Date: 5/8/25 12:24 pm From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] late wave of Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows and other tardies; another plea about over-use of "Merlin"
The following I wrote for the San Diego County listserv, but much here is germane to California as a whole. --Paul
Yesterday, May 7th, associated with a good wave of western migrants, there was a total of at least TEN "Gambel's" White-crowned Sparrows at a total of 6 different sites in coastal San Diego County. Normally, we get a couple single birds each year this late in May. So far today, I have heard of zero. Also yesterday were several coastal "Dark-lored" White-crowned Sparrows (probably oriantha), which are rare on the coast but are NOT late (they are a regular migrant east of us into mid-May). Continuing the late theme, I had an immature small-male Sharp-shinned Hawk today on Point Loma, one of the latest in spring; and, best of all, there was a female Mountain Bluebird photo'd yesterday by others on private property near Ramona, setting a new late date for the county by a full two weeks.
But, running contrary to the above, there have now been two early-arriving Willow Flycatchers photo'd in the past three days. The rare locally breeding birds (subspecies extimus) may start arriving right now at their local breeding grounds, but this is still a good week early for the first of the through-migrants at migrant sites (where these two current birds have been seen).
We eBird reviewers have pleaded in the past more than once for observers NOT to overly-rely on the MERLIN app telling us what we may or may not be hearing and what is present in an area. Merlin does a great job at times, sometimes picking up and properly identifying high-pitched calls seemingly in the next time zone, while a few minutes later failing to detect a loudly calling American Crow overhead or a loud Swainson's Thrush in a nearby bush. Merlin also repeatedly misidentifies a number of our common species. Examples are vocalizing Allen's Hummingbirds are misidentified regularly as Rufous, a singing Black-headed Grosbeak is ID'd as a rare Rose-breasted, and regularly misidentifying other species such as Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, and more......So, PLEASE, never report rarities that are heard-only via Merlin unless the call/song can be verified in some fashion. And please do not report even regular species like the blackbird or the goldfinch (especially) at sites where you have not actually visually confirmed them either currently or in the recent past. There are regularly reports of these species, and quite a few more, at sites where they do NOT occur. It is pretty clear that the observer solely depended on Merlin for their identification, and possibly even hearing it at all, with no visual confirmation made.
Date: 5/7/25 9:20 pm From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] Mendocino pelagics
There are still spaces available for the pelagics off Mendocino this Friday (May 9) and Sunday (May 11). Marine forecast looks good for both days - a little choppy and breezy on Friday, very calm and smooth on Sunday.
Recent repo cruises have reported good numbers of Murphy's Petrels, a few Hawaiian Petrels, and even a couple of Cook's Petrel; all in waters not far from where we plan to be. Leach's and Wilson's Storm-petrels have also been reported. So there is a very good chance we will find at least some of those species, and of course we will be hoping to re-find the Short-tailed Albatross encountered only eight miles out on our half-day trip April 26.
These trips are led by Peter Pyle and will have several expert spotters on board as well.
To sign up, go here: https://noyopelagics.com/ While there, be sure to look at the full calendar of scheduled trips through November, and sign up for any of those. Marine conditions here are such that rare seabirds can be found on any trip, even the half-day excursions, and we typically encounter tubenoses soon after leaving the harbor.
Date: 5/6/25 11:36 am From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] a spring landbird migration update--good news!
Back near the end of the third week of April, I (and others) posted our thoughts about the spring landbird migration to date in parts of CA and how late and slow it was. Pretty depressingly so. Similar sorts of news was coming out of the Gulf Coast and Southeast U.S. at the same time. But some of us, at least, are happy to report that there has been a substantial improvement during the last week of April and now through the first week of May. Not only where I am here in San Diego County, but also I've heard similar news from other places such as the southern deserts, LA and Santa Barbara Counties, etc. Not all species, and not everywhere everyday, by any means, but generally much better and involving a good selection of species. One species seemingly doing especially well is Lazuli Bunting, with lots of folks from many areas reporting large numbers. Also finally reasonable numbers of W. Wood-Pewees, Swainson's Thrushes, Nashville, B-t Gray, & Wilson's Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Black-headed Grosbeaks. It seemed as though Townsend's & Hermit Warblers were a bit slow to get untracked, but during the past week they too seem to be doing better. Several folks from a wide swath of CA commented earlier on the very poor numbers of Empidonax flycatchers through April (except for some brief pulses of Hammond's locally), but at least down here around San Diego I am happy to report a major uptick in the numbers of migrant Western Flycatchers during the past week.
On the landbird VAGRANT front, April was quite slow, even though in a "normal" year by the last 10 days of the month one often starts hearing about a few. But I am also happy to report that at least here in San Diego County the past four days have produced several typical early May vagrants: Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and coastal Summer Tanager. Hopefully the trend will continue.
Given that it seems lots of species were running late, it will be interesting to see if stuff quickly catches up or if the spring migration ends up being protracted well into June. Also how many truly late-lingering birds will be found this season? Here in San Diego County, for example, we have more than the usual number of Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows turning up this past week, at a time when they typically have become pretty rare.
Date: 5/5/25 7:09 pm From: Brian Sullivan via groups.io <heraldpetrel...> Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] this year's repositioning cruises
Hi Folks
Paul is right that birding from these boats is a challenge, especially in
terms of getting useful data into eBird. When I'm on these trips I always
try to do the following:
1. Use the 'eBird Pelagic Protocol'
2. Do .5 hr checklists (this keeps the distance down to about 12 miles or
so per list)
3. Submit photos and details of noteworthy species for each checklist where
possible (this can get tricky when some of the 'rare' Pterodromas are
common out there, see below)
4. Do extra 'Incidental' checklists for major rarities (e.g., something
like Short-tailed Albatross) to ensure the exact location gets in the
database, and the bird gets plotted in the right county
5. Share checklists only with the people in my birding party (birding
parties on opposite sides of the boat or even relatively closely spaced can
have different birds)
In years when species such as Cook's and Murphy's petrels are very common
out in the deep (Hawaiian is never common out there), it can get hard to
provide distinct details for each individual. The eBird reviewers are
generally aware that these species fluctuate from year-to-year offshore,
and will review records in big years accordingly. Conversely, in some years
only one of the 'rare' Pterodromas is common offshore, or perhaps none, and
in these years submitting details for each observation is possible, and
recommended. One year, for example, Murphy's Petrel was very common (500+),
Hawaiian Petrel was regular (~20 birds), and Cook's Petrel was absent (one
person claimed one). In that example, it was impossible to document all the
MUPE individually so we tried for a good cross-section of birds focusing on
checklists and counties, but we tried our best to document each
HAPE, including uploading terrible, but identifiable photos of each bird
when possible.
As Paul points out, the best thing to do is to step back and take a breath
on that first morning, and get your bearings. I've been on lots of trips
out there where identifications of the three Pterodromas were flying fast
and furious on that first morning, but I was only seeing Sooty and
Pink-footed Shearwaters. When the real deal eventually made an appearance,
I think folks realized they'd fallen victim to 'first morning syndrome' and
course corrected.
Lastly, I highly recommend you all try one of these trips. They are lots of
fun, and it's a great way to get out in the deep in relative comfort.
Thanks
Brian
On Sun, May 4, 2025 at 11:29 AM <lehman.paul...> via groups.io
<lehman.paul...> wrote:
> Another spring with multiple northbound repositioning cruises plying the
> waters near the shelf edge off California (and Oregon and s. Washington)
> the past 10 days or so. Several sailings from San Diego aboard Holland
> America and one or two from Los Angeles (San Pedro) aboard Princess. As is
> typical, all or almost all of the trips are seeing Hawaiian, Murphy's, and
> Cook's Petrels, and Laysan Albatrosses. From one to a few Hawaiians per
> trip. Small to moderate numbers of Murphy's this year, with, as usual, the
> larger numbers farther to the north. And moderate numbers of Cook's
> Petrels, mostly or entirely in the more southern waters. Laysans have been
> in larger than normal numbers on most of the trips. A couple Red-billed
> Tropicbirds in southern waters. And one immature Short-tailed Albatross off
> San Mateo County. Haven't heard about too much else of note this year. I
> have heard that numbers of many of the alcids and jaegers seem well down
> this year. These trips are a comfortable way to see these species all in
> one trip (only occasionally is one the pterodromas missed, and that's
> usually when the conditions are too calm (!!) or if a bunch of time is lost
> due to thick fog (fairly rare, but it does happen on a few trips). Views of
> these birds range from very good to mediocre, as you might imagine--some
> requiring scopes while others are close enough to have relatively nice
> views even with just binoculars (seems to vary from trip to trip).
>
>
> I'd also like to add that, from an eBird reviewer's perspective, many of
> us reviewers semi-dread the aftermath of these trips!! Lots and lots of
> eBird lists submitted. Only a small minority well put together, with
> locations clearly spelled out and adequate documentation for needed
> species. Lots of lists submitted with only one or neither of these. Plenty
> of lists with one-hour pelagic protocols used, but cruise ships may cover
> almost 25 miles in one hour, so that's a lot of ground where every bird on
> that list has the same coordinates from only the very beginning of those
> 20+ miles (so some birds sometimes get plotted in the wrong county!). Thus,
> it would be VERY helpful if birders included more exact lat-long info for
> the more special birds seen. (Gotten either from a GPS device, smartphone,
> or from many of today's cameras.) And then there's also the issue that a
> large percent of the birders aboard these trips have little West Coast
> pelagic experience, and even less experience birding from a cruise ship,
> plus a fair percent of them are, shall we say, very very eager (some a bit
> too eager) to see these species and other possible rarities. So there are
> always some questionable reports made. What really everyone needs to do is
> spend the first number of hours of each trip "equilibrating" their brain
> and their skills and in recognizing what the various species look like when
> viewed from a cruise ship, and THEN more confidently start picking them
> apart and finding the rarer ones. As a result, there may be a higher
> percent of incorrect IDs made early in these trips than later on. I've been
> on lots of these trips and have seen this process play out repeatedly
> first-hand. Of course the same thing can be said about reports from regular
> pelagic trips made from smaller boats.
>
>
> --Paul Lehman, San Diego
>
>
>
>
--
------------------------------
*Brian L. Sullivan*
*Digital Publications LeadCornell Lab of Ornithology*
-------------------------------
Date: 5/4/25 11:29 am From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] this year's repositioning cruises
Another spring with multiple northbound repositioning cruises plying the waters near the shelf edge off California (and Oregon and s. Washington) the past 10 days or so. Several sailings from San Diego aboard Holland America and one or two from Los Angeles (San Pedro) aboard Princess. As is typical, all or almost all of the trips are seeing Hawaiian, Murphy's, and Cook's Petrels, and Laysan Albatrosses. From one to a few Hawaiians per trip. Small to moderate numbers of Murphy's this year, with, as usual, the larger numbers farther to the north. And moderate numbers of Cook's Petrels, mostly or entirely in the more southern waters. Laysans have been in larger than normal numbers on most of the trips. A couple Red-billed Tropicbirds in southern waters. And one immature Short-tailed Albatross off San Mateo County. Haven't heard about too much else of note this year. I have heard that numbers of many of the alcids and jaegers seem well down this year. These trips are a comfortable way to see these species all in one trip (only occasionally is one the pterodromas missed, and that's usually when the conditions are too calm (!!) or if a bunch of time is lost due to thick fog (fairly rare, but it does happen on a few trips). Views of these birds range from very good to mediocre, as you might imagine--some requiring scopes while others are close enough to have relatively nice views even with just binoculars (seems to vary from trip to trip).
I'd also like to add that, from an eBird reviewer's perspective, many of us reviewers semi-dread the aftermath of these trips!! Lots and lots of eBird lists submitted. Only a small minority well put together, with locations clearly spelled out and adequate documentation for needed species. Lots of lists submitted with only one or neither of these. Plenty of lists with one-hour pelagic protocols used, but cruise ships may cover almost 25 miles in one hour, so that's a lot of ground where every bird on that list has the same coordinates from only the very beginning of those 20+ miles (so some birds sometimes get plotted in the wrong county!). Thus, it would be VERY helpful if birders included more exact lat-long info for the more special birds seen. (Gotten either from a GPS device, smartphone, or from many of today's cameras.) And then there's also the issue that a large percent of the birders aboard these trips have little West Coast pelagic experience, and even less experience birding from a cruise ship, plus a fair percent of them are, shall we say, very very eager (some a bit too eager) to see these species and other possible rarities. So there are always some questionable reports made. What really everyone needs to do is spend the first number of hours of each trip "equilibrating" their brain and their skills and in recognizing what the various species look like when viewed from a cruise ship, and THEN more confidently start picking them apart and finding the rarer ones. As a result, there may be a higher percent of incorrect IDs made early in these trips than later on. I've been on lots of these trips and have seen this process play out repeatedly first-hand. Of course the same thing can be said about reports from regular pelagic trips made from smaller boats.
Date: 5/1/25 2:29 pm From: Mark Wilson via groups.io <mark.lyon.wilson...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] NEW DATE: Overnight Spring Pelagic: Los Angeles waters
Hi Birders,
With the severe weather system approaching SoCal this weekend we have decided to postpone our Spring pelagic. Due to this multiple people needed to drop off and we therefore have a few spaces available.
The new dates are:
- Departure: Friday, May 9, 2025, 6:00 PM from Seaforth Landing, San Diego, CA. - Return: Sunday, May 11, 2025, ~6:00 AM
Everything else about the trip is the same, so I've pasted that information below from our initial invite.
If you are interested, please reach out to me or Van directly asap.
Happy birding, Mark Wilson (marklyonwilson@ <marklyonwilson@...>gmail.com) Van Pierszalowski (vanpierszalowski@ <vanpierszalowski@...>gmail.com) Los Angeles, CA
- Route: Birding exclusively in Los Angeles County waters, far offshore near Bell Bank and/or the Continental Shelf (weather dependent). - Vessel: Outer Limits (22 bunks, max 22 birders).
*Cost & Payment:*
- Cost: $460 (Includes tip, meals and bottles of water. Snacks and sodas available for purchase) - Payment: - Zelle - Other methods (cash/check): e-mail me directly. - Full payment required to reserve your spot. *You do not have a spot until you pay. *
*Important Details:*
- Location: Seaforth Landing, 1717 Quivira Rd, San Diego, CA 92109. Overnight parking available (details TBD). - Dietary Needs: Let us know ASAP if you have restrictions. - Cancellation policy: if the trip is cancelled due to weather we will strive to run the trip May 16-18. However, this will be dependent on if the captain is still available. - If anyone cannot make this hypothetical rain date then they will be refunded individually. - If we lose too many people for the hypothetical rain date then the entire trip will be cancelled and refunded.
Date: 4/30/25 9:12 pm From: nlethaby via groups.io <nlethaby...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] 2025 pelagic schedule to the Cocos and Blue-footed Booby colony
All,
I have worked with Island Packers to set up three trips to Santa Barbara Island this year, where there is now a substantial and increasing colony of Cocos Boobies along with 1-2 pairs of Blue-footed Boobies. Unlike the trips I arranged in the previous years, these pelagics may be booked directly with Island Packers at:
The dates are Aug 7, Sep 5 and Oct 12. These are week day dates but are paired with 12-hour pelagics led by Dave Pereksta so that birders coming from outside of southern Calfornia can do both trips in a long weekend.
In addition to boobies, the boat trip out to the colony is good for storm-petrels and on last year's trip we had time to cruise into deeper waters to see Townsend's and (dark-rumped) Leach's. Craveri's Murrelets have also been fairly common in recent years.
Regards,
Nick Lethaby Goleta, CA <nlethaby...> +1 805 284 6200
Date: 4/30/25 7:23 am From: Dorian Anderson via groups.io <thespeckledhatchback...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Recent bird photos
All -
Greetings from San Mateo! I've spent comparatively little time in CA the last two years, so I've been
slow to accumulate images from our Golden State. In the midst an unusual stretch of home time at the
moment, I've thrown together a gallery of held-over CA pics from the last 2 years. It contains ~40 images.
Date: 4/26/25 1:22 pm From: Sammy Cowell via groups.io <samueldavidcowell...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Swallow-tailed Kite in Ventura County
Hello all,
Yesterday evening, someone reported a Swallow-tailed Kite at 7 p.m. just south of Ojai in Ventura County. They had an iPhone photo attached to their eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S229417508
This morning, the bird was found again perched in a tree in the same area (34.364351, -119.3095533). It was raining on and off throughout the morning, and thermals were probably very limited. A good group of us watched it for about an hour or so. It took off a couple of times in between breaks in the rain; it looked like it may have been foraging. It would then land more or less in the same area.
A couple of us went over to another vantage point in a local neighborhood. We talked to the neighbors who had said that they had seen it flying around yesterday, perching in the trees around the neighborhood. Around 10:15 a.m. it took off, circled high, and started making its way south along the Ventura River towards the coast. It was sighted a couple of times after that. Last report as of now was at the intersection of Victoria Avenue and Gonzalez (34.21947924, -119.2211541), just south of the 101 freeway in Ventura, heading south.
This is essentially the same time a Swallow-tailed Kite was seen in the area last year. It was seen further to the east/inland in the Santa Rosa Valley area between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo on April 27th during a Conejo Valley Audubon Society field trip: https://ebird.org/checklist/S170567081. Later, another checklist showed up from a local resident from the prior day, April 26th: https://ebird.org/checklist/S171066846
Obviously, this is all circumstantial, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that this could be the same vagrant bird from last year. Anyways, just wanted to get the word out for those in surrounding counties and also farther up the coast. Perhaps the Farallons will get their second record in the coming weeks.
Date: 4/18/25 9:05 am From: Tim Bray via groups.io <tbray...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Mendocino pelagics
Greetings Calbirders. The Mendocino Coast Audubon Society and the Noyo
Center for Marine Science are collaborating with Anchor Charter Boats to
run offshore marine life tours this year. The schedule includes at least
one all-day pelagic seabirding trip each month from April through
November, in addition to half-day birding and marine-mammal trips. The
complete schedule and more information about the trips can be found here:
https://noyopelagics.com/
You can register and prepay at that website. Our first scheduled trips
are coming up soon, a half-day on Saturday April 26 and an all-day (ten
hours) trip on Sunday the 27th. The marine forecast for those days
looks good right now.
These trips are led by ornithologist Peter Pyle, with Rob Fowler
co-leading on many of the all-day trips.
Anchor Charters skipper Richard Thornton reported a concentration of
close to 1000 Black-footed Albatrosses north of Noyo Canyon last week
and, weather permitting, we may try and relocate this concentration
during our full-day trip of Sunday, April 27th. About 15 albatrosses
were also seen from shore two days ago, including two that followed a
fishing boat to within a half mile of the harbor entrance. The next 2-3
months represent the peak period for numbers of this species off our
coast, and we'll be watching for Short-tailed Albatross (three records
off Mendocino last year).
We also have two full-day and one half-day trip planned for May
9th-12th, representing the only time this year we are trying two
full-day trips in one weekend. So if you'd like to come up for two or 2
and a half trips, this would be the weekend. It coincides with our
finding 30+ Murphy's Petrels, five Hawaiian Petrels, and 9 Laysan
Albatrosses on a full-day trip two years ago.
Hope to see you up here this spring or later in the year!
Date: 4/16/25 12:06 pm From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] April migration: Late and Slow! , Some annual early questionable reports
I think almost everyone in California would agree that the passerine migration so far this April is notably LATE and SLOW. Down here in parts of southern California, a number of folks (including myself) have commented on it being a good migration earlier in the season for Violet-green Swallow, and since then OK for Western Kingbird and Chipping Sparrow. But almost everything else.....late and slow! One very common refrain virtually statewide has been, "Where are all the Hooded Orioles?" Here in San Diego County, where common and widespread, they were remarkably scarce until just a little over a week ago. Still below average, but at least they have filled in a fair bit of their widespread range locally--but this is almost A FULL MONTH LATE. Bullock's Orioles and Black-headed Grosbeaks have also finally begun to increase, but still below normal and running 2-3 weeks late. And where are all the many Ash-throated Flycatchers that normally start appearing by late March? Anyway, the list goes on and on. So, what's happening? Major population declines? Inappropriate local weather conditions locally for migration? Or something odd going on farther to the south(east), either en route or closer to the wintering grounds? In support of the latter factor are reports that a fair chunk of southern Arizona had it driest winter on record, EVER, and--perhaps more important--one friend of mine reported that parts of Mexico had a cooler or colder than usual (relatively speaking) winter and early spring--which could well translate into a lot of stuff running late. We will certainly know a lot more once the next month plays out!
It's another first half of April, and yet another year of multiple reports of the following species that are way early and which in most cases likely reflect misidentifications. (And all of which could really use photo documentation.) Western Wood-Pewees are not expected to start arriving until after about 15 April, so any reports before that need to come with strong documentation, and need to be flagged by eBird filters. (For example, the all-time early arrival in San Diego County is around 8 April.) Most such early reports involve either heard-only birds (think vocalizing starlings or a number of other mimics) or are poorly documented and have no photos. Often these reports are from observers who do not at all appreciate how unusually early their bird would be. And a problem that I bet many birders don't realize is that the first Olive-sided Flycatchers actually arrive before wood-pewees do--and probably get misidentified. This month, there were several poorly documented early reports, but also one well photographed bird in Orange County on 10 April. The next species is Swainson's Thrush, which already has a bunch of reports in California during the first half of the month. This species is not reliable until around late the third week in the month, with a just a few documented records as early as the 12th-15th. A fair number of the earliest records are of birds at breeding sites, arriving even earlier than through-migrants do farther to the SOUTH, but such local breeders need to be heard SINGING. Unfortunately, almost all of the early reports this month have involved birds not seen and only heard calling, or heard calling and seen rather poorly, again mostly by folks who don't appreciate the true status of this species so early--and who report the bird giving the "wink" or "wheet" call only, but some other species (e.g., Song Sparrow) can give similar calls. Last but not least comes Black Swift. There are a small number of legit records for the last week or perhaps ten days of April in California (some associated with southern or lowland nesting areas), but of course this species is a notorious late arriver and typically doesn't show until into May. The problem here is the usual one of an observer not appreciating the true status and seasonal timing, and either seeing a White-throated or Vaux's Swift at a distance or in mediocre light and not properly assessing size and/or color. And the other recurring problem is misidentifying male Purple Martins. Heck, some especially early reports of Black Swift, if indeed of a large all-dark swift, might need to also consider either Common Swift or White-collared Swift. So far this year, there have already been one or two Black Swift reports. From previous years, there is an especially "egregious" report with very limited details coming from Butte County on 30 March 2021 and apparently being validated by eBird.....
Anyway, I'd recommend all county ebird filters be tightened for these and several other migrants that are notoriously reported "too early" almost every spring (e.g., add Willow and Dusky Flycatchers to the list), and set to 0 until these species are truly known to occur REGULARLY in at least small numbers.
Exceptional arrival and departure dates certainly DO exist. But such exceptional occurrences need to be appreciated by the observer AT THE TIME OF THE OBSERVATION and need to be exceptionally well documented.
Date: 4/10/25 8:27 am From: Aidan Sinha via groups.io <aidansinha...> Subject: [CALBIRDS] Wood Stork update
All,
After being seen at Natural Bridges (and shortly afterward flying distantly at Antonelli Pond) on the morning of April 6, the Wood Stork vanished and was not seen again in Santa Cruz County as far as I know. However, on Wednesday (April 9), the bird was spotted flying over the New Camaldoli Hermitage by Danae Mouton, in Monterey County along the Big Sur coast. It does appear to be moving south along the coast, so for the next week or so everyone along the Southern California coast should definitely keep an eye out for this bird. Good luck to everyone searching for this bird!
