Mendota Wildlife Area (11,825 acres) in the central San Joaquin Valley, CA
www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/articles/mendota01.html
Birding:
There are more than 165 species and sub-species known to occur or reside on the area, including shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, waterfowl and wading birds.
Mammals commonly found on the area include coyotes, muskrats, beavers, minks, raccoons, weasels, black-tailed hares, cottontail rabbits, spotted and striped skunks, and ground squirrels.
Habitat management included the identification and management of wetland and upland habitats critical to many species.
Of the many species supported and encouraged by DFG's management activities at Mendota, the white-faced ibis showed one of the most significant responses through increased nesting activity.
In 1978, white-faced ibis established a rookery that has since occurred each year along with black-crowned night herons and snowy egrets. Prior to 1978, no record of nesting by white-faced ibis had been recorded in the San Joaquin Valley for about 20 years.
Since 1978, the white-faced ibis breeding population at Mendota Wildlife Area has expanded from four breeding pair in 1978 to 7,120 ibis counted during the annual fly-out survey conducted as they left the rookery in 2001.
The initial decline of white-faced ibis nesting throughout the 1950s was caused by changes in land use and loss of nesting habitat throughout the San Joaquin Valley. DFG credits the increase in semi-permanent wetlands and the irrigating of uplands which commenced in 1992.
Over the years, not only white-faced ibis have increased at Mendota. Great-blue heron numbers have increased and now Mendota Wildlife Area has five rookeries.
