4th Annual Teen Christmas Bird Count Jan. 5, 2020

Twenty teens, parents, and leaders eagerly trekked the trails of William B. Pond Recreational Area in search of birds in the fog - a perfect time to learn how to listen for birds. 

As the walk wrapped up, the fog was burning off and we found we had a total of 59 species of birds, 11 of them being new to this count. 

Thank you to Teen Leaders/Mentors:  Craig DeMartini, Cliff Hawley, David Rosen, Sandra Steurer, and Jane Van Kessel, who made the bird world very engaging to our teens and their families. 

We ate lunch at our traditional Mexican restaurant and had our drawing for door prizes.  Thank you to the SAS membership for donating so many exciting items to choose from.  What a good way to get our teens started in the study and appreciation of birds. 

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Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Image by Larry Hickey

Trip highlights mentioned by participants included:  seeing a Cooper’s and Sharp-Shinned Hawk for comparison, flashy color on Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, very cute Bufflehead, and seeing deer swimming in the river as they crossed.  Notable finds were:  Greater White-Fronted Geese and Pine Siskins flying over, a lone Gadwall, Yellow-Billed Magpies, a Hermit Thrush, and Phainopepla.

Bufflehead,
Image by Ray Rozema

by Wendy Warren Money

Jan 4, 2020 - Kids' Christmas Bird Count

Saturday morning dawned with a thin band of rain and fog going through the Sacramento area and apparently, this discouraged some families from showing up. Thankfully, the weather cleared by the time the families arrived.

Cliff Hawley, Lynne Tweten, Dan Williams, Craig DeMartini and Larry Hickey took two teams out who were able to find 50 species. Everyone’s favorite bird was a cooperative Merlin perched for long enough that everyone was able to look through the scopes and see this beautiful falcon. Children always enjoy the turkeys and they did not disappoint with more than 20 seen by the teams. Deer, especially a stag with large antlers were also fun for the kids to see.

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Merlin,
Image by Larry Hickey

Wild Turkey
Image by Daniel Lee Brown

There were so many raffle gifts that all children were able to pick three gifts from the tables – this, of course, is always a hit. After the raffle, Rachael Cowan, the Volunteer Coordinator for Effie Yeaw, brought out Orion, a Swainson’s Hawk who can fly but sadly, is so imprinted on humans we would not be safe, so now he will be cared for permanently by Nature Center staff. He was very calm, and everyone was incredibly impressed with how beautiful he was.

All in all, the children, their families and the SAS leaders all had a grand time!