Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 27 November, 2011
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Your usual reporter wasn’t present, so this month’s data is supplied by Lucien Plauzoles. Temperatures were warm, about 70°, and there was a 10-15 mph breeze. Human turnout was good with 25 persons. The avian species count of 51 was a bit low for November, as the average is closer to 62. Nothing particularly unusual showed up, but the 9 Canada Geese were nice to see. The Black-bellied Plover count of 263 was down from last month’s estimate of 700, but that was an estimate of flocks continually coming and going.
The new arrivals were: 9 Canada Geese, 8 Bufflehead, 9 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Cattle Egret, 1 American Kestrel, and 1 Glaucous-winged Gull.
Two female Buffleheads cruising down the creek (J. Kenney 11/12/11)
Incidentally, on 6 Dec., 9:15am, Chuck & Ellen counted 67 Snowy Plovers gathered around the western life guard station, which appears to be an all-time high. This included two returning banded birds – GG:AR; NO:WW. GG:AR is a young bird, banded last summer at its nest site at Oceano Dunes (near Pismo Beach), and first showing up at Malibu in September. NO:WW, on the other hand, is an old-timer, first appearing at Malibu in October 2009, after being hatched at Vandenburg Air Force Base that summer. He (or she) apparently likes Malibu, as it was there in Nov. 09 – Feb. 10, Dec. 10 – Feb. 11, and now Nov. 11.
I presume that everyone had a wonderful time as I have heard no complaints. [Let’s keep it that way.]
Long term lagoon resident, Snowy Plover NO:WW, catches a few rays (C.Almdale)
Our next three field trips: Malibu Lagoon – 25 December (yes!, Christmas Day); Antelope Valley Raptors – 14 January; Malibu Lagoon – 22 January
Our next program: Tuesday, 7 February, 7:30 pm – Owls of Southern California, presented by Lance Benner.
The usual reminders will be emailed from the blog.
As a reminder to those coming to our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk, it meets at the beach trail footbridge closest to the parking lot.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists: Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
[Chuck Almdale]
| Malibu Census 2011 |
24-Jul |
28-Aug |
25-Sep |
23-Oct |
27-Nov |
| Temperature |
65-72 |
72 – 81 |
61-69 |
59-64 |
70 |
| Tide Height |
+2.61 |
+5.03 |
+5.33 |
+5.40 |
+6.63 |
| Low/High &Time |
L:0947 |
H:0942 |
H:0830 |
H:0178 |
H:0945 |
| Canada Goose |
9 |
||||
| Gadwall |
10 |
6 |
4 |
||
| Eurasian Wigeon |
1 |
||||
| American Wigeon |
3 |
15 |
|||
| Mallard |
54 |
60 |
48 |
25 |
30 |
| Blue-winged Teal |
2 |
||||
| Northern Shoveler |
10 |
12 |
10 |
||
| Green-winged Teal |
2 |
4 |
|||
| Bufflehead |
8 |
||||
| Red-brstd Merganser |
9 |
||||
| Ruddy Duck |
2 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
|
| Pacific Loon |
1 |
||||
| Common Loon |
1 |
||||
| Pied-billed Grebe |
4 |
15 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
| Eared Grebe |
5 |
3 |
6 |
||
| Western Grebe |
10 |
6 |
|||
| Brandt’s Cormorant |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
| Dble-crstd Cormorant |
31 |
48 |
47 |
32 |
31 |
| Pelagic Cormorant |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Brown Pelican |
407 |
77 |
60 |
12 |
8 |
| Great Blue Heron |
6 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
| Great Egret |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
| Snowy Egret |
11 |
15 |
23 |
26 |
30 |
| Cattle Egret |
1 |
||||
| Green Heron |
1 |
||||
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron |
11 |
4 |
12 |
||
| Osprey |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Red-tailed Hawk |
2 |
2 |
|||
| American Kestrel |
1 |
||||
| Merlin |
1 |
||||
| Peregrine Falcon |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Virginia Rail |
1 |
2 |
1 |
||
| Sora |
3 |
1 |
3 |
||
| American Coot |
20 |
75 |
410 |
370 |
57 |
| Blk-bellied Plover |
4 |
46 |
40 |
700 |
263 |
| Snowy Plover |
13 |
36 |
62 |
5 |
52 |
| Semipalmated Plover |
2 |
4 |
|||
| Killdeer |
2 |
8 |
6 |
15 |
5 |
| Black Oystercatcher |
2 |
||||
| Black-necked Stilt |
1 |
||||
| Spotted Sandpiper |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
| Wandering Tattler |
1 |
||||
| Willet |
4 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
|
| Whimbrel |
41 |
26 |
28 |
||
| Marbled Godwit |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Ruddy Turnstone |
7 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
| Black Turnstone |
1 |
3 |
|||
| Sanderling |
15 |
3 |
308 |
||
| Western Sandpiper |
2 |
11 |
1 |
||
| Least Sandpiper |
1 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
15 |
| Dunlin |
2 |
||||
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Red-necked Phalarope |
7 |
||||
| Heermann’s Gull |
41 |
24 |
15 |
14 |
|
| Ring-billed Gull |
1 |
7 |
18 |
60 |
|
| Western Gull |
107 |
146 |
66 |
80 |
50 |
| California Gull |
8 |
16 |
120 |
30 |
|
| Herring Gull |
1 |
||||
| Glaucous-wingd Gull |
1 |
||||
| Least Tern |
13 |
||||
| Caspian Tern |
3 |
12 |
|||
| Common Tern |
1 |
||||
| Forster’s Tern |
3 |
2 |
|||
| Royal Tern |
18 |
15 |
1 |
||
| Elegant Tern |
8 |
36 |
4 |
||
| Black Skimmer |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Rock Pigeon |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
|
| Mourning Dove |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
| Vaux’s Swift |
100 |
||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird |
3 |
2 |
2 |
||
| Belted Kingfisher |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker |
1 |
||||
| Western Wood-Pewee |
1 |
||||
| Black Phoebe |
8 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
| Say’s Phoebe |
1 |
2 |
|||
| Cassin’s Kingbird |
1 |
||||
| Western Kingbird |
1 |
4 |
|||
| Western Scrub-Jay |
2 |
||||
| American Crow |
4 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
| Rough-wingd Swallow |
20 |
22 |
1 |
||
| Barn Swallow |
18 |
45 |
30 |
||
| Cliff Swallow |
25 |
2 |
|||
| Oak Titmouse |
2 |
||||
| Bushtit |
8 |
6 |
6 |
20 |
30 |
| Bewick’s Wren |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| House Wren |
1 |
1 |
|||
| Wrentit |
1 |
||||
| Northern Mockingbird |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| European Starling |
38 |
20 |
23 |
60 |
40 |
| Ornge-crwnd Warbler |
1 |
||||
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler |
8 |
2 |
|||
| Common Yellowthroat |
1 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
1 |
2 |
|||
| California Towhee |
3 |
1 |
|||
| Savannah Sparrow |
1 |
||||
| Song Sparrow |
1 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow |
18 |
8 |
|||
| Bobolink |
1 |
||||
| Red-winged Blackbird |
17 |
32 |
18 |
||
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
2 |
||||
| Great-tailed Grackle |
3 |
5 |
12 |
8 |
4 |
| Brwn-headed Cowbird |
6 |
||||
| Hooded Oriole |
6 |
||||
| House Finch |
4 |
8 |
12 |
5 |
30 |
| Lesser Goldfinch |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Totals by Type |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
| Waterfowl |
56 |
65 |
79 |
48 |
92 |
| Water Birds-Other |
463 |
221 |
542 |
440 |
115 |
| Herons, Egrets |
32 |
24 |
40 |
31 |
36 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
| Shorebirds |
32 |
187 |
161 |
797 |
650 |
| Gulls & Terns |
175 |
248 |
124 |
233 |
143 |
| Doves |
9 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
6 |
7 |
106 |
6 |
3 |
| Passerines |
167 |
181 |
133 |
157 |
134 |
| Totals Birds |
940 |
943 |
1193 |
1723 |
1174 |
| Total Species |
July |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
| Waterfowl |
2 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
| Water Birds-Other |
5 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
| Herons, Egrets |
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
| Quail & Raptors |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
| Shorebirds |
8 |
14 |
12 |
13 |
8 |
| Gulls & Terns |
8 |
8 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
| Doves |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
| Passerines |
19 |
18 |
23 |
17 |
13 |
| Totals Species – 106 |
50 |
59 |
68 |
65 |
51 |
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