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

Register here

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

Register here!

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

Register here!

The Raptor Trail on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

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:

Register Here

Introduction to Birding at the River Center

11605 Old Friant Rd
Fresno, CA 93730

Please register for the October 21 event here.

Please register for the October 21 event here.

Wednesday Bird Walk at Sycamore Island 

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

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

Register Here

Yokohl Valley

November 4, 2023

Register here

Register here

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.

Introduction to Birding at the River Center

11605 Old Friant Rd
Fresno, CA 93730

Please register for the November 18 event here.

Please register for the November 18 event here.

Register Here

Intermountain Nursery will host a birding class given by Fresno Audubon Society on the beautiful nursery grounds.  Beginning birders will see and learn about fall migratory and resident birds in the foothills. Birders will discover easy ways to identify migrating and year-round, local birds. The class will include a walk around the nursery looking for birds.  Bring binoculars, lunch, water and dress in layers.  Fresno Audubon will have binoculars to loan if you do not have your own. Children are welcome. Rain cancels this event.

Here is a map of the location of Intermountain Nursery.