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Surfers were few on the low and windblown waves, the beach noticeably narrowed from recent storm surges, sand swept away leaving bolders behind. But birds were relatively plentiful and over twenty-five birders showed up to see them. The area was still quite clean from our Coastal Cleanup efforts of a week earlier. We found her hidey-hole, but didn’t see the Black Widow spider at the topographical map. No volunteers came forward to entice her out.

Even Double-crested Cormorants rejoiced (L. Jones 9/28/14)

Ducks are still few and far between, but shorebird numbers are growing and a variety of migrant passerines were busy in the brush, flowers and grass, including: Willow & Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Say’s Phoebe, Cassin’s Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, House Wren, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers, White-crowned Sparrow, Bobolink, and Western Meadowlark.

Willow Flycatcher, white throat & no eyering
(J. Waterman 9/28/14)

Willow Flycatcher, check the bill length
(J. Waterman 9/28/14)

The Willow Flycatcher was hotly debated. Most of those who saw it (I completely missed it) recognized it as a member of that tricky Empidonax genus of small, similar flycatchers, and some thought it was a Willow. Late September is at the end of their southward migration season, but the clearly outlined white throat above the gray breast, pale lower mandible and lack of visible eyering make that the most likely ID. I wound up measuring the bill and head in the photo to make sure it fell into the range for Willow, then sent it to Kimball Garrett, Birdskinmeister at the Natural History Museum, for a good, solid 85% probability (more-or-less) rating. This is the first Willow Flycatcher we’ve recorded on our walks.

We don’t have a picture of the Bobolink, an eastern member of the Blackbird family, which was heavily streaked with black on orange-yellow background, with pinkish bill and two wide black streaks on the head separated by an orange-yellow median crown stripe. Enough people saw it from different angles, as it skulked through brush and grass, that we were able to piece together an ID. We have one prior Bobolink record from 9/25/11.

Snowy Plover old-timer GG:AR fledged Summer 2011 at Oceano Dunes
(J. Waterman 9/28/14)

Forty Snowy Plovers rested on the beach, east of the lagoon, inland of the berm. Mary got them to stand at attention and we found two birds with leg-rings: GG:AR and VV:AW (see photos above & below). GG:AR is one of three identically ringed birds fledged at Oceano Dunes, up north near Pismo Beach, in the summer of 2011; this is the 9^th time we’ve recorded it at the lagoon. VV:AW is a newbie, banded at Oceano Dunes this past summer. Both birds were seen on 8/31/14 by Bill Crowe of Simi Valley, along with WW:BW (not seen today), banded at Summerville Beach in Humboldt County, summer of 2012. Bill reported seeing an extraordinary 100 Snowy Plovers at that time. He also reported bird GA:OY on 10/3/14.

Newbie Snowy Plover VV:AW fledged Summer 2014 at Oceano Dunes
(J. Waterman 9/28/14)

Other birds (non-passerines) new for the season were: Eared Grebe, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Ring-billed Gull, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Vaux’s Swift and Nuttall’s Woodpecker. Red-shouldered Hawks nest up Malibu Creek in the trees, but we do not often see them near the lagoon. Nanday (Black-Hooded) Parakeets nest in the canyons along the western half of the Santa Monica Mtns. and we’ve recorded them by the lagoon on five occasions, but Yellow-chevroned Parakeets usually stick to the surburban flatlands of the L.A. basin. Perhaps they’re moving westward? Both species are feral local breeders, descendants of escaped pets.

Winter visitor Say’s Phoebe with his ocraceous belly (R. Ehler 9/28/14)

We had a brief discussion on the Say’s Phoebe when I said that the belly color is described as “ocraceous”. This means ochre-colored; one may be lurking in your box of crayons.

DWP now hires professionals – their credentials are impeccable – to maintain their poles (Nuttall’s Woodpecker)
J. Waterman 9/28/14

Our next three scheduled field trips:   Bolsa Chica Nature Reserve, 11 Oct, 8:30-noon; Santa Monica Mountains Bird Festival, 18 Oct, 8:30-4pm; Malibu Lagoon, 26 Oct, 8:30 & 10am.

Our next program: Tuesday, 7 Oct., 7:30 pm. Black-backed Woodpeckers and the Ecology of Forest Fires, presented by Dale Hanson.

NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk meets at the shaded viewing area. Watch for Willie the Weasel.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists:
2014:   Jan-July
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.

Snag-lovers (L. Jones 9/28/14)

The 10-year comparison summaries created during the project period remain available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. Very briefly summarized, the results unexpectedly indicate that avian species diversification and numbers improved slightly during the period Jun’12-June’14.   [Chuck Almdale]