Natural History Wanderings

Corrections: What I called a female Purple Finch is actually a female Red-winged Blackbird and what I thought was a Golden Eagle is actually a dark morph of a Red-tail Hawk.

Today I went to Staten Island in the Sacramento River Delta and the Consumnes River Preserve.  Being originally from the New York Area I always like the idea of birding at Staten Island.  Today was the best birding experience to date at Staten Island.  There were literally thousands of Sandhill Cranes.  Many were on the ground and even more were flying overhead.  At times it was almost like being at Woodbridge Road (a nearby hotspot to see cranes come in at sunset). I even got to see the Cranes do their dances.  There were also hundreds of Tundra Swans, many Canvasback Ducks, a number of Great Egrets and even a Golden Eagle today. I was able to identify 28 species in all (plus a number I didn’t get to ID).  It was foggy and very etheral when I first got to Staten Island, which you will see in some of the photos, but after a while the sun came out.

Next stop was Consumnes where there were many waterbirds and I managed to identify 25 species.  There were a number of birds in the reeds that either only sang or made fleeting appearances that I did not get good looks at and could not identify.

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To see my birdlists for Staten Island and Consumnes River Preserve of what I saw today click  Read More

Staten Island, San Joaquin, US-CA Jan 6, 2012
26 species (+1 other taxa)

Snow Goose  X
Ross’s Goose  X
Cackling Goose  X
Tundra Swan  X
Northern Shoveler  X
Canvasback  X
Ruddy Duck  X
Great Blue Heron  X
Great Egret  X
Turkey Vulture  X
Northern Harrier  X
Red-shouldered Hawk  X
Red-tailed Hawk  X
American Kestrel  X
American Coot  X
Sandhill Crane  X
Killdeer  X
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher  X
Herring Gull  X
Black Phoebe  X
Western Scrub-Jay  X
Song Sparrow  X
White-crowned Sparrow  X
Red-winged Blackbird  X
Western Meadowlark  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
House Finch  X

Cosumnes River Preserve, Sacramento, US-CA Jan 6, 2012 12:30
25 species

Greater White-fronted Goose  X
Canada Goose  X
Mallard  X
Cinnamon Teal  X
Northern Shoveler  X
Northern Pintail  X
Green-winged Teal  X
Pied-billed Grebe  X
Great Egret  X
Snowy Egret  X
White-faced Ibis  X
Turkey Vulture  X
American Coot  X
Killdeer  X
Black-necked Stilt  X
Wilson’s Snipe  X
Black Phoebe  X
Common Raven  X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  X
American Pipit  X
Song Sparrow  X
Red-winged Blackbird  X
Western Meadowlark  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
American Goldfinch  X

To see species lists for the Consumnes Preserve go to:  Consumnes River Preserve Flora and Fauna Species Lists

Related articles

• Birding Consumnes, Woodbridge Rd. and the Delta (naturalhistorywanderings.com)