Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 24 January, 2010

Clear and cold conditions at the start:

at 8:30, the temperature was about 41 and a light breeze stirred the leaves. By 11:00 the temperature had risen to 65, the breeze was gone and we were carrying rather than wearing our coats and sweatshirts. Large waves broke over the  offshore rocks; the large flotilla of surfers appreciated the action. Our recent rains (6 – 12 inches, depending on where you live) had scoured the lagoon bottom of sand and blew a big outlet through the east end of the beach, leaving exposed gravel all over the lagoon floor. Side channels were drained of water with little but mud remaining. We were very surprised to find, close to the almost 1000 gulls resting on the gravel, two Peregrine Falcons. [Local photographer James Kenney managed to get an excellent photo of one of them, resting between swoops and stoops, as it perched on the sole remaining snag in the lagoon.] The gulls, ducks, shorebirds, grebes, pelicans and cormorants completely ignored them until one decided to get up and take a few swoops at the flock: that got them moving in a loud and colorful burst of wings. We eventually arrived at the far end of the beach closest to the pier where we spent a long time scoping for the Long-tailed Duck (sans long tail) that’s been there since Christmas day, and admiring the six Black Skimmers and two Black Oystercatchers (uncommon visitors to the lagoon) on the exposed gravel down near the tidal zone. We eventually found it, actively diving among the scoters and grebes over near the end of Malibu Pier, noticable primarily by its blotchy pale plumage and smaller size. On our way back we came across 6 Glaucous-winged Gulls, an average number for January. A pair of American Avocets were feeding among the Willets  in the lagoon,   Altogether we had a nice count of 70 species with 1,906 birds, most of them gulls.

	Malibu Bird Census	2010
	Collected by	Jan
	SMBAS Members
	For Year 2010
	Species
1	Gadwall	20
2	American Wigeon	12
3	Mallard	10
4	Northern Shoveler	4
5	Green-winged Teal	7
6	Lesser Scaup	1
7	Surf Scoter	35
8	Long-tailed Duck	1
9	Bufflehead	6
10	Red-brstd Merganser	8
11	Ruddy Duck	30
12	Red-throated Loon	1
13	Pacific Loon	1
14	Common Loon	1
15	Pied-billed Grebe	1
16	Horned Grebe	1
17	Eared Grebe	3
18	Western Grebe	15
19	Brown Pelican	35
20	Brandt’s Cormorant	1
21	Dble-crstd Cormorant	42
22	Great Blue Heron	2
23	Great Egret	3
24	Snowy Egret	15
25	Red-shouldered Hawk	1
26	Red-tailed Hawk	1
27	Peregrine Falcon	2
28	Sora	1
29	American Coot	284
30	Blk-bellied Plover	45
31	Snowy Plover	54
32	Killdeer	4
33	Black Oystercatcher	2
34	American Avocet	2
35	Willet	15
36	Spotted Sandpiper	4
37	Whimbrel	2
38	Marbled Godwit	4
39	Ruddy Turnstone	13
40	Sanderling	85
41	Least Sandpiper	21
42	Heermann’s Gull	5
43	Ring-billed Gull	55
44	California Gull	875
45	Western Gull	45
46	Glaucous-wingd Gull	6
47	Royal Tern	12
48	Elegant Tern	1
49	Forster’s Tern	1
50	Black Skimmer	6
51	Rock Pigeon	8
52	Mourning Dove	2
53	Anna’s Hummingbird	3
54	Allen’s Hummingbird	2
55	Black Phoebe	4
56	Say’s Phoebe	1
57	American Crow	5
58	Bushtit	4
59	Bewick’s Wren	2
60	Northern Mockingbird	2
61	European Starling	35
62	Yellow-rumpd Warbler	8
63	Common Yellowthroat	3
64	Spotted Towhee	1
65	California Towhee	2
66	Song Sparrow	3
67	Red-winged Blackbird	3
68	Great-tailed Grackle	1
69	House Finch	12
70	Lesser Goldfinch	4
	Totals by Type
	Waterfowl	134
	Water Birds-Other	386
	Herons, Egrets	20
	Quail & Raptors	4
	Shorebirds	251
	Gulls & Terns	1006
	Doves	10
	Other Non-Pass.	5
	Passerines	90
	Totals Birds	1906
	Total Species*
	Waterfowl	11
	Water Birds-Other	12
	Herons, Egrets	3
	Quail & Raptors	3
	Shorebirds	12
	Gulls & Terns	9
	Doves	2
	Other Non-Pass.	2
	Passerines	16
	Totals Species	70