The Morro Bay Christmas Bird Count was held last Saturday under excellent conditions -- mostly clear and sunny skies with light breezes. Thanks to nearly 130 dedicated counters we were able to tally 201 species, slightly above our long-term average. We are still awaiting verification on some species, so this total may change.
A few of the count day highlights were: Black Scoter, Redhead, Eurasian Wigeon, Mountain Quail, Bald Eagle, Spotted Owl, Long-eared Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Vermilion Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Mountain Bluebird, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Grasshopper Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Bell’s Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Hooded Oriole, and Bullock’s Oriole.
Offshore breezes in the morning made conditions difficult for sighting pelagic species such as alcids and jaegers, but some Black-vented Shearwaters were tallied nonetheless. In Morro Bay there were over 500 Brant, which was the highest count since 2013.
A big thanks to the following volunteers: Kaaren Perry, Steve McMasters, Eric Wier, and Mike Stiles for being Area Leaders; Joanne Aasen for making it so easy to use the web site to sign-up and download count information; Bert & Elaine Townsend for tracking registrations; and Connie Harms for Count Day assistance.
Jay Carroll
Count Compiler
Los Osos, CA
