The Altacal Audubon Society conducted the 50th Annual Chico, California Christmas Bird Count on December 18, 2005.  A good strong rain storm kept some folks away (and some birds hiding out), but an enthusiastic group of observers scoured the landscape in a 15-mile-diameter circle around Chico.  Our count covered a variety of habitats including foothill chaparral (toyon, manzanita, ceanothus), oak woodland (blue oak, gray pine, live oak, bay laurel), a small apron of grassland savanna at the base of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Sacramento River riparian woodlands (valley oaks and sycamores), residential neighborhoods, orchards (almonds and walnuts), and basin lands (formerly tule marsh, but now rice farms).

At the end of the day Scott and Nina Campbell graciously offered their home for the compilation and fed us a wonderful meal complete with a "Happy 50th Anniversary" cake. The group tallied 100 species for the day. Our "off the list" birds included nine Tree Swallows (flying above the waters of the Sacramento River), two Peregrine Falcons (perhaps the same pair that attempted to breed in Upper Bidwell Park last spring), and an Osprey (seen in Upper Bidwell Park).  Waterfowl numbers were generally low but we had our second highest counts of Hooded Mergansers (20), Sandhill Cranes (1126), and Brewer's Blackbirds (5838).  Ultimately, a complete listing of the count will be online at: http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/index.html