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Data from the China Lake, Lake Isabella, and South Fork Valley CBCs are now posted on our Christmas Bird Count page. Enjoy!

https://www.audubon.org/news/take-virtual-gallery-tour-2020-audubon-photography-awards-winners

Dr. Gray, a scientist and ornithologist will be the first woman to hold the CEO title in the organization’s 116 year history… Read More

This November 2020, a record 218 species in Kern County were accepted into eBird. The prior November record was 195 species during Kerncrest Audubon member Susan Steele’s record-setting, Kern 2011 Big Year. This November was the last month of the year to reach 200+ species eBirded in a single month in a single year.  How did this November reach the 200 club?

Noting the Kern County November 2020 eBird list was off to strong start, on November 12th Bob Barnes and Susan Steele invited birders via email to join in on the effort to reach 200 species eBirded by the end of the month.  The response was terrific; including birders from Kerncrest Audubon, Kern Audubon (Bakersfield), Tulare County Audubon, and elsewhere. 

Among Kerncrest Audubon Society member and friends who entered lists into eBird or provided information to bird locations were: Bob Barnes, Dan Burnett, Mickey Dyke, Bruce Garlinger, Denise LaBerteaux, Ara Marderosian,Jane McEwan-Hewer, Susan Moore, Nancy Robinson, Sean Rowe, John Schmitt, Joyce Seibold, Alison Sheehey, Bob Steele, Susan Steele, Lee Sutton, Lynn Barry Thompson, Rachel Woodard, and Peter Woodman. Thanks to all!

EBIRD (ebird.org) is a free to review and contribute to database used by tens of thousands of birders and many researchers. Data for EVERY country in the world has been entered.  

Now is the time you will find tricolored blackbirds in large concentrations, especially near dairies. If on your travels or birding trips, you find some birds, let Bob Barnes know. All he needs to know is the location and approximate numbers. He will report this to the agency that conducts the survey. This is part of the statewide survey done annually to find out the current status of this important bird.

There have been two recent studies that have shown there has been a tremendous decline in the number of birds in North America. There are some simple things people can do to help our birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers detailed information about the steps you can take at its website, birds.cornell.edu.
Here they are in a list form:

1. Make windows safer. Keep birds from striking windows and help pass the Bird-Safe-Building act.
2. Keep cats indoors. Cats are wonderful pets but they are also very good predators of birds.
3. Reduce lawn, plant natives. Lawns don’t offer birds food or protection. Native plants attract a variety of birds and help sustain them.
4. Avoid pesticides. The contents of most insecticides are lethal to birds.
5. Drink coffee that’s good for birds. Three quarters of the world’s coffee farms destroy forests birds and other wildlife need. Bird friendly producers, such as Cornell’s “Birds and Beans” offer rain forest certified shade grown coffee.
6. Protect our planet from plastic. An estimated 16,000 million tons of plastic is polluting our planet and harming its birds and wildlife.
7. Watch birds and share what you see. Birds are truly Canaries in the mine warning us when our environment is worsening. The sightings you record at eBird help scientists monitor these changes.