A Half-Mile of Birds: San Joaquin River NWR's Pelican Nature Trail

There is a spot, not too far from here, where a lazy brown river once meandered sleepily across an oak-studded grassland, swelling with spring snowmelt to flood vast freshwater marshes with life-giving water.  

The natural seasonal rhythms of that once-wild river have been massively altered in the last century, its flood stemmed by upstream dams as agricultural development took hold on the fertile floodplains and now-dry oxbows.  With the water went the ecosystems it supported, and where once wide swaths of jungle-like riparian forests teemed with wildlife, there was now bare tilled earth.  

But nature has her own way, and every now and then, the river still out-maneuvered its engineers, as floodwaters topped the riverbanks, eager to return to their former floodplains - gone, perhaps, but not forgotten by the river.  

A few farmers eventually admitted defeat, selling their river-flooded dairy land to the federal government.  The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge was born.

Over the last few decades, restoration work has been underway to restore several thousand acres of land adjacent to the river, returning it to something like the state of wild freedom it once enjoyed.  The restored riparian forests and intensively engineered wetlands of today will never perfectly reflect or replace the pristine ecosystem that once flourished here, but if it functions like the intact ecosystem it once was, the restoration project can be considered a success. 

San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge

Public access to this little piece of the Great Central Valley is limited to the looping four-mile Pelican Nature Trail, which offers a glimpse of the wonders and delights hidden in this once-wild paradise.

One of my favorite outdoor activities (close to home) is to spend a leisurely morning birding the nature trail, where I regularly run up a list of over 60 species of birds in the first half-mile.  (The count really drops off after the first mile; don't expect that crazy bird-spotting pace to continue for all four miles!)

In birding, it pays to start early and go slowly.  Birds tend to be more active and vocal during the first few hours after dawn, so I try to start as close to sunrise as possible (unless it's especially cold...)  Bird activity typically slows down during mid-day, and picks up again in the evening.  When the birds are thick and I'm on my own, my birding pace drops to something like... half a mile an hour!  (Or less...)  

Start early, go slowly.  

Beginning in the parking lot, a gravel path winds through dense plantings of quail bush, coyote brush and elderberry, attractive Valley chaparral habitat for California Quail, California Thrashers, Bewick's Wrens, and sparrows, including both towhees.  Where the trail opens up and cuts through a revegetated patch of young oak trees, with an understory of chaparral, listen for wrens, finches, phoebes, warblers, jays, and more sparrows.  

Golden-crowned Sparrow

In an open area of grasses, weeds and low shrubs near the wetlands, look for birds of open country, like meadowlarks, pipits and shrikes; kestrels and kites occasionally perch nearby, while a red-shouldered hawk can sometimes be spotted watching from the trees.  Tree Swallows fill the sky over the wetland, nesting in nest boxes, and in the spring, five species of swallows can be seen swirling through the skies together, hunting the abundant aerial insects that abound here.  Keep an eye on the scruffy vegetation at the field-wetland interface, where Common Yellowthroats and Lincoln's Sparrows like to hang out.

Common Yellowthroat

When the wetlands are filled with water, expect a wide range of ducks, from dabblers to divers.  Look for all the common dabblers, including Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallards, and Cinnamon, Green-wing and Blue-wing Teal.  Also keep an eye on the deeper water for diving ducks, like goldeneye, Bufflehead, Ruddy Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks and the occasional Redhead and Canvasback.  American Coots seem to be ever-present, and fill in any gaps with their large numbers!

Keep one eye on the sky at all times: flocks of blackbirds and waterfowl, including ducks, geese and cranes, as well as pelicans, cormorants and gulls, are often seen passing overhead on their commute between patches of wetland habitat.  Northern Harriers, flying low over the wetlands, are nearly a sure thing, as are Red-tailed Hawks soaring high overhead.

When water levels are lower and mudflats are visible, be sure to scan slowly for shorebirds.  Vocal stilts and avocets can be heard chattering in groups, while sandpipers and dowitchers course together in acrobatic flocks across the shallow water.  Plover are also regulars, particularly Killdeer, while hidden snipe hunker quietly at the water's edge.  A few yellowlegs generally turn up as well.  

Great Blue Heron

While Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons are often conspicuous, be sure to watch the tules and cattails carefully for more secretive inhabitants of the marsh: bitterns, rails, night-herons and gallinules.  Listen for the maniacal laughter of the Pied-billed Grebe, the deep bass of the American Bittern, the clucking of the Virginia Rail and the whinny of the Sora: these are all signature sounds of the marsh in spring!

Sora

Along the southeastern leg of the wetland, the trail passes through a tunnel of vegetation, formed by arching willows and thick chaparral - more of the elderberry, coyote brush and wild rose that California Thrashers and Wrentits so adore.  

California Thrasher

Check the sun-dappled ground for spotted Hermit Thrushes and Fox Sparrows quietly scuffling in the leaf litter.  Warblers, kinglets, Oak Titmice, Bushtits and both Downy and Nuttall's Woodpeckers are also common along this stretch of trail, along with Northern Flickers.  Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can be heard mewing from the dense trailside chaparral, and near dawn and dusk, as well as mid-day when the sky is overcast, keep an ear open for the call of Great Horned Owls coming from the trees along the creek.

Fox Sparrow

From here, the half-mile mark, intrepid birders can continue on to possibly pick up a few more species along the river, like Belted Kingfisher hunting along the riverbank or Acorn Woodpeckers chattering in the big oak trees across the river.  I usually make the additional three-mile walk, when time allows! 

But by this point, I've probably already spent more time out there than I intended, and usually have managed to see an astounding 60 species or more!  

It's time to head back for lunch.