Malibu Lagoon Bird Walk Report April 22, 2018 Happy Earth Day

A beautiful day at the Lagoon as spring migration tails off. Maybe it’s a little earlier than usual this year. We had few ducks and shorebirds, but just enough for the edification of the ten or so new faces we welcomed to “our” lagoon. Some signs of renewal in the fifth year since the reconfiguration of the area: Black-crowned Night-herons exploring the trees around the lagoon, and a Red-winged Blackbird checking out the reeds, …for nesting? The best drama award went to the mom Snowy Plover sitting on her nest who bolted out of the protective wire exclosure when a pushy Killdeer approached. She put on an extensive broken-wing, distressed diversion and eventually led the Killdeer a good hundred feet from the nest.
Total 38 species. Not very rich for spring–more like a summer doldrums count. Maybe we’ll be surprised in May.

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 18
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 32
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 2
American Coot (Fulica americana) 2
Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus) 9
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 7
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) 3
Sanderling (Calidris alba) 45
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 12
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) 4
Willet (Tringa semipalmata) 6
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) 18
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 8
Elegant Tern (Thalasseus elegans) 30
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 2
Allen’s Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) 3
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) 1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 4
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 2
Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) 1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 1
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 10
California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) 1
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 2
Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) 4
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 4