Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge: Early November was unusually pleasant. Eleven Altacalers joined us for a wonderful day. The hiking trail started off rather slow, with Coots and Red-tailed Hawks providing the excitement. Soon Yellow-rumped Warblers, White and Golden-crowned Sparrows joined us. Things began to pick up - a chip that was unfamiliar to us turned out to be a late Yellow Warbler. Soon we were startled by a Great Horned Owl taking flight and then returning to his perch. All the while hundreds of White-fronted, Snow and Ross's Geese flew overhead with a smattering of Pintails, Shovelers and Mallards doing likewise.

The tour route was also quite exciting. Our first Major stop had Steve Emmons explaining the best way to identify a Ross's Goose. At this stop we had our first Eurasian Wigeon with numerous American Wigeons. We also saw Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Canvasbacks, Cinnamon Teal and a Wood Duck sitting on an island. Our next stop was at the viewing platform. We added Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal (not a common bird here). Proceeding around the tour route we got outsanding looks at a juvenile Northern Shrike. Other birds of interest were White Pelicans and White-faced Ibis. 65 species were seen. - Richard Redmond

Chico Oxidation Ponds and Llano Seco: 8 Altacalers showed up for a very bright morning at the sewer ponds for a day of birding. We first saw some Least Sandpipers and Killdeer. The walk to the back of the ponds provided us with White-crowned, Golden-crowned and Savannah Sparrows. A Cooper's Hawk fled from our approach and a Red-tailed Hawk basked in the sun atop a leafless cottonwood. Coots and Ruddy Ducks were seen, along with Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers, and a lone Dunlin. The second pond had Mallards, Shovelers, Lesser Scaup, Canvasbacks, Redheads and Green-winged Teal covering the north end of the pond. The slough along the western edge yielded 3 Hooded Mergansers.

We next headed out to Llano Seco. We were immediately greeted by the calls of Sandhill Cranes and Long-billed Curlews. The birds were easily viewed from the platform. We also had White-faced Ibis and our first Pintails and Eurasian Wigeon of the day. We had 72 species for the day. - Richard Redmond