County Firsts

by Mike Stiles

With a county list of 464 birds, San Luis Obispo County has a bigger list than many states, yet, of the 15 California counties that touch the Pacific Ocean, our county ranks in the 50th percentile. Both Los Angeles and San Diego counties can boast of a bird list over 500, and even sparsely populated Humboldt County has a larger list than we do.

Rankings aside, it shows what an incredibly bird-rich area the west coast is, and almost any bird is likely to be seen here (if given enough eons). Despite such high numbers on the books, county first records still trickle in, but the floodgates have opened in San Luis Obispo County in 2013, with four never-before-recorded birds added to the list.

The most recent first was a Blue-winged Warbler found by Bill Bouton at Oceano State Park Campground. This beautiful warbler breeds in the northeastern corner of the United States and spends its winters in Mexico and Central America. The sighting caused quite a stir, and not just locally. With only 47 recorded sightings in California, birders came from far and wide to add this bird to their state list. As I write this, the bird is still present, but should soon continue its wayward journey.

Less than a week earlier, Curtis Marantz heard, and was able to identify by call a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. It was subsequently seen for a few days, but many birders walked away with less than satisfying views, as the bird spent its time deep in willow thickets at Montana de Oro State Park. There are only 28 accepted records for this bird that arrived from northern Canada, and is a member of the Empidonax genus, a notoriously difficult group of birds to identify. Fortunately it was very vocal, and sometimes that is an effective way to differentiate individuals to species.

In May of this year, a Gull-billed Tern was found on the beach at Oceano State Park by a snowy plover biologist. This bird is not as rare in California, it is found at the Salton Sea and coastal San Diego County, but was a first in this county. It apparently was a one day wonder, and those who searched for this bird the second day came up short.

The first of our county firsts this year was a Black Vulture found at the Morro Bay golf course in February by Mike Bush. This is the most numerous vulture in the Western Hemisphere, but only reaches the southeast portion of the United States and extreme southern Arizona. There has been a Black Vulture in neighboring Santa Barbara County since 2009, and through photographs, the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) determined that it was the same bird.

These birds are far off course. The warbler and the flycatcher are heading south in their fall migration, but for some reason have chosen the "wrong" coast to follow southward. Whatever the reason, birders delight in these rarities, and it is our guiding force to scour coastal willow migrant traps for the off chance of finding a county first record.

Any of these birds could have been easily missed, so it begs the question of just how many other, maybe even rarer birds, have stopped over in some inaccessible location, or have been simply missed by even experienced birders. We must only see a small fraction of the birds that pass through our county.

Birds of this rarity must be accepted by the CBRC in order to be included on the official county list. As of this writing the Black Vulture has been accepted while the others are waiting review. In this age of digital cameras, photographs go a long way in helping the committee determine if the identification is correct. The number of camera lenses pointed at the recent Blue-winged warbler would make any paparazzi proud.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Image by Jim Royer. Black Vulture and Gull-billed Tern Images by Mike Bush. Blue-winged Warbler image by Bill Bouton

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