Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 28 October, 2012
Don’t forget to visit our new page for the Malibu Lagoon 2012 Project, frequently updated with new photos. We just added a new interview with Suzanne Goode, Also look for the link to the plant revegetation list.
The Malibu Lagoon reconfiguration continues apace, as you’ll see from some of the photos in the slideshow above. According to Don Harvey in Bob Purvey’s interview of 10/24/12, now on our Project Page, over 25,000 plants have been implanted and are being sprinkled until the rains are more dependable. You can’t really see them yet, but that forest of flags marks their locations.
Trip leader Lu Plauzoles reports that weather was sunny and warm, not unusual for October. Migrants continue to arrive, including: American Wigeon, Horned and Clark’s Grebes, Black-crowned Night Heron, Dunlin, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Say’s Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler, Savannah & White-crowned Sparrows, and Western Meadowlark. The Elegant Terns, so numerous for the past 6 months – peaking at 240 in June – have dwindled down to two and will likely be off to warmer climes in November. Duck and gull numbers continue their fall increase. Coot numbers remains high as always, probably to taper off next March.
Snowy Plover PV:YB (left leg Pink above Violet: right leg Yellow above Blue) was found on Surfrider Beach last Monday, 10/22, by alert SMBAS photographer Joyce Waterman. [The violet ring is just barely visible.] We sent this photo to Pt. Reyes Bird Observatory which informed us that PV:YB was born this year at Oceano Dunes (near Pismo Beach) where it was banded as a nestling, then later seen at Guadalupe Dunes in August, then on Surfrider in September. If you see it on the beach, give it some room, and it will likely spend the winter with us.
NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk remains canceled until the parking lot is again fully available.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists: July-Dec’11, Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
Comments on Bird Lists Below
Total Birds: Oct. total birds of 1099 are 3% above average (Jul – Sep were all down), an insignificant amount. Brown Pelican numbers remain down, probably due to the large west coast die-off due to lack of food. Sanderlings, Terns, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Red-winged Blackbirds are well above average. Monthly total bird numbers have been up & down, up & down during the project so far.
Species Diversity: Of 104 total species appearing in October for 2007-12, no more than 62% of them appeared on any single day. Whenever you visit, expect to see about 5/8ths of what is possible at that time of year. October 2012 with 64 species is 5% above average, an insignificant amount. All 9 categories of birds were about average. Passerines were up slightly despite the lack of vegetation, probably the result of a more alert trip leader.
Summary of species diversity from the 6-year average so far: May +4%, June -10%, July +10%, Aug. -6%, Sep. -20%, Oct. +5%. The only constant is change. It will be interesting to see the results when the project is done, the workmen are gone and the vegetation is beginning to grow. [Chuck Almdale]
Malibu Census | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
October 2007-12 | 28-Oct | 26-Oct | 25-Oct | 24-Oct | 23-Oct | 28-Oct | |
Temperature | 60-74 | 60-65 | 59-64 | 72-78 | |||
Tide Lo/Hi Height | H +6.9 | H +5.9 | L +3.5 | H +6.02 | H +5.40 | H +5.93 | Ave. |
Tide Time | 1036 | 0813 | 0941 | 0952 | 0718 | 0845 | Birds |
Wood Duck | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Gadwall | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4.3 |
Eurasian Wigeon | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
American Wigeon | 3 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 5.0 | ||
Mallard | 24 | 8 | 24 | 10 | 25 | 10 | 16.8 |
Blue-winged Teal | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | ||||
Cinnamon Teal | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
Northern Shoveler | 15 | 25 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 13.0 | |
Green-winged Teal | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1.3 | |||
Greater Scaup | 5 | 0.8 | |||||
Bufflehead | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | ||||
Red-brstd Merganser | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Ruddy Duck | 3 | 8 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 6.7 | |
Pacific Loon | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Common Loon | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
Pied-billed Grebe | 5 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4.2 |
Horned Grebe | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | ||||
Eared Grebe | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3.7 |
Western Grebe | 18 | 1 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 10.0 |
Clark’s Grebe | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Blk-vented Shearwater | 12 | 2.0 | |||||
Brandt’s Cormorant | 1 | 3 | 0.7 | ||||
Dble-crstd Cormorant | 24 | 20 | 25 | 15 | 32 | 45 | 26.8 |
Pelagic Cormorant | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Brown Pelican | 182 | 55 | 8 | 40 | 12 | 6 | 50.5 |
Great Blue Heron | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3.8 |
Great Egret | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2.2 | |
Snowy Egret | 17 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 26 | 6 | 13.7 |
Blk-crwnd N-Heron | 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2.7 | ||
Osprey | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
White-tailed Kite | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.7 | |||
American Kestrel | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
Merlin | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
Virginia Rail | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
Sora | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | |
American Coot | 105 | 140 | 266 | 100 | 370 | 250 | 205.2 |
Blk-bellied Plover | 92 | 114 | 100 | 700 | 75 | 180.2 | |
Snowy Plover | 58 | 61 | 5 | 62 | 31.0 | ||
Killdeer | 26 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 10.0 | |
Black Oystercatcher | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.8 |
Willet | 25 | 16 | 40 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 20.7 |
Whimbrel | 6 | 6 | 28 | 2 | 7.0 | ||
Marbled Godwit | 17 | 12 | 25 | 9.0 | |||
Ruddy Turnstone | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 7.0 | ||
Black Turnstone | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1.2 | |||
Sanderling | 1 | 145 | 200 | 57.7 | |||
Western Sandpiper | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2.0 | |||
Least Sandpiper | 6 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 8.0 | ||
Dunlin | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1.3 | |||
Short-billd Dowitcher | 20 | 3.3 | |||||
Long-billed Dowitcher | 30 | 2 | 5.3 | ||||
Wilson’s Snipe | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Heermann’s Gull | 18 | 45 | 12 | 41 | 14 | 8 | 23.0 |
Mew Gull | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
Ring-billed Gull | 45 | 27 | 14 | 97 | 18 | 39 | 40.0 |
Western Gull | 128 | 65 | 82 | 52 | 80 | 6 | 68.8 |
California Gull | 5 | 6 | 123 | 8 | 120 | 60 | 53.7 |
Herring Gull | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.8 | ||
Glaucous-wingd Gull | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
Caspian Tern | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | ||||
Forster’s Tern | 2 | 1 | 22 | 4.2 | |||
Royal Tern | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2.5 | ||
Elegant Tern | 4 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3.8 | |
Rock Pigeon | 35 | 3 | 6 | 45 | 4 | 20 | 18.8 |
Mourning Dove | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2.7 | |
Anna’s Hummingbird | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3.5 |
Allen’s Hummingbird | 4 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 4.3 |
Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.8 | ||
Black Phoebe | 6 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6.8 |
Say’s Phoebe | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | |
Western Scrub-Jay | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.8 | |||
American Crow | 9 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 4 | 9 | 8.8 |
Tree Swallow | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Oak Titmouse | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
Bushtit | 8 | 15 | 20 | 7.2 | |||
Bewick’s Wren | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 | |||
House Wren | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | |
Marsh Wren | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | ||||
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | |||
Hermit Thrush | 4 | 0.7 | |||||
Northern Mockingbird | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.2 | |
European Starling | 45 | 35 | 12 | 60 | 10 | 27.0 | |
American Pipit | 3 | 1 | 0.7 | ||||
Ornge-crwnd Warbler | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Yellow-rumpd Warbler | 12 | 20 | 3 | 15 | 8 | 25 | 13.8 |
Blk-throated G. Warbler | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
Common Yellowthroat | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 5.5 |
Spotted Towhee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | ||
California Towhee | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | |||
Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1.7 | |||
Song Sparrow | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4.0 |
Lincoln’s Sparrow | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
White-crwnd Sparrow | 4 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 7.7 |
Red-winged Blackbird | 5 | 40 | 7.5 | ||||
Western Meadowlark | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.7 | ||
Brewer’s Blackbird | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.3 | ||
Great-tailed Grackle | 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3.5 | ||
House Finch | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.5 | |
Lesser Goldfinch | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2.0 | ||
Totals by Type | 28-Oct | 26-Oct | 25-Oct | 24-Oct | 23-Oct | 28-Oct | Ave. |
Waterfowl | 37 | 46 | 86 | 28 | 48 | 57 | 50 |
Water Birds-Other | 340 | 231 | 341 | 170 | 440 | 315 | 306 |
Herons, Egrets | 29 | 26 | 20 | 13 | 31 | 15 | 22 |
Raptors | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
Shorebirds | 173 | 93 | 455 | 164 | 797 | 400 | 347 |
Gulls & Terns | 210 | 149 | 244 | 203 | 233 | 149 | 198 |
Doves | 37 | 4 | 16 | 46 | 6 | 20 | 22 |
Other Non-Pass. | 8 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
Passerines | 138 | 119 | 66 | 76 | 157 | 133 | 115 |
Totals Birds | 977 | 677 | 1233 | 720 | 1723 | 1099 | 1072 |
Total Species | 28-Oct | 26-Oct | 25-Oct | 24-Oct | 23-Oct | 28-Oct | Ave. |
Waterfowl | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6.3 |
Water Birds-Other | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 8.7 |
Herons, Egrets | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 |
Raptors | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2.3 |
Shorebirds | 7 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 9.7 |
Gulls & Terns | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7.5 |
Doves | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.8 |
Other Non-Pass. | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.7 |
Passerines | 22 | 21 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 18.7 |
Totals Species | 65 | 61 | 63 | 49 | 65 | 64 | 61.2 |
Comments are closed.
Really liked the report. However, I was unable to bring up the Suzanne Goode interview on the link. ?Mary P
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Mary: It works for me. The link takes you to our “Malibu Lagoon 2012 Project” page. You then have to scroll down to
#14. 10/24/12, 9:50
and click on that. That takes you to a YouTube film. If you’ve been able to watch the other YouTube films to which we’ve previously linked, this one should be no problem. Try it again. Perhaps your computer or web server was being balky.
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