ANECDOTES

Read about the various counts already held this year. Compilers and coordinators (and even participants if you vet it through your compiler) please send reports on significant species, funny stories, or weather related aspects of your counts. Please limit your narrative to 250 words so others can enjoy without being overwhelmed.

Reports from Alison Sheehey on her participation in Christmas counts:

Butterbredt, Kern County - This was the first time I have done this count. I concentrated on Audubon's Kelso Creek Preserve and was taken to a new area, Frog Spring by Bob Barnes. Both were really great. The morning started chilly but warmed up nicely by afternoon. The highlight for me was the 80 Pinyon Jays that were flying back and forth over the preserve. Ernie Flores, Bob Barnes, Gary Woods, Keith Axelson, Mary Prismon, Alice and Chuck Bragg, and others from Santa Monica Bay Audubon participated in this count. (Lancaster which is partially held in Kern County the same day).

The Kern County second count was Bakersfield. My territory in the morning was Bakersfield College (BC) and Greenlawn Cemetery (GC) and Hart Park (HP) and Lake Ming (LM) in the afternoon, finishing the day at the Rose-ringed Parakeet roost at dusk. Highlights:  Red-breasted Nuthatch (BC),  Clay-colored Sparrow (Kern River Park upper picnic area - life bird), Horned Grebe and Cassin's Kingbird (LM). A neat encounter with a Red-tailed Hawk that perched right above us while we ate lunch in Hart Park, it then proceeded to eat its lunch of leftover coot while we were just feet away.

Third count was Tehachapi, no life shattering birds but I did get a few nice photos of Northern Flicker and Cedar Waxwing. I heard a lot more birds than I saw.

Fourth count was Bear Valley Springs. Best birds and most unexpected because of their number was Lawrence's Goldfinch. I thought I saw one at the Arvin Water District offices first thing in the morning but then only refound an American Goldfinch. A visit later in the day to untrimmed grape vineyards found a weedy very seedy plant that the goldfinches were feeding voraciously from. I counted 139 individuals in various vineyards and suspect many more in vineyards I didn't survey. The vineyards are home to thousands of Yellow-rumped Warblers. I counted over 4000 this year. Whew... add those numbers to the crows, ravens, and blackbirds, and this count is exhausting to do.

Fifth count, Buena Vista... I began compiling this count back in 1989 and have participated for 14 years. It covers an important and continuously degraded habitat in the southern San Joaquin Valley. This year as always the number of raptors is the highlight. Buteos, harriers, kites, ospreys, eagles, falcons, and accipiters always give a good show. Depending on water (which there was little to none this year), this count can go from a high of 120 species to a low around 89 species. This year was on the low side with only 106 species tallied. Great birds were 4 osprey, 3 golden eagles, 3 ferruginous hawks (one dark phase), and lots of harriers.

Wind was the word of the day for the sixth count Kern Valley on Sunday the 30th. Twenty-five brave souls plus 5 feeder watchers weathered the storm and found 117 species plus one form, count week produced 8 more species and one more form for a week total of 125 species plus two forms. Quite low but with several rarities. Red-necked Grebe which seem to be invading the interior of California this year. A Violet-green Swallow was extremely unusual for the Kern Valley.

The seventh and final count was South Fork on Saturday the 5th. I spent the day as a roving birder. Ended up meeting up with Al DeMartini and Dave Chilton. We spent three hours together roaming the back end of the Sprague Ranch. The drought definitely impacted this count. Few birds were to be seen but the good news is we did get rain the day before and on and off all day. I saw 3 Golden Eagles, 5 Ferruginous Hawks, and 10 Red-tailed Hawks which I expect had been blown down state due to the strong storm hitting the state. See photos from all of the counts I have done this year by clicking the links on the counts name in this narrative.

From Dan Cooper, compiler Santa Clarita CBC

After the countweek birds trickled in for the 07-08 Santa Clarita CBC in L.A. Co., we ended up with a record-breaking total of 143 species (incl. 3 countweek species).

New for the count were Red-necked Grebe, White-winged Scoter, Rough-legged Hawk (CW), Glaucous Gull (CW) and Burrowing Owl.

Remarkably similar counts were made as in the prev. two years of several species, incl. American Crow (265 this year, 211, 200), Am. Robin (40, 38, 45), and most bizarre (to me) of all, Yellow-r. Warbler (422, 474, *423*). Just weird, huh?

Notable were 999 White-throated Swifts, mainly in the Castaic area.

Non-bird highlights incl. a bobcat near a farm pond along Placerita Cyn. doing a slow-motion "robot" stalk on something in tall grass. My counting partner had laconically said "cat", and we'd let it go until I scanned into it w/ my bins. Quite a cat!