It’s “nursery” season in the wetlands.
Local residents will have a chance to see goslings, ducklings and other baby birds up close when docents from the Yolo Basin Foundation host a tour of the City of Davis Wetlands on May 2 from 9 to 11 a.m.
One of the many bird species making its home in the wetlands is the killdeer, a ground-nesting bird that prefers to lay its eggs loose in gravel. This makes the dirt parking lots scattered throughout the wetlands the perfect place to spot killdeer, according to a press release from the foundation.
Other nesting species likely to be spotted include American avocets, black-necked stilts, marsh wrens and western meadowlarks.
The tour will meet, rain or shine, just before 9 a.m. at the gate in front of the city’s wastewater treatment plant on County Road 28H, east of the county landfill. Organizers ask participants to bring binoculars, water and a field guide. The tour will be conducted mostly by car on firm gravel roads with a couple of optional short walks in the wetlands.
The tour is free and no reservations are required. For more information about the tour or the Yolo Basin Foundation, visit yolobasin.org.
