All,

My Palo Alto Adult School birding class made a day of Vic Fazio Yolo
Bypass and Flannery-Robinson Roads on Saturday 02-05-11. It was
beautiful and warm, but high winds made it tricky at times.

Yolo top birds were Yellow-headed Blackbirds, American Bittern and
Tundra Swan. Flannery-Robinson highlight was a flock of 25 Mountain
Plovers at the end of the day in a short-grass field south of road,
exactly 1.2 miles west of the junction of Flannery and Robinson.
(same place we saw a small group of 3 two weeks ago)

Yolo Bypass:
2 Yellow-headed Blackbirds, a few Tricolored Blackbirds in fields by
entrance to preserve
Belted Kingfisher, Tree Swallows near parking lot A
1 White-faced Ibis in water past parking lot A
Large numbers of Horned Larks, 1 Tundra Swan at end of new fallow
rice field road
2 American Bittern in reeds off parking lot C
Black-bellied Plovers across from parking lot C, and Hunter's trailer
1 Great Horned Owl in willows near parking lot D
Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers in shallow ponds
throughout

Jepson Prairie Preserve on Hwy 13:
1 Burrowing Owl near traintracks
3 Loggerhead Shrike along entrance road
6+ Wilson's Snipe in pools near tracks
2 adult light, 2 dark Ferruginous Hawk in fields to west on entrance
road

Flanner-Robinson Roads:
4 more Burrowing Owl (1 before right turn, 1 more halfway to old
ranch, 2 more at junction)
1 male Merlin just after first right turn
2 adult light, 2 dark (possibly same birds seen earlier...)
25 Mountain Plovers (eventually flushed by N. Harrier and flew
northeast)

. . .

Matthew Dodder
Mountain View, CA
http://www.birdguy.net
http://www.zazzle.com/mdodder