| Don Roberson
Hit 400 mark: 10 Oct 1988
with Gray Wagtail at Salinas R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
456
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1973, resident since 1979
Resides at: Pacific Grove
Occupation: Research attorney
Claim to fame (in part): "discovered"
Moonglow Dairy; saw a Mottled Petrel while sitting in car at Pt. Pinos
during a gale in 1984
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
spends time overseas, giving others a chance to catch up. Senior editor
of Atlas of Breeding Birds of Monterey County (1993) and wrote Monterey
Birds, 2d ed. (2002)
Photo Apr 2006 PGMNH, Pacific Grove © Sharon Blaziek |
|
| Steve [Stephen F.] Bailey
[with MTY specimen of Mottled Petrel]
Hit 400 mark: 4 Nov 1997
with Brown Thrasher at Pfeiffer-Big Sur S.P.
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
434
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1971, resident since 1992, moved to Arcata in 2004
Resides at: Arcata, CA
Occupation: Ornithologist; retired
Director, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History; now bird tour leader
Claim to fame (in part): found
the rarest vagrant while breeding bird atlasing: a Yellow-throated Warbler;
was seabird editor for
Am. Birds for 14 years
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
traveled the world from Papua New Guinea to Madagascar to Ghana to ...
Photo Jan 2004, PGMNH, Pacific Grove © 2004 Don Roberson |
|
| Bob [Robert F.] Tintle
[pictured with wife Rosemary]
Hit 400 mark: 23 June 1996
with Whip-poor-will at Big Sur R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
427
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1983
Resides at: Pacific Grove
Occupation: Biology teacher
Claim to fame (in part): married
Rosemary
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
discovered a Grace's Warbler at Jacks Peak in Dec 1998, a first MTY record
Photo 11 Apr 2004, Pt. Sur, Monterey Co. © 2004 D.
Roberson |
|
| Craig Hohenberger
Hit 400 mark: 9 Sep 1998
with Yellow-throated Warbler at Carmel R. m.
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
424
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1975, resident since 1985
Resides at: Carmel
Occupation: Biology teacher &
Director, Big Sur Ornithology Lab
Claim to fame (in part): Founded
Big Sur Ornithology Lab & has been Prez of Monterey Peninsula Audubon
for a decade
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
had Zone-tailed Hawk fly over his classroom several times in winter 2003!
Photo 23 May 2004, Big Sur R. mouth, Monterey Co. ©
2004 D. Roberson |
|
| Rita Carratello
Hit 400 mark: 2 Feb 1999
with Grace's Warbler at Jacks Peak
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
422
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1988
Resides at: Pacific Grove
Occupation: Adult education teacher
Claim to fame (in part): invented
idea of "400 club"; laid-out and desk-topped published the Monterey
County Breeding Bird Atlas
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
edited the local Audubon newsletter, Sanderling for years; was the
voice of Monterey Bay RBA tape; now a famous stage actress!
Photo Apr 2002, Jaisalmer, India © 2002 D. Roberson |
 |
| Ron [Ronald L.] Branson
Hit 400 mark: 4 Sep 1988
with Hudsonian Godwit at Salinas R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
422
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1961
Resides at: Monterey
Occupation: Physician (now retired)
Claim to fame (in part): was very
active in finding first MTY records in the late '60s including Hepatic
Tanager & Black-throated Sparrow, and was first member of 400 club;
he is one of the county's premier bird photographers
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
looked at a lot of flowers & photographed Great-winged Petrel and Short-tailed
Albatross
Photo Jan 1994, Carmel Monterey Co. © 1999 D. Roberson |
|
| Steve Rovell
Hit 400 mark: 28 July 1999
with Yellow-throated Vireo at Big Sur R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
418
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1990
Resides at: Marina
Occupation: Earth science teacher
Claim to fame (in part): a member
of John Sterling's "vagrants," he uses the handle "vagrant" for his email
address
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
was Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count compiler for years; organized
team that set county Big Day records in Monterey, Kern, Riverside et al.!
Photo 23 May 2004, Big Sur R. mouth © 2004 D. Roberson |
|
| Brian Weed
Hit 400 mark: 29 Nov 1997
with Williamson's Sapsucker at Jacks Peak
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
417
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1981 (keeping lists since '83)
Resides at: Pacific Grove
Occupation: Grandparent
Claim to fame (in part): two great
yard birds on Cedar Street: Rusty Blackbird & Long-eared Owl
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
a regular Snowy Plover surveyor for PRBO & Pt. Lobos list compiler;
found "best bird" of 2002 Mty Pen CBC (Baltimore Oriole)
Photo Mar 2002 © Jan Scott; used with permission |
 |
| Bruce Gerow
Hit 400 mark: 22 Nov 1998
with Chestnut-collared Longspur near Gonzales
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
412
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1981, life-long resident
Resides at: [deceased; see below]
Occupation: Retired
Claim to fame (in part): "discovered"
Salinas ponds and their shorebirding potential; found MTY's first Upland
Sandpiper there on 12 Sep 1997
Bruce Gerow passed away at age 73 on 15 June 2004. His son Steve is
one of Santa Cruz's premier birders.
Photo Sep 1992, Moss Landing Monterey Co. © 1999
D. Roberson |
 |
| Alan Baldridge
Hit 400 mark: 15 Nov 2001
with Scarlet Tanager at Laguna Grande Park, Seaside
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
411
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1966
Resides at: Pacific Grove
Occupation: retired; was the Librarian
at Hopkins Marine Station
Claim to fame (in part): discovered
the Swallow-tailed Gull while walking along the Hopkins campus, and thus
started years of fighting in rarities committees; co-authored The Bird
Year (1980), an excellent summary of the natural history of local birds
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
Was honored, along with wife Sheila, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for exceptional
service to local nature history studies; has continued to report a long
string of rarities in their yard (recently, Summer Tanager; in the past,
Kentucky Warbler! )
Photo Mar 2000 at Andrew Molera State Park MTY ©
2000 Rita Carratello, used with permission |
|
| June Buntin
Hit 400 mark: 3 Jan 1999with
Grace's Warbler at Jacks Peak
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
410
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1984
Resides at: Salinas
Occupation: Retired
Claim to fame (in part): discovered
(with Ruth Doudiet) the first on-shore Masked Booby in California at the
Salinas R. mouth in June 1992
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
hosted backyard Harris's Sparrow & Dickcissel!
Photo Sep 1985, Moonglow Dairy Monterey Co. © 1999
D. Roberson |
 |
| Chris Tenney
Hit 400 mark: 7 Sep 2000
with Yellow-throated Vireo at Carmel R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 2006] total:
405
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1980
Resides at: Salinas
Occupation: retired teacher, now
researcher at BSOL
Claim to fame (in part): during
the Breeding Bird Atlas project, he spent more hours atlasing than anyone
& then created the data-base
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
authored two fascicles in Birds of North America project (Black-chinned
Sparrow, N. Beardless Tyrannulet)
Photo Jan 1993 in Pacific Grove MTY © 2000 Rita Carratello,
used with permission |
 |
| Rick Fournier
Hit 400 mark: armchair tick July
2004 when AOU split Cackling Goose; in retrospect, his 400th bird was 8
May 2003 with White-winged Dove at Carmel R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 06] total:
403
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1988
Resides at: near Elkhorn Slough
Occupation: professional bird guide
Claim to fame (in part): owner
of
Monterey Birding
Adventures, guiding birders locally and beyond
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
discovered many new birding spots and a long list of rarities in his "home
patch" around Elkhorn Slough
Photo 26 Oct 2003, Elkhorn Slough MTY © 2003
Don Roberson |
|
| Jim Booker
Hit 400 mark: 24 May 2000
with White-eyed Vireo at Big Sur R. mouth
Current [23 Apr 06] total:
401
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1978, resident 1995-2001
Resides at: Mission, Texas
Occupation: environmental consultant
& field trip leader
Claim to fame (in part): directed
the banding operation at Big Sur Ornithology Lab from 1995-2000 & compiled
Big Sur CBC for sev. yrs.
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
discovered four 1st MTY recs during his tenure here, including his 400th:
White-eyed Vireo
Photo 4 Mar 2000, near Anderson Peak MTY © 2000 Don
Roberson |
 |
| Kent Van Vuren
Hit 400 mark: 6 Jan 2005 with
Cackling Goose at Moss Landing
Current [23 Apr 06] total:
401
Has been birding Monterey Co. since:
1976, resident since 1982
Resides at: Prunedale
Occupation: teacher
Claim to fame (in part): helped
pioneer birding in San Benito County; has found many first-county records
in other northern California counties
Okay, but what have you done for us lately?:
saw a Zone-tailed Hawk fly over his Prunedale home on 20 Nov 2005
Photo Mar 2006, Prunedale MTY © 2006 Kent Van
Vuren |
|