June is arguably the slowest month on the birding calendar for the flats of the Central Valley. The Sierra, in all its glory, lures many out of the Valley heat. While June is a period of relatively low species diversity, it is a key time for many of our local breeding birds, and it is also a time that a stray rarity or two may show up. The Woodland Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) continued to hold seasonally rare ducks, including up to ten Redheads, up to eight Canvasbacks, and, most surprisingly, a female-type Red-breasted Merganser (eBird Checklist S180186304) from 6/8 to 6/10. An Allen's Hummingbird was reported at a traditional spot on private property to the southwest of Clarksburg through 6/19.
Southbound migrant shorebirds began turning up in the second half of the month, including a few scattered Willet reports. Up to three Least Terns were present at the Woodland WTP from 6/17 to 6/27 (eBird Checklist S183761896 and eBird Checklist S184067103), raising suspicions that they might breed locally, though that did not come to pass this year. Two Brown Pelicans at the Stockton WTP on 6/9 were a nice surprise. Least Bitterns were reported at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area on 6/29, mid-month at the Davis Wetlands, and from a wetland west of the town of Nicolaus in Sutter County on 6/30.The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron that was present much of last month at North Natomas Regional Park was reported only once this month, on 6/9, and a Little Blue Heron was photographed (eBird Checklist S182775363) at the same location on 6/18.
A Grasshopper Sparrow was found at Deer Creek Hills, off Latrobe Rd, on 6/2, though they have been absent from their traditional location along Meiss Rd for the past two seasons. A Black-chinned Sparrow continued into early June along Rayhouse Rd. American Redstarts were found at Whitney Oaks Golf Course on 6/11 to the south of Lincoln, and along Old Davis Rd south of Putah Creek on 6/13. A gorgeous male Magnolia Warbler (eBird Checklist S182673628) on private property to the southwest of Clarksburg was seen and photographed by many on 6/19. A second-year male Summer Tanager was present along the American River Parkway in the vicinity of the William B. Pond and River Bend access points from 6/11 to 6/22. Another second-year male Summer Tanager, with a red head and a mostly yellow body (eBird Checklist S181490666), was downstream of the Pedrick Rd bridge from 6/11 to 6/15. A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was found along Wood Duck Slough near the Tall Forest of Cosumnes River Preserve on 6/16, and an Indigo Bunting first detected at the Bufferlands on 6/27 continued into July.
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, Tara Collins, Lyann Comrack, Lisa Couper, Konshau Duman, Lynette Williams Duman, Gil Ewing, Frank Fabbro, Stephen Fettig, Joshua Greenfield, Cliff Hawley, Mackenzie Hollender, Jeri Langham, Andrew Lee, Mark Martucci, Sarah Mayhew, Zane Pickus, Steve Scott, Michele Swartout, Kevin Thomas, John Trochet, and Tom Uslan. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.