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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
Walker Ranch Field Trip, April 11, 2015
We had perfect weather for the dozen people who came on this trip – sunny but not much beyond 70 degrees. The Acorn Woodpeckers were numerous and conspicuous and noisy, and also very busy. In addition to the trees they chose for acorn storage (trees that look like they have been machine-gunned with an acorn in every bullet hole) we found they had pounded holes in some of the glassed-in information cabinets, and there were piles of acorns inside.
We had good looks at four different warblers with an exceptionally lemon-yellow Wilson’s Warbler taking the prize. We found two Bushtit nests hanging like dirty hiking socks in the oak trees, and several active Acorn Woodpecker holes. Chris, Don and Ann found and, after long discussion, identified a Hammond’s Flycatcher. The more common Pacific Slope Flycatchers were calling but we only spotted one.
We came up short on raptors with only one red-tail. A few people saw the Western Tanager. We all saw the colorful Black-headed Grosbeaks and Spotted Towhees. All things considered, it was a very good outing. Nobody brought a camera – you had to be there.
Red-tailed Hawk.
Mourning Dove.
Anna’s Hummingbird.
Allen’s Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker.
Hairy Woodpecker.
Hammond’s Flycatcher.
Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
Steller’s Jay.
Western Scrub-Jay.
Common Raven.
Phainopepla.
Western Bluebird.
House Wren.
Bushtit.
Wrentit.
Oak Titmouse.
House Finch.
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Black-throated Grey Warbler.
Townsend’s Warbler.
Wilson’s Warbler.
Spotted Towhee.
California Towhee.
Western Tanager.
Black-headed Grosbeak.
SEA LION STRANDINGS 2015: A RECORD YEAR
In an average year, approximately 200 California Sea Lion pups would strand, (lose the company of their mother and end up stranded on a beach alone). So far this year, that number is in the thousands – and it’s still early. Rescue groups are at full capacity and are being forced to make heart-breaking decisions – which pups to save and which to euthanize because of lack of space and resources for rehabilitation or medical needs. But sea lions are not the only ones suffering, sea and shore birds are also in trouble.
There are two main reasons for this being cited by scientists: the first is warming oceans that are driving prey further afield, sending mother sea lions further away from their pups to hunt. This leaves the pups vulnerable and without food for longer and longer stretches of time. As they begin to starve, they leave the Channel islands where they are born, usually to end up stranded or dead.
The second reason also has to do with the food supply: west coast fishing managers have long been concerned with the depletion of forage fish (sardines, anchovies, sivversides, smelt, etc.) Commercial fishing operations are fishing them to near extirpation levels on the west coast.
BUT – unlike with warming oceans, there is good news regarding forage fish: on March 10th, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to prohibit fishing of dozens of these species. This should certainly help the sea lions and marine birds who depend on them for food in future years.
But what about this year? There IS something you can do: Report any marine mammal or shore bird strandings to a rescue organization (see below) and if you can, donate to one of these groups to help provide much needed food and medications – crucially important this year, when numbers are so high. Even small amounts will make a difference.
The California Stranding Network 1-866-767-6114 will connect you to your closest rescue organization so you can report a stranding, and if possible, they will send someone to rescue and tend to the stranded animal.
You can also click the Bird and Marine Mammal Rescue link at the top of this page to find local Santa Monica Bay rescue groups.
Laurel Jones, Education Chair
More on the Mar Vista Gardens, …and SM Bay Audubon
greengarden_2015 I received the Walgrove Elementary School Wildlands invitation a little later than the others. But wait! They will not only have their flowering native-plant garden on display, but will be culling poppy seeds for next year, will have Andy & Kate Lipkis founders of Tree People as special guests, will inaugurate the student bench structure… Lots of excitement!
We as the local Audubon chapter are proud to be major funders of this volunteer-driven effort. Our partners, parent volunteers Zara Bennett, Emiko Kuwata, Clare Carey, and landscape designer Ryan Drnek have also had hands-on support (including weeding!) from Principal Olivia Adams. Just drop in or come for the program. These are great people doing a fantastic job that needs more recognition.
…More to come!
http://marvistagreengardenshowcase.blogspot.com/2011/03/walgrove-elementary-and-ocean-charter.html
LucienP
Photos for Malibu Lagoon March 22, 2015
Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos.
Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas. This bird is a skulker and difficult to see well. Luckily it was so overjoyed with the capture of a spider it came out of the vines to show off.
Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia. These were everywhere, singing. Spring arrived around dinner time two days ago, and the joint was jumping.
Sometimes we get an Osprey flyover, or maybe a Merlin or a Peregrine. This is FiFi, one of the few remaining B-29 Superfortresses and the only one currently flying. She was built in 1944, never flew in battle, and was retired in 1958. Today she is owned by the Commemorative Air Force and appears at air shows. More at Wikipedia.
Speaking of Spring, here is why they named this cormorant the Double-crested (Phalacrocorax auritus). Those white feathers on the head are only around in breeding season. The nuptial crests keep the other cormorant species from getting rude with Double-crests but one can only wonder what would happen if a Double-crest should meet a Rockhopper Penguin at the wrong time.
Royal Terns, Thalasseus maximus. We had them mixed in with Elegant Terns today which made identification easy. For once.
Bonaparte’s Gulls, Chroicocephalus philadelphia. These are caught half-way between winter and summer plumage when the head is all-black.
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias. The water level in the lagoon was exceptionally high, nearly 8 feet, and the long-legged waders found it too deep. This bird was up Malibu Creek and even there it couldn’t find a place to fish. The next breach in the berm may come from hungry herons.
Field Trip Report Malibu Lagoon March 22,2015
Under overcast skies, we birded early in the month (the first of March was a Sunday.) The sand berm had closed at Malibu Lagoon and the small rain events only added inches to the water level, but not enough to punch through to the ocean. The lagoon, at its highest water level since the reconfiguration two years ago, was interesting, but not conducive to shorebird watching. And in fact most of the duck species spotted were in small numbers, possibly because of the water depth. The walk was not without highlights, however. A small family of Surfbirds appeared on the rocks off the Colony—one showed breeding plumage. A number of Elegant Terns showed pinkish breast feathers as well as the growing black crests. There were three Double-Crested Cormorants with bold white eyebrows, on the shore, not far from our position. Not a single Snowy Plover was spotted. No one in the final group remembered previous sightings of an American Robin; it landed on a small island off the Adamson house, not far from the solitary Cattle Egret. Photos from the photo-participants welcome!
Canada Goose 1
Gadwall 1
Mallard 12
Northern Shoveler 2
Bufflehead 2
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Ruddy Duck 30
Red-throated Loon 3
Common Loon 5
Pie-billed Grebe 2
Horned Grebe 1*
Western Grebe 12
Brandt’s Cormorant 4
Double-crested Cormorant 45
Brown Pelican 27
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 10**
Snowy Egret 12
Cattle Egret 1
American Kestrel 1
American Coot 45
Black-bellied Plover 6
Killdeer 3
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Willet 3
Whimbrel 10
Marbled Godwit 8
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Surfbird 4
Bonaparte’s Gull 12
Heerman’s Gull 6
Ring-billed Gull 3
Western Gull 3
Californian Gull 40
Royal Tern 15
Elegant Tern 28
Rock Pigeon 23
Mourning Dove 2
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Allen’s Hummingbird 6
Black Phoebe 2
American Crow 5
Rough-winged Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 2
Bushtit 14
American Robin 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 2
California Towhee 3
Song Sparrow 9
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Western Meadowlark 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
House Finch 4
Lesser Goldfinch 1
…56 species….
* Leucitic ** spotted nesting across PCH in ficus
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 