Date: 11/29/25 8:34 pm From: Glennah Trochet via groups.io <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Cosumnes birds the last few days
Dear Birders,
On Thanksgiving morning, before family arrived for the late afternoon meal, I visited behind the Farm Center gate once again. I mostly walked ditch banks and field margins, something I haven't done in a while. I also visited the lower part of Wood Duck Slough and the adjacent Tall Forest. Sandhill cranes were many fewer than recently, and white-fronts were also down but just slightly. There were a few highlights: bald eagle- 1 slate colored fox sparrow- 1 white-throated sparrow- 1 *pugetensis* white-crowned sparrow- 1 Townsend's warbler- 2
If this were spring or summer I might have confirmed breeding for American crow, as one was "carrying food." I saw one carrying a crayfish for about 600 yards.
Yesterday I took my older daughter and her spouse down to the same places mostly. We had much better luck with the cranes, which for them were the second biggest treat. Third best was an adult bald eagle with a fish along Wood Duck Slough. Best was a river otter that finally consented to offer good looks.
Today I joined Chris Conard on his monthly survey at Orr Ranch. We had a good day despite how quiet the birds were. By the end of the survey we had turned up most of the scarce specialty birds of the oak forests of the preserve: Hutton's vireo- 2 wrentit- 3 Pacific wren- 1 varied thrush- 3 white-throated sparrow- 2 Townsend's warbler- 2 western tanager- 1
We missed golden-crowned kinglet, and the long-eared owls were not at their most regular known roosting site.
