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Rescuing Birds – Information
After our earlier posting about oiled birds, I was alerted that I overlooked several other wildlife rescue organizations in our area. Here is all the information I currently have. We now have a permanent Bird Rescue page on our blog with this information, listed just below our Snowy Plover picture. If you learn of any other organization, let me know and I will update this page. All of these organizations are non-profit, need donations and frequently solicit volunteers. [Chuck Almdale]
California Wildlife Center
In the Malibu area, CWC is the closest place to call.
Emergency Hotline Number: (310) 458-WILD [9453]
PO Box 2022
Malibu, CA 90265
Phone (818) 222-2658 Fax: (818) 222-2685
Email:
Website: http://www.cawildlife.org/
Email Contacts:
Marine Mammal Response: rescue@cawildlife.org
Hospital: jo@cawildlife.org or 818.591.9453
Administration: admin@cawildlife.org or 818.222.2658
Donations of any kind: admin@cawildlife.org or 818.222.2658
Media Inquiries/Communications: cindy@cawildlife.org or 818.222.2658
Volunteer Inquiries: volunteer@cawildlife.orgor 818.222.2658
International Bird Rescue:
Website: http://www.bird-rescue.org/
San Pedro Office:
Phone: 310-514-2573
Fax: 310-514-8219
3601 South Gaffey Street
San Pedro, Ca. 90731
South Bay Wildlife Rehab
26363 Silver Spur Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, California 90275
Phone: (310) 378-9921 Fax: (310) 378-0969
Email: info@sbwr.org
Website: http://www.sbwr.org/
Project Wildlife
Wildlife Triage Center
887 1/2 Sherman Street
San Diego, CA 92110
Phone: 619-225-9453
Hours: 9:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.
Open 7 days a week (except Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year’s Day)
Website: http://www.projectwildlife.org/index.php
Recent Increase in Oiled Birds
At our monthly Malibu Lagoon walk on Feb. 26, many participants noticed that there seemed to be an unusual number of dead birds on the beach. I saw at least a half dozen Cormorants and one Coot. On Feb. 15 chapter member Jim Kenney photographed this Common Murre with a large oil patch on its belly, sitting on the beach cobbles.
Generally speaking, seabirds such as Loons, Grebes or any of the Alcids such as Common Murre, really don’t like to come to land – especially if humans are present – except when breeding. If you see one sitting on the beach, there’s probably something wrong with it: oiled, sick or wounded in some way. If you help it, it may survive.
Link to Malibu Lagoon Trip Report
Common Murre oiled on belly (J.Kenney 2/15/12)
The oil-caused seabird mortality has now hit the local newspapers. According to the LA Times, seepage from the seafloor in the Santa Barbara Channel near Coal Oil Point amounts to thousands of gallons a day. For unknown reasons, Common Murres have been more abundant off Southern California during the past three winters than they were in previous years, and thus more oiled Murres are showing up at rescue stations. They’ve been appearing SoCal beaches as far south as Orange County, oiled, dying or dead. International Bird Rescue in San Pedro has treated over 140 birds of various species since Jan. 1, including at least 124 Common Murres.
Read more about it at these two articles:
Los Angeles Times – Natural Oil Seepage Off Santa Barbara Takes a Toll on Seabirds – March 7, 2012
Writer: Tony Barboza
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oil-birds-20120307,0,3147878.story
Daily Breeze – Oiled Seabirds Crowd Rescue Center in San Pedro – March 6, 2012
Writer: Sanda Mazza
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_20115250/oiled-seabirds-crowd-rescue-center-san-pedro
And in case you missed it, here’s the earlier LA Times story on the albatross which showed up back in January.
Los Angeles Times – Albatross Wanders into L.A. – February 1, 2012
Writer: Tony Barboza
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-albatross-20120201,0,6654678.story
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We now have a permanent Bird Rescue page on our blog.
********************
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The following organizations are non-profit, need donations and frequently solicit volunteers.
In the Malibu area, CWC is the closest place to call.
California Wildlife Center
Emergency Hotline Number: (310) 458-WILD [9453]
PO Box 2022
Malibu, CA 90265
Phone (818) 222-2658 Fax: (818) 222-2685
Email:
Website: http://www.cawildlife.org/
Volunteer Inquiries: volunteer@cawildlife.orgor 818.222.2658
International Bird Rescue:
Website: http://www.bird-rescue.org/
San Pedro Office:
Phone: 310-514-2573
Fax: 310-514-8219
3601 South Gaffey Street
San Pedro, Ca. 90731
South Bay Wildlife Rehab
26363 Silver Spur Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, California 90275
Phone: (310) 378-9921 Fax: (310) 378-0969
Email: info@sbwr.org
Website: http://www.sbwr.org/
[Chuck Almdale]
Malibu Lagoon Trip Report: 26 February, 2012
SMBAS Links: Website Blog Facebook
Cool but clear at the lagoon. Tide was rising towards high at 11:30, so many of the shorebirds, including most of the Snowy Plovers, were resting. A great many gulls were on the beach, but most flew away before we got there and only about 450 remained. Ducks numbers remained high. Especially interesting was the offshore rocks and the sea out past the surf zone. On the rocks were 2 Pelagic Cormorant and a relatively large number of Brant’s Cormorant, 15 to be exact, an all-time high for our monthly census. As neither of these species like coming as far inland as the lagoon – all of 30 yards or so – the only roosting space within good view is on these few rocks, and they don’t amount to much. In the proper season, you might see thousands of them on the offshore jetty at Marina del Rey. A couple of the Brant’s were developing the blue gular pouches of breeding season.
Meanwhile, busily diving both in and just beyond the surf zone were all three Loon species: Common, Red-throated and Pacific. Farther out were flotillas of Western Grebe and Surf Scoter. On the sand the 54 Snowy Plovers present were busy dodging the Lifeguard truck and the numerous walkers. The two Black Oystercatchers as well as the Ruddy Turnstones were foraging among the cobbles not yet covered by the rising tide.
Juvenile Snow Goose (J. Kenney 2/24/12)
On one of the sandy islands in the lagoon we found the Snow Goose which had shown up a few days earlier. Their Goth-style ‘black lips’ make them easy to locate among the gulls, not to mention that they’re a lot taller.
Breeding season approaches and migration starts to happen. Among the Ruddy Ducks that have been wintering just inland of the highway bridge we found three males changing into breeding plumage, all rusty colored. One was very well along and had a bright blue bill. Meanwhile, two Rough-winged Swallows, recent arrivals from the south, entertained us by chasing insects overhead and resting on a nearby branch.
A brace of Bonaparte's Gulls (A.Albaisa 2/26/12)
The two Boneparte’s Gulls present were a pale reminder of their abundant presence in the past. Some examples: 3/15/80 – 1600, 11/29/80 – 530, 11/29/81 – 950, 12/12/82 – 1095. Over the past 12 years, the highest number was 26 on 5/27/07. In the early 80’s there was a large sand/gravel island in the middle of the lagoon which, except when the highest tides covered it, was the favorite roosting spot for all the gulls and shorebirds. Surrounded by water, they didn’t have to contend with humans and their pets and small children, both of whom love to charge into large flocks of birds in order to see them fly. Now these birds are relegated to the far more dangerous lagoon edges, where they are frequently disturbed and harassed by humans. Currently they have a couple of sandy islands where they are mostly undisturbed, so life is good for them. So to speak. Humans mostly stay out of the lagoon water as it is so polluted with bacteria that their toes would probably instantly glow and fall off. The birds must be far tougher than we are, or they aren’t as bothered by the bacteria so dangerous to us.
Common Murre oiled on belly (J.Kenney 2/15/12)
Perhaps unrelated to this, there seemed to be more dead birds on the beach than is usual. Most were cormorants. Earlier this month there was a significantly oiled Common Murre on the beach, but it had left.
Our next three field trips: Sycamore Canyon 10 Mar., 8:30am; Malibu Lagoon 25 March 8:30 & 10am; Placerita Canyon / Walker Ranch 7 April, 8:30am.
Our next program: Tuesday, 6 March, 7:30 pm – The Lives of Spiders, presented by Martin Ramirez.
The usual reminders will be emailed from the blog.
As a reminder to those coming to our 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk, it meets at the beach trail footbridge closest to 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.
[Chuck Almdale].
| Malibu Census 2012 |
22-Jan |
26-Feb |
| Temperature |
68 – 75 |
48 – 64 |
| Tide Height |
+6.49 |
+3.37 |
| Low/High &Time |
H:0803 |
H:1136 |
| Snow Goose |
1 |
|
| Brant |
1 |
|
| Gadwall |
31 |
35 |
| American Wigeon |
2 |
8 |
| Mallard |
23 |
30 |
| Northern Shoveler |
46 |
35 |
| Northern Pintail |
10 |
8 |
| Green-winged Teal |
37 |
38 |
| Surf Scoter |
14 |
40 |
| Bufflehead |
26 |
4 |
| Red-brstd Merganser |
6 |
8 |
| Ruddy Duck |
59 |
24 |
| Red-throated Loon |
2 |
|
| Pacific Loon |
1 |
3 |
| Common Loon |
1 |
|
| Pied-billed Grebe |
3 |
2 |
| Eared Grebe |
4 |
2 |
| Western Grebe |
8 |
40 |
| Brandt’s Cormorant |
3 |
15 |
| Dble-crstd Cormorant |
37 |
28 |
| Pelagic Cormorant |
1 |
2 |
| Brown Pelican |
48 |
12 |
| Great Blue Heron |
7 |
|
| Great Egret |
2 |
2 |
| Snowy Egret |
7 |
8 |
| Blk-crwnd N-Heron |
2 |
|
| Osprey |
1 |
|
| Red-shouldered Hawk |
1 |
2 |
| Sora |
2 |
3 |
| American Coot |
345 |
285 |
| Blk-bellied Plover |
65 |
93 |
| Snowy Plover |
81 |
54 |
| Killdeer |
2 |
10 |
| Black Oystercatcher |
5 |
2 |
| American Avocet |
2 |
1 |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
2 |
|
| Willet |
3 |
|
| Whimbrel |
1 |
2 |
| Ruddy Turnstone |
15 |
13 |
| Sanderling |
200 |
100 |
| Least Sandpiper |
12 |
|
| Boneparte’s Gull |
2 |
|
| Heermann’s Gull |
16 |
|
| Ring-billed Gull |
150 |
35 |
| Western Gull |
120 |
55 |
| California Gull |
1900 |
360 |
| Glaucous-wingd Gull |
5 |
2 |
| Forster’s Tern |
1 |
|
| Royal Tern |
16 |
1 |
| Rock Pigeon |
5 |
4 |
| Mourning Dove |
2 |
2 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird |
2 |
2 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird |
2 |
1 |
| Belted Kingfisher |
1 |
1 |
| Black Phoebe |
3 |
4 |
| Say’s Phoebe |
1 |
|
| Cassin’s Kingbird |
2 |
|
| American Crow |
4 |
8 |
| Rough-wingd Swallow |
2 |
|
| Bushtit |
26 |
4 |
| Bewick’s Wren |
1 |
|
| Marsh Wren |
1 |
|
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
2 |
|
| Hermit Thrush |
1 |
|
| Northern Mockingbird |
1 |
2 |
| European Starling |
1 |
15 |
| Yellow-rumpd Warbler |
3 |
|
| Common Yellowthroat |
4 |
2 |
| Spotted Towhee |
1 |
|
| California Towhee |
2 |
|
| Savannah Sparrow |
2 |
|
| Song Sparrow |
2 |
8 |
| White-crwnd Sparrow |
22 |
4 |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
15 |
|
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
1 |
|
| Great-tailed Grackle |
13 |
8 |
| Brwn-headed Cowbird |
2 |
|
| House Finch |
25 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
| Totals by Type |
Jan |
Feb |
| Waterfowl |
255 |
231 |
| Water Birds-Other |
452 |
395 |
| Herons, Egrets |
18 |
10 |
| Quail & Raptors |
2 |
2 |
| Shorebirds |
388 |
275 |
| Gulls & Terns |
2207 |
456 |
| Doves |
7 |
6 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
5 |
4 |
| Passerines |
110 |
92 |
| Totals Birds |
3444 |
1471 |
| Total Species |
Jan |
Feb |
| Waterfowl |
11 |
11 |
| Water Birds-Other |
10 |
12 |
| Herons, Egrets |
4 |
2 |
| Quail & Raptors |
2 |
1 |
| Shorebirds |
11 |
8 |
| Gulls & Terns |
6 |
7 |
| Doves |
2 |
2 |
| Other Non-Pass. |
3 |
3 |
| Passerines |
16 |
18 |
| Totals Species |
65 |
64 |
Snowy Plover Monitor Training
The following message is from Stacey Vigallon at the L.A. County Snowy Plover Central Command Facility. You’ve read about them in our blogs. Now you too can help with this important project.
Interested in helping monitor threatened birds at the beach?
Snowy Plovers 'On the Beach'
On Sunday, March 4th from 8-10am, Los Angeles Audubon will be holding a training session on Santa Monica Beach for volunteers interested in helping to monitor the Snowy Plover, a small bird that lives on Los Angeles County beaches. Once trained, volunteers can help observe birds during four survey windows throughout the year all along the Los Angeles County coastline (Malibu to Long Beach). This is a great opportunity to learn about our beaches from a conservation point of view. To register for the training please contact the volunteer coordinator at tern@laaudubon.org or call 323-481-4037. If you are unable to attend the March 4th training session but would still like to participate in monitoring, other training options may be available.
Beach at Malibu Lagoon
Thanks to grants from Audubon California and California Department of Fish & Game, and in partnership with Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society, South Bay/Palos Verdes Audubon Society, Ryan Ecological Consulting, and Plegadis LLC, the Snowy Plover Monitoring Program in Los Angeles County launched in 2007. Volunteers gather data on wintering plovers and those that might attempt to breed in the spring. For more information, check out Los Angeles Audubon’s Western Snowy Plover page at: http://losangelesaudubon.org/conservation-a-restoration-mainmenu-82/154/268-snowy-plover
[Chuck Almdale]
Long term lagoon resident, Snowy Plover NO:WW (C.Almdale)
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 