Finally, the end of a very strange year. With the pandemic surging, year end traditions had to be altered. We had no family dinner for Christmas. I had to forgo my usual running around to stores shopping to stuff stockings, shopping for the big meal, cleaning the house, setting the table and decorating, and cleaning up afterwards.
My husband and I shared a quiet meal together and worked on a jigsaw puzzle. Our son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, came over for a brief but lovely visit socially distanced and masked in the back yard. We had a lovely laid back holiday. We rather enjoyed the simplicity of it.

Other traditions that had to be altered were the various Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBC). Our local chapter decided to cancel it altogether. However, several of us decided it could still be done with people birding singly or in couples. I helped coordinate and my friend Christine compiled the results. It took a bit of my time and some mild organizational skills, but 36 people covered a wide territory within our 15 mile circle and counted over 20,000 individuals birds and over 170 species. We called it a Holiday Bird Hunt (HBH). We had a ZOOM after-party. A good time was had by all.

I also had to redo the planning for my January 1st LB100. This has been a tradition for the fourth year. We seek to find 100 species of birds in Long Beach on Jan. 1. In the past I have created the route, and we all go together. I have had to re-plan it as a more elaborate scavenger hunt for people to compete singly or in couples. With the work behind me, I am looking forward to the first. I will let you know how it goes in my next month's blog.

Aside from planning and organizing, I did go birding locally. This has been a constant pleasure during these otherwise worrisome times. I visited the shore. I need to get there more often. I watched a Willet playing in the waves, shared a moment with Sanderlings, and saw a Spiny Sand Star (Astropecten armatus) for the first time. At local parks, Long Beach became a birder's hotspot with several birds showing up that only make an appearance on our coast very occasionally. A Dusky-capped Flycatcher, that I had found last spring, returned for another winter. When people went to look for it, they also found a Red-throated Pipit. A few miles away was a Lapland Longspur. They breed in the Arctic Tundra and usually winter in the Great Plains. I ended the year with a wonderful close encounter with a Great Horned Owl. Although they are not uncommon, they are always magnificent.

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year. I look forward to meeting you all in the field in later 2021 when we all get our vaccines and the world is made safe again.

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