March 3

In Birds We Trust participated in a full-on frolic with the California Duck Days in Davis February 25-26. The festival began with an art show for young Yolo County artists’ entries for the Junior Duck Stamp competition. And they were stunning, interesting, showing detailed observation. It was a real community event, with donated food and wine and a cheerful crowd. The day long events on Saturday included educational workshops and non-profit vendor tables. Jaci learned to recognize various kinds of poop; Catherine practiced drawing ducks; Rhoda learned about hawks and native plants. In the afternoon, we took a travelling bird-watching tour of the east side of the Delta, including spots with still water, moving water, and riparian areas (thank you, Sami!).

The high point was the opportunity to view Sandhill Cranes, in large numbers in various locations. To quote Jaci, the most spectacular sighting came at the end of the day, watching the cranes come in for the night to fields along the Cosumnes River, viewed against the sun setting over Mr. Diablo…extraordinary, simply awesome. 3,000 – 6,000 collect each winter in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. They include two linked species: large and small. The species are marked similarly, and we couldn’t tell any difference. However, we did learn that it is the large cranes that fly north to Tule Lake, and so are likely who we saw in January. The smaller cranes fly all the way to the Arctic. As remarkable as their evening fly-in is the guttural chatter they engage in as they fly and graze. We saw at least one crane dance, bowing and spreading wings. These large creatures are born to dance.

We saw 35 different birds on our field trip, with a possible sighting of a 36th (was that a Western Grebe?) and a 37th if we could count the Swainson’s Hawk, an endangered species, who was shown captive in the educational exhibits at Duck Days (we won’t, sticking to birds we really do identify in the wild). Some of these birds were new additions to our growing list.

We saw Snowy Egrets. These birds are smaller than the Great Egret (duh!), and have a black bill, black legs, and yellow feet (sometimes called the egret with the ‘golden slippers). These birds have bounced back from extensive hunting in the early part of the 20th century for their plumes, which were more valuable than gold. We also saw Black-Crowned Night Herons. These birds hunker in the trees, their necks disappearing, and often in sociable groups. They are night hunters, which is why they loom in the trees during the daylight viewing hours.

We saw Tundra Swans, flying in small groups, their black beaks and straight necks when flying. These inspiring birds also mate for life, like Sandhill Cranes. We saw Greater White-fronted Geese. They are grayish-brown, and have a white band at the base of the bill and a white rump. These geese winter in enormous numbers in the central valley, and it is encouraging to hear their chattering calls of encouragement to each other to stay in line as they fly. We also saw Snow Geese. These have more white on their heads, necks and bellies, and, when seen closer, have a dark ‘grin’ that runs along their beak. These also gather in large numbers in the Valley.

Total, to 3/3: 45