We also did quite well with late gulls. Of note were:

• Mew Gulls at Pebble Beach (photo right, with Black Turnstones; © D. Roberson) and two at Big Sur R. mouth (M. Brady, A. Searcy, R. Terrill, O. Johnson)
• first-cycle Glaucous Gulls at Pt. Lobos (Bob Tintle) and the Ft. Ord beach (David & Jane Styer)
• first-cycle Thayer's Gull at Big Sur R. mouth (R. Terrill et al.)
• late Herring Gulls at various spots, including Carmel R. mouth & Pebble Beach (S.F. Bailey); Big Sur R. mouth; and Pajaro R. mouth (Steve Gerow, Nanci Adams)

The team at Big Sur R. mouth [Matt Brady, Ryan Terrill, Oscar Johnson, Adam Searcy] did so well with waders and gulls that they set a new one-day record for the Molera area (118 species).

Migrants are an important piece of any birdathon. This year we just did not have that many. Osprey was recorded surprisingly widely (including over Cone Peak! the Terrills), but we had no Merlins, Swainson's Hawk, or late raptors as we have in past years. Our scarce waders may have used the sunny weather to just fly over us (no golden-plover, no Solitary Sandpiper, no Lesser Yellowlegs, no Red Knot). Other than the Horned Puffin, almost all non-breeding alcids were missed. There was a Common Tern [Steve Gerow, Nanci Adams at Pajaro R. mouth] and an early Elegant Tern [Steve Rovell at Salinas R. mouth] but no Least or Black Terns, nor any skimmer this year.

The key linchpin to success locally, though, may be finding all the local breeders. Allen's Hummingbird (male left, from Moonglow Dairy on the birdathon © D. Roberson) is still easy to find, even if somewhat declining locally, but many local nesters can be difficult. We did locate such difficult birds as American Bittern [Karen Shihadeh at Carmel R. mouth, D. Roberson at Zmudowski]; Blue Grosbeak near San Lucas [the Kirklands]; American Dipper at Big Creek [Mike Tyner]; Golden-crowned Kinglet near Big Sur [Molera team]; and Bald Eagle, Prairie Falcon, and Burrowing Owl in south county [Dave Werner]. Most owls were heard — including Spotted & Long-eared — and Shirley Murphy watched the first flight of a baby Great Horned! But there were last minute drop-outs resulting in gaps in coverage, and for the first time ever we missed such local breeders as Northern Pintail, Lesser Nighthawk, and Hermit Thrush. Also missed were local montane birds like Flammulated Owl, Dusky Flycatcher, and Black-chinned Sparrow.

We did okay with late migrant landbirds like Yellow-headed Blackbird (one at Moonglow) and Fox, Lincoln's, and White-throated Sparrow; the latter, in the Hartzells' yard, meant that we have recorded it on our last six birdathons straight! The only Bank Swallow was a migrant near Salinas on 25 Apr [Matt Brady]. Two very scarce Calliope Hummingbirds were found: a female near Cone Peak [Scott & Linda Terrill] and one on Fremont Peak [Amaral team].

We fell about 8-9 birds short of our usual birdathon totals. In analyzing this, I'd say half of the difference was the missing local breeders, and half was the lack of scarce migrant waders, raptors, and tern. Perhaps we can 'blame' the beautiful day for the latter — they are all daytime migrants and may have not bothered to stop during such lovely weather. One other factor may be of importance. The prime Saturday this year was April 26. If you look at the dates of our other efforts on the Birdathon Portal, you will find that the prime date was 2–7 days later. It could be that we were 'barely' too early this year.

The fundraising format for this year's Birdathon was expanded. We had our traditional expert teams scouring much of Monterey County for the single 24-hour period, as highlighted above, but in addition:

• VWS offered more guided walks for the public — to places like Andrew Molera State Park, the Carmel River mouth, and Elkhorn Slough — and a morning pelagic trip to benefit BSOL was organized by Roger Wolfe and Richard Ternullo of Monterey Bay Seabirds
• The count period was extended for another six weeks for bird-watchers to raise pledges to support BSOL, culminating in
• A special evening event — with dinner and guest speaker John Moir, author of Return of the Condor — on July 12 at Portola Plaza in Monterey.

VISIT VWS's BIRDTHON 2008 PAGE FOR MORE DETAILS

This year's countdown for the 24-hour birdathon was held at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. Top birders and their teams enjoyed recounted the day's stories (below left; Steve Rovell, Craig Hohenberger, Dave Werner) and the evening's spread (below right).

A list of this year's species follows: