Osprey Fest at Malibu Lagoon Feb. 28, 2016

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What is this Ruddy Turnstone up to, anyway? Working out a kink in his neck? Casting a sidelong glance at an attractive turnstone nearby? Watching for Ospreys?

Probably not the latter. Ospreys are fish-eaters; all the birds seem to know this, so they may keep an eye on an Osprey soaring overhead, but they rarely flush into the air as they will when a falcon appears. We humans might have difficulty telling Osprey from other raptors (we get frequent messages about Bald Eagles at the lagoon which always turns out to be Osprey), but the birds don’t.

We all have to eat, even egrets. Everything tastes like chicken, they say, and I suppose lizards do too.

We had quite an assortment of gulls (see list below). Eight species in fact. Most were California Gull; Bonaparte’s, Heermann’s, Mew and Thayer’s were all singletons. We used to see Bonaparte’s in large numbers at the lagoon (e.g. 1600 – 3/15/80, 1095 – 12/12/82), but since Aug 2000 we’ve had a grand total of 179 birds, with a single-day high of 26 (5/26/07). I don’t know if this is due to a general population crash, or if they’ve chosen to winter elsewhere.

Mew Gulls seem to like sewage facilities. In winter there is nearly always a flock on Dockweiler Beach in front of the Hyperion Plant. Ventura Water Reclamation Facility used to have them by the hundreds, where they rode the rotating arms as they sprayed water over the charcoal filtration media. Maybe they just liked the free ride. But the tanks were enclosed years ago, and the Mews had to find some other way to get free food and fun.

Passerines were rather few today, with just the expected species and not many of those. Common Yellowthroats were up and around, busily singing, as were the Song Sparrows. American Crows and European Starlings accounted for over 60% of 129 total passerines.

Somewhere “down the foggy ruins of time”* someone misnamed the Osprey. Originally Ossifraga in Latin, os “bone” + frangere “to break,” which is an obvious reference to the Lammergeier, a large old-world vulture well-known for dropping bones (and turtles!) from a great height to crack them open, then descending to the ground to eat the marrow (or turtle meat). The Lammergeier’s head is similar to the Osprey: pale-ish, with a dark area in the face. Before the age of science and the invention of binoculars and leisure time, people weren’t picky about what to call something they weren’t going to eat. Lammergeier, Osprey – no one really cared.

Not only do the piscivorous Osprey not drop prospective fishy meals, they are famous for hanging onto them in a nifty manner. After spotting a fish foolishly swimming near the water’s surface, they plunge onto it feet-first to catch it in its large talons, often getting quite drenched in the process. After lurching out of the water and back into the air – not always easy with a large fish in tow – they fly back to their nest or perch, carrying the fish in a streamlined manner, reducing wind resistance by holding the fish head forwards in both talons, one foot in front of the other.

We were treated to many Osprey photo-opps today, as one bird perched here and there – most notably on a light pole at the east end of Malibu Colony – and then flew around and around the lagoon, probably hunting the thrill-seeking mullet who leapt frequently from the lagoon. We then noticed two more Osprey, higher overhead.

We’ve spotted Osprey at the lagoon 51 times since October 1979, for a total of 55 birds. We’ve twice seen two birds – 12/26/10 and 2/23/14 – but this is the first time we had a trio. Needless to say, the photographers went crazy.

Among the most cosmopolitan of birds, Osprey are found on all continents except Antarctica and all major islands except Greenland, Iceland, Madagascar, and New Zealand. Consisting of three subspecies, Pandion haliaetus is currently the only species in its family Pandionidae, but there is talk of splitting it into two species. The slideshow on the web has more Osprey photos, as well as many other birds, not mentioned here.

Birds new for the season were: Brant Lesser Scaup; Red-throated, Pacific & Common Loons; Cooper’s Hawk; Western Sandpiper; Mew & Thayer’s Gulls; Nanday Parakeet; Bewick’s Wren.

As always, many thanks to our photographers: Chuck Bragg, Ray Juncosa, Jim Kenney, Larry Loeher, and Joyce Waterman.

Our next four scheduled field trips: Lu’s Bird & Hike in Sycamore Cyn, 12 Mar. 9:00am; Malibu Lagoon 8:30 & 10am, 27 Mar.;  Walker Ranch, 9 Apr. 8:30am.

Our next program: Birds of Central Chile with Lance Benner on Tuesday, 5 April, 7:30 pm, at [note location change] Chris Reed Park, 1133 7th St., NE corner of 7th and Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica.

NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk meets at the shaded viewing area. Watch for Willie the Weasel. He’ll be watching for you and your big floppy feet.

Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
9/23/02 Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon
Prior checklists:
2015:   Jan-May,    July-Dec
2014:   Jan-July,    July-Dec
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

* “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man” 4th verse – Bob Dylan

The 10-year comparison summaries created during the project period, despite numerous complaints, remain available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. Very briefly summarized, the results unexpectedly indicate that avian species diversification and numbers improved slightly during the period Jun’12-June’14.     [Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Census 2015	9/27	10/25	11/22	12/27	1/24	2/28
Temperature	68-77	64-75	64-80	48-61	48-64	57-70
Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+5.94	H+6.12	L+0.24	H+6.07	H+5.90	L+1.38
Tide Time	0918	0809	1241	0945	0855	0654
Brant						3
Canada Goose			11	7
Mute Swan	2
Gadwall	54	15	4	13	3	20
American Wigeon			2		10	16
Mallard	34	30	25	2	15	22
Northern Shoveler		6	8	2	16	12
Northern Pintail				2	4
Green-winged Teal	4	10		11	8	8
Lesser Scaup						5
Surf Scoter			1	2		17
Bufflehead			4	1	2	2
Hooded Merganser			2
Red-brstd Merganser			2	17	3	3
Ruddy Duck	5	68	110	1		10
Red-throated Loon			1			2
Pacific Loon			2			1
Common Loon			2			1
Pied-billed Grebe		3	3	2	3	8
Horned Grebe		2			1	1
Eared Grebe	8	10	10	2	2	5
Western Grebe		3	15	4		1
Blk-vented Shearwater					1
Brandt’s Cormorant	1			2	1
Dble-crstd Cormorant	36	29	45	15	24	19
Pelagic Cormorant		1	2	1	2
Brown Pelican	6	42	11	10	30	43
Great Blue Heron	4	4	3	2	3	4
Great Egret	3	5	1	2	2	1
Snowy Egret	18	12	8	30	21	7
Blk-crwnd N-Heron	3	3	1
Osprey			1	1	1	3
Cooper’s Hawk	1					1
Red-tailed Hawk				1
Sora			1	2
American Coot	75	55	60	10	40	65
Blk-bellied Plover	84	62	33	30	12	32
Snowy Plover	32		28		12	4
Semipalmated Plover	2
Killdeer	10	15	4	14	2	4
Spotted Sandpiper	3	10	2	5		1
Greater Yellowlegs				1
Willet	15	35	18	13	8	8
Whimbrel	4	2	5	1	3	4
Marbled Godwit	8	8	8	11	13	22
Ruddy Turnstone	15	18	9	2		5
Sanderling	23		6
Least Sandpiper	3	6		4
Western Sandpiper	15	1				4
Long-billed Dowitcher	1	4		2		2
Common Murre				1
Bonaparte’s Gull	1	1		2		1
Heermann’s Gull	25	11	11		4	1
Mew Gull						1
Ring-billed Gull		2	95	60	30	90
Western Gull	110	90	140	80	13	160
California Gull	8	4	1430	620	400	650
Thayer’s Gull						1
Glaucous-winged Gull			1	1		4
Caspian Tern	1
Common Tern	1
Forster’s Tern	2		3
Royal Tern	15	2	23	11	25	31
Elegant Tern	6	4
Rock Pigeon	12	10	20	2	2	6
Eur. Collared-Dove	1	1
Mourning Dove	4	2	1		2	2
Vaux’s Swift	45
Anna’s Hummingbird	4	2	2	3	1	2
Allen’s Hummingbird	5	8	5	2	3	3
Belted Kingfisher	1	1		1
Red-brstd Sapsucker		1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker		1
Northern Flicker		1
American Kestrel			1	1
Merlin		1			1
Peregrine Falcon				1
Nanday Parakeet		6				8
Black Phoebe	20	10	10	12	3	8
Say’s Phoebe	4	3	1	2	1	1
Warbling Vireo	6	1
Western Scrub-Jay		1
American Crow	20	10	3	1	6	23
Tree Swallow	10
Oak Titmouse	1			1
Bushtit	20	4	28	40		4
House Wren	4	1		2	1	1
Marsh Wren	1	2	1
Bewick’s Wren		1	1			1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	3	4	9	3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet		4	10	6		1
Hermit Thrush		1		1		3
Northern Mockingbird	4	6	6	2	1	1
European Starling	35	10	21	10	110	60
Ornge-crwnd Warbler	2	4	5
Nashville Warbler	3
Common Yellowthroat	8	8	7	1	1	5
Yellow Warbler	1	1
Palm Warbler		1
Yellow-rumpd Warbler	3	35	40	40		3
Blk-throated G. Warbler		3
Townsend’s Warbler		1	1
Spotted Towhee		2		2		1
California Towhee	2	3	1	1		2
Savannah Sparrow	2	3		1
Song Sparrow	3	3	3	6	3	3
Lincoln’s Sparrow					1
White-crwnd Sparrow	2	25	4	15	20	5
Red-winged Blackbird	15	15
Western Meadowlark	4	4	5	4
Great-tailed Grackle	12	10	4	3	2	1
Brwn-headed Cowbird		2
House Finch	25	9	4	3	1	6
Lesser Goldfinch	3	3
House Sparrow		1
Totals by Type	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Waterfowl	99	129	169	58	61	118
Water Birds – Other	126	145	152	48	104	146
Herons, Egrets & Ibis	28	24	13	34	26	12
Quail & Raptors	1	1	2	4	2	4
Shorebirds	215	161	113	83	50	86
Gulls & Terns	169	114	1703	775	472	939
Doves	17	13	21	2	4	8
Other Non-Passerines	55	20	7	6	4	13
Passerines	213	191	164	156	150	129
Totals Birds	923	798	2344	1166	873	1455
Total Species	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Waterfowl	5	5	10	10	8	11
Water Birds – Other	5	8	11	9	9	10
Herons, Egrets & Ibis	4	4	4	3	3	3
Quail & Raptors	1	1	2	4	2	2
Shorebirds	13	10	9	10	6	10
Gulls & Terns	9	7	7	7	5	9
Doves	3	3	2	1	2	2
Other Non-Passerines	4	7	2	3	2	3
Passerines	26	33	20	21	12	18
Totals Species – 115	70	78	67	68	49	68