Sat. Jan. 18, 10am-4pm

This day tour highlights several beautiful Sacramento Valley locations, including Putah Creek and Lake Solano. It starts at Winters, an old, charming valley town several miles west of I80 near Davis. We’ll stop for a snack and a walk along lush Putah Creek, looking for songbirds, woodpeckers, ducks, egrets and perhaps Kingfishers. Then we’ll head off to nearby Lake Solano. Surrounded by stunningly beautiful hill country, this wooded lake has a great variety of songbirds, woodpeckers and ducks in the warm winter months. Commonly found are mergansers, Bufflehead, Wood ducks, teal, goldeneye and Wigeon, together with grebes, cormorants, geese, herons and egrets. Woodpeckers frequently include sapsuckers, Nuttall’s, Flickers and occasionally Lewis’. Hard-to-find Phainopeplas are also occasionally seen around the lake, as are Lewis’ woodpeckers and Red-shouldered hawks. Totals for the day usually reach at least 40 different species, of every variety. Opportunities for good water bird and landscape photography. Bring lunch and drinks for a picnic at the lake, or purchase them in Winters when we arrive. Quickest route from the East Bay: take 80 to 505 north, left at Winters exit, and proceed to the center of town at Grant and Railroad Ave, where we will meet at the Putah Creek Café, 1 Main St., at 9am. Allow at least one hour for travel from San Francisco or the East Bay. You will love Winters and Lake Solano, everyone does!