Saturday morning count was for the birds

Calaveras County bird counters Saturday made some interesting finds, but said bird numbers appeared to be down from last year.

The counting teams covered an area including Murphys, Avery, Arnold and portions of Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

It was the 109th season the Audubon Society has conducted its annual Christmas Bird Count.

This year’s count season ran from Dec. 14 through today. This is the 109th season of such counts.

The Central Sierra Audubon chapter sponsors and supports three different Christmas Bird Counts — one in Calaveras County and two in Tuolumne County.

This year, they were held on consecutive Saturdays — Dec. 20 through Jan. 3.

Each count is conducted within a circle 15 miles in diameter. The circle is divided into smaller sectors covered by teams of ob-servers, usually made up of two to 10 birders.

At the end of each count day, a potluck supper is held somewhere near the count circle area. The results are compiled there but tallied later.

John Turner, of James-town, said his team saw 43 different species of birds in the area of Pennsylvania Gulch, Skunk Ranch, Mount Davis and Crestview roads on Saturday.

“Our most exciting sight was a pileated woodpecker,” he said. “We don’t see them very often at this elevation.”

Nearly as large as a crow, the pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America.

Pat Pauch, of Sonora, said she was excited to see a pygmy owl.

“I don’t know if they are rare or not,” she said, “but I know it’s rare to see them. I’ve only seen one other.”

Ken Smith, of Sonora, counted birds and compiled information for the event’s coordinator, Barry Boulton, of Arnold, who was on vacation.

“I saw my first Barrows goldeneye today,” Smith said. “It was really exciting. They are usually found at very high elevations. He was with two common goldeneyes (ducks), so it was easy to confirm that he was a Barrows.”

Bill Zachman, of Groveland, said his three-person team basically covered
Sheep Ranch Road and Fullen Road between Murphys and Sheep Ranch.

“We saw 29 different species,” he said. “This season is pretty slow. Groveland and Sonora counts were down from last year.”

His most exciting find was a California thrasher. 

“I’ve never seen one in the foothills before,” he said, “only on the coast at sea level.”

The Calaveras count will be tallied later this week, Smith said, after Boulton returns from vacation.

Contact Lenore Rutherford at lrutherford@ uniondemocrat.com or 588-4585.