ARCHIVED REPORTS_1991_1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tricolored Blackbird The USFWS has designated this marsh-nesting species as a Candidate Category 2 species. Tricolored blackbirds (Agelatis tricolor) typically nest in colonies in freshwater marshes of the Central Valley. Large colonies of these birds are sometimes found nesting in small stands of emergent monocots such as the cattails in the study area's pond. The CNDDB (1991) lists the occurrence of a former nesting colony of tricolored blackbirds approximately four miles north of the proposed project site. Tricolored blackbirds could potentially nest in the study area because there is sufficient marsh vegetation around the ponds to attract a nesting colony. Alternatively, these blackbirds could nest in berry brambles along the river. Tricolored blackbird breeding habitat would not be directly impacted by changes related to the proposed project. No tricolored blackbirds were observed during the field survey, nor were signs of old nesting colonies present in the brambles or cattails in the study area. Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog The CDFG lists the foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylet, as a Species of Special Concern. Yellow-legged frogs generally live near and breed in faster-moving streams (Storer and Usinger 1963). The CNDDB (1991) contains a report for foothill yellow-legged frogs in the Mokelumne River drainage five miles north of Lodi, about midway between the frog's known distributions in the foothill ranges of the Coastal and Sierra Nevada mountains. This unusual occurrence in the mid-Central Valley is attributed-to possible waif dispersal: -- — -- It is unlikely that foothill yellow-legged frogs inhabit the study area, use the proposed project site, or would be affected by the expansion of the transfer station. Yellow Warbler e and Yellow-Breasted Chat Both the yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia brewsten) and the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) are listed by the CDFG as Species of Special Concern. Yellow warblers and yellow-breasted chats nest throughout Valley-Foothill Riparian habitat of central California; breeding densities of both species have declined in part because of the destruction of riparian habitat (Remsen 1978). The CNDDB (199 1)has no records of either species nesting in the Lodi vicinity. Since both yellow warblers and yellow-breasted chats require extensive streamside thickets with tangled underbrush for breeding habitat, it is unlikely that they breed in the study area. The small, scattered patches of blackberry and willow thickets along the Mokelumne River were not in sufficient quantity to support breeding by either species. 8