[Written by Jean Garrett; Photos by Elyse Jankowski; Chuck Almdale, Ed.]

We had a good crowd of 10 people and immediately we started looking at the Cliff Swallow nests all around the lavatory in the parking lot. It is so nice to be 3 feet away from swallows. Only one swallow had a perfect mud nest while the others seemed to have partial ones or maybe they just had not yet finished the job. 

The meadow near the second parking lot always has good birds and pulled through again with a Red-winged Blackbird, Western Bluebirds, Lazuli Buntings, Ash-throated Flycatcher and a flock of 40 Rock Pigeons.

The big old Valley Oak across from the meadow still has the Acorn Woodpeckers circling around giving their ruckus cries. Looking way into the background of the meadow was a Cooper’s  Hawk and then we heard the sing-song of a grosbeak which turned out to be a Blue Grosbeak. 

A Chat was teasing us with his song just across from the bathrooms in the impossibly dense creekside forest, impossible for finding the bird. The area around the parking lot also gave us a White-breasted Nuthatch and an Oak Titmouse.  Overhead was a sky full of Turkey Vultures, more than I have ever seen before at Malibu Creek. 

As we headed toward the bridge, there were Bullocks Orioles, Juncos (they are becoming such a successful species), and then there was a quark sound and a few minutes later someone found the Phainopepla. 

Yellow Warblers were becoming common but the sounds of that no-see-um Chat kept haunting us.  A Nuttall’s Woodpecker was seen climbing around the trunk of one of the conifers along with a Cassin’s Kingbird and the requisite Black Phoebe and Scrub Jay. 

As we moved toward the river, there were several Cliff Swallows busy picking up mud for their nests. 

At the river, there were  Snowy & Great Egrets, Canada Geese with 3 goslings, Killdeer, Double Crested Cormorant, and Green Heron. We ended with a Lessor Goldfinch. The weather was perfect with a slight breeze keeping the area very pleasant.   

We walked the creekside road through the oaks to the bridge and park headquarters. The HQ was closed, so we decided to return via the southern road and across the recently hand-built path of stones across the creek where the low bridge used to be before a heavy rain and creek flow washed it away. With steady walking it was only 15 minutes HQ to parking lot, something to remember if you’re in a hurry.

In the checklist below, H = heard only, X = present but number not counted

Malibu Creek	State	Park
Field Trips	6/13/26	11/8/25	6/14/25	5/11/24	11/12/11	11/13/10
Canada Goose	2+3gosl
American Wigeon		2
Mallard	20	14	10	5	20	15
Ring-necked Duck						1
Bufflehead					2
California Quail			20
Pied-billed Grebe					1
Band-tailed Pigeon		6	4	6	80	12
Mourning Dove	3	10	19	5	2	2
Feral Pigeon	30	60
White-throated Swift	5		5			20
Black-chinned Hummer			2
Anna’s Hummingbird	1	1	5	3	1	2
Allen’s Hummingbird	1		1	2	1
Hummingbird sp.		1
American Coot	10	1			20	15
Killdeer	1		1
Double-crested Cormorant	2		1		1
Snowy Egret	3		6
Green Heron	1		2
Great Egret	2		1
Great Blue Heron	1	1	2	2	1	1
Turkey Vulture	40	3	10	10
White-tailed Kite					2	2
Cooper’s Hawk	1	2		2	1
Northern Harrier		1
Red-shouldered Hawk		2	4	2	3	1
Red-tailed Hawk	1	4	4	6	4	3
Belted Kingfisher		1				1
Red-naped Sapsucker						1
Red-breasted Sapsucker		1			2	1
Acorn Woodpecker	25	16	20	15	8	15
Downy Woodpecker		1			1	2
Nuttall’s Woodpecker	1H	5	10	4	4	1
Northern Flicker		3		1	5	2
American Kestrel	2	2	1	2	4	1
Nanday Parakeet		4	11	8	H
Cassin’s Kingbird	1	5				2
Western Wood-Pewee			X
Western Flycatcher	1		3	4
Black Phoebe	4	2	4	2	6	6
Say’s Phoebe		1			3	2
Ash-throated Flycatcher	3		9	5
Cassin’s Kingbird			4			2
Hutton’s Vireo				2		1
Loggerhead Shrike					2	1
California Scrub-Jay	5	10	12	6	2	6
American Crow	20	30	6	10	30	30
Common Raven		6	6	4	8	10
Oak Titmouse	1	10	22	10	20	12
Tree Swallow			X
Violet-green Swallow	10		6	1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	6		20	5
Barn Swallow			3
Cliff Swallow	30		10	20
Bushtit		8	50	10	15	15
Wrentit		4	8	2	3	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet		8			4	3
White-breasted Nuthatch	1	1	9	3	6	6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher			7	3
Canyon Wren			3			1
No. House Wren	2H	3	11	12	1	3
Bewick’s Wren			1		2	2
California Thrasher			2
Western Bluebird	2	5	8	2	20	1
Hermit Thrush		4
American Robin					1
Phainopepla	1		4	1	2
House Finch	16	8	10	10	30	4
Purple Finch		2			6	2
Pine Siskin						5
Lesser Goldfinch	4	6	10	10		1
Lark Sparrow					20
Dark-eyed Junco	8	8	4	8	30	12
White-crowned Sparrow		24			40	20
Golden-crowned Sparrow		2
White-throated Sparrow		1
Song Sparrow	3	1	5	6	4	1
California Towhee	4	8	8	9	12	4
Spotted Towhee	4+4H	2	6	8	8	4
Yellow-breasted Chat	1H		2	1
Hooded Oriole			2
Bullock’s Oriole	5		4
Red-winged Blackbird	6		10	1
Brown-headed Cowbird			4	3
Orange-crowned Warbler		1	8	5
Common Yellowthroat		2	10	6	2	1
Yellow Warbler	20H		8	12
Yellow-rumped Warbler		8	X		40	40
Townsend’s Warbler		1	X
Wilson’s Warbler			X
Western Tanager				2
Black-headed Grosbeak			2
Blue Grosbeak	1		2
Lazuli Bunting	3		6	1
Total Species: 95	46	50	65	47	47	48