nuthatches, Acorn Woodpeckers, and many Western Bluebirds contributed to a symphony of sounds and sights. We walked down the hill towards the lake, pausing to scan a huge flock of Western Grebes resting, diving for food, or preening, noting their bright yellow bills, black forehead covering the bright red eyes. We picked out a Pied-billed Grebe among the flock in the complete open water of the lake, a strange place for a Pied-billed to be. We continued down the hill and along the lakeshore, flushing a Western Meadowlark from the ground, and scoping out California Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants on the lake. We continued along the lakeshore towards the giant rocky levee, noting multiple Savannah Sparrows in small willows, American Pipits flying overhead, and an abundance of White-crowned Sparrows in the hills above the lake. Along the lakeshore, a few Killdeer foraged with a large group of Least Sandpiper in a muddy patch. At the levee we paused and scanned extensively for Rock Wren, finding FOS Dark-eyed Juncos and a California Towhee, but no wrens. We headed back through the oak woods, finding a Bewick’s Wren, Spotted Towhee, and pausing to admire a Red-shouldered Hawk perched in an oak. We checked the lake again; the activity hadn’t changed. We then looped back through the woods and headed towards the rocky levee again, on the way spotting a Pocket Gopher digging a small hole. In a young Gray Pine, we were very surprised to find two Black-throated Gray Warblers, late migrants! After some quick scanning at the rocky levee, the second time proved to be the charm, and two Rock Wrens flew into the low rocks close to us. We watched them forage and give bubbly call notes to each other, noting their upright posture, long down curving bill, and sandy rufous lower flanks-- the highlight of the trip!
SAS Field Trip: Garcia Bend Park, 10/5/25
Leader Ben Graber reported: We had a lovely and very enthusiastic group of people and nice weather. We saw a total of 41 species. An early-migrating flock of Sandhill Cranes surprised us by flying overhead. Other highlights included a Cassin's Vireo, Wood Ducks, Eurasian Collared-Doves, White-throated Swifts, and a large flock of Cedar Waxwings.
