|
We are pleased to announce that Phil Johnson has volunteered as Field Trip Chair. Some of you know Phil as a longtime local birder and current Christmas Count compiler. Phil will be organizing and leading out-of-town trips (as well as some local ones), and coordinating other local trips with our other trip leaders. Thanks Phil!
One of the items the Board wants to address this year is a trip calendar so that members would know when some of the upcoming field trips are. Coincidentally, Phil Johnson has started a list of his planned trips for the year. We hope that list will be firmed up by next month so you’ll be able to mark your calendars. We’ll probably also have additional local trips throughout the year which will be listed in each newsletter.
February 19 & 20 - Honey Lake/Sage grouse lek trip. This trip explores the wetlands of the Honey Lake Wildlife refuge for waterfowl, the surrounding uplands of the basin for raptors, and a known lekking ground of the Sage grouse. We will meet at the Chico Park & Ride at 7:45 AM Saturday, February 19th, head up highway 32, stop at Almanor to bird, and continue on to the Honey Lake area for the remainder of the day.
Sunday morning we will get up early to arrive at the Sage Grouse lekking grounds by 6 AM. After that we will slowly make our way back to another unit of the refuge, and then will head toward the foothills behind the prison to look for some Native American petroglyphs etched into the walls of the canyon.
This trip can be extremely cold depending on weather conditions, so plan accordingly. You will have the option of camping at the refuge, or staying at a hotel in Susanville on Saturday night. Due to the logistics of this trip, you must contact trip leader Phil Johnson before going at 893-3222 or pjohnsonhardwood@sunset.net.
Saturday, February 26 – Genetic Resource (“Tree Improvement”) Center. Come join us for a morning of birding at one of our lesser-known local jewels. Parking is limited, so we’ll meet at Chico Park & Ride at 8 AM to carpool. We never know what will show up at the center – it’s typically good for sparrows and passerines in general, and sometime raptors, but unexpected species such as turkey have been seen there and last time we were there we saw 5 Phainopepla. If you have questions call Skip Augur at 893-9222 or email wba@acm.org.
Full Trip - Sunday, March 27 – Sutter Buttes / Peace Valley. We’ll meet at the Chico Park & Ride at 8 AM on Easter Sunday morning and head to Gridley to meet up with the Ranger to be escorted up to the area. We will hike into Peace Valley and bird along the way. Bring hiking shoes, a sack lunch, bird book, flower book, and binoculars. We will probably hike until 3 PM. This trip is full, but there will probably be another in the Fall.