Waterfowl Returning To Yolo Causeway After Wet January

YOLO CAUSEWAY (CBS13) — In a sign the state's four-year drought may be waning, waterfowl are returning to the area after leaving for wetter habitats.

After a dry January, the Yolo Causeway wasn't very wet last year, but now that the water is back, so are the birds, and so are bird watchers.

Diane Driessen and Mary Foe consider themselves amateurs, but they're equipped like pros.

"It's indispensable to have a bird book, a good bird book so you can see the different kinds of egrets," Driessen said.

And there's a lot to see and hear. Capt. Patrick Foy with California Fish and Wildlife says waterfowl species of all types are now flocking to the once-parched waterways throughout the region.

"Flood it and they will come," he said. "This year we are starting to see a little bit of a reverse in that trend over the last five years."

The Central Valley wildlife habitats are important to the waterfowl ecosystem, but so are rice farmers.

"In the last couple of years there hasn't been enough water to allow these same farmers to flood to the amount they've been able in the past," he said.

State agents are also on the lookout for people hunting the birds illegally.

"We're always looking out for those ones who aren't quite as vigilant about obeying the rules as the rest," he said.