Date: 1/8/25 12:18 pm From: Chris McCreedy via groups.io <cmccreedy...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] Dec 17 South End of the Salton Sea (SESS) CBC results
Happy New Year, Salton Sea lovers. The South End of the Salton Sea Christmas Bird Count (SESSCBC) was held on December 17, 2024. Thank you to Raz Shafique-Sabir, Chandler Self, and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge for hosting our count. I want to also thank Clarissa Diaz and Kiewit, as well as Barbara Barry of the CDFW for providing access and to Clarissa for escorting us to the still under-construction Species Conservation Habitat project so that we could count birds there. The SCH is still not open to the public, and I am grateful that we had the chance to include the birds that are now using the SCH in our count. I am looking forward to seeing the SCH at its full potential for next year's count and beyond.
Conditions were pleasant for the count, with clear skies and hardly any wind throughout the day. Imperial County is in the midst of a moderate to severe drought, but conditions like that bring a mixed bag for our count totals, potentially trapping birds in irrigated habitats but losing birds in the natural habitats that remain within our count circle.
I apologize that it took me some time to work through and proof and summarize our count data. An eBird trip report is available at https://ebird.org/tripreport/306992. Twenty-five observers took part in the SESSCBC this year. We totaled 147 species for the 3rd year in a row; 145 on count day, and Pectoral Sandpiper and American Barn Owl during count week. The Pectoral Sandpipers were found the day before the count by Lehman and were only the 3rd report ever for the count circle.
As I wrote last year, the total number of species found on the count has dramatically declined over the past decades, largely due to the shrinking Salton Sea, its lost fish population, and the increasing difficulty in accessing the Sea. I drew up a simple regression of species and year from past counts, and we again managed to beat the trendline of around -0.91 species/year that predicted we would have finished with 145 species this year.
Handa, Pencek, Billot, Logan, Turlea, and Fisk had an excellent day, finding the SESS circle's apparent first-ever Tricolored Heron and the circle's 4th Reddish Egret. Many of us twitched the heron after the count. Heaton relocated the heron, the heron was edgy and left, then Lehman found it yet again so that more of us could tick this beauty. The Jehls reported the circles first two Swainson's Hawks. There have been several winter reports in the Imperial Valley this year, and I found 16 kettling above a power plant near the NWR HQ on December 16.
Mulrooney also returned a great day, finding a Short-billed Gull in a flooded ag field and a Wood Duck at the Imperial Irrigation Wetland Project. Keffer reported four Wood Ducks at the Pound Road hunt club. This is only the 4th year with Wood Ducks reported for the count. They seem to be in the midst of a good regional showing this winter as well, with multiple reports of up to 4 individuals in Yuma, Borrego Springs, and Palm Springs.
It was a poor year for shorebirds, Pectoral Sandpipers withstanding. We missed Snowy Plover (second miss in 25 years), and we reported our second lowest totals for Black-bellied Plover and Willet over the past 25 years. The Jehls helped us save shorebird face by finding 26 Mountain Plovers southeast of Calipatria.
Martin found the circle's first jaeger of any species at Moreton Bay. It was too distant and brief for a species call. Checking eBird, the last inland December jaeger sighting was at Lake Havasu and the Bill Williams delta in 2011.
It seemed to be a good year for waders. We tallied the highest Snowy Egret count since 1993, with Self and Damski recording 465 on the Refuge. We recorded our highest Green Heron count since 2011 and highest White-faced Ibis count since 2012, with Handa et al. reporting 1350 ibis in Sections 7/8.
I found the circle's first Red-naped Sapsucker since 2017 near Niland, while staking out a previously reported Tropical Kingbird with Gibson. We never saw the kingbird, but found 13 Western Bluebirds and a Sage Thrasher, as well the count's only American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos.
It was a good year for frugivores in general, with our second highest Phainopepla count ever, our best Western Bluebird count since 2009, and only the 6th instance of Sage Thrasher recorded on the circle, with Heaton also recording an individual in eastern Section 2.
It was heartening to record our highest ever Vermilion Flycatcher count, our highest Say's Phoebe count since 2018, the second-best American Kestrel total in the past 25 years, our best Blue-gray Gnatcatcher count since 2005, and our 3rd highest Lesser Goldfinch count (and best since 1982), driven by a big flock that Heaton found in Section 2. We recorded our 3rd highest Western Meadowlark count over the past 25 years thanks to 331 meadowlarks found by Polichar and Brauner in section 2. Lehman found the circle's first-ever dark-lored White-crowned Sparrow amidst high White-crowned Sparrow numbers around Calipatria.
On the low side, we recorded the circle's all-time lowest Lincoln's Sparrow total, and the second lowest House Wren total found on the count over the past 25 years. Sad trombone music!
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