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Black Rock Campground Birding, May 2, 2026
[By Jean Garrett, additional comments by Chuck Almdale , photos by Chuck Almdale & Ray Juncosa]
One of the things “they” say is “Any day with a roadrunner in it is a good day.”
We arrived at 3:00 PM to a quiet scene at the campground. Again, a Say’s Phoebe family had their nest by the door of the nature preserve station. It must be a safe place!
Nearby, a Bewick’s Wren led us to his nest where we could hear the young ones chirping. A California Thrasher perched conveniently for us while we were looking at a male & female Ladderback Woodpecker accompanied by the sound of Black-throated Sparrows.
Little did we know that we would be seeing the Black-throated sparrows everywhere we went in the campground.
Although Black-throated Sparrows are highly-adapted to arid deserts, they will drink water when they can get it. But during the long, dry desert summers they can survive for long periods without it, getting necessary moisture from their diet of insects, succulent vegetation, and seeds.
Another sound we could hear (besides House Finches) was the Gambel’s Quail whose call sounds so close to the California Quail’s “chi-ca-go”. But after settling the debate on the sound, the sentinel Gambel’s Quail finally showed itself.
The very best sighting for the day was a Roadrunner (photo at the top) standing on a rock and letting us see him for at least five minutes. All that was missing was to hear him sing.
Scrub Jays bounded through the Joshua trees and Eurasian Collared-Doves gave background songs.
Looking up at the sky offered a glimpse of a Turkey Vulture and a Red-tailed Hawk. We finished our list with an American Kestrel and a couple of Cactus Wren nests but no bird. Judging by the lack of flowers and the maturity of the seed pods on the Joshua Trees, it seemed like spring had come early.
Black Rock campground is a great place to visit if you want to see what Joshua Tree National Park looks like, but are too thrifty or pinched for time to drive into the main park. It’s part of the National Park, but you don’t have to pay admission, you can park by the camp HQ and walk anywhere you want. You can camp (now $35!, reservation needed), it’s only a few miles to the town of Yucca Valley, and the habitat is much the same as the main park with lots of cactus you can admire at an appropriate distance. Many of the cholla cacti harbor old nests of Cactus Wrens. We stayed at a town motel, and can recommend Las Palmas Mexican Cuisine for dinner.
We then drove through the campground, past the rangers’ offices and left up the dirt road that leads to the Hi-View Trailhead, perhaps a mile up-canyon. As you can see on the map below, trails branch out in all directions. Wear appropriate shoes, or better, thick soled boots. Cholla cactus thorns are long and strong, very tough to pull out of your boot or ankle and they hide on the ground when the cactus joint falls off.
At the parking lot we found a large lizard sunning itself on a fence post. The dark mark on the neck identified it as a Desert Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus magister.
The Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians says this lizard is 3.5-5.5″ long, from snout to the vent by the rear legs. As the tail is definitely longer than the body, this makes it about a foot long.
Note the blue-green throat.
The altitude here is slightly higher than in the campground and the trail we had just walked, and there were more short bushy juniper trees than there had been down slope.
The trees became increasingly more numerous as we walked upslope. We hoped for Pinyon Jays to pass overhead as this is the edge of their Pinyon-Juniper habitat, and we often see them in the general Black Rock vicinity. Once, in the early morning, about 100 of them invaded the campground, perching on yuccas, joshua trees, poles, wires and picnic tables everywhere. But no such luck today.
Our local “Nutterback*” Woodpecker hybrid: Ladderbacked x Nuttall’s
Ladderbacked Woodpeckers are resident in the arid deserts from SE California east to SE Colorado, West Oklahoma, the western half of Texas and nearly all of Mexico. Nuttall’s Woodpecker is the western damp riparian habitat version, resident from northern California to northern Baja California, from the ocean to the montaine forest of the Sierras and Cascades. These two are very similar in appearance, and for at least 20 years if not far longer, their hybridizing has been noted, particularly in this area near Joshua Tree National Park, and especially at Morongo Valley Preserve, which we visited the following day. Here all sorts of hybridization mixtures have appeared, as backcrosses have created what can be called a “wobbly (or ill-formed) spectrum” of variation, although there’s probably an official scientific term for what appears, when “good” types of Nuttall’s or Ladderbacked breed with one another, then with various hybrid offspring, and hybrids breed with one another until all sorts of genetic mixtures result in a mélange of plumage appearances.
I believe this bird is the first hybrid I’ve seen outside of the Morongo Valley Reserve and next-door-neighbor Covington Park, and it was on a pole near the Black Rock Campground HQ building. The pole wasn’t performing any function, but looked as if it once had a crossbar or something else placed on it. The hole (see photo below) may have held a long bolt to keep the crossbar in place.
The face pattern of this individual looks much like that of the juvenile Nuttall’s with the large white streak beginning over the eye and widening out as it descends onto the shoulder. But there is no red forecrown which juvenile Nuttall’s possess. The black face pattern also connects onto the black shoulder, as with Nuttall’s. The nasal feathers are very light brownish. Ladderbacked and female Nuttall’s can have brownish nasal feathers (or tuft), but the pattern here looks more like Ladderbacked..
The black area at the top of the shoulder is not only narrow, as with Ladderbacked, but is irregular, possibly a result of gene mixture. The amount of black here looks almost intermediate between the two species. The pale areas on face and front are quite white, as with Nuttall’s. except for the previously mentioned nasal tuft, part of the neck and part of the upper breast, which have a brownish wash like that of the Ladderbacked. The back and wing streaks/spots seem more like Ladderbacked.
In the photo below, note the slight brownish wash, most noticeable above the bill, lighter on upper breast and very light on the neck. The black face pattern connects to the shoulder, and the black bar at the top of the striped back is moderately thin and irregular.
It seems that the results of this hybridization are moving out beyond their Morongo Valley Preserve homeland. Although I do conclude that this is a hybrid, we’ve previously seen more convincing hybrids at the preserve than this one.
The primary definition of species is the Biological Species Concept, which defines a species as a group of organisms that can successfully interbreed in nature and produce fertile offspring. Ladderbacked and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers are doing this, and the blended plumages of their fertile offspring are carrying the evidence. These species will probably be lumped in the not-too-distant future.
*Later Edit Note: Longtime reader, birder and poet carol prismon-reed, daughter of SMBAS board member emeritus Mary Prismon, proposed Nutterback Woodpecker for the eventually-lumped species after reading the email version of this blog. I think it’s perfect. So welcome to our new Nutterback Woodpecker!
Unfortunately we didn’t post any reports or keep a checklist for our trips between 2015 and 2026. We had many noticeable misses on this trip, particularly flycatchers, Cactus and other wrens, sparrows, Scott’s Oriole and warblers. Again, as was noted with the absence of wildflowers and the emptiness of Cactus Wren nests, perhaps spring arrived early here this year.
| Black Rock Campground | |||
| B – Present, H – Heard Only | |||
| Species List | 5/3/26 | 5/2/15 | 5/4/13 |
| Gambel’s Quail | 5 | B | B |
| Rock Pigeon | B | B | |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 3 | B | |
| White-winged Dove | 1 | B | B |
| Mourning Dove | B | B | |
| Greater Roadrunner | 1 | B | |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | B | B | |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | B | B | |
| Costa’s Hummingbird | B | B | |
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | B | |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | ||
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker | 2 | B | B |
| Woodpecker hybrid LB x Nut | 1 | B | B |
| American Kestrel | 2 | B | |
| Western Wood-Pewee | B | B | |
| Black Phoebe | B | B | |
| Say’s Phoebe | 1 | B | |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | B | B | |
| Cassin’s Kingbird | B | ||
| Western Kingbird | B | ||
| Pinyon Jay | B | B | |
| California Scrub-Jay | 1 | B | B |
| Common Raven | 1 | B | B |
| Oak Titmouse | B | ||
| Verdin | B | ||
| Rock Wren | B | ||
| Bewick’s Wren | 2 | B | B |
| Cactus Wren | B | B | |
| European Starling | B | B | |
| California Thrasher | 1 | B | B |
| Northern Mockingbird | B | B | |
| Western Bluebird | B | B | |
| Phainopepla | B | B | |
| House Sparrow | B | B | |
| House Finch | 4 | B | B |
| Lesser Goldfinch | B | ||
| Brewer’s Sparrow | B | ||
| Black-throated Sparrow | 18 | B | |
| California Towhee | B | B | |
| Spotted Towhee | B | ||
| Scott’s Oriole | B | B | |
| Yellow Warbler | B | ||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | B | ||
| Wilson’s Warbler | B | B | |
| Total Species – 44 | 15+1 | 36+1 | 32+1 |
Zoom Recording: Evolution in Urban Dark-eyed Juncos, with Dr. Pamela Yeh & members of the Yeh Lab
The recording of this program from 5 May 2026
is now available online
Evolution in Urban Dark-eyed Juncos, with Dr. Pamela Yeh and her graduate students Mars Walters, Sierra Glassman, Prasheetha Karthikeyan, & Joey Di Liberto
Then give it about 30 seconds for “Zoom Workplace” to show up
If you don’t want CC captioning, click the CC button lower right.
The Yeh Lab is excited to be giving a talk on evolution in urban dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). Dr. Pamela Yeh, Associate Professor at UCLA, will start by discussing some of the history of the lab’s work on the juncos and providing an overview of the work being done in her lab. PhD student Mars Walters will talk about a long-term behavioral shift in UCLA’s dark-eyed juncos induced by the COVID-19 lockdown. PhD student Sierra Glassman will talk about her in-progress research on urban genomic evolution of juncos across California. MS student Prasheetha Karthikeyan will discuss her ongoing research on the flocking behavior of urban dark eyed juncos on the UCLA campus during their nonbreeding season. Lastly, another PhD student, Joey Di Liberto, will present new research on how female juncos adjust the volume of their eggs across their nests as well as over the breeding season; and what this means for how birds manage reproductive investment in changing conditions.
Dr. Pamela Yeh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. She studies how human activities affect the evolution of species, focusing on the evolution of birds in urban environments and the evolution of drug resistant bacteria in urban and agricultural areas. She is also interested in the role biology plays in public health, and how biological data and insights can both inform public health research as well as public health policy.She received her PhD in Evolutionary Biology from UC San Diego and has conducted post-doctoral work in the Center for Genomics Research and the Systems Biology Department, both at Harvard University. She has been at UCLA since 2013. Dr. Yeh is also an External Faculty at Santa Fe Institute.
Mars Walters is a Ph.D. student in the Yeh Lab at UCLA. They are studying the evolutionary mechanisms shaping urban phenotypes in the dark-eyed junco, from behavior to genomics. They earned an MS in from the Yeh Lab in 2022 and a BS from the University of Georgia in 2013. Mars has worked as a field ornithologist and researcher for USGS, the Audubon Society, and the Smithsonian Institute in diverse ecosystems across the United States.
Sierra Glassman is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a second-year PhD student in the UCLA Ecology & Evolutionary Biology program in Dr. Pamela Yeh’s Lab. She is interested in birds’ responses to human-induced environmental change. She researches the morphology, behavior and genomics of urban adaptation in Dark-eyed Juncos. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Integrative Biology in 2024, where she researched the vocal and foraging behavior of Anna’s Hummingbirds. She also has worked as an assistant for the UC Berkeley Schell Lab, where she aided urban mammal cognition and biodiversity research.
Prasheetha Karthikeyan is a first year M.S. student in the Yeh Lab, studying the social and antipredator behavior of dark-eyed juncos. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from UCLA, where she discovered a passion for urban ecology and joined the Yeh Lab initially as an undergraduate research assistant During this time, she also worked in positions focused on conserving Threatened and Endangered Species, with an emphasis on wildlife impacted by urbanization.
Joey Di Liberto is a graduate student in the Yeh Lab at UCLA. Using the model system of Dark-eyed Juncos across the state of California, he is examining how animals may be adapting to urban pressures across individuals, populations, and subspecies levels. Prior to beginning work at UCLA, Joey obtained his BS from UC San Diego, and his MS at the College of William and Mary and throughout has worked to study behavioral ecology and conservation in a variety of avian species.
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
A Recent Plea for Pigeons (population control)
[By Lu Plauzoles]
I read this on The Guardian. A rational solution to the pollution of the water near Santa Monica Pier? It certainly doesn’t sound very expensive.
Lasers, hawks and even guns haven’t solved the UK’s pigeon problem. There is a better way
The Guardian: by Sydney Lobe, 4 May, 2026
The author has been spending time with the National Pigeon Advocacy Association (NPAA) and its president, Sue Joyce (AKA Sue the Pigeon Lady). Joyce has a vision of an avian utopia where the pigeon “problem” is solved for good.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/04/uk-pigeon-problem-humane-solution-councils
(Chris Tosdevin 4/26/26)
[By Chuck Almdale; photos by Ray Juncosa, Emily Roth & Chris Tosdevin]
Most of our shorebirds have flown to points north. But the Elegant Terns have returned in force from the Sea of Cortez. An preliminary count shortly after I arrived at 8:15 am yielded about 150 terns and as many gulls. By the time I left three hours later, the gulls remained the same but the terns had exploded to almost 800 birds.
The tide was dropping from a high of +4.32 ft. at 6:24am to the low of +0.00 ft. at 1:06pm, so there was lots of damp mud and damp sand everywhere. In one of the slowly draining channels was a single female Pintail, probably the same lone female we saw last month in the same channel at the very same spot. We don’t get many Pintail: before last month the last Pintail was a single bird in October 2022. In fact we’ve had double-digit Pintail only three times: twice (12 and 10) in 1979, and 10 in January 2012. The wildlife refuges north of Sacramento during the winter have a lot more than Malibu Lagoon ever will.
A handful of Killdeer were out and about. They have nested in the sandy soil surrounding the lagoon since at least the 1990s when I recorded a nest with eggs for the L.A. County Breeding Bird Atlas. So of course we’d like to see one for the new California Bird Atlas. But we didn’t.
People often ask about the odd name, Killdeer. These birds have nothing against deer. It’s one of those onomatopoetic names, as the call it makes when alarmed or in flight sounded to so some ears – not mine in particular – as “kill-deer” or “kill-dee” or at least it did back in the 1730s. It has also been called the noisy plover or chattering plover.
Brown Pelicans have an extended nesting season. West Anacapa Island and Santa Barbara Island are reportedly their only breeding location in the U.S.; most breed in Mexico. They have an “extended breeding season running from January to October. This is a bit misleading though, as most begin nesting in March or April, they incubate their 2-3 eggs for 4 weeks, the young begin to fly 5 weeks later, and they become independent of their parents not long thereafter. So each individual pair spend about 9 weeks nesting, but when they begin nesting is quite spread out. Malibu Lagoon is located 41 miles from both their SoCal breeding locations, and it is popular with them year-round. They are at the lagoon on all our trips in numbers ranging from a handful to 1500 birds. The last time they weren’t here was in July 2005; before that you have to go back to October 1983, when they were still having problems with DDT weakening their egg shells.
Below: from on of the largest to one of the smallest: Brown Pelican with wingspan up to 6.5 ft, length up to 5 ft. and weight to 11 pounds. Bonaparte’s Gull with wingspan up to 33″, length up to 15″ and weight up to 9 ounces.
Western Grebes are still with us. There may still be a few with us in May, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Their presents peaks October to March. We had two Clark’s Grebes twice this winter, which is almost a record as in the winter of 2017-18 we had five. We’ve never had more than two at a time. In SoCal they prefer the fresh water of our reservoirs.
Western Sandpipers
Western Sandpiper presence at the lagoon is erratic. They’re mostly gone by late October and begin returning in March, disappearing again for May-June, returning again in July. The highest numbers are usually in March and April. In fact they can be seen in any month, but there might be only one or two of them. This visit started with one bird, which grew to nine, and just before I left another twenty flew in. Here’s a good look at Western Sandpipers in alternate (breeding) plumage, although some of them might develop a few more black spots or rusty tinges.
Beach walking can be hazardous for several reasons.
A few of our 800 terns.
Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 4-29-26: 9372 lists, 3056 eBirders, 322 species
Most recent new species seen: Nelson’s Sparrow, 11/29/24 by Femi Faminu (SMBAS member).
Birds new for the season: Semipalmated Plover, Osprey, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Peregrine Falcon, Hutton’s Vireo, Tree Swallow, Barn wallow, Cliff Swallow, Hooded Oriole. “New for the season” means it has been three or more months since last recorded on our trips..
Many, many thanks to photographers Ray Juncosa, Emily Roth, and Chris Tosdevin.
Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips; no reservations or Covid card necessary unless specifically mentioned:
- Black Rock & Morongo Canyon, Sat-Sun May 2-3.
- Franklin Canyon Sat. May 9 8 am Lu Plauzoles
- Malibu Lagoon, Sun. May 24, 8:30 am (adults) & 10 am (parents & kids)
- Malibu Creek State Park, Sat. June 13, 8 am
- These and any other trips we announce for the foreseeable future will depend upon expected status of the Covid/flu/etc. pandemic, not to mention landslides, fires, local flooding and atmospheric rivers 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: Tuesday, May 5, 7:30pm; Evolution in Urban Dark-eyed Juncos, with Dr. Pamela Yeh & members of the Yeh Lab at UCLA.
The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk has again resumed. Reservations not necessary for families, but for groups (scouts, etc.), please call Jean (213-522-0062).
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
9/23/02 Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon
Aerial ‘film’ flying north over lagoon
More recent aerial photo
Prior checklists:
2025: Jan-June, July-Dec
2023: Jan-June, July-Dec 2024: Jan-June, July-Dec
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 Femi Faminu, Chris Lord, Armando Martinez, Emily Roth, Chris Tosdevin and others for contributions made to this month’s census counts.
The species list below was re-sequenced as of 12/31/25 to agree with the eBird sequence. If part of the right side of the chart below is hidden, there’s a slider button inconveniently located at the bottom end of the list. The numbers 1-9 left of the species names are keyed to the nine categories of birds at the bottom. Updated lagoon bird check lists can be downloaded here.
[Chuck Almdale]
| Malibu Census 2025-26 | 11/23 | 12/28 | 1/25 | 2/22 | 3/22 | 4/26 | |
| Temperature | 59-65 | 60-69 | 47-55 | 49-63 | 65-76 | 55-64 | |
| Tide Lo/Hi Height | H+5.46 | L+1.35 | L+1.31 | L+0.65 | L-0.31 | H+4.32 | |
| Tide Time | 0939 | 1047 | 0846 | 0655 | 0640 | 0624 | |
| 1 | Brant (Black) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Canada Goose | 12 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 1 | Cinnamon Teal | 2 | |||||
| 1 | Northern Shoveler | 4 | 2 | ||||
| 1 | Gadwall | 14 | 20 | 34 | 35 | 15 | 25 |
| 1 | American Wigeon | 15 | 4 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1 | Mallard | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 8 |
| 1 | Northern Pintail | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | Green-winged Teal | 5 | 11 | 8 | |||
| 1 | Surf Scoter | 22 | 4 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1 | Bufflehead | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 1 | Red-breasted Merganser | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| 1 | Ruddy Duck | 5 | 11 | ||||
| 2 | Feral Pigeon | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 2 | Mourning Dove | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Anna’s Hummingbird | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Allen’s Hummingbird | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 3 | Sora | 1 | |||||
| 3 | American Coot | 25 | 25 | 50 | 55 | 4 | |
| 4 | Black Oystercatcher | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Black-bellied Plover | 64 | 62 | 34 | 20 | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | Killdeer | 10 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | Semipalmated Plover | 6 | |||||
| 4 | Snowy Plover | 40 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 1 | |
| 4 | Hudsonian Whimbrel | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | Marbled Godwit | 8 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 | |
| 4 | Long-billed Dowitcher | 1 | |||||
| 4 | Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | |||||
| 4 | Willet | 20 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Ruddy Turnstone | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Sanderling | 23 | 14 | 35 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Least Sandpiper | 6 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 8 | 3 |
| 4 | Western Sandpiper | 2 | 13 | 29 | |||
| 5 | Bonaparte’s Gull | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| 5 | Heermann’s Gull | 49 | 10 | 22 | 75 | ||
| 5 | Short-billed Gull | 1 | |||||
| 5 | Ring-billed Gull | 6 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 3 | |
| 5 | Western Gull | 55 | 85 | 45 | 41 | 61 | 40 |
| 5 | American Herring Gull | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | California Gull | 410 | 650 | 275 | 140 | 95 | 110 |
| 5 | Glaucous-winged Gull | 1 | |||||
| 5 | Caspian Tern | 3 | 11 | ||||
| 5 | Elegant Tern | 3 | 24 | 750 | |||
| 5 | Royal Tern | 22 | 25 | 12 | 28 | 34 | 18 |
| 6 | Pied-billed Grebe | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | Horned Grebe | 1 | |||||
| 6 | Eared Grebe | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | Western Grebe | 8 | 10 | 45 | 4 | 24 | 4 |
| 6 | Clark’s Grebe | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 6 | Red-throated Loon | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 6 | Pacific Loon | 1 | 1 | 45 | |||
| 6 | Brandt’s Cormorant | 2 | 1 | 35 | 5 | 3 | |
| 6 | Pelagic Cormorant | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 6 | Double-crested Cormorant | 38 | 17 | 28 | 15 | 18 | 26 |
| 6 | Snowy Egret | 30 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Green Heron | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 6 | Great Egret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | Great Blue Heron | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Brown Pelican | 13 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 30 | 395 |
| 7 | Turkey Vulture | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Osprey | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | |||||
| 7 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 7 | Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 8 | Belted Kingfisher | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Downy Woodpecker | 1 | |||||
| 8 | Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 7 | Peregrine Falcon | 1 | |||||
| 8 | Nanday Parakeet | 2 | |||||
| 9 | Black Phoebe | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Say’s Phoebe | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | Cassin’s Kingbird | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | Hutton’s Vireo | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | California Scrub-Jay | 1 | |||||
| 9 | American Crow | 7 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| 9 | Common Raven | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 9 | Oak Titmouse | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Tree Swallow | 3 | |||||
| 9 | No. Rough-winged Swallow | 25 | 5 | ||||
| 9 | Barn Swallow | 8 | |||||
| 9 | Cliff Swallow | 25 | |||||
| 9 | Bushtit | 4 | 19 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| 9 | Wrentit | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Swinhoe’s White-eye | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 9 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | |||||
| 9 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | Northern House Wren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Bewick’s Wren | 1 | |||||
| 9 | European Starling | 30 | 1 | 10 | 13 | ||
| 9 | Northern Mockingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | Western Bluebird | 1 | |||||
| 9 | Hermit Thrush | 2 | |||||
| 9 | American Robin | 1 | |||||
| 9 | Scaly-breasted Munia | 7 | |||||
| 9 | House Finch | 5 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 10 |
| 9 | Lesser Goldfinch | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9 | American Goldfinch | 4 | |||||
| 9 | Dark-eyed Junco | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 9 | White-crowned Sparrow | 12 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 10 | |
| 9 | Savannah Sparrow | 1 | |||||
| 9 | Song Sparrow | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | California Towhee | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | Western Meadowlark | 2 | |||||
| 9 | Hooded Oriole | 2 | |||||
| 9 | Great-tailed Grackle | 16 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 5 | |
| 9 | Orange-crowned Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Common Yellowthroat | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9 | Yellow-rumped Warbler | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | |
| 9 | Black-throated Gray Warbler | 1 | |||||
| Totals Birds by Type | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | |
| 1 | Waterfowl & Quail | 61 | 95 | 67 | 74 | 48 | 42 |
| 2 | Doves, Swifts & Hummers | 7 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 11 |
| 3 | Rails & Coots | 26 | 25 | 50 | 55 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | Shorebirds | 185 | 123 | 128 | 74 | 44 | 54 |
| 5 | Gulls & Terns | 547 | 777 | 349 | 214 | 247 | 1005 |
| 6 | Grebe, Loon, Heron, Pelican | 111 | 59 | 134 | 47 | 134 | 435 |
| 7 | Hawks & Falcons | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | Kingfish, Peckers & Parrots | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Passerines | 122 | 91 | 86 | 77 | 116 | 70 |
| Totals Birds | 1065 | 1185 | 825 | 558 | 608 | 1625 | |
| Total Species by Group | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | |
| 1 | Waterfowl & Quail | 8 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| 2 | Doves, Swifts & Hummers | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Rails & Coots | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Shorebirds | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Gulls & Terns | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 7 |
| 6 | Grebe, Loon, Heron, Pelican | 14 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 8 |
| 7 | Hawks & Falcons | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Kingfish, Peckers & Parrots | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Passerines | 22 | 21 | 17 | 22 | 23 | 16 |
| Totals Species | 71 | 69 | 55 | 66 | 67 | 52 |
Bear Divide Banding Station Trip Report: April 18, 2026
[By Chuck Almdale; photos by Armando Martinez, Trish Oster & Chris Tosdevin]
North of the San Fernando Valley in the mountains above Olive View and San Fernando, a small group of very experienced bird banders are doing their work. Anyone can go and watch them. They do this at Bear Divide near the Fire Station just off Little Tujunga Canyon Rd., Tuesday through Saturday, from dawn to 10 am, from late March through early May.
Birders can also stand on the ridge road and try to identify birds as they fly by. Some zoom past, others land in the treetops and bushes, perhaps to rest a moment, then launch themselves down the the northern slope. There are also several roads and paths that you can walk or set off on a long hike.
Although we all arrived at different times, we all managed to watch the banders do their work. They had mist nets set up at two nearby locations. The banding station consisted of a couple of vehicles at the end of the large parking area and blocked off from the spectators by several tables, leaving the banding area within. From a “clothesline” hung several white cloth bags, each containing one bird. One by one the birds were weighed, removed from their bag, measured, banded on one leg, and brought over to the spectators for closeup viewing and photos.
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
Then the bird would be released to continue its journey north.
(Armando Martinez 4-18-26)
Larger birds such as woodpeckers and thrushes can fly into a mist net and wind up getting banded, but most of the birds are the smaller passerines. As the banding season progresses, the mix of captures changes. Today it was mostly Lazuli Buntings, Lesser Goldfinches and several warblers.
The last bird we saw banded was a Rufous Hummingbird, a female with a completely green back and a bit of rufous on the flanks and tail. We got to see close up the famous notched tail feather which differentiates the Rufous from the very similar Allen’s. It’s the R2 feathers, second from the center on the 10-feather tail.
Among the warblers were the Nashville Warbler. Notable among their field marks are the gray head, yellow breast and belly, a non-gray throat – either yellow or pale – and a complete white eye ring.
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
They also have a rufous crown patch, rarely seen unless they’re displaying in aggression or in courting, or when the bander gently blows on their crown.
Bear Divide Banding Station (Trish Oster 4-18-26)
After we saw the crown, the bird was released and off it went, heading north.
(Armando Martinez 4-18-26)
There were also MacGillivray’s Warbler, the least commonly-seen (by me) of the ten regularly-visiting warbler species in Southern California. They also have a yellow breast and belly, but the head is a darker gray than the Nashville, the throat is also gray, and the eye ring is broken front and rear. They’re a whopping 3/4th-inch larger than the 4.5″ Nashville.
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
After we watched the banding for a while, a class of students arrived to witness the procedure, and we moved aside to let them move to the front, although we returned later after the students left. Most of us wandered over to the ridge road to watch the birds arrive and leave. Identifying passerines in flight is not the easiest task. Most went unidentified and uncounted (by our group). Fortunately some landed, such as flycatchers, orioles and Black-headed Grosbeaks, and the resident birds were continually busy.
(Trish Oster 4-18-26)
Some of us drove up the “truck road” from the banding station to a pull-out spot about 1/2 mile from the banding site. Here we saw and heard various birds: a nesting Red-tailed Hawk, many Acorn Woodpeckers, Ravens and a Red-tailed Hawk overhead, several singing Canyon Wrens, House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches, and one hard-to-find Black-Chinned Sparrow that landed briefly in a tree. The sparrow was too briefly seen to photograph, but one of the Canyon Wrens approached us, singing all the while.
(Armando Martinez 4-18-26)
As we had scattered into various frequently-moving groups, many of the birds reported were seen by only one or a few people. I did my best in putting together the list below from reports I received at the time, and later from eBird trip lists. A total of 56 identified species is pretty good, I think, for this chaparral location. Below this trip list is the list amassed for April by those doing a regular point count, which shows 49 species.
Angeles NF–Bear Divide, Los Angeles, California, US
Apr 18, 2026 7:45 AM – 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling, 0.5 mile(s)
56 species (+1 other taxa) 209 total birds
Checklist Comments: Field Trip of Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society. Visit to the banding station. Mostly standing on hill edge watching migrating birds fly past. Many local resident birds present. Also drove .5 mile to small woods patch about 500 ft. higher. List includes birds seen by: Chuck Almdale (if not otherwise noted), Jean Garrett, Armando Martinez, Trish Oster, Lu Plauzoles, Chris Tosdevin & Kathleen Waldron.
| Angeles NF–Bear Divide, Los Angeles, California, US | ||
| Mountain Quail | 2 | Heard only, .5 miles from BDBS |
| California Quail | 1 | Fire Station helicopter pad |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | 10 | Fly-bys |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 2 | Reported by: Lu Plauzoles |
| Mourning Dove | 4 | Fly-bys |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 2 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 5 | |
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | In hand, banded |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 5 | |
| Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird | 4 | |
| Turkey Vulture | 4 | |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | Fly-by |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | One flew to nest, settled down gently & slowly as if onto eggs or chicks |
| Acorn Woodpecker | 8 | Granary tree, many holes .5 miles from BDBS |
| Northern Flicker | 3 | Heard calling; 2 by Lu Plauzoles |
| American Kestrel | 1 | Reported by: Kathleen Waldron |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher | 1 | Reported by: Jean Garret |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 1 | Reported by: Jean Garrett |
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | 2 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Western Flycatcher | 3 | |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | 1 | Reported by: Armando Martinez, Jean Garrett |
| Western Kingbird | 2 | |
| Western Warbling Vireo | 2 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| California Scrub-Jay | 18 | |
| Common Raven | 9 | |
| Tree Swallow | 2 | |
| No. Rough-winged Swallow | 3 | |
| Wrentit | 8 | All heard singing |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 1 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Canyon Wren | 3 | 1 seen, 2 more heard |
| Northern House Wren | 4 | 1 seen, 3 more heard |
| Bewick’s Wren | 2 | 1 seen, 1 more heard |
| Western Bluebird | 5 | 3 flyby, 2 more Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | |
| Phainopepla | 3 | |
| House Finch | 16 | |
| Lesser Goldfinch | 4 | 2 fly-by, 2 singing |
| Chipping Sparrow | 3 | Passing by, landed in bush |
| Black-chinned Sparrow | 1 | Flying, landed in tree, not breeding male. |
| .5 mi. from BDBS, previously reported this area. | ||
| Dark-eyed Junco | 2 | Passing by, landed in bush |
| California Towhee | 3 | |
| Spotted Towhee | 2 | Reported by: Lu Plauzoles |
| Hooded Oriole | 2 | 1 reported by: Kathleen Waldron |
| Bullock’s Oriole | 2 | Reported by: Kathleen Waldron |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 2 | 1 in hand by banders |
| Nashville Warbler | 2 | In bander’s hands |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 4 | Some in bander’s hands |
| Northern Yellow Warbler | 1 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 3 | 1 landed in tree, 2 rpt by: Armando Martinez |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | 3 | |
| Townsend’s Warbler | 1 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Hermit Warbler | 2 | Reported by: Armando Martinez |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | Heard only |
| Western Tanager | 2 | Passing by, landed in trees |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 2 | Passing by, landed in tree |
| Lazuli Bunting | 24 | Fly-bys. 9 reported by: Armando Martinez |
A group of birders, perhaps associated with the banders, is maintaining a point count at Bear Divide (link to list). Their count began on 15 March 2024 with a total of seven species. Below is the count so far for April 2026 for northbound birds, which includes 8 dates, beginning on the 8th and ending on the 21st, showing 4,230 birds in 49 species and 6 groups (e.g. passerine sp., warbler sp.).
On the Banding Station website is a lot of interesting and useful information, including the following:
Photography Etiquette
Photography is generally allowed if it does not interfere with normal banding processes and as banding volume permits. We will provide as many up-close photo opportunities as possible while birds are safely held in the appropriate holds as time and safety allows. To minimize handling time, please be ready for photos when approached by a bander. The Bear Divide Banding Station follows the North American Banding Council’s Photographic Guidelines. Below is a summary.
- Do not photograph or post publicly on social media or otherwise photos that depict birds in inappropriate holds or appear to be showing signs of stress including, but not limited to, closed eyes, gaping or open bills, fluffed or rumpled plumage, or flapping wings as it is important to us to avoid any instances of misrepresentation or misinterpretation of banding efforts. If you are unsure if your photo is appropriate to share, please check with the Bander-in-Charge.
- Refrain from taking images of birds in mist nets, during net extraction, or during processing, unless permission is obtained from the Bander-in-Charge
- Only take photographs or videos when approached by a trained bander with birds in the appropriate photographer’s grip intended for public display and engagement
- Avoid ALL flash photography
- We reserve the right to ask for the removal or deletion of inappropriate photos that do not meet our station’s or the NABC’s photographic standards.
