Putah Creek Christmas Bird Count 2024
Burrowing Owl ©Kelli O’Neill
The 54th annual Putah Creek CBC is scheduled for Sunday, December 15th, regardless of weather.
We are inviting birders of any skill level to participate. Please contact the Area Leader for the region you are interested in helping to cover (see chart below). Birders with disabilities or other accessibility concerns are encouraged to reach out to the leader of Area 9 (Lake Solano) where we will be having a stationary count. Leaders prefer to get their count teams established early; don’t wait to contact them!
We will host a sign-up and Bird ID workshop at 7pm Wednesday, Dec 4th at the Davis Senior Center. The workshop consists of a primer on bird identification and an introduction to logging birds using eBird as well as a discussion of recent count trends, including a review of climate change and forest fire impacts on the count circle.
Also join us for the Count Compilation Potluck Dinner at 7pm on Sunday, December 15th after the count. Everyone is welcome just please bring a dish to share with others.
The 15-mile diameter count circle is centered southwest of Winters, California. It is divided into 10 areas and spans parts of Yolo, Solano, and Napa Counties. This interactive map shows the areas we cover and associated birding hotspots.
Putah Creek CBC Area Leaders
| Organizer and Compiler | Bart Wickel Email Bart |
| Pre-CBC Bird ID Workshop | Zane Pickus Email Zane |
| Area 1: Lake Berryessa, Thompson Canyon, & Quail Ridge | Area Leader: Bobby Walsh Email Bobby |
| Area 2: Bray Canyon | Area Leader: Ian Taylor Email Ian |
| Area 3: North Side (Chickahominy Slough) |
Area Leader: Autumn Turner Email Autumn |
| Area 4: Winters to Monticello Dam | Area Leader: Kirk Swenson Email Kirk |
| Area 5: East Side (Putah Creek & Hwy 505) |
Area Leader: Julian Johnson Email Julian |
| Area 6: English Hills North | Area Leader: Zane Pickus Email Zane |
| Area 7: English Hills South | Area Leader: Lynette Williams Email Lynette |
| Area 8: Mt. Vaca (Mix & Gates Canyons) |
Area Leader: Sean Smith Email Sean |
| Area 9: Solano Park | Area Leader: Chris Dunford Email Chris |
| Area 10: Wragg & Cold Canyon | Area Leader: Jasen Liu Email Jasen |
Background
Yolo Bird Alliance’s Putah Creek Christmas Bird Count dates from 1971 and is one of California’s longest-running CBCs. In our 53 consecutive years of solid data collection, we have been able to identify trends for several species and to relate them to conservation issues.
- We typically have about 80 participants, making it one of the largest inland counts in California and the Central Valley.
- We typically see over 140 species.
- We have led the nation in Northern Pygmy-Owl, Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Yellow-billed Magpie, Oak Titmouse, American Robin, Lark Sparrow, and Lesser Goldfinch counts.
- We have provided important data on the effects of West Nile Virus on some species (especially Yellow-billed Magpie).
- We have generated data useful for illustrating impacts of climate change and loss of grasslands.
In 2020 during the “LNU” fire, approximately 60% of the count circle burned, including all (or nearly all) of Areas 1, 2, 8, 9, and 10, and large sections of Areas 3, 4, 6, and 7. In addition, the Central Valley has been experiencing severe drought conditions, with the period from 2020 to 2022 being the driest on record since 1896. While the counts in 2020 and 2021 revealed dramatic impacts on the bird populations, we anticipate witnessing signs of recovery in 2022.
If you are interested in the history of Christmas Bird Counts, this page on the website is helpful. Summary: instead of killing as many birds as possible during the holiday season, we now count as many as we can.
2023 Putah Creek CBC Summary
By Bart Wickel
For the 53rd time since 1971 the Putah Creek Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was successfully completed on December 17th, 2023.
Our regular count circle was covered by 89 participants distributed over 32 teams led by experienced birders accompanied by new or less experienced birders. With a collective 213 party hours we successfully covered the usual survey routes of approximately 318 miles within the count circle.
Conditions on the count day were initially quite pleasant (low of 42 F, high of 59 F) and with low winds (up to 7 mph) but around 1:30 PM a light drizzle arrived leading to suboptimal count conditions.
The final tally for this year was 142 species. This includes two species (Black-throated Sparrow and Canyon Wren) which were observed in the count week time frame.
We observed new all time high counts for California Quail (961), Mourning Doves (677), Black Phoebes (277), Say’s Phoebes (90), Orange-crowned Warblers (20), Western Tanagers (10), Great Horned Owl (134), Barn Owl, Red-tailed Hawks (235) and Cooper’s Hawks (31).
After a decade of constant decline Yellow-billed Magpie (152) and Loggerhead Shrike (9) reached their all-time low counts.
The rarest birds observed during this year’s count was a Winter Wren (area 9 – Lake Solano) and a Long-eared Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl (both in area 1 – Quail Ridge Preserve). None of these species were a first to the count.
While observing the impacts of the LNU Lightning Complex mega-fire, which burned approximately 60% of the count circle in August 2020, we continue to see sustained low numbers of Canyon Wrens (1) and California Thrashers (3). We did, however, have one Pileated Woodpecker for the first time in many years outside of the area that was burned. Wrentits (25) seem to be making their continued comeback at higher elevations compared with 11 in 2021 and 16 in 2022.
Owls: Historically our count circle has led the nation in record high numbers for Great-horned Owls during CBCs. Given concerns about potential double counting, we are following a rigorously laid out protocol that makes sure this doesn’t happen. This year we shattered our previous all time record of Great-horned Owls (134) and Barn Owls (30). For Western Screech-Owls (33) we almost tied with our all time record last year (34). Northern Pygmy-Owls (4) were lower than we expected, and for the 5th time on the count we had a Northern Saw-whet Owl as well as a Long-eared Owl (Area 1).
The strong numbers of owls and day-time birds of prey (most notably Red-tailed Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks), especially seem to be correlated with an (anecdotally) high presence of rodents in the previously burned parts of the count circle.
Waterfowl: Waterfowl numbers were unusually low, likely due to the mild conditions farther north. Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, American Coot all were at, or close to, historically low numbers.
Our eBird TRIP REPORT with 142 checklists for the day provides a more detailed overview of the species that were counted.