CVBC FIELD TRIPS
Folks,
We had an excellent group of 17 for Steve Hampton and Bruce Webb’s gull ID field trip on Saturday, Feb 1 to the Yolo County Central Landfill and the Davis WTP. The north wind caused the gulls to roost farther from Rd 28H than we would have preferred, but we still had great lessons in all manner of plumages and variations among the regular gull species, including great looks at close Thayer’s Gulls of different age cycles. There were also two male Eurasian Wigeons (one in the first or western pond at the Davis WTP and another in the second). As a strong proponent of eBird, I was gratified to learn that ALL of the participants on the field trip are eBird users. The shared lists are linked below:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16754457
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16754635
As sunset approached, I returned to the area with Kimya Lambert and we watched the Northern Harrier show, with birds pouring in from all directions. At least 30 other people had the same idea. Shawn Lockwood was making a careful count and arrived at 127 harriers. We waited until near dark to get good views of at least two Short-eared Owls as they swept above the field and crossed the road into the red-tinged western sky about the Blue Ridge.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16756555
The exact location is a field with tall grass surrounded by fields with little vegetation on the south side of Yolo Rd 30 just over a half mile east of Rd 105.
Chris Conard
Sacramento