A Quiet Birding Hike Sans Birds: The Delta Meadows River Park Trail

Date: October 28, 2023

Place: Walnut Grove, California

Coordinates: 38.246931, -121.509139

Length: 2.7 miles

Level: easy 

 

The Sacramento River delta is a maze of sloughs and canals that separate a multitude of islands, all flat and invisible as such from ground level. It is only from the air that that maze is visible in its full, impressive magnitude. When Pappa Quail asked me where I planned to go nest after our walk at the Cosumnes River Preserve earlier that day I directed us to the Delta Meadows River Park, where I saw a short and easy hike along an offshoot of the Snodgrass Slough that was listed on the local Audubon Chapter as a good birding site. We found the trailhead with no problems and went on the hike. 

At the Trailhead

The trail was straight in and out. No ups and downs either. By the time we got there the morning chill was gone and the day got much warmer, and we welcomed the shade of the oak trees that grew on both sides of the path. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

A short distance into the hike the slough came int view, so we headed t the edge of the trail to check out what was on the water. There were a couple of anglers standing below us, trying their luck with the fish, but we didn't see much else there that belonged within the animal kingdon. 

Or at least, I didn't. Pappa Quail detected a small gray spot on the other end of the slough and identified it as a great blue heron. 

Great Blue Heron

The slough itself was pretty and I loved looking at the trees that grew along its banks. Oak trees that are not too close to one another tend to grow in unique shapes.  

Something that looked like a nest on a dead sycamore tree attracted my eye. It wasn't nesting season, and I'm not sure this thing was even a nest, but in lieu of wildlife and wildflowers on this trail, plant oddities filled my interest.

Another thing that kept me busy was collecting acorns. The oaks along the trail were a mixture of interior live oaks whose acorns are long and narrow, and valley oaks whose acorns are long and thick. Many of them were holed, indicating larvae infestation. I collected acorns that looked whole but later I found out that they all were infested.

Delta Meadows River Park Trail

The valley oaks had another infestation to deal with - that of galls. We were there in the fall so all the galls were already dry and empty of their inhabitants.

Almost without noticing we reached the end of the trail. There was a narrow path to the water through the vegetation and we descended to take a closer look.

Once again, I could see nothing in the water, but Pappa Quail did see some mergansers swimming far away.

Mergansers 

We stayed there for a short time, then ascended back to the main trail and started walking back toward the trailhead.

Delta Meadows River Park Trail

We planned to finish the day watching the cranes' fly-in at the preserve on Woodridge Road in Lodi, a place we learned about during the Sandhill Crane Festival a few years ago. We had some time before sunset though, and on our way back we discussed our options. We didn't have enough time for another hike so we decided to do some site-seeing in the historic town of Locke.

Delta Meadows Park didn't give us what was promised on that Audubon Society site I looked at. It's a nice trail, but would probably be nicer in spring time. We did see a turtle before leaving the slough behind - it was sunning itself on a log poking out of the water. 

Turtle

After this hike we passed a nice hour in Locke where we visited the local historic museum and strolled in the old downtown street. We then drove to Woodridge Road and settled alongside many other eager birders, anticipating the cranes' fly-in.

Sunset and Mount Diablo

We've been there to see that magnificent sight of many crane flocks coming in to roost in the flooded fields there, alongside geese and tundra swans and ducks. The birds however, do change plans every now and then. We sat there in the chill of the evening, watching the sky grow dark and the flocks fly overhead one by one, on their way to another roosting place. The flooded fields at Woodridge Road remained eerily quiet.

Cranes in Sunset

We did get to see the cranes this day - up close earlier at the Cosumnes River Preserve, and flying overhead on their way to their roosting place. All and all, Pappa Quail and I had a very nice day out, getting once again acquainted with the birds of the area and with each other.