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Fair weather, fair birding at Sycamore
A hardy group of hikers met at the Sycamore parking lot on a bright and calm morning. The storm-swept skies were calm, just 36 hours after this season’s biggest rain event. Birding started early in the parking lot with a Sharp-shinned Hawk calmly perched 15 feet up a small bare tree above our cars.
Sharp-shinned Hawk (J. Waterman 3/9/13)
It was the start of a good day of raptor sightings as we walked up the main road and then up the Serrano Canyon trail. Not many species, but the almost-constant presence of the Black-hooded Parakeets may have quieted many other species.
A pair of parakeets (J. Waterman 3/9/13)
When we reached the quarry/rockslide in Serrano the Canyon Wren treated us to a laughing concert, but hid from the view of all our birders. We hiked up the trail another half mile to the only creek water in the park and returned soon after 1PM.
[Lu Plauzoles, trip leader]
| Sycamore Canyon | |
| Bird List 3/9/13 | |
| 50 – 70° F. | |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 |
| Common Loon | 1 |
| Surf Scoter | 40 |
| CA Quail | 5 |
| Brown Pelican | 3 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 |
| Western Gull | 3 |
| Black-hooded Parakeet | 9 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 3 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 1 |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | 3 |
| Northern Flicker | 5 |
| Western Scrub-Jay | 4 |
| Common Raven | 3 |
| American Crow | 8 |
| Oak Titmouse | 6 |
| Bushtit | 4 |
| Canyon Wren (voc) | 1 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 |
| Wrentit | 20 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 |
| California Thrasher | 3 |
| European Starling | 2 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 30 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 2 |
| California Towhee | 4 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 20 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow | 12 |
| House Finch | 2 |
| Total Species | 33 |
Malibu Lagoon Field Trip Report: 24 Feb., 2013
Windy welcome for the hardy souls who came out on February 24th! We were wondering what birds – if any – might be seen in such a blustery locale, but we were certainly rewarded! It was a significant contrast to earlier expeditions along the narrow temporary path to the beach. What had been the muddy mess was suddenly hardened clay with parched cracks under our footsteps. When we got to the beach little was to be seen except a distant flock of gulls on the exposed beach near The Point. Even the Snowy Plovers were scattered in little groups near tiny windbreaks such as a beached sea urchin; anything to get some relief form the wind.
But as the day wore on, the wind died down and we were able to see a number of our usual species, albeit smaller numbers of shorebirds than usual. Our reward came when we observed a group of Common Mergansers frolicking in the Lagoon while we were finishing our adventure at the Adamson House landing. Even from a distance, it was obvious we had witnessed a special event as this is a rarely-seen LA County species.
Our census of the birds in the channel during the project period this month was: No. Shoveler 2, Bufflehead 1, Pied-billed Grebe 1, Double-crested Cormorant 6, Great Blue Heron 1, Coot 3, Ring-billed Gull 4, Western Gull 2, California Gull 6, Anna’s Hummingbird 1, Tree Swallow 6, Cliff Swallow 3.
Brant – absent in January – returned in force, with 15 individuals beating their prior record of 11 on 6/27/10. The six (4 male, 2 female) Common Mergansers were unusual, as this species prefers fresh water over brackish or salt; in over 30 years we’ve recorded only 7 previous visits to the lagoon. One Raven showed up – they’re always in the general area but we hadn’t recorded one since 11/28/10. The Cliff Swallows are returning migrants – a bit early it seems to me, as we have only 1 previous record for February. Snowy Plover PV:YB was back on the beach among the 36 roosting birds.
Our next three field trips: Hiker Lu’s Santa Monica Mountains Explorama, 9 Mar, 8:30am; Malibu Lagoon, 24 Mar, 8:30am; Walker Ranch (Placerita Cyn) 6 Apr, 8:30am.
Our next program: Tuesday, 2 Apr., 7:30 pm at Cristine Reed Park. Topic to be announced. The usual reminders will be emailed from the blog.
NOTE: Our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk will resume on 28 April, 2013.
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
Total Birds: Feb. total birds of 1104 are 29% below average; low numbers are mainly in the gulls and coots.
Species Diversity: February 2013 with 52 species was 8% below the 56.3 6-year average, a minor variance.
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%. Still, the only constant is change.
10-year comparison summaries are available on our Lagoon Project Census Summaries Page.
[Lu Plauzoles & Chuck Almdale]
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
||
| Malibu Census 2012 |
24-Feb |
22-Feb |
28-Feb |
27-Feb |
26-Feb |
24-Feb |
|
| Temperature |
70-75 |
60-70 |
55-61 |
45-60 |
48-64 |
55-65 |
|
| Tide Lo/Hi Height |
L +1.2 |
H +5.5 |
H +6.19 |
L -0.41 |
H +3.37 |
H +5.50 |
Ave. |
| Tide Time |
0759 |
0728 |
0835 |
1243 |
1136 |
0802 |
Birds |
| Snow Goose | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Brant | 15 | 2.5 | |||||
| Canada Goose | 6 | 1.0 | |||||
| Gadwall | 13 | 18 | 35 | 22 | 35 | 13 | 22.7 |
| American Wigeon | 10 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 6.3 | ||
| Mallard | 8 | 20 | 13 | 24 | 30 | 14 | 18.2 |
| Cinnamon Teal | 5 | 0.8 | |||||
| Northern Shoveler | 6 | 28 | 2 | 35 | 22 | 15.5 | |
| Northern Pintail | 8 | 2 | 1.7 | ||||
| Green-winged Teal | 11 | 23 | 2 | 17 | 38 | 1 | 15.3 |
| Surf Scoter | 6 | 4 | 8 | 40 | 9.7 | ||
| Bufflehead | 8 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 4.7 | ||
| Common Merganser | 6 | 1.0 | |||||
| Red-brstd Merganser | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6.2 |
| Ruddy Duck | 7 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 24 | 41 | 21.8 |
| Red-throated Loon | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | ||||
| Pacific Loon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | |
| Common Loon | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.3 | |
| Horned Grebe | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Eared Grebe | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
| Western Grebe | 1 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 40 | 2 | 11.7 |
| Brandt’s Cormorant | 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 4.5 | |
| Dble-crstd Cormorant | 25 | 25 | 21 | 37 | 28 | 40 | 29.3 |
| Pelagic Cormorant | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | |
| Brown Pelican | 41 | 107 | 81 | 23 | 12 | 10 | 45.7 |
| Great Blue Heron | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Great Egret | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.3 |
| Snowy Egret | 2 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 5.7 |
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron | 3 | 1 | 0.7 | ||||
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | |||
| Virginia Rail | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Sora | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1.5 | ||
| American Coot | 226 | 152 | 175 | 175 | 285 | 82 | 182.5 |
| Blk-bellied Plover | 36 | 42 | 59 | 65 | 93 | 50 | 57.5 |
| Snowy Plover | 39 | 49 | 49 | 59 | 54 | 36 | 47.7 |
| Semipalmated Plover | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Killdeer | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2.7 | ||
| Black Oystercatcher | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | ||||
| American Avocet | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.2 | ||
| Spotted Sandpiper | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 | ||
| Willet | 6 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Whimbrel | 7 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2.7 | ||
| Marbled Godwit | 6 | 24 | 17 | 2 | 8.2 | ||
| Ruddy Turnstone | 5 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 7.2 | |
| Sanderling | 52 | 130 | 172 | 135 | 100 | 170 | 126.5 |
| Least Sandpiper | 4 | 18 | 3.7 | ||||
| Boneparte’s Gull | 1 | 13 | 1 | 2.5 | |||
| Heermann’s Gull | 14 | 19 | 7 | 6.7 | |||
| Mew Gull | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Ring-billed Gull | 103 | 20 | 42 | 250 | 35 | 120 | 95.0 |
| Western Gull | 79 | 125 | 74 | 120 | 55 | 40 | 82.2 |
| California Gull | 145 | 1360 | 45 | 1050 | 360 | 280 | 540.0 |
| Herring Gull | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Glaucous-wingd Gull | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3.7 | |
| Caspian Tern | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Forster’s Tern | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Royal Tern | 2 | 8 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 7.7 | |
| Elegant Tern | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Black Skimmer | 5 | 3 | 1.3 | ||||
| Rock Pigeon | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3.8 |
| Mourning Dove | 2 | 2 | 0.7 | ||||
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.7 | |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2.7 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | |||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Black Phoebe | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3.8 | |
| Say’s Phoebe | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Cassin’s Kingbird | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
| American Crow | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5.7 |
| Common Raven | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Rough-wingd Swallow | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3.8 | |||
| Tree Swallow | 180 | 10 | 31.7 | ||||
| Barn Swallow | 3 | 0.5 | |||||
| Cliff Swallow | 1 | 12 | 2.2 | ||||
| Bushtit | 4 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 7.5 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.7 | |
| European Starling | 12 | 41 | 35 | 15 | 52 | 25.8 | |
| Ornge-crwnd Warbler | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3.0 | ||
| Common Yellowthroat | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.3 | |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | ||||
| California Towhee | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.7 | |||
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 | 0.3 | |||||
| Song Sparrow | 2 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 5.2 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2.7 | |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 4 | 15 | 3.2 | ||||
| Western Meadowlark | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Brewer’s Blackbird | 1 | 0.2 | |||||
| Great-tailed Grackle | 2 | 8 | 5 | 2.5 | |||
| House Finch | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 6.2 |
| Lesser Goldfinch | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals by Type | 24-Feb | 22-Feb | 28-Feb | 27-Feb | 26-Feb | 24-Feb | Ave. |
| Waterfowl | 63 | 141 | 73 | 126 | 231 | 131 | 128 |
| Water Birds-Other | 299 | 305 | 289 | 257 | 395 | 142 | 281 |
| Herons, Egrets | 9 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 9 |
| Raptors | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Shorebirds | 153 | 274 | 328 | 301 | 278 | 260 | 266 |
| Gulls & Terns | 345 | 1545 | 209 | 1440 | 455 | 445 | 740 |
| Doves | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Other Non-Pass. | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Passerines | 30 | 269 | 81 | 81 | 93 | 114 | 111 |
| Totals Birds | 907 | 2564 | 1000 | 2227 | 1474 | 1104 | 1546 |
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | ||
| Total Species | 24-Feb | 22-Feb | 28-Feb | 27-Feb | 26-Feb | 24-Feb | Ave. |
| Waterfowl | 7 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9.0 |
| Water Birds-Other | 8 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 9.3 |
| Herons, Egrets | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Raptors | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Shorebirds | 8 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9.0 |
| Gulls & Terns | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6.8 |
| Doves | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Other Non-Pass. | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Passerines | 7 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 15 | 14.3 |
| Totals Species | 44 | 63 | 53 | 59 | 67 | 52 | 56.3 |
Field Trip Report: Ballona Creek, del Rey Lagoon & Ballona Fresh Water Marsh, 9 Feb., 2013
Black Turnstone on mussels (C.Almdale)
On to the marsh…. we had another grebe – Pied-billed- and even more ducks: Ruddy Ducks, Green-Winged Teal and a really stunning glowing Cinnamon Teal with a bright eye. Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Common Yellowthroats and Yellow-Rumped Warblers bounced in the bushes. There were glorious vibrant Allen’s and Anna’s hummingbirds. We decided that there was a Right-Wing Red-Winged Blackbird as you could only see the red patch on…… It is interesting that while the marsh and the jetty are so close together the birds are rarely the same as one is salt water and the other fresh.
Birds seen – J =Jetty & del Rey Lagoon, F =Freshwater marsh.
| Ballona Jetty, Fresh Water | ||
| Marsh & del Rey Lagoon | ||
| Gadwall | F | |
| Mallard | J | F |
| Cinnamon Teal | F | |
| Northern Shoveler | F | |
| Green-winged Teal | F | |
| Lesser Scaup | J | F |
| Surf Scoter | J | |
| Bufflehead | J | |
| Red-breasted Merganser | J | |
| Ruddy Duck | F | |
| Red-throated Loon | J | |
| Pacific Loon | J | |
| Common Loon | J | |
| Pied-billed Grebe | F | |
| Horned Grebe | J | |
| Eared Grebe | J | |
| Western Grebe | J | |
| Brandt’s Cormorant | J | |
| Double-crested Cormorant | J | |
| Pelagic Cormorant | J | |
| Brown Pelican | J | |
| Great Blue Heron | J | |
| Great Egret | J | F |
| Snowy Egret | J | |
| White-tailed Kite | F | |
| Red-tailed Hawk | F | |
| American Coot | J | F |
| Black Oystercatcher | J | |
| Willet | J | |
| Ruddy Turnstone | J | |
| Black Turnstone | J | |
| Sanderling | J | |
| Western Sandpiper | F | |
| Least Sandpiper | J | |
| Heermann’s Gull | J | |
| Ring-billed Gull | J | |
| Western Gull | J | |
| California Gull | J | |
| Rock Pigeon | J | |
| Mourning Dove | J | |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | F | |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | J | F |
| Northern Flicker | F | |
| American Kestrel | F | |
| Black Phoebe | J | F |
| Say’s Phoebe | F | |
| American Crow | J | |
| Common Raven | F | |
| Tree Swallow | F | |
| Bushtit | F | |
| House Wren | J | |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | F | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | J | F |
| Hermit Thrush | J | F |
| Common Yellowthroat | F | |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | J | F |
| Savannah Sparrow | J | |
| Song Sparrow | F | |
| White-crowned Sparrow | J | F |
| Red-winged Blackbird | F | |
| House Finch | J | F |
| Lesser Goldfinch | F | |
|
Total Trip Birds – 62 |
41 |
32 |
Badgers, Lagoons, Owls, Islands and Harriers
Jim Kenney was out on the Carrizo Plains a few weeks back and got these shots.
Long-eared Owl in Carrizo Plains (J. Kenney 1/27/13)
Badger in Carrizo Plains (J. Kenney 1/27/13)
The badger was seen near the small community of California Valley and the owl was roosting in pine trees a bit north of the Carrizo Plains Visitor Center.
*********************************
Malibu Lagoon at high tide 1/29/13 (LightHawk courtesy of SMBRC)
Just in case you didn’t see this aerial photo on our Lagoon Project Page. Is the new channel bigger than you thought?
*********************************
Working With Nature, A Sneak Peek at Malibu Lagoon
Carren Jao write about the Malibu Lagoon Project on KCET website, 1/28/13.
*********************************
Birding by Misbehavior
Rick Wright takes a look at a couple of Northern Harriers, 1/30/13.
*********************************
Owl Mystery Unraveled:
Scientists Explain How Bird Can Rotate Its Head Without Cutting Off Blood Supply to Brain
Science Daily online: 1/31/13.
Originally from Johns Hopkins Medicine
*********************************
I’ll bet you never heard of the
Map of the causeway (from the article).
extraordinary plan, begun in 1961, to create a chain of artificial islands just off the Santa Monica shoreline, connected to the mainland by a causeway. Well, it’s true.
by Mark McGuigan, Santa Monica Lookout: 9/28/12.
*************************
[Chuck Almdale]
Educational Research Grants – 2013
SMBAS is proud to announce the following grants made in January, 2013:
Laurel Klein Serieys – continuing her PhD research on the effects of rodenticides on the bobcats in the Santa Monica Mountains. This is the sixth year we have supported Laurel’s research in pursuing her PhD at UCLA. See Laurel’s website for more information: http://www.urbancarnivores.com/
Richard Hedley – UCLA student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in conjunction with the Electrical Engineering Department is working to develop a template-based computer algorithm that will permit rapid assessment of bird species diversity from field recordings.
“Unsupervised recordings have been used for flight-call monitoring of migratory birds, endangered bird species monitoring, and biodiversity research. Organizations that have utilized these technologies have found that they produce datasets consisting of thousands of hours of contiguous recordings; the limiting factor is not our ability to record soundscapes, but our ability to extract useful information from those recordings. As a result, recent research has focused on the development of automated species recognition algorithms that can automatically identify species from long recordings without human intervention.”
Tanner Saul – High School Senior assisting Laurel Serieys. He is responsible for tracking a radio-collared bobcat in Topanga. Using animal signs on the trails and radio telemetry data from the bobcat, Tanner chooses locations for wildlife cameras and independently monitors the cameras. He is monitoring both the frequency of notoedric mange in Topanga and the movement patterns and health of the collared bobcat. Since March 2012 he has worked over 400 hours on this project, averaging 3 days per week. [Lillian Johnson]
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 