Usually I have to keep my blinds closed while I work because so much sun and blue sky come streaming in that I can’t see the computer screen. But these past couple days, I’ve been able to keep the blinds open. Scattered snow showers, snow flurries and misty gray clouds have filled the sky and covered the hills. Cold? Yes. Windy? Yes. But calming. Centering. Sometimes a good storm is just what the doctor ordered.
For the first time I was able to participate in the Christmas bird count in Tehachapi, and I will paste the results here. I don’t consider myself a birder. I don’t even have a life list. But I’ve always enjoyed watching birds and what they do. It’s the beauty of a Western Bluebird on the top branch of a cone-laden pine that takes my breath away, not the check mark on a species list. It’s the Northern Shoveler Ducks swimming in circles like kids playing Ring around the Rosie, the majestic White-tailed Kite gazing at us from its perch in a tree while we gawk. It’s the sun hitting the standing hollow log of a once massive oak, the brisk winter air, and oh yes! the Wilson’s Snipe. I saw real live Snipe (of snipe hunt fame) in a shallow waste water pond by the cemetery. It’s amazing what hangs out in reclaimed waste water.
Shortly after the bird count, my husband, my dog and I drove up to Auburn for Christmas with a quick stop in the Sacramento Valley near Lodi. There at the Woodbridge Ecological Preserve one can see Sandhill Cranes, very cool birds with red heads. We actually never got as far as the Preserve. We just stopped along the road and watched a crane dance and songfest in a farm field. Well worth getting off the freeway for.
Speaking of birds, the movie The Big Year with Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black is funny and wonderful and all about birding. If you like birds, you should watch it.
Here is the bird count and a couple of pictures of the cranes.
Dancing Sandhill Cranes
Cranes flying away
Tehachapi CBC
December 19, 2012
Total species and numbers
Pied-billed Grebe-9
Eared Grebe-2
Western Grebe-7
Clark’s Grebe-3
Great Blue Heron-5
Black-crowned night Heron-2
Canada Goose-2
Gr. White-front goose-1
Gadwall-5
Am Wigeon-6
Mallard-165
Mallard Hybrid-1
Green-winged Teal-45
N. Shoveler-52
Canvasback-2
Ring-necked Duck-170
Lesser Scaup-8
Bufflehead-23
Common Merganzer-2
Ruddy Duck-222
Turkey Vulture-1
White Tailed Kite-1
Golden Eagle-4
N. Harrier-2
Red-shouldered Hawk-2
Red-tailed Hawk-30
Ferruginous Hawk-1
Am Kestrel-5
California Quail-163
Am Coot-301
Killdeer-8
Greater Yellowlegs-1
Western Sandpiper-2
Wilson’s Snipe-7
Ring-billed gull-150
California Gull-1
Rock Pigeon-35
Band-tailed Pigeon-1
Eurasian Collared Dove-21
Mourning Dove-28
Western Screech-Owl-2
Anna’s Hummingbird-1
Lewis’ Woodpecker-5
Acorn Woodpecker-64
Ladderback Woodpecker-1
Nuttal’s Woodpecker-8
White-headed Woodpecker-1
Northern(red-sh) Flicker-12
Black Phoebe-6
Say’s Phoebe-1
Loggerhead Shrike-3
Stellar’s Jay-22
W. Scrub-Jay-64
Am Crow-7
Com. Raven-408
Horned Lark-150
Mountain Chickadee-25
Oak titmouse-12
Bushtit-40
White-br Nuthatch-19
Red-br Nuthatch-3
Pygmy Nuthatch-8
Brown Creeper-2
Rock Wren-1
March Wren-4
Ruby-cr Kinglet-10
Western Bluebird-33
Townsend’s Solitaire-1
Am Robin-24
Varied Thrush-1
N. Mockingbird-7
California Thrasher-2
European Starling-6110
Western Meadowlark-34
Am Pipit-1
Phainopepla-1
Spotted Towhee-26
California Towhee-16
Song Sparrow-1
White-cr Sparrow-454
Gold-cr Sparrow-24
Dark-eyed Junco-211 Slate-colored Junco-1(subspecies)
Brewer’s Blackbird-90
Great-tailed Grackle-5
House finch-53
Lesser Goldfinch-21
Am Goldfinch-75
House Sparrow-65
Total species-88
Total birds seen -9613
Sand Canyon Almanac 
Wow That is an impressive list of birds. Where exactly were you when you saw all of those?
I did not see the all myself! We had a group that fanned out across the greater Tehachapi area. This is a good place for birds because of the wide variety of habitats and microclimates.
Wow, that’s a lot of birds! Glad you were out there helping with the count. Your pictures of the sand hill cranes are lovely. I’ve never seen them in person. Lucky you. x0 N2