Tricolored Blackbirds of the Port of West Sacramento

The search for tricolored blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor) at the Port of West Sacramento along the Sacramento deep ship water channel started last year. A field biologist and I hiked out to the ship channel's levee access road via Carlin Drive in West Sacramento, hoping to detect a breeding colony across the channel in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. We walked the levee road a bit to the south, and as we were about to give up, we saw a foraging flock of about 40 tricoloreds in the non-native grassland on our side of the channel. It was late April during the volunteer-based statewide survey organized by the Audubon Society and UC Davis. We tried a few other spots along the channel, as well as within the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, but had no further luck.

Tricolored blackbird is a species of special concern that may very soon become listed as endangered, pending on a decision by the California Fish and Game Commission. Nearly endemic to the State of California, the species has faced precipitous decline over the past several decades, declining 44% between 2011 and 2014. When a friend and colleague of mine suggested we go out this year and look for them, I was eager to go back and cover some of the spots at the Port of Sacramento that my former field partner a year ago was not willing to try to access. So exactly one year and one day later, my friend and I hiked out to the same levee access road from a dirt road off Ramos Drive.

This time we went north up the levee access road instead of south, along the ship channel towards the Port of Sacramento and Washington Lake. The road is owned by the Port of Sacramento; however, not just wildlife biologists looking for blackbirds use it. We saw others running, biking, driving, and fishing along it as well, so it is one of West Sacramento's hidden recreation spots for only those who know about it. We walked about 3 miles and didn't see the blackbirds, but enjoyed the exercise and some good conversation. Then we turned off the levee road and started heading back towards the street where we had parked, in the late part of the afternoon. Pausing for a quick pit stop, I spotted the foraging flock.

About a week later, I dragged my brother and husband out to the same spot along the ship channel so I could confirm the sighting and get GPS coordinates. It was earlier in the day, and this time I took some photographs of the deep ship water channel and the habitat. I did not get a shot of the blackbirds, however, as I had three years ago in the Livermore area.

Non-native, annual grass field where the tricolored blackbirds were seen foraging

We walked along the channel and again could not find the birds. Until once again, when we turned to leave and paused for another pit stop, I saw and confirmed the identity of the tricolored blackbirds. One way to distinguish foraging tricoloreds from their almost identical looking cousins, the red-winged blackbirds (A. phoeniceus), is their flocking behavior. The tricolored flock will suddenly emerge from where they are hidden in the grass, fly back and forth in a synchronous motion, and land again in another spot in the tall grass, where they disappear from sight until they emerge again. If I was quick enough to get a scope on them or close enough to get them in my binoculars, I might have been able to see the characteristic white patch on their wings that also distinguishes them from the other blackbirds. But I didn't.

Each time I saw this flock, I saw them fly off in the direction of the ship channel. It made my colleague and I wonder if there actually is a breeding colony on the other side, and if we could somehow get access to that levee and peer over the toe drain part of Prospect Slough that separates the ship channel from the wildlife area. There was also some really lovely looking freshwater marsh habitat in this area that was beckoning us to visit. We didn't get around to it this year. I am hoping next year to not only seek a new adventure along the ship channel, but to locate a breeding colony of tricolored blackbirds in an area where they seem to be rapidly disappearing from.

Flight Over the Delta Part 2

Lindsey Slough

In part one of "Flight over the Delta", an early dense fog and President Obama's flight path to the Cyber Security Summit in Palo Alto blocked many of the views we were hoping to see from our small 4-seat fixed-wing aircraft. So my colleagues and I were very fortunate to be invited again to take to the skies for live aerial views of the landscape that our daily working lives are dedicated to. This time it was a bright and sunny day in mid April. No fog, no Obama, no Dramamine, and a map to help me figure out where we were. I could pay closer attention to the locations of the natural communities I hope will be protected and restored in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. We met at the hangar and took a different plane on this day, one with larger bubble windows. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

The photos and video I took with my iPhone will tell the rest of the story. Well, almost the rest.

Sacramento River from Hood to Courtland, CA. 

This is where the twin tunnels intake pumps would be constructed if that project goes through.

Brannan Island State Recreation Area on the Sacramento River.
This island has one of the last remaining dune habitats in the Delta.

Tip of Discovery Bay, Contra Costa County

Tyler Island and North Mokelumne River. Look closely to see Sacramento River, top.

Vernal pool-grassland complex in the Mountain House mitigation bank for species like California red-legged frog and California tiger salamander.

Some lovely riparian habitat along the San Joaquin and Stanislaus rivers, but a lot more needs to be restored here to bring back the species that once occupied this area but are now gone:

We diverted a bit from the Delta to the east to see how the reservoirs of the Sierra Nevada foothills  were doing during the drought. We probably shouldn't have been surprised by what we saw. The low water levels and exposed land are due to a record-low snow melt in the mountains. It's a little frightening when thinking about how much water is consumed in California.

New Melones Lake. Water level changed so much in a matter of weeks, I could not match this image to Google Earth.

Narrow band of Sierra Nevada snowmelt

Leaving New Melones

Camanche Reservoir with exposed islands

After our detour to the foothills, we returned to the Delta so we could get good bird's-eye views of Suisun Marsh. Suisun Marsh isn't technically within the legal Delta boundary; however, it is that part of the San Francisco Bay estuary that links the Delta with the San Pablo and San Francisco bays. It consists primarily of managed wetlands for waterfowl habitat and duck clubs, but plans have been underway to restore these diked wetlands to the historic state of a natural tidal marsh ecosystem. I had visited Suisun Marsh many times on the ground; but had never imagined how colorful it would be from the air.

Grizzly Island Wildlife Area and Roaring River Slough

Flooded island between Wheeler Island and Van Sickle Island

Montezuma Slough and the Montezuma Hills

We circled around Suisun Bay and Grizzly Bay, then headed up to Lindsey Slough and the north Delta. I took one last shot of Cache Slough and Lindsey Slough meeting up with the now-flooded Liberty Island (top of photo below):

Now the rest of the story: After reveling for a couple of hours in the air, our aircraft landed and we were told to hop out. But for some strange reason, it was super easy to jump out because there was such a wide open space. In other words, there was no door. It wasn't until we were out, standing on the tarmac, that our pilot said, "Where's the door?" Apparently, it fell off and landed somewhere in Suisun Marsh. We were all so enthralled in our habitat viewing, photographing, and video recording, none of us noticed--not even my colleague who was sitting next to it. It wasn't until we were off the plane that we realized the door was no longer there. We all got a good chuckle out of it. We were well strapped in, and the flight was low and slow, so there was no noticeable change in air temperature, pressure, or anything dangerous or scary. We were just having a little adventure that we weren't even aware of.  And now that we were back on terra firma, it was time to go back to work in the office and look forward to another adventure.