The Carrizo Plain Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on December 31, 2005. As with all CBC’s, the count area is a 15 mile diameter circle. The center point of the circle for the Carrizo Plain count is at a mid-point on Simmler Road between Soda Lake Road and Elkhorn Road. Twenty-five individuals participated in the count forming 10 parties during the day. Some of the birders started at 5:30 a.m. looking for owls in the early morning. The rest of the birders met at the Community Center/Fire Station on Soda Lake Road at 8:00 a.m. The count ended at 3:00 p.m.

The day was cloudy and rainy with a moderate wind from the northwest (10-30 mph). Temperatures ranged from 53 degrees to 58 degrees F. The total party hours equaled 39.5 hours and the total party miles were 221.5. A total of 57 species were identified. The total number of birds on count day was 5326 individuals. Soda Lake was empty due to low rainfall amount before the count period. The next Carrizo Plain CBC will be held on Saturday, December 30, 2006.

Results:

Northern Harrier-16
Cooper’s Hawk-1
Red-tailed Hawk-14
Ferruginous Hawk-9
Rough-legged Hawk-1 (count week)
American Kestrel-20
Prairie Falcon-6
Merlin-2
California Quail-22
Sandhill Crane-12 (count week)
Killdeer-2
Mountain Plover-99
American Avocet-35 (count week)
Greater Yellowlegs-4
Long-billed Curlew-155
Rock Pigeon-93
Mourning Dove-377
Greater Roadrunner-1
Barn Owl-8
Great Horned Owl-2
Burrowing Owl-2 (count week)
Long-eared Owl-2
Short-eared Owl-2
Nuttall’s Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-2
Black Pheobe-4
Say’s Pheobe-23
Horned Lark-261
Western Scrub Jay-2
Common Raven-321
Oak Titmouse-1
Rock Wren-3
Bewick’s Wren-3
House Wren-1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-1
Western Bluebird-6
Mountain Bluebird-232
Northern Mockingbird-1 (count week)
California Thrasher-5
Sage Thrasher-1
American Pipit-25
Phainopelpa-1 (count week)
Loggerhead Shrike-39
European Starling-50
Yellow-rumped Warbler-3
Spotted Towhee-2
California Towhee-1
Vesper Sparrow-8
Lark Sparrow-184
Sage Sparrow-96
Lark Bunting-1
Savannah Sparrow-853
Fox Sparrow-1
Song Sparrow-2
Golden-crowned Sparrow-1
White-crowned Sparrow-1429
Dark-eyed Junco-12
Lapland Longspur-1
Red-winged Blackbird- 40 (count week)
Western Meadowlark-661
Brewer’s Blackbird-133
House Finch-96
American Goldfinch-3
House Sparrow-23