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Christmas Bird Count affected by pandemic, too

Annual event curtailed in region

Sacramento Digs Gardening
PUBLISHED DEC 24, 2020

This Anna's hummingbird was photographed around Clear Lake
by Vicki Miller during the 117th Annual Christmas Bird Count.
(Photo courtesy audubon.org)

Normally at this time of year birders and other wildlife lovers would be well into the traditional Christmas Bird Count, an annual effort hosted by the Audubon Society. This year marks the 121st such count.

Counting is a group effort, with coordinators assigned to specific areas known to attract a lot of migrating birds. Each compiler is responsible for coordinating the count in a 15-mile circle, staffed by volunteers.

In an all-day effort, the volunteers count every bird they see along an established route in the designated circle.

California typically hosts 120 Christmas Bird Count locations. One of the more active ones, not surprisingly, is in the Sacramento area.

However, this year, because of the COVID-19 risk in gatherings, some of the "circles" have been canceled, including the main Sacramento circle and the ones in the Marysville and Stockton areas. Other counts are being conducted in accordance with social distancing and other safety guidelines.

Circles indicating availability include the Folsom Lake area, Lincoln, Grass Valley and Wallace-Bellota, but no dates are listed. The Sherman Island count will be New Year's Day, the Calaveras one on Jan. 2. (The latter is in need of experienced birders.) The Putah Creek circle count (near Winters) was held Dec. 20.

Anyone who would like to participate is asked to contact the circle coordinator directly via email. Pop-ups with contact information are on this map .

Details and more links: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count#

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Keywords:

holiday traditions gardening Sacramento birds coronavirus Audubon Christmas bird count Putah Creek Winters Grass Valley Folsom Lake

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Garden Checklist for week of July 21

Your garden needs you!

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Feed vegetable plants bone meal, rock phosphate or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting. (But wait until daily high temperatures drop out of the 100s.)

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

* It's not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

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