Every fall, thousands of sandhill cranes come down out of the sky over the Delta to spend the winter in the 209. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says they reach the Delta and Central Valley in about late September and stay through fall and winter, and the Cosumnes River Preserve puts the peak in mid-December, with most of them gone by mid-March. By day they spread out to feed in fields and ponds. At dawn and dusk they fly in and out of their roosting ponds, and the evening fly-in, long lines of big grey birds dropping out of the sunset, is one of the best free things to see in the Valley all year.
When to go
The season runs from late September into March, and mid-December is the peak. The time of day matters more than the date: dawn and dusk are when the cranes move between the fields where they feed and the ponds where they spend the night. The clocks go back on November 1, so sunset at Woodbridge falls at about 5 p.m. in early November and about 4:45 by mid-December. That makes the fly-in a weeknight plan, not just a weekend one. Aim to be parked half an hour before sunset.
Woodbridge Road: the main event
CDFW's Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, also known as the Isenberg Sandhill Crane Reserve, sits in the Stockton Delta wetlands west of Lodi, a couple of minutes off I-5. It has two units. The North Site is open only to docent-led tours. The South Site is open to the public at all times, and CDFW says you can watch the cranes there any evening without a reservation.
The guided version
The North Site has a viewing shelter you can only reach with a CDFW docent. Tours run on the first three weekends of each month from October through February, skipping the festival weekend. They include a talk on the cranes and the reserve and usually end with the evening fly-in at the shelter. Reservations open at noon on the first working day of the month for the month after, so December's should open at noon on Monday, November 2. The same Lands Pass rule applies. Dates and sign-up are on CDFW's crane tour page, or email cranetours@wildlife.ca.gov.
The Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival, November 6–8
Cosumnes River Preserve: the daytime walk
Merced National Wildlife Refuge: the south end
Lesser and greater
Two kinds of sandhill crane winter here, and the photo at the top of this page, taken at Woodbridge, shows both: the smaller lesser sandhill crane and the taller greater sandhill crane. CDFW notes that the greater sandhill crane's population in California has diminished, and it was listed as a threatened species in 1983.
How to watch
Keep your distance. The Cosumnes preserve asks visitors not to disturb the birds, and binoculars or a spotting scope do the rest. Bring one more layer than you think you need, because the wetlands get cold fast once the sun is down. And give it more than one evening. The fly-in is wildlife, not a show with a start time: some nights the cranes land close, and some nights they land far out across the water.
Make an evening of it
Woodbridge Road runs out through Lodi wine country, so the fly-in pairs naturally with an afternoon at one of the Lodi tasting rooms on the wineries page. The festival even runs a Birds and Wineries tour.
More time outside
Cosumnes and the rest of the 209's trails, from valley boardwalks to foothill hikes.
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