Birding Folsom Lake in Placer County -- Beals Point - by Bruce Webb

 

To reach the Beals Point entrance to Folsom Lake SRA from I-80, take the Douglas Boulevard (East) 6 miles to Auburn Folsom Road. Turn right (south) and in one mile, watch for the sign into Beals Point entrance at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area.

Drive past the kiosk ($3 if you don't have a pass. Usually there is nobody there before 7 A.M.)

From Beals Point, you can identify birds in three counties: Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado

This area is renowned for gull watching.
  1. Great-tailed Grackles bred at nearby Baldwin Dam Reservoir first in 1997 up to 2000. In late summer they can be seen feeding in the Beals Point parking lot area and along the shoreline around the peninsula. Other conspicuous passerines are Western Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned warblers in the parking lot trees. Rufous-crowned Sparrows can be found along the rocky dike that heads toward the dam.
  2. Looking North from the concession area is good for grebes and gulls along the shore. Check the Common Mergansers for the occasional Red-breasted. This bay is good for loons, including almost annual Pacific Loons (up to four) seen annually since 1996. Up to 14 Common Loons were seen from the tip in Winter 1998.
  3. Looking toward the El Dorado and dam sides of the lake, in winter one can see tens of thousands of gulls arriving every afternoon. In early 1998, three Glaucous Gulls were in the swarm. Species seen here include: Glaucous-winged, Herring, Thayer's, Mew, California, Ring-billed, and an intriguing mystery gull that was probably California’s first Slaty-backed Gull. Watch for hybrid gulls in the flocks. Two Surf Scoters were been seen offshore once and Red-necked Grebes in fall of 1996 and 1997. In 1997 and 1998, two Ring-billed Gulls with dayglow orange patagial markers were seen. These gulls had been marked along the Columbia River of Washington/Oregon border.
  4. Near the SW corner of the parking lot, it is possible to take the bumpy drive down to the lakeside. Some times you can drive right up to the roosting gulls. A spotting scope is recommended. Rock Wrens sing from the rocky areas. From any part of the peninsula take the time to walk the extensive almost tundra-like sloping sandy and rocky beach areas. Horned Larks, American Pipits and bluebirds and occasionally Northern Shrike can be found on these flat areas. In winter, Bald Eagles sometimes can be seen flying over the lake. Every day numbers of Turkey Vultures soar over the Dam and lake while grebes, mergansers and loons cruise the shoreline.
  5. Note: From late October through March, an incredible number of gulls can be seen streaming in over Folsom Dam to roost. The gull extravaganza begins around 3 P.M. and continues to arrive well after dusk. A fraction of these (estimated 75-100 thousand gulls) briefly roost along the shore before they fly to the middle of the lake to sleep. By morning light they are usually already gone to forage out in the Central Valley for the day.
  6. Fee camping is possible at Beals Point. The campground loop can be good for birding.