It's the Number that Counts

by Ruth Ann Angus

Christmas is nearly upon us and every year at this time the National Audubon Society sends hordes of people out in all kinds of weather far and wide to count birds. The annual Christmas Bird Count— that replaces an old tradition of shooting birds on Christmas Day—gives biologists some idea as to the health and well being of the myriad of bird species in this country.

Counting birds is not unusual for those of us who have great interest in our feathered friends. Many of us keep long lists of bird species that we've seen and we take pride in reaching large numbers. Now you may think all of this is kind of silly. How can you manage to count all the birds? Well, you can't. And that's not the real purpose of a Christmas Bird Count. It's the number of individual species that matters.

Human beings like things large. Huge cities, skyscrapers of great height, enormous crowds at rallies and events—these are the things that create awe among us. So we don't often take notice of just one thing. But sometimes it is just that something different that catches our eye and makes sighting it a rare pleasure. Like the recent visit of the Ivory gull on our south county beaches. This is not the usual territory for an Ivory gull. Winter brings birds to our surroundings that we don't see during the rest of the year and it gives us joy to spot them.

The other day a sweet trilling sound came drifting through my open window. "Ah," I said to Gordo my cat, "the Black Phoebe is back." Every year in fall one lone Black Phoebe takes up temporary residence in my yard. Now, Black Phoebes are not rare and that is not important to me. I just delight in watching this little animated bird fly about my yard perching on the wire from the telephone pole or taunting me with his closeness when he lands on the gutter of my garage.

Winter is the time for you to take notice of all the little brown birds that are busy foraging madly on your lawn or in your bushes. You have to wonder, where were they all summer long? It's best to get up early to watch the show, before the people walking dogs come along or the neighbors let out the cats. What good things are the birds finding in the leaf litter at the edge of the road?

Out on the water in the bay things are getting busy too.  Flocks of hundreds of small shorebirds fly back and forth over the pickleweed and the channels in the estuary. These are Western and Least Sandpipers and probably some dunlin or dowitchers among them. Larger shorebirds, the Willets and the Marbled Godwits are busy probing into the oozing mud at the edge of the water searching for those morsels of tidal life that sustain them.

On the beaches groups of gulls gather, the most beautiful of them are the Heermann's Gulls with their red bills and dark gray feathering. Brown Pelicans, American White Pelicans, and Long-billed Curlews gather together, some on the islands in the middle of the bay, and some on boats and bits of flotsam in the water.

Lots of winter birds seem to have an all one color to their plumage making identification a bit more difficult. Take the Black-bellied Plover, for example, that visits our area during these days of shorter daylight. It doesn't show a bit of black on any part of its belly in winter.

So the counting of the birds is not easy. For instance how easy do you think it might be to count the thousands of Brant Geese that come to spend time at Morro Bay and dine on our delicious growth of eel grass? Just when you think you have a number figured out of a grouping that you've sighted on the water, they take flight and fly to another section of the bay where someone else is also trying to get a fix on the numbers of them.

I know I said the Christmas count isn't necessarily interested in the actual number of birds but does want to know the number of individual species that are here. Still those of us who like to keep track of numbers have a burning desire to know. How many? How many?

The Central Coast is a temporary winter home to more than 200 species of birds. That means thousands and thousands of individual birds are busy finding food and resting places to gather strength before taking off again for those far-away places to breed and raise their young. Be sure to take notice while they are here.

The Morro Coast Audubon Christmas Bird Count takes place Saturday, December 18th so if you see any of us out there with our binoculars and counters, smile and say hi, because for us, it's the number that counts.