East County
Eight Mile Road
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Description of the Area
Part of the San Joaquin River Delta, mostly agricultural, consisting of “islands” and “tracts” separated by waterways. This area can be a great place to bird in late winter when fields are flooded, and good numbers of waterfowl are present.
How to Get There
From I-5 take the Eight Mile Rd exit, which is located between Stockton and Lodi, and drive west.
Target Birds
Year-round: Ring-necked Pheasant, Great Blue Heron, Great and Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Sora, Common Gallinule, Great Horned Owl, American Kestrel, Tree Swallow, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat.
Summer: Swainson’s Hawk, Blue Grosbeak.
Winter: Common Loon, Western and Clark’s grebes, American White Pelican, Cattle Egret, Cackling, Greater White-fronted, Snow, and Ross’s geese, Tundra Swan, Gadwall, Cinnamon and Green-winged teals and other ducks, White-faced Ibis, White-tailed Kite, Rough-legged Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Sandhill Crane, Wilson’s Snipe and other shorebirds, Bonaparte’s and Mew Gull, Forster’s Tern, Short-eared Owl, Horned Lark, American Pipit, both crowned sparrows, Savannah and Lincoln’s sparrows, Western Meadowlark.
Migrant: Shorebirds and the usual Central Valley passerine migrants in appropriate habitat.
Rarities: Red-throated Loon, Brown Pelican, Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, Swainson’s Hawk (winter), Iceland Gull, Caspian Tern (winter), Tricolored and Yellow-headed blackbirds.
EBird Hotspot Information
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Birding At the Site
Eight Mile Rd stretches about seven miles, ending at Empire Tract Rd, a levee road that heads south until it dead-ends. All the public roads off Eight Mile Rd. dead-end and have no side roads, so you can’t get lost. Winter is by far the best season to bird, since the flooded fields attract birds.
The 2.4 mile stretch from I-5 to Rio Blanco Rd is usually uneventful—more and mores houses every year. But brushy areas near irrigation ditches can yield goodies, taking advantage of precious cover. At Rio Blanco Rd, you can turn left or right; the road goes about a mile each way along Bishop Cut. Going left (south) takes you to Paradise Point Marina (restrooms, store, café, vending machines) and beyond. At the end of this road is a marshy area that used to be good for Common Gallinule. Watch for Forster’s Tern zipping along the water. Kingfishers, cormorants, gulls, grebes and others may be present. Turning right (north) takes you along Bishop Cut to Telephone Cut (gated). This area is popular with the fishing crowd, and the adjacent fields can be productive for shorebirds in a rainy year; it is one of the best places in the county for winter Caspian Terns.
Back on Eight Mile Rd, drive 2.2 miles to Atherton Rd. Turn left (south) and enjoy the half-mile drive along Honker Cut and Disappointment Slough. King Island Resort (restrooms, store, vending machines) takes up much of the area. Look for the same birds mentioned on Rio Blanco. Additionally, if the grassy areas on the left are marshy from recent rains, some good birds may be present. Mew Gull and Cattle Egret have been present in the past, also White-faced Ibis.
Just west on Eight Mile Road is a pull-off at Correia Road. Thousands of swans can be present, as well as good numbers of geese and Sandhill Cranes. A small number of Swainson’s Hawk winter in the delta (most winter in the tropics), so keep your eyes open. That blur racing by may be a Merlin or a Peregrine Falcon. Check the harriers at dawn or dusk just in case one might be a Short-eared Owl (rare). You’ll see hordes of House Finches, starlings, blackbirds, and sparrows in this area; the kestrels keep them alert.
Continue another 2.3 miles to reach Empire Tract Rd at the end of Eight Mile Rd. Herman and Helen’s Marina (now closed) is on your right. Check the few trees for whatever you can find, especially during migration. An Olive-sided Flycatcher has been seen sitting on a high, bare branch. Marshy areas can yield Common Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens, and an occasional rail. Check the gulls for rarities, including a possible Iceland.
The ferry here to Venice Island is private, so off limits to the birding community, but you can look across!
Turning left (south) takes you a little over a bumpy road about a mile along Little Connection Slough to the Stockton Deep Water Channel. The confluence of waterways at the south end of this road has been the most likely place in the county to see a Red-throated Loon from land, especially in late winter. Clark’s and Western grebes cruise the waterways with Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, and other duck species; rafts of American Coot may contain Cinnamon Teal. The wooded area on the east side may harbor a nice variety of passerines, and the adjacent fields will be filled with wintering waterfowl, including cranes. At sunset, this could be a wonderful place to watch and listen to skeins of four species of geese fly over, but it currently has a sketchy reputation after hours.
A scope is essential for checking distant flocks of waterfowl or determining if that bird paddling way out in the channel is indeed a loon.
More Information
Timing:
Parking:
Facilities: Gas, food and restrooms are available at Park West Mall adjoining I-5, and the marinas.
Accessibility:
Dogs:
Bikes:
Others: All of the land is private, and many “No Trespassing” signs mark the private roads. Please don’t drive these roads without permission.