Tejon Ranch Conservancy staff
and 28 other guests spread out across Tejon Ranch on Friday, December 20th
for our 6th Annual Christmas Bird Count. Among the 5 teams, we
found a record high 120 species. Seven species were new the Tejon Ranch
Christmas Bird Count list and 2 of those were also new to the Tejon Ranch
species list.
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| Birders in their natural habitat. Photo courtesy of Andrea Jones |
Species new to the Christmas
Bird Count list were: peregrine falcon, blue-gray gnatcatcher, American dipper,
nutmeg mannikin, turkey vulture, California gull and Cassin’s finch. This
was the first time the American dipper and nutmeg mannikin were observed on the
Ranch.
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| Bald eagle at Reservoir 2. Photo courtesy of Laura Pavliscak |
The main highlight of the
count was the 295 long-billed curlews found in the grasslands of the San
Joaquin Valley. Also in this area was a pesky merlin that one team
watched relentlessly harass a northern harrier and three red-tailed hawks that
eventually gave up, landed on the ground and hunkered down hoping that the
crazy falcon would just leave them alone. They stayed ground for the
entire 30 minutes the team spent counting the long-billed curlews.
Thanks again for the help
from our volunteers! We would not be able to do this without you!
-- Phoebe
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| Classic Tehachapi sunrise over Tejon Ranch. Photo courtesy of Andrea Jones |
