Lodi — perfect area for the bird fancier

The Lodi area is a veritable bird-watcher’s paradise.

The Sandhill Crane is the most famous fowl in the area, but there are so many other birds to enjoy. They include sparrows, wrens, songbirds, shorebirds, swallows and the Swainson’s hawk, which is listed as a threatened species in California, according to the Stockton Audubon Society.

Sandhill cranes at rest at the Woodbridge Ecological Preserve. (News-Sentinel file photo)

Northwest of Lodi — at the Cosumnes River Preserve off Interstate 5 — the number of birds and other critters is incredible. A small sampling at the preserve, about eight miles west of Galt and no more than a half-mile north of Thornton: vultures, quail, bluebirds, pelicans, ducks and other waterfowl, doves, owls and hummingbirds.

Here are some of the prime locations to view birds:

• Lodi Lake, Turner Road in northwest Lodi, east of Lower Sacramento Road: Wintering sparrows, wrens, thrushes, wrentit and migrating songbirds.

• Woodbridge Wilderness Area, Meadowlark Drive off Woodbridge Road, Woodbridge: Wintering sparrows, wrens, thrushes, wrentit, thrasher and migrating songbirds. One of the best spots to see the white-throated sparrow and winter wren.

• Isenberg Crane Preserve, Woodbridge Road, 2.4 miles west of Interstate 5: In the winter, large numbers of waterfowl and cranes. A good spot for the Eurasian wigeon.

• Lodi sewage ponds, west of I-5, south of Highway 12 exit: Waterfowl, shorebirds and swallows. Often a good spot for Barrow's goldeneye and the Pacific golden-plover in the winter. From the Highway 12 exit, drive east from I-5 to Thornton Road. Then go south 1.3 miles, drive west under the freeway and make an immediate left turn west of the freeway.

• White Slough, near Interstate 5 and Highway 12: Wintering sparrows, wrens, waterfowl and rails, including the black rail. Go east on Highway 12 and south on Thornton Road 1.3 miles. Then go west under I-5 and continue on the I-5 frontage road until it dead ends.

• Camanche Reservoir, east of Clements off Highways 12 and 88 in Amador and Calaveras counties: This is bald eagle and golden eagle country. Go anywhere around the reservoir, and you’ll find them perched on trees between December and March. Further east, catch them at Pardee Reservoir.

• Cosumnes River Preserve, Franklin Boulevard east of I-5 and south of Twin Cities Road: As stated on the preserve’s Web site, “Our real problem is there are so many bird species and so much data that presenting it on the Web is difficult.“

Birds found at the preserve include vultures, hawks, quail, pheasants, rails, coots, cranes, shorebirds, gulls, terns, jays, titmice, bushtits, nuthatches, wrens, bluebirds, thrushes, tanagers, warblers, buntings, grosbeaks, grebes, pelicans, herons, swans, geese, ducks, doves, cuckoos, owls, swifts, hummingbirds, kingfishers, flycatchers, larks, martins and swallows.

For more information, call the Cosumnes River Preserve at (916) 683-1700 or look up www.cosumnes.org/birdlist.htm on the Internet. Also check the Audubon Society’s Web site, www.sanjoaquinaudubon.org/#birdsightings.

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