Field Trip: Spring Migration Visit to Local Ponding Basins,

 Atwell Island, & an Egret Rookery

Saturday, May 10, 2014

 

Meet at Sears parking lot at 6:15 AM for a 6:30 AM departure.

Notice we are leaving an hour early due to the heat and the bad lighting later in the day. 

 

Near Corcoran and Alpaugh, we will explore several wetlands, reservoirs, and ponding basins on the west side of the Central Valley.  This is a great time of year to view migrating shorebirds and our resident breeding herons and ducks.  Our travels may include a visit to Atwell Island with its expansive tule marshes and a heron rookery near Corcoran.

 

Crowded in a small grove of Eucalyptus in Corcoran is a spectacular breeding colony for 4 different heron species. In past years, over 50 Cattle Egret nests, and dozens of Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and Black-crowned Night-heron nests have been tallied.  Some of these trees support as many as 10 nests!  This little known rookery is undoubtedly one of the most amazing and important birding sites in our area.  The sounds of over a hundred herons and chicks squawking can surely create a life-time memory.

 

Unfortunately, several of the Eucalyptus trees in this special grove have been removed in recent years.  This has caused the numbers of breeding herons and egrets to seemingly dwindle.  However, this breeding colony has not been checked recently during its peak nesting period.  We visited the rookery quite early last year. The Great Egrets had just started nesting on the twentieth of April.  This year we will monitor this site 20 days later.  Hopefully, this should be a more optimum time for nesting.

        

We may also visit several nearby ponding basins.  The Jersey Avenue Ponds on Hwy 41 are a stop-over for migrating shorebirds that are traveling through our valley on their way north to their arctic breeding grounds.  Most of these migrating shorebirds pass through our valley within just a short two-week period.  Therefore, it is easy to miss their visit.  If our timing is right we will see these temporary visitors in their most colorful breeding plumage!  The Dunlins and Black-bellied Plover will both have black bellies, the Spotted Sandpipers will be spotted, and the Red Knots will be red!  Springtime shorebird migration is also the best chance to see avian vagrants and rarities.  In past years, the Jersey Ave ponds have produced Franklin’s and Bonaparte’s Gulls, Black Terns, Red Knots, Stilt Sandpipers, and a Ruff in breeding plumage!  Other possibilities include Whimbrels, Baird’s Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, Short-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits, Willets, Pacific Golden Plovers, Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Sanderlings!  The favorite rare vagrant observed on last year’s trip was a small flock of several Stilt Sandpipers.  These medium sized sandpipers were feeding quite close, and EVERYONE got extensive looks through the spotting scopes! 

 

Feeding alongside these migrants in most every pond, we should find resident breeders.  The sloping shores and shallow waters of the ponding basins of the west side often harbor the sleek Black-necked Stilts, the elegant American Avocets with their bright orange heads, the loud Killdeers and the strange-looking White-faced Ibis.  The deeper waters attract the extremely large American White Pelicans with their seasonal knob on top of their bill, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Ruddy Ducks, Mallards, Cinnamon Teal, American Coots, Eared and Pied-billed Grebes, and possibly Redheads.

 

The large migrating flocks of shorebirds are prey for Peregrine Falcons and Merlins.  We may find these falcons perched on the telephone poles around the perimeter of these wetlands. As we drive from wetland to wetland, we will look for Swainson’s Hawks, listed as a threatened species in California.  These hawks will have just recently arrived from their southern wintering grounds to breed in Tulare County. 

 

A small Eucalyptus grove near Kansas Avenue is locally renowned as a favored spring and summer roost for Lesser Nighthawks.  These nightjars regularly roost during the day perched longitudinally on the horizontal branches of the trees.  In the grassland areas, we will also be on the lookout for Burrowing Owls and Loggerhead Shrikes, both are species of special concern in California.

 

Another wetland area that we may visit is the expansive tule and cattail marsh of Atwell Island near Alpaugh.  This habitat provides a tiny remnant of the once great 800,000 acre Tule Lake.  The marshes of Atwell Island furnish nesting sites for large flocks of both Yellow-headed and Tricolored Blackbirds (both species are listed as California species of special concern).  At times, it seems like the entire marsh is decorated with bight yellow heads, a breathtaking sight!  This marsh is undoubtedly the best place in Tulare County to find Northern Harriers, Soras, Virginia Rails, American Bitterns, Common Yellowthroats, and Marsh Wrens.  The sounds from these noisy marsh birds can be deafening!  Last year, we saw a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers in breeding plumage on exposed sandy islands.  In the tules, we found a roosting colony of Black-crowned Night-herons and saw many White-faced Ibis in their brilliant iridescent breeding plumage showing white borders around their bill and eyes.  Birds of prey we came upon were a family of Great Horned Owls and a Peregrine Falcon!

 

The grove of large trees in Alpaugh Central Park has become renowned as a wonderful spot to find Neotropical migrants in the spring.  We will look for Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, as well as various vireos, flycatchers, and colorful warblers. In addition, a couple Lesser Nighthawks might be found roosting in the trees at this park.

 

This is a marvelous trip for novice and experienced birders alike.  Families will enjoy this trip since it is local and allows you to leave whenever you wish.  Best of all, most of the birds can be readily seen through our shared spotting scopes.  Many of the birds we will find are among the most interesting-looking and unique with long curved bills, long bright legs, and colorful plumages. This trip will involve little walking; driving to different ponds, getting out and scoping-out the birds, and then traveling to another pond to do it again.

 

DIRECTIONS:  To join us on this memorable trip, Meet at Sears parking lot at 6:15 AM for a 6:30 AM departure. Notice we are leaving an hour early due to the heat and the bad lighting later in the day.  Bring your family, friends, binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, bird book, a hat, sunscreen, water and a lunch.  Get ready to welcome some beautiful feathered travelers as they make a quick pit stop at one of our valley’s wet feeding stations while making their incredible journey north.