Last Monday morning, an ambitious birder said she had high hopes for seeing a bright red bird. Local birders of the hard core variety knew Sharon Reeve was hoping to see a Vermilion Flycatcher, a winter rarity that resides many miles south of the Valley. The species had been recorded only twice previously in Stanislaus County. Over a dozen birders, most of them members of the Stanislaus Audubon Society Board […]
Vermilion Flycatcher Stanislaus County
Rare Visitors Brighten Audubon Christmas Count
Most people wouldn’t give the shallow pond out near the San Joaquin River west of Modesto a second glance. But from a bird’s eye view, it’s like a table set with a holiday feast. That’s why there were Black-necked Stilts, Greater Yellowlegs, and Long-billed Dowitchers feeding along its margins on December 30, when two participants in Stanislaus Audubon Society’s annual Caswell-Westley Christmas bird count came upon the site in […]