Monterey Christmas Bird Count

I'm not a morning person. I joke about this a lot at work, because in my line of work there are not a lot of late starts. There, I mostly have to fake it. All my friends and family are trained to call me after 10:00 a.m. on the weekend. It isn't because I'm not awake, but because I don't want to talk or be obliged to do anything before then. The one exception to this is birding. Birds tend to be most active at dawn and at dusk which is when they are either replacing the stores of energy depleted during the night or gathering reserves for the coming night. If you want to see the most birds for your effort, it usually means rising early. This is how I found myself shivering and groggy on Monday the 28th, walking along the streets of Pacific Grove.

The Christmas Bird Count is an event sponsored by the Audubon Society. Held every year around Christmas, volunteers from our local area and beyond come together to find, identify and count birds. These data, along with those from other Christmas Bird Counts from around the nation, are compiled and used to detect trends in bird populations.

Birders of all levels are welcome to participate in the Christmas Bird Count. I am relatively new; it has been six years since I participated in my first Christmas Bird Count, and my binoculars have been unused since. I am lucky enough to be friends with avid birder Steve Rovell. Steve is part of the Monterey 400 Club, a group of highly skilled birders who has seen 400 or more species in Monterey County. Steve and his friend Rob were good enough sports to let me tag along with them all day.

Birding is relatively easy and can be done from your backyard, walking through neighborhoods streets, or on a hike. As with any hobby, you can start off simply and then invest in specialized gear as your interest grows. At the minimum you will want some binoculars, comfortable footwear and a guide to local birds in your area. You can use a field guide, a fold out card, or a cell phone application, all of which are relatively inexpensive. You will want to dress for the weather too, something I failed to do properly. (Fortunately, my house guest was gallant enough to come out and meet us for a bit, and leave me with an extra shirt, jacket and hat).

Monterey County is a very birdy county, mostly because of its wide diversity of terrain and coastline. My plucky band of friends and I were joined throughout the day by other birders who had completed their counts. Our best birds were Baltimore Oriole (spotted by Rob Fowler) and Tennessee Warbler (spotted by Ryan Terrill). Both of these birds are rare for the Monterey Peninsula, though Baltimore Oriole was included in last year's count. Oddly enough, we saw both rarities in the same acacia tree.

The day concluded with the compilation dinner held at the Pacific Grove Senior Center. All of the count participants, perhaps 50 or so, came together, shed their layers of warm clothing, and enjoyed a burrito bar and hot cider as we tallied up our estimated of the birds we had seen. Don Roberson served as Master of Ceremonies, calling out bird species as participants responded with a "yes" if they had seen one or more.

For me, the most salient part of the whole day was this simple but special process. Remember, the purpose of this day was to get data with which to determine trends in bird populations. It was powerful to feel the deep concern and regret when a species name was called without any "yes" responses. Similarly, there was a shared joy when it was announced that Mountain Quail had been seen, a first for Monterey County. What a neat feeling to be part of group, young and old, that shared an avid common interest so deeply anchored in the Monterey Peninsula. The feeling was profound enough for me to be inspired to get up early more often to catch those active early morning birds....and that alone is a bit of miracle in itself.