Pectoral Sandpiper by Gary Woods
Use this link to register
with your name as it appears on your driver’s license or ID card.
On Saturday September 9th we will be birding the Fresno WTP with co-leaders George Folsom and Gary Woods. The trip is limited to the first 30 people who sign up by Sept. 6th at 6pm. We will be under strict security rules limiting how many cars we can use on the grounds and registrants will not be able to leave early from the group due to multiple electronic gates that we’ll be passing through.
We will be meeting at 7:30 at the Walmart parking lot at the SE corner of Blackstone and Ashlan for preliminary carpooling and departing from there at 7:45 sharp. Alternatively, participants may go directly to the guard building at the entrance at 5607 W. Jensen Ave and tell the guard you are with the Audubon field trip. You will then be allowed to drive through the gate and will park in the first lot immediately on the right to wait for the main group. We will be leaving for the ponds by 8:15 sharp after everyone has signed the liability waiver for the city that will be passed around on a clip board. We will do a final carpooling round to get the number of cars down to 10 maximum.
We will be leaving the ponds and going back to the cars at 11:45 and proceeding to Kearney Park for lunch for those who want to continue with the group. If you carpool from Fresno be sure to bring your lunch and expect to stay with the group until mid-afternoon.
There will be one porta-potty on the ponding complex for our use. Be sure to bring sun protection, binoculars, water, lunch and an ID. We will have a couple of scopes set up for you and we’ll be looking for some of the rarer shorebirds that might be migrating through like Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitchers.
Fresno Meeting Location:
Alternate Meeting Location:
Registration is required. Register here for the event here.
George Folsom will lead this trip to Balsam Meadows Snow-Park and Forebay on Southern California Edison Company property, just off Highway168, nine miles above Shaver Lake. The elevation is 6,500 feet. We will be walking a loop trail of about 2 miles with very little elevation change. Parts of this area were burned in the Creek Fire leaving a mixture of burned and unburned habitats.
There are restrooms at the parking lot and at the Forebay, about halfway through our walk. Parking is available at the Snow-Park just off Highway168 on the left as you pass the sign.
We can expect woodpeckers, raptors, finches, warblers, swifts, sparrows among may others.
Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. We will meet at Walmart, Ashlan and Blackstone, at 7:45 for an 8:00 AM departure. For those driving directly to Balsam Meadows we should be there by 9:30.
Checklist: binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat.
Trip Leader: George Folsom georgefolsom@icloud.com (559)351-7192
Map to Fresno meeting location, 7:45 AM
Map to Balsam Meadows Sno-Park, 9:30 AM
Grant Grove Bird Walk
September 23, 2023
Join Fresno Audubon on Saturday, September 23, 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 7:00 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 7:15 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 4 pm. 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 River West Madera
Wednesday
October 11, 2023
We will meet at 8:00 a.m. just outside the Valley Golf Center (which is south and down the hill from Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera County). The walk will mostly follow along the San Joaquin River downstream toward Sycamore Island. Although the river is also accessible from Wildwood Native Park, we will start from the Golf Center as the status of the Park is uncertain at this time.
We plan to take Palm Avenue south toward the river from the golf course, past the pipe gate, then following the river downstream, first on the service road to Sycamore Island, then along the Riverfront Trail, ultimately emerging at a grouping of several ponds and a large lagoon just north of the river channel. The Riverfront Trail follows a berm next to the river and is somewhat narrow and uneven. For anyone not comfortable with it, the Sycamore Island road can be followed instead. Total distance is about 3.5 miles.
Although this is directly across the river from River West Open Space, be prepared for some different birds on the Madera County side. We will be looking especially for our some of our early returning winter friends, including common merganser, white-crowned sparrows, black-crowned night heron, white-throated swift, northern flickers, phainopepla, Say’s phoebes, ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, and black-throated gray warblers.
Bring suitable clothing (layers) and walking shoes, snacks, water, head covering, sunscreen, and binoculars. The ponds and lagoon will be quite amenable to spotting scopes, although they are more than a mile and a half from the assembly area.
Directions: Take Highway 41 north from Fresno, to the first exit north of the San Joaquin River (Exit 138A). Turn right at the intersection and follow Cobb Ranch Road back toward Fresno until you get to the first intersection. Turn right and proceed under the Highway 41 bridges to the parking area just outside the golf course where we will assemble.
Leader: John McDaniel
Phone: (559) 779-7186
Email: mandomac@comcast.net
The Raptor Trail on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam
Registration is required for this event.
UPDATED MEETING TIME & PLACE
We will be meeting at 7:45 for an 8:00 departure at the Walmart parking lot at the SE corner of Blackstone and Ashlan for preliminary carpooling.
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 the expected target species include Bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, nuthatches, woodpeckers and oak titmice.
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:
Wednesday Bird Walk at Sycamore Island
Registration is required for this event.
Meeting location: Sycamore Island (36.8590560, -119.8230324)
Meeting time: 8:45 AM
End time: Noon, or you may stay and have lunch with the group
Sycamore Island, part of the San Joaquin River Parkway, is along the San Joaquin River in Madera County downstream from River West open space. It offers a variety of habitats: river, ponds, riparian, grasslands, and wetlands. We can expect ducks, raptors, herons, egrets, owls. woodpeckers, finches, swallows, sparrows among many others.
This is a large property and we will do a combination of driving and walking. Walking distance will be 1 to 2 miles but those who don’t care to walk can drive to most of the areas. There are picnic shelters with tables for lunch and restrooms on the property.
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 trip leader at 559-435-9374 or geofolsom@gmail.com
Yokohl Valley
November 4, 2023
Registration Required.
Link to Registration.
For more information, contact Larry Parmeter at lanpar362@gmail.com or at 559-288-3456.
Checklist: binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat, radios
Registration Required.
Link to Registration.
Opt Outside November 24, 2023
Thanksgiving this year is on Thursday, November 23, and the day after is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Instead of heading to the stores and braving the hordes of shoppers on Friday November, 24, please join Fresno Audubon for our #OptOutside event in and around the Friant area! We will be meeting at 7:30 AM at Friant Cove at the intersection of Millerton Road and North Fork Road (36.991123, -119.711654).
We will bird at Friant Cove for approximately 30 minutes, and after that, we will head to the Friant Interactive Nature Site, just down the road. After spending approximately an hour at the Friant Interactive Nature Site, we will head to the Fresno County side of Millerton Lake State Recreation Area (36.986393, -119.684266) and explore some of the habitat near the boat launch, and a part of the nature trail that parallels the road.
At Millerton Lake State Recreation Area, there is a $10 entry fee per vehicle (up to 9 people per vehicle). The cost for seniors is $9 per vehicle. If you have a State Parks pass, definitely bring it along! To reduce costs, we would like to encourage carpooling. Parking vehicles outside the entrance and walking in is not allowed per park rules. Our target species will include Bewick’s Wren, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren, California Towhee, California Quail, White-breasted Nuthatch, Spotted Towhee, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Bald Eagle, and many more! We will likely be wrapping up at Millerton Lake around 1:30 or 2:00. Please note that this itinerary is subject to change. We will keep registrants informed of any changes.
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 register here.
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!
Merced National Wildlife Refuge
Nov. 29, 2023
Registration required: Please register here.
With winter migrants filling local refuges and putting on a tremendous show, it is a wonderful time to bird Central Valley wetlands. Join Fresno Audubon on Wednesday, November 29 for a tour of the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. We will meet at the MacDonald’s parking lot in the Marketplace at El Paseo (6741 N Riverside Dr, Fresno, CA 93722, see map) at 11:45 for a noon start. Secondary meet up is at the first parking lot of the refuge, near the bathrooms and the first observation deck, at 1:00pm (see map).
Map to McDonald’s
Map to MNWR
After driving the auto tour, we will gather at the second observation deck at sundown for the spectacular crane fly-in, which should end around 5:30pm.
Target birds include lesser sandhill cranes, phoebes, various sparrows, American pipits, numerous species of ducks and geese, American white pelicans, wading birds and shore birds, egrets, American coots, red-tailed hawks, northern harriers and other hawks. Also possible are bald eagles, great-horned owls, and vermillion flycatchers.
Participants should bring day packs, hats, sunscreen, sunglasses, plenty of water, snacks, lunch (if desired), and binoculars, and should dress in layers. We probably will not be doing much hiking, but comfortable walking shoes are recommended. Please bring radios (walky-talkies) if you have them.
Registration required: Please register here.
Checklist: binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, jackets, snacks, water, insect repellent, and radios.
Trip Leader: Judy Johnson (559)977-2787