Audubon Society’s annual Rancho Santa Fe Christmas Bird Count takes wing Jan. 3

By Lee Schoenbart

(Top) The Hermit Warbler and (bottom)the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photos/Matt Sadowski

Chino Farms is for the birds – and in a good way. Not only is it a preferred produce purveyor for the Ranch’s ultimate restaurant Mille Fleurs, Chino Farms’ fallow ground after the fall harvest is the winter dining destination for the Sandhill Crane.
A Sandhill Crane citing is a big deal to local avian aficionados as the annual Christmas Bird Count gets under way around the county. And, no, it’s not an autumn-to-winter delicacy one is soon to experience on Bertrand Hug’s bill of fare.
“The Sandhill Crane is fairly uncommon, if not rare in the county anyway, it was actually at Chino Farms,” stated Robert Patton, a consulting biologist and compiler for the annual Rancho Santa Fe Count that takes place Jan. 3.
“It looks like they plowed under the corn after the season and the crane seemed to like hanging out there for the whole winter,” Patton said, “so to have one there, not only on the day of the count, in the whole winter, was exciting.”
The Ranch Count, just one of thousands across the United States begun by the Audubon Society in 1900, is a 15-mile diameter circle that extends from Torrey Pines to Cardiff on the west and to Lake Hodges and Miramar Reservoir on the east.
In his last Jan. 4, Patton noted that 193 species were reported among 36,573 individual bird sightings.
“Probably overall the most exciting thing last year was we had five species that had never before been seen on that count,” Patton said, who mentioned the Little Blue Heron and a Worm-eating Warbler along with the crane.
“Little Blue Heron has become more common around San Diego and Mission Bays,” he said. “Individuals have been regularly seen on the monthly bird counts at San Elijo Lagoon, but this was the first time the species was recorded on the day of the count for this Christmas Count circle.
“Sandhill Crane, a species that had population decline and not been as numerous in San Diego in recent decades as it used to be, is a very rare migrant locally,” Patton acknowledged. “But an individual has been well-documented overwintering this year in San Dieguito River Valley and was re-found on the day of the count.
“The other one was a Worm-eating Warbler,” Patton said, “which is very rare on the West Coast anyway, and it spent several weeks down in lower San Dieguito Park. Worm-eating Warbler is a rare fall migrant locally, but at least two were recorded in the county this year and appear to be overwintering. The one at San Dieguito Park was re-found on the day of the count.”
Asking Patton what might be new and different this time around for the 70-plus volunteers paired together and who brave the cold in the early morning darkness might be like asking the folks at Ecke Ranch to predict the success of its next hybrid poinsettia.
“At this point, I don’t know,” said Patton, “and that’s always the challenge or the great anticipation, we don’t know what’s actually going to be seen on the day of the count.
“So far leading up to it, we’ve had a smattering of rarities show up in North County within the count circle.
‘There’s a Hermit Warbler in Del Mar, which is relatively uncommon in winter. Likewise, Western Tanager,” he said. “Both of which are pretty colorful birds. We also got the report of a Yellow-breasted Chat in Del Mar, which is a fairly common bird in San Diego between April and September. I believe there’s only two previous winter records, so that’s pretty exciting. Again, it’s a real striking bird and our largest warbler.”
Patton also made mention of a couple of other finds that will delight and intrigue local birders.
“The Golden-crowned Kinglet is typically found in dense coniferous forests in the county and mountains. Small numbers of these tiny songbirds make their way to the coast some winters and are a rarity sought out during our local counts,” he said. “Some were spotted recently among pines in residential Del Mar and hopes are that they'll spend the winter and can be re-found Jan. 3.
“There have been only about 20 mid-winter records over the years in San Diego of the striking Hermit Warbler, males easily distinguished by their bright yellow heads. Typically, this species winters in central Mexico, but one was found adjacent to San Dieguito Lagoon and will be an exciting addition to the bird count if it can be re-found.
“One of the challenges to local birders,” Patton noted, “is to scan through all the common wintering warblers as they flit through the trees feeding on insects, and spot that needle-in-a-haystack rare other species.”
While the San Diego count began Dec. 19 followed by Anza Borrego on Dec. 20, the other counts take place at Lake Henshaw, Dec. 21; South Salton Sea, Dec. 22; Oceanside, Dec. 26, and Escondido, Jan. 2.
Patton said he comes back year after year because, “It’s the excitement and the challenge of not knowing what you’re going to find. Every year is very different.
“This year, with the El Niño weather system and heavier rain, it will be very interesting to see whether we have different water birds show up as well as some species that typically spend the winter farther north that get pushed down by these storms,” he said.
While some of the other compilers welcome newcomers, this bird-count stuff is serious business to the otherwise relaxed Patton.
“If there are experienced birders out there that haven’t made up their mind yet, yes, I’d certainly like to hear from them,” he said, but the Ranch Count is not a beginner’s activity he implied.
However, beginning in February, the San Diego Chapter of The Audubon Society will offer its 2010 Introductory Birding Course on Saturday mornings from 9 to noon Feb. 13 and 20 and March 13 and 27 at the Tecolote Nature Center near Mission Bay. Field trips will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Feb. 27 and March 20.
The San Diego society has two numbers for enthusiasts, (858) 273-7800 and, a daily rare bird hotline, (619) 688-2473.
To learn more, visit the local society at www.sandiegoaudubon.org and the national organization at www.audubon.org.