Thanks to all who participated in the 21^st Mono Lake Christmas Bird Count! Numbers for some of the more common species were down, most likely due to the storm which hit the day of the count. However, that same weather also carried with it a few species not usually seen on count day. Namely, Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, Canvasbacks, and Double-crested Cormorants, the last two being previously unrecorded on Mono CBCs. Count Day dawned cold, windy, and snowy. Low temperature was 17 and high was 22. Blustery winds of 15 to 25 mph made it seem even colder, assailing birds and birders alike. Nevertheless, we tallied 64 species. This was the highest species total since 1984. A job well-done to all intrepid counters who braved the elements!

Some notes: Tundra Swan, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Merganser, American Kestrel, Short-eared Owl, and European Starling were Mono CBC record high totals. A few normally conspicuous species not observed on Count Day were: Brewer’s Blackbird, Juniper Titmouse, Horned Lark, Bewick’s Wren, Scrub Jay, and Pinyon Jay.

Thanks to John and Marianne Denny for pulling a CBCer’s truck out of Rancheria Gulch!

Count week species: Redhead, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Sora, Horned Lark, Pinyon Jay, Scrub Jay, Juniper Titmouse, Bewick’s Wren and Cassin’s Finch.

CBC Participants: Don Banta, Rita Banta, Mike Boone, Janet Carle, Tom Crowe, Deanna Dulen, Joel Ellis, Mike Klapp, and Dave Marquart.