[SBB] S.C. Co. Year List

December added four species to the composite list, bringing the year's total to 286.

There was only one 4--a RED-THROATED LOON was seen on Lexington Reservoir on 26 Dec.

We had two 5's for the month. A BLACK RAIL was at the Palo Alto Baylands on 1 Dec and a family of TUNDRA SWANS touched down briefly on Salt Pond A2W on 7 Dec.

The big news for December was a juvenile SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER that was found east of the Alviso Marina CP on 7 Dec. This bird was kind enough to stay for the San Jose CBC. It was seen by many people during its visit, but not always easily.

So what was 2005 like. Well I carry means in two spreadsheets (don't ask). For 1993 to 2005, the mean is 289, so we are three below that 13-year average. But for recent years, from 2000 to 2005, the average is 282, so we are four above. This is the best year since 2001 (288). The year started off a bit slow, with a January total of 191, which was 3 below the 5-year average. We crept up a little in the next two months, but late spring and summer saw us falling behind again. By the end of July we were 4 species below the recent average. But we started to do better in August and September and we had a marvelous October with 9 new species compared to the usual 4 for that month. November fell a bit short, but we picked up a little in December.

The big news of the year were two new species: a Philadelphia Vireo in September (through the miracle of digital photography) and a Canada Warbler in October.

January has started out with a bang. We'll see how things go.

[SBB] S.C. Co. Year List - December 2005