| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
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| Field Trip to River West Madera 8:00 am Field Trip to River West Madera @ River West Madera Dec 4 @ 8:00 am – 12:30 pm  Field Trip to River West Madera Wednesday December 4, 2024 REGISTRATION Link All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here River West Madera December 4, 2024 ... | Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR 6:45 am Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR Dec 7 @ 6:45 am – 5:45 pm Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR Registration required for all FAS field trips. All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here Registration for this... | |||||
| Merced Wildlife Refuge (off Sandy Mush Rd) Location Change 10:00 am Merced Wildlife Refuge (off Sandy Mush Rd) Location Change @ Merced Wildlife Refuge Dec 11 @ 10:00 am – 3:30 pm Audubon Field Trip to Merced Wildlife Refuge Location changed from Eastman OR Hensley (TBD) due to lack of birds in this location. All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also... | Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count 2024 Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count 2024 Dec 14 all-day  Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count Details Subject to Change. On Saturday, December 14, 2024, Fresno Audubon will be hosting the annual Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count, which covers sections of both Fresno and Madera Counties. Participants will be assigned to particular sections, and will... | |||||
| Field Trip to River West Open Space 8:00 am Field Trip to River West Open Space @ River West Open Space Dec 28 @ 8:00 am – 12:30 pm Field Trip to River West Open Space Saturday, December 28, 2024 Event Details Subject to Change All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here Register here! Join... | ||||||
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Dec
7
Sat
2024
Saturday Field Trip – Merced Grasslands & Merced NWR
Registration required for all FAS field trips.
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Registration for this trip is here.
Event details subject to change.
Jeff Seay will lead this trip through the Merced Grasslands Important Bird Area finishing at Merced National Wildlife Refuge. Meet at that Walmart parking lot at Ashlan and Blackstone at 6:45 am for a 7 am departure. The trip will cover the Madera County’s foothill Grasslands on the way to the Merced Wildlife Refuge. We expect to see wintering raptors and other birds of the low foothills and grasslands. We will mostly be driving and getting out of the car periodically with possible small walks. At the end of the trip we will enjoy the spectacle of sandhill cranes, snow and Ross’s geese, and other waterfowl. It will last most of the day, ending about 5:45 at the refuge.
Checklist: binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, radios, jackets, lunch/snacks, water, and insect repellent.
Registration for this trip is here.
Directions to the assembly point are here.
Trip leader: Jeff Seay, (559) 960-0849, jeffseay@sbcglobal.net
Dec
11
Wed
2024
Dec 11 @ 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Audubon Field Trip to Merced Wildlife Refuge
Location changed from Eastman OR Hensley (TBD) due to lack of birds in this location.
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Registration Link
Wednesday December 11, at 10:00
Meet at the first observation deck at the Merced Wildlife Refuge at 10 am.
DIRECTIONS FROM FRESNO:
MERCED NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
7430 W Sandy Mush Rd.
Merced, CA 95341
HWY 99 north, to HWY 152 West, to HWY 59 N/NE, to Sandy Mush road ( left turn). Follow Sandy Mush Road west to Merced Wildlife Refuge ( left turn into the refuge). Follow refuge road to first observation deck and parking area. Restrooms available at first and second observation deck areas.
We will drive the auto-tour route, viewing birds from each car as we drive to the second observation deck. At the second observation deck we will stop for lunch and discussion of what has been seen during the drive. After lunch we will walk the loop trail directly opposite the observation area. We will end the trip at approximately 3:30-4pm.
Please recall on the auto tour route persons are not permitted outside the vehicle ( walking or standing). Sandhill cranes, Northern Shovelers, Snow Geese, greater White-fronted geese are to be expected, as well as Red-tailed hawks. Many shore/ water birds such as Wilson’s Snipe, Long-billed Curlew, and Black-necked Stilts. Great Horned owls may be observed resting in the trees.
Registration Link
Dec
14
Sat
2024
Elegant Terns, Malibu Lagoon, by Rick Grijalva
Details Subject to Change.
On Saturday, December 14, 2024, Fresno Audubon will be hosting the annual Lost Lake Christmas Bird Count, which covers sections of both Fresno and Madera Counties. Participants will be assigned to particular sections, and will count each of the birds they see and hear. Generally, the count lasts from dawn until dusk, but we understand that some people who wish to participate might not be able to devote that much time to the count, and that is perfectly alright! Participants can devote as much or as little time as they desire, so do not be deterred if you cannot count birds all day! Even if you are not a birding expert, you can still partake in the count if you are willing to pair up with an expert birder, so do not let that deter you, either!
If you are interested in participating, or have any questions, please reach out to Lost Lake CBC compiler/past Fresno Audubon president Rachel Clark at tanagergirl@gmail.com.
Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the Christmas Bird Count, held annually from December 14-January 5, is a time during which citizen scientists from all over the Americas turn out to count birds in designated areas, collecting valuable data on the long-term health and status of bird populations. For more information about the history of the Christmas Bird Count and how the data is used, follow this link: https://www.audubon.org/
Dec
28
Sat
2024
Field Trip to River West Open Space
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Event Details Subject to Change
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Join Fresno Audubon for a bird hike at River West Open Space on Saturday December 28. We will meet at River View Dr and W Bluff Ave at 8 a.m.
This is a rich area with many target species. We can expect to see a wide variety of ducks, including Goldeneye, Mergansers, and Bufflehead. There are many resident raptors – including Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and occasional Osprey and Bald Eagle sightings. There are many songbirds waiting to be discovered as well – sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Loggerhead Shrikes. It is not unusual to log more than 40 species.
Participants should bring snacks, water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. There really isn’t anywhere to eat lunch at this property; we will likely be wrapping up by 12:30. Registration is required for this event.
The trip leader is George Folsom. He can be reached at georgefolsom@icloud.com if you have any questions. There is plenty of on street parking available on River View Dr and W Bluff Ave. It is about a 3-mile loop of flat walking. There are no restrooms or water available so come prepared!
Jan
4
Sat
2025
Lake Yosemite in Merced
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Fresno Audubon Society field trip Saturday, January 4, 2025
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Be prepared for possible rainy and cool weather. We will walk the park and summarize our sightings at lunch on the picnic tables.
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Driving directions for a Fresno Audubon Society field trip, Saturday, January 4th, 10am- 1pm, to Lake Yosemite County Park, 5714 Lake Rd, Merced 95340.
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From Hwy 99 travel north to Campus Parkway exit ( Merced). Right turn at exit onto Campus Parkway. Continue travel through all-way stop ( Market Place shopping/travel center) . At second roundabout, drive west, toward Merced. At first traffic light ( Lake Street) turn right. Continue past UC Merced entrance into Lake Yosemite Park ( straight ahead). There is a kiosk at the entrance with a $6 entrance fee ( see Lake Yosemite County Park website for additional park information). We will meet at the large parking lot near the entrance. Restroom and picnic tables available.
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Possible sightings:
Red Tailed Hawk
Osprey
American White Pelican
Black Phoebe
Cormorant
Grebes (sp)
Killdeer
Yellow-rumped warbler
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
Anna’s Hummingbird
Bufflehead
California Scrub-Jay
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Northern Flicker
Vermillion flycatcher
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Leader contact info:
Email: rufusradar@att.net
Cell: please text 559-377-8427 ( voicemail is problematic so text is preferred)
Jan
9
Thu
2025
Pixley NWR Field Trip
Details subject to change.
Registration is required for this event.
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
Date: January 9, 2025
Trip Leaders: Susan Heidebrecht & Lowell Young
Meeting time: 8:30 AM
Meeting location: Pixley National Wildlife Refuge at 8:30
We will meet in the parking lot at the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge at 8:30 AM. We will form carpools immediately, enter the refuge and lock the gate behind us. After that point, those who are late will be out of luck. But, they will be able to bird along the path to the viewing platform and see some of the refuge from there.
Duration of Field trip: 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Weather: We will go rain or shine. So, be prepared for any weather.
We will have walkie-talkies available.
Location: Pixley National Wildlife Refuge: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fRTKEtGJjkdA9cRBA
What to bring: Binoculars, clothing, (this is the month of January, almost any weather is possible), walking shoes, sunscreen / hat, water, snacks and lunch, free downloads of Audubon and/or Merlin Apps are very useful, western bird identification field guides are also useful. Be advised, there may be insects such as mosquitos, gnats etc.
Walking will be limited and will be on dirt roads. Driving will be on dirt and/or graveled roads. Rest rooms are available in the parking area of the Refuge.
Using the Merlin Sound ID app as an enhanced identification tool.
Possible birds: Over 100 bird on the wildlife refuge in January. Approximately 300 acres (120 ha) of managed wetlands provide habitat for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
Other possible sightings…Threatened and endangered species include the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Tipton kangaroo rat, and the vernal pool fairy shrimp.
Contact:
Lowell Young
(209) 617-9921
yosemite.birder@gmail.com
Susan Heidebrecht
(559) 313-1777
email: sunheidebrecht@comcast.net
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
Jan
22
Wed
2025
Field Trip to River West Open Space
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Join Fresno Audubon for a bird hike at River West Open Space on Wednesday, January 22. We will meet at 9am as it is frequently foggy in the morning in the river bottom.
This is a rich area with many target species. We can expect to see a wide variety of ducks, including Goldeneye, Mergansers, and Bufflehead. There are many resident raptors – including Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and occasional Osprey and Bald Eagle sightings. There are many songbirds waiting to be discovered as well – sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and Loggerhead Shrikes. It is not unusual to log more than 40 species.
Participants should bring snacks, water, hat, sunscreen, and binoculars, and should dress in layers. There really isn’t anywhere to eat lunch at this property; we will likely be wrapping up by 12:30. Registration is required for this event.
The trip leader is Susan Estep. She can be reached at (402)212-1215 or sbse820@gmail.com if you have any questions. There is plenty of on street parking available on River View Dr and W Bluff Ave. It is about a 3-mile loop of flat walking. There are porta-potties available but no fresh water.
Jan
25
Sat
2025
O’Neill Forebay
Registration Required.
Link to Registration.
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
On Saturday, January 25, Fresno Audubon Society will travel to O’Neill Forebay, west of Los Banos and part of the San Luis reservoir complex. We will meet in front of the Target store at El Paseo Shopping Center, off Herndon near Highway 99, at 7:30am, and go from there. Participants are responsible for arranging carpool rides before the trip.
Our main objective will be the Medeiros Recreation Area west of Los Banos and off Highway 152, on the south shore of the forebay. There, we will look for waterfowl, including scaup, merganzers, Canvasbacks, Ruddy Ducks, grebes, and possibly Loons. This is also a good place for several species of hawks and eagles, including Golden and Bald. We have also seen wintering Swainson’s Hawks here. The riparian areas around the forebay have warblers, towhees, several species of sparrows, and goldfinches, among many other birds. An entrance fee is required for the Madeiros Recreation Area.
If time permits, we will drive to the south side of Highway 152, on the road to Basalt Campground(which is currently closed). In the past, this has been a good site for warblers, shrikes, more raptors, and even Cassin’s Kingbirds. In addition, elk are often seen in this area. Dress warmly and bring lunch.
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.
Jan
29
Wed
2025
Jan 29 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Wednesday Bird Walk
Ball Ranch
Registration is required for this event.
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Ball Ranch, on the San Joaquin River Parkway, offers various habitats including grasslands, wetlands, ponds, riparian areas and oak groves. Cormorants, ducks, mergansers, grebes, raptors, sparrows, finches, quail, gnatcatchers, woodpeckers and many others can be found there. Occasionally we have found Lewis’s Woodpeckers. We will walk 1 to 2 miles on dirt roads and a short trail. There are restrooms on site.
We will meet at Ball Ranch in the recently developed parking lot at 8:00. We plan to be finished by noon.
The property is open to the public, so the gates will be open if anyone needs to leave early.
Checklist: binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, water, sunscreen, hat.
Ball Ranch meeting location (36.9361267, -119.7309237)
Green Heron by Clayton Dahlen
Feb
1
Sat
2025
San Luis NWR
Saturday Feb. 1, 2025
All participants must agree to the FAS Liability Waiver Form when they register. Use the QR code below or the form can also be found here
FAS Release of Liability Form
Registration is required for all participants.
We will meet at 7:00 AM in the parking lot in front of the Target store in the shopping center at the Herndon and N. Riverside Dr. In Fresno. At 7:15, we will form carpools and head for the St. Louis NWR by 7:30 AM. We will not wait for those who are not on time. If you are late, you can drive to the Wild Refuge and try to catch us before we leave the parking lot there.
We hope to be at the Refuge by 9 AM. At the refuge we will meet at the parking lot by the visitor center. There is a strong likelihood that there will be fog. If that is the case we will as early as we can. John Fulton, our trip leader for this excursion worked at the Wildlife Refuge for many years and knows it very well. He he is aware that we may have a problem with fog and will be waiting for us whenever we arrive.
Most of the day will be spent driving various distances, stopping and getting out of our cars to view birds with our binoculars or scopes from next to the cars. There will be several places that we will walk various distances. The Sousa Marsh walk is approximately 2 miles round-trip. The Wetland Trail across from the parking lot is a round-trip of about one mile.
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NOTES from trip leader John Fulton
Feb 1, 2025: We will meet at the Visitors’ Center (VC) parking lot on Wolfsen Rd. The VC and office is closed on weekends now; scheduled hours changed recently to exclude weekends, but there are vault toilets that are open so that will be our meeting place. There is the trail and boardwalk right there, for folks to explore, if they arrive early. I am quick to change plans, to adapt to more current information so this will only be a tentative plan. We will scope the elk enclosure from the VC to see if the antlers have started to drop, The biggest racks drop first so on Feb 1st, I think we might see a bull with only one side, having dropped the other. Harems may no longer be defended.
From there we will be listening for Sandhill Cranes as we make our way north, right through the heart of the original San Luis NWR parcel, acquired in about 1967, on Historic Dickenson Ferry Rd. That was about the time the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) helped build the levee to keep the river off of the flood plain so cows in the wetlands could keep their feet dry. (Only partially kidding). With the help of the COE a Levee District was formed to keep the water off the refuge; the refuge that was established at that same time to put water back onto those same wetlands and the flood plain. The Levee District has a single mission: to defeat the Refuge and keep the refuge dry. After over 50 years, the levee is still there on the refuge and the public is not allowed to drive on it.
So as we drive towards the old ferry landing we will be heading towards the levee, the one that we cannot drive on. We will have to turn right, onto the Waterfowl Tour Route, and get a chance to really appreciate the job that the refuge staff does to manage wetlands despite the COE and the Levee District’s mandated mission.
On the drive northward we will hope for upland grassland species like Meadowlarks and several sparrow species. While rare, this stretch of upland north of the elk enclosure has been where Short-eared Owls, Horned Larks and White-tailed Kites have been seen a few times over the years.
In the Waterfowl Tour Route’s wetlands, interspersed within the uplands, we should see waterfowl—of course, but also Ibis, Cranes, Pied-billed Grebes and waders. As we approach the southern edge of the refuge we will turn left and head east to the Sousa Marsh. If there are swans in the area, and there should be at this time of year in early February, Sousa Marsh is the place to see them. There is a mile hike in riparian forest at the Sousa Marsh and its observation platform. Then it is back to the VC for snacks or a lunch break. Depending upon time and the “will-of-the-people,” we can decide on an afternoon add-on destination. If folks want to, and depending on recent scouting reports, we can visit West Bear Creek, the Forebay, or Merced NWR, or one of the many other birdy spots in the area.
Checklist: binoculars, scope, field guide, snacks, lunch, water, sunscreen, hat, radios
Contact:
Lowell Young
(209) 617-9921
yosemite.birder@gmail.com
Registration is required for all participants.
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