03 Oct October 2024 Yellowbill
President’s Message
Greetings Fresno Audubon Family,
It’s an exciting time for birders with Fall Migration in full swing. Rare and generally uncommon bird species are passing through our area day after day. Recent sightings of Pectoral Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Snow Goose, and Sabine’s Gull have served as reminders that you never know who will fly through Fresno and Madera Counties. Remember to set up Rare Bird Alerts and Needs Alerts on your eBird mobile app. Do you have other app recommendations? Write to us and we’ll post them on the next Yellowbill!
Fresno Audubon Society (FAS) is partnering with Beautify Fresno to clean up the Tower District on Saturday, October 26. By clearing trash in our urban areas we help prevent wind-blown material from contaminating our nearby natural areas and decrease contamination of our sewers and water systems. Make sure you’re on our email list and follow us on social media to get the sign-up info when Beautify Fresno releases it.
Would you like to meet other FAS members and the FAS board? We are planning a November picnic as a thank you to our members, and we’ll have more details in the coming weeks. If you’d like to renew your annual membership or start one, we would greatly appreciate your support. Sign-up is quick and easy. Click here to start!
Happy reading and happy birding!
Rick Grijalva
FAS Board President
Morro Bay field trip, June 15, 2024
Events
FAS Field Trips
Field trips are enjoyable and informational experiences, led and attended by all levels of bird and nature enthusiasts. Sign up and get to know some great people while enjoying the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of being in the great outdoors. Unless otherwise posted, FAS offers these trips to the community for free.
Registration is required for all FAS field trips. Follow the instructions and read through the trip descriptions to ensure your proper preparation. All pertinent details should be listed, including trip leader contact information should you have any questions. Find all the details, including registration links on our Events Calendar.
Happy birding!
October Field Trips
02 Oct Wednesday Bird Walk at Sycamore Island with George Folsom 8-1pm
12 Oct Avocado Lake Bird Walk with Rick Grijalva 8-12pm
19 Oct Introduction to Birding 9-12pm at the River Center
23 Oct Birding at the Ruth Mckenzie Preserve with Wes Beal 8-12pm
26 Oct Saturday Bird Walk at Lost Lake with Kevin Enns-Rempel
27 Oct FAS Board Meeting on Zoom
30 Oct The Raptor Trail Field Trip on The Kings River at Pine Flat Dam with Susan Heidebrecht
A Short Drive Away
January 16-20, 2025… Remember to save the date! The Morro Bay Bird Festival is a highly anticipated event, attracting bird lovers and nature enthusiasts from all over. We’re lucky it’s just a short drive away from Fresno. Registration fills up FAST, so set a reminder: registration opens November 2 at 8:00 AM. Click the image above to visit their website, and click here for registration info. Our board president, Rick Grijalva, will be a trip leader at this festival. Say hi if you see him!
FAS Board Member of the Month
As a way for our community to get to know the FAS board members a little better, we’re going to spotlight a board member each month. This month we’d like to introduce Nancy Gilmore. Nancy leads our social media team on Facebook and Instagram. She also helps manage our Constant Contact account, getting communication around trips and membership to run smoothly. She also helps run our community bird-feeding stations. These are just a few of the many ways Nancy serves FAS. Thanks Nancy!
Interview with Nancy Gilmore
Rapid-fire Birdy Questions:
- What’s your favorite bird to spot on a field trip? Lewis’s Woodpecker. Love their unique color palette.
- Early morning birding or late afternoon birding? Early morning for sure.
- Favorite birding snack? Riley’s Beef Jerky
- Binoculars or camera—what’s always in hand? Binocs always. Camera too sometimes but generally only when birding alone so that I can use it to document or help with ID later.
- Bird song or bird plumage—what grabs your attention first? Song. More experienced birders along with song ID apps have helped recently in my ID efforts.
- What’s the best bird you’ve ever seen in your backyard? Pileated Woodpecker (in our yard at Lake Almanor)
- Dream birding destination anywhere in the world? Galapagos
- What’s the most surprising bird fact you’ve learned? Everything about migration fascinates me.
- Coffee or tea during early morning birding? Coffee definitely
- What’s your favorite bird-related movie or documentary? Winged Migration (2001)
- What’s your go-to field guide for birding? Sibley but I also have a historical fondness for Guide to Birds of North America, by Chandler S. Robbins, Bertel Bruun, Herbert S. Zim. That’s what I grew up using. A gift from my older brother when I was about 10 sparked me to start ID’ing birds.
- Which bird would you love to see that’s still on your life list? Blue footed Booby
- Do you have a favorite bird feeder setup at home? At our place at Almanor we have a couple hanging seed feeders, a platform feeder, a hummingbird feeder, and I make my own suet for a caged feeder.
- Best advice for beginner birders? Just go often, ask questions and learn from those willing to impart their knowledge. Don’t be intimidated. FAS is a wonderful group from which to learn.
Non-birdy Questions:
- What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend when you’re not birding? Walking or just being outdoors – usually with a dog in tow
- What’s one book you’ve read that you’d recommend to anyone? To Kill a Mockingbird
- Morning person or night owl? Night owl
- What’s your favorite guilty pleasure TV show or movie? Schitt’s Creek
- What’s the most unusual hobby you’ve ever tried? Scottish Plaiting
- What’s one item you can’t live without when traveling? My noise-canceling headphones
- If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be? Piano
eBird Insight!
RBA (Rare Bird Alert) Explained
Have you ever used eBird to learn about or report a rare bird? Or maybe you’ve had one of your observations flagged as rare. Either way, there is a process, including a team of eBird reviewers, for confirming these sightings. But what goes into this process? This video gives us some answers.
Here’s some insight from Doug Hitchcox, an eBird reviewer.
Field Trip Reports
Fresno Wastewater Treatment Plant
The Fresno Audubon Society’s trip to the Fresno Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) was a fun caravan-style trip with many birds seen and photographed. As expected, most birds were waterfowl such as waders, ducks, geese, and grebes. We also had passerines and raptors to make the day rich with diversity, totaling 49 species. A few notable favorites were the Red-necked Phalaropes, Swainson’s Hawk, Caspian Tern, and a rare Neotropic Cormorant. This species has become a regular visitor to the WTP. FAS appreciates the welcoming staff at the WTP for their hospitality and accommodation.
Fresno WTP Checklist
Species/Count
- Canada Goose 200
- Graylag x Canada Goose (hybrid) 1
- Northern Shoveler 100
- Gadwall 10
- American Wigeon 4
- Mallard 70
- Ruddy Duck 500
- Pied-billed Grebe 13
- Eared Grebe 5
- Western Grebe 3
- Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 20
- Eurasian Collared-Dove 3
- American Coot 700
- Black-necked Stilt 12
- American Avocet 30
- Killdeer 25
- Long-billed Dowitcher 6
- Wilson’s Snipe 1
- Red-necked Phalarope 12
- Greater Yellowlegs 12
- Least Sandpiper 3000
- Western Sandpiper 8
- California Gull 3
- Caspian Tern 1
- Double-crested Cormorant 150
- Neotropic Cormorant 1
- American White Pelican 90
- Black-crowned Night Heron 6
- Snowy Egret 50
- Green Heron 1
- Great Egret 30
- Great Blue Heron 5
- White-faced Ibis 150
- Turkey Vulture 3
- Swainson’s Hawk 1
- Red-tailed Hawk 5
- American Kestrel 4
- Black Phoebe 15
- California Scrub-Jay 2
- American Crow 10
- Common Raven 3
- Horned Lark 30
- Tree Swallow 50
- Barn Swallow 20
- swallow sp. 1
- European Starling 50
- Northern Mockingbird 6
- House Finch 6
- Western Meadowlark 2
- Brewer’s Blackbird 10
- Great-tailed Grackle 2
Grant Grove
Six people joined leader Kevin Enns-Rempel on September 14 for a birding trip to Grant Grove and the Indian Basin Grove. The number of species seen (16) was surprisingly low, but it was a lovely day for a walk in the forest nonetheless. Highlights included a few Golden-crowned Kinglets that came down for very good looks and an extremely cooperative singing Fox Sparrow.
Here’s the list of what we saw at the Grant Grove Meadow and Crystal Springs Campground:
- Turkey Vulture
- Cooper’s Hawk
- White-headed Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Warbling Vireo
- Steller’s Jay
- Common Raven
- Mountain Chickadee
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- American Robin
- Fox Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Western Bluebird
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Clovis Botanical Garden & Cottonwood Park
On September 25, twenty enthusiastic Audubon birders met at Dry Creek Park for the September Wednesday Walk. The first stop was Cottonwood Park, where over 30 species were seen, including 2 Green Herons, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, over 50 Least Sandpipers, and 8 Shovelers in the ponding basin. In the park itself, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, several Bushtits, and a Nuttal’s Woodpecker were among the birds observed. Across the street at the Clovis Botanical Garden, a number of newly arrived white-crowned Sparrows and Lesser Goldfinches were seen, along with several Anna’s Hummingbirds, a Towhee, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and Eurasian-collared and Mourning Doves. The outing ended a bit early due to the unusually hot September weather, but everyone enjoyed the morning.
Balsam Meadows Forebay
Membership
Join or renew your membership today. Your support helps FAS fulfill its mission by featuring outstanding speakers at general meetings, conducting guided field trips, teaching introductory birding classes, maintaining the bird feeding station at the River Center, conducting bird surveys, and advocating for local and regional bird-related issues. The more support we receive, the more we can accomplish.
Thank you!
Fresno Audubon Society membership levels are:
$15 Student
$25 Individual
$35 Family
$1000 Golden Eagle (Life)
Fresno Audubon Society
PO Box 3315
Fresno, CA 93650
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