This March was another shockingly dry month in the second very dry winter in a row. It's difficult to complain in the face of such great birding weather, but one worries that summer dryness will be here all too soon. There were many reports from the field, though relatively few new finds. That is often the case in March, where it is a great time for birding, with a mix of winter species and early spring arrivals (like swallows, Western Kingbirds, and Bullock's Orioles), but it isn't until the second week in April, and often later, that things begin to really pick up with new arrivals. One of the two White-winged Scoters found earlier in the season continued near the Folsom Lake dam through the end of the month. The cooperative male Broad-billed Hummingbird, found on 1/29 in a private yard in central Davis, continued until 3/3. There were several early reports of single Vaux's Swifts in March, beginning on 3/6, with some impressive confirmatory photos (eBird checklist - S83861893) in the eBird reports.
A Common Poorwill was heard singing from the Placer County portion of Folsom Lake SRA, near Beek's Bight, on 3/26, and one was found in Orangevale on 3/27. Mountain Plovers were regularly reported along Hwy 45 in Yolo County, just south of County Line Rd, with a high of 62 on 3/7 (eBird checklist - S82985221). It is nice to have a consistent location for this species that has become much harder to find locally in the past two decades. A Snowy Plover seen from Desmond Rd at Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) on 3/27 was a couple weeks early for this locally rare shorebird, and a Least Bittern was recorded singing (through the din of Canada Geese!) at the Davis Wetlands on 3/31--on the early side for this diminutive, uncommonly detected species.
The cooperative Red-naped Sapsucker continued at Rollingwood Bluffs adjacent to Lake Natoma through 3/6. A Hammond's Flycatcher was found on 3/5 and 3/20 on a closed portion of CRP. It probably wintered for the second year in a row, but had been missed on most searches through the winter. A Sage Thrasher found on 3/18 along Robinson Rd continued through 4/1, and a female Cassin's Finch continued in an Orangevale yard throughout the month. The Harris's Sparrow found in February with a crowned-sparrow flock adjacent to the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve continued into April. And while a study statistically questioned the validity of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect, a Green-tailed Towhee (eBird checklist - S82718981) found near the yard that hosted the Broad-billed Hummingbird continued through 3/13, and lent anecdotal support to the PPTE.
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, Brant Brumbeloe, George Chrisman, Konshau Duman, Hugh Harvey, Jim Holmes, Scott Hoppe, Rich Howard, Emmett Iverson, Jeri Langham, Andrew Lee, Mark Martucci, Michael Perrone, Nora Papian, Zane Pickus, Ron Pozzi, Jim Rowoth, Steve Scott, Gaven Stacey, Eddie Tache, John Trochet, and Lynette Williams. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.