AUDUBON FIELD TRIPS

2012 STANISLAUS AUDUBON FIELD TRIPS In connection with and in celebration of Stanislaus Audubon just having produced the booklet, "The Birding Sites of Stanislaus and Merced Counties", we will visit all the featured sites in the booklet in the course of 2012 . We will gear the trips to the time of year that is best for each site. The more of the trips you attend, the better you will experience the extent of the wonderful natural history of our local area and if you have read the booklet before each trip you will have an even better experience.

January 14. Shoreline at Mountainview/Palo Alto Baylands. Made up of many varied habitats, these are two of Santa Clara County's best known and most frequently birded areas. First we will visit Shoreline at Mountainview where we will look for waterfowl and gulls on the ponds of the Cargill Salt Company and shorebirds on the mudflats of Charleston Slough. Next we will make the short drive to Palo Alto Baylands for a picnic lunch and then bird the area. The Baylands is home to four species of rail which we may be able to see as the rising tide flushes them from the marshes. Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Stanislaus Library parking lot at 1500 I Street. This will be an all day trip so bring lunch and fluids, and dress warm because the wind coming off the bay can get a might chilly. All of the birding will be on foot with a fair amount of walking on smooth, level trails. Restrooms are available at both locations. Contact trip leader Ralph Baker @ sharks_hockey_maniac@yahoo.com with any questions.

January 15, February 19, and March 18. San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge. Trip leader Bill Amundsen ( 521-8256, birdscouter@prodigy.net) advises that on each of these trips we'll be visiting parts of the Refuge both north and south of Highway 132. White Lake, on a part of the Refuge not generally open to the public, is a place where you can see the famous mating dance of the Western Grebes as the year moves on toward spring. Meet at the Stanislaus Library parking lot at 1500 I Street. We'll be back early afternoon.

January 21. Cooperstown Road/Woodward Reservoir. (booklet, pp. 13-17) This area is superb in the winter for raptors, especially. Also, being in the easternmost part of the county nearest the Sierra, it regularly has altitudinal migrants like Lewis' Woodpecker and Mountain Bluebird that spill over from the Interior West in the dead of winter.  Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Stanislaus Library parking lot at 1500 I Street. We'll be back early afternoon. Trip leader, Dave Froba, who wrote the part in the booklet about Cooperstown Rd.. 521-7265, froba@comcast.net. 

February 18.  Santa Fe Grade Road/San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. (booklet, pp. 51-57)  Both sites are in Merced County. Santa Fe Grade is a gravel, easily-birded road that runs through duck hunting clubs and offers excellent access to water birds of all kinds. We'll be there after hunting season. The San Luis site has grassland and riparian forest habitats, An extra is the Tule Elk that live there. Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Stanislaus Library parking lot at 1500 I Street. We'll be out until mid afternoon. Trip leader, our National Wildlife Refuge specialist, Bill Amundsen, 521-8256, birdscouter@prodigy.net.