Three of a Kind?: Malibu Lagoon, 26 March 2023

[By Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Lagoon, PCH bridge, Tunney house, Adamson house, Santa Monica Mtns. A small white cross in the far distance above right end of bridge marks Serra Retreat. (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

We’ve had a cool wet March, with 9.3″ of rain at our house, more than we’ve had over some recent full years. Today was dry and sunny, but still cool (57-60°F) for March. That, combined with poor waves meant few surfers and sand-sitters toiling on their tans. Low tide often means lots of shorebirds around the lagoon but not today, as most of the six shorebird species we saw were among the rocks or on the damp sandy beach.

Canada Geese, perhaps heading north, honking as they go
(Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

Peering into the sun from the viewpoint near the Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH) bridge, we spotted among the Coots a duck not often seen at the lagoon.

Male Redhead (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

Redheads are regular in small numbers in SoCal, but mostly on freshwater, such as the various reservoirs in the San Gabriel Valley, and less often on brackish water like Malibu Lagoon. Perhaps the very low tide meant that all the water in the lagoon was fresh creek water and more to their liking.

Three Redheads, three Coots (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

Out of 309 visits from 10/21/79 to 3/26/23, we’ve had Redheads only 12 times with a total of 29 individuals. The record shows:
11/17/79 -2, 10/19/80 – 4, 11/2/80 – 1, 12/20/80 – 2, 1/3/81 – 3, 1/18/81 – 1,
2/14/82 – 6, 9/25/05 – 1, 11/24/13 – 4, 1/26/14 – 1, 11/24/19 – 1, 3/26/23 – 3.
When I see close clusters of a few uncommon birds such as the 5 sightings 10/19/80-1/18/81, I tend to think they’re likely the same birds staying for a while.

Male Redhead and the weird female (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

But if you look at the two female Redheads, they don’t quite look the same. In the photo below, the left bird looks about like you’d expect for a female Redhead, but the right bird has a lot of white at the base of the bill, a bit of streak behind the eye, the head seems browner and the head shape is a bit different. The bill and body are basically the same.

Both female Redheads (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

This drove a few of us quite crazy for quite a while (and probably the rest of the group who had to put us with our interminable dawdling). We kicked around Lesser Scaup, Ring-neck, perhaps a hybrid. Nothing quite seemed to fit. Even the two sides of the weird female’s head differed slightly, as the amount of white at the base of the bill and in the line behind the eye were different.

Weird female Redhead, R & L sides of head. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

But the three birds stayed very close to one another, unusual behavior if one of them was a different species. We finally decided to move on and study the photos when we got home. Chris Tosdevin reported that he was advised by Someone More Knowledgeable Than We (perhaps at eBird) that: “the 3^rd duck with the extensive white patch around the beak is also ‘likely’ a redhead. Her bill coloration and head shape match the male’s. The pale throat can wrap around the base of the bill in varying amounts.“

“These are the birds that try men’s souls,” as famously beleaguered birder Thomas Paine once observed, and he should know. He didn’t even have a field guide or telescope to help out. He had to shoot them.

The lagoon (and Santa Catalina Is., I believe) from near the PCH bridge. (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

Well, of course that wasn’t all we had. The next photo proves that Osprey really do catch sizable fish in the lagoon, even in really low water like this.

Osprey with a yellow-tailed fish, properly transported head forward.
(Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

By far the most common fish in the lagoon the size of the above pictured fish is the Striped (aka Jumping and at least 8 other names) Mullet. I could not find any pictures anywhere showing this widespread and variable species having a yellow tail, and it certainly was not a Tuna, so I sent it off to local ichthyologist Rosi Dagit. After conferring with her colleague Camm Swift, they decided that although it wasn’t the greatest view possible of a fish it indeed was a Striped Mullet. As Smith put it: “The mullet often have a yellowish tail and this one is not that yellow. Too robust for a large topsmelt or a trout/steelhead.” There you have it.

Some of the 25 Whimbrels. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

And of course we had terns, in increasing size order, as we again approach nesting season.

Elegant Terns 17″ long. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

At morning’s start there were no Elegant Terns at all. By the time we left there were a very noisy ninety of them.

Royal Terns 20″ long. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

Caspian Tern 21″ long. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

Passerines were far from absent: 20 species albeit only 99 birds. Most were regular attendees.

Song Sparrow & a very leggy insect. (Chris Tosdevin, 3/26/23)

White-crowned Sparrow keeps a low profile. (Chris Tosdevin, 3/26/23)

This may be the last of the White-crowned Sparrows at the lagoon until next fall.

A very glossy male Great-tailed Grackle. (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

Our last bird of the day dropped in while we were tailgating in the parking lot. A small, speedy and very coordinated flock shot into a sycamore tree above us in a manner typical of Cedar Waxwings, which they turned out to be. These birds are so infrequent at the lagoon they make the Redheads almost look common: 7 visits from 10/21/79 to 3/26/23, totalling 125 birds. I won’t bother you with the dates.

One of a dozen very elegant Cedar Waxwings. (Chris Tosdevin 3/26/23)

Birds new for the Season: Redhead, White-throated Swift, Caspian Tern, Elegant Tern, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Osprey, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Bewick’s Wren, Great-tailed Grackle.

Malibu Lagoon south channel, the red roofs of Pepperdine University in the far distance left. (Ray Juncosa 3/26/23)

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 4-17-23: 6785 lists, 318 species

Many thanks to photographers: Ray Juncosa, Chris Tosdevin

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips:

• Malibu Lagoon, Sun Apr 23, 8:30 am No reservations or Covid card required for this trip.
• Morongo Valley & Black Rock Campground Sat. May 6, 3pm; Sun 7:30am. If you want to stay overnight Sat. May 6, you’ll need to reserve a Yucca Valley motel room or Black Rock campsite.
• Malibu Lagoon, Sun May 28, 8:30 am No reservations or Covid card required for this trip.
• These and any other trips we announce for the foreseeable future will depend upon 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.
• Link to Programs & Field Trip schedule.

The next SMBAS Zoom program: Alvaro Jaramillo. Tuesday, 2 May 2023, 7:30 p.m.

The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk restarts this April 23. Reservations for groups (scouts, etc.) necessary, but not for families.

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, 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 Chris & Ruth Tosdevin, Ray Juncosa and others for their contributions to this month’s checklist.

The species lists below is irregularly re-sequenced to agree with the California Bird Records Committee Official California Checklist, which was updated 4 Feb 2023. If part of the chart’s right side is hidden, there’s a slider button at the bottom.
[Chuck Almdale]

	Malibu Census 2022-23	10/23	11/27	12/25	1/22	2/26	3/26
	Temperature	61-73	54-62	65-72	49-57	53-55	57-60
	Tide Lo/Hi Height	H+5.33	H+6.04	H+6.59	H+6.81	L+0.81	L+0.28
	Tide Time	0839	1045	0950	0858	0911	0800
1	Canada Goose				4	2	6
1	Cinnamon Teal					1
1	Northern Shoveler					7
1	Gadwall	18	8	16	26	58	42
1	American Wigeon		14	8		4
1	Mallard	12	16	6	20	32	12
1	Northern Pintail	1
1	Green-winged Teal	2	6	38	15	26	5
1	Redhead						3
1	Lesser Scaup		1
1	Surf Scoter		12	3	1	6	22
1	Bufflehead		11	11	10	5
1	Common Goldeneye				2
1	Hooded Merganser			5	1
1	Red-breasted Merganser		25	7	6	3	2
1	Ruddy Duck	35	32	42		8
2	Pied-billed Grebe	8	4	5	2	1	1
2	Horned Grebe			1
2	Eared Grebe	2	8	5
2	Western Grebe	2	4	1	8	40	80
7	Feral Pigeon	15	4	6	16	5	6
7	Mourning Dove	4	2			2	1
8	White-throated Swift						5
8	Anna’s Hummingbird		1	2	1
8	Allen’s Hummingbird		2		2	3	3
2	Sora	1
2	American Coot	145	85	130	38	73	37
5	Black-bellied Plover	64	83	51	43	62	3
5	Killdeer	2	31	11	4	12	5
5	Semipalmated Plover	2
5	Snowy Plover	39	18		16	16
5	Whimbrel	5	35	9	7	2	25
5	Marbled Godwit	6	38	23	18	17	2
5	Ruddy Turnstone	4	4	2	6	3
5	Sanderling	33	45	27	35	32	2
5	Least Sandpiper	15	62	19	22	27
5	Western Sandpiper	4	8	4
5	Willet	9	43	15	15	9	7
6	Heermann’s Gull	8	16	85	27	3	3
6	Short-billed Gull		1			1
6	Ring-billed Gull	22	28	55	36	40	46
6	Western Gull	64	105	68	49	38	26
6	California Gull	155	390	450	1330	237	95
6	Herring Gull				2	1	2
6	Glaucous-winged Gull		3		7	4
6	Caspian Tern						2
6	Forster’s Tern	1
6	Royal Tern	12	3		2	14	13
6	Elegant Tern	15					90
6	Black Skimmer					3
2	Red-throated Loon				1		1
2	Pacific Loon						1
2	Common Loon		1				2
2	Black-vented Shearwater		100
2	Brandt’s Cormorant					1
2	Pelagic Cormorant	1	4	1	6	1	2
2	Double-crested Cormorant	51	45	62	36	67	26
2	American White Pelican					1
2	Brown Pelican	65	220	158	343	159	62
3	Great Blue Heron	3	3	5	2		2
3	Great Egret	2	5	3	2	2	2
3	Snowy Egret	9	31	35	16	6	2
3	Green Heron	1
3	Black-crowned Night-Heron		1	1
3	White-faced Ibis					1
4	Turkey Vulture	1	1	1	1	5	5
4	Osprey						1
4	Cooper’s Hawk					1
4	Red-tailed Hawk			3		1	2
8	Belted Kingfisher		2		1
8	Nuttall’s Woodpecker				1
4	American Kestrel			1
4	Merlin			1
9	Cassin’s Kingbird		1	1		1	1
9	Black Phoebe	3	3	2	3	3	2
9	Say’s Phoebe					1
9	California Scrub-Jay	1	1	1	1
9	American Crow	8	12	3	11	27	6
9	Common Raven				2	1	2
9	Oak Titmouse	2
9	Northern Rough-winged Swallow					2	6
9	Barn Swallow						14
9	Cliff Swallow					24	3
9	Bushtit	10	2	15	14	3	3
9	Wrentit			2	1
9	Ruby-crowned Kinglet		2	1	2	1
9	Cedar Waxwing						12
9	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher		2		1
9	House Wren	1	2		1
9	Marsh Wren	1			1
9	Bewick’s Wren		2				1
9	European Starling				6	9
9	Hermit Thrush		3		1
9	House Finch	15	18	16	9	6	5
9	Lesser Goldfinch	1	6		4	10	5
9	White-crowned Sparrow	12	40	16	12	25	12
9	Song Sparrow	3	6		4	5	5
9	California Towhee	3	6	1	3	3	1
9	Spotted Towhee		1
9	Red-winged Blackbird	4	3	8	12		2
9	Great-tailed Grackle	5	1				6
9	Orange-crowned Warbler			1		1	3
9	Common Yellowthroat	3	2	1	2	4	3
9	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)	4	16	15	6	2	7
9	Townsend’s Warbler			1
	Totals by Type	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
1	Waterfowl	68	125	136	85	152	92
2	Water Birds – Other	275	471	363	434	343	212
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	15	40	44	20	9	6
4	Quail & Raptors	1	1	6	1	7	8
5	Shorebirds	183	367	161	166	180	44
6	Gulls & Terns	277	546	658	1453	341	277
7	Doves	19	6	6	16	7	7
8	Other Non-Passerines	0	5	2	5	3	8
9	Passerines	76	129	84	96	128	99
	Totals Birds	914	1690	1460	2276	1170	753
	Total Species	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
1	Waterfowl	5	9	9	9	11	7
2	Water Birds – Other	8	9	8	7	8	9
3	Herons, Egrets & Ibis	4	4	4	3	3	3
4	Quail & Raptors	1	1	4	1	3	3
5	Shorebirds	11	10	9	9	9	6
6	Gulls & Terns	7	7	4	7	9	8
7	Doves	2	2	1	1	2	2
8	Other Non-Passerines	0	3	1	4	1	2
9	Passerines	16	20	15	20	18	20
	Totals Species –  105	54	65	55	61	64	60