Fall Seasonal Wildlife Walk
The Fall Season walk was very nice Sunday morning. We had fewer people than in the past walks; I think there were nine people besides me.
We had people attending from Sacramento and Grass Valley, though, so word is getting out. The person from Sacramento says she was there for the first time and is active in the Sac Audubon. She plans now on leading a bird walk at the preserve in January.
We saw a good number of birds: 51 species. To put that in context, we saw 40 species on the spring walk and 34 species on the summer walk. Highlights and notable notes:
- Loggerhead shrike (first time I’ve seen one at the preserve)
- Three osprey at the same time over the creek
- Season’s first white-crowned sparrow (winter is coming!)
- Female northern shoveler on the wetlands
- Black-necked stilt in the farmer’s pond
- Three snowy egrets on the creek
- Four different green herons
- Common mergansers in the creek
- Three warbler species: orange-crowned, yellow, and Wilson’s
- Western fence lizards still out and active
I was thinking that if I continue this next year, I’ll pick a few key spots and take a picture during each of the walks so we can compare the seasonal changes.