Birds special, birds returning: Malibu Lagoon, 24 July 2022

[By Chuck Almdale]

We don’t have “July Gloom” because it doesn’t rhyme, so it’s always “June Gloom” whether it’s March or June or October. For November through February it’s “winter low clouds.” So if the sky looks gray and cloudy in our photos, it’s still “June Gloom.” Remember that. There will be a test.

The clouds kept temperatures quite pleasant: 70-73°F. I suppose those on the sand, lying, trying to get a nice “healthy glow” as we used to say before our skin cracked and and flaked and fell off, leaving us scarred and saggy — they would prefer that the sun shown in the summer as it is contractually obligated to do, but those of us who know better…well, we know better. They’ll be grateful in 40 years.

Speaking of things to remember, there is that weird-looking curving sidewalk that is sometimes under water and has numbers along it. It was installed about a decade ago during the 2012-13 reconfiguration of the lagoon. It’s called the “Winter Ramp-Summer Clock.” There’s been a page on our blog [we also have permanent pages, not merely blog postings] for only nine years, devoted entirely to it and detailing the construction process, so it’s understandable that you might have missed it.

It was specifically designed to be “sometimes under water” as it measures the water level in the lagoon. (It’s really tough to measure water level without something being under water at least part of the time.) I don’t know if this piece of civic architecture satisfies a great public need other than giving people something to complain about. “What idiot designed this thing? It’s under water!” I cannot say how many times I’ve heard this. No one notices the colored tile plaques marking water level. That’s partially because the paving and plaques gets covered with slimy muck (aka algae) when the water is high.

The numbers then become covered with muck, and the muck is ugly and slippery and then no one in their right mind walks down the summer clock sidewalk because sometimes it’s also underwater! So, for what’s it’s worth, that’s what it’s called and that’s what it does. This will not be on the test because although I know it has a name, I can never remember what it is. Despite all the foregoing, I still think it’s kind of cool.

That aside, we had a few good birds today. (Of course, all these birds always think they’re good.) Species numbers jumped from our typical low month for the year – June’s 35 species – to a respectable 51 in July (see chart at bottom). Birds were returning from the north: Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Long-billed Dowitcher, Willet, Glaucous-winged Gull, Forster’s Tern.

Plus a few local passerines were out and about after springtime’s busy breeding season ended: Oak Titmouse, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Yellowthroat. Barn Swallows, if they’re here, are always flying around and sitting in highly visible places. The Yellowthroats breed at the lagoon (I believe – I’ve never seen their nest, and I’d be shocked it I did – but they’re nearly always here) but we’ve missed them for the past few months.

There were also a few especially good birds. Such as the Reddish Egret.

It’s not that the the Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) is terrifically rare in SoCal. They’ve been around for over three decades. The first one I ever saw was in Del Mar (San Diego County) in 1986, jumping around in San Dieguito Creek. If you’re used to the slow and sedate feeding style of most herons/egrets, they’re not like that at all; they jump and dance and chase fish around in the shallow water. They’re a lot of fun to watch. The only heron/egret that’s more fun to watch is the Black Heron (Egretta ardesiaca) of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, which can be easily mistaken for a black umbrella some fool left standing up in the pond. (Notice that genus Egretta has both egret and heron members).

But there aren’t many Reddish Egrets around and Malibu Lagoon is not at all a reliable place to look for them. I’ve birded at Malibu Lagoon since 1979 and this was the first I’ve seen here. And it was a treat. eBird records the first Reddish Egret at Malibu Lagoon on 1 May 2014, and maybe 95 sightings since then, but most of those sightings are of the same few birds, probably under half a dozen (if anyone knows how many different Reddish Egrets have been at the lagoon, let me know). Birders tend to flock to see this bird, especially if they want to see it in L.A. County. Out of the 313 (or 314, but who’s counting) species on eBird records at the lagoon, the Reddish Egret was #293 in order of date.

The Reddish Egret was still there five days later, when Grace and Larry took these photos. As I said, they jump and run around and wave their wings. They do get more reddish than this bird, but mostly on the neck.

The other relatively good bird was the Long-billed Dowitcher. Now, we get them every year at the lagoon, but never in large numbers and not for very long, and this one was in especially colorful plumage, thus nice to see. We could even figure out that it was a Long-billed rather than a Short-billed Dowitcher, which can be far from simple except for birders better than me. [It’s not a “dowager,” as on Downton Abbey. The name used to be dowitchee, doewitch or dowitch, corruptions of Deutsher (German) or Duitsch (Dutch). In England it is (or used to be) called the Red-breasted Snipe. With that long straight bill, they look a lot like snipe.]

According to Jon Dunn & Kimball Garrett’s Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution (1981), along the SoCal coast:
Long-billed presence: Common to abundant late Aug to late Apr; fairly common late Apr to early May & late Jul to late Aug; uncommon early-to-late July; casual or rare individuals early May to early July.

Short-billed presence: Common to abundant mid-to-late Apr & mid-July to mid-Sept; fairly common mid-Mar to mid-Apr, early-to-mid May, late June to mid-July, and mid-to-late Sept; uncommon Oct thru mid-Mar & mid-Mar thru June. They also winter along the coast at a few large marshes such as San Diego Bay and Seal Beach NWS.

For our trips at Malibu Lagoon for 301 trip dates, the sightings are almost even, but the Long-billed outnumber the Short-billed:
Long-billed: 34 visits, 208 birds.
Short-billed: 29 visits, 120 birds.
Here’s a “cheat-sheet” of dowitcher characteristics. Download/print here.
Pretend that you didn’t already know which species it is, and see if you can use it to figure out.

Check the bill-tip on the right-hand bird below.

That’s how they grab invertebrates when they shove their bill into the sand or mud. Controllable flexi-tip.

Our last “special bird” was the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. It had been reported earlier in the week and we were on the lookout for it all morning, with two adults and six juveniles constantly shifting positions to repeatedly comb through. Finally, lurking on the shore by the Adamson House fence, disappearing and reappearing as it walked between and through the bushes overhanging the water we found it. Chris and Lu went over to see it close-up, instead of from 200 yards away, and Chris got a photo.

No, it’s definitely not a Black-crowned, but it sure looked like one much farther away, when you could only see the top of the bill and a direct frontal view made the bill look short and we could not see the back. (Reasons, not excuses! Reasons!) The breast-streaks did look a little too reddish and wide. So it goes, as famous birder Kurt Vonnegut once wrote.

The Snowy Plovers are definitely back, hanging around the southeastern corner of the lagoon. I saw five hunkered down in little hollows in the sand; Chris Tosdevin saw thirteen, and Grace & Larry saw sixteen five days later.

By the way, if you see a large, older man drawing on a pad of paper in the meeting area or at the nearby picnic tables, his name is Real. If you’re polite he might show you some of his artwork. His style reminds me of the multidirectional point-of-view (that’s my term for it) work of the First Americans of the Pacific Northwest and the Inuit, blended with the somewhat similar style but far more colorful work of the Australian Aboriginal artists. (I like those artistic traditions, so I’m predisposed to like Real’s work.) He’s very good. Perhaps a local Malibu gallery might be interested in showing it. (Hint, hint.)

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 8-04-22: 5981 lists, 313 species.
Link: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L597658
A question for those of you who use eBird: Is there some way to get sighting dates for a particular species at a particular Hot Spot – say, Reddish Egret at Malibu Lagoon? I can’t figure out how to do it. Their line graphs are useless as far as I’m concerned.

Birds new for the season: Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Long-billed Dowitcher, Willet, Glaucous-winged Gull, Forster’s Tern, Reddish Egret, Oak Titmouse, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Yellowthroat.

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

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

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips: Our next trip will be Malibu Lagoon on August 28. 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 should be superfluous.

The next SMBAS program: Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 4 October 2022, 7:30 p.m. We will continue to Zoom our programs for a while.

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, Chris Tosdevin 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	2/27	3/27	4/24	5/22	6/26	7/24
	Temperature	61-70	57-65	72-75	61-66	65-70	70-73
	Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+5.76	H+5.00	H+4.50	L-0.32	H+3.33	H+3.35
	Tide Time	0621	0615	0442	1029	0943	0909
1	(Black) Brant				6
1	Canada Goose	2	6	3
1	Egyptian Goose	1
1	Cinnamon Teal	2
1	Gadwall	8	47	26	25	15	25
1	American Wigeon		6	1	2
1	Mallard	12	30	14	15	35	80
1	Green-winged Teal	12	15	2
1	Surf Scoter		15	3
1	Bufflehead	5
1	Common Goldeneye		2
1	Red-breasted Merganser	6	5
1	Ruddy Duck	4	1
2	Pied-billed Grebe	3	3	1		1	2
2	Eared Grebe	1		1
2	Western Grebe	12	16
7	Feral Pigeon	10	8	4	6	8	17
7	Band-tailed Pigeon	3				1
7	Mourning Dove	4	2	4		2	2
8	Anna’s Hummingbird	2	1		1
8	Allen’s Hummingbird	3	3	3	1	2	3
2	American Coot	73	65	1	4	4	8
5	Black-bellied Plover	25	28	2	1		17
5	Killdeer	10	4	2	3	3	6
5	Semipalmated Plover			15			1
5	Snowy Plover	15	10				13
5	Whimbrel	2	8	2		3	88
5	Marbled Godwit	1		2			1
5	Ruddy Turnstone	5					3
5	Sanderling		45	2
5	Dunlin			1
5	Least Sandpiper	20	10	50			8
5	Western Sandpiper	11	35	30			1
5	Long-billed Dowitcher						1
5	Spotted Sandpiper			6	1
5	Willet	8	6	2			7
5	Red-necked Phalarope				1
6	Heermann’s Gull	1	8	15	4	27	5
6	Ring-billed Gull	175	16	65
6	Western Gull	88	95	57	95	55	145
6	California Gull	510	185	35	33	3	3
6	Herring Gull	1	2
6	Glaucous-winged Gull	5	8	6			1
6	Caspian Tern	1	8	12	15	22	18
6	Forster’s Tern						1
6	Royal Tern	2	35	18	3	3	25
6	Elegant Tern		6	220	24		475
2	Red-throated Loon	2
2	Pacific Loon	2
2	Common Loon	1
2	Brandt’s Cormorant	1	5	1	50
2	Pelagic Cormorant	3	1	1	2		2
2	Double-crested Cormorant	51	33	26	22	46	62
2	Brown Pelican	15	23	68	65	126	85
3	Great Blue Heron	2	1	1	2	3	5
3	Great Egret		5	3	2	4	3
3	Snowy Egret	3	4	1	1	2	12
3	Reddish Egret						1
3	Black-crowned Night-Heron					4	8
4	Turkey Vulture	1	5	3	4	4
4	Osprey	1	1			1	1
4	Cooper’s Hawk	1
4	Red-shouldered Hawk	1
4	Red-tailed Hawk	1
8	Belted Kingfisher	1	1	1
9	Black Phoebe	3	3		2	5	4
9	Say’s Phoebe	1
9	California Scrub-Jay	3	2	1		1	3
9	American Crow	20	6	4	4	5	1
9	Common Raven				2
9	Oak Titmouse						2
9	No. Rough-winged Swallow		2	4	8		1
9	Barn Swallow		4	8	15	20	30
9	Cliff Swallow			8	4		3
9	Bushtit	4	4	10		8	10
9	Wrentit		2		2		1
9	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	2
9	House Wren			2		1	1
9	Northern Mockingbird		1	1		1	3
9	European Starling	30	3	2	1
9	House Finch	5	15	6	12	10	12
9	Lesser Goldfinch	2		2		1
9	Dark-eyed Junco	3
9	White-crowned Sparrow	25	20	2
9	Song Sparrow	6	10	7	10	4	2
9	California Towhee	2	2	2	2	1
9	Red-winged Blackbird	2		1			6
9	Brown-headed Cowbird			2	1
9	Great-tailed Grackle	3	5	2	1	6	6
9	Common Yellowthroat	1	1				2
9	Yellow-rumped Warbler	6	1
	Totals by Type	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul
1	Waterfowl	52	127	49	48	50	105
2	Water Birds – Other	164	146	99	143	177	159
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	5	10	5	5	13	29
4	Quail & Raptors	5	6	3	4	5	1
5	Shorebirds	97	146	114	6	6	146
6	Gulls & Terns	783	363	428	174	110	673
7	Doves	17	10	8	6	11	19
8	Other Non-Passerines	6	5	4	2	2	3
9	Passerines	118	81	64	64	63	87
	Totals Birds	1247	894	774	452	437	1222
	Total Species	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul
1	Waterfowl	9	9	6	4	2	2
2	Water Birds – Other	11	7	7	5	4	5
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	2	3	3	3	4	5
4	Quail & Raptors	5	2	1	1	2	1
5	Shorebirds	9	8	11	4	2	11
6	Gulls & Terns	8	9	8	6	5	8
7	Doves	3	2	2	1	3	2
8	Other Non-Passerines	3	3	2	2	1	1
9	Passerines	17	16	17	13	12	16
	Totals Species – 91	67	59	57	39	35	51