Orr Ranch (limited access), Sacramento, California, US
Sep 27, 2025 6:08 AM – 12:31 PM
4.815 miles per eBird GPS mapping (which now automatically removes backtracking distance)
Checklist Comments: 54F to 80F. Clear and calm early. Around 8 mph wind by 10 am.
Joined by John Trochet.
We ran the full route (one-way distance recorded), which was mostly in relatively-easily-followable shape, though there were a few new large limbs that fell across the trail in the southwestern block. There was no standing water at Cougar Wetlands.
66 species (+2 other taxa)
Wood Duck 10
Wild Turkey 4 Calling
Mourning Dove 12
Anna’s Hummingbird 4
Sandhill Crane 5 Small flock heard while we were in dense forest
Killdeer 3
Greater Yellowlegs 1 Calling in the distance
White-faced Ibis 30 Flyovers
Turkey Vulture 18
White-tailed Kite 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 4
Swainson’s Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Barn Owl 1
Great Horned Owl 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 2 One flew across the river and another was in the southwest block
Downy Woodpecker 7
Nuttall’s Woodpecker 15
Northern Flicker 11
American Kestrel 5 Conspicuous today
Western Wood-Pewee 2
Western Flycatcher 1
Black Phoebe 8
Say’s Phoebe 1
Hutton’s Vireo 2 These have been scarce of late. One was near the river and the other was in the southwest block.
California Scrub-Jay 10
Yellow-billed Magpie 5
American Crow 8
Common Raven 1
Oak Titmouse 18
Barn Swallow 2
Bushtit 30 Surprisingly inconspicuous. Only one small flock well-seen, moving with 3 BTGs and 2 Townsend’s. Saw individuals loosely associated with a few warblers and, later, a flock moving between rather distant trees at the Cougar Wetlands.
Wrentit 4 Pretty quiet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 20
Northern House Wren 15
Bewick’s Wren 11
European Starling 60
Northern Mockingbird 5
Western Bluebird 8
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 28
Cedar Waxwing 6
House Finch 30
Lesser Goldfinch 8
American Goldfinch 35
Lark Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 9
Golden-crowned Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 12
Lincoln’s Sparrow 7
California Towhee 1
Spotted Towhee 38
Western Meadowlark 18
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Brewer’s Blackbird 50
blackbird sp. 60
Orange-crowned Warbler 7
MacGillivray’s Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 5
Yellow Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler 6
Townsend’s Warbler 4
Western Tanager 12