Trip Report: Cosumnes River Preserve

Cosumnes River Preserve, Galt, California, USA
January 2017

Duck, var.

Another day in paradise, another trip to a local birding destination. These pictures were taken when your amateurnithologist found himself with some unusual time off and was able to go on some fun day trips to birding locales slightly further afield.

Cinnamon Teal, has a youtube prank video series

Today's pictures come from the Consumnes River Preserve and the adjacent Woodbridge River Preserve in eyebrow-raisingly named Galt, California. The preserves are part of California's heavily farmed central valley and the Consumnes River represents the last free flowing river of the valley. Located between Sacramento and Stockton, there are 46,000 acres of protected land, 40,000 of which are farmed.

Green-winged Teal couple, collect salt and pepper shakers

It's an important spot for birds, and your amateurnithologist was blown away by the variety and sheer quantity of birds present. And that makes a lot of sense, since this spot is part of the Pacific Flyway, one of the 4 major migration routes for American birds. Among its 250 native bird species are the rare Sandhill Cranes (got em') and Tri-colored Blackbirds (WHEN?). Both the Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy have declared it an "Important Bird Area."

Sandhill Crane, always stands next to shorter birds to make himself appear taller

The preserve itself is beautiful and well-maintained, and given that we attended in the middle of the day, on a weekday, it was surprisingly well-attended, mostly by like-minded bird people. Some serious scopes were on display.

White-fronted Goose, high tolerance for crowds

It was mostly a waterfowlful affair, and all manner of ducks and geese and assorted others were on display. I had the great experience of getting a much, much better shot of a Northern Pintail immediately after I had posted a blog about him. Such is the life of a bird blogger. We appeared to be right in the middle of White-fronted Goose migration, who got riled up and all took off together and blacked out the sky a few times.

Northern Pintail, always acts weird when you try to take a picture of him

Best spots for me were the rarely observed Sora (still have no idea how I spotted him in the reeds) and the vaunted and endangered Sandhill Crane. It was my first time getting a shot of the California subspecies (all previous cranes I had seen were in Florida). Other birds seen, but not included in this photo essay included Great Egret (in breeding plumage), Northern Shoveler, Belted Kingfisher, Canada Geese, American Kestrel, and Black-necked Stilt.

Sora, loves to do amateur research on topics that interest her

Overall I would give Galt, CA objectively high marks. It's a veritable fountainhead of birds, and you won't find yourself shrugging off enough birds to fill a whole atlas. Take the train. Go Ayn-y time.

Final Rating: Yes

Checking in with Florida Birds

It's been a while since we've visited with our Florida bird friends, but as you might've guessed from last weeks parrots, we took a trip not long ago. While there are some exciting new birds to come, we also caught up with some old favorites. What're they up to now? How's Florida treating them?

Great Blue Heron has gotten really into the art scene. He lives in a studio/work space now, and is very into his new housemates. We're happy for him, but he's actually not very talented. Art has to be more than just provocative, you know Blue Heron? Even worse, he's been sort of ignoring his old interests and friends. It'll all come crashing down eventually.

Brown Pelican is up to some sketchy behavior. After a failed bird of the year bid, he went down to Florida and got involved in some ill-defined business. He lost some weight, probably from sweating so much in the South Beach heat and humidity. Takes a lot of trips down to Cuba. Drugs? Arms deals? Guantanamo? We wouldn't put it past him.


Northern Mockingbird, as the state bird of Florida (among others), is distressed. She worries a lot these days about the state of politics, climate change, growing civil unrest. Really, just the whole thing. She is often seen with a furrowed brow, staring off into the distance. Where have the simpler times gone, she wonders, when her duties as state bird were mostly ceremonial, and she felt like she was making people happy? Nobody told her it was going to end up like this.


Oh. My. God. Have you guys seen Sandhill Crane's new baby? It is, like, seriously the cutest baby you have ever seen. And so well behaved too. She takes it everywhere and it doesn't make a fuss. Sandhill Crane's really got this mom thing down. Maybe it's easier than we thought to have a baby. Maybe not, Sandhill Crane does look a little tired.

Hey Man, Nice Bird: Endangered Bird series #1 of X, Florida Sandhill Crane

 Florida Sandhill Crane
Orlando, Florida, USA
member of the Crane Family
 *true bird fact*~ He is the oldest surviving bird species that we know of, with documented specimens going back 10 million years. Wow!
How rare is he? There are about 5000 of his particular subspecies. Current efforts to help him out are fairly successful.

Very tall, has a hard time finding pants that fit well
Known to become bumbling when around cute girls
Has a casual but passionate interest in science
Keeps strange hours
A bird you can trust