Tehama County Birding Sites
by Bruce Deuel

Here are some birding areas that will get anyone new to Tehama Co. a reasonably good list. Place names and roads are as listed in the DeLorme atlas.

Coming up from the south, one of the first places one should visit is Black Butte Reservoir. It is the only consistent place I've found for shorebirds in the county, best in late summer/fall. Take the Hwy 32 exit in Orland, but turn left (west) to get to the lake. The overlook at the dam has Rock Wrens. A few ducks, egrets and other water birds can be found in the small forebay below the dam. Access points to the lake include Buckhorn Recreation Area (free unless you're camping) and the Burris Creek area. This latter is reached by taking the Newville Road to the Glenn/Tehama line and turning left. The road in essentially follows right on the county line, so you can bird both counties. This is where the best shorebirding is. If the willow patches are out of the water, good passerine migrant birding here, too. It's good for Lewis' Woodpeckers in season. Black Butte has a resident population of Clark's Grebes, supplemented by Westerns in winter. Lesser Nighthawks cruise over the campground every summer evening. Good for gulls, terns, diving ducks.

To get back to I-5 go north on Black Butte Road. Grassland passerines and hawks in winter, occasional Burrowing Owl. At Corning Road turn right to get back to the freeway, or left to explore the foothills and Coast Range. At Paskenta take Round Valley Road (USFS M4) or Toomes Camp Road (USFS M2) to get to chaparral and conifer habitats. M4 will get you higher up.

If you want more winter grassland birding you can turn northeast onto Paskenta Road from Flournoy or north onto Rawson Road just before you get to Corning. Paskenta Road is usually impassible at Red Bank Creek to passenger cars, so you should turn east on Ohm Road to get to Rawson. Once in Red Bluff, on either road, turn east on Luther to get to Main Street. Go north on Main to Dog Island Park, very good in winter (if it's not flooded) and migration for riparian habitat birds. Look for the entrance to the park on the right just past the GMC dealership near the north end of town.

Hwy 36 going in either direction is good. Going west, be sure to explore Tedoc Road which goes left or south about 2 miles before Beegum and the county line. The chaparral here is good for Sage Sparrow and Lawrence's Goldfinch has been found near the Pattymocus Butte Lookout.

In the other direction, Hwy 36 is the gateway to Lassen Park. Be sure to check out the hummingbird feeders at the store in Paynes Creek on the way up. A nice side trip is Plum Creek Road to Ponderosa Way to Panther Springs. It's my breeding bird survey route and one of the most consistent places for Northern Pygmy-Owl. The forest service campground at Battle Creek has had Pileated Woodpecker. The red fir forest past Mineral and along the park entrance road is good for Hammond's Flycatcher, Hermit Warbler, Williamson's Sapsucker. At Bluff Falls is a good spot for MacGillivray's Warbler. The chalet at the entrance usually has Clark's Nutcracker.

Further on Hwy 36 the rest area near Morgan Summit has always had a good variety of mountain stuff.

Going north out of Red Bluff on I-5 take the Jelly's Ferry Road exit. This is great in winter for Lewis' Woodpecker, Mountain Bluebird, and hawks. After you cross the Sacramento River, the road crosses another tableland, then drops down along the river again. At an obvious access point to the river is a consistent spot for California Thrasher if you haven't found it in the chaparral. A little further on is the Battle Creek Ranch with a large stockpond good for a variety of ducks. 

These spots should provide anyone with a good list of Tehama County birds.