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Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 23 March, 2014
BE SURE TO VISIT THE SLIDESHOW ON THE BLOG.
Elegant Terns flying (R. Ehler 3/23/14)
Perhaps it was the shift to daylight savings time, forcing us to arrive an hour closer to dawn, but the gulls, terns, pelicans and cormorants were on the beach and in the lagoon, unlike the last four months when most were out to sea and beyond viewing distance. This pushed our total bird count up to 51% above the running 6-year average for March (82% above the 10-year average). As is usual for this time of year, the weather was cooperative – 62-70° with little wind – and the large group of birders had a good time. Oddly enough, we saw not a single raptor, whereas we’ve had 2-6 species per visit since last October.
We’ve got another nice collection of photos from Randy Ehler in the slideshow on the blog. Randy has become a regular attendee on our lagoon walks and he always has his camera, for which I am very grateful, as I am too busy spotting birds, pointing out birds, counting birds, answering questions and moving people along to even try to take a decent photo.
Brown Pelican dodging waves (R. Ehler 3/23/14)
Birds new for the season were: Long-billed Dowitcher, Caspian Tern, Elegant Tern (135!), Anna’s Hummingbird, Western Scrub-Jay, Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Savannah Sparrow, and Red-winged Blackbird. The hummer and the jay are both year-round residents, yet we somehow managed to miss them for the past few months. Red-wings usually hang out across the street at Legacy Park, where they’re close to the food court where they can snag fries and burger bits from unwary eaters. The Savannah Sparrows were on the beach, gleaning bugs and whatnot (a scientific term) from the high-tide wrack. The Townsend’s Warbler was gone, but the three Meadowlarks were still there, now 6-months long. May they now qualify for residency and get a green card?
Marbled Godwit admiring its own reflection (R. Ehler 3/23/14)
Our next three scheduled field trips: Wilson Canyon or Walker Ranch, 5 Apr, 8:30am; Paramount Ranch to Malibu Creek S.P. 1-way hike, 12 Mar, 8:00am; Malibu Lagoon, 27 Apr, 8:30 & 10am.
Our next program: Tuesday, 1 April, 7:30 pm. Urban Crows & predation on Least Terns: presented by Dr. Peter Auger.
NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk meets at the shaded viewing area.
Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon from 9/23/02.
Prior checklists: July-Dec’11, Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
NOTE: WordPress (our blogsite host) recently did one of their periodic updates, following which many things won’t work properly for a while (or ever again in some cases). If this blog looks odd, blame them (or Canada, if you prefer).
Comments on Bird Lists Below
Total Birds: March total birds of 1564 is 51% above the 6-year Mar. average of 1034; for a change many gulls and pelicans were present as were many ducks, coots, and cormorants.
Summary of total birds from the 6-year average so far: Jun’12 +36%, Jul’12 -9%, Aug’12 -9%, Sep’12 +12%, Oct’12 +3%, Nov’12 -5%, Dec’12 +30%, Jan’13 -20%, Feb’13 -29%, Mar’13 -30%, Apr’13 -34%, May’13 -37%, Jun’13 -24%, Jul’13 +83%, Aug’13 +37%, Sep’13 +23%, Oct’13 +41%, Nov’13 -58%, Dec’13 -49%, Jan’14 -62%, Feb’14 -28%, Mar’14 +51%.
Species Diversity: March 2014 with 59 species was 6% above the 6-year Mar. average of 56.
Summary of species diversity from the 6-year average so far: Jun’12 -10%, Jul’12 +10%, Aug’12. -6%, Sep’12 -20%, Oct’12 +5%, Nov’12 +2%, Dec’12 -4%, Jan’13 +2%, Feb’13 -8%, Mar’13 +9%, Apr’13 -2%, May’13 +3%, Jun’13 +13%, Jul’13 0%, Aug’13 +11%, Sep’13 -14%, Oct’13 +19%, Nov’13 -3%, Dec’13 -6%, Jan’14 -2% Feb’14 +9%, Mar’14 +6%.
10-year comparison summaries are available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. [Chuck Almdale]
Note: Beginning July, we return to our pre-project bird list format, reporting the most recent 6-month period.
| Malibu Census | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| March 2009-14 | 3/22 | 3/28 | 3/27 | 3/25 | 3/24 | 3/23 | |
| Temperature | 50-60 | 70-80 | 54-61 | 51-54 | 60-75 | 62-70 | |
| Tide Lo/Hi Height | H+4.8 | H+5.48 | L+0.05 | H+3.64 | H+4.90 | L+.39 | |
| Tide Time | 0728 | 0840 | 1216 | 1146 | 0806 | 1010 | Birds |
| Gadwall | 18 | 16 | 32 | 18 | 13 | 25 | 20.3 |
| American Wigeon | 4 | 14 | 3 | 31 | 8.7 | ||
| Mallard | 16 | 12 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 19 | 21.5 |
| Cinnamon Teal | 4 | 0.7 | |||||
| Northern Shoveler | 2 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 5.0 | ||
| Northern Pintail | 1 | 5 | 1.0 | ||||
| Green-winged Teal | 4 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 5.0 | |
| Lesser Scaup | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Surf Scoter | 10 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 6.8 | ||
| Bufflehead | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Red-brstd Merganser | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 4.8 |
| Ruddy Duck | 11 | 15 | 20 | 55 | 23 | 20.7 | |
| Red-throated Loon | 2 | 2 | 0.7 | ||||
| Pacific Loon | 5 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 4.0 | ||
| Common Loon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1.3 | ||
| Horned Grebe | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Eared Grebe | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Western Grebe | 12 | 27 | 20 | 1 | 22 | 13.7 | |
| Blk-vented Shearwater | many | 0.2 | |||||
| Brandt’s Cormorant | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.8 | ||
| Dble-crstd Cormorant | 36 | 42 | 90 | 30 | 15 | 45 | 43.0 |
| Pelagic Cormorant | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Brown Pelican | 170 | 184 | 89 | 40 | 35 | 390 | 151 |
| Great Blue Heron | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.2 | |
| Great Egret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.2 | |
| Snowy Egret | 10 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 7.8 |
| Green Heron | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | 2 | 0.8 | ||||
| Osprey | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.2 | ||
| Merlin | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Virginia Rail | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Sora | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1.0 | |||
| American Coot | 85 | 92 | 153 | 20 | 170 | 104 | 104 |
| Blk-bellied Plover | 24 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 9.8 | ||
| Snowy Plover | 36 | 25 | 42 | 14 | 33 | 5 | 25.8 |
| Killdeer | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2.3 | |
| Black Oystercatcher | 2 | 2 | 0.7 | ||||
| American Avocet | 7 | 1.2 | |||||
| Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Willet | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 5.7 |
| Whimbrel | 3 | 1 | 18 | 28 | 5 | 9.2 | |
| Marbled Godwit | 12 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 5.0 | ||
| Ruddy Turnstone | 12 | 2 | 2.3 | ||||
| Sanderling | 6 | 1.0 | |||||
| Western Sandpiper | 15 | 2 | 2.8 | ||||
| Least Sandpiper | 2 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 9.3 | ||
| Long-billed Dowitcher | 5 | 0.8 | |||||
| Boneparte’s Gull | 2 | 4 | 1.0 | ||||
| Heermann’s Gull | 4 | 4 | 155 | 27.2 | |||
| Ring-billed Gull | 25 | 2 | 50 | 8 | 25 | 18 | 21.3 |
| Western Gull | 70 | 48 | 100 | 30 | 35 | 190 | 78.8 |
| California Gull | 180 | 27 | 1100 | 12 | 30 | 135 | 247 |
| Herring Gull | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Glaucous-wingd Gull | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.3 | ||
| Caspian Tern | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | |
| Forster’s Tern | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Royal Tern | 3 | 8 | 1.8 | ||||
| Elegant Tern | 22 | 47 | 4 | 2 | 135 | 35.0 | |
| Black Skimmer | 3 | 0.5 | |||||
| Rock Pigeon | 4 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 4 | 6.5 | |
| Mourning Dove | 2 | 2 | 0.7 | ||||
| Blk-hooded Parakeet | 4 | 0.7 | |||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | |
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.0 | |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Black Phoebe | 6 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 6.2 | |
| Say’s Phoebe | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Western Kingbird | 2 | 2 | 16 | 3.3 | |||
| Western Scrub-Jay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| American Crow | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 5.5 |
| Rough-wingd Swallow | 30 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 12.2 |
| Tree Swallow | 8 | 1.3 | |||||
| Barn Swallow | 1 | 1 | 12 | 2.3 | |||
| Oak Titmouse | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Bushtit | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3.8 | |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Northern Mockingbird | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2.3 | |
| European Starling | 20 | 8 | 16 | 15 | 9.8 | ||
| Ornge-crwnd Warbler | 7 | 1.2 | |||||
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler | 2 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 5.7 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1.8 | |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| California Towhee | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.3 | ||
| Savannah Sparrow | 5 | 7 | 2.0 | ||||
| Song Sparrow | 6 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 10.2 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1.7 | |||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 2 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 3.7 | ||
| Western Meadowlark | 3 | 0.5 | |||||
| Brewer’s Blackbird | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Great-tailed Grackle | 7 | 4 | 1.8 | ||||
| Brwn-headed Cowbird | 2 | 3 | 0.8 | ||||
| House Finch | 4 | 6 | 20 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 10.3 |
| Lesser Goldfinch | 3 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 6.5 | ||
| Totals by Type | 3/22 | 3/28 | 3/27 | 3/25 | 3/24 | 3/23 | |
| Waterfowl | 74 | 70 | 99 | 101 | 115 | 110 | 95 |
| Water Birds-Other | 307 | 354 | 376 | 91 | 234 | 566 | 321 |
| Herons, Egrets | 11 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| Raptors | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| Shorebirds | 113 | 87 | 71 | 65 | 92 | 35 | 77 |
| Gulls & Terns | 313 | 133 | 1270 | 53 | 94 | 643 | 418 |
| Doves | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 4 | 7 |
| Other Non-Pass. | 5 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 |
| Passerines | 91 | 53 | 94 | 62 | 89 | 189 | 96 |
| Totals Birds | 921 | 723 | 1935 | 386 | 673 | 1564 | 1034 |
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
| Total Species | 3/22 | 3/28 | 3/27 | 3/25 | 3/24 | 3/23 | |
| Waterfowl | 11 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7.5 |
| Water Birds-Other | 7 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 8.3 |
| Herons, Egrets | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 |
| Raptors | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1.8 |
| Shorebirds | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8.3 |
| Gulls & Terns | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7.0 |
| Doves | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 |
| Other Non-Pass. | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Passerines | 15 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 20 | 15.8 |
| Totals Species – 101 |
60 | 55 | 63 | 35 | 61 | 59 | 56 |
Plover Protection Zone
(Noa Rishe photo)
Here’s a picture of the symbolic fence erected on Wednesday March 19th by State Parks employees and volunteers (including SMBAS members) at Malibu Lagoon. The plovers have been difficult to spot on the beach for the past two weeks, partly due to the kelp washed up by the storm surge at the start of the month. The area dedicated to the birds is wider this year, thanks to the support shown by State Parks biologists. Come on out on Sunday to check for the “little guys”.
Lu Plauzoles
Common Murres and Black-throated Blue Warblers
And very, very rarely shall the twain e’er meet. This blog may be the exception.
Simi Valley birder and photographer Bill Crowe was at Malibu Lagoon on 3/6/14, and reported the following on LACoBirds:
Yesterday between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. I birded Malibu Lagoon. I was amazed at how the recent storm changed the shoreline. Sand was pushed into the lagoon and much of the beach appeared to be washed away. There were no Western Snowy Plovers to be seen. The usual shorebirds and dabbling ducks were present along with a small group of Western and Least Sandpipers. When I reach the mouth of the creek (where it enters the ocean), I was surprised to see a Common Murre resting on the beach. At first I thought the bird was injured, but as I approached the bird it began to swim away. It stayed close to shore, about 100′ or so away.
Common Murre is – as the name implies – common, with a world population around 9 million pairs. But it’s an ocean bird and unless you are out sailing around on a boat or happen to be near one of their nesting or roosting sites – steep rocky cliffs with ledges and without rats – you’re not likely to see one. The Pacific population has nesting sites from central California to Alaska, over to northeast Siberia and down to Japan. The Atlantic population breeds from Maine up to Greenland and from Portugal up to Russia’s Noväja Zeml’a (northeast of Finland – but you knew that) and most islands in between.
The only place where a Common Murre is likely to be within earshot of a Black-throated Blue Warbler might be in Canada’s Maritime Provinces during the summer.
The Common Murre below appears to be in an intermediate plumage between basic (winter) or juvenile and alternate (breeding).
Common Murre swims just off Surfrider Beach (Bill Crowe 3/6/14)
Birder and Photographer Dennis Erwin joined us on our San Jacinto Wildlife Area trip a few weeks ago, but he didn’t return home in time to send me his photos before I posted that trip report. So here’s his shot of the female Black-throated Blue Warbler we located and viewed well. This eastern warbler breeds from Manitoba east to Nova Scotia and southward down the Appalachian Mountains to northeast Georgia. They normally spend their winter in the Caribbean, ranging from coastal southeastern Mexico to Honduras and over to Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. As a result, they’re fairly rare in California, but a few do appear during the winter, possibly the result of their internal geomagnetic compass being out of whack – instead of flying southeast, they fly southwest.
Female Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dennis Erwin 2/15/14)
This female is neither black nor blue: rather it is more a composite of of brownish and yellow-green shades. The white squarish patch in its wing, its relatively bold white supercilium (line above the eye), white semicircle below the eye, and its white undertail coverts gave it away. Unfortunately, not all these characteristics could be captured in a single photo. The photo is a bit fuzzy due to severe cropping.
The rest of Dennis’s photos have been added to the original San Jacinto Wildlife Area trip report.
[Chuck Almdale]
Full Moon Worm Update for 16 March, 2014, 10:09 AM PDT
Here’s another update from SMBAS Blog on that large, disc-like, shining object which has frequently and mysteriously appeared in our nighttime sky this year (known to many as the moon).
Refuge Moonrise (T. Hinnebusch 2/14/14)
March 16, 10:09 a.m. PDT — Full Worm Moon. In this month, the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes called this the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time to tap maple trees, is another variation. Other names include the Chaste Moon and the Death Moon. Christian settlers also called this the Lenten Moon and considered it the last moon of winter.
Note: Pacific Daylight Time started on March 9, 2014 at 2 AM (becoming 3 AM) and ends November 2, 2014 at 2 AM (becoming 1 AM).
The next significant full moon will occur on 15 April, 12:42 a.m. PDT. Keep an eye on this spot for additional late-breaking news on this unprecedented event.
Have a nice moon photo? Send it to us at: misclists [AT] verizon [DOT] net, along with name to credit and time/location of photo.
[Infographic: Moon Phases & Lunar Cycles]
This information comes to you courtesy of: http://www.space.com/24262-weird-full-moon-names-2014-explained.html
written by Joe Rao. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer’s Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y.
But that’s waaay too long to type in, and besides, you don’t need to go there because SMBAS has done the work for you!
[Chuck Almdale]
A fine clear day for exploring the Santa Monica Mountains on Saturday. Despite the commotion in the parking lot where numerous students and Sierra Club Trail Crew were gathering, we started seeing local species within minutes of the start.
Northern Flicker hunting invertebrates on the ground
(R. Ehler 3/8/14)
Typical to the area in spring are the Lark Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. One of the latter even flashed us with a “crown” display, while most of the Yellow-rumped Warblers remained in the gray winter plumage. A pleasant sighting occurred just after 11:30 when a pair of leaf-gleaning Hutton’s Vireos gave us pause in one of the live oak groves. Luckily one was repeatedly singing which allowed us to identify it. Two expected species did not appear: Bewick’s Wren and Spotted Towhee – even to the diminished group that hiked out to the overlook portion of the nature trail. We were lucky in our timing, the warm breezes started about 11am and it became quite hot in the afternoon. [Lucien Plauzoles]
| Trippet Ranch Trip List |
No. |
3/8/2014 | No. |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | Common Raven | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | Oak Titmouse | 15 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | Bushtit | 6 |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | 2 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 1 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 2 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 18 |
| Acorn Woodpecker | 10 | Hermit Thrush | 1 |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 4 | California Thrasher | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | Orange-crowned Warbler | 14 |
| Northern Flicker | 2 | Yellow-rumped Warbler | 15 |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | 2 | California Towhee | 2 |
| Black Phoebe | 1 | Lark Sparrow | 3 |
| Hutton’s Vireo | 2 | Song Sparrow | 2 |
| Western Scrub-Jay | 1 | Dark-eyed Junco | 30 |
| American Crow | 6 | Lesser Goldfinch | 3 |
| Total Species | 28 |
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