This Christmas Bird Count will go down in history - not with the highest numbers of bird species seen, but with the highest - drumroll, please - numbers of BIRDERS participating ever on a Santa Barbara Count! A whopping 218 folks in 77 groups combed local beaches, sloughs, parks, reservoirs, and mountains to census bird populations during this annual event. Prior to this year, the highest number of participants was 182. It's a huge victory for Santa Barbara Audubon and for birding in our community! Congratulations to those who joined us this year for the first time and to all you loyal returnees.

What a great Count!

The weather was perfect, the day being cool and calm with a high overcast. The number of birders participating assured us that we would be able to search every nook and cranny of our Count Circle for all sorts of birds. A total of 209 bird species tallied was enough to win Santa Barbara first place in California (ahead of San Diego and Coastal Orange County with 205 each)! The traditionally very high Texas Counts at Mad Island Marsh and Guadalupe Ranch have long been out of reach for us in species totals, but I understand that Freeport, our old rival, got around 200 species. All in all, that puts Santa Barbara third in the nation in bird species found on a Christmas Count!

Grace's Warbler found in the Bella Vista Open Space. Photo courtesy Alex Abela.	Eastern Winter Wren, Butterfly Lane, Montecito. Photo courtesy Evan Caves.

This was a good year for sapsuckers: both Red-naped and Yellow-bellied were on the Count. However, it was a tough year to find many tanagers and orioles, although we did get fortunate to spot a Hooded Oriole in Hope Ranch and two Summer Tanagers - one in Isla Vista and one in Montecito. As far as numbers go, there were 46,761 birds spotted, which surprised everyone by being higher than in the most recent two Counts. Perhaps contributing to this was the unprecedented number of Brown Pelicans - a new high for the Count at well over 5,000 individuals (just go take a look at the harbor). Other species present in record high numbers were Glaucous-winged Gulls and Black Skimmers.

The bigger the CBC grows, the more organizational talents it requires. I want to thank my Compilation Committee without whom there would be no Santa Barbara Count: Dave Compton, Rebecca Coulter, Jared Dawson, Joan Murdoch, and Bill Pollock. These folks gave hours and hours of their time to volunteer for Santa Barbara Audubon and help with the Count and its compilation. I also want to thank the many out-of-town visitors who helped, and the dependable local birders that scout the area before the Count so we know where the stake-outs can be found.

Additional Count Week Sightings