This year, 2018, I have set up a little challenge for myself. The challenge is to see 100 or more species in Yolo County each month. Now, that does not mean that the 100 species of February have to all be different species from the 100 species in January. Rather it means that the total number of species seen in each month should get to a total of 100 or more. So, if I see a Red-tailed Hawk some time in January it gets added to the January list. If I see a Red-tailed Hawk some time in February it get added to the February list.
I am hoping this will help me to notice more details as I search to find that next species for a given month, encourage me to visit more habitat types each month, and highlight the seasonal differences as species come and go from my monthly list. I am looking forward to it, and will share what I see with you as the months go by.
To get started, below is my species list from January. It has a total of 105 species, so I made my target! It has some fun birds on it. The Cackling Goose that I found at Bridgeway Island Pond, and the Glaucous-winged Gull that I spotted flying over the Yolo Bypass were both very nice and unexpected additions. The Green Heron and White-throated Swifts were both surprisingly hard to track down. The fact that I never did find a Green-winged Teal was very unexpected as I figured that species would be a given in January.
Already, this challenge has been fun, and I have noticed myself checking each bird I see a bit more carefully just to make sure I don’t overlook that Lincoln’s Sparrow as yet another Song Sparrow and so deny myself a species. I think I am going to enjoy the rest of the experiment.
Here is my January species list.
| Species Names – Yolo County – January 2018 |
| Snow Goose |
| Ross’s Goose |
| Greater White-fronted Goose |
| Cackling Goose |
| Canada Goose |
| Tundra Swan |
| Wood Duck |
| Blue-winged Teal |
| Cinnamon Teal |
| Northern Shoveler |
| Gadwall |
| American Wigeon |
| Mallard |
| Northern Pintail |
| Canvasback |
| Bufflehead |
| Common Goldeneye |
| Hooded Merganser |
| Common Merganser |
| Ruddy Duck |
| California Quail |
| Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Snowy Egret |
| Green Heron |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| White-tailed Kite |
| Northern Harrier |
| Cooper’s Hawk |
| Red-shouldered Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Virginia Rail |
| Sora |
| Common Gallinule |
| American Coot |
| Sandhill Crane |
| Black-necked Stilt |
| American Avocet |
| Killdeer |
| Long-billed Curlew |
| Dunlin |
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
| Wilson’s Snipe |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| California Gull |
| Herring Gull |
| Glaucous-winged Gull |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Barn Owl |
| Great Horned Owl |
| White-throated Swift |
| Anna’s Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| American Kestrel |
| Peregrine Falcon |
| Black Phoebe |
| Say’s Phoebe |
| California Scrub-Jay |
| Yellow-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Oak Titmouse |
| Bushtit |
| House Wren |
| Marsh Wren |
| Bewick’s Wren |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Wrentit |
| Western Bluebird |
| Hermit Thrush |
| American Robin |
| Northern Mockingbird |
| European Starling |
| American Pipit |
| Cedar Waxwing |
| Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Fox Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Song Sparrow |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| California Towhee |
| Spotted Towhee |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Great-tailed Grackle |
| House Finch |
| Purple Finch |
| Lesser Goldfinch |
| American Goldfinch |
| House Sparrow |
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