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Los Angeles River Field Trip Report: August 24, 2013
Years ago, when no one thought of the L.A. River as anything but a concrete ditch we would have been derided for trying to see birds in the area. Luckily for us, there are a number of serious “full-time” birders like our leader Richard Barth, who have made sure we all know what a large number of species are present in the riparian corridor, especially during fall migration. These birds are remarkable. Take, for example the Dowitchers, Short billed and Long-billed, who migrate at the end of summer from the southern and northern shores of Alaska. Quite a trip! Luckily for us they make the Los Angeles River–concrete or not—a regular stopping place during their southward flight to Central America. Since there has been little heavy rain and the Corps of Engineers has relented in their brush-clearing efforts, there is a considerable amount of greenery in the channel, and we are able to make a multi-stop trip along the banks of the river starting at Willow Street in Long Beach and working up to Paramount at the Alondra crossing. Half the group even followed Dick up to Vernon at the Slauson crossing and further to Huntington Park’s Salt Lake Park to see the remnants of a once-thriving population of Spotted Doves. The weather was kind to the 20-plus who showed up this year with intermittent cloud cover most of the morning. Our list of species closely matches last year’s, and in an effort to see different birds, we plan to hold this walk a week later next year, on August 30th in order to see later migrant species. Our thanks to Dick who was so patient in explaining variations of plumage of juvenile birds just weeks from the nest. If you subscribe to the Yahoo Groups page LA County Birds, you will be alerted to upcoming rarities at the sites we visited on Saturday. Lu Plauzoles
Dick Barth (black cap) explaining as we look.
Locations we birded: LA River: Willow St. (Long Beach); 34th Street Greenbelt; DeForest Park (Long Beach); Alondra Blvd. (Paramount); Slauson Avenue (Vernon); Salt Lake Park (Huntington Park).
- Text & photos by LuPlauzoles
| Mallard | Greater Yellowlegs | American Crow |
| Cinnamon Teal | Lesser Yellowlegs | Western Scrub-Jay |
| Ruddy Duck | Western Sandpiper | No. Rough-winged Swallow |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Least Sandpiper | Cliff Swallow |
| Dble-Crested Cormorant | Solitary Sandpiper | Barn Swallow |
| Brown Pelican | Short-billed Dowitcher | Bushtit |
| Great Blue Heron | Long-billed Dowitcher | House Wren |
| Great Egret | Wilson’s Phalarope | Northern Mockingbird |
| Snowy Egret | Red-necked Phalarope | European Starling |
| Green Heron | Ring-billed Gull | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Turkey Vulture | Western Gull | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Cooper’s Hawk | California Gull | Common Yellowthroat |
| Red-tailed hawk | Elegant Tern | California Towhee |
| American Coot | Mourning Dove | Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Peregrine Falcon | Spotted Dove | Red-winged Blackbird |
| American Kestrel | Eur. Collared-Dove | House Finch |
| Semipalmated Plover | Rock Pigeon | House Sparrow |
| Killdeer | Mourning Dove | Orange Bishop |
| Black-necked Stilt | Allen’s Hummingbird | Nutmeg Mannikin |
| American Avocet | Acorn Woodpecker | |
| Spotted Sandpiper | Black Phoebe | Total: 61 |
Oldest Bird Stories, Part II
Since reading about the California Gull age record, I looked around for the overall oldest bird. Here are a few links:
World’ Oldest Wild Bird Gives Birth at 62
World’s Oldest Parrot is a Hollywood Legend (and it’s really a macaw)
Guinness Record for Oldest Living Parrot (in direct conflict with the previous link)
Winston’s obscene parrot lives on (and it’s yet another macaw)
Needless to say, the provenance of many age claims is dubious. Believe them at your own risk.
Oldest California Gull Found in Silicon Valley
When rescue workers checked the gull’s leg band, they found ….. here’s the article. The article may be only partially correct, as seen on the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s page on the Longevity of North American Birds. There are several California Gulls of similar age as the Silicon Valley bird. This could take precious hours of your day to peruse, so I’ll just say that the longest recorded gull I found was a Western Gull at 33 years, 11 months.
Feel free to search the list for the longest-lived bird of all. 
Migration phenom?
A surprising number of Brown Pelicans and Heerman’s Gulls on Will Rogers State Beach and seaward this morning, between Channel Rd./Chatauqua Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. Also seen in large numbers: Elegant Terns, a flock of (presumed) Sooty Shearwaters, and Double-crested Cormorants.
A beach flock just south of the BelAir Beach Club along Will Rogers State Beach.
photos and text, Lu Plauzoles
Penguin Chicks on Webcam
A pair of Magellanic Penguin chicks hatched at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach about a month ago. Here’s a link to their live web camera. The chicks will not be on public view until later this summer. Get yourself a nice frosty-cold drink and enjoy the scene!
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/exhibits/webcam_penguin_chicks
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