Glorious Lagoon June Gloom: Malibu Lagoon, 26 June 2022

[By Chuck Almdale]

Once again the June Gloom fog came to our rescue. The fog kept the temperature comfortably between 65-70°F. The waves came in sets, so the surfers were mostly sitting on the water…make that sitting on their boards on the water. Twenty-two birders showed up — almost as many birders as there were species of birds.

At 0830 at our starting point by the weird semi-shaded pavilion, the sun is always in our eyes when we look at the channel immediately in front of us. Common birds can become mysterious gray-brown objects. I got there a little late and most people were looking at a perched wading bird and wondering, “What is that thing?”

Well, it was a Black-crowned Night-Heron. There were two of them: one in streaky juvenile plumage, the other in a plumage between juvenile (born this year) and adult (usually three years old). They can be a bit confusing even in good light. Lots of people misidentify the juveniles as an American Bittern because of all the streaks.

Lagoon water level was quite high. Checking the summer clock sidewalk we found that the level had recently gotten up to 7′ 8.4″.

The only ducks present were Gadwall and Mallard, some with chicks in tow. Some of the adult-sized birds didn’t look like adults, so I assume they’re the product of hatchings earlier this year.

The Osprey was present, whom we had not seen since March.

There were plenty of Jumping Mullet in the lagoon. It’s easy to tell they’re Jumping Mullet, due to their persistent habit of jumping. I probably saw fifty jumps over the course of several hours. They come in all sizes, some quite large, so the Osprey has his pick. I’m still waiting for some Ph.D. candidate to crank out a thesis narrowing the reasons why they jump down to somewhere under five.

The number of sandpiper species was exceptionally close to none: three Killdeer and three Whimbrel. The Killdeer are present 97% of the time, and nest at the lagoon. I looked at our most recent ten Junes (2011-2021, no count in June 2015):

Ave. total species: 40 (range 33-48), ave. sandpiper species: 4 (2-6), June 2022: 35 and 2.
Species: Ave. all: 40 (range 33-48); ave. sandpipers: 4 (2-6), June’22: 35 and 2.
Counts: Ave. all: 472 (range 248-863), ave. ‘pipers; 21 (6-41), June’22: 437 and 6.
This year is definitely lower than average, confirming — for a change — my vague suspicion.

 There were quite a few Brown Pelicans on the sand island, and they kept coming and going all morning long. Towards the end of our walk all the birds on the island — gulls, terns, cormorants and pelicans — suddenly rose up into the air. This usually signals a hawk or falcon in flight, but none were to be seen.

A few minutes later I spotted a Turkey Vulture on the other side of the sand island whom we had not seen land, ripping at something out–of-sight from us. Most likely it was feeding on one of the several Brown Pelican corpses lying about, and someone commented, “That’s probably what put the birds up.” Quite likely. They hadn’t stirred when the vultures first appeared high in the sky, but one dropping down among them was enough to set them off. The vulture of course paid them no attention as they were pointlessly (to him) alive, and the birds quickly returned and settled back down.

We didn’t see any Western Snowy Plovers, but Grace and Larry came by three days later and found a male and a female on the eastern edge of the lagoon.

The photos show a darker day than I thought it to be. When you looked up at the sky it seemed quite blue, yet there were small white wisps of fog everywhere. As I was leaving around 11:30, I saw tiny patches of fog moving a few inches above the lagoon surface and drifting into the pickleweed. Yet the sky seemed bright. It’s probably aliens tinkering with our weather, yet again.

On his way back to the parking lot, Chris Lord spotted a Band-tailed Pigeon, a bird we’ve seen on only (now) three occasions, with a total of nine birds. They’re usually up in the hills, eating acorns.

Birds new for the season: Band-tailed Pigeon, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey.

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 6-27-22: 5873 lists, 313 species

Many thanks to photographers: Lillian Johnson, Grace Murayama, Ray Juncosa

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips: Our next trip will be Malibu Lagoon on July 24. This, and any other trip we announce for the foreseeable future will be dependent upon the expected status of the Covid pandemic at trip time. Any trip announced may be canceled shortly before trip date if it seems necessary. By now any other comments along this line should be superfluous.

The next SMBAS program: Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 4 October 2022, 7:30 p.m.

The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk is currently under discussion concerning resumption.

Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
9/23/02 Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon
More recent aerial photo

Prior checklists:
2021: Jan-July,  July-Dec
2020: Jan-July, July-Dec  2019: Jan-June, July-Dec  
2018: Jan-June, July-Dec  2017: Jan-June, July-Dec
2016: Jan-June, July-Dec  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

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

Many thanks to Lillian Johnson, Chris Lord and others for their contributions to this month’s checklist.

The list below now includes a column on the left side with numbers 1-9, keyed to the nine categories of birds at the bottom. The species are re-sequenced to agree with the California Bird Records Committee Official California Checklist, updated 15 Jan 2022. I generally do this sequence update at the start of each year.
[Chuck Almdale]

	Malibu Census 2022	1/23	2/27	3/27	4/24	5/22	6/26
	Temperature	61-73	61-70	57-65	72-75	61-66	65-70
	Tide Lo/Hi Height	L+2.04	H+5.76	H+5.00	H+4.50	L-0.32	H+3.33
	Tide Time	0645	0621	0615	0442	1029	0943
1	(Black) Brant					6
1	Canada Goose	2	2	6	3
1	Egyptian Goose		1
1	Cinnamon Teal		2
1	Gadwall	29	8	47	26	25	15
1	American Wigeon	4		6	1	2
1	Mallard	20	12	30	14	15	35
1	Northern Pintail	1
1	Green-winged Teal	11	12	15	2
1	Surf Scoter	10		15	3
1	Bufflehead	2	5
1	Common Goldeneye			2
1	Red-breasted Merganser	9	6	5
1	Ruddy Duck		4	1
2	Pied-billed Grebe	3	3	3	1		1
2	Eared Grebe		1		1
2	Western Grebe	30	12	16
7	Feral Pigeon	20	10	8	4	6	8
7	Band-tailed Pigeon		3				1
7	Eurasian Collared-Dove	1
7	Mourning Dove		4	2	4		2
8	Anna’s Hummingbird	2	2	1		1
8	Allen’s Hummingbird	3	3	3	3	1	2
2	American Coot	49	73	65	1	4	4
5	Black-bellied Plover	58	25	28	2	1
5	Killdeer	2	10	4	2	3	3
5	Semipalmated Plover				15
5	Snowy Plover		15	10
5	Whimbrel	8	2	8	2		3
5	Marbled Godwit	32	1		2
5	Ruddy Turnstone	6	5
5	Sanderling	1		45	2
5	Dunlin				1
5	Least Sandpiper	12	20	10	50
5	Western Sandpiper	1	11	35	30
5	Spotted Sandpiper				6	1
5	Willet	15	8	6	2
5	Red-necked Phalarope					1
6	Bonaparte’s Gull	1
6	Heermann’s Gull	45	1	8	15	4	27
6	Ring-billed Gull	40	175	16	65
6	Western Gull	95	88	95	57	95	55
6	California Gull	925	510	185	35	33	3
6	Herring Gull	2	1	2
6	Glaucous-winged Gull	5	5	8	6
6	Caspian Tern		1	8	12	15	22
6	Royal Tern	5	2	35	18	3	3
6	Elegant Tern			6	220	24
2	Red-throated Loon	1	2
2	Pacific Loon	1	2
2	Common Loon	2	1
2	Black-vented Shearwater	1000
2	Brandt’s Cormorant	6	1	5	1	50
2	Pelagic Cormorant	12	3	1	1	2
2	Double-crested Cormorant	45	51	33	26	22	46
2	Brown Pelican	110	15	23	68	65	126
3	Great Blue Heron	4	2	1	1	2	3
3	Great Egret	2		5	3	2	4
3	Snowy Egret	6	3	4	1	1	2
3	Green Heron	1
3	Black-crowned Night-Heron	5					4
4	Turkey Vulture		1	5	3	4	4
4	Osprey	1	1	1			1
4	Cooper’s Hawk	1	1
4	Red-shouldered Hawk	1	1
4	Red-tailed Hawk	1	1
8	Belted Kingfisher	1	1	1	1
4	Merlin	1
9	Black Phoebe	4	3	3		2	5
9	Say’s Phoebe		1
9	California Scrub-Jay	2	3	2	1		1
9	American Crow	4	20	6	4	4	5
9	Common Raven	1				2
9	Oak Titmouse	1
9	Tree Swallow	2
9	No. Rough-winged Swallow			2	4	8
9	Barn Swallow			4	8	15	20
9	Cliff Swallow				8	4
9	Bushtit	12	4	4	10		8
9	Wrentit			2		2
9	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher		2
9	House Wren				2		1
9	Northern Mockingbird	1		1	1		1
9	European Starling	15	30	3	2	1
9	Hermit Thrush	1
9	House Finch	8	5	15	6	12	10
9	Lesser Goldfinch	4	2		2		1
9	Dark-eyed Junco	4	3
9	White-crowned Sparrow	35	25	20	2
9	Song Sparrow	6	6	10	7	10	4
9	California Towhee	2	2	2	2	2	1
9	Red-winged Blackbird		2		1
9	Brown-headed Cowbird				2	1
9	Great-tailed Grackle	1	3	5	2	1	6
9	Orange-crowned Warbler	1
9	Common Yellowthroat	3	1	1
9	Yellow-rumped Warbler	10	6	1
	Totals by Type	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1	Waterfowl	88	52	127	49	48	50
2	Water Birds – Other	1259	164	146	99	143	177
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	18	5	10	5	5	13
4	Quail & Raptors	5	5	6	3	4	5
5	Shorebirds	135	97	146	114	6	6
6	Gulls & Terns	1118	783	363	428	174	110
7	Doves	21	17	10	8	6	11
8	Other Non-Passerines	6	6	5	4	2	2
9	Passerines	117	118	81	64	64	63
	Totals Birds	2767	1247	894	774	452	437
	Total Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1	Waterfowl	9	9	9	6	4	2
2	Water Birds – Other	11	11	7	7	5	4
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	5	2	3	3	3	4
4	Quail & Raptors	5	5	2	1	1	2
5	Shorebirds	9	9	8	11	4	2
6	Gulls & Terns	8	8	9	8	6	5
7	Doves	2	3	2	2	1	3
8	Other Non-Passerines	3	3	3	2	2	1
9	Passerines	20	17	16	17	13	12
	Totals Species – 97	72	67	59	57	39	35