Great Backyard Bird Count 2012

Get your binoculars!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Coming!

Friday, February 17 - Monday, February 20

This is an opportunity to go outside and reconnect with your avian neighbors. How many crows are flying by? Are those turkey vultures circling over the Freeway? Is that a Bewick's wren making a nest in the bird house? Not only will you have fun participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count you will be contributing to our scientific understanding of the status of bird populations and movement across the continent.

So grab your birding book, your binoculars and a piece of paper. GBBC is designed for kids to participate, anyone can do it. Note the time you start watching, distance traveled, number of people watching and GO!

Click the button to enter you data at Cornell University's http://www.birdcount.org


I'll be counting at:

Saturday, Feb. 18 8 AM - 10 AM Member's Birdwalk at the LA Zoo
Monday, Feb. 20, 9 AM - 11 AM Malibu Lagoon

Is That A Bat or A Bird Flying Over the LA River?

A lot of people are interested in the bats that we have in the Los Angeles area. Bats in LA. That's a good thing, because bats need friends. Bats provide a great service by eating tons of insects. But not everything you see with pointy wings flying at dawn or dusk is a bat.

I recently had a comment from a reader asking about groups of 20-30 bats flying over the Los Angeles River in the Burbank area early in the morning. An observant eye can frequently see nature attracted to the Los Angeles River as you make your slow commute on the Ventura Freeway. I've seen these wheeling silhouettes as well, but probably what this traveler saw were birds and not bats. 

Bats typically return to their roosts before dawn. Seldom do you see our local bat species in a group unless it is right as they are emerging from their roosting location in the evening. 

At specific times of the year when there are insect blooms along the river, you can see swallows or swifts in groups flying quickly over the river catching insects. These small birds can look similar to bats. Both have narrow wings that help them maneuver quickly so they can catch insects on the wing. Both are dark in silhouette and some swallows and swifts have minimal tails that may make them appear batlike. 

But if you look closely you will see a difference. Bats typically have a faster wing beat and seldom glide. Swallows and swifts on the other hand will glide in between wing beats. These birds frequently are seen in flocks ranging from 10 to 1,000s of individuals. One evening along the banks of Utah Lake just south of Provo, we watched hundreds of thousands of swallows feeding on swarming insects just before a storm. I've never seen so many birds in one place in my life. 

These two animals bats and swallows (or swifts) are filling a similar niche in the ecosystem; they are flying predators feeding on small flying insects. And they share the workload, bats at night and the birds during the day. Occasionally, when the insects are plentiful and the weather is just right the two shifts will cross and you may see the furry and the feathered creatures sharing the sky. Both are doing their best to reduce the numbers of mosquitoes along our river and around our neighborhoods. All they ask in return is habitat to roost and nest in and insects that haven't been poisoned. Birds and bats need you to be their friends.


Swallows and swifts you are most likely to see in the Los Angeles area:
white-throated swift, chimney swift,Vaux's swift, barn swallow, cliff swallow, northern rough-winged swallow, violet-green swallow and tree swallow


For more about these bird species check out Cornell University's About Birds website: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search

A Birding Jewel in Los Angeles

The wonderful thing about birding is that you can do it anywhere. I saw my first green woodpecker on the lawn of a hotel just under the wingtips of planes landing at London Heathrow Airport and a Eurasian jay in the ruins of Troy, in Turkey.


But I identified my first white-crowned sparrow in my backyard in the suburbs of Los Angeles. You can travel all over the world looking for exotic bird species, but sometimes the places close to home can offer even greater diversity.

great blue heron

One of my favorite birding locations is in the middle of the suburban bustle of the San Fernando Valley. The Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge is a flood basin along the Los Angeles River. Formerly a sod farm, the low-lying area has been set aside by the Army Corps of Engineers to collect water in the years when we have unusual amounts of rain and the basin floods. 

The sod farm is gone and now native scrub surrounds a pond and riparian habitat. The refuge has become an amazing location to see a wide variety of southern California's bird life and a major stopover for migrating birds. Recently on a Saturday morning in early October, I spotted 37 bird species during a short 2-hour walk.  There were the locals: California and spotted towhees, lesser goldfinch, Anna's hummingbird and black phoebe. The pond provides feeding areas for five species of herons and egrets, and now a belted kingfisher pair. There was even a lone white-faced ibis hanging out with some mallards.


The travelers have begun to pass through and the wildlife area provides important refuge, food and water for migrating species. A beautiful adult male yellow warbler came within a few feet; close enough that I could see the red streaking on his breast without my binoculars. The first of the white-crowned sparrows were in the underbrush, while double-crested cormorants were sizing up the island for nesting and three species of grebe were patrolling the water.


Birds of prey are numerous here as well. I can't think of too many locations where in two hours time you can see an osprey, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk and an American kestrel.


Sepulveda Basin never disappoints me. Whether it is the osprey diving for fish or a family of 22 bushtits making their way through the underbrush, there is always something to thrill and amaze. Take a Mini Birdwalk with video. This birding jewel in the middle of Los Angeles offers numerous bird species anytime of the year and provides easy access to some of California's unique species. Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in Feb.

Oct. 8,  2011 Species List
mallard
domestic mallard
pied-billed grebe
eared grebe
western grebe
double-crested cormorant
great blue heron
great egret
snowy egret
green heron
black-crowned night heron
white-faced ibis
turkey vulture
osprey
red-shouldered hawk
red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
American coot
mourning dove
yellow-chevroned parakeet
Anna's hummingbird
belted kingfisher
Nuttall's woodpecker
black phoebe
Say's phoebe
bushtit
Bewick's wren
northern mockingbird
European starling
common yellowthroat
yellow warbler
yellow-rumped warbler
spotted towhee
California towhee
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
house finch
lesser goldfinch 

Other So. Cal birding areas: Bolsa Chica, Malibu Lagoon, Serrania Park

Great Backyard Bird Count, Los Angeles

I was out bird watching this morning in the heart of Los Angeles. The rain was fairly steady, not pouring, but soaking. The humans were few but the birds were many.


Birds enjoy a gentle rain and actually so do I.


Why would seven adults tromp through puddles to count birds?


I can give you several reasons:

• There is always the thrill of the unexpected, like the great blue heron we spotted flying low through the mist,
• The opportunity for discovery, we watched a pair of red-shouldered hawks putting the finishing touches on a new nest,
• Moments of peace and beauty like the female Allen's hummingbird taking a bath in the rain and the elegant nest she has built edged in bright green moss,
• There is always something new to learn, today I learned how to identify a male acorn woodpecker from a female,
• There are smiles and laughter, and real human friendship
• And the 35 bird species we counted will be reported to Cornell University through ebird.org so scientists can track changes in bird populations

Friday Feb. 18 - Monday Feb. 21 is the Great Backyard Bird Count an opportunity for you too to go out and count birds for science. You can count in your yard, walking to school, in a park or a parking lot. For four days people across North America will be taking a snapshot of the birds across the continent. Everyone is invited to participate. Click the button to go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website for more information and to enter your data.

Me, I'll be counting again on Saturday Feb. 19 at the Los Angeles Zoo.  Zoo members are invited to join in on a bird walk before the Zoo opens. We will meet at the glass doors north of the main entrance between 7:45 and 8 AM. To make reservations please phone 323/622-8114 or e-mail docents@lazoo.org (including “Bird Walk” in the subject line) with the following information: your name, membership number, members in your party, age of attending children, and your phone number.

Six, Seven, Eight - Yellow-Breasted Chat

This morning while videoing hummingbirds for an upcoming project, I had an exciting surprise: my 678th Life Bird - a yellow-breasted chat.

We haven't traveled to many new destinations this year and that can make it difficult to see new bird species. On a weekend trip to San Diego I did spot my first black skimmer and a California gnatcatcher, but this sighting was truly rewarding because it was in our own yard.

The chat was feeding in some of our dense native shrubbery and taking a quick bath in the water pooled on some leaves. I didn't get a photo, but the bright yellow chest and long tail are printed in my mind.

We have now seen 71 species of birds in our yard in suburban Los Angeles. A perfect example of how recreating and restoring native habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. A wildlife refuge is possible in your own backyard.

The Foundation of Habitat

Creating habitat for bird life means starting from the plants and working up.

A well-planted yard provides shelter for birds, but quality habitat requires natural food sources as well.

Native plants like this anemone not only provide shelter, they attract native insects.

When you think of an important pollinating insect you probably think of a honey bee. But the European honey bee is not native to California (or North America for that matter).

Locally we have several species of large carpenter bees and bumble bees that pollinate plants, but many native plants are pollinated by less glorified insects – flies, beetles and moths. You can see the fly feeding on the pollen on the lower area of the flower.

Most native insects can only feed on the pollen of native plants. These insects are important food for larger insects, lizards and birds.

Creating habitat for birds means establishing an environment safe for insects–flies and beetles, as well as the more beautiful butterflies. See crane flies.

Plants and arthropods are the foundation of habitat. Arthropods include insects, spiders and crustaceans (those little "c-shape" creatures that hop about on the ground when you lift up a pot, and yes, they are related to shrimp). Birds and lizards can establish thriving populations if your yard offers these vital resources. John Fitzgerald of Cornell University spoke last week in Los Angeles on bird conservation. He pointed out that the areas where eastern wood thrushes have declined coincide with areas of increased acid rain. The acidic rain kills the native crustaceans in the plant undergrowth, thereby removing an important food source for the wood thrush. Having a healthy population of creepers and crawlers, supports a healthy population of runners and fliers.

This western fence lizard not only eats its share of insects it also is makes your yard more healthy for you (fence lizard and Lyme's disease). Healthy fat lizards are also potentially a food source for red-shouldered hawks, shrikes and other birds.

If you want to help birds, you need to reexamine your ideal garden. Paradise isn't sterile. The Earth's garden is filled with abundance and diversity, including spiders, aphids and grubs.

Birding in Serrania Avenue Park

An important element of bird conservation is being aware of trends regarding population numbers, migration patterns and nesting success.

In February I focused my sustainable living practices on understanding my local biodiversity - Green Action #2. Since then I have been doing weekly bird counts at my local Serrania Avenue Park.

When you look at these photos, it may be hard to imagine that this park is in a suburb of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, with over 1.75 million people. But less than a half mile away, at the base of the hill in the distance, is one of the busiest freeways in the world. The trees mask the houses between the park and the Ventura Freeway (101).

Despite its proximity to a large human population this park is an important habitat for a variety of birds, like the Anna's hummingbird (pictured), Nuttall's woodpecker and northern flicker. I typically see 25 - 35 species in an hour walking along a half mile path.

A number of species nest here including: oak titmouse, bushtits, Anna's and Allen's hummingbirds, black phoebe, lesser goldfinch, Northern mockingbirds, California towhee, spotted towhee, Bewick's wren, mourning dove, California quail and scrub jays.

The park was an important area of survival for the scrub jays (pictured) when populations living in the surrounding suburbs were killed by West Nile virus several years ago.

Migrating birds also have been arriving and nesting as well, including: western bluebird, Cassin's kingbird, California thrashers, and recently Bullock's and hooded orioles. This year we also have a nesting pair of blue-gray gnatcatchers. The male phainopepla arrived last week, but he is still without a mate.

Because fingers of the park reach up into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, there is a crossover of suburban and chapparal bird species. Large birds of prey, red-tailed and red shouldered hawks, as well as Cooper's hawks and great horned owls hunt here. Once I even saw a bobcat stalking desert cottontails.

I am logging in my observations every week on eBird and NestWatch. Not only am I discovering the patterns of migration and nesting at my local park, I am also acting as a citizen scientist. My data is available to scientists and biologists looking at localized patterns and continental patterns. More Citizen Science Projects.

One thing I have realized is that nests in the park are threatened by predators either introduced or increased because of human activity. So far I have documented two bushtit nests and both have been destroyed by predators. One nest may have been robbed by ravens, which have increased dramatically in our area over the past 5 years. The other was destroyed by a fox tree squirrel, which is an introduced species. Our tree nesting birds did not evolve with these aggressive squirrels.

These fox tree squirrels are cute, but feeding them increases their population and expands their territory. With that comes increased threat to nesting native birds.

Serrania Avenue Park is a wonderful place to bird for California chapparal species. Access is easy and the birding is bountiful. Check out your local park, you may be surprised at the number of wild animals in your own neighborhood.

May is For the Birds

It is a beautiful spring day. The breeze softly moves through the vegetation nodding the hummingbird sage. The thermometer is tickling summer temperatures, but the air still has a gentle breath of moisture.

As you’ve seen in my posts on Bewick’s wrens and Allen’s hummingbirds, I am committed to providing habitat for local bird species. This month I’ve decided to focus on my daily activities that have a direct effect on the wildlife I encounter every day - birds.

You may not think of a crow as a wild animal, but it is. For most of us living in cities or suburbs, birds and insects are the wild creatures we have the greatest opportunity to interact with every day.

This morning I saw three lesser goldfinch chicks, just out of the nest. Notice their beating wings.

They were noisily begging for food from their parents.

You don't have to watch TV to witness wild animals being born or interacting with their young.

My intention this month is to identify ways I can support bird conservation at home and afar.

• specific actions I can take to improve my backyard habitat for birds
• examining commercial products I use and their impacts on bird life
• participating in local events for bird awareness and conservation

May is also the month of International Migratory Bird Day. As the world focuses its attention on birds, maybe you should too.