Free email delivery
Please sign up for email delivery in the subscription area to the right.
No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Pacific Coast Highway: As of this moment, things seem fine. No rain, mostly sunny, low lagoon water level, cool-ish enough to keep the beach uncrowded. 25 MPH speed limit still in effect for much of the way.
Special Attractions: Like dinosaurs? Want to see a dinosaur? Then come. Birds are small dinosaurs, we now know, the last of their kind. Think about that the next time one approaches you, grinning, looking for a free meal.
February – Still more birds than you can shake a stick at:
What can I say? Birds you’ve never even dreamed of! Garbled Modwit, Club-sandwich Tern, Faque’s Tourniquet, T.H.E.’s Duck, Delicious Gull, Fraculated Wigulet, Crabby Plovereater, Desert Island Diskette, Insignificant Sandpiper, Witless Dummbell, Plaid Oysterroaster, the Inimitable Glink, Belt-loop Fishfisher, Picnic Frycatcher, Egg-begging Nestsnatcher, Möbius’ Billtwister, Western Roof-Owl (see our monograph). And those are just the unlikely birds, there may be 65 other species. Last year we had a Bald Eagle in February. A quiet beach on a quiet day. Who can complain about that? Dress in layers.
If you arrive early you may perchance to espy a trewloue of turtuldowẏs.
If you like low tides, today is not the lowest but will be a good day.
Weather prediction as of 17 February:
Sunny, cool. Temp: 55-64°, Wind: ENE 7>8 mph, Clouds: 41>35%, rain: 18%
Tide: low to small rising: Low: +0.65 ft. @ 6:55am; High: +2.91 ft. @ 12:40pm
Jan 25 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 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 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.)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and Cross Creek Road, west of Malibu Pier and the bridge, 15 miles west of Santa Monica via PCH. We gather in the metal-shaded area near the parking lot. Look around for people wearing binoculars. Neither Google Maps nor the State Park website supply a street address for the parking lot. The address they DO supply is for Adamson House which is just east of the Malibu Creek bridge, about a 5-minute walk away.
Parking: Parking machine in the lagoon lot: 1 hr $3; 2 hrs $6; 3 hrs $9, all day $12 ($11 seniors); credit cards accepted. Annual passes accepted. 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.
(Chris Tosdevin 2-23-25)
[Written & posted by Chuck Almdale]
Evolutionary History and Biogeography of Passerines, with Diego Blanco: Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 3 March, 7:30 p.m.
You are all invited to the next ZOOM meeting
of Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society
Evolutionary History and Biogeography of Passerines, with Diego Blanco.
Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 3 March, 7:30 p.m.
Zoom waiting room opens 7:15 p.m.
Diego Blanco of the Moore Laboratory of Ornithology will present an Evolutionary History and Biogeography of Passerines. Topics will include song bird behavior, evolution, and conservation. Diego will describe the avian family tree and explain how songbirds have spread across the globe and how they’ve changed over time.
|
Before Diego Blanco became an Outreach and Research Assistant at the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College, he was a Los Angeles area birder and naturalist. He enjoys hiking, camping, and documenting biodiversity through photography and illustration. Diego graduated from Cornell University in 2022 and has worked as an administrative assistant at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants where he taught field sketching and bird identification classes. He spent the summer 2024 season as a point count technician with the Klamath Bird Observatory conducting surveys on bird populations and plant communities in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California.
(If the button above doesn’t work for you, see detailed zoom invitation below.)
Meeting ID: 825 7750 0786
Passcode: 993523
One tap mobile
+16694449171,,82577500786#,,,,*993523# US
+16699009128,,82577500786#,,,,*993523# US (San Jose)
Joining Instructions
https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82577500786/invitations?signature=g0Cp2iapmwGEhBXYp3jcmkGKZN5-7oZ5-7D2N4WEoAU
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
1. Head lice hitched a ride on humans to the Americas at least twice
The parasites’ genetics can give in-depth insights into their hosts’ pasts.
You needn’t be a nitpicker to be intrigued.
By Jake Buehler, 11-8-23
2. Here’s how high-speed diving kingfishers may avoid concussions
Specific genetic tweaks seem to protect brains from 40 km/h plunges into water.
By Claudia Lopez Lloreda, 11-6-23
Analysis of the genetic instruction book of some diving kingfishers identified changes in genes related to brain function as well as retina and blood vessel development, which might protect against damage during dives, researchers report October 24 in Communications Biology. The results suggest the different species of diving kingfishers may have adapted to survive their dives unscathed in some of the same ways, but it’s still unclear how the genetic changes protect the birds.
3. Landscape Explorer shows how much the American West has changed
The online tool stitches historical aerial images into a public map
With the click of a mouse, a new mapping tool shows how places in the American West have changed over the last 70 years.
Open Landscape Explorer Link
By Brianna Randall, 12-6-23
Great Backyard Bird Count: February 13-16
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
ScreenSnip from http://www.birdcount.org
Yes, it’s going on right this very second and through Monday February 16th, and this time it’s a WorldWide event, co-sponsored by National Audubon Society, Birds Canada and Cornell Lab who brings eBird and Merlin into your inbox and telephone.
Here’s the link to all the information: https://www.birdcount.org/
And you can watch the short video (1:20). Maybe you’ll see a Shoebill in your backyard.
There are also links to other videos, the Merlin Bird ID app and eBird mobile app.
But it’s really easy.
Participating is easy, fun to do alone or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.
Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.
Step 2: Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 13–16, 2026.
Step 3: Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:
- If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing.
- If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
Want to read more about GBBC? Scientific American
So check out the website and begin your 15 minutes of birding fame: https://www.birdcount.org/
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 