Bird Watching WILDLIFE FINDS REFUGE AT YOLO BASIN PRESERVE
Great horned owl at Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. Photo by Mark Rakich
CR By Cathryn Rakich Animals & Their Allies
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estled 40 feet high in the branches of a willow tree, the great horned owl scrutinizes her surroundings. Two chicks are barely visible within the confines of their twisted twig nest. Despite her skyward proximity and camouflage feathers, the bird of prey comes into touchable view through a spotting scope. Her home, along with 200 other bird species, is the stateowned Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. Stretching 16,000 acres across both sides of the Yolo Causeway along
I-80 between Sacramento and Davis, the nature refuge is managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for flood control, animal and habitat protection, recreation and education. On an early summer Saturday, I join five other visitors and three docents from the nonprofit Yolo Basin Foundation for a tour of the area’s native grasslands, riparian forests and seasonal wetlands. We follow a lead guide, each in our own vehicle, along the gravel “auto
tour” loop, pulling over along the way, cameras and binoculars in hand. Red-winged blackbirds, snowy egrets, great blue herons, a red-tailed hawk, Swainson’s hawk, American white pelican and the great horned owl are among the 29 species we witness. The raptors and shorebirds are primarily year-round residents. November through January, our guide tells us, the skies and wetlands are painted solid with migrating waterfowl.
