Adjacent to Folsom Lake, Falcon Crest sits on a peninsula on the south side of Folsom Lake and consists of pine and oak woodlands, grasslands and extensive lake floodplains.
Birding the Site: This is mostly easy walking with a few mild inclines. Stay on trails to avoid poison oak. Several hiking and horse trails can also be accessed from here. For more information on specific trails, visit MyFolsom.com.
Chipping Sparrow, Image by Ray Rozema
The availability of birds depends on the time of day and season. Falcon Crest is best experienced in the fall, winter, and spring when over 50 avian species can be tallied within a few hours. Fall, winter and spring are best birding as summer temperatures can be intense and species numbers lower.
A few bird highlights: Lazuli Bunting, Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wrentit, Phainopepla, Warbling and Hutton’s Vireos, Bullock’s Oriole, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Anna’s Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, White-throated Swift, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, California Scrub Jay, Bewick’s and Northern House Wrens and Rock Wrens at the mouth of Sweetwater Creek, Common Raven, American Crow, Western Wood-Pewee, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black and Say’s phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbird, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Wild Turkey, California Quail, Western Bluebird, American Robin, Rock Pigeon.
Swallows may include; Northern Rough-winged, Tree, Violet-green, Barn, and Cliff.
Warblers may include; Townsend’s, Hermit, Wilson’s, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, and Orange-crowned.
Sparrows may include; Savanna, Chipping, White-crowned, Golden-crowned, and Lark. California Towhee, Spotted Towhee.
Raptors may include; Osprey, American Kestrel, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, and Turkey Vulture.
Woodpeckers may include; Acorn, Downy, Hairy, Northern Flicker and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Sapsucker.
Eared Grebe, Image by Daniel Lee Brown
Lake birds may include; Mallard, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Great blue Heron, Great Egret, Double-crested Cormorant, Canada Goose, Common Merganser, Belted Kingfisher, Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Western Grebe, American Coot, Common Loon, American White Pelican, and several gull species.
Wildflowers are abundant in spring: globe lily, blue-eyed grass, blue dick, golden brodiaea, shooting star, johnny tuck, several species of lupines, Douglas iris, and buttercup.
Directions: From Sacramento take highway 50 eastbound towards Placerville. Take exit #30B (El Dorado Hills Blvd). Go under the overpass and continue northbound on El Dorado Hills Blvd for 4.2 miles to Green Valley Road (El Dorado Hills Blvd becomes Salmon Falls Road). Continue on Salmon Falls Road for 3 miles to a large gravel parking lot on the left, with a large wooden sign reading “Falcon Crest.” Use caution when crossing oncoming traffic. Parking is free at this time (May 2023) in the gravel parking lot, but there is also a ($10 fee) paved parking area with a porta-potty down the single lane road to the right of the gravel parking lot.
-Craig DeMartini