Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 27 July, 2014
The above 2012 Artist’s Perspective of the proposed channels bears a remarkable similarity to July’14 reality.
I thought it was hot, the many surfers and sunbathers thought it was hot, but the weather service claims it was 66-72° while we were at the lagoon, so that’s what I’m reporting. As expected, species present rose from the annual low in June, which you can see from the trip list below.
Also as expected, the Snowy Plovers have begun to return, with sixteen resting on the beach at the edge of their ‘enclosure.’ One Semipalmated Plover, a species who stops briefly during their spring & fall migrations, also made an appearance. We will probably see them here in August and September as well, then not again until next April.
Birds new for the season were: Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Western & Least Sandpipers, Least Tern, and Spotted Towhee. A Little Blue Heron, an east- & gulf-coast bird, was spotted by early arrivers on the beach but missed by the later group, despite intensive searching. We have recorded it – always a single bird – only three times previously: 10/23/88, 6/25/00, 6/24/07.

Question: Do two heads help a Brown Pelican catch more fish or just confuse him? (J. Waterman 7/27/14)
Two-headed birds, especially two-headed pelicans, are uncommon at the lagoon, so keep an eye out for this unusual bird. The other Brown Pelicans didn’t seem to notice anything odd about it.
Our next four scheduled field trips: Malibu Lagoon, 24 August, 8:30 & 10am; Lower Los Angeles River, 6 Sep, 7:30am; Coastal Cleanup, 20 Sep, 9am–noon; Malibu Lagoon, 28 Sep, 8:30 & 10am.
Our next program: Tuesday, 7 Oct., 7:30 pm. To Be Announced.
NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk meets at the shaded viewing area. Watch for Willie the Weasel.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists:
2013: Jan-June, July-Dec
2012: Jan-June, July -Dec
2011: Jan-June, July-Dec,
2010: Jan-June, July-Dec.
2009: Jan-June, July-Dec.
As promised last month, we now return to our pre-project style of trip-list recording. The 10-year comparison summaries created during the project period remain available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. Results unexpectedly indicate that avian species diversification and numbers improved slightly during the period Jun’12-June’14. [Chuck Almdale]
Malibu Census 2014 | 1/26 | 2/23 | 3/23 | 5/25 | 6/22 | 7/27 |
Temperature | 58-68 | 60-65 | 62-70 | 64-69 | 68-74 | 66-72 |
Tide Lo/Hi Height | L -0.17 | L +0.31 | L +0.39 | H +3.94 | H +3.48 | H +4.21 |
Tide Time | 1224 | 1104 | 1010 | 0810 | 0712 | 1100 |
Gadwall | 21 | 30 | 25 | 12 | 21 | |
American Wigeon | 11 | 20 | 31 | 2 | ||
Mallard | 10 | 18 | 19 | 26 | 32 | 55 |
Northern Shoveler | 15 | 25 | ||||
Green-winged Teal | 17 | 12 | 4 | |||
Redhead | 1 | |||||
Surf Scoter | 3 | |||||
Bufflehead | 10 | 8 | 1 | |||
Red-brstd Merganser | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Ruddy Duck | 51 | 70 | 23 | 6 | ||
Pacific Loon | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Common Loon | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
Pied-billed Grebe | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Horned Grebe | 3 | |||||
Eared Grebe | 1 | 3 | ||||
Western Grebe | 22 | |||||
Blk-vented Shearwater | 55 | many | ||||
Brandt’s Cormorant | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
Dble-crstd Cormorant | 50 | 33 | 45 | 31 | 37 | 35 |
Pelagic Cormorant | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Brown Pelican | 100 | 5 | 390 | 37 | 63 | 78 |
Great Blue Heron | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
Great Egret | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Snowy Egret | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 22 |
Little Blue Egret | 1 | |||||
Blk-crwnd N-Heron | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
Osprey | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
White-tailed Kite | 1 | |||||
Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 1 | ||||
Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
American Kestrel | 1 | |||||
Merlin | 1 | 1 | ||||
Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | ||||
American Coot | 60 | 210 | 104 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
Blk-bellied Plover | 93 | 3 | 25 | |||
Snowy Plover | 45 | 24 | 5 | 16 | ||
Semipalmated Plover | 1 | |||||
Killdeer | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 |
Black Oystercatcher | 2 | 2 | ||||
Spotted Sandpiper | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
Willet | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
Whimbrel | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 28 |
Marbled Godwit | 11 | 3 | 4 | |||
Ruddy Turnstone | 1 | 2 | ||||
Sanderling | 26 | 140 | ||||
Western Sandpiper | 1 | |||||
Least Sandpiper | 3 | |||||
Long-billed Dowitcher | 5 | |||||
Boneparte’s Gull | 2 | 1 | ||||
Heermann’s Gull | 2 | 3 | 155 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Ring-billed Gull | 4 | 35 | 18 | |||
Western Gull | 46 | 70 | 190 | 64 | 57 | 71 |
California Gull | 120 | 110 | 135 | 1 | 1 | |
Herring Gull | 1 | |||||
Glaucous-wingd Gull | 3 | 1 | ||||
Least Tern | 3 | |||||
Caspian Tern | 1 | 17 | 3 | |||
Common Tern | 1 | |||||
Forster’s Tern | 2 | |||||
Royal Tern | 1 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 11 |
Elegant Tern | 135 | 37 | 23 | 127 | ||
Rock Pigeon | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
Eur. Collared-Dove | 1 | |||||
Mourning Dove | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
Anna’s Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
Allen’s Hummingbird | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Western Wood-Pewee | 1 | |||||
Pac.Slope Flycatcher | 1 | |||||
Black Phoebe | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
Say’s Phoebe | 3 | 3 | ||||
Cassin’s Kingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||
Western Scrub-Jay | 1 | |||||
American Crow | 11 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
Rough-wingd Swallow | 20 | 2 | 8 | 7 | ||
Tree Swallow | 1 | 8 | ||||
Barn Swallow | 12 | 19 | 40 | 35 | ||
Cliff Swallow | 6 | 10 | 7 | |||
Bushtit | 20 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
Bewick’s Wren | 2 | |||||
House Wren | 1 | |||||
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | 2 | ||||
Hermit Thrush | 2 | 1 | ||||
American Robin | 1 | 2 | ||||
Northern Mockingbird | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
European Starling | 35 | 15 | 8 | 12 | 22 | |
Phainopepla | 1 | |||||
Ornge-crwnd Warbler | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Yellow-rumpd Warbler | 30 | 28 | 18 | |||
Townsend’s Warbler | 1 | |||||
Common Yellowthroat | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
Spotted Towhee | 2 | 2 | ||||
California Towhee | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Savannah Sparrow | 7 | |||||
Song Sparrow | 3 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
White-crwnd Sparrow | 6 | 15 | 2 | |||
Red-winged Blackbird | 12 | 6 | 30 | 8 | ||
Western Meadowlark | 3 | 3 | ||||
Great-tailed Grackle | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
Brwn-headed Cowbird | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
Hooded Oriole | 2 | 1 | ||||
House Finch | 6 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 14 |
Lesser Goldfinch | 8 | 12 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
House Sparrow | 12 | |||||
Totals by Type | Jan | Feb | Mar | May | Jun | July |
Waterfowl | 137 | 192 | 110 | 49 | 55 | 58 |
Water Birds-Other | 272 | 259 | 566 | 77 | 106 | 138 |
Herons, Egrets | 11 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 15 | 32 |
Raptors | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Shorebirds | 99 | 278 | 35 | 11 | 16 | 90 |
Gulls & Terns | 179 | 224 | 643 | 132 | 106 | 221 |
Doves | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 18 |
Other Non-Pass. | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Passerines | 122 | 156 | 189 | 104 | 152 | 161 |
Totals Birds | 834 | 1139 | 1564 | 410 | 465 | 724 |
Total Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | May | Jun | July |
Waterfowl | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Water Birds-Other | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
Herons, Egrets | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Raptors | 5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Shorebirds | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
Gulls & Terns | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
Doves | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Other Non-Pass. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Passerines | 20 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 18 |
Totals Species – 103 | 63 | 65 | 59 | 55 | 43 | 52 |
Comments are closed.
A two-headed pelican? Are you just joking?
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Amie: Yes, I’m just joking. You probably don’t know me personally. I like to joke & create harmless fictions. I don’t expect anyone to believe them.
Take a look here for an example: https://smbasblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/birders-take-their-lumps-with-their-splits-2/
Chuck Almdale
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