life list: 507

I learned a little two late about two festivals in the Central Valley: The Snow Goose Festival in Chico (the 26-29 of January this year, which I was just too late to go to, RIP), and The California Swan Festival in Sacramento (mid November). Both of these festivals have bird tours, presentations, art shows, and social events. These festivals will be my Coachella next year (I will show up in weird raver girl outfits on pills). The California Department of Fish and Wildlife also hosts Swan Tours, but those concluded in early January. So, for now, I am doing a poor man’s Swan/Snow Goose Festival, which meant driving with a friend (shouts to Whitney!!) to the areas outside of Stockton and Lodi.

Tundra Swans arrive in the Central Valley of California around November and stay for the winter, leaving around February. This information made me panic because that means our Swan Quest was less guaranteed to be successful. But! We saw a lot of them along with many other birdies.

Like me, Tundra Swans posses the gift of the gab. They have a soothing gurgle. Also like me, they are, like, 4 feet tall with a 5+ foot wingspan. Unlike me, they’re a timeless muse of artists throughout the world and time, mate for life, and nest on the arctic tundra (must be nice).

Historically, rice farms in California were burned in the off season to raze their crops in preparation for the next season. This lead to bad air quality and further reduction of the natural wetland habitats once in this area, so this was outlawed in 1994. Now, farmers in the Central Valley now flood their rice paddies instead of burning them during the off-season, providing an amazing habitat for migratory birds who, in turn, fertilize the paddies for next season. Cool!

To find the swans, we headed to Woodbridge Ecological Preserve in San Joaquin County. On the drive over from Oakland, we saw literally insane numbers of Snow Geese. Flocks on flocks. We continued on to Woodbridge Road, which is where I saw swan sightings on eBird. This area is farmville–it’s basically only fields and that kind of farmer stuff. The preserve itself has a small “parking lot” ish area. We stopped there and started looking when a man drove hastily to the entrance, ran out of his car with a scope, and started looking for something. I assumed it was something good because he left his entire car and trunk open (umm….sir?). As we walked up to the viewing point, he excitedly told us that he finally saw a Eurasian Wigeon for the first time in his life amongst the many American Wigeons. He tried to help us find the widge but couldn’t locate him again and had to get to work. This pre-work frantic birding is incredible dedication to the hobby and I’m sure his life list is going cuckoo bananas. I was sad to miss the Eurasian Wigeon, but next time!

Next, we simply drove down Woodbridge Road until its ending stopping along the way to see birds. Literally no one was on this road, so we stopped on it sometimes to peek through the car window, and stopped at some pull outs, where we first saw the Tundra Swans! It was really an incredible moment, as they are giant and extremely beautiful birds. In addition to the swans, we also saw Greater White Fronted Geese (you may remember I saw a lone GWFG amongst Snow Geese in AZ last month) in the hundreds, Pintails, Shovelers, Blackbirds, Mockingbirds, some raptors, and Sandhill Cranes, amongst several other species!

After exploring Woodbridge Road, we headed to Staten Island. The Big Apple, baby! Just kidding. We went to Staten Island, California. This was a similar driving situation–a single road with some pull outs. I drove to the very end and saw a tractor slowly (approx. walking speed) coming at me. This caused me to panic and I tried to turn around which I did in a 6-point minimum turn. The tractor guy was not happy! But it was all worth it, because we saw even more birds, including a very large flock of Cackling Geese!

Cackling Geese, at first glance, seem just like Canada Geese. They have the same striking plumage, and love to nibble on grass and hang out in groups. But here’s where shit gets crazy: in 2004, the American Birding Association ruled that they are a distinct and separate species from Canada Geese. Their main difference is size. Cackling Geese are about half the size of Canada Geese; they are almost duck-sized, and stubbier and cuter overall. Their call is also different (higher-pitched because they are so so mini and so so cute). They also seem much less common in densely human-populated areas–as far as I know, you will not find these guys munching around Lake Merritt. Sometimes, a couple are mixed in with a flock of Canada Geese, so careful inspection of a flock of Geese is a must.

This was a lovely day of birding with a lovely friend! Overall, we saw 28 species and a ton of birds! Geese/swans are one of my favorite bird genres, so I had an extra fantastic time. After today, my 2023 total of birds seen is 114 and my life list is at 367 (my one N2MB was, of course, the Tundra Swan). Stay tuned for my Big Day aka the only thing on my horizon rn, happening later this week!