BIRDERS GIVE ALL IN SUCCESSFUL 2002 COUNT by Joan E. Lentz, January 2003 Santa Barbara Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count, on January 4, 2003, featured diligent pre-Count scouting, superior teamwork on Count Day, and the fabulous local enthusiasm for which we are famous. Every year, it seems, gets better than the year before! Approximately 175 observers fanned out over the 15-mile diameter Count Circle (centered at the corner of Highway 154 and Foothill Rd) and tallied an amazing 210 different kinds of birds seen or heard in the 24-hour period. The weather was divine - how lucky can we get? - after a couple of weeks of rain. The rain was great. It helped us by creating the ponds and puddles that attract waterbirds. Every Count is different. This one's secret was in the depth of species seen on the regular list. Over the years, one learns how important it is to "build the list" before you get the "rare" add-ons. And our waterfowl helped us here. So did the doves and the owls. We had all five species of doves and all five species of owls checked off.

What were some high counts for certain species? Long-billed Curlew stands out with 24, Common (now called Wilson's) Snipe with 54, and Western Gull with 4475.

On the other hand, this year we specialized in "one ofs." That is, one of each of the following: Least Bittern, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Ruddy Turnstone (what's happening with them?), Red-naped Sapsucker, Tropical Kingbird, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Phainopepla.

It was a strange year for montane birds. These species, that traditionally stay in the mountains in winter, sometimes wander to lowland areas. Although this was not a true montane flight year, we did have Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Townsend's Solitaire, a Brown Creeper, and a few Pine Siskins which helped in the total.

The Count had its share of rarities, of course. Some birds, like the Zone-tailed Hawk, returned for its 10th year in north Goleta, and the Rusty Blackbird, back for its 4th year in south Goleta, seem like old friends by now. And the Short-eared Owl on More Mesa (who knows if it's the same one or a different one every year?) was counted at dusk. But there were some new vagrants that showed up on Count Day, too. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a tree at Goleta Valley Junior High School, a Least Flycatcher on the zoo property, 2 Lewis's Woodpeckers on La Patera Ranch, 4 White-winged Doves in south Goleta, and a Black Scoter in Goleta Bay all added to the excitement. One species, the Elegant Tern, was a first for the Santa Barbara CBC. Four were seen on Count Day, a testament to possible range expansion on the part of this bird. Normally, the very similar Royal Tern is a regular winter visitor here.

Bad misses on Count Day were most oriole and grosbeak species. Perhaps the fact that the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees bloomed later in the season than normal contributed to the lack of orioles and grosbeaks, because they usually feed on the nectar of these blossoms.

This year, one of our out-of-town visitors remarked to me at the wonderful dinner at Fleischmann Auditorium, "Gee, we just don't have anything like the preparation and scouting that you all do for your Count." To that, I have to say that there is NO Christmas Count that can compare with the spirit and teamwork shown by that of Santa Barbara's. What an honor it is to work with such people as Dave Compton, Rebecca Coulter, Joan Hardie, and Chris Walden who helped me organize and compile the Count. I want to thank SBAS for sponsoring the Count, and Lee Moldaver for helping to set up the dinner. I want to thank those who scouted for days before the Count, still others who led people in groups on Count Day, and all of the beginners who said to themselves, why not go out and help count birds today?

And, in the big picture, preliminary results suggest that Santa Barbara was third nationwide, after Mad Island Marsh, TX, at 243 and Freeport, TX, at 216. Being Number Three feels terrific!

Christmas Bird Count Contacts

• Joan Lentz (969-4397)
• Karen Bridgers (964-1316)
• Joan and George Hardie (964-4090)
• Chris Walden (969-4397)

SBAS Christmas Bird Count Totals
January 4, 2003

Please note, these counts are "unofficial." For official results, please see the Audubon Science web page a little later in the year.

Loons Red-throated Loon 15 Pacific Loon 11 Common Loon 37 loon species 17 Grebes Pied-billed Grebe 68 Horned Grebe 9 Eared Grebe 27 Western Grebe 1075 Clark's Grebe 6 Shearwaters Northern Fulmar Shearwater 0 Black-vented Shearwater 64 Pelicans Brown Pelican 409 Cormorants Double-crested Cormorant 221 Brandt's Cormorant 71 Pelagic Cormorant 9 Herons American Bittern 1 Least Bittern* 1 Great Blue Heron 43 Great Egret 28 Snowy Egret 27 Cattle Egret 1 Green Heron 11 Black-crowned Night Heron 69 Swans, Geese, and Ducks Gr. White-fronted Goose 1 Snow Goose* 1 Ross's Goose* 3 Brant* 0 Canada Goose 53 Canada Goose (small race) 0 Wood Duck 3 Green-winged Teal 148 Mallard 366 Northern Pintail 36 Blue-winged Teal* 2 Cinnamon Teal 6 Northern Shoveler 157 Gadwall 102 Eursian Wigeon* 0 American Wigeon 172 Canvasback 1 Redhead 51 Ring-necked Duck 115 Greater Scaup* 1 Lesser Scaup 55 Surf Scoter 100 White-Winged Scoter* 0 Common Goldeneye 5 Bufflehead 122 Hooded Merganser 5 Common Merganser 6 Red-Breasted Merganser 13 Ruddy Duck 180 New World Vultures Turkey Vulture 115 Hawks Osprey* 0 White-tailed Kite 30 Northern Harrier 15 Sharp-shinned Harrier 17 Cooper's Hawk 17 Red-shouldered Hawk 70 Red-tailed Hawk 116 Golden Eagle 5 Falcons American Kestrel 34 Merlin 6 Peregrine Falcon* 0 Quails and Turkeys Wild Turkey 34 California Quail 151 Mountain Quail 2 Rails and Gallinules Virginia Rail 4 Sora 7 Common Moorhen 1 American Coot 696 Plovers Black-bellied Plover 114 Snowy Plover 118 Simipalmated Plover 2 Killdeer 196 Stilts and Avocets Black-necked Stilt 19 American Avocet 2 Sandpipers Greater Yellowlegs 25 Lesser Yellowlegs* 0 Willet 343 Spotted Sandpiper 6 Whimbrel 74 Long-billed Curlew 24 Marbled Godwit 297 Ruddy Turnstone 1 Black Turnstone 57 Sanderling 239 Western Sandpiper 6 Least Sandpiper 106 Dunlin 7 Long-billed Dowitcher 34 Wilson's Snipe 54 Red Phalarope* 0 Jaegers, Gulls and Terns Pomarine Jaeger* 1 Parasitic Jaeger 1 jaeger species 1 Bonaparte's Gull 8 Heermann's Gull 696 Mew Gull 81 Ring-billed Gull 301 California Gull 376 Herring Gull 3 Thayer's Gull* 2 Western Gull 4475 Glaucous-winged Gull 27 Black-legged Kittiwake* 0 Caspian Tern* 6 Royal Tern 56 Forster's Tern 83 Black Skimmer 166 Alcids Common Murre 7 Cassin's Auklet 0 Rhinoceros Auklet 27 Pigeons Rock Dove 1172 Band-tailed Pigeon 625 Spotted Dove 2 Mourning Dove 572 Common Ground-Dove 4 Cuckoos Greater Roadrunner 4 Owls Barn Owl 4 Western Screech Owl 5 Great Horned Owl 20 Northern Pygmy Owl 1 Burrowing Owl 1

Swifts White-throated Swift 299 Hummingbirds Anna's Hummingbird 824 Costa's Hummingbird* 4 Allen's Hummingbird* 1 Selasphorus sp. 2 Kingfishers Belted Kingfisher 13 Woodpeckers Acorn Woodpecker 772 Red-naped Sapsucker* 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker 13 Nuttall's Woodpecker 44 Downey Woodpecker 38 Hairy Woodpecker 9 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 115 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)* 0 Tyrant Flycatchers Black Phoebe 315 Say's Phoebe 55 Tropical Kingbird* 1 Cassin's Kingbird* 28 Larks Horned Lark 0 Jays and Crows Steller's Jay 3 Western Scrub Jay 769 Yellow-billed Magpie* 14 American Crow 1342 Common Raven 7 Chickadees and Titmice Mountain Chickadee 5 Oak Titmouse 326 Bushtits Bushtit 1977 Nuthatches Red-breasted Nuthatch 7 White-breasted Nuthatch 72 Creepers Brown Creeper 1 Wrens Rock Wren 2 Canyon Wren 13 Bewick's Wren 158 House Wren 27 Winter Wren 6 Marsh Wren 22 Old World Warblers and Thrushes Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 637 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 81 Western Bluebird 136 Townsend's Solitaire 1 Hermit Thrush 157 American Robin 715 Varied Thrush 2 Wrentit 247 Thrashers Northern Mockingbird 166 California Thrasher 102 Wagtails and Pipits American Pipit 175 Waxwings Cedar Waxwings 554 Silky Flycatchers Phainopepla 1 Shrikes Loggerhead Shrike 17 Starlings European Starling 1090 Vireos Hutton's Vireo 131 Wood Warblers, Tanagers, and Sparrows Orange-crowned Warbler 157 Nashville Warbler* 3 Yellow Warbler* 4 Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler 2915 Yellow (Myrtle) Warbler 114 Black-th. Gray Warbler 10 Townsend's Warbler 145 Hermit Warbler* 1 Palm Warbler* 1 Black-and-white Warbler* 1 Common Yellowthroat 215 Wilson's Warbler* 8 Summer Tanager* 1 Western Tanager* 4 Rose-breasted Grosbeak* 0 Black-headed Grosbeak* 0 Spotted Towhee 179 California Towhee 428 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 7 Chipping Sparrow 6 Lark Sparrow 7 Sage Sparrow 0 Savannah Sparrow 120 Fox Sparrow 49 Song Sparrow 239 Lincoln's Sparrow 37 Swamp Sparrow* 0 White-throated Sparrow* 7 Golden-crowned Sparrow 412 White-crowned Sparrow 1266 Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 614 Dark-eyed (Sl.-col.) Junco 1 Dark-eyed (Gr.-head) Junco 0 Blackbirds and Orioles Red-winged Blackbird 366 Tricolored Blackbird 3 Western Meadowlark 328 Brewer's Blackbird 303 Great-tailed Grackle 28 Brown-headed Cowbird 12 Orchard Oriole* 0 Hooded Oriole* 0 Baltimore Oriole* 0 Bullock's Oriole* 3 Scott's Oriole* 0 Finches Purple Finch 45 House Finch 1468 Pine Siskin 11 Lesser Goldfinch 477 Lawrence's Goldfinch 0 American Goldfinch 276 Old World Sparrows House Sparrow 312 Additional Species Black Scoter 1 Zone-tailed Hawk 1 Elegant Tern 4 White-winged Dove 4 Short-eared Owl 1 Lewis's Woodpecker 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Least Flycatcher 2 Barn Swallow 3 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3 Rusty Blackbird 1 Grand Total:       210 Species

Count Period Birds

1X   Lawrence's Goldfinch

Notes

* Rare, requires written description

X Seen in Count Period (3 days before and 3 days after Count Day), but not on Count Day