A field trip with Lake County’s chapter of Audubon, our very own Redbud Audubon, is always a walking classroom. Knowledgeable members, such as President Donna Mackiewicz and others, are always on hand to identify birds both seen and heard. A recent outing was to Upper Lake’s Reclamation Area, adjacent to the Lake County Land Trust’s Rodman Preserve, where 39 bird species were identified on a lovely autumn morning.
We reverently noted the significance of the lands where we entered the birding field trip, as it was held just west of Highway 20, where, tragically, in 1850, the Bloody Island Massacre occurred nearby. Then, Captain Nathaniel Lyon and soldiers, along with white volunteers, took over the sacred lands of the Pomo people at what was once an island called Bo-no-po-ti or Old Island. The terrible massacre was the result of previous events revolving around Kelseyville ranchers, Charles Stone and Andrew Kelsey, who used Indigenous people as free ranch labor and horribly mistreated and starved them. Today, the area is marked by State-registered landmark #407 to let people know that we will not forget what once happened here, and learn from history.
Along the Reclamation Area walk, we were treated to an astounding number of birds, including wood ducks. There were 12 sighted that day! Most of us had never seen so many! Wrentits, Lesser and American Goldfinches were flitting about in the shrubs, while a graceful white-tailed kite hunted above. Donna Mackeiwicz listed the following birds with numbers sighted on our walk, on eBird, the collaborative citizen science project:
13 Wood Duck — 5 on water and eight on a snag over the water
6 Mallard
4 California Quail
1 Anna’s Hummingbird
4 Killdeer
1 Pied-billed Grebe
1 Western Grebe
1 Clark’s Grebe
3 Double-crested Cormorant
2 Black-crowned Night Heron
3 Snowy Egret
2 Great Egret
3 Great Blue Heron
6 Turkey Vulture
1 White-tailed Kite
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Acorn Woodpecker
1 Nuttall’s Woodpecker
3 Black Phoebe
3 California Scrub-Jay
3 American Crow
1 Common Raven
5 Tree Swallow
3 Wrentit
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Northern Mockingbird
4 House Finch
10 Lesser Goldfinch
4 American Goldfinch
4 Savannah Sparrow
11 Song Sparrow
4 California Towhee
1 Spotted Towhee
4 Red-winged Blackbird
8 Brewer’s Blackbird
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
Not bad for a morning walk in Lake County, right?
These lands will, no doubt, become the homes of many more species of birds and wildlife when an important project called the Middle Creek Project is completed, and the lands become wetlands once again. The Executive Director of the Lake County Land Trust, Angela De Palma-Dow, who was with Lake County Water Resources for around seven years, explained that the Lake County Land Trust is represented on the Middle Creek Restoration Committee and that the project has undergone many names, but at its core, it is the restoration of Robinson Lake.
She directed me to a US Army Corps of Engineers Project Overview page, which explains, “The ecosystem restoration design (Recommended Plan), developed in 2004, would restore native habitats by reconnecting the Middle Creek floodplain to the historic Robinson Lake floodplain. It aims to reduce potential flood damage by removing structures and residences from the floodplain and restoring ecosystem functions and values. Lake County is working with affected landowners to relocate out of the project area.” Among other facts, the project will “Restore 1,650 acres of habitat in the Robinson Lake area; 765 acres of wetlands, 230 acres of riparian habitat, 405 acres of open water, and 250 acres of upland habitat.”
For more information on this project, you can view the fact sheet here.
Don’t you love how so many organizations are entwined, helping one another and teaching us along the way? Besides outdoor field trips, Redbud Audubon holds fascinating lectures with special expert guests on Zoom most months. For example, on a recent Zoom, Scott Harris presented ‘Raptor Quest’ in October with his beautiful photographs, stories, and more.
Audubon walks are scheduled most months and are open to both members and the public.
Membership information is on Redbud Audubon’s website and in their newsletters. You can also find them on their Facebook page.
