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The weather was amazing
during the three days of Kern County's effort in
America's Birdiest Inland County (ABIC)
competition. A happy experience for people who
want to be out in nature, but not so great for
finding birds. Migrating birds will fly night
and day with little rest on their way to
breeding grounds. When the weather is windy or
rainy, the birds are forced from their high
altitude flight down to ground level. These are
days that birders relish. On Saturday, May 8th
at one of Kern County's most amazing migratory
hotspots, Butterbredt Spring, experienced
birders estimated up to 45,000 birds flying up a
single canyon within a few hours of dawn. The
winds were horrible which pushed our feathered
friends down to where they could refuel at this
rare desert oasis and where birders could enjoy
one of nature's most amazing spectacles! This
was not the case during the ABIC but with a
yeoman's effort, the 66 participants helped find
almost every species expected in the county with
a few unexpected bonuses!
Even with beautiful weather,
it looks as though this could be the seventh
consecutive year, Kern County
wins the ABIC competition.
With 242
species currently being
reported, birders have made the county
competitive again. For
eight years birders across the country have
competed for no prizes other than bragging
rights to demonstrate their special places
across this beautiful country.
Kern County is one of North
America's biological gems a fact that many local
citizens seem to be unaware. This competition
along with the 10 Christmas Bird Counts, the six
NABA Butterfly Counts, the hordes of people that
seek to experience wildflowers around the county
are proof positive that no matter what your
interest in nature is, Kern County can provide a
magical experience.
Here are the totals
of species found in Kern County during past
counts.
2003 - 189, 2004 - , 2005
- 226, 2006 - 247, 2007 - 235, 2008 - 241, 2009
- 246
Thanks
to Bob Barnes for continuing to organize and
compile Kern County's effort in this fun competition and thanks to Mike
Wilson at Dauphin Island for organizing the
national competition again this year (who I
expect is going to need to have someone else do
the compilation this year - the first oil from
Deepwater Horizon hit their shores today).
PRELIMINARY RESULTS:
Following is the list of
242 bird species reported by the known
66
participants birding in Kern County, California
Friday, April 30 through
Sunday, May 2, 2010 time period picked to conduct
Kern County's America's Birdiest Inland County
effort.
OBSERVERS/REPORTERS: Bob Barnes, Vera Brechbiel
(Virginia), Mary
Brooks, David Chilton, Dave Clendenon, Sherryl
Clendenon, Barbara
Coley, Roger Coley, Madi Elsea, Ernie Flores
(Los Angeles Co.), Scott
Frazer, Mary Freeman (Los Angeles Co.),
Nick Freeman (Los Angeles
Co.), Wes Fritz (Santa Barbara Co.), Rob
Hansen (Tulare Co.), Ron
Holland (Riverside Co.), Cher
Hollingworth (Santa Barbara Co.),
Andrew Howe (Riverside Co.), Vernon Howe
(Riverside Co.), Liam Huber
(Butte Co.), Scott Huber (Butte Co.),
Lois Kaufman, (Maryland),
Louise Knecht, Sandy Koonce (San
Bernardino Co.), Debby Kroeger,
Jeremy Kroege, Brenda Kyle, Ken Kyle,
Denise LaBerteaux, John
Lampkin (New York), Rod Lee, Kelli
Levinson, John Lockhat (Tulare
Co.), Jim Lowery, Bill Lydecker, Tom
Maloney, Marilyn McCune, Ken
McGary (San Francisco Co.), Terri
Middlemiss, Thomas Miko (Los
Angeles Co.), Bill Moffat, Jean Moore,
John Newman, Sean Rowe,
Celeste Royer (San Luis Obispo Co.), Jim
Royer (San Luis Obispo Co.),
Tim Ruckle (Butte Co.), Natalie Schaefer
(San Luis Obispo Co.), Ross
Schaefer (San Luis Obispo Co.), John
Schmitt, Jeff Seay (Fresno Co.),
Alison Sheehey, Dale Sickles, Ed Sickles,
Brad Singer (San Bernardino
Co.), Maggie Smith (San Luis Obispo Co.),
Christine Sparks, Richard
Sparks, Cindy Stiles (San Luis Obispo
Co.), Mike Stiles (San Luis
Obispo Co.), Bill Sweetman and his tour
group (Michigan), Barb Walls,
Justin Ward (Tulare Co.), Pamela
Williams, Steve Williams, Marcia Wolfe
REPORTED SPECIES:
1
Snow Goose
2
Ross's Goose
3
Canada Goose
4
Tundra Swan
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 Lesser Scaup
17 Bufflehead
18 Common
Merganser
19 Ruddy Duck
20 Chukar
21 Ring-necked
Pheasant
22 Wild Turkey
23 Mountain
Quail
24 California
Quail
25 Common Loon
26 Pied-billed
Grebe
27 Eared Grebe
28 Western
Grebe
29 Clark's
Grebe
30 American
White Pelican
31
Double-crested Cormorant
32 American
Bittern
33 Great Blue
Heron
34 Great Egret
35 Snowy Egret
36 Cattle Egret
37 Green Heron
38
Black-crowned Night-Heron
39 White-faced
Ibis
40 Turkey
Vulture
41 California
Condor
42 Osprey
43 White-tailed
Kite
44 Bald Eagle
45 Northern
Harrier
46 Cooper's
Hawk
47 Northern
Goshawk
48
Red-shouldered Hawk
49 Swainson's
Hawk
50 Red-tailed
Hawk
51 Golden Eagle
52 American
Kestrel
53 Peregrine
Falcon
54 Prairie
Falcon
55 Virginia
Rail
56 Sora
57 Common
Moorhen
58 American
Coot
59
Black-bellied Plover
60 Semipalmated
Plover
61 Killdeer
62 Black-necked
Stilt
63 American
Avocet
64 Greater
Yellowlegs
65 Lesser
Yellowlegs
66 Solitary
Sandpiper
67 Spotted
Sandpiper
68 Whimbrel
69 Long-billed
Curlew
70 Marbled
Godwit
71 Sanderling
(unexpected)
72 Western
Sandpiper
73 Least
Sandpiper
74 Dunlin
75 Long-billed
Dowitcher
76 Wilson's
Snipe
77 Wilson's
Phalarope
78 Red-necked
Phalarope
79 Bonaparte's
Gull
80 Franklin's
Gull
81 Ring-billed
Gull
82 California
Gull
83 Caspian Tern
84 Black Tern
85 Forster's
Tern
86 Rock Pigeon
87 Band-tailed
Pigeon
88 Eurasian
Collared-Dove
89 Spotted Dove
90 Mourning
Dove
91 Common
Ground-Dove
92 Greater
Roadrunner
93 Barn Owl
94 Western
Screech-Owl
95 Great Horned
Owl
96 Northern
Pygmy-Owl
97 Burrowing
Owl
98 Spotted
Owl
99 Long-eared
Owl
100 Northern Saw-whet Owl
101 Lesser Nighthawk
102 Common Poorwill
103 Vaux's Swift
104 White-throated Swift
105 Black-chinned Hummingbird
106 Anna's Hummingbird
107 Costa's Hummingbird
108 Rufous Hummingbird
109 Belted Kingfisher
110 Lewis's Woodpecker
111 Acorn Woodpecker
112 Red-breasted Sapsucker
113 Ladder-back Woodpecker
114 Nuttall's Woodpecker
115 Downy Woodpecker
116 Hairy Woodpecker
117 White-headed Woodpecker
118 Northern Flicker
119 Pileated Woodpecker
120 Olive-sided Flycatcher
121 Western Wood-Pewee
122 Willow Flycatcher
123 Hammond's Flycatcher
124 Dusky Flycatcher
125 Gray Flycatcher
126 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
127 Black Phoebe
128 Say's Phoebe
129 Vermilion Flycatcher
130 Ash-throated Flycatcher
131 Brown-crested Flycatcher
132 Cassin's Kingbird
133 Western Kingbird
134 Loggerhead Shrike
135 Bell's Vireo
136 Plumbeous Vireo
137 Cassin's Vireo
138 Hutton's Vireo
139 Warbling Vireo
140 Steller's Jay
141 Western Scrub-Jay
142 Pinyon Jay
143 American Crow
144 Common Raven
145 Horned Lark
146 Purple Martin
147 Tree Swallow
148 Violet-green Swallow
149 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
150 Bank Swallow
151 Cliff Swallow
152 Barn Swallow
153 Mountain Chickadee
154 Oak Titmouse
155 Verdin
156 Bushtit
157 Red-breasted Nuthatch
158 White-breasted Nuthatch
159 Pygmy Nuthatch
160 Brown Creeper
161 Cactus Wren
162 Rock Wren
163 Canyon Wren
164 Bewick's Wren
165 House Wren
166 Winter Wren
167 Marsh Wren
168 American Dipper
169 Golden-crowned Kinglet
170 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
171 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
172 Western Bluebird
173 Mountain Bluebird
174 Townsend's Solitaire
175 Swainson's Thrush
176 Hermit Thrush
177 American Robin
178 Wrentit
179 Northern Mockingbird
180 Brown Thrasher
181 California Thrasher
182 Le Conte's Thrasher
183 European Starling
184 American Pipit
185 Cedar Waxwing
186 Phainopepla
187 Orange-crowned Warbler
188 Nashville Warbler
189 Virginia's Warbler
(unexpected)
190 Yellow Warbler
191 Magnolia Warbler
192 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's and Myrtle)
193 Black-throated Gray Warbler
194 Townsend's Warbler
195 Hermit Warbler
196 MacGillivray's Warbler
197 Common Yellowthroat
198 Hooded Warbler
199 Wilson's Warbler
200 Yellow-breasted Chat
201 Summer Tanager
202 Western Tanager
203 Green-tailed Towhee
204 Spotted Towhee
205 California Towhee
206 Rufous-crowned Sparrow
207 Chipping Sparrow
208 Brewer's Sparrow
209 Black-chinned Sparrow
210 Black-throated Sparrow
211 Sage Sparrow
212 Savannah Sparrow
213 Grasshopper Sparrow
214 Fox Sparrow
215 Song Sparrow
216 Lincoln's Sparrow
217 White-crowned Sparrow
218 Golden-crowned Sparrow
219 Dark-eyed Junco
220 Black-headed Grosbeak
221 Blue Grosbeak
222 Lazuli Bunting
223 Red-winged Blackbird
224 Tricolored Blackbird
225 Western Meadowlark
226 Yellow-headed Blackbird
227 Brewer's Blackbird
228 Great-tailed Grackle
229 Brown-headed Cowbird
230 Orchard Oriole
(unexpected)
231 Hooded Oriole
232 Bullock's Oriole
233 Scott's Oriole
234 Purple Finch
235 Cassin's Finch
236 House Finch
237 Pine Siskin
238 Lesser Goldfinch
239 Lawrence's Goldfinch
240 American Goldfinch
241 House Sparrow
Abundant thanks to all
participants,
Bob Barnes
Ridgecrest, Kern County, California
C: 760-382-1260
AMERICA'S BIRDIEST CITY/COUNTY
The
Rules of the Game - 2010 (From
http://www.coastalbirding.org/ABC.htm)
In order to have all teams in the "America's
Birdiest City" and "America's Birdiest County"
("ABC/C") competitions operating in the same
manner, and to insure a "level playing field"
for all participants, the following conventions
have been developed to guide "ABC/C" teams in
the field.
The
"rules of the game" are as follows:
1. All
entrants must conduct their "ABC/C" Bird-a-thon
between the dates of April 1 and May 31.
2.
"ABC/C" competitors must record all bird
identifications within the legal boundaries of
their selected city or county. For "City"
entrants, most automobile club and Thomas Bros.
maps show city limits; birding in suburbs and
in unincorporated areas is not permitted. For
both City and County entrants, be sure that
birds aloft and those identified by call are
within your city or county's boundaries.
3. For
coastal cities, the "birdable area" extends one
mile (i.e., as far as you can scope) out into
salt water (or Lake water) from the shore, or
from offshore islands that are legally a part
of the city or county involved. All birds
counted must be identified from land (this rule
results from a participants' poll taken in
2003, and mainly reflects the fact that the
participants were not at all in agreement as to
how far out into the ocean should be considered
part of a city [or county]).
4.
Each city or county that enters will select a
72-hour bird-a-thon "window" for their count.
Entries may have as many teams as they like and
teams can have as many members as they like.
All teams and participants are allowed to count
the whole 72 hour window.
5. All
birds, to be officially countable, must be
positively identified as to species by sight or
sound (the honor system is employed here). No "sps",
please (i.e., no genera/family entries, such as
"Loon, sp.").
6.
Only ABA-approved birds are countable; no
psilly psittacines, please!
7. Any
rare birds encountered should be written up,
just as at a Christmas count.
8.
"ABC/C" Bird-a-thon teams respect private
property and in general comply with all the
"rules of birding ethics" that have been
published by groups such as ABA or NAS.
9.
"ABC/C" Bird-a-thon teams must promptly provide
the coordinator (below) with a summary of their
results that includes a complete list of all
species identified. This write-up verifies your
sightings and allows a credible comparison of
results. The write-up must be received by the
coordinator by June 31, 2010.
10. To
submit your results or for more information,
contact: Mike Wilson , Dauphin Island Bird
Sanctuaries, Inc., ABC/C coordinator by email
at
ylhammer@bellsouth.net .
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