low landbird numbers, Rose-breast, Acorns

Having done a lot of coastal and a bit of desert landbirding in the county over the past month, I think I can say that I have never seen such LOW winter numbers of most landbirds in the 10+ years I've lived here. Almost across the board, and no matter the habitat checked. OK… maybe House Finches are doing fine, but not too much else. There seemed to be good numbers of White-crowneds and somewhat Yellow-rumpeds back in October, but a lot of those birds seem to have evaporated in the interim.  Now, of course there are some small pockets scattered here and there that do support reasonable numbers and variety of species, but the the overall picture seems quite poor this year. Many of the CBCs in the state which have reported in so far this year report an average or even slightly above average total number of species (e.g., the San Diego County CBCs), but low, sometimes exceptionally low, overall numbers.

On Monday the 24th, the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Tierrasanta continues in its favorite tree at its favorite early time in the morning (today it arrived at 7:20AM). See previous posts.

Over the past week I've had Acorn Woodpeckers in a few spots west of their 'normal' range, including 3 birds at El Camino Cemetery in Sorrento Valley, and at least 1 bird along La Orilla Dr. at the border of RSF/Encinitas/Solana Beach.

–Paul Lehman,  San Diego
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports