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Fog and cool temperatures of 59° – 64° didn’t keep the surfers or the birders away. You could tell that that birding movie was now playing in the theaters as several passersby asked if we were working on a “Big Year.” No one was.

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Birds always look a bit strange in the gray light which fog brings, and this had something to do with our difficulty with one duck. It started as a Cinnamon Teal, morphed into an American Wigeon, then morphed again into a Eurasian Wigeon, a rarity at the lagoon. It looked like a rufous morph female to me, according to my handy NGS Field Guide.  A few minutes later, someone said that it had been reported on the web (LACoBirds@yahoogroups.com), and sure enough when I got home, there it was, a female EuWi reported 10/22 as having been seen on 10/21 by Cal Yorke & Guy McCaskie.  My records show 3 previous EuWi at the lagoon, all singletons: a bird that stayed from  1/18/81 to at least 3/8/81, one on 11/24/91 and one on 4/24/94. So far this current bird has been there at least 3 days and chances are (based on this extremely small sample of 3 birds) 33% that it’ll stay around for a while.  [Link to Cal Yorke’s 10/21 report, with pictures.]

We had a few more new faces: Ken, Dawn, Grace & Daniel, and Femi. Clara, new last month, returned, busily recording her sightings onto a thin rectangular electronic device, which I’ve been told is some sort of telephone.  News to me.  What’s next? Recorded bird calls you can dial up?

Notable among the many birds were the flocks of Black-bellied Plover which kept coming in and flying out. I guesstimated 700 total but it could easily have been well over 1000.  Down on the mud, hiding among the ‘Black-bellies’ were 3 Black Turnstone, which show up just about ½ as often as do Ruddy Turnstone, 10 of which were also present. If you go birding in England, our Ruddy Turnstone is known as “The Turnstone”.  I don’t know who Mr. The was, but there are an awful lot of British birds named after him.  And yes, as we are often asked, Turnstones are aptly named, as they often do flip over pebbles to see if anyone edible hides underneath.  Two Dunlin also showed up, wandering among the plovers and Killdeer.

The recent rain (with perhaps some help from the Surfers’ Midnight Shovel Brigade) opened up a channel through the west end of the beach. The water level was very low and dropping with the tide, so a great deal of mud was exposed throughout the lagoon and channels.  We did manage to find a couple of Virginia Rail and at least one Sora, who was very vocal, calling all morning at regular intervals.  The beach channel prevented us from reaching the Snowy Plover winter roost site and doing a census, but I did manage to find 5 of them at great distance through the telescope.

Also notable were raptors: 2 Red-tailed Hawk perched in a dead tree across the road from the Adamson House, 1 Osprey which flew up-canyon, then back down-canyon about ½ hour later, and one each of Peregrine Falcon and Merlin, both of which – at different times – did very fast flybys of the lagoon.  Lagoon birds usually panic into flight when a Peregrine comes by, but they didn’t seem to notice this one.

Our next three field trips: Butterbredt Spring Campout – 29/30 October; Malibu Creek State Park – 12 November, Malibu Lagoon 27 November.
Our next program: Tuesday, 1 November – A Century of Change in Bird Life in Los Angeles, presented by Kimball Garrett.
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: Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
[Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Census 2011	24-Jul	28-Aug	25-Sep	23-Oct
Temperature	65-72	72 – 81	61-69	59-64
Tide Height	+2.61	+5.03	+5.33	+5.40
Low/High &Time	L:0947	H:0942	H:0830	H:0178
Gadwall			10	6
Eurasian Wigeon				1
American Wigeon			3
Mallard	54	60	48	25
Blue-winged Teal				2
Northern Shoveler			10	12
Green-winged Teal				2
Ruddy Duck	2	5	8
Pacific Loon				1
Common Loon				1
Pied-billed Grebe	4	15	13	4
Eared Grebe			5	3
Western Grebe				10
Brandt’s Cormorant		3	1	3
Dble-crstd Cormorant	31	48	47	32
Pelagic Cormorant	1	3	2	1
Brown Pelican	407	77	60	12
Great Blue Heron	6	3	2	3
Great Egret	4	2	2	2
Snowy Egret	11	15	23	26
Green Heron			1
Blk-crwnd N-Heron	11	4	12
Osprey		1		1
Red-tailed Hawk		2		2
Merlin				1
Peregrine Falcon			1	1
Virginia Rail			1	2
Sora			3	1
American Coot	20	75	410	370
Blk-bellied Plover	4	46	40	700
Snowy Plover	13	36	62	5
Semipalmated Plover	2	4
Killdeer	2	8	6	15
Black Oystercatcher				2
Black-necked Stilt			1
Spotted Sandpiper		2	2	3
Wandering Tattler		1
Willet		4	7	10
Whimbrel		41	26	28
Marbled Godwit		2	2
Ruddy Turnstone	7	4	7	10
Black Turnstone	1			3
Sanderling		15	3
Western Sandpiper	2	11		1
Least Sandpiper	1	6	3	16
Dunlin				2
Long-billed Dowitcher			2	2
Red-necked Phalarope		7
Heermann’s Gull	41	24	15	14
Ring-billed Gull	1		7	18
Western Gull	107	146	66	80
California Gull		8	16	120
Herring Gull			1
Least Tern	13
Caspian Tern	3	12
Common Tern	1
Forster’s Tern		3
Royal Tern		18	15	1
Elegant Tern	8	36	4
Black Skimmer	1	1
Rock Pigeon	6	5	5	4
Mourning Dove	3	2	2	2
Vaux’s Swift			100
Anna’s Hummingbird	3	4	3	2
Allen’s Hummingbird	3		2	2
Belted Kingfisher		2	1	2
Nuttall’s Woodpecker		1
Western Wood-Pewee			1
Black Phoebe	8	10	6	10
Say’s Phoebe			1	2
Cassin’s Kingbird			1
Western Kingbird	1	4
Western Scrub-Jay				2
American Crow	4	3	2	4
Rough-wingd Swallow	20	22	1
Barn Swallow	18	45	30
Cliff Swallow	25	2
Oak Titmouse		2
Bushtit	8	6	6	20
Bewick’s Wren	1	1	1	1
House Wren			1	1
Wrentit	1
Northern Mockingbird	2	3	2	2
European Starling	38	20	23	60
Ornge-crwnd Warbler			1
Yellow-rumpd Warbler				8
Common Yellowthroat	1	8	5	9
Wilson’s Warbler		1	2
California Towhee	3		1
Savannah Sparrow			1
Song Sparrow	1	5	3	4
White-crwnd Sparrow				18
Bobolink			1
Red-winged Blackbird	17	32	18
Brewer’s Blackbird				2
Great-tailed Grackle	3	5	12	8
Brwn-headed Cowbird	6
Hooded Oriole	6
House Finch	4	8	12	5
Lesser Goldfinch		4	2	1
Totals by Type	July	Aug	Sep	Oct
Waterfowl	56	65	79	48
Water Birds-Other	463	221	542	440
Herons, Egrets	32	24	40	31
Quail & Raptors	0	3	1	5
Shorebirds	32	187	161	797
Gulls & Terns	175	248	124	233
Doves	9	7	7	6
Other Non-Pass.	6	7	106	6
Passerines	167	181	133	157
Totals Birds	940	943	1193	1723
Total Species	July	Aug	Sep	Oct
Waterfowl	2	2	5	6
Water Birds-Other	5	6	9	12
Herons, Egrets	4	4	5	3
Quail & Raptors	0	2	1	4
Shorebirds	8	14	12	13
Gulls & Terns	8	8	7	5
Doves	2	2	2	2
Other Non-Pass.	2	3	4	3
Passerines	19	18	23	17
Totals Species – 100	50	59	68	65

 

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Even though today was abnormally cool, it’s unlikely that climate change has been called off: 61°F at 8:30 a.m. and 69°F at noon; cloudy with hints of rain or precipitating fog. The waves were crowded: plenty of surfers on a descending tide, plus a big class of paddleboarders (or whatever people who stand on a surfboard and move themselves along with a long-stemmed oar call themselves).

Some new faces: a woman from Brazil and her friends from Colombia.  They were introduced as such by one of our members so I [naturally] assumed they were fresh off the plane and hungry to see local birds.  It turned out they’ve lived here almost 20 years, working in the film industry.  We hope they’ll join us again.

Ducks, grebes and shorebirds are returning, as are the rails; at least 3 Sora plus one very dark juvenile Virginia Rail, oddly located on the grassy channel edge about 20 ft. NW of the 2^nd footbridge.  American Coot numbers exploded, and a overflight of about 100 Vaux’s Swifts surprised early birders.  Snowy Egrets were relatively abundant, while the Snowy Plover population nearly doubled from August, with 62 birds on the beach.  They were very busy dodging the numerous humans, especially one jogger who – lost in his own world, apparently – continually ran back and forth through the middle of the flock.  We found a new banded bird – GG:AR. [Left leg: green over green – right leg: aqua over red.]  This bird was one of three fledglings banded with this combination this summer at Oceano Dunes, just south of the cities of Pismo Beach & Oceano on the central California coast.

Among returning passerines (songbirds) were Say’s Phoebe and Cassin’s Kingbird, who usually stay the winter, and several warblers passing through, including Orange-crowned and Wilson’s Warblers.  Common Yellowthroats, denizens of the reeds and nearby brush, will be with us all winter.

Early Fall is a good time for unusual birds at the lagoon, and on Friday 9/23 a Northern Wheatear was reported.  (Wheatear translates roughly as “white rump.”)  This species has what is probably the longest migration route of any land bird in the world: from their wintering grounds in Southern Africa they migrate NW through England & Iceland to Greenland and NE Canada, as well as NE to Siberia, Alaska and NW Canada, possibly meeting somewhere in central northern Canada.  The bird at the lagoon (for which I’m trying to get permission to reproduce) is far, far off it’s usual route.  It could not be refound on Saturday, but searchers did see a 2^nd year hybrid Black-crowned X Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, probably the juvenile seen last year, now one year older.  Unfortunately, we did not see this bird, although some struggled to turn a juvenile Black-crowned into a hybrid.

What we DID find was pretty good.  A fall plumage Bobolink – a species which usually stays east of the Rockies on it’s southward migration – showed itself for about 30-45 seconds before flying off towards the east end of the Colony, never to be seen again.  It was a life bird for some, and a state or county bird for others, and was the 1^st sighting for this species at the lagoon.  Flycatching from the brush on the lagoon west edge was a migrating Western Wood Pewee, our 6^th sighting in 30 years.  On the sand island in the lagoon was a Black-necked Stilt – not a rarity except at the lagoon, and our 8^th lagoon sighting of this species.

Our next three field trips: Bolsa Chica Preserve – 8 October; Malibu Lagoon – 23 October, Butterbredt Spring Campout – 29/30 October.
Our next program: Tuesday, 4 October – Birds of California, Part III with Guy Commeau.
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: Jan-June’11, July-Dec ’10, Jan-June ’10, Jul-Dec ‘09, and Jan-June ‘09.
[Chuck Almdale]

Malibu Census 2011	24-Jul	28-Aug	25-Sep
Temperature	65 – 72	72 – 81	61 – 69
Tide Height	+2.61	+5.03	+5.33
Low/High &Time	L:0947	H:0942	H:0830
Gadwall			10
American Wigeon			3
Mallard	54	60	48
Northern Shoveler			10
Ruddy Duck	2	5	8
Pied-billed Grebe	4	15	13
Eared Grebe			5
Brandt’s Cormorant		3	1
Dble-crstd Cormorant	31	48	47
Pelagic Cormorant	1	3	2
Brown Pelican	407	77	60
Great Blue Heron	6	3	2
Great Egret	4	2	2
Snowy Egret	11	15	23
Green Heron			1
Blk-crwnd N-Heron	11	4	12
Osprey		1
Red-tailed Hawk		2
Peregrine Falcon			1
Virginia Rail			1
Sora			3
American Coot	20	75	410
Blk-bellied Plover	4	46	40
Snowy Plover	13	36	62
Semipalmated Plover	2	4
Killdeer	2	8	6
Black-necked Stilt			1
Spotted Sandpiper		2	2
Wandering Tattler		1
Willet		4	7
Whimbrel		41	26
Marbled Godwit		2	2
Ruddy Turnstone	7	4	7
Black Turnstone	1
Sanderling		15	3
Western Sandpiper	2	11
Least Sandpiper	1	6	3
Long-billed Dowitcher			2
Red-necked Phalarope		7
Heermann’s Gull	41	24	15
Ring-billed Gull	1		7
Western Gull	107	146	66
California Gull		8	16
Herring Gull			1
Least Tern	13
Caspian Tern	3	12
Common Tern	1
Forster’s Tern		3
Royal Tern		18	15
Elegant Tern	8	36	4
Black Skimmer	1	1
Rock Pigeon	6	5	5
Mourning Dove	3	2	2
Vaux’s Swift			100
Anna’s Hummingbird	3	4	3
Allen’s Hummingbird	3		2
Belted Kingfisher		2	1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker		1
Western Wood-Pewee			1
Black Phoebe	8	10	6
Say’s Phoebe			1
Cassin’s Kingbird			1
Western Kingbird	1	4
American Crow	4	3	2
Rough-wingd Swallow	20	22	1
Barn Swallow	18	45	30
Cliff Swallow	25	2
Oak Titmouse		2
Bushtit	8	6	6
Bewick’s Wren	1	1	1
House Wren			1
Wrentit	1
Northern Mockingbird	2	3	2
European Starling	38	20	23
Orange-crwnd Warbler			1
Common Yellowthroat	1	8	5
Wilson’s Warbler		1	2
California Towhee	3		1
Savannah Sparrow			1
Song Sparrow	1	5	3
Bobolink			1
Red-winged Blackbird	17	32	18
Great-tailed Grackle	3	5	12
Brwn-headed Cowbird	6
Hooded Oriole	6
House Finch	4	8	12
Lesser Goldfinch		4	2
Totals by Type	July	Aug	Sep
Waterfowl	56	65	79
Water Birds-Other	463	221	542
Herons, Egrets	32	24	40
Quail & Raptors	0	3	1
Shorebirds	32	187	161
Gulls & Terns	175	248	124
Doves	9	7	7
Other Non-Pass.	6	7	106
Passerines	167	181	133
Totals Birds	940	943	1193
Total Species	July	Aug	Sep
Waterfowl	2	2	5
Water Birds-Other	5	6	9
Herons, Egrets	4	4	5
Quail & Raptors	0	2	1
Shorebirds	8	14	12
Gulls & Terns	8	8	7
Doves	2	2	2
Other Non-Pass.	2	3	4
Passerines	19	18	23
Totals Species – 87	50	59	68