Ballona Creek & Freshwater Marsh Trip Report: 14 Nov. 2009
When a westerly wind comes ripping off the ocean, the swells can surge completely across the Ballona Creek middle jetty. Anyone nearby is soaked by the freezing spray. Despite our forebodings, this was not one of those days, and we soon found ourselves struggling out of our extra layers of clothing.
Greenish-yellow bill & dark around the eye makes this a Western Grebe (C.Almdale 11/09)
After checking out the ducks and the several Greater White-fronted Geese at Del Rey lagoon, leader Lu Plauzoles took us east down Ballona Creek to the tidal gate about half-way to Lincoln Blvd. We found the Burrowing Owl keeping its solitary vigil on the ice-plant covered sandy hill just east of the wetlands channel. It must now be about 5 years since this bird began wintering here. The creek was full of UCLA crews paddling up and down, shouting all the while, and the ducks did their best to keep out of their way, but there were plenty of shorebirds on the rocky edges: Willets, Whimbrels, Ruddy Turnstones, Western and Least Sandpipers; Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads and Red-breasted Mergansers kept near the shores, but the Common Loons easily dodged the crew shells by diving under.
Black Oystercatcher on the Jetty (C.Almdale 11/09)
Along the central jetty we found Surfbirds, Black Turnstones and Black Oystercatchers in [relative] abundance, which means several dozens of the first two and about 10 of the latter. The outer jetty was covered with Brown Pelicans and Brandt’s Cormorants: amazingly we could not find a single Pelagic or Double-crested Cormorant resting there, which must be a first for me. Rafts of scoters and [probably mostly] Western Grebes were off to the south, too far to properly view. Diligent searching did not turn up any Wandering Tattlers, a rocky-shore-loving bird uncommon but regular on the SoCal mainland.
Surfbird Trio (C.Almdale 11/09)
We had spent so much time wandering up and down the creek that our visit to the Freshwater Marsh at the corner of Lincoln & Jefferson Blvds. was abbreviated. Nevertheless, we managed to scare up plenty of Black-crowned Night Herons and a Sora as well as hearing a Virginia Rail. This is a reliable spot for Common Moorhen and we found several poking along the edges of the reeds. The pond at the south end had at least 6 Wilson’s Snipe foraging among the pond-edge leaves and brush. On the way back, an American Kestrel perched on a light pole, while a Red-tailed Hawk and several Common Ravens flew overhead. Altogether, a surprisingly fine day.
| Ballona Channel & Del Rey Lagoon |
Ballona Freshwater Marsh |
| Greater White-fronted Goose Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Lesser Scaup Surf Scoter Bufflehead Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Eared Grebe Western Grebe Clark’s Grebe Brown Pelican Brandt’s Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Turkey Vulture Red-tailed Hawk American Coot Black-bellied Plover Killdeer Black Oystercatcher Willet Whimbrel Marbled Godwit Ruddy Turnstone Black Turnstone Surfbird Sanderling Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Heermann’s Gull Ring-billed Gull Western Gull California Gull Forester’s Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Burrowing Owl Anna’s Hummingbird Allen’s Hummingbird Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe American Crow Bushtit Northern Mockingbird European Starling Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Savannah Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Brewer’s Blackbird House Finch Lesser Goldfinch House Sparrow |
Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal Bufflehead Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Eared Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Ferrugenous Hawk American Kestrel Virginia Rail (H) Sora Common Moorhen American Coot Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Wilson’s Snipe Ring-billed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Anna’s Hummingbird Allen’s Hummingbird Northern Flicker Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe Western Kingbird American Crow Common Raven Bushtit Marsh Wren (H) Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Hermit Thrush Northern Mockingbird European Starling Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Common Yellowthroat California Towhee Song Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Great-tailed Grackle House Finch Lesser Goldfinch |
| 60 Species | 56 Species |
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