Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 22 September, 2013

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Good numbers, both of birds (1208) and birders (30+), but species diversity (53), not counting humans, was down a bit, as September was only the 3^rd month below-10-year-average for the past year. (See our Lagoon Census Summary Page for clarification of the 10-year data).  Weather was breezy and a nice 64-73° and tide was almost at the high: waves crashed over the offshore rocks and one wave washed over our feet as we checked out the terns and Snowy Plovers.

A Warbling Vireo popping through the fence-clinging vines alongside the colony was the surprise bird of the day; my only other record for it on a Sunday walk is a singleton on 5/26/02. It was annoyingly elusive and not everyone managed to see it, despite much pishing and moaning, but photographer Joyce Waterman was quick on the draw and snagged a shot.

A few of the Least Sandpipers, adults in basic plumage, looked almost like Pectoral Sandpipers – well…sort of almost – but it was Not To Be. The above photo led to an email discussion of plumages, sizes, bill length and photographic optical illusions.  One of the beach terns had red legs, giving us brief hope for an oddity, but everything else about it said “I’m an Elegant Tern, don’t mess with me.”

The count of 37 Snowy Egrets was second only to the all-time-high of 40 seen 7/26/09. Everywhere you looked, especially on the east end of one channel sand island, Snowy Egrets stalked the shallows.  Incidentally, the Brants (geese) have now been at the lagoon for the past 3 months, and one Brant or another has been there eight out of the last eleven months, including 15 of them last February. If this is indicative of something, I don’t know what it is. Perhaps they like floating algae.

The Snowy Plover count was up to 47 birds, most of them actually within the Snowy Plover enclosure, for a shocking change, including newbie RB:YG. First seen at the lagoon on 9/9/13, this individual was born and banded at Fort Ord this past summer. Welcome to the sunny southern climes of Malibu!

New birds for the season were: American Widgeon, Northern Shoveler, Pelagic Cormorant, American Kestrel, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Dowitcher, Ring-billed Gull, Say’s Phoebe, and Warbling Vireo.

Our next three scheduled field trips:   Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, 12 Oct, 8:30am; Butterbredt Spring Fall Campout & Pumpkin Carving Contest 26-27 Oct, 8:30am;  Malibu Lagoon, 27 Oct, 8:30 & 10am.
Our next program:  Tuesday, 1 Oct., 7:30 pm. Peru, presented by Mary Deutsche.

NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalks meet at the shaded viewing area.

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:   September total birds of 1208 are 23% above the 6-year average, a continued improvement from the Jan-Jun’13 period; pelican numbers continue high; Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Black-bellied Plovers, Heermann’s Gull, Elegant Terns and Rock Pigeon were all above average.
Summary of total birds from the 6-year average so far:  Jun’12 +36%, Jul’12 -9%, Aug’12 -9%, Sep’12 +12%, Oct’12 +3%, Nov’12 -5%, Dec’12 +30%, Jan’13 -20%, Feb’13 -29%, Mar’13 -30%, Apr’13 -34%, May’13 -37%, Jun’13 -24%, Jul’13 +83%, Aug’13 +37%, Sep’13 +23%.
Species Diversity:  September 2013 with 53 species was moderately below (-14%) the 6-year average of 62.
Summary of species diversity from the 6-year average so far:  Jun’12 -10%, Jul’12 +10%, Aug’12. -6%, Sep’12 -20%, Oct’12 +5%, Nov’12 +2%, Dec’12 -4%, Jan’13 +2%, Feb’13 -8%, Mar’13 +9%, Apr’13 -2%, May’13 +3%, Jun’13 +13%, Jul’13 0%, Aug’13 +11%, Sep’13 -14%.
10-year comparison summaries are available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page.    [Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Census	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
September 2008-2013	9/28	9/27	9/26	9/25	9/23	9/22
Temperature		72-80	70-79	61-69	73-80	64-73
Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+5.7	H+3.9	H+5.54	H+5.33	L+2.88	H+5.69	Ave.
Tide Time	0917	0731	1055	0830	1021	1123	Birds
Brant			5			3	1.3
Gadwall	4	11	20	10		4	8.2
American Wigeon		8	1	3		4	2.7
Mallard	16	22	48	48	34	43	35.2
Northern Shoveler	6	8	4	10	11	16	9.2
Northern Pintail		1					0.2
Greater Scaup		1					0.2
Red-brstd Merganser					1		0.2
Ruddy Duck			15	8	5		4.7
Pied-billed Grebe	6	4	18	13	7	11	9.8
Eared Grebe	1		2	5	3	4	2.5
Western Grebe		2	4		12		3.0
Brandt’s Cormorant	1			1	4	5	1.8
Dble-crstd Cormorant	17	14	38	47	45	56	36.2
Pelagic Cormorant		3		2		1	1.0
Brown Pelican	43	12	46	60	22	142	54.2
Great Blue Heron	10	5	5	2	5	4	5.2
Great Egret	1	3	6	2	1	2	2.5
Snowy Egret	16	14	14	23	8	37	18.7
Green Heron		1	1	1			0.5
Blk-crwnd N-Heron		4	10	12			4.3
Osprey	1						0.2
Cooper’s Hawk	1	1					0.3
Red-shouldered Hawk					1		0.2
Red-tailed Hawk	1						0.2
American Kestrel						1	0.2
Merlin			1				0.2
Peregrine Falcon				1	1		0.3
Virginia Rail		1		1			0.3
Sora	1	2	1	3			1.2
American Coot	95	147	230	410	270	195	224.5
Blk-bellied Plover		102	78	40	160	162	90.3
Snowy Plover	45	33	62	62	46	47	49.2
Semipalmated Plover	2	2	11		1		2.7
Killdeer	4	4	1	6	6	7	4.7
Black-necked Stilt				1			0.2
Spotted Sandpiper	3	1	2	2	3	4	2.5
Willet	18	33	56	7	3	25	23.7
Whimbrel	2	6	17	26	38	18	17.8
Long-billed Curlew			1				0.2
Marbled Godwit	4	4	22	2	3	1	6.0
Ruddy Turnstone	15	4	10	7	14	10	10.0
Sanderling	20	41	20	3			14.0
Western Sandpiper	1		28			4	5.5
Least Sandpiper		3	14	3		14	5.7
Pectoral Sandpiper		2	1		1		0.7
Dunlin	2	2					0.7
Short-billd Dowitcher		6	1				1.2
Long-billed Dowitcher				2	3	1	1.0
Wilson’s Phalarope			1				0.2
Red-necked Phalarope					1		0.2
Heermann’s Gull	9	14	68	15	8	74	31.3
Ring-billed Gull	2	2	30	7	1	2	7.3
Western Gull	80	84	73	66	93	85	80.2
California Gull	20	15	22	16	7	6	14.3
Herring Gull				1			0.2
Black Tern			1				0.2
Common Tern			8				1.3
Forster’s Tern	1		6				1.2
Royal Tern	1		1	15	11	4	5.3
Elegant Tern	8	5	40	4	87	67	35.2
Parasitic Jaeger	1						0.2
Rock Pigeon	6	4	12	5	4	25	9.3
Mourning Dove	1	2	2	2		3	1.7
Vaux’s Swift				100			16.7
Anna’s Hummingbird	1	3	2	3		1	1.7
Allen’s Hummingbird	6	2	1	1	3	7	3.3
Belted Kingfisher	1	1	1	1		1	0.8
Western Wood-Pewee				1			0.2
Gray Flycatcher			1				0.2
Black Phoebe	6	7	5	6	9	12	7.5
Say’s Phoebe	1			1		2	0.7
Cassin’s Kingbird			2	1			0.5
Western Kingbird			4				0.7
Warbling Vireo						1	0.2
Western Scrub-Jay	1						0.2
American Crow	6	6	3	2	1	5	3.8
Rough-wingd Swallow			4	1			0.8
Barn Swallow		2	1	30			5.5
Oak Titmouse	2						0.3
Bushtit	25	7	11	6	4	12	10.8
Bewick’s Wren			1	1	1		0.5
House Wren	1	3	2	1	1	1	1.5
Marsh Wren	1		4				0.8
Northern Mockingbird	2	3	3	2	3	2	2.5
European Starling	16	8	62	23	45	42	32.7
Orange-crwnd Warbler	1	1		1	1		0.7
Yellow Warbler			2				0.3
Townsend’s Warbler			1				0.2
Common Yellowthroat	3	3	4	5	2	1	3.0
Wilson’s Warbler			1	2		6	1.5
Spotted Towhee	1						0.2
California Towhee	2	2		1	3	3	1.8
Savannah Sparrow		2	1	1			0.7
Song Sparrow	2	4	4	3	1	7	3.5
White-crwnd Sparrow			4				0.7
Blue Grosbeak			1				0.2
Lazuli Bunting			6				1.0
Bobolink				1			0.2
Red-winged Blackbird	7		14	18	8		7.8
Western Meadowlark	1	4	3				1.3
Brewer’s Blackbird		1	15				2.7
Great-tailed Grackle		2		12	6	8	4.7
Brwn-headed Cowbird		1	3				0.7
Bullock’s Oriole	1						0.2
House Finch	4	4	10	12	1	6	6.2
Lesser Goldfinch		1	2	2	4	4	2.2
Lawrence’s Goldfinch			2				0.3
Totals by Type	9/28	9/27	9/26	9/25	9/23	9/22	Ave.
Waterfowl	26	51	93	79	51	70	62
Water Birds-Other	164	185	339	542	363	414	335
Herons, Egrets	27	27	36	40	14	43	31
Raptors	3	1	1	1	2	1	2
Shorebirds	116	243	325	161	279	293	236
Gulls & Terns	122	120	249	124	207	238	177
Doves	7	6	14	7	4	28	11
Other Non-Pass.	8	6	4	105	3	9	23
Passerines	83	61	176	133	90	112	109
Totals Birds	556	700	1237	1192	1013	1208	984
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Total Species	9/28	9/27	9/26	9/25	9/23	9/22	Ave.
Waterfowl	3	6	6	5	4	5	4.8
Water Birds-Other	7	8	7	9	7	7	7.5
Herons, Egrets	3	5	5	5	3	3	4.0
Raptors	3	1	1	1	2	1	1.5
Shorebirds	11	14	16	12	12	11	12.7
Gulls & Terns	8	5	9	7	6	6	6.8
Doves	2	2	2	2	1	2	1.8
Other Non-Pass.	3	3	3	4	1	3	2.8
Passerines	19	18	29	23	15	15	19.8
Totals Species – 108	59	62	78	68	51	53	61.8