2019 Christmas Bird Count #1: Santa Rosa (12/15/19)

It’s CBC season!!!!
 
We kicked off the season this past Sunday with Redwood Region Ornithological Society’s annual Santa Rosa Christmas Bird Count. Gloriously clear skies awaited us – a complete and welcome contrast to last year’s ultra-rainy count.

We began our count of Area 4 (Rincon Valley and the rural areas to the north) at Brush Creek Trail.

We tallied up many expected suspects bright and early: sparrows, towhees, finches, goldfinches, siskins, robins, chickadees, titmice, crows, ravens, and many more! A couple highlights included a Cooper’s Hawk zipping by, spooking up a flock of Band-tailed Pigeons, and a Merlin atop a tree-lined ridge in the distance.

Our next destination was a nearby neighborhood stop with productive feeders, and we turned up a Red-breasted Sapsucker at the adjacent creek.
 
Skyhawk Park, our third stop, produced a flyover pair of Wood Ducks and this California Towhee with some white coloration in its left wing.

Our last suburban stop was Rincon Valley Community Park. We’ve noticed foraging Brown Creepers are often completely unconcerned by nearby observers. At the park, two Brown Creepers gave the group an extended show at close range, and we watched them go about their business of probing the bark for insects, arthropods, and larvae.

We discovered a lone Snowy Egret associating with a group of American Crows and observed it for a while. Last year’s count included a single Snowy Egret at the same park – wonder if it was the same one?

We all delighted in watching the “Snegret” as it caught and consumed an earthworm.

In the afternoon, the group set off on the first of two rural routes: Alpine, Calistoga, and St. Helena Roads. We made a stop along St. Helena Road where last year, American Robins, Western Bluebirds, and Yellow-rumped Warblers covered every inch of a vineyard. This year didn’t disappoint and we were treated to the same display of intense bird activity.
 
This Western Bluebird stood out amidst an otherwise muted vineyard landscape.

The last rural route (Wallace, Foothill Ranch, and Upper Ridge Roads) produced no less than seven Red-tailed Hawks, bringing our total for the day to a whopping 17 – quite the contrast from last year’s single Red-tailed Hawk sighting!

A flock of Cedar Waxwings perched atop a tree occasionally calling as the sun began its descent.

We stopped along the drive to take in the beautiful landscape.

Many houses in the area burned in the 2017 fires and some rebuilding had taken place. As we drove by an open field adjacent to some newly developed gardens, we encountered a large mixed flock of Lesser Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, and Yellow-rumped Warblers in an end-of-day feeding frenzy.

We reached the end of the road as the sun dwindled and our count day came to a close. A flock of silhouetted Band-tailed Pigeons gave us a send-off.

The compilation dinner at Mary’s Pizza was a great opportunity to see some friendly faces and chat about the day’s highlights. Bill Doyle led the day’s tally after dinner, and the entire circle ended up with a preliminary count of 139 species – about average compared to previous years.

The 2019 Santa Rosa CBC Area 4 crew was solid, and our area count was a rousing success with 66 species tallied. We have these great guys to thank for a super fun day of birding!