For this month’s Carpinteria Birdwatchers online meeting we’ll continue the theme of becoming a better birder by talking about making better identifications. We’ll talk about key techniques for identifying birds, how to document what you see and hear, and how to avoid common pitfalls that can lead to misidentifications. Join us at 6:30 p.m. on…

Carpinteria Birdwatchers is sponsoring what I think will be a fun event: a friendly “little big day” competition in which teams see who can find the most birds in a 7-mile-diameter circle between 8 a.m. and noon. (There will also be a non-team, non-competitive category for people who want to participate less formally.) The event,…

For this month’s Carpinteria Birdwatchers group outing we’ll put our skills to the test with a trip to the beach to check out the local gull flock (along with whatever else we can find). On Saturday, February 19, 2022, we’ll meet at the south end of Linden Avenue at 8 a.m. Will we be able…

For this month’s Carpinteria Birdwatchers online meeting I thought we’d take a fresh look at a subject where there’s always more to learn: gulls. We’ll focus on the big picture, brushing up on local species and talking about some aspects of gull ID we haven’t talked about before. Join us Thursday, February 17, 2022 at…

For our next group outing we’ll head back to the Carpinteria Bluffs. On Saturday, January 29, 2022, we’ll go birdwatching from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. We’ll see what’s in the grassland, at the flower fields, and take a look at the beach and ocean from the harbor seal pupping site. Hope to see you…

For January’s Zoom meeting I thought we’d kick off a new series of meetings for 2022 by focusing on a new topic: how to become a better birder. Our special guest will be longtime Santa Barbara birding teacher Rebecca Coulter. I’m looking forward to a wide-ranging discussion with Rebecca of what it even means to…

We had beautiful weather for the Carpinteria CBC. Last Saturday, December 18, 2021, roughly 32 parties and 53 participants fanned out across the Carpinteria count circle and found a preliminary total of 152 species. Among the highlights: Hugh Ranson, Mark Bright, and Penny Owens’ pelagic trip on the Channelkeeper, in which they saw two species…

We’re 5 days away from the Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count! A lot of great scouting activity has been happening in our 15-mile-diameter count circle. The Carpinteria CBC 2021 — Scouting trip report in eBird currently shows 133 species. The output of my tool to summarize all sightings within our circle, not just from those who’ve…

We’re less than a week away from the Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count, so for December’s Zoom meeting of Carpinteria Birdwatchers this coming Thursday I’ve planned a CBC tune-up. We’ll meet at 6:30 p.m. to go over procedures for this year’s CBC, look at the latest scouting results, and answer any questions people have about their…

Thank you for participating in the Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count (CBC). This year the Carpinteria CBC will take place on Saturday, December 18, 2021. If you haven’t signed up for the count yet and would like to participate, you can do so by filling out the following form: 2021 Carpinteria CBC Sign-up Form Instructions for…