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It seems weird when June at the beach is cold, but 62-75° is actually fairly common – June gloom, and all that.  A light breeze made it downright chilly, although if you’re not a SoCal resident, being chilled at 62° may seem absurd. So it goes. All things are relative; some are more relative than others.

The beach breach had filled in, although most of Surfrider Beach seemed to be missing. Rocks and timbers from long-vanished piers were exposed, and a 6-ft cliff of sand was just below the lifeguard station near the pier. Waves from the most recent high tide had washed completely across the beach and into the lagoon.  Speaking of the lagoon, the newly enlarged channel seems to have developed a sizable mat of floating greenish-brown algae. The now-superseded narrow channels also sported thick summer coatings of algae, but more surface area seems to mean more algae.  I hope this stuff doesn’t turn into the stinking cesspool we used to get. Flowers are popping up everywhere, but the need for weeding has also become quite evident.

Most of the ducks (see trip list below) were in the channel and on it’s several islands when we arrived, as were the Pied-billed Grebes and the few coots. I think the ducks spend the night on the islands, surrounded by the security of water as islands (by definition) typically are. By 10am on they had spread all over the lagoon and channel. I had just gotten my binoculars out of the trunk when two Long-billed Curlew glided in from the west to settle on the channel shore. But they prefer grassy fields or deep, invertebrate-filled mud for feeding, and they soon moved on. Several pairs of Killdeer also strolled the channel shore; we searched for little Killdeer (Killdeerettes?) but they’re extremely cryptic at best, and we could see none, if indeed any were present. Crows – who ate the eggs which Least Terns recently laid in the Snowy Plover enclosure – relish chicks just as much as they do eggs.  The terns gave it up as a bad bet and moved on to safer pastures.

Brown Pelican numbers may be beginning to recover – 52 was more than we’ve seen since last January, but still well below the 177 average for 2007-12. Gull & tern numbers also remain well below average, with 104 total birds less than half of the average 229 for 2007-12. Barn Swallows, however, swarmed the beach, scooping up the abundant “flies” springing from clumps of kelp-wrack, and a few birders were reminded that just because they’re not “all rusty” underneath doesn’t mean they’re not Barn Swallows. The Mallards rebounded from May’s count of 5 to 59; most were juveniles, and were probably literally “up the creek” last month, when we found only 5, as they sure didn’t fly in from anywhere. Speaking of ‘elsewhere’, there were 22 herons & egrets in the nesting tree behind Starbucks across the street who are not included in the census below.

Unexpected and uncommon at the lagoon – besides the curlews – were five Band-tailed Pigeons perched on a snag near PCH and a juvenile American Robin at Adamson House. The lower half of this bird’s breast was a typical rusty-red, while the top half was reddish spots on a pale background.

A few people brought their lunches and had a get-together after the walk, but there was no official picnic, per se. We learned afterwards that a few families came for the 10am Parents & Kids birdwalk, but couldn’t find anyone in the parking lot and left.  For future reference, the leaders for all walks will start from the metal-shaded gathering area next to the parking lot, which is where they waited this time, apparently invisible from the parking lot through the ever-growing thicket of willows.

Our next three field trips:   Mt. Piños Birds & Butterflies, 29-30 June; Malibu Lagoon, 28 July, 8:30am; Malibu Lagoon, 25 August, 8:30am.
Our next program:  Tuesday, 1 Oct., 7:30 pm. Blog-announced, as usual.
NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk has resumed, meeting at the shaded viewing area near the parking lot.

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.

Comments on Bird Lists Below (No count available for June 2008)
Total Birds:   June total birds of 474 are 24% below the 6-year average, which is an improvement from the previous 4 months; low numbers are mainly in Brown Pelicans and Gulls & Terns (-104 each).
Summary of total birds from the 6-year average so far:  June +36%, July -9%, Aug. -9%, Sep. +12%, Oct. +3%, Nov -5%, Dec +30%, Jan -20%, Feb -29%, March -30%, April -34%, May -37%, June -24%. Recovering?
Species Diversity:  June 2013 with 48 species was 13% above the 6-year average of 42.7.
Summary of species diversity from the 6-year average so far:  June -10%, July +10%, Aug. -6%, Sep. -20%, Oct. +5%, Nov +2%, Dec -4%, Jan +2%, Feb -8%, March +9%, April -2%, May +3%, June +13%.
10-year comparison summaries are available on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page.     [Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Census	2007	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
2007-2013	6/24	6/28	6/27	6/26	6/24	6/23
Temperature		68-75	65-75	68-76	70-76	62-75
Tide Lo/Hi Height	L -0.3	L +0.4	H +3.81	H +3.0	L +0.07	H +4.22	Ave.
Tide Time	0640	0838	1139	0754	0714	1037	Birds
Brant	1	1	11				2.2
Gadwall	14	15	4	5	2	2	7.0
Mallard	40	25	40	41	24	59	38.2
Red-brstd Merganser	1						0.2
Ruddy Duck	6		7				2.2
Pied-billed Grebe	4	2	2	3	4	8	3.8
Clark’s Grebe	1						0.2
Brandt’s Cormorant						2	0.3
Dble-crstd Cormorant	6	22	5	54	17	17	20.2
Pelagic Cormorant	1				3		0.7
Brown Pelican	239	71	205	28	340	52	155.8
Great Blue Heron	3	8	6	4	1	2	4.0
Great Egret	4	3	2	5		2	2.7
Snowy Egret	8	14	14	8	4	8	9.3
Little Blue Egret	1						0.2
Green Heron	3			1			0.7
Blk-crwnd N-Heron	5	3	6	1		2	2.8
Osprey		1		1			0.3
White-tailed Kite					1	1	0.3
Cooper’s Hawk	1	1					0.3
Red-shouldered Hawk				1			0.2
Red-tailed Hawk	1	1		2		2	1.0
Peregrine Falcon			1				0.2
American Coot	20	22	5	12	4	6	11.5
Blk-bellied Plover					15		2.5
Killdeer			2	5	1	4	2.0
Black Oystercatcher					1		0.2
Willet	3	3				1	1.2
Whimbrel		5			8		2.2
Long-billed Curlew						2	0.3
Western Sandpiper		1		2			0.5
Short-billed Dowitcher						2	0.3
Boneparte’s Gull	2						0.3
Heermann’s Gull	16	48	17	15	44	18	26.3
Ring-billed Gull			7				1.2
Western Gull	380	72	61	68	84	62	121.2
California Gull		1		1		1	0.5
Caspian Tern		3	9	10	1	6	4.8
Forster’s Tern	4						0.7
Royal Tern	6		2	1	4	3	2.7
Elegant Tern	25	15	4		240	14	49.7
Black Skimmer			5	1			1.0
Rock Pigeon	4	6	4	4	3	9	5.0
Band-tailed Pigeon						5	0.8
Mourning Dove		4	4	5	1	2	2.7
White-throated Swift						1	0.2
Anna’s Hummingbird	1	2	2	1	3	2	1.8
Allen’s Hummingbird	1	4		1	8	10	4.0
Belted Kingfisher					1		0.2
Downy Woodpecker			1				0.2
Black Phoebe	2	15	2	10	5	12	7.7
Cassin’s Kingbird				1		1	0.3
Western Scrub-Jay				1		1	0.3
American Crow	6	12	4	4	4	8	6.3
Rough-wingd Swallow	4	6	6	1			2.8
Barn Swallow	30	8	40	25	4	23	21.7
Cliff Swallow	8	7	30	15	4	2	11.0
Oak Titmouse				1		1	0.3
Bushtit	9		4	8		1	3.7
Marsh Wren		1					0.2
American Robin						1	0.2
Wrentit		1					0.2
Northern Mockingbird	3	2	2	3	6	6	3.7
European Starling	8	20	65	21	5	65	30.7
Common Yellowthroat	3	1	1		1	2	1.3
Spotted Towhee	2						0.3
California Towhee			1	4	1	6	2.0
Song Sparrow	4	6	3	3	6	15	6.2
Red-winged Blackbird		1	55			2	9.7
Great-tailed Grackle	3			3	2	4	2.0
Brwn-headed Cowbird	1	1	2	1		3	1.3
Hooded Oriole		4		1	1		1.0
Bullock’s Oriole			1		2		0.5
House Finch	5	6	4	14	8	14	8.5
Lesser Goldfinch		2		4		2	1.3
House Sparrow	8			2			1.7
Totals by Type	6/24	6/28	6/27	6/26	6/24	6/23	Ave.
Waterfowl	62	41	62	46	26	61	50
Water Birds-Other	271	117	217	97	368	85	193
Herons, Egrets	24	28	28	19	5	14	20
Raptors	2	3	1	4	1	3	2
Shorebirds	3	9	2	7	25	9	9
Gulls & Terns	433	139	105	96	373	104	208
Doves	4	10	8	9	4	16	9
Other Non-Pass.	2	6	3	2	12	13	6
Passerines	96	93	220	122	49	169	125
Totals Birds	897	446	646	402	863	474	621
	2007	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Total Species	6/24	6/28	6/27	6/26	6/24	6/23	Ave.
Waterfowl	5	3	4	2	2	2	3.0
Water Birds-Other	6	4	4	4	5	5	4.7
Herons, Egrets	6	4	4	5	2	4	4.2
Raptors	2	3	1	3	1	2	2.0
Shorebirds	1	3	1	2	4	4	2.5
Gulls & Terns	6	5	7	6	5	6	5.8
Doves	1	2	2	2	2	3	2.0
Other Non-Pass.	2	2	2	2	3	3	2.3
Passerines	15	16	15	19	13	19	16.2
Totals Species – 76	44	42	40	45	37	48	42.7