Alison Sheehey
Special to the Sun

For some, the holidays are not just for visits with family and presents but an opportunity to see our feathered friends. For three days between mid-December and early January bird watchers (birders) scoured the Kern Valley countryside counting all of the birds they could see. Why do we do this? For the past 110 years, the National Audubon Society has compiled data from a growing list of Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) throughout the country. For 33-years Kern Valley birders have been counting wintering birds as part of this holiday tradition. In the past few years CBC data on winter bird distribution has been analyzed to see if the birds could tell us something about the state of our environment.

Gardeners, horticulturists, and scientists have noted that plants are blooming earlier. Ornithologists have observed that birds are spending more time in northern climates, nesting earlier, and not migrating as far south. According to research by Audubon California, in the next few decades it is predicted that thirty-five percent of native California bird species will experience significant reductions in their geographic range due to climate change.

This female Red-breasted Merganser, which is normally only seen on the coast in winter, was observed with 4,801 Common Mergansers on Isabella Reservoir on the Kern Valley Christmas Bird Count held Jan 3. The injury to its bill is similar to other injuries caused by a tangling with monofilament fishing line. An effort is underway by the Southern Sierra Fly Fishers, Audubon California and Kern Valley Revitalization to begin a monofilament recycling program on Kern Valley waterways.

It is with this knowledge that the surveys began on Dec. 19 with the Butterbredt CBC which covers a 15-square-mile circle in the Kelso Valley. Birders started before dawn looking for birds in native habitats and at bird feeders. Almost 50 species of birds were found by the 12 surveyors within the circle. In addition to Butterbredt Spring, the territory includes the eastern slopes of the Piute Mountains, Sageland, Kelso Valley and Audubon’s Kelso Creek Sanctuary. A bird that relies on pinyon nuts, the Pinyon Jay, was noticeably absent from this year’s count. Many Pinyon Pine burned during the arson caused Piute Fire and the surviving pinyon pine crop was very poor this year.

As the New Year began, 30 birders again descended upon the Kern Valley to conduct two more surveys. The South Fork Valley CBC was held on Jan. 2, while the Kern Valley CBC was held the next day. Expert and novice birders came from as far away as the Bay Area, while most were from Kern County. Ninety-eight species were found on Saturday’s count and 117 species of birds were found during Sunday’s count.

A rare species of duck, Red-breasted Merganser, which normally is only found along the Pacific coast during the winter, was observed on Isabella Reservoir. Unfortunately the bird suffered a broken beak possibly from tangling with monofilament fishing line. A new community effort is starting to begin a monofilament recycling program for the Kern Valley to help wildlife, rafters, boaters, and fishermen from preventable run-ins with fishing line, stay tuned to hear more about this.

You can view the results of all three Kern Valley CBCs as well as all of the other CBCs held in North America on the Audubon website. www.audubon.org/bird/cbc

If you would like to learn more about birds, visit Audubon’s Kern River Preserve in Weldon on February 6th from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. for a free class in beginning bird watching. Binoculars will be available for rent.

To learn more about nature in your backyard, visit the Kern River Preserve website: www.kern.audubon.org or contact Alison Sheehey, Outreach Director, Audubon Kern River Preserve, P.O. Box 1662, Weldon, Calif., 93283, phone 760-378-2029 or email: krpfriends@audubon.org.