Birding at the Ruth Mckenzie Preserve

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

Join FAS for birding at the Ruth Mckenzie Preserve.  The walk is initially fairly easy, along a dirt road that undulates along a stream.  After about a mile, the road crosses the stream, and the hiking becomes a bit steeper.  We may see enough birds along that mile that we won’t cross the creek.  Possible sightings are Acorn Woodpeckers, Lewis Woodpecker, Phainopepla, Red-Tailed Hawk, Bluebirds, and a nesting pair of Golden Eagles.

Meet at the parking lot at the Sportsman’s Warehouse on Friant Road at 8:00.

Participants should bring snacks, lunch (if desired), water, binoculars, and a hat.  Wear sturdy shoes.  Registration is required for this event.  If you have questions, reach out to either trip leader.

Contact:

Wes Beal

(559) 250-2988

email: beal4farms@gmail.com

Register Here

Wednesday Bird Walk at Sycamore Island 

Rescheduled from March Event which was

cancelled due to rain and wet conditions

Registration is required for this event. If you were registered for the canceled event you must register again.

Register Here

Meeting location:  Sycamore Island (36.8590560, -119.8230324)

Meeting time: 8:00 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

Lost Lake Audubon Field Trip Wednesday May 10th

This trip has been canceled due to flooding and park closure.

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

Location: Lost Lake , Fresno County Park

                  Lost Lake Rd, Friant, CA 93626

Date and Meeting time: 8:30 am , May 10th

Meeting location in park: Audubon Trailhead at the west end (down stream end) of the park. There is a small parking area at the trailhead, and a larger one a few hundred yards further into the park.

Duration of walk: 8:30 am – 12 pm

Special instructions: the park entrance fee is usually enforced. Fee is $5. Please follow instructions at the entry kiosk if there is no attendant at the kiosk. 

What to bring: Binoculars, check weather report for comfortable clothing, (this is the month of March, almost any weather is possible), walking shoes, sunscreen / hat, water, snacks ( or lunch if staying beyond noon), 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. 

Walk Description: walking on mostly flat park grass, or on paved park road, from west ( at the trailhead) to east ( toward Friant Dam and the park campground). We will bird river, river lined grass/ shrub and oak tree habitat, and on the upper road the grassland leading into the park, using binoculars but also using the Merlin Sound ID app as an enhanced identification tool. In the park, there are picnic benches for rest stops, and the restrooms are usually open.

Possible birds: Egrets (several species), Cedar Waxwing, Hawks (several species) Varied Thrush, Bald Eagle,  Common Merganser , Acorn Woodpecker, Canada Goose, Ring- necked Duck, Anna’s Hummingbird, Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Phainopepla, Black Phoebe, and many others.

Other possible sightings…Coyotes, Bobcats…on the other side of the river.

Registration is required for this walk.

Hard Rain or flooding cancels this walk.

Trip Leader: Lynda Schafhauser

Contact information: cell for voicemail or text: 559-474-0651

Email: rufusradar@att.net

Register Here

Birding at Roeding Park

Registration is required for this event.

Register Here

Join trip leader Maureen Walsh for birding at Roeding Park.  We will start at Lake Washington where we will see Wood ducks among other waterfowl in the lake and see the Cattle egret, Black-crowned night herons, and Double-crested cormorants in the rookery on the island. There are hundreds of birds nesting in the rookery.  Then we will walk other areas of the park to see a variety of woodpeckers, raptors, warblers, etc.  

We will meet at the parking lot in front of the zoo, across from Lake Washington.  There is a $5.00 entry fee to the park and a new automated parking system.  

If you wish to bring lunch, there are plenty of picnic tables available for eating and calculating our bird count.  

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 Maureen Walsh at mewnew10@yahoo.com or (559) 706-4980.

Register Here

Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit and Willet by Peter Nagayama

This event is currently full.

When: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Time: 10:00 am – 12 noon on the Private Chartered Boat
12 noon – 1 pm Birding on the Shore
1:00 pm Lunch

Cost: $40 per person (NON-REFUNDABLE)

(If the event is canceled due to 18 person minimum not being met a refund will be issued)

Join FAS and Monterey Bay Eco Tours on a one-of-a-kind, private chartered electric powered catamaran ride for birding and a naturalist led wildlife tour along one of California’s largest tidal waterways, the Elkhorn Slough. Along with the many species of birds that inhabit the slough, we hope to see otters (and pups!) as well as Harbor seals, and other marine mammals. Friends, family, and all ages are welcome, but seating is limited, so please register early.

This is an out of town trip starting at 10:00 am, so you can either stay the night before nearby (Watsonville is the most economical) or leave Fresno  to arrive before 10:00. After the catamaran ride we will bird the  Moss Landing North Jetty and State Beach eBird Hotspot and then go to an optional lunch at Phil’s Fish Market before returning home.

Please Note: Registration Closes Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Where: 10932 Clam Way
Moss Landing, CA 95039

Cost: $40 per person (NON-REFUNDABLE)

(If the event is canceled due to 18 person minimum not being met a refund will be issued)

Contact: Maureen Walsh
mewnew10@yahoo.com
(559) 706-4980

This event is currently full.

Checklist: binoculars, bird guide, water, layered clothing and sun protection.

Fresno Audubon will have a booth at the Fresno Rainbow Pride celebration on the Fresno City College campus from 11 AM to 3 PM.

We will be distributing native plant seeds you can plant to attract birds to your yard.

Be sure to stop by and say “Hello”!

Shaver Lake/Swanson Meadow Bird Walk

June 10, 2023

Register here

Register here

Registration Required.

Link to Registration.

Fresno Audubon’s Wednesday Walk to Fish Camp and Goat Meadow will be on June 14, 2023. We will leave from the Walmart parking lot at Ashlan and Blackstone at 8am and head north on Highway 41.

Our first stop will be at Fish Camp, where we will bird around the creek and the willow meadow, looking for Dippers, warblers, and mountain meadow birds.

Then we will head for Goat Meadow, about two miles away, just before the entrance to Yosemite National Park. This area is good for woodpeckers, including Pileated Woodpecker and Williamson’s Sapsucker, Nuthatches, mountain warblers, and mountain sparrows, among many other birds. A caveat: because of heavy snow and water runoff this year, we may not be able to access Goat Meadow. If so, we will go to an alternative site.

Even though it’s June, still bring warm clothing, waterproof boots, and a lunch. For more information, Contact Larry Parmeter at lanpar362@gmail.com or at 559-288-3456.

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.

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:

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