Date: 5/8/25 4:50 pm From: Jonathan Feenstra via groups.io <feenstra...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Migrants at Piute 5/8/25
Birders:
After many rather grim days birding this spring, I had a refreshingly birdy day at Piute Ponds today. The highlights were a female Black-and-white Warbler along the C-Dike near the "yellow box" and a singing Plumbeous Vireo in the same area.
Of the many other migrants present, the majority of warblers were still Yellow-rumped Warblers. A single Nashville Warbler was also on the late side. And, a Hermit Thrush was my only thrush.
Flycatchers were well represented with multiple WW Pewees, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, and empids: multiple Hammond's, Dusky, Western, plus a single Gray.
There weren't very many shorebirds, and I only saw 3 Western Sandpipers, 3 Wilson's Phalaropes, and a few each of Long-billed Dowitcher and Long-billed Curlew. The habitat looks great, however, but perhaps they weren't delayed like the passerines and most had already passed through.
I only covered the C-Dike from Lot 1 to Thoreau, so 70 species in 2 hours starting at 10:25 was pretty good.
Date: 5/6/25 3:23 pm From: Chuck & Lillian via groups.io <misclists...> Subject: [LACoBirds] SMBAS Zoom program Tues 6 May 7:30 pm
Santa Monica Bay Audubon invites you to tonight's program.
Changing Behavior in Changing Cities: Shifting Trends in Urban Bird Behavior Across Seasons and Cityscapes, with Joey Di Liberto & Suu Zhou. Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 6 May, 7:30 p.m. Zoom Waiting room opens 7:15 p.m.
Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) have become prolific in Californian urban spaces, which makes them a model species to study urban adaptation. Joey Di Liberto and Suu Zhou will discuss their recent two years of research on how juncos are shifting crucial behavioral responses while living in urban environments. While it is known that urban populations of Dark-eyed Juncos' exhibit altered territorial aggression compared to montane counterparts, we recently found that discrete populations in different urban areas, as well as in a non-urban area, show differing aggressive responses. Additionally, Dark-eyed Juncos have been found to have reduced flight initiation distance and fear response in urban spaces, but little work has focused on how these behavioral responses vary across the birds' annual cycle. New research indicates that the juncos' breeding phenology may not have a direct impact on their fear response, but there are signs that the specific time of year, among other variables, may instead impact their flight initiation distance. This research allows us to gain key insights on how wildlife may be affected by human activity, and how they may be adapting their behavior to thrive in the city.
Joey Di Liberto is a second year PhD student in the Yeh Lab. He attended UC San Diego for his Bachelors and The College of William and Mary for his Masters; both in the field of Biology. His work broadly seeks to understand how birds on the front lines of anthropogenic changes adapt and change in response. When not birding, you can find him jamming out on his trumpet, hiking, or listening to music. His favorite bird is the Satin Bowerbird.
Suu Zhou is a second year MS student in the Yeh Lab. They attended Mount Holyoke College, where they majored in Biology. Their research focuses on seasonal changes in urban Junco behavior. Their hobbies include birding (of course), reading, and their favorite bird is the Steller's Jay.
This is the Los Angeles Rare Bird Alert for May 3, 2024.
A SOLITARY SANDPIPER was along the Coyote Creek Bikeway in La
Mirada on April 28.
A PACIFIC LOON continued at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas through May 2.
A COCOS BOOBY was southeast of San Clemente Island on April 26.
Unusual inland were BROWN PELICANS at Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley on April 27 and continuing at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas through May 2.
Two CALIFORNIA CONDORS continued along the I-5 corridor near Templin Highway through April 26.
A BURROWING OWL was at the fish docks in the Los Angeles Harbor on May 2.
A PRAIRIE FALCON was at the Castaic Sports Complex on April 28.
A TROPICAL KINGBIRD continued along the Los Angeles River at Willow Street through April 29.
The THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD at Griffith Park (usually along Mineral Wells Trail adjacent to the golf course) continued through April 26.
A PURPLE MARTIN was at the Piute Ponds on Edwards AFB on April 30 (letter of permission required for entry).
Up to three AMERICAN DIPPERS were in San Antonio Canyon at the Barrett-Stoddard Truck Trail stream crossing through April 30.
Two more AMERICAN DIPPERS were in Big Santa Anita Canyon on May 2.
A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW continued at Madrona Marsh in Torrance through April 30.
Another CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was at Hacienda Park in La Habra Heights on April 28.
A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER was at Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena on April 27 along the upper trail west of the soccer field.
A TENNESSEE WARBLER was at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park in Harbor City on April 29.
-end transcript
Jon L Fisher
Glendale, CA
<JonF60...>
EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
For all events, field trips and announcements, please see our website at http://www.laaudubon.org
Date: 5/1/25 2:28 pm From: Mark Wilson via groups.io <marklyonwilson...> Subject: [LACoBirds] 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...> )
Van Pierszalowski ( <vanpierszalowski...> )
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: 5/1/25 2:24 pm From: Nancy Salem via groups.io <vintage330...> Subject: [LACoBirds] The Little Brown Bird • International Wildlife Film Festival
Just to clarify, the documentary is about the subspecies the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, which is an endangered subspecies. You can watch the documentary by purchasing a ticket for shorts block titled: “
Little Brown Bird & Hokkaido's Endangered Birds”
Nancy Salem
Long Beach
> On May 1, 2025, at 2:04 PM, Nancy Salem <vintage330...> wrote:
>
> Hello Birders,
>
> This documentary about the Grasshopper Sparrow won an award at the International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF). One can watch by attending the virtual festival. Another interesting documentary to checkout is The Birds directed by David Allen. It’s part of the ShortBlock 6 (I think). Virtual Festival is on the IWFF website, you can purchase a pass or buy individual $10 tickets to watch certain documentaries.
>
> https://wildlifefilms.org/portfolio/the-little-brown-bird/ >
> Nancy Salem
> Long Beach
>
>
>
>
>
Date: 5/1/25 2:04 pm From: Nancy Salem via groups.io <vintage330...> Subject: [LACoBirds] The Little Brown Bird • International Wildlife Film Festival
Hello Birders,
This documentary about the Grasshopper Sparrow won an award at the International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF). One can watch by attending the virtual festival. Another interesting documentary to checkout is The Birds directed by David Allen. It’s part of the ShortBlock 6 (I think). Virtual Festival is on the IWFF website, you can purchase a pass or buy individual $10 tickets to watch certain documentaries.
Date: 4/30/25 3:36 pm From: <thebrit1...> via groups.io <thebrit1...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Tejon Pass/Golden Triangle area
The warmer weather in the last 2 days was clearly led to large migration in the area. Sadly for us, there was almost no wind and locally it was NE or S at times - the kiss of death here. We had a few hundred birds each of the last 3 days but this is when we want 1000's. 10k is considered a really good day here. Interestingly this morning, light NW went to calm and then briefly S (very rare in the pass). Northbound migration stopped and a few warblers flew south. The need to fly into the wind in the daytime is striking, and revealing! I have seen this happen before on calm days; when the wind switches direction, the birds do too.
There is an American Bittern in the Sag Pond today - the first I have seen up here. My garden changes every day. The snow higher up brought 2 Cassin's and 2 Purple Finch to my garden. They were gone the next day. A number of birds, such as Lazuli's, tanagers and hummingbirds, are seen only once in my garden. Early to mid-afternoon seems to be when we get these new arrivals. These may well be birds that have been migrating high in the daytime and come down to rest and feed in the afternoon before moving on again at night. Ad male Calliope and Black-chinned Hummers both made visits earlier; they both fed for a few minutes and have presumably moved on. This frequently happens with Rufous Hummingbirds. Nearly all adult males at my feeders show at least a couple of green feathers on the back; everything else, including tail feather shape, looks identical to adult males. Birds with completely rufous backs are the minority. Literature suggests this is atypical but I am curious if anyone knows anything about this. A flock of 100 Western Sands just went past - regular through the Pass but scarce up here in Frazier Park. Raptors etc usually come up this valley when there is dense cloud below in Tejon Pass, and the weather is clearer up here, which it nearly always is.
I will be doing a talk at the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Thousand Oaks at 6PM this Friday, May 2nd. Hope you can come and say hello - I will be there at 5.30. I will have some books for sale.
My house here is in escrow and scheduled to close on May 7th after which I will be heading back to my Cape May, NJ home. I will definitely miss the fantastic birding up here and all the birds right outside my windows.
Richard Crossley
Date: 4/28/25 8:01 pm From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] America's Birdiest County MISSING species: Monday night
Hello Again, Here's a list of all the species found during America's Birdiest County weekend on previous years that we haven't found yet this year. If you saw and/or heard any of these on April 25, 26, or 27, please let me know! # Greater White-fronted Goose # Tundra Bean-Goose # Greater Scaup # White-winged Scoter # Black Scoter # Long-tailed Duck # Common Goldeneye # Hooded Merganser # Gambel's Quail # Chukar # Horned Grebe # Inca Dove # Common Ground-Dove # White-winged Dove # Black Swift NEW in 2024 Needs outstanding documentation # Ridgway's Rail # Sandhill Crane # Pacific Golden-Plover # Red Knot # Ruff # Stilt Sandpiper # Baird's Sandpiper # Pectoral Sandpiper # Semipalmated Sandpiper # Short-billed Dowitcher # Red Phalarope # Solitary Sandpiper # Lesser Yellowlegs # Pomarine Jaeger # Common Murre # Scripps's Murrelet # Rhinoceros Auklet # Sabine's Gull # Laughing Gull # Short-billed Gull # Yellow-footed Gull NEW in 2024 # Lesser Black-backed Gull # Iceland Gull (Thayer's Gull) # Glaucous Gull # Least Tern # Common Tern # Yellow-billed Loon # Black-footed Albatross # Leach's Storm-Petrel # Black Storm-Petrel NEW in 2024 # Northern Fulmar # Sooty Shearwater # Black-vented Shearwater # Red-footed Booby # American Bittern # White-tailed Kite # Zone-tailed Hawk # Ferruginous Hawk # Flammulated Owl # Burrowing Owl # Spotted Owl # Williamson's Sapsucker # Red-naped Sapsucker # Lewis's Woodpecker # Crested Caracara # Least Flycatcher # Gray Flycatcher # Dusky-capped Flycatcher # Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay NEW in 2024 # Clark's Nutcracker # Golden-crowned Kinglet # LeConte's Thrasher # Mountain Bluebird # Townsend's Solitaire # Varied Thrush # Red-throated Pipit # Evening Grosbeak # Grasshopper Sparrow # Field Sparrow # Harris's Sparrow # Vesper Sparrow # Swamp Sparrow # Orchard Oriole # Baltimore Oriole # Northern Waterthrush # Hooded Warbler # American Redstart # Blackburnian Warbler NEW in 2024 # Chestnut-sided Warbler # Palm Warbler # Red-faced Warbler # Painted Redstart # Indigo Bunting # Painted Bunting NEW in 2024 Note that this list is now much shorter than the list of species we found. Again, I'll provide a detailed summary next week after we've had more time to receive reports and check documentation. Regards, Lance Lance BennerPasadena, CA _._,_._,_
Hi Everyone, We've added quite a few more species since the last update at 3 pm and our total is now 264. One of these was a pigeon guillemot seen off Point Dume. This will be a new species for the count pending receipt of documentation. Those of you who get the eBird rare bird alerts have also seen some wonderful things well offshore such as an albatross, booby, more alcids, a common tern, etc. They were seen from a repositioning cruise, and following established protocols for America's Birdiest County, we aren't including those in our totals because they were seen from a boat and not from land. Other species we have added: Cassin's AukletGlaucous-winged GullBlack-bellied PloverRuddy TurnstoneCommon MerganserSwainson's HawkLesser NighthawkTennessee Warbler (which requires documentation) We're still missing some relatively common species such as:Least Tern: have any arrived yet?Short-billed DowitcherHooded Merganser: any still around?Horned GrebeLesser Yellowlegs (these seem to be scarce)Gray Flycatcher There are also local species we haven't gotten such as LeConte's Thrasher, Inca Dove, Clark's Nutcracker, Williamson's Sapsucker, Townsend's Solitaire, and some owls. There have been efforts to find some of them but we've struck out. If you found any of these, please let us know! Here are the species that we've FOUND so far: * Snow Goose * Ross's Goose * Brant * Cackling Goose * Canada Goose * Wood Duck * Blue-winged Teal * Cinnamon Teal * Northern Shoveler * Gadwall * American Wigeon * Mallard * Northern Pintail * Green-winged Teal * Canvasback * Redhead * Ring-necked Duck * Lesser Scaup * Surf Scoter * Bufflehead * Common Merganser * Red-breasted Merganser * Ruddy Duck * Mountain Quail * California Quail * Pied-billed Grebe * Eared Grebe * Western Grebe * Clark's Grebe * Rock Pigeon * Band-tailed Pigeon * Eurasian Collared-Dove * Spotted Dove * Mourning Dove * Greater Roadrunner * Lesser Nighthawk * Common Poorwill * Vaux's Swift * White-throated Swift * Black-chinned Hummingbird * Anna's Hummingbird * Costa's Hummingbird * Rufous Hummingbird * Allen's Hummingbird * Calliope Hummingbird * Virginia Rail * Sora * Common Gallinule * American Coot * Black-necked Stilt * American Avocet * Black Oystercatcher * Black-bellied Plover * Snowy Plover * Semipalmated Plover * Killdeer * Whimbrel * Long-billed Curlew * Marbled Godwit * Ruddy Turnstone * Black Turnstone * Surfbird * Sanderling * Dunlin * Least Sandpiper * Western Sandpiper * Long-billed Dowitcher * Wilson's Snipe * Wilson's Phalarope * Red-necked Phalarope * Spotted Sandpiper * Wandering Tattler * Greater Yellowlegs * Willet * Parasitic Jaeger * Cassin's Auklet * Pigeon Guillemot NEW in 2025 * Bonaparte's Gull * Franklin's Gull * Heermann's Gull * Ring-billed Gull * Western Gull * California Gull * American Herring Gull * Glaucous-winged Gull * Caspian Tern * Black Tern * Forster's Tern * Royal Tern * Elegant Tern * Black Skimmer * Red-throated Loon * Pacific Loon * Common Loon * Pink-footed Shearwater * Brandt's Cormorant * Pelagic Cormorant * Neotropic Cormorant * Double-crested Cormorant * American White Pelican * Brown Pelican * Least Bittern * Great Blue Heron * Great Egret * Snowy Egret * Western Cattle Egret * Green Heron * Black-crowned Night-Heron * Yellow-crowned Night-Heron * White-faced Ibis * Turkey Vulture * California Condor * Osprey * Golden Eagle * Northern Harrier * Sharp-shinned Hawk * Cooper's Hawk * Bald Eagle * Red-shouldered Hawk * Swainson's Hawk * Red-tailed Hawk * American Barn Owl * Western Screech-Owl * Great Horned Owl * Northern Pygmy-Owl * Long-eared Owl * Belted Kingfisher * Red-breasted Sapsucker * Acorn Woodpecker * Downy Woodpecker * Nuttall's Woodpecker * Ladder-backed Woodpecker * Hairy Woodpecker * White-headed Woodpecker * Northern Flicker * American Kestrel * Merlin * Peregrine Falcon * Prairie Falcon * Yellow-chevroned Parakeet * Red-Crowned Amazon * Lilac-Crowned Parrot * Nanday Parakeet * Mitred Parakeet * Red-masked Parakeet * Olive-sided Flycatcher * Western Wood-Pewee * Hammond's Flycatcher * Dusky Flycatcher * Western Flycatcher * Black Phoebe * Say's Phoebe * Vermilion Flycatcher * Ash-throated Flycatcher * Tropical Kingbird * Cassin's Kingbird * Thick-billed Kingbird * Western Kingbird * Bell's Vireo * Hutton's Vireo * Cassin's Vireo * Plumbeous Vireo * Warbling Vireo * Loggerhead Shrike * Steller's Jay * California Scrub-Jay * American Crow * Common Raven * Mountain Chickadee * Oak Titmouse * Verdin * Horned Lark * Northern Rough-winged Swallow * Purple Martin * Tree Swallow * Violet-green Swallow * Bank Swallow * Barn Swallow * Cliff Swallow * Red-Whiskered Bulbul * Bushtit * Wrentit * Ruby-crowned Kinglet * Red-breasted Nuthatch * White-breasted Nuthatch * Pygmy Nuthatch * Brown Creeper * Blue-gray Gnatcatcher * California Gnatcatcher * Rock Wren * Canyon Wren * House Wren * Marsh Wren * Bewick's Wren * Cactus Wren * American Dipper * European Starling * California Thrasher * Northern Mockingbird * Western Bluebird * Swainson's Thrush * Hermit Thrush * American Robin * Cedar Waxwing * Phainopepla * House Sparrow * Scaly-breasted Munia * American Pipit * House Finch * Purple Finch * Cassin's Finch * Red Crossbill * Pine Siskin * Lesser Goldfinch * Lawrence's Goldfinch * American Goldfinch * Chipping Sparrow * Clay-colored Sparrow * Black-chinned Sparrow * Brewer's Sparrow * Black-throated Sparrow * Lark Sparrow * Fox Sparrow * Dark-eyed Junco * White-crowned Sparrow * Golden-crowned Sparrow * White-throated Sparrow * Bell's Sparrow * Savannah Sparrow * Song Sparrow * Lincoln's Sparrow * California Towhee * Rufous-crowned Sparrow * Green-tailed Towhee * Spotted Towhee * Yellow-breasted Chat * Yellow-headed Blackbird * Western Meadowlark * Hooded Oriole * Bullock's Oriole * Scott's Oriole * Red-winged Blackbird * Tricolored Blackbird * Brown-headed Cowbird * Brewer's Blackbird * Great-tailed Grackle * Black-and-white Warbler * Tennessee Warbler * Orange-crowned Warbler * Nashville Warbler * MacGillivray's Warbler * Common Yellowthroat * Northern Parula * Yellow Warbler * Yellow-rumped Warbler * Black-throated Gray Warbler * Townsend's Warbler * Hermit Warbler * Wilson's Warbler * Summer Tanager * Western Tanager * Black-headed Grosbeak * Blue Grosbeak * Lazuli Bunting Thank you, Lance Lance BennerPasadena, CA _._,_._,_
Date: 4/27/25 8:11 am From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] ABC Update: two more species, Sunday, 8 am
All, Since last night we have added two more species: Spotted Dove and Pink-footed Shearwater. The weather looks much better today so let's go find some birds! Please note that we're still missing black-chinned sparrow! Has anyone heard one at Bear Divide? Regards, Lance Lance BennerPasadena _._,_._,_
This is the Los Angeles Rare Bird Alert for April 26, 2024.
Five BLACK SWIFTS were seen above Blaisdell Ranch Preserve in Claremont on April 25.
A PACIFIC LOON continued at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas through April 25.
Another PACIFIC LOON was at Quail Lake near Gorman from April 19-23.
Two CALIFORNIA CONDORS were along the I-5 corridor near Templin Highway through April 21.
A BROAD-WINGED HAWK was at St. Andrews Abbey in Valyermo on April 19.
A TROPICAL KINGBIRD continued along the Los Angeles River at Willow Street through April 25.
Another TROPICAL KINGBIRD continued at Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach through April 18. It was seen at the Will Rogers Mini Park.
PURPLE MARTINS included one in Palmdale by Avenue S and 20th Street East and two at Reseda Park, both on April 25.
Up to three AMERICAN DIPPERS were in San Antonio Canyon at the Barrett-Stoddard Truck Trail stream crossing through April 25.
A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW continued at Madrona Marsh in Torrance through April 24.
A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued at Madrona Marsh in Torrance through April 19.
Another BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued at Hopkins Wilderness Park in Redondo Beach through April 21 north of the Gums Camp restrooms. One was also at Placerita Canyon near the Nature Center about 200 yards up the Canyon Trail on April 25.
A LUCYS WARBLER was at Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena along the Fire Station road on April 21.
NORTHERN PARULAS were at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes Estates and another was in Towsley Canyon at Ed Davis Park, both on April 25
A SUMMER TANAGER was at Wardlow Park in Long Beach from April 18-23.
-end transcript
Jon L Fisher
Glendale, CA
<JonF60...>
EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
For all events, field trips and announcements, please see our website at http://www.laaudubon.org
The migration has been just okay the last couple of weeks with the timing; most days had reasonable flights but with really big ones; there have been some birdless days - see http://www.trektellen.org/tejonpass. Now in peak season for major flights, the weather isn't particularly exciting with midweek appearing to have the best chance of good flights. It has been a late spring here with Thursday being the first day that flipped from early-season Yellow-rumps and Chipping Sparrows to grosbeaks, tanagers, orioles and warblers. The lack of blooming flowers, and therefore food, is striking. There is plenty of evidence to suggest food is the biggest motivation in driving migration and the sparsity of food and to the south of us is a good explanation of the poor/late migration.
It is snowing as a write this. There is lots of snow high so I presume an odd bird will come down to my feeders. The 6 Black-headed Grosbeaks clearly knew it was coming, as did most of the hummingbirds, because most left last night. Pine Siskins and House Finches are still here because they are hardy, and the first Purple Finch just showed up. There are no Cassin's Finch this year; very unusual.
The messed with the local aquifer and the pond in Frazier Park is getting water after years of being dry. The water recharge project west of Neenach is nearly finished. It is big!.There is almost no water at the moment thought there are plenty of shorebirds at the little puddle and birds such as Chestnut-collared Longspur used it. When they start putting water in from the aqueduct, it has the potential to be great. Presumably it has to to do with the project to put 22,000 houses nearby. More houses are also being built the other side of Tejon Pass near the outlets to support the Hard Rock Casino due to be opened in December. The area is going to start looking very different at some point!
The Sag Pond on Gorman Post Road has water. Plenty of birds drop in. There have been as many as 3 Solitary Sandpipers. Quail Lake has had Pacific Loon, Bonaparte's Gulls, lots of Caspian Terns and unusually high numbers of Western and Clarkes Grebes but nothing out of the ordinary. That just about sums up the last few weeks in the area. Good birding...
Date: 4/25/25 2:41 pm From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Mountain access during ABC weekend
Hi Again, I want to provide an update on roads in the San Gabriel Mountains because there are still some significant closures in effect. On the east, Big Pines, Table Mountain, Jackson Lake, and nearby areas are OPEN. The Blue Ridge Trail from Big Pines to Blue Ridge Campground is OPEN. The road to Blue Ridge, though, is CLOSED. The Angeles Crest Highway is CLOSED from Big Pines to Vincent Gap in the aftermath of the Bridge Fire, so there's no access to Grassy Hollow (which burned). On the west, the Angeles Crest Highway is OPEN from La Canada-Flintridge to Islip Saddle (at the junction with the northern end of route 39). Thus, the road is open to Charlton Flat, Chilao, and Buckhorn (although Buckhorn campground is closed to cars...but you can still walk in). The Crest is closed for cars between Islip Saddle and Vincent Gap, but it should be possible to walk on the road. In addition, the Pacific Crest Trail is open east of Islip Saddle, which provides access to Little Jimmy Campground and Windy Gap. The PCT up Mt. Williamson is OPEN. The Burkhart Trail downstream from Buckhorn Campground is OPEN. The Mt. Waterman Trail is OPEN. Highway 39 is open from Azusa to Crystal Lake, but as always, it's closed from Crystal Lake to Islip Saddle (this has been true since the late 1970s). Glendora Ridge Road is CLOSED but (I think...) Glendora Mountain Road is open. Mt. Baldy Road from Claremont to Baldy Village is OPEN. The Mt. Wilson Road was OPEN last I checked, although the county road closure website suggests that it's closed. Chantry Flats and Big Santa Anita Canyon are OPEN. Millard Canyon, Sunset Ridge, the Cobb Estate, Rubio Canyon, Eaton Canyon, and Little Santa Anita Canyon are CLOSED in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire. Regards, Lance Lance BennerPasadena, CA _._,_._,_
Date: 4/24/25 4:32 pm From: Jeanette Repp via groups.io <jzlrepp...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Ballona/Marina del Rey?
I'll be up in that area tomorrow, Friday, and have about an hour for birding. What's a good place to walk? (I've looked at hotspots. I'm looking for intersections/paths, etc.)
Date: 4/24/25 1:17 pm From: Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] America's Birdiest County April 25-27: More information
Birders,
Once again the "America's Birdiest County" effort coincides with the "City
Nature Challenge" which is co-sponsored by the Natural History Museum of
Los Angeles County. The City Nature Challenge uses iNaturalist as a
platform for uploading photos that document sightings of all wildlife. So
please consider uploading your bird photos taken 25-27 April into
iNaturalist as well as eBird.
The City Nature Challenge is a four-day event, so your sightings on Monday
28 April will also be counted (but will NOT count for the America's
Birdiest County" effort). And, of course, feel free to also upload photos
of any and all non-avian wildlife and native plants for the City Nature
Challenge.
On Thu, Apr 24, 2025 at 12:06 PM Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner=
<charter.net...> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> Here's additional information about the "America's Birdiest County" event
> that will happen in Los Angeles County on April 25-27, 2025.
> The count starts at midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning and ends at
> midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning.
>
> The objective is to find as many species in Los Angeles County over this
> three day interval as possible. We've been doing this since 2003 and
> regularly find more than 260 species.
>
> Birds can be identified by sight or sound, and as usual, rare species
> require documentation. All birds must be counted from land, so we can't
> accept anything seen on a whale watch, or from a boat on a lake, but we'd
> be glad to count any birds seen from Santa Catalina and San Clemente
> Islands or from seawatches at places such as Point Vicente and Point Dume.
>
>
Date: 4/24/25 12:06 pm From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] America's Birdiest County April 25-27: More information
Hi Everyone,Here's additional information about the "America's Birdiest County" event that will happen in Los Angeles County on April 25-27, 2025.The count starts at midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning and ends at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning. The objective is to find as many species in Los Angeles County over this three day interval as possible. We've been doing this since 2003 and regularly find more than 260 species. Birds can be identified by sight or sound, and as usual, rare species require documentation. All birds must be counted from land, so we can't accept anything seen on a whale watch, or from a boat on a lake, but we'd be glad to count any birds seen from Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands or from seawatches at places such as Point Vicente and Point Dume. I will act as compiler again this year. HISTORYAmerica's Birdiest County started in 2003 in San Diego as a friendly competition among counties across the country to see how many species people could find in a single 24-hour period. After the first three years, the organizers changed the protocol to make it a three-day event. There were also various categories across the country to try to level the playing field so that counties in very different areas wouldn't be competing against those in other areas that have vastly more birds. Thus, counties in, say, Maine weren't competing against counties in California. Los Angeles was in the "Coastal West" category and our chief competition, at least initially, was with San Diego and Monterey. After the format changed to a three-day event, Monterey stopped competing in order to continue their traditional one-day county-wide birdathon. After 2011, the organizers discontinued the nationwide event, but selected counties continued due to strong local interest. Los Angeles and Kern Counties, which usually did very well, both continued. Here are the number of species found in Los Angeles County since 2003: Year Total 2024 276 2023 268 2022 265 2021 277 2020 No count due to covid 19 2019 257 2018 263 2017 264 2016 270 2015 275 2014 272 2013 265 2012 262 2011 277 2010 271 2009 264 2008 255 2007 272 2006 265 2005 246 2004 240 2003 239 Our total jumped in 2006 due to better organization and increased interest. This event has turned into an intensive sweep of the whole county each spring and has provided a useful snapshot of the species that are present in late April. Many people who participate also record their observations in eBird, and as a result, tens of thousands of bird sightings are permanently archived, so in addition to having fun, we're also making a scientifically useful contribution. ###################################### LOGISTICSPlease email reports to me at <lbenner...> and/or to the LA County listserve (<lacobirds...>). We welcome you to send ebird lists: the easiest way is to email eBird lists to your self and then forward them to me: This makes checking for new species really easy. We prefer that you * NOT * share them with me unless I happened to be with you. I will provide updates two to four times each day to track our progress and to help guide searches for species we're missing. The first update will probably happen by mid afternoon on Friday. We will also provide updates each night so that we everyone can see what we still need first thing in the morning. We welcome reports on the county listserve all weekend regardless of what you see: the species do not have to be rare. Please note that we can't count birds seen from boats, but birds seen from Santa Catalina and San Clemente Island count. Also, the Gambel's quail and chukars on San Clemente Island are self-sustaining so we can count them. Also, to continue the protocol we adopted a few years ago, we are now glad to count bald eagles seen from Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands. ###################################### NON-NATIVE SPECIES: Kimball Garrett asks us to please report established non-native species even if they're not the list that's accepted by the AOS or the CBRC. This means that we want to hear about introduced species such as parakeets and parrots, pin-tailed whydahs, orange bishops, white-eyes, Egyptian goose, Mandarin ducks, and so forth. Monitoring those populations is becoming increasingly important so please report them, and, of course, enter your sightings into eBird. We'll keep them in a supplemental list separate from the "regular" species. ######################################RARE SPECIESAs always, anything flagged as "rare" in eBird is going to require documentation, so please take photos, jot down notes, obtain recordings and videos, or make sketches. Please remember that your cell phone probably has an app that allows you to record sounds. They're quite sensitive and can be good for documetation. ###################################### SPECIES PREVIOUSLY RECORDEDBelow is the list of every species we've found during previous ABC weekends.There are some species that we get regularly that are actually quite local and require special effort to find and/or that are just leaving or arriving at this time of year . Among them, in no particular order, are prairie falcon, American dipper, common ground-dove, Inca dove, spotted owl, northern saw-whet owl, northern pygmy owl, flammulated owl, burrowing owl, golden-crowned kinglet, LeConte's thrasher, Williamson's sapsucker, red crossbill, Swainson's hawk, common merganser, hooded merganser, summer tanager, golden eagle, and wandering tattler. We often struggle to find pelagic species; alcids are particularly difficult. The table below lists every species we've recorded during the ABC weekend since 2004 and the number of years in which we've found it. Note that this list isn't strictly in taxonomic order although it's pretty close. N = number of years we've found a species from 2004-presentN SPECIES 16 Snow Goose 20 Ross's Goose 19 Greater White-fronted Goose 01 Tundra Bean-Goose 18 Brant 18 Cackling Goose 20 Canada Goose 17 Wood Duck 20 Blue-winged Teal 20 Cinnamon Teal 20 Northern Shoveler 20 Gadwall 20 American Wigeon 20 Mallard 18 Northern Pintail 20 Green-winged Teal 04 Canvasback 20 Redhead 20 Ring-necked Duck 02 Greater Scaup 20 Lesser Scaup 20 Surf Scoter 03 White-winged Scoter 04 Black Scoter 04 Long-tailed Duck 20 Bufflehead 04 Common Goldeneye 11 Hooded Merganser 16 Common Merganser 19 Red-breasted Merganser 20 Ruddy Duck 20 Mountain Quail 20 California Quail 15 Gambel's Quail 15 Chukar 20 Pied-billed Grebe 11 Horned Grebe 20 Eared Grebe 20 Western Grebe 20 Clark's Grebe 20 Rock Pigeon 20 Band-tailed Pigeon 19 Eurasian Collared-Dove 20 Spotted Dove 15 Inca Dove 15 Common Ground-Dove 03 White-winged Dove 20 Mourning Dove 20 Greater Roadrunner 20 Lesser Nighthawk 20 Common Poorwill 01 Black Swift. Requires outstanding documentation! 20 Vaux's Swift 20 White-throated Swift 20 Black-chinned Hummingbird 20 Anna's Hummingbird 20 Costa's Hummingbird 20 Rufous Hummingbird 20 Allen's Hummingbird 15 Calliope Hummingbird 01 Ridgeway's Rail 19 Virginia Rail 20 Sora 20 Common Gallinule 20 American Coot 01 Sandhill Crane 20 Black-necked Stilt 20 American Avocet 20 Black Oystercatcher 19 Black-bellied Plover 04 Pacific Golden-Plover 20 Snowy Plover 20 Semipalmated Plover 20 Killdeer 20 Whimbrel 20 Long-billed Curlew 20 Marbled Godwit 19 Ruddy Turnstone 19 Black Turnstone 02 Red Knot 20 Surfbird 01 Ruff 01 Stilt Sandpiper 20 Sanderling 20 Dunlin 04 Baird's Sandpiper 20 Least Sandpiper 01 Pectoral Sandpiper 02 Semipalmated Sandpiper 20 Western Sandpiper 16 Short-billed Dowitcher 20 Long-billed Dowitcher 14 Wilson's Snipe 15 Wilson's Phalarope 19 Red-necked Phalarope 03 Red Phalarope 20 Spotted Sandpiper 16 Solitary Sandpiper 20 Wandering Tattler 20 Greater Yellowlegs 20 Willet 19 Lesser Yellowlegs 07 Pomarine Jaeger 11 Parasitic Jaeger 07 Common Murre 04 Scripps' Murrelet 02 Cassin's Auklet 03 Rhinoceros Auklet 01 Sabine's Gull 20 Bonaparte's Gull 01 Laughing Gull 10 Franklin's Gull 18 Heermann's Gull 02 Short-billed Gull 20 Ring-billed Gull 01 Yellow-footed Gull. New in 2024 20 Western Gull 20 California Gull 18 Herring Gull 02 Iceland Gull (Thayer's Gull) 02 Lesser Black-backed gull 20 Glaucous-winged Gull 01 Glaucous Gull 19 Least Tern 20 Caspian Tern 05 Black Tern 01 Common Tern 20 Forster's Tern 20 Royal Tern 20 Elegant Tern 20 Black Skimmer 20 Red-throated Loon 20 Pacific Loon 20 Common Loon 01 Yellow-billed Loon 01 Black-footed albatross 01 Black Storm-petrel. New in 2024 01 Leach's Storm-petrel 03 Northern Fulmar 13 Pink-footed Shearwater 19 Sooty Shearwater 09 Black-vented Shearwater 01 Red-footed Booby 20 Brandt's Cormorant 20 Pelagic Cormorant 05 Neotropic Cormorant 20 Double-crested Cormorant 19 American White Pelican 20 Brown Pelican 04 American Bittern 19 Least Bittern 20 Great Blue Heron 20 Great Egret 20 Snowy Egret 17 Western Cattle Egret Formerly "Cattle Egret" 20 Green Heron 20 Black-crowned Night-Heron 07 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 20 White-faced Ibis 02 California Condor 20 Turkey Vulture 20 Osprey 18 White-tailed Kite 18 Golden Eagle 19 Northern Harrier 19 Sharp-shinned Hawk 20 Cooper's Hawk 08 Bald Eagle 20 Red-shouldered Hawk 19 Swainson's Hawk 01 Zone-tailed Hawk 20 Red-tailed Hawk 04 Ferruginous Hawk 20 Barn Owl 12 Flammulated Owl 20 Western Screech-Owl 20 Great Horned Owl 18 Northern Pygmy-Owl 14 Burrowing Owl 16 Spotted Owl 06 Long-eared Owl 17 Northern Saw-whet Owl 20 Belted Kingfisher 15 Lewis's Woodpecker 20 Acorn Woodpecker 16 Williamson's Sapsucker 01 Red-naped Sapsucker 20 Red-breasted Sapsucker 17 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 20 Nuttall's Woodpecker 20 Downy Woodpecker 20 Hairy Woodpecker 20 White-headed Woodpecker 20 Northern Flicker 01 Crested Caracara 20 American Kestrel 17 Merlin 20 Peregrine Falcon 18 Prairie Falcon 02 Nanday Parakeet 2023 was the first year we could count it 03 Mitred Parakeet: 2022 was the first year we could count it 02 Red-masked Parakeet 2023 was the first year we could count it 04 Yellow-chevroned Parakeet. 2021 was the first year we could count it 20 Red-crowned Amazon 03 Lilac-crowned Parrot: 2022 was the first year we could count it. 20 Olive-sided Flycatcher 20 Western Wood-Pewee 01 Least Flycatcher 20 Hammond's Flycatcher 20 Gray Flycatcher 20 Dusky Flycatcher 20 Western Flycatcher Formerly Pacific-slope Flycatcher 20 Black Phoebe 20 Say's Phoebe 11 Vermilion Flycatcher 05 Dusky-capped Flycatcher 20 Ash-throated Flycatcher 08 Tropical Kingbird 20 Cassin's Kingbird 02 Thick-billed Kingbird 20 Western Kingbird 20 Bell's Vireo 20 Hutton's Vireo 20 Cassin's Vireo 12 Plumbeous Vireo 20 Warbling Vireo 20 Loggerhead Shrike 20 Steller's Jay 20 California Scrub-Jay 01 Wooodhouse's Scrub-Jay. New in 2024 17 Clark's Nutcracker 20 American Crow 20 Common Raven 20 Mountain Chickadee 20 Oak Titmouse 19 Verdin 20 Horned Lark 20 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 09 Purple Martin 20 Tree Swallow 20 Violet-green Swallow 18 Bank Swallow 20 Barn Swallow 20 Cliff Swallow 04 Red-whiskered Bulbul. 2021 was the first year we could count it. 20 Bushtit 20 Wrentit 20 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 09 Golden-crowned Kinglet 20 Red-breasted Nuthatch 20 White-breasted Nuthatch 20 Pygmy Nuthatch 20 Brown Creeper 20 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 20 California Gnatcatcher 20 Rock Wren 20 Canyon Wren 20 House Wren 20 Marsh Wren 20 Bewick's Wren 20 Cactus Wren 14 American Dipper 20 European Starling 20 California Thrasher 14 LeConte's Thrasher 20 Northern Mockingbird 20 Western Bluebird 01 Mountain Bluebird 17 Townsend's Solitaire 01 Varied thrush 20 Swainson's Thrush 20 Hermit Thrush 20 American Robin 20 Cedar Waxwing 20 Phainopepla 10 Scaly-Breasted Munia 20 House Sparrow 01 Red-throated Pipit 20 American Pipit 01 Evening Grosbeak 20 House Finch 20 Purple Finch 20 Cassin's Finch 14 Red Crossbill 16 Pine Siskin 20 Lesser Goldfinch 20 Lawrence's Goldfinch 20 American Goldfinch 04 Grasshopper Sparrow 20 Chipping Sparrow 03 Clay-colored Sparrow 20 Black-chinned Sparrow 01 Field Sparrow 16 Brewer's Sparrow 20 Black-throated Sparrow 19 Lark Sparrow 20 Fox Sparrow 20 Dark-eyed Junco 20 White-crowned Sparrow 20 Golden-crowned Sparrow 03 Harris' Sparrow 15 White-throated Sparrow 20 Bell's Sparrow 03 Vesper Sparrow 20 Savannah Sparrow 20 Song Sparrow 18 Lincoln's Sparrow 02 Swamp Sparrow 20 California Towhee 20 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 20 Green-tailed Towhee 20 Spotted Towhee 20 Yellow-breasted Chat 20 Yellow-headed Blackbird 20 Western Meadowlark 03 Orchard Oriole 20 Hooded Oriole 20 Bullock's Oriole 01 Baltimore Oriole 20 Scott's Oriole 20 Red-winged Blackbird 20 Tricolored Blackbird 20 Brown-headed Cowbird 20 Brewer's Blackbird 20 Great-tailed Grackle 02 Northern Waterthrush 05 Black-and-white Warbler 01 Tennessee Warbler 20 Orange-crowned Warbler 20 Nashville Warbler 20 MacGillivray's Warbler 20 Common Yellowthroat 01 Hooded Warbler 02 American Redstart 01 Blackburnian Warbler New in 2024 03 Northern Parula 20 Yellow Warbler 01 Chestnut-sided Warbler 12 Palm Warbler 20 Yellow-rumped Warbler 20 Black-throated Gray Warbler 20 Townsend's Warbler 20 Hermit Warbler 20 Wilson's Warbler 01 Red-faced Warbler 01 Painted Redstart 07 Summer Tanager 20 Western Tanager 20 Black-headed Grosbeak 20 Blue Grosbeak 20 Lazuli Bunting 02 Indigo Bunting 01 Painted Bunting. New in 2024Total: 353 species We added SIX new species last year: Yellow-footed Gull Black Storm-Petrel Black Swift. Requires outstanding documentation! Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay Blackburnian Warbler Painted Bunting Good luck to us, Lance Lance Benner Pasadena, CA_._,_._,_
Date: 4/22/25 12:18 am From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] America's Birdiest County is back! April 25-27
Hi Everyone, It's time for America's Birdiest County! This year we're doing it from April 25-27, this coming Friday-Sunday. Recall that this is an annual event in late April when we try to find as many species as possible in a three day interval in Los Angeles County. I'll provide more background information in a day or so, but I wanted to get the word out that we're doing it again. More soon! Regards, Lance Lance BennerPasadena, CA _._,_._,_
Date: 4/18/25 4:12 pm From: Richard Barth via groups.io <busyday...> Subject: [LACoBirds] swallows and swifts at LAR Willow St
Birders,
I'm following up on Andy Birch's report of large numbers of swallows
and swifts at the L.A.River in the Burbank-Glendale-Silver Lake area.
Early this morning Jeff Boyd and I had a good number of these species
in a limited area at Long Beach Willow St, mainly north of the bridge.
When we arrived there were 300+ Cliff Swallows resting on the west
wall of the river. They would periodically leave the wall to create
clouds of birds joined by 90 Vaux's Swifts, 35 or so White-throated
Swifts, plus small numbers of Rough-winged and Barn Swallows.
Richard BarthWest Hollywood
Date: 4/18/25 3:16 pm From: rebecca.fenning via groups.io <rebecca.fenning...> Subject: [LACoBirds] LA Birders Webinar: Rethinking Field Guides with Tom Stephenson
Dear Birders,
You are invited to the next LA Birders webinar:
Webinar: Rethinking Field Guides for Better Bird Identification
Join expert Tom Stephenson for an engaging scientific webinar exploring the
evolution of field guides and their role in bird identification. This talk
will examine the history of field guides, highlighting the limitations of
their traditional taxonomic organization and the challenges it presents to
birders.
Tom will discuss how using direct comparisons and detailed photographs can
significantly enhance identification skills, offering a more effective and
efficient approach. This webinar will also address the shortcomings of the
“birding by impression” method, providing evidence-based strategies for
improving accuracy in the field.
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced birder, this webinar will
offer valuable insights into refining your bird ID techniques.
This webinar will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel
<https://tinyurl.com/2y6efp3f> and will also be recorded for later viewing.
Please use the YouTube link above (alternatively:
https://tinyurl.com/2y6efp3f) which will take you directly to LAB’s main
page, where the live webinar should be visible once it begins at 7pm.
Become a LAB Member! Though our webinars will always remain free and
available to all, members of Los Angeles Birders have access to live
webinars via Zoom, invitations to special LAB-only field trips, priority
sign-up on LAB field trips & events, and discounts on paid LAB programs. To
learn more about membership, please see our website
<https://www.labirders.org/>!
Looking for a past webinar? Don’t forget that a list of all of our
previously recorded webinars <https://www.labirders.org/webinars.html> is
available on our website – which might come in handy if you want to study
up before a field trip, or if you're looking to build your birding skills
from home! Just scroll all the way down, past our upcoming and most recent
online programs and you'll find a list of webinars sorted by category.
These recordings are all viewable via our YouTube
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHbAhQTFVaeowMCl-sD2e0g> page.
Upcoming Programs
4/19 Exploring the LA County chaparral with Naresh Satyan and Lance Benner
(member field trip)
4/22 Rethinking Field Guides for Better Bird Identification with Tom
Stephenson (webinar)
4/26 Tejon Ranch with Frank and Susan Gilliland (member field trip) - FULL
4/27 Sepulveda Basin with Rebecca Marschall (member field trip)
5/4 First Sundays at the Huntington with Katy Mann (member-only field trip)
5/11 Long Beach migration with Christine Jacobs (member field trip)
Date: 4/18/25 10:01 am From: Andrew Birch via groups.io <andyrbirch...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Swallows and Swifts, LA River Burbank and Eastside
Whilst the trees remain bare of birds, at least the hirundine action on the Eastside has been a wonder to experience this week. The cool, overcast conditions have dropped some huge feeding flocks along the LA river ranging from Buena Vista Park in Burbank (close to 1000 birds there alone) all the way through Glendale and down to Silver Lake Reservoir (approximately 1500 birds this morning). Clearly thousands of birds all the way along the river with many sections of the river that I did not have time to check but a scan would reveal large feeding flocks as far as you could see. Along the river in Burbank and Glendale, the majority of birds were NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED and AMERICAN BARN SWALLOWS with smaller, unremarkable numbers of CLIFF, TREE and VIOLET-GREENS. There have also been a few hundred VAUX'S SWIFTS in these flocks too. I've only been able to find a total of 2 BANK SWALLOWS but that's not an atypical number for my efforts here in spring. Additionally, Silver Lake Reservoir has also had vast numbers and this morning over 1000 CLIFF SWALLOWS including a single flock of 550 birds resting on the reservoir bank (counted from photos). Again, unremarkable numbers of TREE and VIOLET-GREENS mixed in here.
Best, Andy BirchLos Feliz
Date: 4/15/25 8:34 am From: Rob Faucett via groups.io <robfaucett...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Let's Record Bird Sounds!
All - I totally agree!! And if you’d like to take one step further into the hobby/science of natural sound recording Greg Budney et al. teach a great course up at the UCSF Sierra Nevada Field Station every year. I highly recommend it. Very informative, incredible place and really fun people.
> On Apr 14, 2025, at 11:47 PM, Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Following up on the recent webinar on recording bird sounds presented for Los Angeles Birders (available online at:
> https://www.labirders.org/webinars/sound_recordings_mar2025.html) we would like to encourage birders in our area to obtain more bird recordings and to upload them to eBird.
>
> Birders in Los Angeles County excel at submitting eBird checklists and uploading photos to eBird, but far fewer recordings have been contributed. For example, currently more than 771,000 photos from Los Angeles County have been entered into eBird, but only about 18,300 audio recordings have been uploaded. In other words, 42 times as many photos have been uploaded relative to sound recordings. In Orange county, the contrast is even more stark: 684,000 photos have been uploaded versus only 7400 audio recordings.
>
> Recordings can be really important (arguably even more so than photos in many situations) but most audio files uploaded to eBird in this area are provided by only a small number of people. Everyone can make valuable contributions if you have a smartphone; fancy and complicated recording equipment, although very helpful, is not necessary.
>
> Recordings are easier than ever to obtain with the widespread use of free smartphone sound recording apps such as Merlin, Voice Record Pro, SongMeter Touch, Voice Memo, and others. Each recording is analoglous to a museum specimen and can be useful in ways that aren't always immediately obvious. Recordings document bird songs at a particular time and location and can be increasingly important in the future.
>
> Recording is also an excellent way to learn bird sounds and can be useful for research projects (e.g., identifying red crossbill and evening grosbeak flight call types).
>
> Recordings of all species in our area are important, even from species that are very common such as mourning doves, California towhees, California scrub-jays, house finches, acorn woodpeckers, common ravens, lesser goldfinches, and Anna's hummingbirds. Species with wide voical repertoires are particularly worthwhile: Bewick's wrens, California thrashers, northern mockingbirds, and oak titmice.
>
> One specific topic that needs attention is singing by female birds, which isn't that well understood. It's been widely accepted for many years that female birds don't sing but evidence is growing that females of some species actually sing quite a bit; purple finches and canyon wrens are good examples. We need more recordings!
>
> Right now is an excellent time to record birds because many are arriving for the spring and singing vigorously.
>
> If you haven't attempted recording bird songs, please give it a try! It's actually straightforward and a lot of fun. Doing so has helped me learn many sounds and gain a deeper appreciation for birds and their behaviors. With most smartphone apps, just start the recording app and then press the button to start recording. Then press the stop button to end the recording.
>
> Before uploading the files to eBird, it's a good idea to trim handling noise at the beginning and end and to normalize the files to -3 dB (decibels). Normalizing usually amplifies so that the loudest sound on the recording is at a standard value. This is strongly encouraged for eBird submissions although it's not required. I normally do this by transferring the files to my laptop and then using the free software "Audacity" but many other sound editing apps such as Raven Lite (which is also free) can do this. The talk mentioned above discussed this, but if you have questions, feel free to email me.
>
> Also, not all smartphone recording apps have the same sensitivity. Merlin is probably the most widely used phone recording app, and it can do many wonderful things, but its sensitivity is not as good as other apps such as Voice Record Pro and Song Meter Touch. Of course, many people use Merlin to help identify sounds, which the other apps mentioned above don't do. Voice Record Pro and SongMeter Touch give users more control and can record significantly fainter sounds. For example, I regularly hear sounds that do not appear in Merlin recordings, but with Voice Record Pro, I can capture many more of them.
>
> In the bigger picture, we'd like to build a library of as many bird sounds in the greater Los Angeles area as possible to document what's here and to establish a baseline for future changes. This is an ideal project for community science, so we'd like to ask for your help.
>
> We hope you'll join us!
>
> Regards,
>
> Lance
>
> Lance Benner
> Pasadena, CA
> On behalf of Los Angeles Birders
>
>
Date: 4/14/25 11:47 pm From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Let's Record Bird Sounds!
Hi Everyone, Following up on the recent webinar on recording bird sounds presented for Los Angeles Birders (available online at: https://www.labirders.org/webinars/sound_recordings_mar2025.html) we would like to encourage birders in our area to obtain more bird recordings and to upload them to eBird. Birders in Los Angeles County excel at submitting eBird checklists and uploading photos to eBird, but far fewer recordings have been contributed. For example, currently more than 771,000 photos from Los Angeles County have been entered into eBird, but only about 18,300 audio recordings have been uploaded. In other words, 42 times as many photos have been uploaded relative to sound recordings. In Orange county, the contrast is even more stark: 684,000 photos have been uploaded versus only 7400 audio recordings. Recordings can be really important (arguably even more so than photos in many situations) but most audio files uploaded to eBird in this area are provided by only a small number of people. Everyone can make valuable contributions if you have a smartphone; fancy and complicated recording equipment, although very helpful, is not necessary. Recordings are easier than ever to obtain with the widespread use of free smartphone sound recording apps such as Merlin, Voice Record Pro, SongMeter Touch, Voice Memo, and others. Each recording is analoglous to a museum specimen and can be useful in ways that aren't always immediately obvious. Recordings document bird songs at a particular time and location and can be increasingly important in the future. Recording is also an excellent way to learn bird sounds and can be useful for research projects (e.g., identifying red crossbill and evening grosbeak flight call types). Recordings of all species in our area are important, even from species that are very common such as mourning doves, California towhees, California scrub-jays, house finches, acorn woodpeckers, common ravens, lesser goldfinches, and Anna's hummingbirds. Species with wide voical repertoires are particularly worthwhile: Bewick's wrens, California thrashers, northern mockingbirds, and oak titmice. One specific topic that needs attention is singing by female birds, which isn't that well understood. It's been widely accepted for many years that female birds don't sing but evidence is growing that females of some species actually sing quite a bit; purple finches and canyon wrens are good examples. We need more recordings! Right now is an excellent time to record birds because many are arriving for the spring and singing vigorously. If you haven't attempted recording bird songs, please give it a try! It's actually straightforward and a lot of fun. Doing so has helped me learn many sounds and gain a deeper appreciation for birds and their behaviors. With most smartphone apps, just start the recording app and then press the button to start recording. Then press the stop button to end the recording. Before uploading the files to eBird, it's a good idea to trim handling noise at the beginning and end and to normalize the files to -3 dB (decibels). Normalizing usually amplifies so that the loudest sound on the recording is at a standard value. This is strongly encouraged for eBird submissions although it's not required. I normally do this by transferring the files to my laptop and then using the free software "Audacity" but many other sound editing apps such as Raven Lite (which is also free) can do this. The talk mentioned above discussed this, but if you have questions, feel free to email me. Also, not all smartphone recording apps have the same sensitivity. Merlin is probably the most widely used phone recording app, and it can do many wonderful things, but its sensitivity is not as good as other apps such as Voice Record Pro and Song Meter Touch. Of course, many people use Merlin to help identify sounds, which the other apps mentioned above don't do. Voice Record Pro and SongMeter Touch give users more control and can record significantly fainter sounds. For example, I regularly hear sounds that do not appear in Merlin recordings, but with Voice Record Pro, I can capture many more of them. In the bigger picture, we'd like to build a library of as many bird sounds in the greater Los Angeles area as possible to document what's here and to establish a baseline for future changes. This is an ideal project for community science, so we'd like to ask for your help. We hope you'll join us! Regards, Lance Lance Benner Pasadena, CA On behalf of Los Angeles Birders _._,_._,_
Date: 4/14/25 11:46 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: Brants off Point Vicente April 14 [Re: [LACoBirds] Seawatching report from Leo Carrillo April 13]
Hi all,
I stopped by Point Vicente on Monday evening (April 14), and in the 55
minutes before sunset I had over 1600 Brants migrating up the coast. It was
overcast, good conditions for seawatching. I was a little surprised that
the previous high count of Brant for LA county on eBird was only 717, but
presumably only because of lack of seawatching coverage.
On Sun, Apr 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I haven't really been finding/seeing any migrants (or even all that many
> birds) anywhere I've looked in the past couple of weeks, so I dragged
> myself out to go seawatching today. When I pulled up at Leo Carrillo Beach,
> it was overcast under a marine layer, mostly calm, and it looked like
> things were moving up the coast. Conditions were pretty good for
> seawatching. Over the next 3 hours I had 2327 Pacific Loons, 1800 Surf
> Scoters, 346 Brant, 75 California Gulls and a couple of other odds and ends
> (White-winged Scoter, Red-necked Grebe, Herring Gulls). I had several Royal
> Terns but no Elegant Terns. There were no actual seabirds (alcids,
> tubenoses, jaegers etc) to be found anywhere.
>
> eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S225417112 >
> Hope you all are finding more birds than I am!
>
> Naresh
>
> --
> Naresh Satyan
> Pasadena, CA
>
>
>
Date: 4/13/25 5:15 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Seawatching report from Leo Carrillo April 13
Hi all,
I haven't really been finding/seeing any migrants (or even all that many birds) anywhere I've looked in the past couple of weeks, so I dragged myself out to go seawatching today. When I pulled up at Leo Carrillo Beach, it was overcast under a marine layer, mostly calm, and it looked like things were moving up the coast. Conditions were pretty good for seawatching. Over the next 3 hours I had 2327 Pacific Loons, 1800 Surf Scoters, 346 Brant, 75 California Gulls and a couple of other odds and ends (White-winged Scoter, Red-necked Grebe, Herring Gulls). I had several Royal Terns but no Elegant Terns. There were no actual seabirds (alcids, tubenoses, jaegers etc) to be found anywhere.
This is the Los Angeles Rare Bird Alert for April 11, 2024.
A BAIRDS SANDPIPER was at Malibu Lagoon on April 6.
SOLITARY SANDPIPERS continued at Hansen Dam through April 9 at the dam spillway and at El Dorado Park (south of Willow Street) through April 8.
A VEGA GULL continued along the Los Angeles River between the Slauson and Imperial crossings through April 5.
A PACIFIC LOON continued at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas through April 10.
A BROAD-WINGED HAWK was on San Clemente Island on April 8.
A TROPICAL KINGBIRD continued along the Los Angeles River at Willow Street through April 8.
The THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD at Griffith Park continued through April 9. It was along Mineral Wells Trail, adjacent the golf course.
A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was near Mountain Meadows Ranch north of Chatsworth on April 6.
One to two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS and a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued through April 10 at Madrona March in Torrance. A PALM WARBLER was also at the marsh on April 8.
A SWAMP SPARROW was at Cal State Long Beach through April 5. Google Maps coordinates 33.7816, -118.1121
Another SWAMP SPARROW was at a residence in Long Beach on April 6.
A wintering CAPE MAY WARBLER continued at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester through April 5. Google Maps coordinates 33.9688, -118.4168
A BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER was in West Covina at the Civic Center Plaza (behind the library) through April 5.
-end transcript
Jon L Fisher
Glendale, CA
<JonF60...>
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Date: 4/10/25 5:13 pm From: msperalez via groups.io <msperalez...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Antelope Valley spring -- late and slow, but good shorebird habitat at Piute
Thanks, Kimball.
I too was getting concerned. The hooded and Bullock's orioles finally made
their spring debut here in Glendora/San Dimas area ~ 3 days ago. They were
quite late.
We have not seen one black-headed grosbeak, which is highly unusual. My
part of Glendora is usually grosbeak central by this time.
My house has also been "Swainson's-less" for two years in row. :(
Mike Peralez
Glendora, CA
On Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 4:49 PM Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Birders,
>
> A discussion on the San Diego BIrding listserv the past few days on how
> slow and poor the spring has been, up to this point, in San Diego region
> (e.g., many people reporting that Hooded Orioles were very late) has
> prompted me to post something similar for my neck of the woods. It has
> been an excruciatingly slow spring so far in the Antelope Valley for
> passerine migrants and summer visitors (apart from swallows). Scott's
> Orioles arrived in Juniper Hills 21 March, much later than the mean arrival
> date in seven springs here, and are still few and far between. A couple of
> Hooded Orioles arrived at Pearblossom Park and in Juniper Hills (but not
> until this week), but fewer than expected. And Bullock's didn't arrive at
> the Valyermo Post Office area until 7 April. Still no Lazuli Buntings,
> Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Gray Flycatchers,
> Warbling Vireos, Black-throated Gray Warblers, etc., in our neighborhood
> (all expected by the first week of April). Well-birded Piute Ponds has had
> very few passerine migrants (apart from swallows) so far this spring, save
> for hordes of Yellow-rumped Warblers passing through.
>
> Speaking of Piute Ponds, there is very good shorebird habitat on the
> southern and western parts of Duckbill pond, and also plenty of shorebirds
> on Thoreau and Friends, with scattered birds elsewhere.On 9 April I
> estimated over 1000 shorebirds of 13 species (greatly dominated by
> Long-billed Dowitchers and Western Sandpipers). At the rate Duckbill is
> drying, the good habitat will probably be greatly diminished by early to
> mid-May. My eBird list for 9 April is here:
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S224178046 >
> I have no idea what accounts for the late spring with low numbers, and of
> course things will likely pick up dramatically any time now. But one factor
> is probably the continued decline of most migratory bird populations, a
> trend that doesn't seem likely to be reversed any time soon.
>
> Kimball Garrett
> Juniper Hills
>
>
Date: 4/10/25 4:49 pm From: Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Antelope Valley spring -- late and slow, but good shorebird habitat at Piute
Birders,
A discussion on the San Diego BIrding listserv the past few days on how slow and poor the spring has been, up to this point, in San Diego region (e.g., many people reporting that Hooded Orioles were very late) has prompted me to post something similar for my neck of the woods. It has been an excruciatingly slow spring so far in the Antelope Valley for passerine migrants and summer visitors (apart from swallows). Scott's Orioles arrived in Juniper Hills 21 March, much later than the mean arrival date in seven springs here, and are still few and far between. A couple of Hooded Orioles arrived at Pearblossom Park and in Juniper Hills (but not until this week), but fewer than expected. And Bullock's didn't arrive at the Valyermo Post Office area until 7 April. Still no Lazuli Buntings, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Gray Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos, Black-throated Gray Warblers, etc., in our neighborhood (all expected by the first week of April). Well-birded Piute Ponds has had very few passerine migrants (apart from swallows) so far this spring, save for hordes of Yellow-rumped Warblers passing through.
Speaking of Piute Ponds, there is very good shorebird habitat on the southern and western parts of Duckbill pond, and also plenty of shorebirds on Thoreau and Friends, with scattered birds elsewhere.On 9 April I estimated over 1000 shorebirds of 13 species (greatly dominated by Long-billed Dowitchers and Western Sandpipers). At the rate Duckbill is drying, the good habitat will probably be greatly diminished by early to mid-May. My eBird list for 9 April is here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S224178046
I have no idea what accounts for the late spring with low numbers, and of course things will likely pick up dramatically any time now. But one factor is probably the continued decline of most migratory bird populations, a trend that doesn't seem likely to be reversed any time soon.
