County bird watchers prepare for Christmas count

When members of the San Joaquin Audubon Society take part in this winter’s 76th Christmas Bird count, joining thousands of volunteers across the country, they never know what they’ll encounter. A species may be common or rare. It doesn’t matter.

“We want to count them all,” said David Yee, a local birder. “Our surveys generate data about birds, population trends and identify those that might be endangered.”

So, when most of us are snuggled in a warm, cozy house, think of the volunteer Auduboners who gather as early as 4:30 a.m. this time of year before deploying to parks, stream side forests, foothills, fields, sloughs, sewer ponds and yes, even back yards, to count birds. In keeping with the holiday season it is their way of giving back to nature.

“We engage our community and our children in appreciating and protecting the special birds that live among us,” said Dale Stocking, president of San Joaquin Audubon, which supports year-around citizen science, educational and regional conservation activities.

His group isn’t alone. There are many volunteer organizations that give so much to nature and the community.

Ducks Unlimited — The Stockton Chapter raised a whopping $60,000 at its November banquet, with grassroots funds designated to enhance and restore wetlands in California. Overall, DU has restored more than 1 million acres of habitat, mostly here in the Central Valley.

Stockton Sportsmen’s Club — Since 1952 volunteer members have operated a pheasant cooperative on private lands, giving the public a place to hunt pen-raised birds. At the same time, the club offers annual scholarships to support university students to achieve degrees in wildlife management and every year teaches hunter education and safety to hundreds of students.

Lodi Crane Festival — Each year volunteers arrange field trips to the Delta and exhibits, seminars and displays at Hutchins Street Square, attracting thousands who seek to learn more about the prehistoric sandhill cranes, their amazing migration and the critical habitat the species needs to survive. Local docents lead outings to observe the cranes at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve through February to give the public a first-hand look at the majestic birds and to learn about its life history.

California Waterfowl Association — Wood duck populations are rising and spreading to creeks, rivers, sloughs and Delta islands, thanks directly to CWA volunteers and a highly successful nesting box program. More than 750,000 colorful ducklings have been raised since 1991 — about 30,000 annually — and their population is thriving, even in urban settings along the Mokelumne River, Calaveras River, Bear Creek and Five Mile Slough along Lincoln Road.

California Striped Bass Association — This effective volunteer group started nearly 50 years ago in Stockton by a visionary angler named Jay Sorensen, who had watched fish populations in the Delta decline year-after-year due to excessive water diversions. The battle still rages with species such as winter- and spring-run salmon, steelhead and Delta smelt facing extinction because of over-zealous federal and state pumping programs. Think of the Delta as the next Owens Valley or Colorado River if the CSBA and other conservation organizations weren’t in of their lives to save fish and the West’s largest freshwater estuary.