King Gillette FT Report, 4/20/2024

After two consecutive rainy or drizzly Saturdays we finally made it to King Gillette. Everything was green, including an acre of duckweed on the pond. However, only one kind of duck was present.

Female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) with one of her two remaining ducklings.

For a long time we heard House Wrens calling but it took a while to see one.

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

We walked up to the residence (for you bar-trivia enthusiasts, it’s one of the locations where they filmed the TV show “The Biggest Loser”). Standing among the maintenance vehicles was a larger than life-size plastic Gentoo Penguin and a Pneumatic Roof-Owl. More to our liking were several Hooded Orioles, possibly looking to make nests in the palm trees,

Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)

The raucous calls came from Acorn Woodpeckers and Nanday Parakeets. There were numerous trees that were serving as acorn storage – ACWO’s peck the holes, one for each acorn, for future food use. They also have the most interesting family lives and habits – you can read a brief description of them at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Acorn_Woodpecker/overview.

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)

California Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica). Basically limited to western coastal states and Baja.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius). In spite of its name, we see it here year-round.

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)

Perhaps the most unusual sighting was a Purple Martin. Chuck Almdale has recorded ‘them’ in LA County only once before, at Malibu Lagoon 19 years ago and, oddly, on April 15th that year. Perhaps we are all too busy doing our taxes to look up and see the Purple Martins.

We managed to see 40 species in this relatively small area – a good day. Many thanks to Ray Juncosa for his photos, and to Chuck Almdale for taking over when I had to leave early.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-throated Swift
Anna’s Hummingbird
Allen’s Hummingbird
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Nanday Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
California Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Oak Titmouse
Purple Martin
Bushtit
Wrentit
House Wren
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Western Bluebird
American Robin
House Finch
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Hooded Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler