Sandhill Crane Overnight

This SBAS members only field trip to the San Joaquin Valley begins at noon, February 15th at the front gates of  Col. Allensworth State Historic Park. We will bird the park and surrounding area, then slowly make our way by carpool to Pixley NWR by about 4 PM. We will travel the back roads to ag ponds, farm fields and canals, looking for Burrowing Owls, raptors, and a host of other birds.

At the Pixley NWR parking lot, we will gear up, including flashlights and headlamps. This is about a 2 hour event and requires sturdy shoes and warm clothes.  Scopes are useful. We then take about a 1 mile walk on a good gravel road to the viewing platform. Along the way we will find a variety of birds on land, the shoreline, and in the ponds. At the platform we will first see large numbers of White-faced Ibis coming in to night roost. Deeper into the sunset the Sandhill Cranes will come, in large numbers separated by groups. They are vociferous and at times it can be deafening!

By the time the Cranes have settled in, it is dark and we head back to the cars. We go back as a group using our flashlights and headlamps. Once back at the parking lot, everybody is on their own for the rest of the evening.

The following morning, we meet at the headquarters of Kern NWR  at the corner of Garces Highway and Corcoran Road,  at 9 AM. We then carpool around the ponds stopping as often as necessary to enjoy the ducks, shorebirds, raptors and marsh birds. This can take as much as three hours, but people are welcome to leave whenever they like. This concludes the field trip. A big thanks to Jack Sanford for curating this trip over many years.