Sonoma County Birding: New Year’s Day at Ellis Creek

January 1 is traditionally a big birding day, as many birders are eager to re-start their year lists. We spent an afternoon with some of our favorite county birders exploring one of our favorite county hotspots, Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility in Petaluma, California.

Ellis Creek is a thriving wetlands habitat for many animals. It features a few miles of walking trails around four water treatment ponds, and on any given day a large variety of birds can be seen.
 
We arrived a bit earlier than the rest of our group, but the birds wait for no one! This bold Hermit Thrush greeted us near the entrance and took a few drinks from a puddle.

It was a gorgeous start to the year.

Marsh Wrens are a year-round staple at Ellis Creek. Walking around the reed-lined ponds, it’s hard to go 20 feet without hearing this chatter.

Though easily heard, Marsh Wrens are difficult to photograph since they tend to hide low inside the reeds and are quite quick.

We heard quiet noises coming from the pond just behind the reeds and glimpsed two Mute Swans making soft, under-the-breath snorting sounds to each other.

 

After a couple minutes, the two swans decided it was time to go and noisily took flight.

We were delighted once the SCABs arrived from their morning excursion to Bodega Bay. It’s always an honor to bird with this knowledgeable and fun-loving group, and this day was no exception!

Ellis Creek is a wonderful spot for wintering ducks. Green-winged Teals dominated the duck scene.

Here’s an audio recording from a sizable group foraging together:

Northern Shovelers were also out in numbers.

These were some of the less numerous ducks.

Can you tell whose duck butts these are?

The ponds of Ellis Creek are a great place to look and listen for rails.

This Merlin provided a brief but exciting intermission during Rail Watch 2019. It zipped by so fast that a silhouette photo was all we ended up with.

Also while deep in the throes of rail-watching, we were treated to some Peanut-buttered Grebe duet calls.

Do you hear that deep croak at the end of the Pied-billed Grebe recording above? Our best guess is a Snowy Egret, but we’re not certain. If you know, please let us know in the comments below!
 
Here’s the single croak edited out by itself.

 

Though only some of us were rewarded with momentary glimpses of a Virginia Rail, it vocalized frequently and we got a nice recording.

Not all members of the Rallidae family are so hard to see. The ponds were full of American Coots and a couple Common Gallinules.

Chalk up another great day at Ellis Creek! We’re looking forward to coming back later in January for this month’s Petaluma Wetlands Alliance bird survey.