Almost Winter, Malibu Lagoon, 27 November 2022

[Chuck Almdale]

A month ago the beach was quite wide. Then the first winter king tide came along and washed over the beach into the lagoon and left an outlet at its west end. The outflow channel was quite deep and swift and really cold. After watching two people in wet suits struggle through it, I advised the next couple in pants and shirts to forget it unless they wanted to be washed out to sea.

We had nine species of ducks of which four were new for the season, including the Bufflehead above. Someone once thought this head looked blocky like the head of a buffalo.

As usual, the late autumn sun was in our eyes at the start, busily washing out bird colors and leaving them in shades of gray, as with the pelicans above.

I keep getting reports of a Hairy Woodpecker hanging out in the trees around the parking lot and paralleling PCH, and I keep missing the bird. Femi Faminu has some sort of weird affinity to woodpeckers and was always hearing and seeing them at the lagoon, so most of their appearances in my list for the last two years are due to her. However, Chris & Ruth Tosdevin were here a few days earlier spotting the American Golden Plover (see report), a new bird for the lagoon, and got a photo of the woodpecker.

We could see from the meeting place and the viewing platform near the PCH bridge that the high tides and/or rain had caused the lagoon water to break through the beach. The channel was also full of logs and bark and the ubiquitous “whatnot.” That usually signifies lots of rain bringing timber down the creek. But the coots and ducks didn’t seem to mind.

For a while a channel sandy island west end hosted most of the egrets and herons.

The easternmost home in Malibu Colony has a camera on the edge of the roof. A Pelagic Cormorant has been hanging out next to it off and on for months, so I call it the “cormorant-cam.” I suppose the bird likes this lofty perch and good view, and it’s a safe (from dogs and annoying humans) spot when the offshore rocks are wave-smashed. For all I know, the camera is actually live with a permanent presence on the web and you can watch this bird 24/7, should you so desire, although it doesn’t do much other than stand there. However, this time it was joined by two friends whom I suppose know a good thing when they see it. The camera and one friend are a millimeter to the left of this view.

Grace and Larry did their Western Snowy Plover census a few days later, and photo’d many of the same birds we saw. Here’s a small portfolio of them, beginning with this very chunky-looking fluffed up Western Snowy Plover.

I think (but could be wrong) this is a different individual, standing up, giving us a view of his leg-rings, which we record as ga:gy, translated as (L)green over aqua:(R)green over yellow.

This winter Ruddy Turnstone (The Turnstone, in Europe) seems to be distracted by that photographer slowly creeping up.

The turnstones are named for what they do, which oddly enough is turning over stones. Sometimes something edible is hiding under there; you never know until you look. They have an unusual bill, stout at the base, medium length, slightly upturned with a thicker lower bill. A good solid lever with which to…turn stones. Natural selection strikes again!

And here’s two full-frontal portraits one rarely sees. This Willet definitely has binocular vision.

I’d say the gull above also has binocular vision, but just barely. That steely gaze shows that he means business.

The outlet channel was about 5 ft. deep and moving swiftly an hour after high tide. Between the distance and a high-enough sand berm between us and the main flock, it was tough to see what’s what.
Sometimes you just have to climb to see who’s hiding behind the berm.

Birds new for the season: American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Allen’s Hummingbird, Short-billed (aka Mew) Gull, Common Loon, Black-vented Shearwater, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush.

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 10-30-22: 6340 lists, 316 species

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

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips: Malibu Lagoon, Sun Dec. 25 8:30 am; Antelope Valley Raptor Search, Sat. Jan 14, 7 am departure time; Malibu Lagoon, Sun Jan. 22 8:30 am These and any other trips we announce for the foreseeable future will be dependent upon the expected status of the Covid/flu/etc. 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: To-be-announced, Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 7 February 2023, 7:30 p.m.. This program will probably be on Zoom.

The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk is currently under discussion concerning its 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 2022: Jan-June
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 & Ruth Tosdevin, Ray Juncosa and others for their contributions to this month’s checklist.

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	6/26	7/24	8/28	9/25	10/23	11/27
	Temperature	65-70	70-73	72-79	72-79	61-73	54-62
	Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+3.33	H+3.35	H+4.49	H+5.01	H+5.33	H+6.04
	Tide Time	0943	0909	1102	0949	0839	1045
1	Gadwall	15	25	22	26	18	8
1	American Wigeon						14
1	Mallard	35	80	65	28	12	16
1	Northern Pintail					1
1	Green-winged Teal					2	6
1	Lesser Scaup						1
1	Surf Scoter						12
1	Bufflehead						11
1	Red-breasted Merganser						25
1	Ruddy Duck				3	35	32
2	Pied-billed Grebe	1	2	4	6	8	4
2	Eared Grebe					2	8
2	Western Grebe					2	4
7	Feral Pigeon	8	17	10	6	15	4
7	Band-tailed Pigeon	1
7	Mourning Dove	2	2	5		4	2
8	Anna’s Hummingbird				1		1
8	Allen’s Hummingbird	2	3	3			2
2	Sora				1	1
2	American Coot	4	8	12	47	145	85
5	Black-bellied Plover		17	79	67	64	83
5	Killdeer	3	6	5	7	2	31
5	Semipalmated Plover		1	15	3	2
5	Snowy Plover		13	20	25	39	18
5	Whimbrel	3	88	37	15	5	35
5	Long-billed Curlew			1
5	Marbled Godwit		1	6	21	6	38
5	Ruddy Turnstone		3	4	3	4	4
5	Black Turnstone			2
5	Sanderling			25	14	33	45
5	Dunlin				1
5	Least Sandpiper		8	10	23	15	62
5	Western Sandpiper		1	25	8	4	8
5	Short-billed Dowitcher			2
5	Long-billed Dowitcher		1
5	Spotted Sandpiper			1	1
5	Willet		7	48	73	9	43
5	Red-necked Phalarope			1	2
6	Heermann’s Gull	27	5	2	9	8	16
6	Short-billed Gull						1
6	Ring-billed Gull				2	22	28
6	Western Gull	55	145	53	72	64	105
6	California Gull	3	3	21	57	155	390
6	Glaucous-winged Gull		1				3
6	Caspian Tern	22	18
6	Forster’s Tern		1			1
6	Royal Tern	3	25	6	1	12	3
6	Elegant Tern		475	255		15
6	Black Skimmer			3
2	Common Loon						1
2	Black-vented Shearwater						100
2	Pelagic Cormorant		2	1		1	4
2	Double-crested Cormorant	46	62	68	56	51	45
2	Brown Pelican	126	85	112	64	65	220
3	Great Blue Heron	3	5	2	3	3	3
3	Great Egret	4	3	3	1	2	5
3	Snowy Egret	2	12	14	9	9	31
3	Reddish Egret		1
3	Green Heron					1
3	Black-crowned Night-Heron	4	8	2			1
4	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron			1
4	Turkey Vulture	4		1		1	1
4	Osprey	1	1
4	Red-shouldered Hawk				1
8	Belted Kingfisher				1		2
4	Peregrine Falcon				1
9	Cassin’s Kingbird				3		1
9	Black Phoebe	5	4	5	5	3	3
9	Say’s Phoebe				1
9	California Scrub-Jay	1	3	2	2	1	1
9	American Crow	5	1	17	3	8	12
9	Oak Titmouse		2			2
9	Violet-green Swallow			1
9	Northern Rough-winged Swallow		1	4
9	Barn Swallow	20	30	28
9	Cliff Swallow		3	1
9	Bushtit	8	10	15	8	10	2
9	Wrentit		1		1
9	Ruby-crowned Kinglet						2
9	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher						2
9	House Wren	1	1	1	2	1	2
9	Marsh Wren					1
9	Bewick’s Wren			1	1		2
9	Northern Mockingbird	1	3		1
9	European Starling				8
9	Hermit Thrush						3
9	House Finch	10	12	8	4	15	18
9	Lesser Goldfinch	1		3	6	1	6
9	White-crowned Sparrow					12	40
9	Song Sparrow	4	2	6	3	3	6
9	California Towhee	1		1		3	6
9	Spotted Towhee				1		1
9	Red-winged Blackbird		6	25		4	3
9	Great-tailed Grackle	6	6	4		5	1
9	Orange-crowned Warbler			1	2
9	Common Yellowthroat		2	4	5	3	2
9	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)					4	16
	Totals by Type	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov
1	Waterfowl	50	105	87	57	68	125
2	Water Birds – Other	177	159	197	174	275	471
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	13	29	22	13	15	40
4	Quail & Raptors	5	1	1	2	1	1
5	Shorebirds	6	146	281	263	183	367
6	Gulls & Terns	110	673	340	141	277	546
7	Doves	11	19	15	6	19	6
8	Other Non-Passerines	2	3	3	2	0	5
9	Passerines	63	87	127	56	76	129
	Totals Birds	437	1222	1073	714	914	1690
	Total Species	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov
1	Waterfowl	2	2	2	3	5	9
2	Water Birds – Other	4	5	5	5	8	9
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	4	5	5	3	4	4
4	Quail & Raptors	2	1	1	2	1	1
5	Shorebirds	2	11	16	14	11	10
6	Gulls & Terns	5	8	6	5	7	7
7	Doves	3	2	2	1	2	2
8	Other Non-Passerines	1	1	1	2	0	3
9	Passerines	12	16	18	17	16	20
	Totals Species – 97	35	51	56	52	54	65