Looking for a new holiday tradition? Join the Christmas Bird Count
Madrone Audubon Society invites all to join their 49th annual outing on Dec. 28
Next to a Christmas Eve candlelight church service, one of the quieter and less boisterous Christmastime traditions that’s been celebrated locally since 1967 is the Western Sonoma County Bird Count, to be held this year on Sunday, Dec. 28.
At last year’s event, sponsored by the local Madrone chapter of the National Audubon Society, almost 100 novice and advanced bird watchers spread out at 21 locations and recorded mid-winter sightings of 159 different bird species among the 28,881 birds tallied.
Equipped with binoculars, spotting scopes, thermoses of hot coffee and warm clothing, last year’s birders spread out in small teams to cover many of West County’s unique habitats, including the Sonoma Coast, Bodega Bay and the estuary of the Russian River; the deeper redwood forests along Willow, Austin and Green Valley creeks; the higher meadows along Joy Road, Freestone, Harrison Grade; and, the environs surrounding Graton and Sebastopol, among a few other locations. The map below shows the bird count areas for West County.
If you’re looking for a new or different Christmastime activity for yourself or your family, you are invited to join the Madrone Audubon Bird Count by pre-registering with John Lundblad (lohnlunchbag@gmail.com, (707) 484-8638, or Chris Grabill (cgrabill@gmail.com), the Christmas Bird Count co-coordinators.
Birdwatch participants will gather at a designated location set by their individual team leaders. As tradition, the day closes with a dinner gathering at the Sebastopol Community and Cultural Center on Morris Street next to the Laguna de Santa Rosa. The gathering begins at 4:30 p.m., with a meal at 5:30 pm, and tally and team reports beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Western Sonoma County Audubon count is part of a national and Western Hemisphere bird count that has been taking place since 1886. It is recognized as the world’s largest “citizen scientist” project and provides meaningful bird census data for a myriad of other bird and habitat studies and reports.
“Ours is a remarkable count,” said Madrone Audubon Chapter President Cindy Johnson. “We always have a high count (of separate species) because our 12-mile observation circle goes from ocean to forests and inland to Occidental and the surrounding habitats.”
“It’s very team-building and rewarding to be part of a community effort,” said Lundblad, who has been a lead coordinator for the last four years, after training with longtime leader Peter Leveque. “Historically, our Sonoma County Bird Watch has been one of the top 10 in the nation [for species diversity sightings.]”
Late December is part of a season of various bird migration patterns and does not include nesting seasons. Hence, the Christmas Bird Count often spies birds both coming and going up and down the local portion of the Pacific Flyway.
During last year’s count, participants were excited to report multiple sightings of Merlins and more than one Fox Sparrow. A flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds, estimated to number in the thousands, was sighted along the Valley Ford-Freestone Road. Surprisingly, because they’re normally so common, few Yellow-rumped Warblers and Western Bluebirds were tallied, while bird counters found a reliable assortment of local raptors including Bald Eagles, numerous American Kestrels, Ospreys, a Northern Harrier and others.
At the Jenner sand bar at the mouth of the Russian River, Lisa Hug and Don Kirker did their best to count all the resting shorebirds. They estimated seeing 800 California Gulls and a few Rock Sandpipers, a Pygmy Nuthatch and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. And that’s just a few of the 159 species logged last year.
“It’s an all-day affair,” said Johnson, “and it’s rain or shine. Sometimes it can go pretty fast and sometimes not.”
The local Christmas Bird Count welcomes all levels of experience of bird watchers, Johnson said. “Experienced birders are especially welcomed,” she added.
“We’re very welcoming for everyone to join us,” said Lundblad, a local middle school teacher. “We’re especially trying to attract younger people.”
Lundblah said that newcomers will be asked whether they prefer to identify and count shore birds or more inland songbirds and about the amount of hiking they might want to do.
“Shore birding can be a little more challenging, but some of what we do is just sit at Bodega Head,” said Lundblah. Most teams begin at 8 am, but times vary. “We always hope for good weather, but we show up anyway,” added Lundblah.
The national Audubon Society’s first Christmastime bird watch took place in 1886 in Boston and New York.
In Sonoma County, there are other bird counts conducted at this time of the year by other birding and nature conservation groups. (See the Madrone Audubon’s website for a list.)
Madrone Chapter’s Johnson and Lundblah say the annual bird tallies collected over the past decades in Sonoma County have allowed Audubon researchers, conservation biologists and government agencies to study the long-term health and status of bird populations.
“There are now surveys all across North America and now reaching parts of South America, too,” said Johnson.
This “citizen science project” provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years.
For more information about this event, reach out to John Lundblad lohnlunchbag@gmail.com, (707) 484-8638, or Chris Grabill, cgrabill@gmail.com, the Christmas Bird Count co-coordinators.
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