Nesting season: Malibu Lagoon, 25 June 2023

[By Chuck Almdale]

Channel view with algae, under a startlingly clear blue sky, looking southeast from the pavilion (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

Although it wasn’t quite the first day of summer, and the day length is now officially shrinking drastically — 14.25.07 on June 25 long versus 14.25.32 on June 21, or 25 whole seconds shorter — it was still definitely summer. Bright sunny day, bunches of people on the beach, surfers in the water, no more June Gloom, barely 40 species of birds — yup, that’s June all right.

As with May 28^th, our most common species were terns. Test time! What are these two species? Answer at bottom.
(Hint: That one is flying and the other is not is of no help whatsoever.)

Flying Tern (Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

Non-flying Tern (Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

The Black Skimmers were back for a visit. Quiz!
Which is larger, male or female? Answer at end.
(Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

There are a few nesting species at the lagoon.

Canada Goose goslings. Not quite sure why each has one strand of algae hanging from their bill. (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

Gadwall mom with six ducklets. (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

Grace took the above photo of Gadwall ducklings two days later, but on birdwalk Sunday we saw twenty-five ducklings trailing behind one female Gadwall, which must be some sort of record. That must have been a crèche of 4-7 families. The other moms were probably taking a much-needed snooze somewhere. Most of the ducklings on the lagoon and channels appear to be Gadwall (judging by the females they’re following.)

Hooded Oriole (Chris Tosdevin (6/25/23)

The Hooded Oriole family fledged. Two young males, with a little bit of black on their throats like the one above, and a female were seen gleaning through the tree foliage, rattling away at one another with Icterid-sounding calls. They probably nested near Malibu Colony in one of the palms, their preferred nesting tree, where they suspend their woven hanging nest from the middle of the underside of a palm frond. The large nests are surprisingly easy to overlook.

The Killdeer young are already old enough to be confused with adults, and all the passerine nesters are too adept at skulking and nest-hiding to be found.

Mallard male and much larger domestic duck (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

This is at least the third month, if not the fourth or fifth, that we’ve seen the above pair of ducks at the lagoon. They’re often resting together on any of the sand islands. The Mallard appears to be in eclipse plumage now, and the domestic duck (which is also a Mallard although bred to be white and plump) is likely a female, as male Mallards have a curly feather in their tails (except in eclipse). They look quite different to us, but they don’t care and will mate if and when they feel like it.

Brown Pelicans, with a 7-ft wingspan, need a lot of room to land. (Larry Loeher 6/27/23)

Shhh. Sleeping blue-eyelidded Great Blue Heron. (Larry Loeher 6/27/23)

Hungry juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron out and about despite the sunlight. They prefer twilight and usually hide in the foliage during the bright light of day. Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23

Our third heron/egret species for the day, a plump Snowy Egret, with it’s neck retracted for a change, giving it that football-with-a-bill shape. (Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

Brandt’s Cormorants are about the same size/shape/proportions/color as the far more common (at the lagoon) Double-crested, but instead of that big yellow-orange throat pouch they have a small beige throat-patch which is partly blue during breeding. (Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

Male Allen’s Hummingbird on his special twig (Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

Smaller relatives of the famous Komodo Dragon lurk in our brush, aka Western Fence Lizard (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

Birds new for the Season: Black Skimmer, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cooper’s Hawk, California Scrub-Jay, Oak Titmouse, Bewick’s Wren.

Malacothamnus flowering in the breeze (Grace Murayama 6/27/23)

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 6-27-23: 6932 lists, 319 species

Many thanks to photographers: Grace Murayama & Chris Tosdevin

It’s all too much, isn’t it? Sub-adult Heermann’s Gull, up from Baja for the winter.
(Grace Murayama 6/25/23)

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips:

• Malibu Lagoon, Sun Jul 23, 8:30 am. No reservations or Covid card required.
• Malibu Lagoon, Sun Aug 27, 8:30 am. No reservations or Covid card required.
• Coastal Cleanup Day, Malibu Lagoon, Sat. Sep 16, 9 am–Noon
• Malibu Lagoon, Sun Sep 24, 8:30 am. No reservations or Covid card required.
• These and any other trips we announce for the foreseeable future will depend upon expected status of the Covid/flu/etc. pandemic at trip time. Any trip announced may be canceled shortly before trip date if it seems necessary. By now any other comments should be superfluous.
• Link to Programs & Field Trip schedule.

The next SMBAS Zoom program: TBA. Tuesday, 3 Oct. 2023, 7:30 p.m.

The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk restarted April 23. Reservations for groups (scouts, etc.) necessary, but not for families.

Male House Finch
(Chris Tosdevin 6/25/23)

Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
9/23/02 Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon
More recent aerial photo

Prior checklists:
2021: Jan-July,  July-Dec 2022: Jan-June, July-Dec
2020: Jan-July, July-Dec  2019: Jan-June, July-Dec  
2018: Jan-June, July-Dec  2017: Jan-June, July-Dec
2016: Jan-June, July-Dec  2015: Jan-May, July-Dec
2014: Jan-July,  July-Dec  2013: Jan-June, July-Dec
2012: Jan-June, July-Dec 2011: Jan-June, July-Dec
2010: Jan-June, July-Dec  2009: Jan-June, July-Dec

The 10-year comparison summaries created during the Lagoon Reconfiguration Project period, remain available—despite numerous complaints—on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. Very briefly summarized, the results unexpectedly indicate that avian species diversification and numbers improved slightly during the restoration period June’12-June’14.

Many thanks to Lucien Plauzoles, Ruth & Chris Tosdevin and others for their contributions to this month’s checklist.

The species lists below is irregularly re-sequenced to agree with the California Bird Records Committee Official California Checklist as updated 4 Feb 2023. If part of the chart’s right side is hidden, there’s a slider button at the bottom of the list.
[Chuck Almdale]

	Malibu Census 2023	1/22	2/26	3/26	4/23	5/28	6/25
	Temperature	49-57	53-55	57-60	57-66	61-62	59-71
	Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+6.81	L+0.81	L+0.28	L-.041	L+0.81	L+0.89
	Tide Time	0858	0911	0800	0637	1131	0919
1	Canada Goose	4	2	6	4	5	4
1	Cinnamon Teal		1
1	Northern Shoveler		7
1	Gadwall	26	58	42	24	17	45
1	American Wigeon		4
1	Mallard	20	32	12	15	12	33
1	Green-winged Teal	15	26	5
1	Redhead			3
1	Surf Scoter	1	6	22	3	2
1	Bufflehead	10	5
1	Common Goldeneye	2
1	Hooded Merganser	1
1	Red-breasted Merganser	6	3	2
1	Ruddy Duck		8
2	Pied-billed Grebe	2	1	1	2
2	Western Grebe	8	40	80	6
7	Feral Pigeon	16	5	6	1	8
7	Eurasian Collared-Dove					2
7	Mourning Dove		2	1	2	2	2
8	White-throated Swift			5
8	Anna’s Hummingbird	1			1		1
8	Allen’s Hummingbird	2	3	3	2	1	2
2	American Coot	38	73	37	6		5
5	Black-bellied Plover	43	62	3
5	Killdeer	4	12	5	4	4	8
5	Semipalmated Plover				14
5	Snowy Plover	16	16		1
5	Whimbrel	7	2	25	16		11
5	Marbled Godwit	18	17	2
5	Ruddy Turnstone	6	3
5	Sanderling	35	32	2
5	Dunlin				2
5	Least Sandpiper	22	27		19
5	Western Sandpiper				30
5	Willet	15	9	7	2		7
6	Bonaparte’s Gull					3
6	Heermann’s Gull	27	3	3	80	152	94
6	Short-billed Gull		1
6	Ring-billed Gull	36	40	46	120	12	5
6	Western Gull	49	38	26	50	72	105
6	California Gull	1330	237	95	60
6	Herring Gull	2	1	2
6	Glaucous-winged Gull	7	4
6	Caspian Tern			2		2
6	Royal Tern	2	14	13		3	20
6	Elegant Tern			90	630	305	150
6	Black Skimmer		3				2
2	Red-throated Loon	1		1
2	Pacific Loon			1	1
2	Common Loon			2	1
2	Brandt’s Cormorant		1		12	8	2
2	Pelagic Cormorant	6	1	2	3	3	1
2	Double-crested Cormorant	36	67	26	53	74	75
2	American White Pelican		1
2	Brown Pelican	343	159	62	655	168	162
3	Great Blue Heron	2		2		1	4
3	Great Egret	2	2	2	1	2	2
3	Snowy Egret	16	6	2	1	3	4
3	Black-crowned Night-Heron						2
3	White-faced Ibis		1
4	Turkey Vulture	1	5	5	1		2
4	Osprey			1	1	1
4	Cooper’s Hawk		1				1
4	Red-tailed Hawk		1	2	2
8	Belted Kingfisher	1
8	Nuttall’s Woodpecker	1
4	Peregrine Falcon				1
9	Cassin’s Kingbird		1	1
9	Pacific-slope Flycatcher				1
9	Black Phoebe	3	3	2	1	6	4
9	Say’s Phoebe		1
9	California Scrub-Jay	1					2
9	American Crow	11	27	6	4	3	9
9	Common Raven	2	1	2		2
9	Oak Titmouse						1
9	Northern Rough-winged Swallow		2	6	6	5	15
9	Barn Swallow			14	15	30	35
9	Cliff Swallow		24	3	25	4	30
9	Bushtit	14	3	3	2	8	4
9	Wrentit	1			1	1
9	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	1
9	Cedar Waxwing			12
9	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1
9	House Wren	1			2
9	Marsh Wren	1
9	Bewick’s Wren			1			1
9	Northern Mockingbird				1
9	European Starling	6	9		2	3	6
9	Hermit Thrush	1
9	House Finch	9	6	5	7	13	8
9	Lesser Goldfinch	4	10	5	2	5	1
9	Dark-eyed Junco					1
9	White-crowned Sparrow	12	25	12
9	Song Sparrow	4	5	5	7	10	5
9	California Towhee	3	3	1	5	3	1
9	Hooded Oriole				1	1	3
9	Red-winged Blackbird	12		2		4	3
9	Brown-headed Cowbird				1	3
9	Great-tailed Grackle			6	4	2	1
9	Orange-crowned Warbler		1	3	1	1
9	Common Yellowthroat	2	4	3	1
9	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)	6	2	7
9	Wilson’s Warbler					1
	Totals by Type	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1	Waterfowl	85	152	92	46	36	82
2	Water Birds – Other	434	343	212	739	253	245
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	20	9	6	2	6	12
4	Quail & Raptors	1	7	8	5	1	3
5	Shorebirds	166	180	44	88	4	26
6	Gulls & Terns	1453	341	277	940	549	376
7	Doves	16	7	7	3	12	2
8	Other Non-Passerines	5	3	8	3	1	3
9	Passerines	96	128	99	89	106	129
	Totals Birds	2276	1170	753	1915	968	878
	Total Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1	Waterfowl	9	11	7	4	4	3
2	Water Birds – Other	7	8	9	9	4	5
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	3	3	3	2	3	4
4	Quail & Raptors	1	3	3	4	1	2
5	Shorebirds	9	9	6	8	1	3
6	Gulls & Terns	7	9	8	5	7	6
7	Doves	1	2	2	2	3	1
8	Other Non-Passerines	4	1	2	2	1	2
9	Passerines	20	18	20	20	20	17
	Totals Species – 103	61	64	60	56	44	43

Quiz Answers
The flying tern is a Royal; non-flyer is an Elegant.
Male Black Skimmers are larger, especially the bill.