Once again, December's birdwalk led by Dave Quady produced a nice selection of expected species. Five of us gathered at 4:30am to listen for owls. We were joined by four others for daylight birding. In all, 27 species were seen; but in an unanticipated twist, 23 of them were seen initially right at the top of Claremont Canyon. (For the uninitiated, seeing ten species in that place would have been satisfying, so 23 was amazing!) Keeping company with a flock of juncos were four sparrow species and both towhees. Nearby we saw woodpeckers, warblers, thrushes, jays, chickadees, kinglets, bushtits and several others (list follows). Though our hike later on the Summit House and Willow trails netted few birds, we were intrigued to find a lone jawbone, later identified as belonging to an opossum.
1. Great Horned Owl (M=3;F=2)
2. Northern Saw-whet Owl (2)
3. Anna's Hummingbird (M)
4. Downy Woodpecker (M)
5. Northern Flicker
6. Black Phoebe
7. Hutton's Vireo
8. Steller's Jay
9. Western Scrub-Jay
10. Common Raven
11. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
12. Bushtit
13. Bewick's Wren
14. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
15. Wrentit
16. Hermit Thrush
17. American Robin
18. Yellow-Rumped Warbler
19. Townsend's Warbler (M)
20. Spotted Towhee
21. California Towhee
22. Fox Sparrow
23. Song Sparrow
24. White-crowned Sparrow
25. Golden-crowned Sparrow
26. Dark-eyed Junco
27. House Finch (M)
