VENTURA : Bird-Watchers Take Census of Local Species

High-powered binoculars at the ready, 80 members of the Ventura Audubon Society fanned out over a 177-square-mile territory Saturday to count as many birds as they could find.

The local bird-watchers were taking part in the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count, a scientific census of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere.

Walking along Canada Larga Road in the hills north of Ventura, four of the birders spotted examples of 27 species, including a loggerhead shrike, a red-breasted sapsucker, a phainopepla, three red-tailed hawks, a golden eagle and five black phoebes.

While they might sound impressive, the sightings were nothing extraordinary, experienced bird-watchers said.

“It’s slow today, there’s no doubt about it,” said Jan Lewison, a retired administrator for the U. S. State Department who has belonged to the Ventura Audubon chapter since it began in 1980.

The Ventura club usually records between 175 and 185 types of birds in the Christmas count, often placing it among the top 10 clubs nationally, event coordinator Virgil Ketner said.

The bird-watchers divide into small groups to cover as many different habitats as possible, Ketner said, with some going out on a boat in the ocean, some heading for the Santa Clara River, and others heading further inland.

The experts on Canada Larga Road made finding and identifying birds look easy. John Borneman, who recently retired as a professional Audubon Society staff member, called out the names of birds based only on their sounds, and Lewison was so confident she left her field guide in her car.

But even Lewison acknowledged that finding birds can be a challenge, as she peered in vain at the tree branches above her head.

She knew there ought to be one up there because of the fresh “whitewash” on the road, but she could not spot the bird. “It’s so hard to see them,” Lewison said. “They can be sitting there looking right at you going by.”

After spotting a bird, watchers identified the species based on size, shape, color, call or a combination method that Borneman called “the gestalt of the bird--there’s no other bird that does all those things at one time.”

Another Christmas Bird Count will take place today, as the Conejo Valley Audubon Society scours a circular, 15-mile-diameter area centered in Newbury Park.