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High tides flood Newport Beach and SoCal | GeoVara YouTube
“It’s very common during an el Niño for us to have water levels that are higher than just purely astronomical sources.“
— Ryan Kittell, meteorologist, US National Weather Service, video time: 6:26
“Monday’s (10/26) record tide in San Pedro came in nearly a foot and a half [1.37 feet] above what the moon and sun alone would have made…on Tuesday’s high, the ocean’s own swelling [due to heat] did more than the moon did.” Video time ~7:00
Click the arrow below to start the film.
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
This video is up-to-date, with discussion of last week’s and this week’s rain and very high tides, and discusses the coming winter. We will be having three more king tides which will be higher than what we just had. Whether they cause more damage than we just had depends primarily on whether the ocean cools down and whether or not the winter storm surges coincide with the yearly astronomical high tides.
This is 17 minutes long and anyone who is invested in the coast, works for agencies that deal with the coast, or is simply interested is what is coming should take the time to watch it all the way through. There are several ads that pop up, but within 5-10 seconds a little “SKIP” button appears in the lower right. Click it right away to make the commercial disappear and the video return.
Here is a link to the NOAA tides for Mugu Lagoon, just south of Oxnard, which I use for Malibu Lagoon predictions. NOAA tide predictions are based entirely on reliable astronomical factors (sun, moon and orbital phenomena). They do not take into account ocean warming, Kelvin waves, storm surges or el Niño effects. Earlier this week San Pedro Harbor had a tide more than 16 inches higher than the NOAA tide table prediction.
The NOAA astronomical chart below predicted a high tide of 6.53 feet in Mugu Lagoon on October 27. If you follow the link just above and change the dates for the predictions, you’ll see that high tide in Mugu Lagoon on November 25 will be 6.89 feet, 7.00 feet on December 24 , 6.83 feet on January 22 and 6.35 feet on February 19. If the water remains warm, and if there are storm surges during these king tides, sea level could easily be several feet higher.
Anyone living, working, driving or just having fun near the coast really needs to know “what’s up with the ocean.”
I still remember the storm of January 1983, when huge waves, higher than the Santa Monica pier, destroyed the outer 1/3rd of that pier, as well as other piers up and down the SoCal coast. We went down to the ocean to watch them roll in. Police had cordoned off the large parking lot next to the beach just south of Pico Blvd., as it was full of water and pieces of pier, and several policemen were stationed there to keep people out. A few dozen people watched the tremendous waves with us, and we were all astounded when a surfer, wet-suited with board under arm and leash already attached to his foot, walked across the parking lot and began to wend his way through the pieces of pier pilings and timbers washed up on the beach. The police got on the bullhorn immediately and ordered him to turn back, which he wisely did. There were several pilings still thrashing in the surf zone, in the process of washing up onto the beach. He could very easily have been killed.
Cal State Parks Photo Contest Winners 2026
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
California State Parks Foundation has an annual contest for photographs taken within our numerous state parks. Categories are: Scenic Landscapes, Recreation & Activities, Wildlife & Nature, People in Parks, California History. LINK to the five winners and ten honorable mentions.
The winner for 2026 in Recreation & Activities is Paula Schultz (below) and you can browse some of her beautiful work on her website.
The world slows down when the fish are biting, and the sun is setting at Lake Oroville.”
Madrona Marsh in Autumn: 10 Oct. 2026
[Text by Jean Garrett, photos by Chris Tosdevin, posted by Chuck Almdale]
Since the Boy Scouts were camping at Huntington Central Park, we had to change the venue to Madrona Marsh in Torrance. October is the earliest time we have ever gone to Madrona and not surprisingly most of the vernal pools were dry. Still, the birds we did see we could see well because the vegetation was sparse.
Eleven of us started down the main trail hearing a chorus of White-crowned sparrows reminding us that winter is coming.
A couple of Downy Woodpeckers were in the trees around the meadow which had lots of sunflowers encouraged to bloom by the last heat wave.
The trees in front of the meadow were filled with Lessor and American Goldfinches and both the Black and the Say’s Phoebe were present.
We even had Meadowlarks right where they belong, in the meadow. A Northern Flicker, always heard first then seen much later, made his appearance. Mallards were swimming in the last pool of water in the whole area. To my surprise, there was some lichen growing on a rock (I thought you could only find them in the mountains) and Chris found a California Hairstreak in a bush.
That little orange spot helped with finding the butterfly.
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers seemed to be in abundance along with Anna Hummingbirds (no Allen’s) and some Kestrels overseeing the open field. When we had finished the trail, there was a bird house hanging from a tree with a squirrel moving in as the new tenant for the winter season.
And finally, the picture of innocence, a female Western Bluebird.
In the upside down map below, north is at the bottom, so no…you haven’t lost your mind. The extensive ponds are there after it begins raining in the fall. We were there about 10 days too early for that.
As always, many thanks to our photographer: Chris Tosdevin
| Madrona Marsh Trip List | 10/10/26 | 2/14/26 | 2/8/25 | 2/10/24 | 2/11/23 | 12/10/16 |
| Canada Goose | 8 | 32 | 8 | X | ||
| Cinnamon Teal | 8 | X | ||||
| Northern Shoveler | 13 | 40 | X | |||
| Gadwall | 2 | X | ||||
| American Wigeon | 7 | 35 | 2 | X | 6 | |
| Mallard | 4 | 4 | 15 | 50 | X | 6 |
| Green-winged Teal | 2 | 5 | X | |||
| Ring-necked Duck | 1 | |||||
| Hooded Merganser | 2 | X | ||||
| Rock Pigeon | 6 | 8 | X | 8 | ||
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 1 | X | ||||
| Mourning Dove | 10 | 2 | 6 | 12 | X | 50 |
| White-throated Swift | 12 | |||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | X | 3 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 3 | 3 | 4 | X | 9 | |
| American Coot | 3 | 2 | X | 5 | ||
| Killdeer | 1 | X | ||||
| Greater Yellowlegs | X | |||||
| Sandpiper sp. | 4 | |||||
| Ring-billed Gull | 2 | |||||
| Western Gull | 4 | |||||
| California Gull | X | 2 | ||||
| Gull sp. | 2 | |||||
| Great Egret | 1 | |||||
| Green Heron | X | |||||
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | X | |||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | |||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | |||||
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 1 | 2 | X | 2 | |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Northern Flicker (Red-shaft) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | X | 2 |
| No. Flicker (prob. Red x Yellow) | (1) | |||||
| American Kestrel | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | X | 3 |
| Merlin | 1 | |||||
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | 1 | |||||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | 4 | 4 | 2 | X | 6 | |
| Black Phoebe | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | X | 6 |
| Say’s Phoebe | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 1 |
| California Scrub-Jay | 1 | |||||
| American Crow | 3 | 28 | 6 | 12 | X | 4 |
| Common Raven | 2 | 2 | 2 | X | 2 | |
| No. Rough-winged Swallow | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Bushtit | 10 | 1 | 8 | 18 | X | 50 |
| Swinhoe’s White-eye | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 8 | 12 | |||
| Cedar Waxwing | X | 20 | ||||
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 8 | 1 | 6 | 8 | X | 13 |
| House Wren | 1 | 1 Heard | ||||
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 | |||||
| European Starling | 6 | 3 | 30 | 5 | X | 8 |
| Western Bluebird | 4 | 3 | ||||
| Hermit Thrush | 1 Heard | |||||
| Scaly-breasted Munia | 8 | 20 | 20 | 45 | ||
| Pin-tailed Whydah | 18 | |||||
| House Finch | 5 | 3 | 20 | 5 | X | 20 |
| Purple Finch | 2 | |||||
| Lesser Goldfinch | 6 | 15 | 50 | X | 3 | |
| American Goldfinch | 2 | 60 | 8 | X | 45 | |
| Lark Sparrow | 2 | |||||
| Chipping Sparrow | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Brewer’s Sparrow | 2 | |||||
| Fox Sparrow | 1 | |||||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 15 | 13 | 30 | 15 | X | 60 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow | 2 | X | 2 | |||
| Savannah Sparrow | 4 | X | 4 | |||
| Song Sparrow | 2 | 8 | X | 2 | ||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 1 | 1 | X | 3 | ||
| California Towhee | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | X | 2 |
| Western Meadowlark | 2 | 1 | X | 10 | ||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 8 | 40 | 31 | X | 2 | |
| Brewer’s Blackbird | 5 | |||||
| Great-tailed Grackle | 3 | 1 | X | |||
| Black-and-White Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 2 | 2 | X | 6 | ||
| Common Yellowthroat | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 5 | 2 | 8 | 40 | X | 10 |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | 1 | X | 1 | |||
| Townsend’s Warbler | 1 | |||||
| House Sparrow | 2 | 6 | 1 | |||
| Total Species – 77 (forms-80) | 23 | 38 (45) | 43 (44) | 41 (42) | 46 | 51 |
The Lonesome Whip-Poor-Will
[Posted by Chuck Almdale, suggested by Diana Roberts]
Jarad Del Rosso writes a lot, and most of it is about birds. His website The Lonesome Whip-Poor-Will lists his writing in over seventy-five categories from Artificial Intelligence to Wrens. A friend sent me this link to the following article as she knows I have a particular interest in the names of birds – their meaning, their origins, their histories, and the foolishness of changing them willy-nilly to suit the whims of the moment. This article is a good read.
Goatsucker? Nightjar? Surprising Histories of Birding’s Most Famous Names.
What is a Goatsucker? What is a Nightjar?
And what do these iconic names tell us about the history of birds?
Link
Link to his upcoming book, out in 2027, The Lonesome Whip-Poor-Will.
Always the 4th Sunday of the month, 8:30am & 10 am
Pacific Coast Highway: All roads are apparently open with no closures or slowdowns reported. Power outages have been reported so watch out for dead stoplights.
The migrating shorebirds are picking up in numbers and diversity, as are ducks, gulls, terns, raptors and songbirds, basically anything that migrates. Some may still have their bright breeding plumages. Snowy Plovers are definitely back. You never know what might blow, float or wander in, especially with the warm water of the Kelvin Wave now present. Could be a very high tide at the start.
Over the past 30 Octobers we’ve averaged 900 birds and 55 species per visit. Plenty to pick through and choose from.
Weather prediction as of 19 October
Temp: 63-73°F; Wind 8-6 mph from Northeast; Sky Cover: 30 > 28%
Tide: High dropping to low: High: 6.11 ft. @ 8:51am, Low: -.34 ft. @ 3:44pm
September 27 trip report link
Adult Walk 8:30 a.m., 4th Sunday of every month. Adults, teens and children you deem mature enough to be with adults. Beginners and experienced, 2-3 hours, meeting at the metal-shaded viewing area between parking lot and channel. Species range from 35 in June to 60-75 during migrations and winter. We move slowly and check everything as we move along. When lagoon outlet is closed we may continue east around the lagoon to Adamson House. We put out special effort to make our monthly Malibu Lagoon walks attractive to first-time, beginning, and visiting 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 showed us the birds; now it’s our turn. Bring your birding questions.
Children and Parents Walk, 10:00 a.m., 4th Sunday of every month: One hour session, meeting at the metal-shaded viewing area between parking lot and channel. We start at 10:00 for a shorter walk and to allow time for families to get it together on a sleepy Sunday morning. Our leaders are experienced with kids so please bring them 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 group of more than seven people, you must call Jean (213-522-0062) to make sure we have enough binoculars, docents and sand.) It’s a good idea to call Jean anyway so she knows to expect you. If you’re late, they’re probably heading towards the beach.
Directions: Malibu Lagoon – street address is 3999 Cross Creek Rd. – is at the stoplighted intersection of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and Cross Creek Road, just west of Malibu Pier and the bridge, 15 miles west of Santa Monica via PCH. Turn towards the ocean at the stoplight, opposite the Shell station. We gather in the metal-shaded pavilion area near the parking lot. Look around for people wearing binoculars and hats. Do NOT go to 23200 PCH, the address for Adamson House, east of Malibu Creek bridge, and a 5-10 minute walk away, plus 20-40 minutes to get into their surfer-packed parking lot.
Parking: Parking machine in the lagoon lot near our meeting area: 1 hr $3; 2 hrs $6; 3 hrs $9, all day $12 ($11 seniors); credit cards accepted. The Golden Bear pass is good again, from Labor Day to Memorial Day in May. You may also park (read the signs carefully) either along PCH west of Cross Creek Road, on Cross Creek Road, or on Civic Center Way north (inland) of the shopping center. Lagoon parking in shopping center lots is not permitted and ill-advised.
[Written & posted by Chuck Almdale]
