Big Year Information

Suggestions for Doing a Big Year

Where to Find Big Year Target Birds

• LOONS and GREBES – open water such as O’Neill Forebay or Modesto Sewage Ponds. Also check foothill lakes.

• Least Bittern – extremely rare in this part of the valley. Would be a good idea to check (listen) wetlands in May.

• Brant – check flocks of Aleutian Canada Geese along Beckwith Road or in the area of the Modesto Sewage Ponds.

• Blue-winged Teal – Los Baños sewage ponds or any wetlands or open water in July.

• Eurasian Wigeon – Dawson Lake or Turlock Lake inlet area in February.

• Tufted Duck – extremely rare. Look through large flocksd of scaup in February and March.

• Greater Scaup – O’Neill Forebay in February and March

• Long-tailed Duck – Modesto Sewage Ponds and O'Neill Forebay from late December to March

• Barrow’s Goldeneye – Turlock Lake outlet canal, O'Neill Forebay in winter

• Hooded Merganser – Dawson Lake in January

• HAWKS AND FALCONS – eastern grasslands and open water areas. Willms/Crabtree Rds. (STA) and Field Rd (MER)

• Osprey – Turlock Lake, Merced Falls area

• Peregrine Falcon – often found in shorebird habitat in late summer or fall

• Wild Turkey – Del Puerto Canyon, Henry Coe State Park

• RAILS – Joe Domecq or Santa Fe Grade Rd.

• SHOREBIRDS – Modesto and Ceres Sewage Ponds, wetlands such as Merced NWR or along Santa Fe Grade Rd. if wet.

• Pacific Golden-Plover – Modesto Sewage Ponds in winter and migration.

• Mountain Plover – Turlock lake inlet area

• Ruff  and Stilt Sandpiper – Check winter dowitcher and yellowlegs flocks carefully, especially at Merced NWR.

• SUMMER SHOREBIRD RARITIES – from July through September, shorebirds such as Snowy Plover, Pacific and American Golden-Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Semipalmated, Pectoral and Baird’s Sandpiper may be with migrating peeps. Check wetlands, sewage ponds and flooded fields.

• Franklin’s Gull – most often found in late summer, but may over-winter with Bonaparte’s Gulls

• LATE-WINTER GULLS – numbers of gulls pick up in January and February often around sewage ponds and dump sites. Watch for Mew, Glaucous-winged, Glaucous, Thayer’s and Western (tough ID) at places like the Modesto Sewage Ponds or San Luis Reservoir and O'Neill Forebay

• Band-tailed Pigeon – Most often encountered in the Coast Range in winter in such places as Del Puerto Canyon (DPC) or Henry Coe State Park.

• Greater Roadrunner – Basalt Campground or DPC

• Western Screech-Owl – Along Cooperstown Rd or DPC

• Short-eared Owl – Tim Bell Rd., Willms Rd. San Luis NWR, or Santa Fe Grade Rd

• Northern Pygmy-Owl – Mile 13.4 in Del Puerto Canyon

• Lesser Nighthawk – Santa Fe Grade Rd. or Willms Rd.

• Common Poorwill – Del Puerto Canyon

• Costa’s Hummingbird – DPC, Basalt Campground (San Luis Reservoir)

• Calliope Hummingbird – DPC, Basalt Campground (San Luis Reservoir)

• Lewis’s Woodpecker – Cooperstown Rd, DPC mile 9

• Hairy Woodpecker - DPC

• NEOTROPICAL MIGRANT SONGBIRDS - this includes flycatchers, thrushes, vireos, warblers, buntings, etc. Try wooded areas such as Turlock Lake Campground, Henderson Park, O'Neill Forebay/Basalt Campground. In spring be sure to hit DPC and Turlock Lake Campground.

• Eastern Phoebe – extremely rare, usually found in winter along valley floor riparian. Merced NWR had one recently two years in a row.

• Cassin’s Kingbird – Rarely DPC

• Stellar’s Jay – DPC mile 19

• Bank Swallow – August swallow flocks usually have a Bank Swallow or two.

• WINTER IRRUPTIVE SONGBIRDS – Some years, montane birds such as Red-breasted Nuthatches, Pine Siskins, Red Crossbills, Clark’s Nutcrackers, Evening Grosbeaks, and Cassin’s Finches “irrupt” into the valley areas. These birds often end up in urban parks or other areas with lots of seed and acorn-bearing trees.

• Canyon Wren – DPC mile 10.4

• Winter Wren – Turlock Lake Campground, Hatfield State Park

• American Dipper – rare, but often found in winter or late summer along the extreme eastern ends of the valley along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced Rivers. There are also unverified records form DPC.

• Mountain Bluebird – Cooperstown Rd., DPC mile 3

• Sage Thrasher – Cooperstown Rd just east of Willms

• Phainopepla – DPC, Turlock Lake Rd., Joe Domeqc, Henderson Park

• Yellow-breasted Chat – DPC mile 17, Turlock Lake, La Grange Dam Rd.

• Indigo Bunting – rare, but possible from mid-May to mid-June or occasionally into summer. Laird Slough area, Modesto Sewage Ponds (along the river).

• Chipping Sparrow – Henry Coe State Park or elsewhere during migration.

• Brewer’s Sparrow – rare, but possible along the eastern edge of the bicounty area in spring.

• Black-chinned Sparrow – Henry Coe State Park chaparral areas

• Sage Sparrow – DPC. In winter, the pale form may occur in the eastern grassland areas.

• Lark Bunting – eastern Stanislaus County grasslands; Crabtree and Davis Rds.

• Grasshopper Sparrow – DPC mile 0.5 in March-May

• Swamp Sparrow – rare, but possible in winter riparian areas, Laird Slough had 2 a few years ago.

• White-throated Sparrow – Turlock Lake Campground, Hatfield Park

• Lawrence’s Goldfinch – DPC, Henry Coe State Park