Antelope Valley Raptor Search Field Trip Report: 14 January, 2012

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The weather looked promising as we left LA on our way to the Antelope Valley.  Although it was cold, it was sunny and calm as we turned off Hwy 14 and went east on Palmdale Blvd.  Our first stop was an undeveloped area along E10^th St. north of Ave Q.  It was 32° F but there were a few birds stirring, including a cooperative Cactus Wren.

We went east on Ave. P, stopping at the corner of E40^th St. where we found a mixed flock of White-crowned Sparrows and House Finches.

We drove north on E40^th St.  At the right turn onto Ave N, we stopped to scan an agricultural field that had many birds.  We spotted the first Say’s Phoebe of the day and many Killdeer but the highlight was a flock of more than 500 Horned Larks, some of which were so close to the road that we had good looks at them.

In the fields on either side of E 40^th St. between Ave. M & Ave. L we found a large flock of California Quail, more Killdeer, numerous White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, as well as some Western Meadowlarks and Brewer’s Blackbirds.

Unfortunately there was no sign of the flock of Mountain Plovers that had been in the farm field on the east side of the road one week earlier.  Just to be sure we hadn’t missed them, we drove to the end of the block and turned east onto Ave. L and scanned the field again.  Although we didn’t see any Mountain Plovers south of Ave. L, we spotted 2 Sage Thrashers in the brush on the north side of the road.  While we were watching them, we were treated to the sight of a Prairie Falcon hunting in the distance.

As we went back toward the corner, we noticed a large number of plover-sized birds in field that where we had initially found no Mountain Plovers so we went back for a second look.  We were delighted to find 60 Mountain Plovers.  Most were close to the road so we had excellent looks at them.  We were even able to compare Killdeer and Mountain Plover in one field of view of our scopes.

As we continued north on E 40^th St. we found a Merlin perched in a bare tree beside the road.  It was very cooperative, allowing for very good looks and some excellent photographs.

Just after we turned east onto Ave. K we stopped to look at a flock of 500+ Tricolored Blackbirds that were close to the road.

We found our first Ferruginous Hawk of the day perched on a power pole beside Ave. J east of E 110^th St.  There were numerous Red-tailed Hawks in the area and we found some American Pipits in the fields.  Three Northern Harriers were hunting in the field near the corner of Ave. I & E120^th St.

We made a brief stop at Ave. H & E110^th St. where we got a brief look at Cooper’s Hawk.

We stopped for lunch at Apollo Park where we saw the only Black Phoebe of the day.  In addition to the usual collection of “dodgy” ducks and geese, we saw Northern Shovelers, a male Redhead, Ruddy Ducks, 2 Great Blue Herons, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, some Yellow-rumped Warblers and a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos.

As we left Apollo Park, we drove north on W60^th St.  A farm field north of Ave. D that had been flooded the week before was nearly dry and not productive but a little farther north we found 17 Long-billed Curlew, another Ferruginous Hawk, several Loggerhead Shrikes and a Coyote.  Another field had a Greater Yellowlegs and we had scope views of a perched Prairie Falcon.

We went west on Gaskell Ave. to W100^th St. where we finally found a flock of Mountain Bluebirds that looked especially beautiful in the afternoon sun.  A bit farther west on Gaskell, we came upon 2 more Sage Thrashers and another Prairie Falcon.  There were numerous Red-tailed Hawks and several Ferruginous Hawks in the area.

Our last stop of the day was Quail Lake where we saw many Lesser Scaup, a White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, some Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Ducks, and a few Pied-billed, Eared and Western Grebes.

All-in-all, it was a lovely day in the Antelope Valley.  Although we were disappointed not to find any Golden Eagles, the weather conditions were ideal for viewing all the birds we found. [Cindy S.]

Link to January, 2011 trip report

SMBAS	Antelope Valley	No.	Sat, 14 Jan 2012 – Location
Canada Goose	Branta canadensis	10	Apollo Pk
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos	30	Apollo Pk
Northern Shoveler	Anas clypeata	6	Apollo Pk
Redhead	Aythya americana	1	Apollo Pk
Lesser Scaup	Aythya affinis	300	Quail Lake
White-winged Scoter	Melanitta fusca	1	Quail Lake
Bufflehead	Bucephala albeola	80	Apollo Pk; Quail Lake
Common Goldeneye	Bucephala clangula	20	Quail Lake
Ruddy Duck	Oxyura jamaicensis	30	Apollo Pk; Quail Lake
California Quail	Callipepla californica	110	E 10th north of Ave P; E 40th north of Ave M
Pied-billed Grebe	Podilymbus podiceps	10	Quail Lake
Eared Grebe	Podiceps nigricollis	5	Quail Lake
Western Grebe	Aechmophorus occidentalis	2	Quail Lake
Double-crested Cormorant	Phalocrocorax auritus	2	Apollo Pk
Great Blue Heron	Ardea herodias	2	Apollo Pk
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Nycticorax nycticorax	1	Apollo Pk
Northern Harrier	Circus cyaneus	3	Ave I east of E110th
Cooper’s Hawk	Accipiter cooperii	1	Ave H x E110th
Red-tailed Hawk	Buteo jamaicensis	50+	widespread
Ferruginous Hawk	Buteo regalis	8	Ave J x E110th; Gaskell Ave; along W Ave D
American Kestrel	Falco sparverius	15	widespread
Merlin	Falco columbarius	1	E40th north of Ave L
Prairie Falcon	Falco mexicanus	4	Ave L x E40th; W60th north of Ave D; Gaskell Ave
American Coot	Fulica americana	40	Apollo Pk; Quail Lake
Killdeer	Charadrius vociferus	100	widespread
Mountain Plover	Charadrius montanus	70	E40th south of Ave L; Ave I east of E110th
Greater Yellowlegs	Tringa melanoleuca	1	W60th north of Ave D
Long-billed Curlew	Numenius americanus	17	W60th north of Ave D
Ring-billed Gull	Larus delawarensis	30	E 10th north of Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk
California Gull	Larus californicus	30	E 10th north of Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk
Rock Dove     [I]	Columba livia	80	scattered sites
Eurasian Collared-Dove  [I]	Streptopelia decaoto	4	Palmdale Blvd; Apollo Pk
Mourning Dove	Zenaida macroura	4	scattered sites
Anna’s Hummingbird	Calypte anna	2	E10th north of Ave Q
Northern Flicker	Colaptes auratus	1	Ave J x E90th
Black Phoebe	Sayornis nigricans	1	Apollo Pk
Say’s Phoebe	Sayornis saya	12	widespread
Loggerhead Shrike	Lanius ludovicianus	15	widespread
Western Scrub-Jay	Aphelocoma californica	2	Palmdale Blvd
American Crow	Corvus brachyrhynchos	5	Palmdale Blvd
Common Raven	Corvus corax	150+	widespread
Horned Lark	Eremophila alpestris	1,500+	widespread
Cactus Wren	Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus	2	E 10th north of Ave P; E 110th x Ave J
Bewick’s Wren	Thryomanes bewickii	1H	Little Rock Wash south of Ave K
Mountain Bluebird	Sialia currucoides	20	Gaskell x W100th
Northern Mockingbird	Mimus polyglottos	1	Ave J x E90th
Sage Thrasher	Oreoscoptes montanus	4	Ave L x E 40th; Gaskell west of W 100th
European Starling    [I]	Sturnus vulgaris	45	Palmdale Blvd; E 40th x Ave P
American Pipit	Anthus rubescens	30	Ave J east of E110th
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Dendroica coronata	12	Apollo Pk
Sage Sparrow	Amphispiza belli	20	Little Rock Wash south of Ave K
Savannah Sparrow	Passerculus sandwichensis	50	scattered sites
White-crowned Sparrow	Zonotrichia leucophrys	300+	widespread
Dark-eyed Junco	Junco hyemalis	14	Apollo Pk
Red-winged Blackbird	Agelaius phoeniceus	60	scattered sites
Tricolored Blackbird	Agelaius tricolor	500	E40th x Ave K
Western Meadowlark	Sturnella neglecta	80	widespread
Brewer’s Blackbird	Euphagus cyanocephalus	60	widespread
House Finch	Carpodacus mexicanus	300+	widespread
House Sparrow     [I]	Passer domesticus	30	Palmdale
[I] – Introduced	Total Species – 60