 Text © Don Roberson
All photos were taken during the Birdathon
All photos © Don Roberson except as otherwise indicated |
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Text © Don Roberson
All photos were taken during the Birdathon
All photos © Don Roberson except as otherwise indicated |
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We set a new birdathon record with 252 species. Highlights and a complete listing are below. |
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| The birdathon event concluded with a fabulous countdown dinner at the Wild Bird Center (above). Heroes of the countdown include Kristina Westphal of Whole Foods Market who prepared another great dinner for 100+ participants and Jill Himonas of the Wild Bird Center. And let's focus on a couple of birdathon heroes. Every territory had unique species that were invaluable, but two birders deserve special mention. First, Steve Bailey came down from Arcata to participate in Rollo Beck days at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History last weekend, and stayed for the birdathon (that's Steve in the gray sweater at the head of the buffet line, below). He staked out the Ancient Murrelet off Pacific Grove that was seen by several, and then had 5 unique sightings of birdathon day: Northern Fulmar & Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (scoped from Pt. Joe), Red Phalarope (Forest Lake in Pebble Beach), Thayer's Gull (Marina dump) & Yellow-breasted Chat (a migrant at Laguna Grande). | ||
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| The second hero is Tim Amaral (above left, working on his list). Tim and his group saved our bacon Friday night by finding several Lesser Nighthawks over the Greenfield Road crossing of the Salinas River (they were missed at all their 'usual' spots). Then, on Saturday, Tim and his team, birding just 'above the clouds' on Fremont Peak (Carole Rose photo'd that evocative scene, above right), had a 'fall-out' of migrants that included many prized species Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Hermit Warbler and they found the bird voted "Best Bird" of the birdathon: a Gray Flycatcher that straddled the MTY/SBT county line. |
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The next important set of species are wintering species that linger late enough in April for the count, or are represented by late migrants. Two landbirds in that category are Ruby-crowned Kinglet (above left) and Fox Sparrow (above right; both photos from Chews Ridge on 29 Apr). Rarely are such late migrants so well documented as these. There were actually 5 different Ruby-crowned Kinglets found (3 at Chews Ridge, 2 at Fremont Peak) and two Fox Sparrows (singles at Chews Ridge & Junipero Serra; D. Roberson, Chris Tenney). It seems probable that our very rainy March and our mostly cool & cloudy April made for a "late" spring this year, with more of these lingering winter species present than usual. The 5 American Pipits found scattered in the county support this theory. Other late winter birds or late migrants included:
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Finally, unexpected rarities either rare anytime in Monterey County or rare because of the late April date create the most excitement and add the frosting to the list. Chipping Sparrow nests in the interior, but 3 at Carmel River mouth were vagrants and the first spring records for this site (photo above left © Bill Hill). Franklin's Gull is a very rare spring migrant through our county, so two at the Pajaro River mouth on Friday night (Matt Brady) and another there Saturday morning (above right, photo © Roger Wolfe) were both unexpected and a delight. Other unexpected bonus birds were:
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Territory leaders/participants (partial list at right). The
numbers are linked to the territories shown on the map. Boundaries are
approximate; several key spots were covered by multiple teams at different
times & tides, including all major coastal river mouths. There were
also backyard feeder watchers from Prunedale to Big Sur.
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1: Rick Fournier; Inga & Dan Labeauane, Todd
Newberry
2: Steve Rovell 3: Brian Weed and team 4: Bill Hill; Craig Hohenberger, Steve Rovell (owling) 5: Rita Carratello; Bill & Mary Rydell 6: Jessica Griffiths, Ryan Terrill; also BSOL interns plus Karen Ritchie led a public walk 7: Matt Brady 8: Blake Matheson 9: Jim Banks [mostly eastern section]; Bob Tintle & John Sorensen [mostly western section] 10: Dave Werner 11: Chris Tenney 12: Don Roberson 13: Chris Hartzell; Ame Wells 14: Tim Amaral; Larry & Carole Rose, Rich Trissel, Judy West 15: Roger Wolfe [Pajaro R. m.]; David & Jane Styer (Ft. Ord) 16: R.J. Adams led two public walks owlers and non-owlers; Steve Bailey had selected targets in Pebble Beach, scoping from Pt. Joe, at Laguna Grande & Marina dump |
| Here's our complete list for the Birdathon 2006: |
| 1 Snow Goose
2 Canada Goose 3 Cackling Goose 4 Brant 5 Wood Duck 6 Gadwall 7 American Wigeon 8 Mallard 9 Blue-winged Teal 10 Cinnamon Teal 11 Northern Shoveler 12 Northern Pintail 13 Green-winged Teal 14 Redhead 15 Ring-necked Duck 16 Greater Scaup 17 Lesser Scaup 18 Harlequin Duck 19 Surf Scoter 20 Bufflehead 21 Common Goldeneye 22 Common Merganser 23 Red-breasted Merganser 24 Ruddy Duck 25 Wild Turkey 26 Mountain Quail 27 California Quail 28 Red-throated Loon 29 Pacific Loon 30 Common Loon 31 Pied-billed Grebe 32 Horned Grebe 33 Red-necked Grebe 34 Eared Grebe 35 Western Grebe 36 Clark's Grebe 37 Black-footed Albatross 38 Northern Fulmar 39 Pink-footed Shearwater 40 Sooty Shearwater 41 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 42 Ashy Storm-Petrel 43 Brown Pelican 44 Brandt's Cormorant 45 Double-crested Cormorant 46 Pelagic Cormorant 47 American Bittern 48 Great Blue Heron 49 Great Egret 50 Snowy Egret 51 Cattle Egret 52 Green Heron 53 Black-crowned Night-Heron 54 White-faced Ibis 55 Turkey Vulture California Condor [not counted] 56 Osprey 57 White-tailed Kite 58 Bald Eagle 59 Northern Harrier 60 Sharp-shinned Hawk 61 Cooper's Hawk 62 Red-shouldered Hawk 63 Red-tailed Hawk |
64 Golden Eagle
65 American Kestrel 66 Merlin 67 Peregrine Falcon 68 Prairie Falcon 69 Virginia Rail 70 Sora 71 Common Moorhen 72 American Coot 73 Black-bellied Plover 74 Snowy Plover 75 Semipalmated Plover 76 Killdeer 77 Black Oystercatcher 78 Black-necked Stilt 79 American Avocet 80 Greater Yellowlegs 81 Solitary Sandpiper 82 Willet 83 Wandering Tattler 84 Spotted Sandpiper 85 Whimbrel 86 Long-billed Curlew 87 Marbled Godwit 88 Ruddy Turnstone 89 Black Turnstone 90 Surfbird 91 Sanderling 92 Western Sandpiper 93 Least Sandpiper 94 Dunlin 95 Short-billed Dowitcher 96 Long-billed Dowitcher 97 Wilson's Snipe 98 Wilson's Phalarope 99 Red-necked Phalarope 100 Red Phalarope 101 Franklin's Gull 102 Laughing Gull 103 Bonaparte's Gull 104 Heermann's Gull 105 Ring-billed Gull 106 California Gull 107 Herring Gull 108 Thayer's Gull 109 Western Gull 110 Glaucous-winged Gull 111 Glaucous Gull 112 Caspian Tern 113 Elegant Tern 114 Common Tern 115 Forster's Tern 116 Least Tern 117 Black Tern 118 Black Skimmer 119 Common Murre 120 Pigeon Guillemot 121 Marbled Murrelet 122 Ancient Murrelet 123 Cassin's Auklet 124 Rhinoceros Auklet 125 Rock Pigeon 126 Band-tailed Pigeon |
127 Mourning Dove
128 Eurasian Collared-Dove Red-crowned Parrot [not counted] 129 Greater Roadrunner 130 Barn Owl 131 Western Screech-Owl 132 Great Horned Owl 133 Northern Pygmy-Owl 134 Burrowing Owl 135 Spotted Owl 136 Northern Saw-whet Owl 137 Lesser Nighthawk 138 Common Poorwill 139 Vaux's Swift 140 White-throated Swift 141 Black-chinned Hummingbird 142 Anna's Hummingbird 143 Costa's Hummingbird 144 Rufous Hummingbird 145 Allen's Hummingbird 146 Belted Kingfisher 147 Acorn Woodpecker 148 Red-breasted Sapsucker 149 Nuttall's Woodpecker 150 Downy Woodpecker 151 Hairy Woodpecker 152 Northern Flicker 153 Olive-sided Flycatcher 154 Western Wood-Pewee 155 Gray Flycatcher 156 Dusky Flycatcher 157 Pacific-slope Flycatcher 158 Black Phoebe 159 Say's Phoebe 160 Ash-throated Flycatcher 161 Cassin's Kingbird 162 Western Kingbird 163 Loggerhead Shrike 164 Cassin's Vireo 165 Hutton's Vireo 166 Warbling Vireo 167 Steller's Jay 168 Western Scrub-Jay 169 Yellow-billed Magpie 170 American Crow 171 Common Raven 172 Horned Lark 173 Purple Martin 174 Tree Swallow 175 Violet-green Swallow 176 N. Rough-winged Swallow 177 Bank Swallow 178 Cliff Swallow 179 Barn Swallow 180 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 181 Oak Titmouse 182 Bushtit 183 Red-breasted Nuthatch 184 White-breasted Nuthatch 185 Pygmy Nuthatch 186 Brown Creeper 187 Rock Wren 188 Canyon Wren |
189 Bewick's Wren
190 House Wren 191 Winter Wren 192 Marsh Wren 193 American Dipper 194 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 195 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 196 Western Bluebird 197 Swainson's Thrush 198 Hermit Thrush 199 American Robin 200 Wrentit 201 Northern Mockingbird 202 California Thrasher 203 European Starling 204 American Pipit 205 Cedar Waxwing 206 Phainopepla 207 Orange-crowned Warbler 208 Nashville Warbler 209 Yellow Warbler 210 Yellow-rumped Warbler 211 Black-throated Gray Warbler 212 Townsend's Warbler 213 Hermit Warbler 214 MacGillivray's Warbler 215 Common Yellowthroat 216 Wilson's Warbler 217 Yellow-breasted Chat 218 Western Tanager 219 Spotted Towhee 220 California Towhee 221 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 222 Chipping Sparrow 223 Lark Sparrow 224 Sage Sparrow 225 Savannah Sparrow 226 Grasshopper Sparrow 227 Fox Sparrow 228 Song Sparrow 229 Lincoln's Sparrow 230 White-throated Sparrow 231 White-crowned Sparrow 232 Golden-crowned Sparrow 233 Dark-eyed Junco 234 Black-headed Grosbeak 235 Blue Grosbeak 236 Lazuli Bunting 237 Red-winged Blackbird 238 Tricolored Blackbird 239 Western Meadowlark 240 Yellow-headed Blackbird 241 Brewer's Blackbird 242 Great-tailed Grackle 243 Brown-headed Cowbird 244 Hooded Oriole 245 Bullock's Oriole 246 Purple Finch 247 House Finch 248 Pine Siskin 249 Lesser Goldfinch 250 Lawrence's Goldfinch 251 American Goldfinch 252 House Sparrow |
So we'll leave the happy group at the Birdathon dinner. Kelly Sorenson,
below left with our youngest birdathoner, Elsie, is pleased about the thousands
of dollars raised to support Ventana Wildlife Society's Big Sur Ornithology
Lab (he's the VWS executive director). And Carole Rose (below right) gets
the last laugh . . .
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| CREDITS: Many thanks to all the team leaders, observers, and
feeder-watchers for the successful effort. Thanks to Bill Hill, Carole
Rose, and Roger Wolfe for providing photos. The birdathon planning committee
was chaired by Bette Mayer, and included Audries Blake, Jessica Griffiths,
Jill Himonas, Cathy Keeran, Karen Ritchie, Carole Rose, Kelly Sorenson,
and Nellie Thorngate; Carole Rose created the artwork for our T-shirt.
Kristina Westphal was the primary cook for the great dinner. Kristina Thompson
at Del Monte Shopping Center helped with many logistics. The art show at
the Salud! Room, curated by Naomi Pollack, featured the art of Kathryn
Hannay, Karen Ritchie, Carole Rose, and Nellie Thorngate, and the photography
of Bill Hill.
We are very grateful to the many businesses who sponsored prizes and auction items: Bahama Billy's, Carole Rose Design, Corporate Kids Events, Inc., Crabtree & Evelyn, Deetjens, Del Monte Shopping Center, E&R Designs, The Fishwife, Fleet Feet Sport, Garden Health & Fitness, Green's Camera World, KAZU (90.3), Kristina Scrivini, Kowa Optimed, Inc., Michael Keeran Golf Instruction, Monterey Bay Kayaks, Monterey Bay Whale Watching, Nikon, Pentax, Rancho Canada Golf Ranch, Rite Aid, Sal & Ada Lucido, Swarovski Optics, The Bird Feeder (Santa Cruz), Theirry Thompson, Uncommon Grounds, Ventana Inn & Spa, Whole Food Market, and Wild Bird Center (Monterey). The Ventana Wildlife Society and the Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society were the overall sponsors of the this event, all proceeds of which will benefit the Big Sur Ornithology Lab. |
| * = footnote:
Most birdathons, and the original "America's Birdiest County" (ABC) event, arose out of Big Day concepts. This is an effort to see as many species as possible within one day. Formal American Birding Association Big Day rules require the effort to be within a single calendar day, but ABC initially chose a single 24-hour period that could cover parts of two days (for example, 4 pm on Friday to 4 pm on Saturday). This was fine because the Big Day concept still prevailed but shifting the 24-hour period permitted a nice "countdown" event the evening of the second day. Monterey County has fewer breeding birds that some other big counties in California (e.g., San Diego, Los Angeles, Kern) but has been able to win these "David vs Goliath" contest in head-to-head 24-hour competition due to good organization, good birders, and good luck. In recent years, the ABC event has evolved to a two-day effort and then, this year, a 3-day effort. There is talk of a ten-day affair in the future. This guarantees that the Goliath counties with the most breeding species and the most birders will always "win".... it is no longer a fair contest that depends on skill, organization, and luck with the weather. Big counties can send out waves of birders day-after-day and give everyone results by email each night. This is exactly what happened this year. According to web reports, Los Angeles County had a total list in the 190s after their first 24 hours, a list in the high 240s after their second 24 hours, and finally passed our one-day total on their third day, reaching the 260s. There is very little point in a "contest" that is stacked entirely in favor of the big boys. We're happy to take any of them on head-to-head for 24 hours, but by adding days it becomes inevitable that they'll round up all their breeding species from deserts to mountain tops. By eliminating the vagaries related to luck with weather, skill of observers in a short period, and organizational efforts, there is no contest left. We might as well forget about doing the event at all, and just compare lists of known breeding species from Breeding Bird Atlases done years before. So we've 'retired' from ABC competition as the winner and still champion of 24-hour ABC contests. |
