Yolo Basin Foundation

 

 

 

The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area is Closed

Due to flooding, California Department of Fish and Wildlife has closed the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area for public safety. The YBWA will re-open when conditions are safe.

 

 

 

News From the Wildlife Area

YBWA Re-Opens!

The auto tour route is now open to the check station parking lot! Parking lots E, F, G, and H will remain closed due to high water and needed repairs. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is working hard to repair the rest of the wildlife area so that it can fully re-open.

Outside of closures due to unsafe conditions, the Wildlife Area is open from sunrise to sunset every day except Christmas. Click here for changing sunrise and sunset times throughout the year in Davis.

Click here to view a map of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.

News From Yolo Basin Foundation

Flyway Nights

Wildlife Spectacles in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area
Mike Davis – Yolo Basin Foundation Volunteer
March 6, 2025 – REGISTER

If a spectacle refers to a public display of something that is dramatically eye-catching, then there are wildlife spectacles in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area that meet that definition. One of the most popular spectacles is the nightly exodus of great clouds of bats that leave their roost under the causeway to catch insects. The quarter of a million bats in the Wildlife Area is one of the largest bat colonies in the state. The return of King salmon to Putah Creek, which transverses the Wildlife Area, is a major celebratory event for our area. Runs of spawning salmon are one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth. Other spectacles include soaring white pelicans, hypnotic murmurations of blackbirds, expansive stands of the amazingly complex wildflower Downingia, and large flocks of snow geese flying in V formation, the very definition of a spectacle. But there are other spectacles that might surprise you. Join the meeting to learn more!

Mike Davis is a retired Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis, where he taught plant pathology classes as well as courses on mushroom identification and cultivation. Mike is lead author of Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. He has been a volunteer for the Yolo Basin Foundation for seven years and is a frequent visitor of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.

Yolo Basin Foundation

45211 County Road 32B (Chiles Road)
Davis, CA 95618
(530) 757-3780
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Mailing Address

Yolo Basin Foundation
P.O. Box 943
Davis, CA 95617

Yolo Basin is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Working Group and Studies

Click here for information on the YBWA Land Management Plan, Yolo Bypass Working Group, and studies related to the Yolo Bypass.

Links and Resources

Click here for links to websites that we like!
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