Date: 2/15/26 10:12 am From: Sally M. Walters via groups.io <bajaowl...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Barrows goldeneye
Yesterday at dusk : an adult male Barrows down the trail from Paradise Beach at Glen Hall Park. Full half-moon patch between eye and bill. Smaller rectangular white patches than larger patches of the common. It was among 20 some female types. Flew downstream.
Date: 2/9/26 7:48 pm From: Glennah Trochet via groups.io <trochetj...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] continuing orchard oriole; a couple of goodies behind locked gates at Cosumnes last week
Dear Birders
A few bitter-enders managed brief looks at the male orchard oriole in Courtland late this afternoon. Apparently better looks were had early this morning. Lesser decent finds in the same patch of bottlebrush were a white-throated sparrow and a hooded oriole.
At the Cosumnes River Preserve I had a yellow warbler on my monthly survey of Lost Slough on February 1st. This past Saturday I found what is likely to be the same stilt sandpiper seen at intervals this winter along Desmond Road that day with dowitchers east of the Love Shack north of the Tall Forest. The same day, I was able for the first time since the flooding to wade out the east side of the forest to look at the bald eagle nest. The female is already sitting.
Date: 2/7/26 9:11 pm From: Zane Pickus via groups.io <zanep987...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Delta Birding 7 Feb 2026: Sacramento OROR, searching for ALHUs, etc.
Hi Birders,
Today I joined Emmett Iverson, Ethan Monk, Julian Johnson and Tom Uslan for a day of birding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, focusing our efforts on Contra Costa, Sacramento, and Yolo counties. As Chris Conard shared earlier, the highlight of our day was a stunning adult male ORCHARD ORIOLE in the town of Courtland. The bird worked its way around a large bottlebrush and put on a show for us for ~30 minutes until we left it in the same spot. Others were successful in chasing it later in the day, with the bird continuing to frequent the bottlebrush at: 38.32743, -121.5720. Many thanks to Tom for showing us this awesome spot! This appears to be the first documented record for Sacramento County.
Highlights from our morning on Bethel Island, Contra Costa County, included a male HOODED ORIOLE and several displaying male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS. This is a traditional location for Allen's in the Delta.
On Sherman Island, Sacramento County, we were blown away by astounding numbers of ducks and geese, and were happy to find a single ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD in the eucalyptus on the northeast side of the island. The bird seemingly took off across the slough to Brannan Island SRA but despite some searching there we could not turn up any Allen's in that location.
Later, we were pleased to find at least two displaying male ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS at Korth's Pirate Marina off Brannan Island Road (a spot recommended by Emmett and Aidan Brubaker, who had photographed one nearby in 2024). This spot also hosted dozens of nesting DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and GREAT-BLUE HERONS - fun contributions to the California Bird Atlas ( https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/home)!
Courtland was highlighted by the Orchard and plenty of ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS. The bottlebrush here seems worth additional visits in the spring for migratory species. We ended the day at a few spots around Clarksburg, Yolo County. Most notable were ~150 SANDHILL CRANES on the ground off HWY84/Jefferson Blvd. Tom had ~700 here a few days ago, an exceptional count for Yolo. The cranes were the perfect way to cap off a spectacular day of winter birding in the Delta.
Date: 2/7/26 7:42 pm From: Chris Conard via groups.io <conardc...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] SAC Orchard Oriole in Courtland
Hi folks,
A chestnut-collored Orchard Oriole was an amazing find today. It was feeding in bottlebrush at the coordinates below. Please be sensitive of private property.
I'm on the board of Western Field Ornithologists. One of my goals is to
significantly increase participation in the society overall, especially by
students. And, right now I'm reaching out to encourage those who can to
join the annual *conference*
<https://westernfieldornithologists.org/conference/> this year which is in
a GREAT place - Ashland Oregon - in partnership with Klamath Bird
Observatory and Oregon Birding Association.
Why attend? Well, there will be:
- *Expert-led field trips* to premier southern Oregon habitats
- *Science sessions *featuring cutting-edge research and regional studies
- *Skills workshops *and panels to sharpen your identification, field
techniques, and scientific literacy
- *Signature events*, including the high-energy Sound ID Challenge with
Nathan Pieplow
- *Community gatherings*, receptions, and a special 50th-anniversary
banquet
And, it's an opportunity to:
- *Deepen your knowledge* – Learn from leaders in western ornithology
through focused talks, panels, and research presentations.
- *Bird a premier region* – Explore wetlands, oak savannahs, mixed
conifer forests, and montane meadows at the height of fall migration.
- *Connect with the community* – Build relationships with fellow
ornithologists, expert trip leaders, and next-generation birders.
- *Sharpen your skills* – Improve visual and sound ID, photography, molt
interpretation, and field methods through hands-on workshops.
- *Celebrate a milestone* – Be part of WFO’s 50th conference—our biggest
celebration of birds, science, and community to date.
I'm particularly interested in encouraging students, as well as
professionals to present projects or research they are working on at the
science sessions. This is a great meeting to share your work with what is a
blended audience of avid birders, amateur ornithologists and
professionals, including a growing contingent of students and professionals
from Mexico. It's also a relatively low barrier, low stress way to present
work to a very receptive audience and practice for other meetings as well.
This meeting (*and the journal*
<https://westernfieldornithologists.org/publications/journal/>) is also a
way to get your work and ideas out there that you might otherwise not have
a venue for. This is a particularly good venue for undergraduate and
graduate students doing projects in ornithology to get experience
organizing and presenting their work. So, please share with your networks.
Overall, it's a great event for everyone with lots of opportunity to
connect with avid birders and professionals from all across the west
Registration will open soon and the hotel rooms with group rate are already
open, so get one before it's too late.
