Date: 12/22/25 2:17 pm From: Chris Ortega via groups.io <chrisorte9a...> Subject: [EBB-Sightings] Central CCC CBC Wrap Up
The 2025 Mount Diablo Bird Alliance Central Contra Costa Christmas Bird
Count took place on December 20th, the latest in the year this count ever
happens due to the official CBC window. It saw 73 volunteers brave fog and
light rain in most areas off and on throughout the day. Collectively, they
observed 155 species, which is 6 above average for the count over the past
25 years, and 7 above last year's count, which took place in abysmal
conditions. This is perhaps especially impressive given we did not have
access to one of our most productive areas this year at the Military Ocean
Terminal Concord (MOTCO).
While there were no birds found entirely new to the count, a Caspian Tern
(seen by Harrison Allen-Suter, Ray Witbeck, Nat Weber, Fred Werner, Jon
Rosenfield, and Bill Chilson) at Mallard Reservoir is the first seen since
2017 and only the second in the last 25 years. A Northern Rough-winged
Swallow (Matt Tarlach, Alan Krakauer, Rosita Ortega) back for the second
year in a row at Central Contra Costa Sanitary District is also a count
second. 2 Common Loons at Mallard Reservoir are a third-time occurrence on
the count and the new high count for that species.
Slightly less rare, but still exciting were Short-billed Dowitchers (Matt,
Alan, Rosita, and Harrison, Ray, Nat, Fred, Jon, Bill) seen at both
McNabney Marsh and Mallard Reservoir and a Redhead (Ted Robertson) found at
Shell Pond. Shoutout also to the dozens of saves (species only recorded by
one team) on this count including Tundra Swan, Northern Pintail, American
Bittern, Bald Eagle (all observed by Ted), Wood Duck (Chris & Teri Wills,
Sandy Ritchie, Joy Dardin), Blue-winged Teal, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common
Merganser, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Glaucous-winged Gull, Iceland Gull,
Osprey, Peregrine Falcon (Harrison, Ray, Nat, Fred, Jon, Bill), Band-tailed
Pigeon, Burrowing Owl (Krista Vossekuil, JD Bergeron, Cheryl Reynolds,
Randy Harrell, Travis Harrell) Black Rail, Horned Lark, Tricolored
Blackbird (Forest Chapman), American Barn Owl (Alan Bade, Susana de
Trapaga, Maren Smith), Red-breasted Nuthatch (Robert Raffel), Canyon Wren
(Joel Herr), and Brown-headed Cowbird (Matt, Alan, Rosita).
There was one exceptionally glaring miss for the count: Golden Eagle. Going
back at least to 1994, that species has never been absent from this count
until now. The fog may have had something to do with that, but other years
have had unfavorable weather, too. Beyond the eagles, it was pretty
surprising not to have any Purple Finches or Lesser Scaups observed since
they have been recorded in more than 80% of past counts. Spotted Sandpiper,
Ferruginous Hawk, Bell’s Sparrow, Prairie Falcon, Pine Siskin, Surf Scoter,
Horned Grebe, Northern House Wren, and Golden-crowned Kinglet round out the
rest of the misses for species that had occurred on at least half of the
last 25 counts.
In terms of overall numbers, roughly half of the species counts were below
historical average and a quarter were above. That said, there were 10 new
high counts, notably including two shorebirds with 508 Long-billed
Dowitchers (26% higher than the previous high) and 458 Western Sandpipers
(154% higher). 7 Orange-crowned Warblers is 75% higher than the previous
high, with all of them coming from local parks in Pittsburg, many of which
have not traditionally been covered by this count. 27 Rufous-crowned
Sparrows is a 59% increase, and 33 California Thrashers is a 50% increase.
4 species recorded new low counts including just 5 Great Blue Herons (down
from a previous low of 7), 3 Loggerhead Shrikes (4), and 9 Northern
Harriers (11) with the harriers likely reflecting the absence of MOTCO data
this year.
There were several first-time participants as well as a pair of first-time
co-compilers, neither of whom were well enough to participate in the count,
itself! This year also saw the return of an in-person countdown dinner for
the first time since COVID-19. Thanks be to Ted Robertson and Matt Tarlach
for running the countdown dinner in the compilers' absence.
Please note that although this report has been written as though the
numbers are final, some minor changes will likely still happen as the last
bits of data come in, so check back on the eBird trip report here
https://ebird.org/tripreport/445034 to see the latest results. Everything
has to be finalized and submitted to National Audubon by the end of
February.
Good Birding,
Chris Ortega and Julia Starr
Mount Diablo Bird Alliance
CBC Compilers
