Thursday 12 April 2018

A Day in LA - the way home....

Unofficial Bird of the Day [an addition to my North America list] - Elegant Tern

Six of us had a day birding around the LA area.

The plan was to visit the following sites;

male House Finch - seen at most sites
Heisler Park  - You get nice views of the Pacific here and with your scope you should be able to pick out some seabirds as well as shorebirds possible on the rocks below the viewpoints. You can often pick up California Towhee, Black Phoebe, Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds, Bushtits, etc. in the bushes in Heisler Park too. 


Whimbrel

my first Californian Surfbirds

Crystal Cove State Park - Reef Point Unit.  - Walk trails and paved pathways watching in the scrub for the tiny California Gnatcatcher. Especially around the parking lot is good for California Thrasher. Near the bathrooms I often get Wrentits. Again, good coastal views here with a scope. 
 
Californian Gnatcatcher

Californian Gnatcatcher

Back Bay (Also known as Upper Newport Bay) in Orange County is also a great place for birding, especially on a falling tide. Access points are along Back Bay Drive. It's a great place for shorebirds, terns, gulls, etc. The marshy habitat here is home to Ridgway's Rails, which come out quite readily to recordings. 
Song Sparrow


La Bolsa Chica - 2.  South Lot entrance at 18000 Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, CA.
Savanna Sparrow
Western Sandpiper
Elegant Terns
Elegant Terns

Madrona Marsh
Allen's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Western Meadowlark

American Kestrel

Playa del Rey
Red throated Loon

Red throated Loon
Common Loon
female Ruddy Duck

We recorded the following species; 


  1. Canada Goose
  2. Gadwall 
  3. American Wigeon
  4. Mallard
  5. Cinnamon Teal
  6. Northern Shoveler
  7. Green-winged Teal
  8. Ring-necked Duck
  9. Lesser Scaup
    female Lesser Scaup
  10. Surf Scoter
  11. Bufflehead
  12. Common Merganser
  13. Ruddy Duck
  14. Red-throated Loon
  15. Common Loon
  16. Pied-billed Grebe
  17. Eared Grebe
  18. Western Grebe
  19. Clark’s Grebe
  20. Double-crested Cormorant
  21. American White Pelican
  22. Brown Pelican
  23. Great Blue Heron
  24. Great Egret
  25. Snowy Egret 
  26. Turkey Vulture
  27. Osprey
  28. Northern Harrier
  29. Red-tailed Hawk
  30. American Coot 
  31. Black-bellied Plover
  32. Semipalmated Plover
  33. Killdeer
  34. Black-necked Stilt
  35. Spotted Sandpiper
  36. Willet
  37. Whimbrel
  38. Long-billed Curlew
  39. Marbled Godwit
  40. Black Turnstone
  41. Surfbird
  42. Sanderling
  43. Semipalmated Sandpiper
  44. Western Sandpiper
  45. Least Sandpiper
  46. Dunlin 
    Dunlin
  47. Ring-billed Gull
  48. Western Gull
  49. California Gull
  50. Caspian Tern
  51. Forster’s Tern
  52. Elegant Tern
  53. Rock Pigeon 
  54. Mourning Dove
  55. Anna’s Hummingbird
  56. Allen’s Hummingbird
  57. American Kestrel
  58. Black Phoebe
  59. Cassin’s Kingbird
  60. American Crow
  61. Horned Lark
  62. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  63. Barn Swallow 
    American Goldfinch
  64. Bushtit
  65. Bewick’s Wren
  66. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  67. California Gnatcatcher
  68. Western Bluebird
  69. Northern Mockingbird
  70. European Starling  – I
  71. Common Yellowthroat
  72. Yellow-rumped Warbler 
  73. Spotted Towhee
  74. California Towhee
  75. Savannah Sparrow
  76. Song Sparrow
  77. White-crowned Sparrow
  78. Red-winged Blackbird 
  79. Western Meadowlark
  80. Bullock’s Oriole
  81. House Finch
  82. Lesser Goldfinch
  83. American Goldfinch
  84. House Sparrow  – I
  85. Nutmeg Mannikin  – I
Californian Thrasher


1 comment:

A Day in LA - the way home....

Unofficial Bird of the Day [an addition to my North America list] - Elegant Tern Six of us had a day birding around the LA area. The ...