Wild Birds Unlimited Bird Walk
Thornton Delta Area, CA Central Valley
Leader: Chick Chickering
The weather was cool but comfortable at 50 degrees when
we arrived at our first stop. Shortly after leaving the cars
and walking to the observation area, we were greeted with
Sandhill Crane calls as they flew overhead.
There were lots of birds and the cranes were out in good
numbers, though not as in past years. It had been foggy the
night before and the sun was hiding behind clouds a lot, so
the raptors were mostly just sitting and drying off. We
didn't see vultures at all, and even though Red-tailed Hawks
were very numerous, they seemed to fly only short
distances between perches. We saw only one Northern
Harrier later in the trip, and he was way in the distance.
Tundra Swans were numerous and as visible as the cranes.
One highlight of the trip was coming across a recently
plowed field covered with Tundra Swans, Sandhill Cranes,
and Greater White-fronted Geese. The geese were nearly
invisible among the others as they blended in so closely,
but nearly every square foot of the field had one kind of
bird or another on it.
Trip List (40 species):
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
American Coot
Double-crested Cormorant
Sandhill Crane
American Crow
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Pied-billed Grebe
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Belted Kingfisher
White-tailed Kite
Mallard
Western Meadowlark
Merlin
Northern Mockingbird
Black Phoebe
Northern Pintail
Common Raven
Western Scrub-Jay
Northern Shoveler
Loggerhead Shrike
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Sparrow
European Starling
Black-necked Stilt
Tundra Swan
Green-winged Teal
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Wigeon
Lesser Yellowlegs
The overcast made it difficult to take photos, but Judy
caught the mood with a couple below. I counted only nine
Tundra Swans but at least 30 Greater White-fronted Geese
blending into the background of the first picture. The
Red-tailed Hawk in the second picture is drying his wings
as he perches.
