The 46 th annual Palo Alto Summer Count was held on Saturday, June 6 th , coinciding with the California Bird Atlas’s Big Weekend. Conditions were ideal – not too hot during the day, though the wind picked up in the early afternoon and made it hard to hear singing birds.
Our preliminary total on the day of the count was 147 species found. Additions since then have moved the (still) preliminary total to 152, thanks to later reports of Wood Duck, Virginia Rail, Belted Kingfisher, Swainson’s Thrush and Pine Siskin. The most exciting find was a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Monte Bello OSP, photographed by Vayun Tiwari.
The two counties spanned by the count circle were both in the top ten in terms of the number of breeding codes logged during the CBA’s Big Weekend, no doubt due in large part to the efforts of folks on the Summer Count.
Big thanks to Ann Hepenstal for organizing, the Sector leaders for coordinating their parties (Al Eisner, Mike Rogers, Ann Hepenstal, Howard Friedman, Howard Higley & Curt Bianchi), Carolyn Knight for help with permits, and Howard Higley for lending his authoritative voice to the countdown.
Do not disclose information that identifies the location of nesting birds of any species, to minimize stress on the nesting birds and the risk of vandalism or abuse.
