SOUTH BAY BIRDERS UNLIMITED

HOWE 1996 CALIFORNIA BIG YEAR

Last year, my father, Vernon, tallied 476 species of bird in California. We believe this to be a new annual record for the state. I ended up with 475 species, shy only by the WHOOPER SWAN he saw in early January when I was traveling in Europe. We drove over 45,000 miles during our year long effort, sleeping in the car an estimated thirty times. It was rough, and I am glad that the year is over. However, we had a lot of fun doing it, and it helped us to learn a great deal about the status and distribution of birds in California.

A full list of our species is in a separate document, including date and county of observance. But first, here is a description of the year in brief. We did not plan on doing a big year; in fact, I was out of the country the first ten days of January. However, we did quite a bit of birding upon my return, including a very successful trip to Northern California. A lot of birds, especially eastern warblers, wintered in Southern California during the first part of 1996, and we made an effort to see most of them. During the early part of February, we were astounded at our year list up until that point, and decided to try for 400. We had never reached that threshold before, but thought that a strategic plan would help us reach the goal. 420 seemed possible, but not likely. We continued to bird actively in Southern California, but our big year was restricted to such; we neglected to chase after many birds in Northern California, birds we could have added easily.

We did, however, do quite well in the south, adding such birds as KENTUCKY WARBLER and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER. Unfortunately, our luck with wintering birds didn't extend into spring. We added a lot of the more common vagrants, as well as almost all of the hard-to-find breeders. However, we didn't seem to find anything extraordinary. The species did add up, however, and Dad reached 400 on June 1 with a CANADA WARBLER, our rarest bird of the spring. We had found out that 400 is easily do-able, if only you plan ahead and see all the hard-to-find-breeders and "easy" vagrants (AMERICAN REDSTART, B & W WARBLER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, etc.). Our new goal was 440, one that definitely seemed within our grasp.

Trips to Yosemite and the Warner Mountains in June garnered us many Northern California specialties, and we did well with shorebirds in July. August was the month, however, that our whole effort hinged on. We barely did any birding during that month, and added few species compared to other months. However, the quality of the birds we added was staggering, and helped rejuvenate us for the rest of the year. We went on three pelagic trips in a four-week stretch, adding: MANX SHEARWATER, WILSON'S STORM-PETREL, GREAT-WINGED PETREL, DARK-RUMPED PETREL, and RED-FOOTED BOOBY. Our species total was over 430, and nearing our newest goal of 440. Fall was magical; there were always birds showing up in Southern California, and our strategic trips to northern California ended in success.

In September and October, many prime birds showed up, including SMITH'S LONGSPUR, SPRAGUE'S PIPIT, and COMMON GRACKLE. And the slew of good birds continued into November as well. Dad broke 460 with a COOK'S PETREL, and such birds as EASTERN WOOD-PEEWEE, VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD, and THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD were found, and were easy to see. And even though the inevitable law of diminishing returns was affecting our species output, we were still making headway, finally reaching 470. December seemed filled with promise, as many northern birds were moving south through the pacific northwest, reaching central and even southern Oregon. A good finishing December, however, was not to be. Bad weather seemed to follow us everywhere, and most of the birds invading Oregon seemed to stop just short of the California border. We did add an EMPEROR GOOSE and a BLACK-HEADED GULL, and I finally got a TRUMPETER SWAN (the last bird other than WHOOPER SWAN Dad had up on me).

The last two weeks of the year were nightmarish. We spent days (literally) driving around Susanville, Cedarville, and Fort Bidwell, searching the northeastern corner of the state for BOHEMIAN WAXWING. It was not to be, and we were nearly caught in the biggest storm to hit the Sierras in two decades. We spent a lot of time searching the Tule Lake area for WHOOPER SWAN, and then did the same thing in the Sacramento River Delta. We saw a lot of swans, as well as a lot of rain, but no Whooper. The end was not a total loss, however, as a WOOD THRUSH and a STREAK-BACKED ORIOLE were found in southern California, and we managed to see them both. We saw the Oriole on December 31, a satisfying way to end an amazing year.

Even though the big year became a monkey-on-our-back and I actually began to dread good birds showing up, I am glad we did it. In addition to helping the growth of my state list, the big year increased our knowledge of status and distribution greatly, and allowed us to see parts of California we would never have normally seen. Obviously, an effort like this involves a lot of information flow. Many people aided us this year, sharing information or offering encouragement. There is not enough room to thank everyone that showed true kindness, but several people deserve special recognition: Roy Poucher, who would always call whenever he heard some news, and who made sure we never let up; Brian Daniels, Jim Pike, Gene Cardiff, Jim Danzenbaker, and Debbie Shearwater for finding so many good birds; David Blue, for his encouragement and support; Matt Heindel, for early on insisting that if we did a big year, we should go all out; and Guy McCaskie and Don Roberson, who gave so much good advice and encouragement.

The question that I have been mulling over this last month (aside from, "how in the world am I going to get back on track and fulfill deferred responsibilities?"): is a 500 state list possible in a calendar year? Most would offer a resounding "no way," and they just might be right. However, I would argue that it could be possible under the right circumstances. Some years are bad for species total, others are good. We just happened to pick a very good year. It is not inconceivable that someone else would decide to do a big year in the future during another "good year," and have more time to put into it than we did (Dad works full time and I am a graduate student).

I believe the Texas big year record is in the 480s, and if we had gone great guns from the beginning, I estimate that we would have netted ten to fifteen more birds. And with many splits imminent, who knows? We missed CRAVERI'S MURRELET because we couldn't get out on the right boat trip, and WHITE-WINGED TERN because we couldn't get away from work. We spent several hours looking for AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER unsuccessfully on eleven different occasions, and looked unsuccessfully for the SANDWICH TERN on ten different occasions. We showed up the next morning on YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD, CAPE-MAY WARBLER, and twice for SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. So do I think that 500 is possible someday? Sure, I think it is, and I hope all those who try have as much fun and learn as much as we did!

Andrew Howe
February 1997

Vernon Howe
Riverside, CA
vhowe@lasierra.edu

1996 California Big Year List
Vernon and Andrew Howe

The following is the list for Vernon and Andrew Howe's 1996 California Big Year. The date and county are when and where Vernon first saw the bird (Andrew's dates and locations are slightly different). Note that at the end there is a list of some of the subspecies we saw during the year (eg., Juniper Titmouse, "Blue-headed" Solitary Vireo, etc.).

The total species are Vernon Howe (476) and Andrew Howe (475). We both saw the same species and subspecies except Andrew did not see the Whooper Swan or the Bewick's Swan.


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