May May Be Gray: Malibu Lagoon, 26 May 2024 (2024)

[Text by Chuck Almdale; photos by Ray Juncosa & Grace Murayama]

Don’t miss the quiz at the bottom with some of the best photos.

It was very pleasant for late May which – when skies are clear – can be quite hot. But a nice “May Gray” day kept it cool, ranging from 57° – 64°F. Not so great for the photographers, as this kept colors subdued (critically important for the gulls and terns – not) but still the birds were active. So were the birders; now that we’re past the icy blasts of winter weather, warmer weather usually brings them out in droves; we had thirty-eight people today, which could be a record for all I know. I’m not too diligent at censusing people. I hope everyone had a good time. When the line stretches back down a trail it’s tough for all to know what (if anything) is going on.

Killdeer have nested on the sand around Malibu Lagoon for more decades than anyone knows; probably for thousands of years. I think they were the first nesting bird I recorded back in 1995 when the five-year Los Angeles County Breeding Bird Census began. At that time the nest was a small pebbly scrape in the sand near where the viewpoint near Pacific Coast Hwy bridge is now located. When the nesting bird present began doing a frantic “broken wing” distraction display, I stopped moving, looked down and found I was about five feet from its very cryptic nest and cryptic spotted eggs. I backed off far enough for the bird to calm down.

The Killdeer today were quite obvious as they walked and ran and faked a broken wing through the wrack on the beach. I thought they might have hatched young out staggering around through the sticks and logs — they look like fluffy ping pong balls on stilts when very young — but couldn’t find any. Chris Tosdevin watched longer and discovered their nest.

The weather service predicted this sky to be 90% cloud cover. I thought 100% was more like it.

Pepperdine University is in the photo above in the far left distance with a tall white bell tower. Lower Malibu Canyon is at the far right. Between the two the sports car fans are by the shopping center across the street revving their engines and the cormorants are painting their nesting tree white.

When I first got arrived there were about 15 Elegant Terns, and Marie advised me that there’d been four Caspian Terns but they’d left. Terns came and went throughout the morning, and at my last count there were 190 Elegant Terns, but they kept coming so there were probably more.

My quasi-official count of 348 Brown Pelicans was made about 8:30 am. Like the terns, they just kept coming and filling in the empty spaces in their flock and by 11 am there could have been double that number, as it was just about solid pelicans west to east across the lagoon.

According to the National Park Service, “The only breeding colonies of California brown pelicans in the western United States are within Channel Islands National Park on West Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands.” Anacapa Is. is 40.5 miles due west of Malibu Beach; Santa Barbara Is. is 43.6 miles SSW of Malibu. According to Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds they’ve been recorded at flying at 14-22 mph in California, 26 in Florida, and 35 somewhere else. They typically fly very low over the water, often in the troughs between the waves, in single file, gaining gliding distance from the bird in front and “ground effect” uplift from the water just below their wings. It would take them 75-130 minutes to fly from either island to reach Malibu Lagoon, which has now been revealed as a conveniently located rest stop for all nesting west coast Brown Pelicans.

Sandpipers were conspicuous by their absence: the only species was Whimbrel with two representatives. One of them apparently needed serious plumage cleaning, and splashed up a storm near the lagoon edge.

Not a lot of wind. Look closely and you’ll see birds across the lagoon.

Quiz Time!

All photos are from Malibu Lagoon 5-26-24). No fantasy photos or remote locales.

Quiz Answers & credits
#1. Wild Rose, pathside behind Malibu colony (Ray Juncosa 5-26-24)
#2. Northern Shoveler (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#3. Heermann’s Gulls, 2nd spring (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#4. Killdeer, adult (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#5. Elegant Terns, all of them, bills variable from yellowish to near-red (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#6. Black-crowned Night-Heron, immature, large spots on brown back. If the sun was bright, this bird would be hiding in the bushes or trees. (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#7. Allen’s Hummingbirds, both are rusty on flanks and/or tail (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#8. Turkey Vulture, juveniles have grayish heads (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#9. Brandt’s Cormorants, blue on beige throat pouches (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#10. Red-breasted Merganser, rock-sitting (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)
#11. Brant, not oiled, formerly Black Brant (Chris Tosdevin 5-26-24)

Malibu Lagoon on eBird as of 5-31-24: 7772 lists, 320 species
Most recent species added: Red-breasted Nuthatch (31 October 2023, Kyle Te Poel).

Birds new for the season: Brant, Pied-billed Grebe, Western Grebe, Mourning Dove, Common Loon, Turkey Vulture, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Warbling Vireo, Cliff Swallow, Wrentit, House Wren, Dark-eyed Junco. . “New for the season” means it has been three or more months since last recorded on our trips.

Many, many thanks to photographers: Ray Juncosa & Chris Tosdevin

Upcoming SMBAS scheduled field trips; no reservations or Covid card necessary unless specifically mentioned:

• Malibu Lagoon, Sun. June 23,8:30 (adults) & 10 am (parents & kids)
• Sat 20 July 8am
• Malibu Lagoon, Sun. July 28,8:30 (adults) & 10 am (parents & kids)
• These and any other trips we announce for the foreseeable future will depend upon expected status of the Covid/flu/etc. pandemic at trip time. Any trip announced may be canceled shortly before trip date if it seems necessary. By now any other comments should be superfluous.
• Link to Programs & Field Trip schedule.

The next SMBAS Zoom program: To be announced, Evening Meeting, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, 7:30p.m.

The SMBAS 10 a.m. Parent’s & Kids Birdwalk is again running. Reservations not necessary for families, but for groups (scouts, etc.), call Jean (213-522-0062).

Links: Unusual birds at Malibu Lagoon
9/23/02 Aerial photo of Malibu Lagoon
More recent aerial photo

Prior checklists:
2023: Jan-June, July-Dec
2021: Jan-July, July-Dec 2022: Jan-June, July-Dec
2020: Jan-July,July-Dec 2019: Jan-June, July-Dec
2018: Jan-June, July-Dec 2017: Jan-June, July-Dec
2016: Jan-June, July-Dec 2015: Jan-May, July-Dec2014: Jan-July, July-Dec 2013: Jan-June, July-Dec2012: Jan-June, July-Dec 2011: Jan-June, July-Dec2010: Jan-June, July-Dec 2009: Jan-June, July-Dec

The 10-year comparison summaries created during the Lagoon Reconfiguration Project period, remain available—despite numerous complaints—on our Lagoon Project Bird Census Page. Very briefly summarized, the results unexpectedly indicate that avian species diversification and numbers improved slightly during the restoration period June’12-June’14.

Many thanks to Marie Barnidge-McIntyre, Femi Faminu, Lillian Johnson, Chris Lord, Chris Tosdevin, Ruth Tosdevin & others for their contributions to this month’s checklist.

The species lists below is irregularly re-sequenced to agree with the California Bird Records Committee Official California Checklist. If part of the right side of the chart below is hidden, there’s a slider button inconveniently located at the bottom end of the list. The numbers 1-9 left of the species names are keyed to the nine categories of birds at the bottom.
[Chuck Almdale]