February is still winter, but some birds certainly have spring on their minds. Adding to the early-breeding Anna's Hummingbirds and Great Horned Owls, by February, herons, egrets, and cormorants are working on their nests. Tree Swallows are conspicuous by mid-January, but by the end of the month, all of the regular swallows except for Purple Martins had been reported. A Tufted Duck was reported in early February from the Laguna Lakes area of Elk Grove, but apparently didn't stick around. Up to five Red-breasted Mergansers were on Folsom Lake, mostly seen from Beals Pt, continuing in a season with an unusually high number of this locally rare species. The male Costa's Hummingbird in northeast Davis continued from last month through at least 2/5.

The shorebird highlight was the continuing Mountain Plovers in the fields along Hwy 45 in Yolo County, just south of the Colusa County line. There was a high of over 140 (eBird Checklist S162232392), but the most impressive report was of 113 on the late afternoon of 2/24 (eBird Checklist S163017598). As darkness fell, about a dozen small groups flew east, calling, as they continued into the darkness. Unbeknownst to most local birders, this traditional viewing site, at least that evening, was not where the birds stayed to roost. Perhaps they continued east over the Sacramento River and into Sutter County. At the old hotspot south of Dixon, a high of 38 Mountain Plovers were reported this month. The only Glaucous Gull was found on 2/10 off Yolo CR 104 to the west of the Yolo Central Landfill (eBird Checklist S161174028), and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was at the same location on 2/5. A Red-throated Loon was reported from 2/16-2/20 on the Deep Water Channel west of the Bridgeway Island Pond and farther to the north on 2/26.

There has been a slight uptick of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker reports in recent years, including one on 2/28 at Cache Creek Preserve (eBird Checklist S163226821). Perhaps more people are looking at sapsuckers more carefully. A Hairy Woodpecker, always a nice find in Sacramento County, was on the south side of Lake Natoma near the Willow Creek access during the first half of the month. A female Vermilion Flycatcher was a nice find at the Williams Cemetery on 2/28, as was a Tropical Kingbird in Suisun City (eBird Checklist S163213813) on 2/24-2/28. A Plumbeous Vireo was photographed (eBird Checklist S160570049) Davis Community Park on 2/3. Tapering off from earlier in the season, there was just one Winter Wren report, on 2/16, from Lake Solano. There were several Red Crossbill reports at the Old City Cemetery in Sacramento during the second half of the month, including a recording (eBird Checklist S161859689) on 2/17 of seven with calls consistent with "type-3" or Western hemlock crossbills (eBirdws/recrtype/); 12 Red Crossbills were also found visiting a Roseville yard on 2/23. A Swamp Sparrow turned up at the Bufferlands on 2/1. Despite moderate flooding and a very skulky bird, five people were able to see it through 2/6. It was seen again briefly on 2/27. On the topic of skulky birds, the Ovenbird continued at William Land Park, as did the Summer Tanager. One of the year's highlights so far was a beautiful male Cape May Warbler found on 2/10 visiting an Elk Grove backyard (eBird Checklist S161169243). It was seen by several visiting birders through 2/12.

The Sacramento Area as covered here lies 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 we thank the following for their reports: Steve Abbott, Theresa Blue, Dan Brown, Lyann Comrack, Konshau Duman, Chris Dunford, Andy Engilis, Jr., Gil Ewing, Linda Gal, Susan Goodrich, Joshua Greenfield, Nancy Gronert, Cliff Hawley, Marcel Holyoak, Scott Hoppe, Emmett Iverson, Adam Kucharek, Jeri Langham, Barbara Leary, Mark Martucci, Roger Muskat, Adam Panto, Zane Pickus, Ron Pozzi, Samuel Schmidt, Steve Scott, Kevin Thomas, John Trochet, Dan Williams, and Lynette Williams. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.