Six different groups of birders participated in the first Carpinteria Little Big Day today. The team competition was won by the Surf-birds team, with 95 species tallied during the four hours of the competition. Team leader Peter Gaede and team members Hugh Ranson, Will Knowlton, and Jeremy Pohlman were honored at the online awards ceremony…

Carpinteria’s snowy plovers continue to make news. The nest established a little over a month ago by plover pa:yb and her mate has now produced two chicks! (I’m not sure what became of the third egg, but there appear to be only two baby plovers on the beach at this point.) The mother, as is…

There will not be a Carpinteria Birdwatchers group outing in April. Instead, I encourage everyone to participate in the Carpinteria Little Big Day event on Saturday, April 23, either by forming a team for the 4-hour competition that will take place between 8 a.m. and noon, or by participating more casually and sharing your results…

The Carpinteria “Little Big Day” event will be happening in just over a week, on Saturday, April 23, 2022. So far there are two teams that have signed up for the team competition: The UCSB Roadrunners, consisting of team leader Max Laubstein and additional team members Alex Castelein, Jeremy Cowan, and Lucas Gaede The Old…

For this month’s Carpinteria Birdwatchers online meeting we’ll continue the discussion of “better identifications” that we began last month. This month we’ll cover how to report rarities, and go through some examples of birds I’ve misidentified recently, with a focus on lessons learned to avoid misidentifications in the future. Join us at 6:30 p.m. on…

Snowy plovers are again attempting to nest at Carpinteria State Beach just east of the mouth of Carpinteria Creek. State park biologists discovered the nest on Monday, March 21, 2022, when they placed an anti-predator exclosure over the nest and established a protective rope fence around the area. I learned about the nesting attempt when…

For our next group outing we’ll return to a favorite spot: the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park. Hope to see you there on on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 8 a.m. — John Callender Location: Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park Date/time: Saturday, March 19, 2022, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Details: Take Linden Avenue south toward the…

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…