November 5, Saturday – Altacal members joined a Chico State Birding Club field trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) at Llano Seco and Willows.  The group saw 76 species during the day.  Llano Seco wasn’t completely flooded yet but Sandhill Cranes, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Cattle Egrets were spotted in the North Pond.  At a rest stop on the way to Willows the group saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk narrowly miss catching a House Finch for lunch as it veered off just above the birders’ heads.  At Willows the group saw great flocks of Snow Geese and also, the 11 of them spent 45 minutes working to identify a bird that most were convinced was a Cassin’s Kingbird (very noteworthy if true) rather than a Western Kingbird.  Unfortunately, it was not definitively seen thereafter and has not been confirmed by anyone else.  The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed an interesting day of birding.

November 13, Sunday – Skip Augur led an Altacal field trip to Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge near Gridley.  The group pretty much had the place to itself as it initially took the auto loop and later walked through some of the trails.  Among the many species seen were thousands of the usually seen species of geese and ducks: Snow, Ross's and Greater White-fronted Geese, Mallard, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Northern Shoveler, and Pied-billed Grebe. We got great looks at White-faced Ibis and saw a larger number of Common Moorhens than normal. Passerines included many Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned, Golden-crowned, Fox, and Lincoln's Sparrows, Northern Mockingbird, and several Western Scrub-Jays. Highlights were three Eurasian Wigeons and we ended the day with a pair of Golden Eagles stirring up the ducks and geese.

November 22, Tuesday – Altacal members participated in a Prime Timers (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)) birding course field trip to the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.  On a beautiful day, the group saw a great number of Northern Pintails as well as Northern Shoveler, Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Long-billed Curlew, Northern Harrier, American Pipit, Loggerhead Shrike and other species.  Most striking of all were flights of Sandhill Cranes passing low over our heads as they came in for landings on the ponds.

November 26, Saturday – On a clear, breezy day Phil Johnson led a field trip to wetlands (Chico Sewage Treatment Plant Oxidation Ponds) and Sacramento River riparian corridor environments (the Washout and Indian Fishery Nature Trail).  The ponds offered up three Hooded Mergansers (male, female, juvenile) as well as other waterfowl and passerines.  The Washout provided a good look at a Bald Eagle (see “Sightings”), Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Green Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, a Snowy Egret shadowing a pair of Common Mergansers, a Belted Kingfisher, Spotted Sandpipers and others.  At Indian Fishery Nature Trail the group saw Dark-eyed Juncos taking a bath in the river, Spotted and California Towhees feeding side-by-side, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Acorn and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, and others.