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Salton Sea & Imperial Valley Field Trip: 11-12 February, 9am
The Salton Sea is one of the strangest places in the USA. An ancient but ephemeral saline lake in the middle of the desert; so full of life that it is in imminent danger of dying; a place where you find birds found nowhere else in California and a few nowhere else in the U.S. It is also a crackerjack place for a birding weekend, with camping or motels, Chinese or Mexican food. This is a very good time of year, both for the climate and the ducks. See Burrowing Owls, Snow & Ross’ Geese, Abert’s Towhees, Sandhill Cranes, White Pelicans, ibises, raptors, shorebirds and waders galore. Also possible are Zone-tailed Hawk, Yellow-footed Gull, Eurasian Collared, Inca, Common and Ruddy Ground-Doves, Gila Woodpecker, Vermillion Flycatcher, Crissal Thrasher. and Who Knows What Else.
Family guide: long car drive but room to roam at the end of it. Usually under 1 mile walking, mostly along roadsides.
Note: No fee, but sign up with leader Chuck Almdale (818-894-2541) before February 4. It’s a long drive. If we don’t know you’re coming, we don’t wait for you. If you arrive early, there’s lots of birding on the spot. If you have an FRS radio, bring it along tuned to Channel 11, privacy channel 22. Most people stay overnight at one of the motels in Brawley, but you can come for just Saturday.
Directions: Meet at Davis Road (the Wister Wildlife sign-in point), 37 miles south of Mecca on Highway 111. Driving time from L.A. is about three hours. Car pooling is recommended and staying overnight on Saturday is a good idea. Camping is available, or you can motel it in Brawley or El Centro. This is not a reservation-only trip but you must call leader to sign up, confirm meeting time & place, and for motel information. We’d hate to find your bleached bones on our way back.
Meet at 9:00 a.m. Leader: Chuck Almdale (818-894-2541) webinfo49
OR, in case of bad weather in the Imperial Valley
Saturday, 11 February. Sepulveda Basin.
The Sepulveda Basin bird list climbed over 200 species way back in 1996. In the winter, the lake in the Wildlife Area sees almost every species of waterfowl that visits the county. Geese, White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, hawks, wintering warblers, finches and sparrows are expected, American Bittern is possible. Rarities show up from time to time. We’ll probably pop over to the Lake Balboa area to see if the Ross’ Goose, Hooded Merganser and Eurasian Wigeon are around.
Family Guide: 1-2 miles on a very level path of crushed granite, excellent for all ages.
Directions: From I-405 in the San Fernando Valley, exit on Burbank Blvd. Go west to Woodley Ave. and turn right. Go right at the second park entrance, make the first right and go to the Wildlife Area parking lot.
Meet at 8:30 a.m. Leader: Chuck Almdale (818-894-2541) webinfo49@att.net
Antelope Valley Raptor Search Field Trip Report: 14 January, 2012
SMBAS Links: Website Blog Facebook
The weather looked promising as we left LA on our way to the Antelope Valley. Although it was cold, it was sunny and calm as we turned off Hwy 14 and went east on Palmdale Blvd. Our first stop was an undeveloped area along E10th St. north of Ave Q. It was 32° F but there were a few birds stirring, including a cooperative Cactus Wren.
We went east on Ave. P, stopping at the corner of E40th St. where we found a mixed flock of White-crowned Sparrows and House Finches.
We drove north on E40th St. At the right turn onto Ave N, we stopped to scan an agricultural field that had many birds. We spotted the first Say’s Phoebe of the day and many Killdeer but the highlight was a flock of more than 500 Horned Larks, some of which were so close to the road that we had good looks at them.
In the fields on either side of E 40th St. between Ave. M & Ave. L we found a large flock of California Quail, more Killdeer, numerous White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, as well as some Western Meadowlarks and Brewer’s Blackbirds.
California Quail on the irrigation wheels (C.Bragg 1/14/12)
Unfortunately there was no sign of the flock of Mountain Plovers that had been in the farm field on the east side of the road one week earlier. Just to be sure we hadn’t missed them, we drove to the end of the block and turned east onto Ave. L and scanned the field again. Although we didn’t see any Mountain Plovers south of Ave. L, we spotted 2 Sage Thrashers in the brush on the north side of the road. While we were watching them, we were treated to the sight of a Prairie Falcon hunting in the distance.
As we went back toward the corner, we noticed a large number of plover-sized birds in field that where we had initially found no Mountain Plovers so we went back for a second look. We were delighted to find 60 Mountain Plovers. Most were close to the road so we had excellent looks at them. We were even able to compare Killdeer and Mountain Plover in one field of view of our scopes.
Mountain Plover in a mowed field (C.Bragg 1/14/12)
As we continued north on E 40th St. we found a Merlin perched in a bare tree beside the road. It was very cooperative, allowing for very good looks and some excellent photographs.
Merlin resting (C.Bragg 1/14/12)
Just after we turned east onto Ave. K we stopped to look at a flock of 500+ Tricolored Blackbirds that were close to the road.
We found our first Ferruginous Hawk of the day perched on a power pole beside Ave. J east of E 110th St. There were numerous Red-tailed Hawks in the area and we found some American Pipits in the fields. Three Northern Harriers were hunting in the field near the corner of Ave. I & E120th St.
We made a brief stop at Ave. H & E110th St. where we got a brief look at Cooper’s Hawk.
We stopped for lunch at Apollo Park where we saw the only Black Phoebe of the day. In addition to the usual collection of “dodgy” ducks and geese, we saw Northern Shovelers, a male Redhead, Ruddy Ducks, 2 Great Blue Herons, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, some Yellow-rumped Warblers and a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos.
As we left Apollo Park, we drove north on W60th St. A farm field north of Ave. D that had been flooded the week before was nearly dry and not productive but a little farther north we found 17 Long-billed Curlew, another Ferruginous Hawk, several Loggerhead Shrikes and a Coyote. Another field had a Greater Yellowlegs and we had scope views of a perched Prairie Falcon.
Prairie Falcon (Cindy S 1/14/12)
We went west on Gaskell Ave. to W100th St. where we finally found a flock of Mountain Bluebirds that looked especially beautiful in the afternoon sun. A bit farther west on Gaskell, we came upon 2 more Sage Thrashers and another Prairie Falcon. There were numerous Red-tailed Hawks and several Ferruginous Hawks in the area.
Ferruginous Hawk scouting for prey (C.Bragg 1/14/12)
Our last stop of the day was Quail Lake where we saw many Lesser Scaup, a White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, some Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Ducks, and a few Pied-billed, Eared and Western Grebes.
All-in-all, it was a lovely day in the Antelope Valley. Although we were disappointed not to find any Golden Eagles, the weather conditions were ideal for viewing all the birds we found. [Cindy S.]
Link to January, 2011 trip report
| SMBAS |
Antelope Valley |
No. | Sat, 14 Jan 2012 – Location |
| Canada Goose | Branta canadensis | 10 | Apollo Pk |
| Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | 30 | Apollo Pk |
| Northern Shoveler | Anas clypeata | 6 | Apollo Pk |
| Redhead | Aythya americana | 1 | Apollo Pk |
| Lesser Scaup | Aythya affinis | 300 | Quail Lake |
| White-winged Scoter | Melanitta fusca | 1 | Quail Lake |
| Bufflehead | Bucephala albeola | 80 | Apollo Pk; Quail Lake |
| Common Goldeneye | Bucephala clangula | 20 | Quail Lake |
| Ruddy Duck | Oxyura jamaicensis | 30 | Apollo Pk; Quail Lake |
| California Quail | Callipepla californica | 110 | E 10th north of Ave P; E 40th north of Ave M |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Podilymbus podiceps | 10 | Quail Lake |
| Eared Grebe | Podiceps nigricollis | 5 | Quail Lake |
| Western Grebe | Aechmophorus occidentalis | 2 | Quail Lake |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Phalocrocorax auritus | 2 | Apollo Pk |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | 2 | Apollo Pk |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | Nycticorax nycticorax | 1 | Apollo Pk |
| Northern Harrier | Circus cyaneus | 3 | Ave I east of E110th |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Accipiter cooperii | 1 | Ave H x E110th |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Buteo jamaicensis | 50+ | widespread |
| Ferruginous Hawk | Buteo regalis | 8 | Ave J x E110th; Gaskell Ave; along W Ave D |
| American Kestrel | Falco sparverius | 15 | widespread |
| Merlin | Falco columbarius | 1 | E40th north of Ave L |
| Prairie Falcon | Falco mexicanus | 4 | Ave L x E40th; W60th north of Ave D; Gaskell Ave |
| American Coot | Fulica americana | 40 | Apollo Pk; Quail Lake |
| Killdeer | Charadrius vociferus | 100 | widespread |
| Mountain Plover | Charadrius montanus | 70 | E40th south of Ave L; Ave I east of E110th |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Tringa melanoleuca | 1 | W60th north of Ave D |
| Long-billed Curlew | Numenius americanus | 17 | W60th north of Ave D |
| Ring-billed Gull | Larus delawarensis | 30 | E 10th north of Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk |
| California Gull | Larus californicus | 30 | E 10th north of Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk |
| Rock Dove [I] | Columba livia | 80 | scattered sites |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove [I] | Streptopelia decaoto | 4 | Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | 4 | scattered sites |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Calypte anna | 2 | E10th north of Ave Q |
| Northern Flicker | Colaptes auratus | 1 | Ave J x E90th |
| Black Phoebe | Sayornis nigricans | 1 | Apollo Pk |
| Say’s Phoebe | Sayornis saya | 12 | widespread |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Lanius ludovicianus | 15 | widespread |
| Western Scrub-Jay | Aphelocoma californica | 2 | Palmdale Blvd |
| American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | 5 | Palmdale Blvd |
| Common Raven | Corvus corax | 150+ | widespread |
| Horned Lark | Eremophila alpestris | 1,500+ | widespread |
| Cactus Wren | Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus | 2 | E 10th north of Ave P; E 110th x Ave J |
| Bewick’s Wren | Thryomanes bewickii | 1H | Little Rock Wash south of Ave K |
| Mountain Bluebird | Sialia currucoides | 20 | Gaskell x W100th |
| Northern Mockingbird | Mimus polyglottos | 1 | Ave J x E90th |
| Sage Thrasher | Oreoscoptes montanus | 4 | Ave L x E 40th; Gaskell west of W 100th |
| European Starling [I] | Sturnus vulgaris | 45 | Palmdale Blvd; E 40th x Ave P |
| American Pipit | Anthus rubescens | 30 | Ave J east of E110th |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Dendroica coronata | 12 | Apollo Pk |
| Sage Sparrow | Amphispiza belli | 20 | Little Rock Wash south of Ave K |
| Savannah Sparrow | Passerculus sandwichensis | 50 | scattered sites |
| White-crowned Sparrow | Zonotrichia leucophrys | 300+ | widespread |
| Dark-eyed Junco | Junco hyemalis | 14 | Apollo Pk |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Agelaius phoeniceus | 60 | scattered sites |
| Tricolored Blackbird | Agelaius tricolor | 500 | E40th x Ave K |
| Western Meadowlark | Sturnella neglecta | 80 | widespread |
| Brewer’s Blackbird | Euphagus cyanocephalus | 60 | widespread |
| House Finch | Carpodacus mexicanus | 300+ | widespread |
| House Sparrow [I] | Passer domesticus | 30 | Palmdale |
| [I] – Introduced | Total Species – 60 |
Evening Program: Tues. 7 Feb., 7:30 PM – Owls of Southern California, with Lance Benner
Western Roof-Owl in its right-looking behavioral morph
Everything you ever wanted to know about our local owls, and more, presented by local owl specialist, Lance Benner.
Eleven owl species occur in southern California and at least ten of them breed in the area. Due to its geography, southern California is the edge of the range of several speceis, and one, the Elf Owl, is on the verge of extirpation from the state. This talk will expand significantly on the presentation by Lance from several years ago and will feature extensive use of range maps from eBird and owl recordings and sonograms of our local species.
Lance Benner is a Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, where he specializes in radar imaging of near-Earth asteroids using the Goldstone and Arecibo telescopes. He leads a variety of bird trips for Pasadena Audubon with a particular emphasis on owls.
Directions: We meet at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th Street (between Colorado and Broadway), Santa Monica, located on the east side of the street across from Santa Monica Place indoor mall, easily accessible from the 4th Street offramp of the westbound #10 Freeway.
Meetings begin at 7:30 sharp with a little business, and then our main presentation. Refreshments will be served. We meet on the first floor – the room number will be posted.
Parking: Parking under the building has become difficult in recent months. Metered spaces are free after 6:00 p.m., and there are numerous free Visitor Parking spaces on the lower levels. However, shoppers visiting the mall across the street have begun parking there and it has become very difficult for those actually using the center to park there. You may have to find street parking or use the city parking structures ($5 flat rate).
Link to real-time Santa Monica Parking map
Map to Meeting Place
*******************************
[Chuck Almdale]
Malibu Lagoon Field Trips: Sunday, 22 January, 8:30 & 10am
The depths of Winter and loads of birds. It’s frightening how many there are. I don’t even want to think about it! 60 to 75 species likely. A quiet beach on a cool, quiet day. Dress in layers.
Some of the great birds we’ve had in January are: Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Red-throated, Pacific & Common Loons, Horned, Eared & Western Grebes, Brandt’s & Pelagic Cormorants, Osprey, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcon, Sora, Virginia Rail, Snowy Plover, Black Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Least Sandpiper, Heermann’s, Herring & Glaucous-winged Gulls, Royal, Elegant & Forster’s Terns, Black Skimmer, Anna’s & Allen’s Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Black & Say’s Phoebes, Bewick’s & House Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, Spotted & California Towhees, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser & American Goldfinches.
Bird Lists for January-June 2011
Bird Lists for January-June 2010
Bird Lists for January-June 2009
Adult Walk 8:30 a.m. – Beginner and experienced, 2-3 hours. Species range from 40 in June to 60-75 during migrations and winter. Over the bridges, down to the shore, and if the lagoon outlet is closed, around the lagoon to Adamson House. We put out special effort to make our monthly Malibu Lagoon walks attractive to first-time and beginning birdwatchers. So please, if you are at all worried about coming on a trip and embarrassing yourself because of all the experts, we remember our first trips too. Someone had to show us the birds, and it’s our turn now.
Children and Parents Walk 10:00 a.m. – One hour session. We start at 10:00 for a shorter walk and to allow time for families to get it together on a sleepy Sunday morning. We will have kid-experienced leaders so please bring the kids to the beach! We have an ample supply of binoculars that children can use without striking terror into their parents – we want to see families enjoying nature. (If you have a Scout Troop or other large group of kids please call Mary (310-457-2240) to make sure we have enough binoculars.)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Cross Creek Road. We meet in the traditional place, at the first footbridge on the main trail to the beach. (The bridges will be there for the foreseeable future). Parking in the official lagoon lot is $12+ or by annual pass. You may also park either along PCH north of Cross Creek Road or on Cross Creek Road itself but be careful – some parts of PCH are off-limits (read the signs carefully). Lagoon parking in the shopping center lot is not permitted.
Map to Meeting Place
Chuck Almdale]
Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 25 December, 2011
SMBAS Links: Website Blog Facebook
Birders gather on 1st footbridge (C. Almdale 12/25/11)
Many years ago on Christmas Day I woke up with a start, realizing that no one had volunteered to lead that day’s lagoon field trip. So off I went to make sure the trip took place.
Meanwhile, Maja Block awoke, thinking the same thing. She jumped in her car, binos in hand, and we discovered each other at the lagoon. No one else came! So we led each other around the lagoon. It was very cold and clear: ice rimmed the edges of the lagoon, believe it or not. The beach was empty, very peaceful, and loads of birds made the best of the lack of humans.
Today couldn’t have been more different. About 20 people showed up, much to my surprise. Temperatures rose to about 66°, and we had to remove clothing layers. Surfers surfed; walkers walked and resters zoned out on the beach. High tide waves were washing over a stretch of beach into the lagoon. The only similarity was bunches of birds.
Loads of ducks: 10 species in all.
Osprey (C.Bragg)
Only 12 Brown Pelicans, but far out on the sea were hundreds of Black-vented Shearwaters cruising along to the west on stiff wings. One Cattle Egret poked through the pickleweed with a couple of Snowy Egrets – this species usually follow grazing animals (hence the name) around, eating insects stirred by the animals’ hooves, and they’re appear at the lagoon about 1 out of 8 visits, mostly in Nov-Dec. Black-bellied Plovers remain relatively abundant, and the Osprey continues the every-other-month appearance schedule he’s maintained since June.
Species and numbers are probably under-counted, as many birds stayed to the inland side of the sandy island, visible only from inland. At that distance it’s difficult to identify and count them and they can and do move around by the time we get to the beach. So I just don’t count them when I can’t see them.
New arrivals were: 9 Northern Pintail, 1 Lesser Scaup, 1 Red-throated Loon, 200 (at least) Black-vented Shearwaters far out at sea, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 1 American Avocet, 1 Mew Gull, 1 Marsh Wren, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and 2 Western Meadowlarks.
[/caption]
Pintails don’t show up a lot at the lagoon: only 19 visits out of 180 trips for which we have counts, including 9 visits since December 1998. Western Meadowlarks are even less common: of their 18 visits, 13 have occurred since August 2000. These birds have been hanging out on the beach – not exactly a meadow! – for a couple of weeks not. Apparently they find the wrack left at the high tide line productive for invertebrates.
Mew Gulls don’t show up often. For some reason, they really enjoy sewage plants, and in winter there is nearly always a flock of them out in front of the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in El Segundo. The single bird found lurking among the Ring-billed Gulls was a welcome surprise.
Back in the 1970’s when I first began birding at the lagoon, I could find Marsh Wrens only upstream of the bridge where there was a large bed of reeds. The torrents from a big El Nino winter in the 80’s (I think) washed all those reeds out to sea, but they’ve gradually reappeared, primarily in the 1st channel and near Adamson House. All of the wren’s 34 lagoon appearances for which we have counts have been after August 1993.
This blog gives us width sufficient only for 6 months of data, but if you check the prior lagoon June & December reports, we now have 3 years of lagoon data on our blogsite.
Our next three field trips: Antelope Valley Raptors – 14 January, 8am; Malibu Lagoon – 22 January, 8:30am; Salton Sea – 11/12 February, 9am
Our next program: Tuesday, 7 February, 7:30 pm – Owls of Southern California, presented by Lance Benner.
The usual reminders will be emailed from the blog.
As a reminder to those coming to our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk, it meets at the beach trail footbridge closest to the parking lot.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists: Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
[Chuck Almdale].
| Malibu Census 2011 |
24-Jul |
28-Aug |
25-Sep |
23-Oct |
27-Nov |
25-Dec |
| Temperature |
65-72 |
72 – 81 |
61-69 |
59-64 |
70 |
50-66 |
| Tide Height |
+2.61 |
+5.03 |
+5.33 |
+5.40 |
+6.63 |
+6.80 |
| Low/High &Time |
L:0947 |
H:0942 |
H:0830 |
H:0178 |
H:0945 |
H:0850 |
| Canada Goose |
9 |
|||||
| Gadwall |
10 |
6 |
4 |
35 |
||
| Eurasian Wigeon |
1 |
|||||
| American Wigeon |
3 |
15 |
4 |
|||
| Mallard |
54 |
60 |
48 |
25 |
30 |
8 |
| Blue-winged Teal |
2 |
|||||
| Northern Shoveler |
10 |
12 |
10 |
30 |
||
| Northern Pintail |
7 |
|||||
| Green-winged Teal |
2 |
4 |
40 |
|||
| Lesser Scaup |
1 |
|||||
| Bufflehead |
8 |
12 |
||||
| Red-brstd Merganser |
9 |
4 |
||||
| Ruddy Duck |
2 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
40 |
|
| Red-throated Loon |
1 |
|||||
| Pacific Loon |
1 |
|||||
| Common Loon |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Pied-billed Grebe |
4 |
15 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
| Eared Grebe |
5 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
||
| Western Grebe |
10 |
6 |
25 |
|||
| Blk-vented Shearwater |
200 |
|||||
| Brandt’s Cormorant |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
|
| Dble-crstd Cormorant |
31 |
48 |
47 |
32 |
31 |
62 |
| Pelagic Cormorant |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
| Brown Pelican |
407 |
77 |
60 |
12 |
8 |
12 |
| Great Blue Heron |
6 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Great Egret |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
| Snowy Egret |
11 |
15 |
23 |
26 |
30 |
22 |
| Cattle Egret |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Green Heron |
1 |
|||||
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron |
11 |
4 |
12 |
5 |
||
| Osprey |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Cooper’s Hawk |
1 |
|||||
| Red-tailed Hawk |
2 |
2 |
||||
| American Kestrel |
1 |
|||||
| Merlin |
1 |
|||||
| Peregrine Falcon |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Virginia Rail |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
||
| Sora |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
||
| American Coot |
20 |
75 |
410 |
370 |
57 |
280 |
| Blk-bellied Plover |
4 |
46 |
40 |
700 |
263 |
140 |
| Snowy Plover |
13 |
36 |
62 |
5 |
52 |
58 |
| Semipalmated Plover |
2 |
4 |
||||
| Killdeer |
2 |
8 |
6 |
15 |
5 |
1 |
| Black Oystercatcher |
2 |
|||||
| Black-necked Stilt |
1 |
|||||
| American Avocet |
1 |
|||||
| Spotted Sandpiper |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Wandering Tattler |
1 |
|||||
| Willet |
4 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
|
| Whimbrel |
41 |
26 |
28 |
3 |
||
| Marbled Godwit |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|||
| Ruddy Turnstone |
7 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
| Black Turnstone |
1 |
3 |
||||
| Sanderling |
15 |
3 |
308 |
110 |
||
| Western Sandpiper |
2 |
11 |
1 |
|||
| Least Sandpiper |
1 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
15 |
12 |
| Dunlin |
2 |
|||||
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
2 |
2 |
||||
| Red-necked Phalarope |
7 |
|||||
| Heermann’s Gull |
41 |
24 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
|
| Mew Gull |
1 |
|||||
| Ring-billed Gull |
1 |
7 |
18 |
60 |
175 |
|
| Western Gull |
107 |
146 |
66 |
80 |
50 |
90 |
| California Gull |
8 |
16 |
120 |
30 |
1200 |
|
| Herring Gull |
1 |
|||||
| Glaucous-wingd Gull |
1 |
|||||
| Least Tern |
13 |
|||||
| Caspian Tern |
3 |
12 |
||||
| Common Tern |
1 |
|||||
| Forster’s Tern |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|||
| Royal Tern |
18 |
15 |
1 |
|||
| Elegant Tern |
8 |
36 |
4 |
|||
| Black Skimmer |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Rock Pigeon |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
|
| Mourning Dove |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Vaux’s Swift |
100 |
|||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
||
| Belted Kingfisher |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker |
1 |
|||||
| Western Wood-Pewee |
1 |
|||||
| Black Phoebe |
8 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
3 |
| Say’s Phoebe |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Cassin’s Kingbird |
1 |
|||||
| Western Kingbird |
1 |
4 |
||||
| Western Scrub-Jay |
2 |
|||||
| American Crow |
4 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Rough-wingd Swallow |
20 |
22 |
1 |
|||
| Barn Swallow |
18 |
45 |
30 |
|||
| Cliff Swallow |
25 |
2 |
||||
| Oak Titmouse |
2 |
|||||
| Bushtit |
8 |
6 |
6 |
20 |
30 |
30 |
| Bewick’s Wren |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| House Wren |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Marsh Wren |
1 |
|||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
1 |
|||||
| Wrentit |
1 |
|||||
| Northern Mockingbird |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| European Starling |
38 |
20 |
23 |
60 |
40 |
5 |
| Ornge-crwnd Warbler |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler |
8 |
2 |
8 |
|||
| Common Yellowthroat |
1 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
1 |
2 |
||||
| California Towhee |
3 |
1 |
||||
| Savannah Sparrow |
1 |
1 |
||||
| Song Sparrow |
1 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow |
18 |
8 |
15 |
|||
| Bobolink |
1 |
|||||
| Red-winged Blackbird |
17 |
32 |
18 |
15 |
||
| Western Meadowlark |
2 |
|||||
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
2 |
|||||
| Great-tailed Grackle |
3 |
5 |
12 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
| Brwn-headed Cowbird |
6 |
|||||
| Hooded Oriole |
6 |
|||||
| House Finch |
4 |
8 |
12 |
5 |
30 |
5 |
| Lesser Goldfinch |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
|
| Totals by Type |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Waterfowl |
56 |
65 |
79 |
48 |
92 |
181 |
| Water Birds-Other |
463 |
221 |
542 |
440 |
115 |
598 |
| Herons, Egrets |
32 |
24 |
40 |
31 |
36 |
30 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
| Shorebirds |
32 |
187 |
161 |
797 |
650 |
331 |
| Gulls & Terns |
175 |
248 |
124 |
233 |
143 |
1482 |
| Doves |
9 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
6 |
7 |
106 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
| Passerines |
167 |
181 |
133 |
157 |
134 |
111 |
| Totals Birds |
940 |
943 |
1193 |
1723 |
1174 |
2745 |
| Total Species |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Waterfowl |
2 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
10 |
| Water Birds-Other |
5 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
13 |
| Herons, Egrets |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
| Shorebirds |
8 |
14 |
12 |
13 |
8 |
11 |
| Gulls & Terns |
8 |
8 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
| Doves |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| Passerines |
19 |
18 |
23 |
17 |
13 |
20 |
| Totals Species – 116 |
50 |
59 |
68 |
65 |
51 |
71 |
Carrizo Plains Field Trip 12/10/11
Luck was ours, as the cold and windy weather of the week before had disappeared, providing us with an absolutely beautiful day: clear, windless, with temperatures beginning in the 40’s and ending in the high 60’s. As always, the plains were very quiet and peaceful. Wow!
Soda Lake was dry, at it has been for many years. The staff at the nearby Carrizo Plains Education Center told me that even when water is present, there isn’t much for the Sandhill Cranes to eat as there are no longer crops being grown in the nearby fields. When the crops were harvested, the process left lots of grain on the ground. Food for cranes! Alas, no more. You’ll have to go over the hill to the San Joachin Valley, or down to the Imperial Valley to find cranes these days.
We had a very nice variety of raptors, especially falcons. Eagles were notably missing (although we know they’re there). As always, there were plenty of ground birds: American Pipit, Horned Lark, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Meadowlark, House Finch, and a variety of sparrows, particularly White-crowned Sparrow. Mountain Bluebirds were present, but not abundant. We never saw any large flocks of them as we often do; instead, they were scattered around in small groups of 1-6 birds.
The Burrowing Owl was at the south end of Soda Lake Rd., standing in his hole among the Ground Squirrels. We hadn’t seen any there in 4-5 years, so it was nice to see one out-and-about. Loggerhead Shrikes– a species increasingly difficult to find anywhere – were common, as is usual in the Carrizo in Winter.
We had a long lunch break at the abandoned farmstead, located a couple of miles north of Soda Lake Rd. down a two-track side road. What with doodling and diddling around, it was almost sunset by the time we got to the San Andreas earthquake fault zone, which always amazes those who think they are standing on solid ground in California. [Chuck Almdale]
| Carrizo Plains 12/10/11 |
Count |
| Northern Harrier |
1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
20 |
| Ferruginous Hawk |
2 |
| American Kestrel |
9 |
| Merlin |
1 |
| Prairie Falcon |
2 |
| Killdeer |
1 |
| Mountain Plover |
2 |
| Mourning Dove |
6 |
| Great Horned Owl |
1 |
| Burrowing Owl |
1 |
| Say’s Phoebe |
3 |
| Loggerhead Shrike |
12 |
| Common Raven |
40 |
| Horned Lark |
200 |
| Mountain Bluebird |
30 |
| Northern Mockingbird |
1 |
| Le Conte’s Thrasher |
1 |
| European Starling |
33 |
| American Pipit |
1 |
| Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler |
100 |
| Brewer’s Sparrow |
15 |
| Lark Sparrow |
25 |
| Sage Sparrow |
25 |
| Savannah Sparrow |
55 |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
100 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow |
2 |
| Western Meadowlark |
27 |
| House Finch |
500 |
| Total Species |
29 |
Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 27 November, 2011
SMBAS Links: Website Blog Facebook
Your usual reporter wasn’t present, so this month’s data is supplied by Lucien Plauzoles. Temperatures were warm, about 70°, and there was a 10-15 mph breeze. Human turnout was good with 25 persons. The avian species count of 51 was a bit low for November, as the average is closer to 62. Nothing particularly unusual showed up, but the 9 Canada Geese were nice to see. The Black-bellied Plover count of 263 was down from last month’s estimate of 700, but that was an estimate of flocks continually coming and going.
The new arrivals were: 9 Canada Geese, 8 Bufflehead, 9 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Cattle Egret, 1 American Kestrel, and 1 Glaucous-winged Gull.
Two female Buffleheads cruising down the creek (J. Kenney 11/12/11)
Incidentally, on 6 Dec., 9:15am, Chuck & Ellen counted 67 Snowy Plovers gathered around the western life guard station, which appears to be an all-time high. This included two returning banded birds – GG:AR; NO:WW. GG:AR is a young bird, banded last summer at its nest site at Oceano Dunes (near Pismo Beach), and first showing up at Malibu in September. NO:WW, on the other hand, is an old-timer, first appearing at Malibu in October 2009, after being hatched at Vandenburg Air Force Base that summer. He (or she) apparently likes Malibu, as it was there in Nov. 09 – Feb. 10, Dec. 10 – Feb. 11, and now Nov. 11.
I presume that everyone had a wonderful time as I have heard no complaints. [Let’s keep it that way.]
Long term lagoon resident, Snowy Plover NO:WW, catches a few rays (C.Almdale)
Our next three field trips: Malibu Lagoon – 25 December (yes!, Christmas Day); Antelope Valley Raptors – 14 January; Malibu Lagoon – 22 January
Our next program: Tuesday, 7 February, 7:30 pm – Owls of Southern California, presented by Lance Benner.
The usual reminders will be emailed from the blog.
As a reminder to those coming to our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk, it meets at the beach trail footbridge closest to the parking lot.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists: Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
[Chuck Almdale]
| Malibu Census 2011 |
24-Jul |
28-Aug |
25-Sep |
23-Oct |
27-Nov |
| Temperature |
65-72 |
72 – 81 |
61-69 |
59-64 |
70 |
| Tide Height |
+2.61 |
+5.03 |
+5.33 |
+5.40 |
+6.63 |
| Low/High &Time |
L:0947 |
H:0942 |
H:0830 |
H:0178 |
H:0945 |
| Canada Goose |
9 |
||||
| Gadwall |
10 |
6 |
4 |
||
| Eurasian Wigeon |
1 |
||||
| American Wigeon |
3 |
15 |
|||
| Mallard |
54 |
60 |
48 |
25 |
30 |
| Blue-winged Teal |
2 |
||||
| Northern Shoveler |
10 |
12 |
10 |
||
| Green-winged Teal |
2 |
4 |
|||
| Bufflehead |
8 |
||||
| Red-brstd Merganser |
9 |
||||
| Ruddy Duck |
2 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
|
| Pacific Loon |
1 |
||||
| Common Loon |
1 |
||||
| Pied-billed Grebe |
4 |
15 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
| Eared Grebe |
5 |
3 |
6 |
||
| Western Grebe |
10 |
6 |
|||
| Brandt’s Cormorant |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
| Dble-crstd Cormorant |
31 |
48 |
47 |
32 |
31 |
| Pelagic Cormorant |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Brown Pelican |
407 |
77 |
60 |
12 |
8 |
| Great Blue Heron |
6 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
| Great Egret |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
| Snowy Egret |
11 |
15 |
23 |
26 |
30 |
| Cattle Egret |
1 |
||||
| Green Heron |
1 |
||||
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron |
11 |
4 |
12 |
||
| Osprey |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Red-tailed Hawk |
2 |
2 |
|||
| American Kestrel |
1 |
||||
| Merlin |
1 |
||||
| Peregrine Falcon |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Virginia Rail |
1 |
2 |
1 |
||
| Sora |
3 |
1 |
3 |
||
| American Coot |
20 |
75 |
410 |
370 |
57 |
| Blk-bellied Plover |
4 |
46 |
40 |
700 |
263 |
| Snowy Plover |
13 |
36 |
62 |
5 |
52 |
| Semipalmated Plover |
2 |
4 |
|||
| Killdeer |
2 |
8 |
6 |
15 |
5 |
| Black Oystercatcher |
2 |
||||
| Black-necked Stilt |
1 |
||||
| Spotted Sandpiper |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
| Wandering Tattler |
1 |
||||
| Willet |
4 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
|
| Whimbrel |
41 |
26 |
28 |
||
| Marbled Godwit |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Ruddy Turnstone |
7 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
| Black Turnstone |
1 |
3 |
|||
| Sanderling |
15 |
3 |
308 |
||
| Western Sandpiper |
2 |
11 |
1 |
||
| Least Sandpiper |
1 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
15 |
| Dunlin |
2 |
||||
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Red-necked Phalarope |
7 |
||||
| Heermann’s Gull |
41 |
24 |
15 |
14 |
|
| Ring-billed Gull |
1 |
7 |
18 |
60 |
|
| Western Gull |
107 |
146 |
66 |
80 |
50 |
| California Gull |
8 |
16 |
120 |
30 |
|
| Herring Gull |
1 |
||||
| Glaucous-wingd Gull |
1 |
||||
| Least Tern |
13 |
||||
| Caspian Tern |
3 |
12 |
|||
| Common Tern |
1 |
||||
| Forster’s Tern |
3 |
2 |
|||
| Royal Tern |
18 |
15 |
1 |
||
| Elegant Tern |
8 |
36 |
4 |
||
| Black Skimmer |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Rock Pigeon |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
|
| Mourning Dove |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Vaux’s Swift |
100 |
||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird |
3 |
2 |
2 |
||
| Belted Kingfisher |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker |
1 |
||||
| Western Wood-Pewee |
1 |
||||
| Black Phoebe |
8 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
| Say’s Phoebe |
1 |
2 |
|||
| Cassin’s Kingbird |
1 |
||||
| Western Kingbird |
1 |
4 |
|||
| Western Scrub-Jay |
2 |
||||
| American Crow |
4 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
| Rough-wingd Swallow |
20 |
22 |
1 |
||
| Barn Swallow |
18 |
45 |
30 |
||
| Cliff Swallow |
25 |
2 |
|||
| Oak Titmouse |
2 |
||||
| Bushtit |
8 |
6 |
6 |
20 |
30 |
| Bewick’s Wren |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| House Wren |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Wrentit |
1 |
||||
| Northern Mockingbird |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| European Starling |
38 |
20 |
23 |
60 |
40 |
| Ornge-crwnd Warbler |
1 |
||||
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler |
8 |
2 |
|||
| Common Yellowthroat |
1 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
1 |
2 |
|||
| California Towhee |
3 |
1 |
|||
| Savannah Sparrow |
1 |
||||
| Song Sparrow |
1 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow |
18 |
8 |
|||
| Bobolink |
1 |
||||
| Red-winged Blackbird |
17 |
32 |
18 |
||
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
2 |
||||
| Great-tailed Grackle |
3 |
5 |
12 |
8 |
4 |
| Brwn-headed Cowbird |
6 |
||||
| Hooded Oriole |
6 |
||||
| House Finch |
4 |
8 |
12 |
5 |
30 |
| Lesser Goldfinch |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Totals by Type |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
| Waterfowl |
56 |
65 |
79 |
48 |
92 |
| Water Birds-Other |
463 |
221 |
542 |
440 |
115 |
| Herons, Egrets |
32 |
24 |
40 |
31 |
36 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
| Shorebirds |
32 |
187 |
161 |
797 |
650 |
| Gulls & Terns |
175 |
248 |
124 |
233 |
143 |
| Doves |
9 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
6 |
7 |
106 |
6 |
3 |
| Passerines |
167 |
181 |
133 |
157 |
134 |
| Totals Birds |
940 |
943 |
1193 |
1723 |
1174 |
| Total Species |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
| Waterfowl |
2 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
| Water Birds-Other |
5 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
| Herons, Egrets |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
| Shorebirds |
8 |
14 |
12 |
13 |
8 |
| Gulls & Terns |
8 |
8 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
| Doves |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
| Passerines |
19 |
18 |
23 |
17 |
13 |
| Totals Species – 106 |
50 |
59 |
68 |
65 |
51 |
Field Trip Report: Malibu Creek State Park; 12 Nov., 2011
SMBAS Links: Website Blog Facebook
Although rain had been predicted, it was cloudy on Saturday morning and we met in the park as planned. We began by birding some of the shrubbery around the edge of the lower parking lot. Although there did not appear to be many birds in the area we spotted some Purple Finches, which are always a treat to see. We left the parking lot, crossed Las Virgenes Creek and followed the Crags Road trail in the direction of the Visitors’ Center.
There were a few periods of light drizzle as we walk toward the Visitors’ Center and we took advantage of the cover provided by some of the large oaks along the trail. Despite the drizzle, we were able to see White-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos in the Coyotebush and other shrubs near the trail. We saw a flock of Western Bluebirds, an American Robin and a large number of House Finches in the trees on the top of the ridgeline. Although better weather would have meant better light for viewing and photography, the cool, damp weather apparently discouraged hikers and cyclists so the park was very quiet. Because it was quiet, we were able to hear the soft “pew” notes of the Western Bluebirds when they flew over and we heard many Yellow-rumped Warblers calling around us. We found (and heard) many of the species typical of this habitat, including Acorn Woodpecker, Band-tailed Pigeon, Oak Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Bewick’s Wren. There were a few species including Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Mallard and Bufflehead on Malibu Creek.
Two female Bufflehead cruising down the creek (J. Kenney 11/12/11)
Immature Cooper's Hawk spreads his tail (J. Kenney 11/12/11)
Weather conditions were not ideal for soaring raptors but a perched raptor proved interesting. Its posture and small size puzzled us at first so we spent some time discussing the equally-wide light and dark bands on the tail, which are typical of Accipiters. Since we wanted to see its wing-length, we walked a bit farther along the trail to a spot from which we could see that it, indeed, had the short wings of an accipiter. We did not see it fly since, as raptors often do, it disappeared while we were not looking at it.
In the Chinese Elms near the Visitors’ Center, we found a couple of active Nuttall’s Woodpeckers and two Red-breasted Sapsuckers, one of which was perched in the open so we were able to see it very well.
Red-Breasted Sapsucker in his usual spot near the Visitor Center (J. Kenney 11/12/11)
From there we went back to the parking lot and walked around the lower edge of the campground. Among the birds we saw were one Allen’s and one Anna’s Hummingbird that were foraging in the oaks near the amphitheatre. By then it was time for lunch so we decided to try the picnic area near the park entrance. That proved to be a good choice because there were a lot of birds in the area. While we ate, we saw 2 Loggerhead Shrikes, several American Kestrels, some Western Bluebirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-tailed Kite that perched nearby and provided an auspicious end the day. [Cindy S.]
| Malibu Creek State Park | Trip List | 11/12/11 |
| Codes: F – Female, M – Male, | H – Heard, I – Immature, | [I] – Introduced |
| Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos |
20 |
| Bufflehead | Bucephala albeola |
F 2 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Podilymbus podiceps |
1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Phalocrocorax auritus |
1 |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias |
1 |
| White-tailed Kite | Elanus leucurus |
2 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Accipiter cooperii |
I 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Buteo lineatus |
3 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Buteo jamaicensis |
4 |
| American Kestrel | Falco sparverius |
M 4 |
| American Coot | Fulica americana |
20 |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Columba fasciata |
80 |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura |
2 |
| Black-hooded Parakeet [I] | Nandayus nenday |
H |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Calypte anna |
M 1 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | Selasphorus sasin |
F 1 |
| Acorn Woodpecker | Melanerpes formicivorus |
8 |
| Red-breasted Sapsucker | Sphyrapicus varius |
2 |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | Picoides nuttallii |
MF + 2 H |
| Downy Woodpecker | Picoides pubescens |
1 |
| Northern Flicker | Colaptes auratus |
(4 H) 5 |
| Black Phoebe | Sayornis nigricans |
6 |
| Say’s Phoebe | Sayornis saya |
3 |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Lanius ludovicianus |
2 |
| Western Scrub-Jay | Aphelocoma californica |
2 |
| American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos |
30 |
| Common Raven | Corvus corax |
8 |
| Oak Titmouse | Baeolophus inornatus |
(most H) 20 |
| Bushtit | Psaltriparus minimus |
15 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Sitta carolinensis |
6 |
| Bewick’s Wren | Thryomanes bewickii |
2 |
| House Wren | Troglodytes aedon |
1 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Regulus calendula |
4 |
| Western Bluebird | Sialia mexicana |
20 |
| American Robin | Turdus migratorius |
1 |
| Wrentit | Chamaea fasciata |
H 3 |
| Phainopepla | Phainopepla nitens |
(1 M+1 H) 2 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Dendroica coronata |
(most H) 40 |
| Common Yellowthroat | Geothlypis trichas |
H 2 |
| Spotted Towhee | Pipilo maculatus |
8 |
| California Towhee | Pipilo crissalis |
12 |
| Lark Sparrow | Chondestes grammacus |
20 |
| Song Sparrow | Melospiza melodia |
(most H) 4 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | Zonotrichia leucophrys |
40 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | Junco hyemalis |
30 |
| Purple Finch | Carpodacus purpureus |
(F/imm) 6 |
| House Finch | Carpodacus mexicanus |
30 |
| total = 46 species |
Malibu Creek State Park Field Trip: 12 November, 2011
Acorn Woodpecker at the nest-hole (C.Bragg 5/11)
This is always a lovely walk with one of the best collections of Live Oaks in the area. We are likely to see resident species such as Western Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Band-tailed Pigeon, Acorn Woodpecker, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawk. There is a good chance that we will see winter visitors such as Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsucker, as well as Lark, Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrow. In past years we have had good looks at some uncommon species such as White-tailed Kite, Merlin and Loggerhead Shrike. Mule Deer are common in the park and we often see Coyotes.
Link to: November 2010 trip report
Family guide: 2-3 miles walking on pavement and dirt trails. Morning temperatures start cool.
Lunch: If you would like to join us for lunch after the walk, pack a picnic.
[Directions] Ventura Fwy (#101) to Las Virgenes Rd. South on Las Virgenes Rd, 3 miles to Mulholland Hwy intersection (traffic light). Park entrance is 0.25 mile south of this intersection on Las Virgenes Rd /Malibu Canyon Rd.
Coast Route: From PCH, take Malibu Canyon Road inland. About 3/4 of a mile past the entrance to Tapia Park section of the park, watch for the entrance on your left. Go past the park gate ($12 per vehicle day-use fee without CA State Park pass) to the last (2nd) parking lot (left turn before the sign reading “Campers only past this point”) and look for us near the building (restrooms). Either way, allow 45 minutes travel time from Santa Monica.
Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot.
For additional information, e-mail: <smbas [at] verizon.net>
Link to: Meeting Location and possible walking route
Aerial View of the meeting area: http://mapq.st/nhqKAq
SMBAS Calendar: 1 November, 2011 – 7 February, 2012
Evening Meeting – Tuesday, 1 November, 7:30 p.m.
A Century of Change in Bird Life of Los Angeles, with Kimball Garrett
The Loggerhead Shrike population has declined more than 70% within the past 50 years, (K.Garrett Nov'10)
Superimposing some of the most intensive and expansive urbanization on the planet in an area of great bird diversity has resulted in dramatic changes over the last century in bird populations in the Los Angeles region. Some species have disappeared, others have thrived, and still others have moved in from elsewhere (with or without direct help from humans). This talk will look at some of these changes and explore the ways we learn about shifting bird populations, from museum collections to massive databases such as eBird.
Kimball Garrett has been the Ornithology Collections Manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County since 1982. He has been birding in the Los Angeles region for almost half of the last century of change, and is the co-author of “Birds of The Los Angeles Region” and the long out-of-print “Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution.”
Directions: We meet at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th Street (between Colorado and Broadway), Santa Monica, located on the east side of the street across from Santa Monica Place indoor mall, easily accessible from the 4th Street offramp of the westbound #10 Freeway.
Meetings begin at 7:30 sharp with a little business, and then our main presentation. Refreshments will be served. We meet on the first floor – the room number will be posted.
Parking: Parking under the building has become difficult in recent months. Metered spaces are free after 6:00 p.m., and there are numerous free Visitor Parking spaces on the lower levels. However, shoppers visiting the mall across the street have begun parking there and it has become very difficult for those actually using the center to park there. You may have to find street parking or use the city parking structures ($5 flat rate).
Link to real-time Santa Monica Parking map
Map to Meeting Place
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Saturday, 12 November. Malibu Creek State Park.
Acorn Woodpecker at the nest-hole (C.Bragg 5/11)
This is always a lovely walk with one of the best collections of Live Oaks in the area. We are likely to see resident species such as Western Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Band-tailed Pigeon, Acorn Woodpecker, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawk. There is a good chance that we will see winter visitors such as Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsucker, as well as Lark, Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrow. In past years we have had good looks at some uncommon species such as White-tailed Kite, Merlin and Loggerhead Shrike. Mule Deer are common in the park and we often see Coyotes.
Link to: November 2010 trip report
Family guide: 2-3 miles walking on pavement and dirt trails. Morning temperatures start cool.
Lunch: If you would like to join us for lunch after the walk, pack a picnic.
[Directions] Ventura Fwy (#101) to Las Virgenes Rd. South on Las Virgenes Rd, 3 miles to Mulholland Hwy intersection (traffic light). Park entrance is 0.25 mile south of this intersection on Las Virgenes Rd /Malibu Canyon Rd.
Coast Route: From PCH, take Malibu Canyon Road inland. About 3/4 of a mile past the entrance to Tapia Park section of the park, watch for the entrance on your left. Go past the park gate ($12 per vehicle day-use fee without CA State Park pass) to the last (2nd) parking lot (left turn before the sign reading “Campers only past this point”) and look for us near the building (restrooms). Either way, allow 45 minutes travel time from Santa Monica.
Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot.
For additional information, e-mail: <smbas [at] verizon.net>
Link to: Meeting Location and possible walking route
Aerial View of the meeting area: http://mapq.st/nhqKAq
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Sunday, 27 November. Malibu Lagoon.
Lots of migrants and wintering birds make it a great day for the lagoon. Usually sunny, sometimes cool. Forget Thanksgiving: see your birds here with us.
Some of the great birds we’ve had in November are: Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific & Common Loons, Horned & Western Grebes, Brandt’s & Pelagic Cormorants, Osprey, American Kestrel, Merlin, Sora, Virginia Rail, Snowy Plover, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Boneparte’s Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Herring Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Elegant Tern, Allen’s Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Say’s Phoebe, Common Raven, Bushtit, Bewick’s, House & Marsh Wrens, California Towhee, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch.
Bird Lists for July-December 2010
Bird Lists for July-December 2009
Adult Walk 8:30 a.m. – Beginner and experienced, 2-3 hours. Species range from 40 in June to 60-75 during migrations and winter. Over the bridges, down to the shore, and if the lagoon outlet is closed, around the lagoon to Adamson House. We put out special effort to make our monthly Malibu Lagoon walks attractive to first-time and beginning birdwatchers. So please, if you are at all worried about coming on a trip and embarrassing yourself because of all the experts, we remember our first trips too. Someone had to show us the birds, and it’s our turn now.
Children and Parents Walk 10:00 a.m. – One hour session. We start at 10:00 for a shorter walk and to allow time for families to get it together on a sleepy Sunday morning. We will have kid-experienced leaders so please bring the kids to the beach! We have an ample supply of binoculars that children can use without striking terror into their parents – we want to see families enjoying nature. (If you have a Scout Troop or other large group of kids please call Mary (310-457-2240) to make sure we have enough binoculars.)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Cross Creek Road. We meet in the traditional place, at the first footbridge on the main trail to the beach. (The bridges will be there for the foreseeable future). Parking in the official lagoon lot is $12+ or by annual pass. You may also park either along PCH north of Cross Creek Road or on Cross Creek Road itself but be careful – some parts of PCH are off-limits (read the signs carefully). Lagoon parking in the shopping center lot is not permitted.
Map to Meeting Place
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Saturday, 3 December. Carrizo Plains.
Mountain Bluebird (D. Paulson)
The Carrizo Plains is one of our favorite places in Southern California: big, open, quiet, few people, fewer cars, clean air, mountains, valleys, hills and ponds. It’s also one of the best places in southern California to see a large variety of raptors, including Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle and Prairie Falcon.When there’s water in Soda Lake, the Sandhill Cranes winter here. We often find a flock of Mountain Plovers! We also look for shrikes, eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, thrashers sparrows, larks, Tricolored Blackbirds, scintillating Mountain Bluebirds, coyote, fox, pronghorn, deer, elk, as well as more open and quiet space than anyone believes can still exist in SoCal. We usually stop by the San Andreas Fault where it breaks through to the surface to check on how much it’s moved since last year.
Saturday, 10 December. Carrizo Plains rainout date. Everything else is the same.
Map of Route
Family guide: lots of car travel and stationary observation; young non-birders will be bored.
You must call leader to participate. No fee, but this trip is limited to 5 vehicles, with priority given to those who are carpooling. In the event of adverse weather or road conditions, the trip will be cancelled by the leader no later than Friday evening. Sign-up anytime but please contact the leader Chuck Almdale (webinfo49 [AT] att.net) during the week before the trip to re-confirm. The leader contacts the Carrizo Plains Ed Center on Friday afternoon just before the trip to check on weather and road conditions and then will inform all participants if it’s a go or not.
[Directions] Carpools will leave the North Hills (San Fernando Valley) area by 7:15 a.m. so we can be at the Maricopa re-grouping spot by 9 am. Allow 1/2-hour drive time from Santa Monica to the carpool meeting place. Bring lunch, drinks, additional water and dress for the weather. You should fill up your gas tank in Maricopa as there are NO services in the Carrizo. If you have an FRS radio, bring it along tuned to Channel 11, privacy channel 22.
Information: Call Chuck at 818-894-2541)
Leave North Hills at 7:15 a.m.
Leader: Chuck Almdale (webinfo49 [AT] att.net)
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Evening Meeting – Tuesday, 6 December, 7:30 p.m.
Birds and Conservation in New Zealand, with John Montgomerie
Giant Haast's Eagle attacks New Zealand Moas (Wikipedia)
New Zealand is best known for its flightless birds – the Kiwi, the Takahe gallinule and the Kakapo parrot. How the flightless birds survived has not been well explained, although NZ essentially had no mammalian or reptile predators. After the arrival of humans the survival of flightless birds became precarious. Today NZ is a degraded ecosystem with major loss of forests. The main efforts for restoration in NZ have been on small off-shore islands where introduced species such as goats, feral cats and rats were cleared and native species reintroduced. Mainland ecological conservation areas have also been established, including several “ecological islands,” by means of pest exclusion fences. The use of annual poison bait operations for rats and possums have been very controversial.
John will discuss some of the popular areas birders visit to see other birds of interest such as Wrybill, Spotted Shag, Yellow-eyed Penguin and the Royal Albatross nesting colony near Dunedin.
John Montgomerie is a retired physician who emigrated with Deirdre and family from NZ to Los Angeles in 1969.
Directions: We meet at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th Street (between Colorado and Broadway), Santa Monica, located on the east side of the street across from Santa Monica Place indoor mall, easily accessible from the 4th Street offramp of the westbound #10 Freeway.
Meetings begin at 7:30 sharp with a little business, and then our main presentation. Refreshments will be served. We meet on the first floor – the room number will be posted.
Parking: Parking under the building has become difficult in recent months. Metered spaces are free after 6:00 p.m., and there are numerous free Visitor Parking spaces on the lower levels. However, shoppers visiting the mall across the street have begun parking there and it has become very difficult for those actually using the center to park there. You may have to find street parking or use the city parking structures ($5 flat rate).
Link to real-time Santa Monica Parking map
Map to Meeting Place
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Saturday, 17 December. Butterbredt Spring Christmas Count.
This is the one trip every year where you can count on meeting real birders, the kind that bring their cross-country skis when the weather turns iffy. No latté-sipping wimps on this trip! All seriousness aside, dress warmly, bring $5 for the compilation fee, pack a lunch and snacks and be ready to spend all daylight time (it gets dark around 4:30 p.m.) in the Butterbredt count circle as we do our part to count all the birds that were too macho to fly south for the winter.
On previous trips we’ve seen: Mountain & California Quail, Western Screech-Owl & Great Horned Owl, Ladderbacked & Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller’s, Western Scrub- & Pinyon Jays, Rock Wren, California & LeConte’s Thrashers, Black-throated, Sage & Golden-crowned Sparrows and Pine Siskins.nd 4:30 p.m.) in the Butterbredt count circle as we do our part to count all the birds that were too macho to fly south for the winter.
Family guide: long car ride, possible cold weather; gotta love the birds
[Directions] Contact coordinator Chuck Bragg (310-454-9662) for exact instructions (the count circle instructions are different from our regular field trips to Butterbredt). We’ll be happy to arrange carpools if you don’t want to do any driving. If you have an FRS radio, bring it along tuned to Channel 11, privacy channel 22.
Monday, 19 December. Christmas Count rainout date. Everything else is the same as above.
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Sunday, 25 December. Malibu Lagoon.
Here in Deep and Dark December, even (perhaps especially) on Christmas Day, it’s a great day for the lagoon. It’s often sunny, although once there was ice encrusted on the lagoon-edges. A veritable googolplex of species. Dress for cool weather and possible wind or fog.
Some of the great birds we’ve had in December are: Gadwall, Pintail, Cinnamon & Green-winged Teals, Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated, Pacific & Common Loons, Eared & Western Grebes, Brandt’s & Pelagic Cormorants, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Sora, Virginia Rail, Snowy Plover, Black Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Boneparte’s, Heermann’s, Herring & Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black Skimmer, Anna’s & Allen’s Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Say’s Phoebe, Bewick’s & House Wrens, Spotted & California Towhees, Great-tailed Grackle, American Goldfinch.
Bird Lists for July-December 2010
Bird Lists for July-December 2009
Adult Walk 8:30 a.m. – Beginner and experienced, 2-3 hours. Species range from 40 in June to 60-75 during migrations and winter. Over the bridges, down to the shore, and if the lagoon outlet is closed, around the lagoon to Adamson House. We put out special effort to make our monthly Malibu Lagoon walks attractive to first-time and beginning birdwatchers. So please, if you are at all worried about coming on a trip and embarrassing yourself because of all the experts, we remember our first trips too. Someone had to show us the birds, and it’s our turn now.
Children and Parents Walk 10:00 a.m. – One hour session. We start at 10:00 for a shorter walk and to allow time for families to get it together on a sleepy Sunday morning. We will have kid-experienced leaders so please bring the kids to the beach! We have an ample supply of binoculars that children can use without striking terror into their parents – we want to see families enjoying nature. (If you have a Scout Troop or other large group of kids please call Mary (310-457-2240) to make sure we have enough binoculars.)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Cross Creek Road. We meet in the traditional place, at the first footbridge on the main trail to the beach. (The bridges will be there for the foreseeable future). Parking in the official lagoon lot is $12+ or by annual pass. You may also park either along PCH north of Cross Creek Road or on Cross Creek Road itself but be careful – some parts of PCH are off-limits (read the signs carefully). Lagoon parking in the shopping center lot is not permitted.
Map to Meeting Place
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Saturday, 14 January. Antelope Valley Raptor Experience.
This is the trip for the raptor enthusiast. We will be birding primarily the northwest and west end of the Antelope valley. The raptors we are most likely to see are Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, White-tailed Kite and Golden Eagle. Other possibilities include Rough-legged Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Long-eared Owl. We hope to find Mountain Plover, Long-billed Curlew and Mountain Bluebird. In addition, we will be looking for other species that are year-round residents or winter visitors.
Link to January, 2011 trip report
Family guide - Mostly driving, under ½ mile walking on roadsides. Probably boring for young children. Can be windy or rainy.
[Directions] Carpools will leave the North Hills (San Fernando Valley) area by 7:15 am so we can be in the Palmdale area by 8 am. Allow 1/2-hour drive time from Santa Monica to the carpool meeting place. For directions to the meeting place or additional information, call Chuck & Lillian Almdale (818-894-2541) BY THURSDAY EVENING. This trip is limited to 5 vehicles, with priority given to those who are carpooling. In the event of adverse weather such as strong Santa Ana winds, the trip will be cancelled by the leader no later than Friday evening. Bring lunch, drinks, additional water and dress for the weather. If you have an FRS radio, bring it along tuned to Channel 11, privacy channel 22.
For additional information, e-mail leader at: <smbas [at] verizon.net>
Saturday, 21 January. Antelope Valley rainout date. Everything else is the same as above.
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Sunday, 22 January. Malibu Lagoon.
The depths of Winter and loads of birds. It’s frightening how many there are. I don’t even want to think about it! 60 to 75 species likely. A quiet beach on a cool, quiet day. Dress in layers.
Some of the great birds we’ve had in January are: Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, No. Shoveler, Green-winged Teals, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Red-throated, Pacific & Common Loons, Horned, Eared & Western Grebes, Brandt’s & Pelagic Cormorants, Osprey, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcon, Sora, Virginia Rail, Snowy Plover, Black Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Least Sandpiper, Heermann’s, Herring & Glaucous-winged Gulls, Royal, Elegant & Forster’s Terns, Black Skimmer, Anna’s & Allen’s Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Black & Say’s Phoebes, Bewick’s & House Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, Spotted & California Towhees, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser & American Goldfinches.
Bird Lists for January-June 2011
Bird Lists for January-June 2010
Adult Walk 8:30 a.m. – Beginner and experienced, 2-3 hours. Species range from 40 in June to 60-75 during migrations and winter. Over the bridges, down to the shore, and if the lagoon outlet is closed, around the lagoon to Adamson House. We put out special effort to make our monthly Malibu Lagoon walks attractive to first-time and beginning birdwatchers. So please, if you are at all worried about coming on a trip and embarrassing yourself because of all the experts, we remember our first trips too. Someone had to show us the birds, and it’s our turn now.
Children and Parents Walk 10:00 a.m. – One hour session. We start at 10:00 for a shorter walk and to allow time for families to get it together on a sleepy Sunday morning. We will have kid-experienced leaders so please bring the kids to the beach! We have an ample supply of binoculars that children can use without striking terror into their parents – we want to see families enjoying nature. (If you have a Scout Troop or other large group of kids please call Mary (310-457-2240) to make sure we have enough binoculars.)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Cross Creek Road. We meet in the traditional place, at the first footbridge on the main trail to the beach. (The bridges will be there for the foreseeable future). Parking in the official lagoon lot is $12+ or by annual pass. You may also park either along PCH north of Cross Creek Road or on Cross Creek Road itself but be careful – some parts of PCH are off-limits (read the signs carefully). Lagoon parking in the shopping center lot is not permitted.
Map to Meeting Place
*************************
Evening Meeting – Tuesday, 7 February, 7:30 p.m.
Owls of Southern California, with Lance Benner
Western Roof-Owl in its right-looking behavioral morph
Everything you ever wanted to know about our local owls, and more, presented by local owl specialist, Lance Benner.
Directions: We meet at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th Street (between Colorado and Broadway), Santa Monica, located on the east side of the street across from Santa Monica Place indoor mall, easily accessible from the 4th Street offramp of the westbound #10 Freeway.
Meetings begin at 7:30 sharp with a little business, and then our main presentation. Refreshments will be served. We meet on the first floor – the room number will be posted.
Parking: Parking under the building has become difficult in recent months. Metered spaces are free after 6:00 p.m., and there are numerous free Visitor Parking spaces on the lower levels. However, shoppers visiting the mall across the street have begun parking there and it has become very difficult for those actually using the center to park there. You may have to find street parking or use the city parking structures ($5 flat rate).
Link to real-time Santa Monica Parking map
Map to Meeting Place
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[Chuck Almdale]
