Date: 4/29/24 4:38 pm From: <thebrit1...> via groups.io <thebrit1...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Golden Triangle - 1500 Lazuli's
I am still trying to work out the migration through the Golden Triangle but it is still quite a mystery. The second half of spring last year was disturbingly slow other than a couple of days; one was a mega flight of 20,000 birds on a calm day that cut across the top of the hills to the east of Tejon Pass (Daniel Irons had very few birds near Gorman). Raptors also do this when winds are not strong.
Today the winds were already 20mph when arrived at Gorman at 6.15am; it typically doesn't get windy till 7.30am. Strong W or NW are what we always want here. Birds were already moving and I had a couple hundred birds in the first half hour. Lazuli's were the commonest bird - very unusual for here. I went to Copco Ave - the best place for flight photography in the region in the right weather conditions. It was much less windy here as usual, but it was clear the flight was really picking up. It was by the largest Black-headed Grosbeak flight I have seen here (500), good numbers of Western Tanager (800) and Western Kingbird (500). Lazuli Buntings were constant (400 per hour) and I estimate at least 1500. A few were still going over when I left at 12.30pm.
Remarkably, there were almost no warblers - sort of stunning since Bear Divide had big numbers. Why? I don't have a clue. I do know that most Hermit, Townsend's and BT Grays fly high to over the Golden Triangle either to carry on migrating (not feeding) or could be heading to Frazier Peak/Mount Pinos where there would be food. I don't get the sense that was happening today. Again, another mystery it would be fantastic to work out.
Unlike Bear Divide where there is one valley most of the birds travel through, this area has multiple places to visit. These places have different birds, geography and wind patterns; a unique place to get a better understanding of bird migration. Cleary many species are incorrectly labelled as diurnal or nocturnal migrants. Old Ridge Route past Sandberg, has 2 obvious divides just before you get to Tumble Inn. It is similar to Bear Divide but on average has fewer birds (they are more spread out here). Good numbers of shorebirds fly through here: I have no idea why there are so many here when you can see BD in the distance and they get very few. It is a fantastic, atmospheric place where you rarely see a person. These birds exit the Chaparral above Copco Ave, usually more to the east in calmer weather (last years massive flight) but more typically down the valley or along the tops of the fingers that go down to I5 near the Rt 138/Lancaster slip road. The tips of these fingers next to the highway are the jump off points for many birds. Most cross the Golden Triangle to the north, and a sometimes, a disturbingly large number go west across I5 and up the ridge that most raptors follow through Hungry Valley SVRA. When the wind is howling NW in Gorman Pass as it is sucked into the Antelope Valley, the birds cut across the triangle and fly up the grass slopes or through the bushes adjacent to Post Gorman Rd. Mid-morning they were really having to fight the wind which was often at 30mph. It was still a constant procession.
It is windy again tomorrow. Perhaps the warblers are waiting to come. Or maybe it will be another day to drink my coffee in peace.
Richard Crossley
