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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
The weather was nearly ideal for this tradition of more than 30 years – not too hot, too cold, nor windy. The starry nights were extraordinary, as usual, and for those not too sleepy to hear, punctuated with the hoots of Great Horned Owls and the warbles of little Western Screech-Owls. Sunday before daybreak, Common Poorwills called from the area of the old swimming pool at Axelson’s Creek and gulch.
We were much aware of the desiccation of foliage and shortage of spring flowers, but deep blue patches of tall Lupines could still be found, blooming bushes, amazing magenta flowers on Beavertail Cactus, a few Chia blooms and the remnants of Joshua Tree flowers which seemed to have hurried into the season to take advantage of what little rain had fallen.
Sphinx Moth at Beavertail Cactus flower (R. Seidner 4/27/13)
Birds, however, were plentiful, and numerous moths and butterflies: Blues by the stream, scattered Ladies, were noted, and, most spectacularly, Hawk moths on blooming chaparral mimicking little hummingbirds.
Of all the birds, the leader’s favorite turned up Saturday at Sageland Ranch, our camp site, while we were lounging, reviewing our day’s findings, sitting by the pond and watching Black-headed Grosbeaks taking nectar in the blooming locust trees. There was activity at the blue bird nest box nearby which Keith had checked and found that one of five eggs had hatched. But, I complained that our count was missing Lazuli Buntings!
Fearless Leader Mary (R. Seidner 4/27/13)
Almost instantly, members scanning the dry grass clumps on the open area below called out, “It’s a Lazuli Bunting”! An amazing coincidence there, a beautiful male, gleaming azure, orange, white, riding grass stems for their seeds at the tips! That too, was totally unexpected behavior, since we traditionally have seen them after fires, and singing in trees.
The next morning, following Saturday night’s feasting and Birthday congratulations and wishes to our host, we hiked up Axelson’s beautiful creek for more birding, and, for some, to see the apiary on Dove Spring Road, well known by us for its Joshua Trees, nesting birds and very attractive campsite. The shock of finding it totally trashed by cattle was almost too much! In general, the whole Butterbredt upper canyon was also devastated by Cattle’s attempts to graze, largely due to the drought. There was literally no forage available for cattle. The ranchers were in the process of removing them, but damage done, and the cows’ fates sealed as they were being trucked away! Nevertheless, despite this downside, our weekend was a memorable and joyful one.
Follows is the list of bird sightings during the drive down and up Butterbredt Canyon RD, walking through the Sanctuary area, scouting along Kelso Valley Road and all the area around Sageland Ranch. It is amended by sightings of those who went farther and saw more. [Mary Prismon]
Butterbredt Spring gate (L. Johnson 4/26/13)
| Butterbredt Trip List | April 27-29, 2013 |
| Mountain Quail | Cactus Wren |
| California Quail | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Chukar | Townsend’s Solitaire |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Hermit Thrush |
| Killdeer | Northern Mockingbird |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | European Starling |
| Mourning Dove | Phainopepla |
| Western Screech-Owl | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Common Poorwill | Nashville Warbler |
| Costa’s Hummingbird | Yellow Warbler |
| Rufous Hummingbird | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker | Black-throated Gray Warbler |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | Townsend’s Warbler |
| Northern Flicker | Wilson’s Warbler |
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | California Towhee |
| Dusky Flycatcher | Sage Sparrow |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | Fox Sparrow |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| Cassin’s Kingbird | White-crowned Sparrow |
| Western Kingbird | Golden-crowned Sparrow |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Western Tanager |
| Cassin’s Vireo | Lazuli Bunting |
| Warbling Vireo | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Common Raven | Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Bushtit | Hooded Oriole |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | Bullock’s Oriole |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Scott’s Oriole |
| Rock Wren | House Finch |
| Bewick’s Wren | Lesser Goldfinch |
| Total Species – 58 |
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It’s Official!
Malibu Lagoon has it’s official opening ceremony on Friday, 3 May at 11 AM.
It was a long and often acrimonious process, but now little remains to be done except watch the plants grow.
Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society has long supported this project, and we have been especially invited to attend. California State Parks asked if we could have members with telescopes on hand to help attendees see and learn about the birds. We have a couple of volunteers so far, but we need more. How about you? The more birders we have on hand, the better.
To volunteer, send an email to: webinfo49 [at] att.net.
To simply attend, just come.
- The vegetation hasn’t grown back yet, but you get the idea. (RestoreMalibuLagoon . com)
Directions: Malibu Lagoon is at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Cross Creek Road. Look around for people wearing binoculars. Parking in the official lagoon lot is $12+ or by annual pass. You may also park either along PCH west of Cross Creek Road, on Cross Creek Road, or on Civic Center Way north (inland) of the shopping center. Be careful – some parts of PCH are off-limits (read the signs carefully). Lagoon parking in the shopping center lot is not permitted.
Map to Meeting Place
Chuck Almdale]
Placerita Canyon Field Trip Report, April 13.
We had a good group (around 20) of birders for this trip. The weather was just about perfect too. The only exoskeletal life forms in the pomade were a couple of adults (with an enormous group of boy scouts) who were repairing a park kiosk with power tools. By power tools I mean a huge yellow pickup truck with an air compressor to drive the nail guns and so on. They managed to pack a dozen cars into the picnic area too. All this to fix about a dozen square feet of kiosk roof.
Acorn Woodpecker [Scott Baker]
Fortunately we were able to leave the noise behind as we went up the Waterfall Trail and the birds came out to see us. We had a lot of the usual suspects, foremost in number being Acorn Woodpeckers, followed closely by vocalizing House Wrens and Oak Titmice. The birds were apparently trying to drown out the people noise.
Bullock’s Oriole [Scott Baker]
The highlight of the walk had to be sighting 7 (seven!) different warblers! This is not the most you can see, but asking for more on one trip is just rude. We had to search carefully because most of them were Yellow-rumps, and one flitting warbler looks a lot like another until you pay attention. The biggest surprise was probably the Hermit Warbler – a gorgeous male in full breeding plumage. Those of us partial to Townsend’s Warblers had to wait until nearly the end of the trip to find one, and it was the lucky seventh species.
Warbler Collage. Clockwise from upper left: Hermit, Nashville, Black-throated Grey, Townsend’s [Scott
Baker]
After the walk we adjourned to the picnic area down at the Nature Center where a Cooper’s Hawk posed in a nearby tree as we ate our lunches.
Recommendation: go to Placerita on a weekday if you can to avoid the crowds.
Bird List:
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Kite
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Mountain Quail [H]
California Quail
Mourning Dove
White-throated Swift
Anna’s Hummingbird
Allen’s Hummingbird ♀ [probable]
Acorn Woodpecker
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Grey Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Steller’s Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Common Raven
Western Warbling-Vireo
Phainopepla
Western Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
White-breasted Nuthatch [H]
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Bushtit
Violet-green Swallow
Wrentit [H]
Oak Titmouse
Lesser Goldfinch
Purple Finch [H]
House Finch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Grey Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
Bullock’s Oriole
Brown-headed Cowbird
51 species
Special thanks to Scott Baker for all the photos!
Announcing dates for Grant Applications
College Students: Are you a full-time student? Do you qualify for one of our Field Study Grants? Here is the new Santa Monica Bay Audubon Small Grants Poster that explains the very basic requirements. Our application form is easily downloaded and printed: SMBAS sm grt APP , and it could quickly net you a tax-free grant for hundreds of dollars for your field study project! The application is short and we award direct grants at least twice a year. Don’t pass it up, and share the info with your colleagues. There are frequently multiple awards.
Help Monitor Least Terns at Venice Beach!
Los Angeles Audubon is looking for dedicated volunteers to help monitor the endangered California Least Tern at Venice Beach.
Least Tern chick
In Los Angeles County, this species returns to only two breeding colonies, one at Venice Beach and one at the Port of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Audubon works with project biologists and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife studying the tern colony in Venice by coordinating a community-based science monitoring program during the nesting season. Volunteers receive training and then help monitor the colony for one hour each week from mid-April to mid-August. This is a great opportunity for families looking for a way to learn about nature together, for students looking to gain some field experience in environmental science, or anyone who’d like to know more about urban wildlife.
If this sounds like something you’re interested in, then we’d love to meet you at one of the following training sessions:
April 27 (Saturday) – 8am to 9am
May 6th (Monday) – 630pm to 730pm
May 9th (Wednesday) – 630pm to 730pm
Training Location: The training sessions will take place at the Least Tern Colony enclosure on Venice Beach. The enclosure is located at the very southern end of Venice Beach near the Ballona Channel. There is metered parking along the channel where Pacific Ave turns into Via Marina, and there’s a public pay lot at the intersection of Via Marina and Captain’s Row. There’s technically free parking along Pacific Ave, but the spots get taken up fast.
Binoculars are essential to monitoring, so please bring them with you if you own them. If one of these dates doesn’t work for you but you’re still interested in helping, please let us know and we’ll see if we can arrange an alternative training session.
For questions and to register for a training session, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at 323-481-4037 or tern@laaudubon.org.
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 