By Jill Hedgecock | Photos by Jerry Britten
The Mount Diablo Bird Alliance (MDBA; formerly the Mount Diablo Audubon Society) held its 69th Central Contra Costa County (CCCC) Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Saturday, December 14, 2024. The count for the National Audubon Society began on Christmas Day 1900 and is the world’s longest-running citizen-driven wildlife census. This year about 65 MDBA volunteers documented the type and numbers of every bird seen that day, either on established routes led by a trip leader or in their backyards.
This year, local CBC volunteers persevered in particularly brutal driving rain with winds up to 40 miles per hour. The CCCC count circle is centered approximately halfway between Pleasant Hill and Clayton and is divided into 24 sections.
I joined Claudia Hein and Steve Buffi on the lower Mitchell Canyon section of the count circle. One of our target birds was the Bell’s sparrow (formerly sagebrush sparrow). Typically, it stays low and hidden in dense chaparral and sagebrush unless perched on top of the bushes singing. It is not surprising that we missed seeing the bird, given the high winds and rain. The weather also prevented us from surveying the full area due to a downed tree and hazardous conditions on a steep, muddy section of the trail.
Despite the uncomfortable conditions, there were highlights to the day, including seeing quite a few spotted towhees, California thrasher, California quail, and a wrentit. Documenting wrentit is relatively easy due to their distinctive “bouncing ball” song and are very vocal. However, they are often secretive and difficult to get a visual on. But not that day. One bird popped out of the shrubs and lingered long enough for all three of us to see it.
Still, it was a tough day.
Hein, who has surveyed this area for the CBC for over thirty years, lamented that her team usually counts up to thirty species. By day’s end, we had only found twenty. It was so quiet that at one point, Hein listed all the bird species we should be seeing.
Her favorite CBC sighting during her tenure of leading the lower Mitchell Canyon CBC, “It wasn’t a bird at all,” she said. “I found an Alameda whip snake, which was really crazy.” It is one of the rarest snakes in the East Bay region.
One person surveying Mallard Reservoir, which holds thousands of waterfowl species, recounted how several blue-winged teal were having a challenging time landing in the water, which gave the team time to distinguish the species from the green-winged teal.
Another exciting find was a northern saw-whet owl which is only the second sighting in the last 25 years.
The tally of species observed in 2024 from all Central CCC segments was officially reported as 148 species. This is one less than last year, and below the all-time high of 161 species in 2020. One more species had been observed, a Swimhoe’s white eye, but it doesn’t count as a wild bird. This introduced species from Southeast Asia has established a permanent population in southern California and sightings of it are included in the CBC for the southern end of the state, but its wild population status in northern California has not been confirmed.
It is remarkable that the volunteers essentially found the 25-year average of 149 species in such adverse weather. Bird enthusiasts or anyone wishing to learn more about the MDBA’s activities are invited to learn more about MDBA’s programs (www.mtdiablobirds.org).
Jill Hedgecock has a master’s degree in Environmental Management and a bachelor’s degree in Biology. Her love of nature inspired her to write the award-winning novel, “Rhino in the Room” and the sequel, “Queen of the Rhino.”