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2024 Field Trips

All CSAS trips are open to the public, and beginning birders, including children, are welcome on day trips.  Bring drinking water and a lunch or snacks.  Suggested apparel: muted colors in clothing and hats; sturdy shoes, a sun hat and sunscreen, and insect repellent are advisable for all trips.  Dress layered, particularly in winter months. Carry water and snacks.  Bring binoculars, spotting scopes and birding field guides if you have them.

NOTE: Heavy rain cancels field trips.  If in doubt, call the trip leader by one hour before the meeting time and/or check this website.  “If in doubt, check it out!”

March 21 (Thursday) – Yolo Bypass/ Raptor Center Outing

Join me for a day of adventure in the valley. We will be visiting the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in the morning. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive. There will be waterfowl to observe and in the past a good chance of seeing the White-tailed Kite and other raptors. Next we will visit the California Raptor Center less than 20 minutes away. This is run by the U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. While they take in injured raptors to rehabilitate and release, there are many resident raptors to view that are not releasable. So, if we didn’t get a viewing of a White-tailed Kite at the Bypass Area we will see one here along with a Golden Eagle, Peregrine and Prairie Falcon and a Swainson’s Hawk to name a few.

Pack a lunch and meet me at the Barrow’s parking lot to carpool at 8:00 am. We will make another stop at the Shell Station in Copperopolis by 8:45 am to pick up anyone traveling from Calaveras County. Please RSVP to me for this excursion and let me know if you can drive or would need a ride – call or text #925-822-5215 or email kdegear@gmail.com
Trip leader Kit DeGear

March 23 (Saturday) – String of Pearls, Oakdale

We will start the trip at the Oakdale Recreation Area on the Stanislaus River. On our last visit in April of 2023, it seemed that a Phainopepla convention was taking place near the first pond with their competing, squabbling and courting taking center stage. Indeed, sex was in the air – literally! A pair of Turkey Vultures gave us a short and rather languid demonstration just to make sure that we understood the seasonal game plan! Of the 42 species observed, a pleasant surprise was the abundance of Lewis’s Woodpeckers – will this year be as good?

Meet 8:00am at Barrow’s (previously Perko’s) in Sonora to carpool. This will be a 100 mile round trip from Sonora so have enough gas! Bring layered clothing in muted colors, binoculars and scopes and lunch. If you wish to meet at Oakdale, the recreation area is just off River Road in Oakdale. That is, turn right at the traffic lights in Oakdale and then turn left on River Road. The 2nd left, Liberini Ave, takes you to the parking lot where we’ll assemble at 9:00am
Trip leader Paolo Maffei

March 24 (Sunday) – Indigeny

Please join me as we bird through the beautiful grounds at Indigeny. Besides the apple orchards, there are large oaks, some pines, stream-side thickets and a marshy area with reeds that provide some great habitats for birds.  On our February 25 trip, highlights included a Bald Eagle, a Great Blue Heron flyover, Bufflehead and Ring-necked Ducks viewed by walking through the reeds to the lake and a nice sighting of a Downy Woodpecker.  One hawk species was seen flying away without offering any identifying features. We did hear a brief somewhat faint call of a Red-shouldered Hawk which we determined to be a Steller’s Jay trying his best to fake us out!
See the eBird checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S162944624

The walk will last 2-3 hrs. Children are welcome! Meet in the parking lot at 8:00 AM. Rain will cancel the trip. Follow the signs from the intersection of Greenley and Lyons/Bald Mountain Roads in Sonora. After a few miles on Lyons/Bald Mountain Road, turn right onto Apple Hill Drive where there is a large sign that says “Apple Valley Ranches.” A quick left turn onto Summers Lane leads you to Indigeny. As always, bring your binoculars and/or scopes, wear muted colors and you may wish to include a hat, sunscreen and water.
Trip leader Kit DeGear (925)-822-5215 or kdegear@gmail.com