Pasadena Audubon Field Trip from December

They just published it on their website;


Legg Lake & San Gabriel River
Saturday, December 5, 2015 7:30 am - 11:30 am


In winter the Hahamonga monthly walk is replacd by the one a Legg Lake. These trips will cover several consistently good lake and park birding areas. Legg Lake has lots of water and scattered trees and has produced good waterfowl numbers and varieties as well as an impressive list of migrants and wintering birds. Time permitting we'll include the Pico Rivera spreading grounds or some other river locations, based on what's around. An excellent trip for beginning and young birders.


Meet in the Santa Anita Ave. parking lot, closest to the 60 freeway. Take the Santa Anita exit and turn south from the off-ramp (going south). The lake and parking lot will be on your right.


Ed Stonick and Darren Dowell





Christmas Bird Cound Circle Sweep
Sunday, December 13, 2015 7:30 am - 10:30 am


Join me for a tour of spots that are contained within the Pasadena CBC Circle. The circle takes in a wealth of interesting sites, a variety of habitats, and always turns up a great variety birds. After meeting at the Vina Vieja Park parking lot, we will decide where to head next based on recent reports and the sites that we would like to explore. Meet in the parking lot at Vina Vieja Park at 7:30 am. We will carpool where possible from there.


The entrance to Vina Vieja is on the south side of East Orange Grove Blvd between Canyon Wash Drive and Lomora Avenue.

Leader: Luke Tiller


Wintering Hawks in the Antelope Valley
Saturday, January 9, 2016 7:30 am - 1:00 pm or later


Put on your warm clothes and join us as we tour the west Antelope Valley in search of wintering raptors. Red-tailed and Ferruginous Hawks should be present in good numbers. We may also find Prairie Falcon, American Kestrel, and we may even turn up a Golden Eagle. It’s a great opportunity to study a variety of raptors and their plumages.


Bring binoculars, scopes, and cameras. Dress warmly, as it can be downright cold. Bring lunch, water (hot cocoa?), a map, and make sure you have a full tank of gas. We will be out until at least 1:00 pm.


Meet at Ave. S and Hwy. 14 in Palmdale, at the park-and-ride spot. Take the 5 north to highway 14 (toward Palmdale and Lancaster). Take the Avenue S exit in Palmdale, turn right, and make a right turn into the big parking lot. Look for birders.

Larry Allen, Frank and Susan Gilliland


The Urban Core
Sunday, January 10, 2016 7:30 am - 11:00 am


Far from the natural beauty of the local mountains, the space and solitude of the desert, and the tranquility of the scenic coastline, right in the middle of the crushing hardscape of Los Angeles lies one of the city’s few urban parks, the only park within walking distance for thousands of Angelenos. While birding is hardly what most people associate with MacArthur Park, it is quite possibly the best place in the County to observe gulls. Thayer’s Gull is a regular winter visitor, and various and mysterious hybrids are also often present. Further, as the only park around it attracts a surprising diversity of waterfowl and passerines. The morning of birding will begin here then continue at Echo Park Lake, another urban refuge a few miles away, and maybe some scoping of Silverlake Reservoir, if we’ve still got time.


Meet at the Levitt Pavilion in the northwest corner of MacArthur Park at 7:30AM. Metered parking there costs $2 for two hours.

Jon Feenstra


Redondo Beach Pelagic Birding


Sunday January 17, 2016
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Join us for a whale watch and pelagic birding trip with Voyager Excursions out of Redondo Beach on Saturday, January 17 at 10 am. This is a public whale watch and, although the main objective will be gray whales, pelagic birder and cetacean expert Bernardo Alps will be the naturalist on board so we will also be able to stop and see birds.


Several experienced pelagic birders are coming and can also help identify what we see. We have a chance to see Rhinoceros Auklet, Common Murre, Cassin's Auklet, Scripps' Murrelet, Black-vented Shearwater, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaeger, Northern Fulmar, three loon species, three cormorant species, various gulls, rocky shorebirds, and more.


Regular price is $25 but our group has negotiated a price of $10. Contact Lance Benner at lbenner@charter.net to reserve your spot and special rate. This trip may fill up, so reserve early.

Lance Benner


Magpie Bird Study Group
San Gabriel Coastal Spreading Grounds
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
9:00 am - 11:30 am


Meet at the Mines Street entrance off Rosmead Bvld. just south of Whittier Boulevard. The group meets the third Tuesday of each month. We bird 9:00 am to about 11:30 am, have a sack lunch, and have a short business meeting. All PAS members welcome!


Julia Ray and Sid Heyman


Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge
Saturday January 23, 2016
7:30 am - noon


Be part of the lucky 20 Pasadena Audubon Society members to enter Seal Beach tidal salt marsh habitat. (What?! You’re not a member? It’s easy. Go to our website for more information and please join us.) We’ll look for several interesting species including Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Ferruginous Hawk, Light-footed Chilao Visitor Center Clapper Rail, Red Knot and others.


Sign-up is required. To reserve your space contact Susan at gillilandsusan@gmail.com before January 16, 2016 and provide the following information: Full name (first, middle initial, last), address (street, city, state, zipcode) and home phone number.


Only US citizens are allowed (per Navy rules). Bring government-issued photo ID.


Cameras are allowed but only for bird photography.


If you sign up and cannot attend, please let Susan or Frank know at least 24 hours ahead of time. There’s always a waiting list.


Meeting Location and Time: Meet at the parking lot located at 800 Seal Beach Blvd. at 7:30 a.m. We will bird from 8:00 AM until noon. From the 405 Freeway, take the Seal Beach Boulevard exit and head west. Continue for approximately 0.5 miles on Seal Beach Boulevard to the entrance of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station (800 Seal Beach Boulevard). Spotting scopes and FRS radios are useful. Restrooms will not be available until about 8:30 am on the base, so plan ahead.


Frank and Susan Gilliland


Salton Sea
Saturday-Sunday, January 30-31, 2016
All day


The Salton Sea Trip is a great way to get your year-list cookin’! The sea is one of the premier birding areas in North America, but is in major transition at this time. On the weekend we usually end up with over 100 species and a few surprises. We will bird all day on Saturday and through lunch on Sunday.


This trip is limited to 12 PAS members (it’s easy to become a member on our website). Preference is given to those who were not on the trip the previous year and can do the entire weekend. Please email me for more information or to make reservations.


Ron Cyger

Lance Benner

He's the King of Mountain species; and he regularly explores the San Gabriel Mt. at night! Been to owling with him with Pasadena Audubon members recently, and it was a memorable first experience!
Target species were 5, and we scored 4, not bad at all!


First we found Northern-Pygmy Owl, which had a surprisingly loud voice. It wasn't very shy either, stayed long enough after it was spotted and 'assualted' with headlights and camera flashes lol.


Next, the highlight, Western Screech-Owl! Responded to a Northern Saw-whet Owl vocalization, and it didn't move at all, SO cooperative at such close quarters lol. I've never seen a bird SO bold! We could study it for a long time, so long that we eventually got tired and left it alone lol.


Spotted Owl and Great Horned Owl, despite being bigger, were rather retiring; only could glimpse SPOW fluttering away, and GRHO also kept quite a distance from us.


It was SO cold, so we could all the more appreciate Mr. Benner's efforts; and he could hear SO well! I really envied him since I'm paritally deaf; as another author said, wearing a hearing aid makes it all but impossible to detect the direction of the calls as well.  I was in utter despair after receving the complete list from him, since I missed most of the birds lol.

We met a jogger along the trail with a headlamp, quite an intrepid one!

Again, mucho thanks to him; it really was a special experience!

Compare the best: Cape May vs Peck Pit

So, Cape May is the hottest spot in U.S. according to e bird, and Scott Weidensaul endorses it in his book ' Of a Feather'.

Then let's compare it to Peck Pit(posting the highest count this year for both locations, this month, from e bird):

Checklist S25379360

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Location

Peck Rd. Water Conservation Park, Los Angeles County, California, US (Map )

Date and Effort

Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:10 AM 🌙 Nocturnal

Protocol:

Traveling

Party Size:

1

Duration:

5 hour(s), 35 minute(s)

Distance:

1.25 mile(s)

Observers:

Darren Dowell

Species

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85 species (+3 other taxa) total

1	Swan Goose (Domestic type)
9	Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)
2	Gadwall
25	Mallard
1	Mallard (Domestic type)
1	Blue-winged Teal female/eclipse male
1	Cinnamon Teal
8	Northern Shoveler
1	Northern Pintail
3	Green-winged Teal
4	Ring-necked Duck
30	Ruddy Duck
2	Pied-billed Grebe
10	Eared Grebe
1	Western Grebe
10	Double-crested Cormorant
2	Great Blue Heron
3	Great Egret
10	Snowy Egret
2	Green Heron
5	Black-crowned Night-Heron
2	Turkey Vulture
1	Osprey
2	Cooper's Hawk
1	Red-shouldered Hawk
2	Red-tailed Hawk
40	American Coot
4	Black-necked Stilt
15	Killdeer
3	Spotted Sandpiper
3	Least Sandpiper
4	Long-billed Dowitcher
1	Ring-billed Gull
30	Western Gull
15	California Gull
50	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
5	Eurasian Collared-Dove
15	Mourning Dove
3	Anna's Hummingbird
1	Allen's Hummingbird
2	Belted Kingfisher
2	Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
2	American Kestrel male and female, perched near each other above golf course
2	Mitred Parakeet
1	Gray Flycatcher presumed continuing; "wit", dipping tail; mediocre photos
3	Black Phoebe
1	Say's Phoebe
7	Cassin's Kingbird
1	Warbling Vireo
1	Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal)
50	American Crow
1	Common Raven
1	swallow sp.
20	Bushtit
1	House Wren
2	Bewick's Wren
1	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
4	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
6	Western Bluebird
5	Northern Mockingbird
8	European Starling
3	Cedar Waxwing
1	Phainopepla
2	Orange-crowned Warbler
6	Common Yellowthroat
3	Yellow Warbler
30	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)
3	Black-throated Gray Warbler
1	Townsend's Warbler
1	Wilson's Warbler
6	Chipping Sparrow
1	Clay-colored Sparrow On park lawn with 2 CHSP. Described from photos: unlike the CCSP photographed on Oct. 4, this one had a lot more dark feathering, including some streaks on nape, flanks, and rump. Pale crown stripe was partial (front only). Hatch year, in molt?
1	Lark Sparrow
15	White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's)
1	Vesper Sparrow briefly on lawn around 7:00; cold colors, eye ring, dark row of wing coverts, similar size to nearby WCSP
2	Savannah Sparrow heard only
5	Song Sparrow
4	Lincoln's Sparrow
2	California Towhee
1	Spotted Towhee
1	Western Tanager
10	Red-winged Blackbird
15	House Finch
15	Lesser Goldfinch
1	Lawrence's Goldfinch heard only, calling in flight, heading east
2	American Goldfinch
5	House Sparrow
12	Northern Red Bishop

Checklist S25556449

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Location

Cape Island--CMP (Cape May Point), Cape May County, New Jersey, US( Map )

Date and Effort

Mon Oct 26, 2015 7:30 AM

Protocol:

Traveling

Party Size:

14

Duration:

4 hour(s), 44 minute(s)

Distance:

1.5 mile(s)

Observers:

Louise Zemaitis List , Michael O'Brien

Species

84 species (+1 other taxa) total

15	Canada Goose
23	Mute Swan
240	Gadwall
2	Eurasian Wigeon Continuing males on Lighthouse Pond
210	American Wigeon
5	American Black Duck
35	Mallard
16	Northern Shoveler
60	Northern Pintail
24	Green-winged Teal (American)
6	Ring-necked Duck
20	Surf Scoter
12	Black Scoter
80	Surf/Black Scoter
1	Bufflehead
8	Ruddy Duck
2	Red-throated Loon
7	Common Loon
40	Northern Gannet
70	Double-crested Cormorant
1	Great Cormorant
2	Great Blue Heron
1	Great Egret
5	Black Vulture
25	Turkey Vulture
5	Osprey
3	Northern Harrier
110	Sharp-shinned Hawk
20	Cooper's Hawk
4	Bald Eagle
1	Red-shouldered Hawk
4	Red-tailed Hawk
3	American Coot
1	Killdeer
1	Ruddy Turnstone
1	Least Sandpiper
2	Parasitic Jaeger
20	Laughing Gull
60	Ring-billed Gull
85	Herring Gull (American)
2	Lesser Black-backed Gull
75	Great Black-backed Gull
15	Forster's Tern
50	Royal Tern
2	Black Skimmer
3	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
2	Mourning Dove
4	Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
1	Blue-headed Vireo
4	Blue Jay
6	American Crow
4	Fish Crow
250	Tree Swallow
1	Barn Swallow
2	Carolina Chickadee
1	Marsh Wren
3	Carolina Wren
6	Golden-crowned Kinglet
4	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
15	American Robin
2	Gray Catbird
2	Brown Thrasher
3	Northern Mockingbird
50	European Starling
15	American Pipit
3	Cedar Waxwing
3	Blackpoll Warbler
1	Palm Warbler (Yellow)
1	Pine Warbler
150	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
8	Field Sparrow
5	Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
2	White-throated Sparrow
2	Savannah Sparrow
6	Song Sparrow
23	Swamp Sparrow
2	Northern Cardinal
700	Red-winged Blackbird
6	Eastern Meadowlark
4	Common Grackle
300	Brown-headed Cowbird
2	House Finch
12	Pine Siskin
50	American Goldfinch
15	House Sparrow