Rare Bird Sighting
Woodward Park, Friday, September 9, 2022
As you might have heard, a very rare Prothonotary Warbler has been spotted at Woodward Park this week. This may be only the second Valley record of all time. These birds typically favor swamps in the southeast, like Louisiana. FAS invites you to join us on Friday morning at 7am, with leader FAS President Rachel Clark, to try for a chance to spot this rare bird, assuming it cooperates and stays in the vicinity.
Note: There is a $5 fee to enter the park.
Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122.
Grant Grove Bird Walk
September 10, 2022
Join Fresno Audubon on Saturday, September 10, as we journey up Highway 180 to the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park and beyond. Registration for this trip is required. Register here
We will meet at 6:00 AM in the parking lot between Javier’s Mexican Restaurant (5680 E. Kings Canyon Rd.) and the Educational Employees Credit Union to arrange carpooling. See Map Below.
The group will depart by 6:15 AM. Our first stop will be Grant Grove Village, where we will bird around the meadow. We will then drive about 6.5 miles farther on Highway 180 to the Indian Basin Grove Interpretive Trail/Princess Campground. Depending on time, we may also stop at the Big Stump Grove on the way back. We will head back down by about 3pm. Participants can certainly leave earlier if they’d prefer.
Participants should bring snacks, lunch, water, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and binoculars. Registration is required and there is a limit of 25 participants.
Please reach out to trip leader Kevin Enns-Rempel (559-313-4546 or kevin.enns.rempel@gmail.com) with any questions.
Field Trip to Wildwood Native Park, Saturday, September 24, 2022
Join FAS on Saturday, September 24 as we explore Wildwood Native Park and the surrounding areas. Wildwood Native Park is located in Madera County, just north of Fresno, right off of the 41: https://goo.gl/maps/SKW27jQZhu7kCWpr6
Our target species include Red-shouldered Hawk, Black-crowned Night Heron, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Phainopepla, Lesser Goldfinch, and an exciting array of fall migrants! We will be meeting at 7:00 AM in the parking lot.
Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. We will likely be wrapping up between noon and 1:00 PM, depending on the weather.
Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122.
Wednesday Bird Walk at Jensen River Ranch
Registration is required for this event.
Join trip leader John McDaniel to explore Jensen River Ranch. We will meet at 8:00 a.m. the Art of Life Healing Garden next to the north east parking lot in Woodward Park.
From there we will walk down the Tom MacMichael Senior Trail to the San Joaquin River and along its bank upstream until we meet the Flood Control District’s ditch. We will continue along the MacMichael Trail following the ditch back toward the bluff, and circle back to the parking area. We hope to see many of our usual suspects including scrub jays, black phoebes, house finches, lesser goldfinches, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, turkey vultures, American kestrel, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants and great egrets. Some of the fall returnees may show up as well, including cedar waxwing, northern flickers, various and sundry sparrows as well as migrating waterfowl.
Depending on time and interest, we may walk over to the large pond near the Park entrance, which should be populated with Canada geese, mallards, American coots, and pied-billed grebes, among others.
The $5.00 City entrance fee applies if you park in Woodward Park. Alternative parking may be available in the Fort Washington Shopping Center.
Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader John McDaniel at (559) 779-7186 or mandomac@comcast.net
Fresno Meeting Point is MacDonald’s parking lot, see map above.
Field trip location is 13048 Rd 21 1/2, Madera, CA 93637. See map above.
Please register for the event here. By registering to attend this event you are binding yourself to the terms of Fresno Audubon Society’s Liability Waiver. The liability waiver can be found here: https://fresnoaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FAS-Waiver.pdf
Clovis Botanical Garden: Dry Creek Park and Cottonwood Park
The Fresno Audubon Society will be hosting a Bird Walk on Saturday October 15, 2022 during the Fall Plant Sale at the Clovis Botanical Gardens. The walk will include the Botanical Gardens, Dry Creek Park as well as Cottonwood Park and ponding basin.
The walk will be about 1-1/2 hours and will be led by Susan Heidebrecht.
We expect to see a good variety of birds including warblers, bushtits, raptors and waterfowl.
You can also check out the Fall Plant Sale at the Botanical Gardens after the walk.
We will meet for the walk at the Audubon table by the entrance to the Botanical Gardens.
Registration is required for the Bird Walk.
Contact Info:
Susan Heidebrecht sunheidebrecht@comcast.net (559) 313-1776
Wednesday Bird Walk at Lost Lake
Introduction to Birding with eBird
Registration is required for this event.
Join trip leader George Folsom at Lost Lake for Introduction to Birding with eBird. If you are interested in joining eBird and learning how to use it, you can download eBird from the App Store before the trip. We will go through the basics of creating, entering species and posting a list. You will also learn the basics of Merlin’s powerful SoundID function.
Download the app on your device before the walk.
Link to download eBird for Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ebird/id988799279
Link to download eBird for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.cornell.birds.ebird&hl=en_US&gl=US
Link to download Merlin: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/
Lost Lake possible species include phainopepla, western bluebird, spotted towhee, lark sparrow, spotted sandpiper, osprey, bald eagle, kingfisher, red breasted sapsucker, herons, egrets and many more.
There is a $5.00 fee to enter the Park so you may want to carpool and share the fee.
The meeting location for those who want to carpool is the River Center at 11605 Old Friant Rd, Fresno Ca 93703 at 7:45 AM.
We will meet in L.L. Park at the Audubon Trailhead at the south (downstream) end of the park at 8:00 AM.
The walking will be easy and flat. Bring water, sunscreen, hat, snacks, lunch (optional), binoculars and bird guides, and dress in layers. Registration is required for this event.
If you have any questions, please reach out to trip leader George Folsom (559) 351-7192 (voice or text)
CANCELED DUE TO RAIN
Evening Owl Walk at Jensen River Ranch
Registration is required for this event.
Join FAS for an evening Owl Walk on the Jensen Trail. We plan to start close to sunset to be on the Jensen Trail at dusk when the Great Horned owls and Barn owls come out to hunt. The outing should take about 1 1/2 hours. We will meet at 5:30 p.m. the Art of Life Healing Garden next to the north east parking lot in Woodward Park.
The $5.00 City entrance fee applies if you park in Woodward Park. Alternative parking may be available in the Fort Washington Shopping Center.
Registration is required for this event. Any questions, please contact trip leader Larry Cusick at (559) 313-1777, larrywcusick@gmail.com.
The Raptor Trail on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam
Registration is required for this event.
Join FAS for birding along the Kings River. The trail begins across from the parking lot on the south side of the bridge just below Pine Flat Dam. The trail is basically an easy walk of approximately a mile and a quarter each way, but there is some uneven terrain and river rocks create a cobblestone surface in parts. Some of our target species include Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, and Osprey.
Meet in the parking lot at the south side of the bridge. If you want to look for directions from the eBird map, the Raptor Trail is just across the river from the North Riverside Access Park eBird Hotspot. GPS Coordinates 36.8298592686927, -119.33621274737327.
Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. Registration is required for this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to either trip leader.
Contact:
Maureen Walsh
(559) 706-4980
email: mewnew10@yahoo.com
Wes Beal
(559) 250-2988
email: beal4farms@gmail.com
Opt Outside November 25, 2022
As we all know, Thanksgiving this year is on Thursday, November 24, and the day after is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Instead of braving the crowds and heading into the stores on Friday November, 25, please join Fresno Audubon for our #OptOutside event at Millerton Lake State Recreation Area! We will be meeting at 8:00 at the Four Corners Park & Ride at Hwy 41 and Hwy 145 and from there we’ll carpool to the Madera County side of Millerton.
If there is interest afterward, we will visit Road 208 between Highway 41 and Road 211 to look for Ferruginous Hawks and Lewis’s Woodpeckers. Participants should bring day packs, hats, sunscreen, sunglasses plenty of water, snacks, lunch (if desired), and binoculars, and should dress in layers. Hiking shoes are recommended.
Registration is required for this event. Please reach out to trip leader Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com or 515-357-0122 with any questions you might have.
Even if you’re not able to join us, we hope that you are able to Opt Outside on Friday following Thanksgiving!