Urban Birding

My  wife and I moved into our new place in West Sacramento a couple of weeks ago, and I have started exploring the nearby area to discover its birding potential.  Even though there is a fair bit of industrial development, and a lot of residential development, the birding is actually quite good.  This area has an extensive network of canals that help to manage water flow around the Port of Sacramento and in the Sacramento River.  These canals are all lined with Cattails and Tules which provide habitat for a number of species.  Associated with these canals are a number of bodies of open water.  These range in size from only about a quarter of and acre to large lakes like Lake Washington.  Many of these bodies of water are lined with willows, oaks, and cottonwood trees which create edges of riparian habitat.  Together the open water and riparian corridors attract even more species.  The list of species I have seen so far is at the bottom of this post.  I have not seen anything particularly unusual, but fall migration is still building up, so there are lots more birds on their way through.

Walking these canals and water edges has really impressed upon me how important even small areas of habitat can be.  These waterways provide stopover sites for lots of birds and they are pretty much in peoples back yards.  They take up pretty small amounts of space, yet yield a  very large benefit to wildlife.  I will certainly be spending a fair bit of time exploring these urban waterways and seeing what turns up.

Birds: Red-winged Blackbird, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-necked Stilt, Canada Goose, Lesser Scaup, Mallard, Killdeer, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Western Scrub Jay, Anna’s Hummingbird, Bewick’s Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Mourning Dove, American Coot, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, American Crow, European Starling, Rock Pigeon, Black Phoebe, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Green Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron.

Mammals: Sacramento Cottontail, Raccoon, River Otter, Eastern Fox Squirrel.