While much of the month was quite dry, there were flooded areas for waterbirds following the historic late-October storm. This was another month with a good number of interesting reports.
A Trumpeter Swan was found among Tundra Swans along Cornelius Rd in Sutter County on 11/21; and two Trumpeter Swans were found along Poundstone Rd, east of Arbuckle in Colusa County, on 11/28. A "Bewick's Swan," the Eurasian subspecies of Tundra Swan, with extensive yellow at the base of the bill, was found among other Tundra Swans along Hwy 45, north of Knight's Landing and south of the Colusa County line, on 11/22. A male Redhead was a nice bird for Sacramento County at the Bufferlands on 11/15. One of the year's most exciting birds for the area was a female-type Long-tailed Duck found on 11/26 near the Nimbus Hatchery, continuing into December and seen by at least dozens of birders (eBird checklist S98105754 and eBird checklist S98247757).
The first Mountain Plovers of the season were reported along Hwy 45 in Yolo County, just south of the Colusa County line on 11/22; up to 65 were reported by month's end. About 30 Mountain Plovers were reported along Flannery Rd, south of Dixon, also on 11/22. A Red-necked Grebe was found and photographed at the Woodland WTP on 11/8-11. The Cassin's Kingbird found on 10/29 at the Davis Cemetery and Arboretum continued through 11/2. A Hammond's Flycatcher, probably the same one that has wintered near the Tall Forest at Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) for at least two years, was found again on 11/19. A late Pacific-slope Flycatcher at Mather Lake on 11/19 was also a surprise.
At least two Lapland Longspurs, an excellent find, were photographed and recorded (eBird checklist S97410820) along Latrobe Rd, just west of the intersection with Michigan Bar Rd, on 11/10, and at least one continued to be found sporadically through 11/25; another was found and nicely photographed at Beals Point, Folsom Lake, on 11/12 (eBird checklist S97484219). A Black-and-white Warbler was found at Reichmuth Park on 11/20-21 (eBird checklist S97881436), and presumably the same bird was spotted more regularly in December. A male Hooded Warbler photographed (eBird checklist S98150318) at a normally closed portion of CRP on 11/27 was quite unexpected, but was about the tenth record for Sacramento County, and, surprisingly, the sixth for CRP. A Wilson's Warbler was a nice find for late in the season on 11/17 along Lake Spafford in the UC Davis Arboretum, continuing into December.
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, Lily Douglas, Konshau Duman, Gil Ewing, Mike Guard, David Hamilton, Denise Hamilton, Cliff Hawley, JIm Holmes, Liam Huber, Emmett Iverson, Jeri Langham, Mark Martucci, Leslie Morris, Adam Panto, Nora Papian, Michael Perrone, Ron Pozzi, Jim Rowoth, Uday Sant, Steve Scott, Katie Smith, Cameron Tescher, John Trochet, and Lynette Williams. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.