While April might be the most species-rich month of the year, with a transition from wintering species to migrants and summer residents all within 30 days, May tends to have more wildcards, especially in terms of unexpected rarities. This May seemed a bit on the quiet side, but as always, there were a few surprises. Local duck diversity really thins out as the spring progresses, but the Woodland WTP has a good track record of holding a few diving ducks through the spring and into summer. This May was no exception, with regular reports of both Redheads (eBird Checklist S176382614) and Canvasbacks throughout the month.
Dependable locations for Greater Roadrunners in our area have diminished over the past two decades, with more land in the low foothills getting chopped up for development or turned into vineyards and orchards. One place resisting this trend is Sand Creek Rd in Colusa County, to the west of Arbuckle, where four roadrunners were detected on 5/28. A flyby of two Black Swifts at the Maxwell Rest Area was a nice surprise. As is often the case with these finds, it was a day with unsettled weather. An Allen's Hummingbird was reported at a traditional spot on private property (eBird Checklist S171783974) to the southwest of Clarksburg.
Least Bittern reports were few this spring, and limited to the Davis Wetlands and the western toe of Sherman Island at a restoration site with limited access. The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron found at North Natomas Regional Park on 4/1 continued to at least 5/3. A Broad-winged Hawk was quite a surprise at Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) on 5/6. It was perched to the west of the visitor center and then flew off with American Crows in hot pursuit.
Red-breasted Nuthatches were reported more widely than usual, and were confirmed nesting in Davis, with adults feeding young in a sycamore nest cavity (eBird Checklist S175973830). An Evening Grosbeak was a nice find along the Blue Ridge Trail on 5/12. Up to three Black-chinned Sparrows were found nearby along Rayhouse Rd in chaparral habitat, beginning with two found on 4/29, and continuing through May. The only out-of-range warbler of the month was a Northern Waterthrush found on 5/6 at CRP.
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: Lyann Comrack, Ben DeDominic, Konshau Duman, Lynette Williams Duman, Gil Ewing, Frank Fabbro, Stephen Fettig, Joshua Greenfield, Cliff Hawley, Mackenzie Hollender, Manfred Kusch, Jeri Langham, Andrew Lee, Mark Martucci, Ethan Monk, Dominik Mosur, Zane Pickus, Steve Scott, Kirk Swenson, Kevin Thomas, John Trochet, and Tom Uslan. Thanks to everyone for their reports--without them, this column would not be possible.