The waiting is the hardest part, or so the song goes. March has many spring-like days, but if you're hoping for spring migration to fully arrive, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. This March there were a few early Warbling Vireos, Cassin's Vireos, and Wilson's Warblers in the last week of the month, but it isn't until mid-April that the first waves of spring migrants reach our area. So we wait. Yet, from a diversity standpoint, March is very rich, with most of the wintering birds (ducks, massive numbers of geese) continuing, augmented by early Neotropical species like Swainson's Hawks, all of the regular swallows, Western Kingbirds (the first reported this year was on 3/12), and Bullock's Orioles having arrived well before month's end. A Common Poorwill singing along lower Latrobe Rd in Sacramento County on 3/11 was an excellent find. Allen's Hummingbirds were found at Brannan Island SRA on 3/5 and at a private residence southwest of Clarksburg on 3/22.
Among the notable shorebirds were lingering Mountain Plovers in ag fields along Hwy 45 in Yolo County, just south of the Colusa County line, with at least three continuing through 3/6. A Marbled Godwit on Marcuse Rd in Sutter County, west of Hwy 99, on 3/3 was a bit early for local records, as was another (eBird checklist S105650730) along Desmond Rd at Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) on 3/26-30. Also on 3/3, a Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle) and a Glaucous Gull (1st cycle) were found at the Yolo County Central Landfill (eBird checklist S104115896). Five Long-eared Owls continued at a traditional roost site since January at a portion of CRP with limited access. Short-eared Owl reports have been fairly limited of late, with one along Yolo County Rd 27, between Rds 103 and 104, on 3/6, and up to three along Sankey Rd, west of Hwy 99 in Sutter County (eBird checklist S104344985) for much of the month.
This March produced an unexpected Yellow-bellied Sapsucker bonanza, with an immature female seen by many at Gibson Ranch from 3/16-23 (eBird checklist S104957211), accounting for the first widely-seen individual of this species in Sacramento County for decades. And then from 3/20-29, a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (eBird checklist S105312382) was seen along Willowbank Ditch in Davis, at San Marino Park. It appears to have been lingering from earlier in the season where views had been inconclusive. The Eastern Phoebe at the southern tip of Tyler Island first found on 12/12 was last reported on 3/5, and the Gray Flycatcher continued at CRP through at least 3/26. The first Purple Martin of the year was found on 3/18 at the Sutterville overpass near Sacramento City College. Reported as a hyper-local point of privilege, a male Phainopepla found on 3/12 during a tour of the Sacramento Regional WTP Bufferlands was a long-overdue new addition to the property's bird list (number 246). Meiss Rd continued to host two Vesper Sparrows, and the young male Summer Tanager found feeding on bees at Fairytale Town, William Land Park, on 2/16 continued through at least 3/16.
The Sacramento Area is roughly defined as lying between Hwy 20 to the north, Hwy 12 to the south, and the 1000-foot contour to the east and west, plus all of Sacramento and Yolo Counties. Many reports first appeared on the Central Valley Bird Club listserv (groups.io/g/centralvalleybirds) and in eBird (ebird.org). It is impossible to list everyone, but I want to thank the following for their reports: Max Brodie, Aidan Brubaker, Lyann Comrack, Konshau Duman, Andy Engilis, Gil Ewing, Frank Fabbro, Susan Goodrich, Ben Graber, Cliff Hawley, Liam Huber, Emmett Iverson, Jeri Langham, Andrew Lee, Jasen Liu, Mark Martucci, Dana Miller-Blair, Nora Papian, Jim Rowoth, Steve Scott, Cameron Tescher, John Trochet, Tom Uslan, Lynette Williams, and Zachary Yeates. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.