Carp Without Cars

I need to apologize for the late notice, but I’ve decided to move the next Carpinteria Birdwatchers meeting to Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.

Look here for an update on that meeting’s topic, as well as my thoughts on the larger topic of the format and frequence of Carpinteria Birdwatchers going forward, in the next few days. In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy your local birds. See you soon!

— John Callender

This Thursday we’ll use our Carpinteria Birdwatchers online meeting to discuss the recent (unfortunate) cancellation of the 2020 Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count due to COVID-19 concerns, then will move on to something more fun: An eBird photo quiz! The meeting will take place this Thursday, December 17, 2020, at 4 p.m. I hope to see you there.

— John Callender

Zoom meeting info:

Topic: CBC cancellation and eBird photo quiz - Carpinteria Birdwatchers meeting for 2020-12-17
Time: Dec 17, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88647760248?pwd=TENmWFp6c09pVUEvaGJsNGROL01Hdz09

Meeting ID: 886 4776 0248
Passcode: 502068

YouTube livestream:

Links mentioned during the meeting:

• The Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count (CBC) web page
• Outside magazine article: How eBird changed birding forever
• A message by Justyn Stahl on the SanDiegoRegionalBirding list about Alternatives to the Perpetual Big Year
• A Jen Sanford blog post with 5MR FAQs
• eBird photo and sound quizzes

The next online meeting for Carpinteria Birdwatchers will be a bit of a grab-bag. We’ll talk about the following topics:

• a recap of the Big Sit on October 10 and 11, including the astonishing 72 species Linus Blomqvist saw in his big sit at Haskell’s Beach
• a discussion of using eBird and the sbcobirding email list to keep track of rare bird sightings in Santa Barbara County
• the upcoming 2020 Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

The meeting will take place via Zoom at 4 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, November 5, and will also be available via YouTube livestream.

Zoom meeting info:

Topic: The 2020 CBC - Carpinteria Birdwatchers meeting for November 5, 2020
Time: Nov 5, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81357225724?pwd=NFVHOHZmRWo4L1dmemN4aHF3RHpuUT09

Meeting ID: 813 5722 5724
Passcode: 399784

YouTube livestream:

Links/followup:

• The Big Sit website
• John Callender’s Big Sit list from the Romero Canyon fire road
• Linus Blomqvist’s Big Sit list from Haskell’s Beach
• The sbcobirding email list
• eBird alerts signup page
• The Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count (CBC) web page
• Signup form for the 2020 Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count

Migrating waterfowl are starting to appear in our local wetlands, so join us at our next Carpinteria Birdwatchers online meeting for a quick brush-up on… ducks! The meeting will take place via Zoom at 4 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, October 22, and will also be available via YouTube livestream.

Zoom meeting info:

Topic: Ducks: Carpinteria Birdwatchers meeting for 2020-10-22
Time: Oct 22, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82208323057?pwd=K2wzc05oeElDd3RXa1NlVVFiaVdLUT09

Meeting ID: 822 0832 3057
Passcode: 721647

YouTube livestream:

Links/followup:

• Nancy Baron’s recent article in the Coastal View News about Townsend’s Warblers and the hazards of migration: A hard journey home.
• Information on the (hopefully) upcoming 2020 Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count.
• In our last meeting on sparrows we discussed how identifying Spizella sparrows can be tricky. To help drive that message home I went out after the meeting and promptly misidentified a Spizella sparrow! :-) See my eBird list here for photos of a very cool sparrow I saw along Santa Monica Creek. I initially called it a Brewer’s Sparrow, but subsequent input from helpful experts led me to correct the ID to Clay-colored Sparrow.
• I’m really enjoying a the 8-part podcast Grouse by Ashley Ahearn. It’s about the Greater Sage Grouse, including how the bird’s decline is causing tension between different groups of people who care deeply about the future of sagebrush country. (Content warning: She uses profanity a few times.)

You can also view the slides from the meeting.

In this week’s meeting we’ll talk about the subtle but rewarding charms of those adorable little brown jobs: sparrows! The meeting will take place online via Zoom and YouTube livestream on Thursday, October 8, 2020, at 4 p.m. Pacific. Hope to see you there!

Zoom meeting info:

Topic: Sparrows: Carpinteria Birdwatchers meeting for October 8, 2020
Time: Oct 8, 2020 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86567462510?pwd=ZXVFM2tYWWViOXhLQnV1NjZGMXoxQT09

Meeting ID: 865 6746 2510
Passcode: 564623

YouTube livestream:

You also can view the slides from the meeting.