These statistics reflect information submitted by reporting circles. As teams continue to report their Big Sit! results, the statistics on this page will change to reflect up-to-the-minute information.
Team Information: SLO Birders
Team Checklist
- Common Loon Gavia imme
- Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
- Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis
- Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis
- American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
- Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
- Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
- Great Egret Ardea alba
- Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
- Snowy Egret Egretta thula
- Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
- White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
- Brant Branta bernicla
- Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
- Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
- Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
- Northern Pintail Anas acuta
- American Wigeon Anas americana
- Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
- Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
- Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
- Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
- Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
- Osprey Pandion haliaetus
- White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
- Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
- Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
- Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
- Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
- Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
- Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
- American Kestrel Falco sparverius
- Merlin Falco columbarius
- California Quail Callipepla californica
- Virginia Rail Rallus limicola
- Sora Porzana carolina
- American Coot Fulica americana
- Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
- Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
- American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
- Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
- Willet Tringa semipalmata
- Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
- Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa
- Dunlin Calidris alpina
- Red Knot Calidris canutus
- Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
- Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
- Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
- Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
- Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
- Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
- California Gull Larus californicus
- Heermann's Gull Larus heermanni
- Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
- Herring Gull Larus argentatus
- Western Gull Larus occidentalis
- Elegant Tern Thalasseus elegans
- Common Tern Sterna hirundo
- Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
- Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
- Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
- Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Columba livia
- Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- Vaux's Swift Chaetura vauxi
- Anna's Hummingbird Calypte anna
- Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
- Nuttall's Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii
- Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
- Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
- Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
- Hutton's Vireo Vireo huttoni
- Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
- California Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
- American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
- Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
- Violet-green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
- Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
- Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
- Oak Titmouse Baeolophus inornatus
- Bushtit Psaltriparus minimus
- Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
- Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
- Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
- Wrentit Chamaea fasciata
- Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
- California Thrasher Toxostoma redivivum
- European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
- American Pipit Anthus rubescens
- Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
- Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata
- Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
- Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia
- Townsend's Warbler Setophaga townsendi
- Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
- California Towhee Melozone crissalis
- Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla
- White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
- Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
- Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus
- Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
- Brandt's Cormorant Phalacrocorax penicillatus
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
- House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
- Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
Team Notes
Participants: Bill Bouton, Karen Clarke, Petra Clayton, Tom Edell, Steve Jobst, Dave Keeling, Dave Lawrence, Ron LeCount, Susan McTaggert, Jim Royer, Ron Ruppert, Brad Schram, Steve Schubert, Maggie Smith, Mike Stiles, Linda Tanner, Deb Villa, Yolanda Waddell, Marilyn Walthers, Ron Weaver, Roger Zachary
Weather: Started clear and about 45 dgrees w/ offshore breeze, warming to 70 degrees, then onshore mid afternoon and cooler.
Location: Elfin Forest, Los Osos, California
Time At Location: 5:45 AM - 7:00 PM w/ later owling
Notes:
After 10 years of doing a big sit at this location there were still many surprises this year. Many of our reliable species were absent (due to a drought?), such as Canada Goose, W. Snipe, Killdeer, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, R-c Kinglet, and W. Meadowlark. We had 4 new species for the count - White-faced Ibis, Vaux's Swift, Steller's Jay, and Blackpoll Warbler. The vagrant Blackpoll was perhaps the least surprising of the four since its been a good fall for them here. The number of passerines in the coastal scrub of the Elfin Forest was noticeably down, but the Morro Bay estuary was as productive as usual. The flight of migrant passerines was average or better with a fair number of warblers and the largest number of swallows we have ever had at the big sit here - mostly Violet-greens. The single Vaux's Swift was with one of these swallow flocks. We had as many as 8 scopes on our platform at once and a lot of good birders so we'd like to think that we didn't miss too much. Our total of 108 species was well below our all time big sit high of 122 species. Our ten year species list for the big sit at this location now stands at 174 species.
Anecdotes:
The group organizer/compiler bicycled to the big sit to make it count for his big green big year (BIGBY), but got 2 flat tires riding in the dark to arrive before dawn (he had to repair both tires before the end of the day so he could ride home and be able to count his 2 new BIGBY birds). Nevertheless, it was a fun day of birding with displays by an adult Peregrine Falcon (calling at a Red-tail, and diving on and screaming at a harrier). We watched this Peregrine and an immature Merlin hunt along the estuary. An Osprey caught a fish in the bay and flew by our perch as if to show off its catch. Twenty-one counters made it a fun day of birding, eating, drinking, and more birding. While things slowed in mid afternoon with the tide being very low, they picked up with a small flurry of sightings just before the light faded at dusk. The few who lasted to the end, toasted with champagne to the beautiful sunset behind the sandspit that separates Morro Bay from the not-so-Pacific Ocean. We had a group name contest to replace the not so creative SLO Birders. "Bay Watch" will be our team name starting next year.
