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| Photo by Roger Zachery |
RESULTS - Carrizo Plain CBC (Christmas Bird Count), Dec 31, 2022
25 birders braved the blustery Carrizo Plain CBC on Dec 31st to find 5543 birds of 44 species. This is dramatically below the average 13,000 birds and 66 species found here over the past 52 years of CBC data.
Due to weather and road access, we could not survey as extensively as usual. To compare our results to prior years, we computed our findings to be 179 birds/hour and 75 birds/mile. This is significantly below average, but at least it's similar to the last two CBCs. This loss of birds is found in both the CBC and BBS (Breeding Bird Survey) data for the Carrizo Plain survey areas. Why we found only 44 species as compared to 60-plus species is of concern. Hopefully it's due to the blustery weather causing birds to be under cover.
On the bright side was seeing the glorious blue color of 157 Mountain Bluebirds along fencelines spread throughout the count circle. Contact Kathanne for the precise count of each species and where the individual birds were found. Despite hampering the count day, long-term increase in moisture coming to the Carrizo should improve the habitat leading to increased bird numbers.
Kathanne Lynch, Compiler, Carrizo Plain CBC
303-968-4750
January 9, 2023
