Birding in Chico

This class for OLLI members meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays, starting September 6, and ending December 6. Most outings start at 9:00 A.M., and will be over by 11:00 A.M. unless noted.

A tentative schedule of meetings and viewing sites follows:

September 6
Upper Bidwell Park
Meet at the Old Rifle Range just above the golf course at 9 A.M.

September 20
Bidwell River State Park, Indian Fisheries Unit
Meet at Indian Fisheries, West end of Sacramento Ave. at 9 A.M.

October 4
Mendocino National Forest, Chico Genetic Resource Center
2741 Cramer Lane.Meet at Raleys Skyway parking lot (near Kragen Auto Parts) at 9 A.M.

October 18
Black Butte Lake
Meet at OSH parking lot (near Great Harvest Bread) at 8:30 A.M.
We may not be back until 12:p.m.

November 1
Feather River Parkway, Oroville
Meet at Meet at Raleys Skyway parking lot ( near Kragen Auto Parts ) at 9 A.M. Will be back around 12:00 P.M.

November 15
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
Llano Seco, 7 Mile Lane.
Meet at viewing stand at 9 A.M.

December 6
Gray Lodge State Wildlife Area, Gridley
Meet at Meet at Raleys Skyway parking lot ( near Kragen Auto Parts ) at 9 A.M. Will be back around 12:00 P.M.

Note: Rain will cancel our outing. I will contact you by e-mail before 8:30 a.m. if we have to cancel.

Birds Sighted at Black Butte
March 1, 2007

Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
Killdeer
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Western Scrub Jay
Yellow-Billed Magpie
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Oregon Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch

Plus we found a Great Blue Heron rookery and saw a bobcat. Some day!

Carl

This coming Thursday we will be going to the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge, Pine Creek Unit. This is a new site for our group, and also new for the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge.

There are two considerations for this site: 1st., We will be walking a total of about 1.3 miles (for comparison, the second viewing stand at 7 Mile Ln. is about 1 mile round trip). This will all be on packed dirt roads or graveled roads. 2nd., When I was at Pine Creek Unit in early January, there were no bathroom facilities yet.

For carpooling, the meeting site has been changed from Albertson’s parking lot, to across the street at OSH’s parking, lot in the North West corner of the lot. This will give us more room to meet. We will still meet, and plan to leave OSH at 9 A.M.

For a Google map to SRNWR Pine Creek Unit, select Directions to Chico Bird Watching Sites.

See you Thursday morning,

Carl
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For the last three days I have seen Bald Eagles just NE of the intersection of Eaton Road and Cohasset Road. They are in the Willow Trees about 300 yards North of Eaton Road. For a Google Map Click here.

Feather River Parkway
Oroville 2/8/07 List of birds

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Turkey Vulture
Wood Duck
Mallard
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Americsan Coot
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-brested Sapsucker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Downey Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Western Scrub Jay
Yellow-Billed Magpie
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
American Robin
Nothern Mockingbird
European Starling
Phainopepla
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden Crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Lesser Goldfinch