These birders keep a county list and have submitted the numbers to me. If you would like to be included here, please send information in the format below to mstiles@calpoly.edu.

NIB = No Introduced Birds (Chukar, Wild Turkey, Starling, Rock Pigeon, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared Dove) Some birders do not count introduced species. It is your choice how you want your list included here. Just let me know.

• Brad Schram
  TOTAL BIRDS: 424 NIB (425 including Eastern Wood Pewee--not accepted by CBRC)
  400TH BIRD: Brown Booby July 1996
  Brad's comments: My best county bird is probably Trumpeter Swan (1973--second So. Cal record) and Arctic Warbler--found by a group of us at Oceano--would be a close second. I'm still waiting for Greater Pewee, Bendire's Thrasher, and Hepatic Tanager.
  Editor's note: Brad also has 441 birds for Santa Barbara County!
• Greg Smith
  TOTAL BIRDS: 418 NIB
  400TH BIRD: Pinyon Jay 05 Dec 1995. Found on Red Hill Road off Highway 58.
  Greg's comments: My best county bird was the first definite record of White Wagtail (Motacila alba) for the State of California, 05 Oct 1984.I'm still looking for Yellow-billed Loon, Least Storm Petrel, and Laysan Albatross.
• Tom Edell
  TOTAL BIRDS: 417 NIB (418 including Eastern Wood Pewee--not accepted by CBRC)
  400TH BIRD: Brown Booby July 1996
  Tom's comments: My best county bird is probably the Arctic Loon I found on 7 Dec 1991. Close seconds are Yellow Wagtail (Sep 1981), King Eider (Oct 1985), Garganey (with Jim Royer in Oct 1991), and Yellow-billed Loon (with Curtis Marantz in Dec 1990). Painful misses are Manx Shearwater, Tricolored Heron, Wood Stork, Golden winged Warbler, and Grace's Warbler. Still waiting for Trumpeter Swan, Emperor Goose, Zone-tailed Hawk, Chimney Swift, Pinyon Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Bendire's Thrasher, Bohemian Waxwing, Hepatic Tanager, and Tree Sparrow.
• Karen Havlena
  TOTAL BIRDS: 409 NIB
  400TH BIRD: Brown Thrasher 19 April 1999
  Karen's comments: My best county bird (that I found personally) was Dickcissel. It was also a "yardbird" for me, 7-10 Sep 1991. My two worst misses are Cape May Warbler and Wood Stork. I would love to add Wood Thrush to the county list.
• Curtis Marantz
  TOTAL BIRDS: 402 NIB
  400TH BIRD: Horned Puffin 16 July 2007
  Curtis' Comments: My best bird is the Piping Plover. Because of its declining status it may not be seen again. Easiest misses are Manx Shearwater, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tufted Puffin, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Mourning Warbler, and Painted Bunting.
  

• Bill Bouton
  TOTAL BIRDS: 389 NIB
  Bill's Comments: I consider some of my best finds in SLO County to be Yellow-billed Loon, Brown Booby, Yellow Rail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Cape May Warbler. My worst miss is what I believe was an “Old World Warbler” that got away without being identified in the Arroyo de la Cruz wetland.

• Mike Stiles
  TOTAL BIRDS: 374 NIB
  Mike's Comments: My best finds are Lucy's Warbler and Scarlet Tanager, both found, coincidently, at the Montana de Oro Campground. My contribution to county birding is the formation of Slocobirding email rare bird alert, and the creation and upkeep of these web pages.

• Maggie Smith
  TOTAL BIRDS: 355 NIB
  Maggie's Comments: My 300th bird was the Northern Pygmy Owl, 9/1/05. My best county bird was the Yellow-green Vireo that Tom Edell and I found at Oceano.  Perhaps my favorite bird was the male Yellow-headed Blackbird I saw at Oso Flaco shining in the fog.

• Al Schmierer
  TOTAL BIRDS: 353 NIB
  Al's Comments: Maybe the best birds that I have found would be the (first county record) Reddish Egret and several Pinyon Jays in 2003. The most beautiful of the rarer birds on my list would have to be the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, followed by a male Scarlet Tanager as a distant second. In a way, a Least Bittern up close in the open in the sun in my scope was one of the most satisfying birds!

• Jon Dunn
  TOTAL BIRDS: 346 NIB
  JLD's Comments: Best birds include Tufted Duck, King Eider, Piping Plover, Rock Sandpiper, Black Swift, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher (2), Arctic Warbler, White Wagtail, Golden-winged Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Connecticut Warbler (2), and Painted Redstart. Worst misses are Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Bobolink, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting. And, am looking forward to seeing a Le Conte's Thrasher. I used to bird in SLO rather frequently in the 1980's when I lived in Santa Barbara. I enjoyed birding there again recently in connection with the WFO meetings in Santa Maria and look forward to spending more time there again. I suppose that 1979 Stejneger's Petrel on the Davidson Seamount trip has now been taken by Monterey County (not included in my total).

• Ryan Jorgeson
  TOTAL BIRDS: 342
  Ryan's Comments: My personal best find in this 2007 Spring was a MacGivilary's Warbler found on Santa Rita Road in Templeton. May 30th on Reservoir Canyon Road in SLO County Lazuli Buntings were present. My Second Personal best find this Spring was a White-Throated Sparrow. The Horned Puffins were also very rewarding

• Jamie Chavez
  TOTAL BIRDS: 330 NIB
  Jamie's Comments: Personal highlights are Pine Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, two Scarlet Tanagers, Painted Redstart, Laughing Gull, Yellow-throated Vireo and Mountain Chickadee. I feel fortunate to have seen the Arctic Warbler and the Golden-winged Warbler. There are several missing birds on my list including some owls and pelagic species. These will come in time. If I knew exactly where the county line is at the Santa Maria River estuary I might add Little Curlew and Red-necked Stint to my total. I only count these on my Santa Barbara County list. I would like to find a county first Black Vulture one day!

• Regena Orr
  TOTAL BIRDS: 324 NIB
  Regena's Comments: I do live in San Luis Obispo County and thought I would make Mike feel better by joining the County Listers. My best county bird was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that I banded in San Simeon.

• Brian Daniels
  TOTAL BIRDS: 324 NIB
  Brian's Comments: My best birds for SLO would be Piping Plover, Arctic Warbler, and White Wagtail. Although I live in Los Angeles County, I've managed to see 34 warbler species in SLO including Cerulean Warbler and Connecticut Warbler.

• Nancy Mann
  TOTAL BIRDS: 319 NIB
  Nancy's Comments:Best bird: Brown Thrasher and Dickcissel in my yard in Arroyo Grande in the 1980's Most Painful Missed Bird: California Condor

• Mark Brown
  TOTAL BIRDS: 311 NIB
  Mark's Comments:I used to live in San Luis Obispo and currently live just a few miles south of the San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara County line. I was first taken birding by Mike Stiles in January 1979. (The Carter Administration children) We saw Bald Eagles at Lopez Lake, my first county bird! So, I really have no excuse why my county list is so low!! I am missing some embarrassingly common birds. But I have seen good birds including: Tufted Duck,Scarlet Tanager, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Canada Warbler, Common Grackle, Glaucous Gull, Laughing Gull, & Gray Catbird. I have found “Mark Brown’s Myiarchus” at Oso Flaco, the Cal Poly Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (helped by Adonis Tate), I cofound with Kyle Braunager the Laguna Lake Franklin’s Gull, also Red-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager, White-winged Dove & Broad-winged Hawk. I have seen Black Terns at Oso Flaco for the last three Mother’s days, a favorite birding memory. I have really enjoyed birding with the SLO County boyos and Maggie these last few years.

• John Luther
  TOTAL BIRDS: 289 NIB
  John's Comments: I have never lived in San Luis Obispo County, but have relatives living in Los Osos, Templeton and Paso Robles so I keep getting back there. Best birds I have seen include Reddish Egret, Golden-winged Warbler, Painted Redstart, and the recent Dickcissel.

• John Sterling
  TOTAL BIRDS: 269 NIB
  John's Comments: I have never lived in San Luis Obispo County but I have birded there a bit over the past 25 years. Best find was 3 Blackburnian Warblers in one day--a day before the Grace's Warbler was found!...best birds include Piping Plover, Arctic Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler. I hope to contribute by finding a first county record someday.

• Mike San Miguel
  TOTAL BIRDS: 260 NIB
  Is there a more stunningly beautiful place in S California than the north coast of the County or the remote eastern plains? I think not and the reason I don’t have a larger SLO list is the long drive from my home in Arcadia. During a calm, chilly dusk in March 1964 I was birding with my mentor Dave DeSante at a remote ranch in the Carizzo Plains when we found an adult California Condor sitting on a stump. It struggled to take flight in an attempt to get away but without the thermals it must have for flight it became exhausted and eventually give up. Seeming to trust that we meant it no harm it sat calmly on the ground as we approached. I had the best looks I knew I would ever have at such a magnificent creature. That experience, among many in those formative days, began my intense love of birds that continues to this day. I count Reddish Egret, Little Curlew, Arctic Warbler and Painted Redstart among the best birds I have seen in SLO but none of those tops my experience with the Condor all those years ago.

• Gjon Hazard
  TOTAL BIRDS: 238 NIB
  Gjon's Comments: Gotta be one of the state's best counties, wish I could get there more often. Best find: Painted Bunting (2nd County Record) September 29, 1988, Montana de Oro.

• Steve Rovell
  TOTAL BIRDS: 230 NIB
  Steve's Comments: Just like John Sterling and Don Roberson, I too, live outside SLO County. I don't visit often, usually just when something rare shows up and my teaching and family schedules allow it. In my few visits, I have managed to see a few rarities, including Golden-winged Warbler, Painted Redstart and Arctic Warbler. My best find is a Least Flycatcher. I don't like seeing the "1" in front of my county total, so expect me to contact some of you for tips on where to go and maybe even to go birding. I'm still waiting for one of your Royal Terns to make its way up to Monterey County. That would be something!
  Editor's note: Steve also has 417 birds for Monterey County!

• Don Roberson
  TOTAL BIRDS: 204 NIB
  Don's Comments: I've never lived in SLO and have only rarely visited, yet have had the good luck to find or co-find two great SLO birds: Short-tailed Albatross and Red-tailed Tropicbird. Incidentally, had I seen Wild Turkey in SLO, I would included that on my NIB list. The evidence supports the proposition that Wild Turkey was once native in northern & central California's oak forests, and is thus a re-introduced native bird (more like Peregrine than like all the clearly non-native IBs). See this page on my website for more details.
  Editor's note: Don also has 451 birds for Monterey County!