Sandhill Cranes foraging in harvested rice fields on Staten Island.
The wait for the winter migration is finally over as the first birds have arrived. The Pacific Flyway migration route goes through California’s Great Central Valley bringing millions of birds into the valley during the next month. By November huge flocks of geese, ducks, swans and various shorebirds and songbirds will be living in dozens of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR), state refuges, private reserves and fallow farmlands. But the bird everyone seeks is the stately Sandhill Crane.
Staten Island is one of many Sacramento Delta farming islands. There is a single road down the middle with rice, corn, alfalfa and other crop fields stretching to the levees on either side. You view the birds from your vehicle. In the winter, the harvested land provides a perfect environment for wintering birds and a top spot to see the Sandhills.
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I first visited Staten Island in mid September to see if the Cranes had arrived but they weren’t there yet. I saw plenty of the year-round birds especially raptors. Here are a few of the full-time residents.
Let’s start with the raptors. I got a first: a Prairie Falcon. It looks a lot like the Kestrel but is about 150 percent larger in size. The Kestrel is also a little darker in color.
Prairie Falcon atop a utility pole.
I sighted the Kestrel, a much smaller bird, farther down the road hanging on the wire.
Northern Harrier hunting the cow pastures.
I also saw a Red-Tailed Hawk and several Turkey Vultures high in the sky out of range of my lens.
The irrigation canal on one side of the road was full of egrets and herons that flew away into the fields as I passed by. I saw at least a dozen Great Blue Herons and 30 or 40 Great Egrets.
A Great Blue Heron in an unharvested rice field.
Great Egret standing on the irrigation canal bank.
The Snowy Egrets, Double-Crested Cormorants and Killdeer did not cooperate with the camera but could also be seen in and around the canal.
There were a number of smaller birds as well.
Brown-headed Cowbirds feeding on seeds.
Sparrow?
European Starling
House Finch
I also saw Red-Winged Blackbirds, Mourning Doves and unidentified Sparrows.
Last week, photos of Sandhill Cranes at Staten Island and Consumnes River Preserve came through on my feed. On Sunday, I headed back to Staten Island with a brief stop at Consumnes River. I didn’t see any Sandhills at Consumnes so I continued onto Staten Island.
Consumnes River had quite a few birds. Here’s what I did see:
A flock of Turkey Vultures resting on the ground
Canada Geese
White-Fronted Geese line up in a shallow spot.
Black-Necked Stilts forage in the shallows while White-Fronted Geese sleep in the background.
Coots float on the pond water.
I continued on to Staten Island. The fields of lush crops had been harvested and the dirt covered in stubble with a couple of fields already slightly flooded.
Sure enough, I found lots of migratory birds.
Some of a flock of several thousand Canada Geese in a flooded rice field.
Migrating geese take to the skies.
There were 3 separate rice fields filled with more than 2,000 Canada Geese. Amid these geese stood several dozen Sandhill Cranes.
Sandhill Cranes
Of course there were plenty of year-round residents including the raptors.
Red-Tailed Hawk on electrical pole
White-Tailed Kite sleeping on a snag
Kestrel hangs on the wire.
Lots of the resident birds mingled with the migrants.
Brewer’s Blackbirds fly over some Canada Geese
They also mingled with other critters.
Great Egrets forage alongside a small cattle herd
Great Egret walks on a farming access road.
Great Blue Heron stands on the irrigation canal bank
Snowy Egrets share a perch with a Great Egret
Wind ruffles the feathers of a California Towheee
Black Phoebe
Western Kingbird
This House Finch perched about 10 feet below the sleeping Kite.
With all the birds coming in, I plan on visiting the NWRs within a 100 mile radius of my home this winter, plus some state, local and privately owned reserves that are open to the public including the following:
National Wildlife Refuges: Llano Seco, Sacramento, Colusa, Merced, San Joaquin, San Luis, Yolo Bypass, San Pablo (unfortunately the NWRs are currently closed due to those idiots in DC.)
Others: Gray Lodge State Wildlife Refuge, Cache Creek Nature Preserve, Effie Yeaw Nature Center Preserve, Consumnes River Preserve, Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, Folsom Lake State Recreational Area
I also plan on attending the California Swan Festival celebrating the Tundra Swans who populate the farm fields north of Sacramento and the Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival featuring the cranes who winter in the delta south of Sacramento.
Monday the first rainstorm of the season hit Northern California and is expected to gIve us a couple of inches of rain for a couple of days. Snow is expected above 6,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada but not expected to stick. By the end of the week, the weather should be beautiful in the mid-70s.
What’s up in your neck of the woods?
