Surveyor – Chris Conard

Orr Ranch (limited access), Sacramento, California, US
May 31, 2025 5:08 AM – 10:50 AM
5.5 miles (one-way distance recorded)
62F, clear with hazy horizon. Calm.
Mosquitoes were distractingly abundant.
88F, sunny with light breeze at end.

I was able to run the whole route, though it was quite overgrown in spots. Saw a few deer, not many butterflies or dragonflies. Aside from Swainson’s Thrushes, no migrants were noted, although the abundance of Black-headed Grosbeaks could include some still passing through.
62 species

Wood Duck  14     A couple half grown young
Mallard  4
Hooded Merganser  2     Two females flying south from slough, low across the grasslands. Small, grayish brown. Very fast flapping, head and neck projected straight forward in a characteristic pose of the species. Jim Dunn and Nancy Sage have been finding them in Wood Duck boxes along the slough.
California Quail  3
Wild Turkey  18
Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
Mourning Dove  18
Anna’s Hummingbird  1
hummingbird sp.  1
Killdeer  6
Pied-billed Grebe  5     Very vocal
Black-crowned Night Heron  4
Snowy Egret  8
Green Heron  2     One perched in a tree at the river
Great Egret  5
Great Blue Heron  2
Turkey Vulture  2
White-tailed Kite  2
Red-shouldered Hawk  4
Swainson’s Hawk  3
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Great Horned Owl  2
Acorn Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  3
Nuttall’s Woodpecker  10
Northern Flicker  6
Western Wood-Pewee  14
Black Phoebe  7
Ash-throated Flycatcher  22     Typically abundant here. Did my best to count throughout the walk.
Western Kingbird  7
Hutton’s Vireo  1     Singing at the river. They have been scarce this year.
California Scrub-Jay  8
American Crow  5
Common Raven  2     One carrying a small bird or rodent. Likely have a nest somewhere in the forest.
Oak Titmouse  12
Tree Swallow  28
Cliff Swallow  1
Bushtit  6
Wrentit  5
White-breasted Nuthatch (Pacific)  13
Northern House Wren  110     Always abundant here in breeding season. Estimated by 5s along the survey route. Never out of earshot for a minute.
Bewick’s Wren  8     A little less conspicuous than usual
European Starling  18
Northern Mockingbird  16     Juv, short and spotty.
More conspicuous than usual, seemingly singing everywhere.
Western Bluebird  7
Swainson’s Thrush  3     The only obvious migrants of today’s survey
American Robin  26
House Finch  28
Lesser Goldfinch  1
American Goldfinch  8
Lark Sparrow  10
Song Sparrow  11
California Towhee  3     One south of slough, about here: 38.269363,-121.380712
A new location.
Spotted Towhee  50
Western Meadowlark  11
Bullock’s Oriole  24     Counted along walk
Red-winged Blackbird  60
Brown-headed Cowbird  15
Brewer’s Blackbird  6
Common Yellowthroat  7
Black-headed Grosbeak  35     Truly abundant. Perhaps some are migrants. Rarely out of earshot.
Blue Grosbeak  4     Two south of slough, west of fence line. One south of Ronneberg Meadow. A blue-headed second-year male at Cougar Wetlands.
Lazuli Bunting  8     South of slough, west of fence line. Heard and seen, ruling out Indigo. Saw two more males, two females together, and herd a couple others singing.