Birds of the Season—May 2024
Taxonomy of the Birds
Bird Walks and Field Trips
Common Ground Dove | Lesser Nighthawk | Pacific Golden-Plover | Lesser Black-backed Gull | WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | “Black” Merlin | Tropical Kingbird | Eastern Phoebe | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Bay-breasted Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager | Scarlet Tanager
Common Ground Dove | White-winged Dove | Mountain Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Red Phalarope | Lesser Black-backed Gull | American Bittern | Little Blue Heron | Broad-winged Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | Pacific Wren | Red-throated Pipit | Lapland Longspur | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Blackburnian Warbler | Magnolia Warbler | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager | Painted Bunting
Lesser Nighthawk | Pacific Golden-Plover | Sabine’s Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Little Blue Heron | Western Cattle Egret | Broad-winged Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Tropical Kingbird | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Grasshopper Sparrow | Lark Bunting | Clay-colored Sparrow | Orchard Oriole | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Painted Bunting | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | American Redstart | Cape May Warbler | Magnolia Warbler | Blackburnian Warbler | Blackpoll Warbler | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager
White-winged Dove | Lesser Nighthawk | Pacific Golden-Plover | Red Knot | Sabine’s Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Little Blue Heron | Western Cattle Egret | Broad-winged Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Orchard Oriole | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | American Redstart | Palm Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager | Painted Bunting
American Golden-Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Sabine’s Gull | Franklin’s Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Little Blue Heron | Broad-winged Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Great Crested Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Gray Vireo | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Bobolink | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | American Redstart | Palm Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Indigo Bunting | Painted Bunting
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Observing the Coastal California Gnatcatcher, by Daniel Horowitz
LAAS Expresses Concerns with Ballona Wetlands Project – With Letter to the Wildlife Conservation Board, by Margot Griswold
The 124th Christmas Bird Count
Arctic-Breeding Greater Yellowlegs Tracked to Los Angeles River, by Rozy Bathrick
Birds of the Season - December 2023, by Jon Fisher
2024 Call For Applications, Ralph W. Schreiber Ornithology Research Award
A Splendidly Spooky Avian Encounter by Robbie Lisa Freeman
Birds Of The Season—October 2023 by Jon Fisher
Recently, at my home in Mar Vista, I began noticing some unusual sounds. As dusk fell and darkness drew its blanket across the sky, I’d hear intermittent hissing, cries, and croaking sounds. At times, the eerie sounds would increase with such intensity that I’d walk outside to listen. It seemed to be coming from the unlit alley behind our house. Was it some kind of Cicada? A rare type of tree frog? Frightful spirits rising up from the dead for Halloween? One night around 11 PM, I heard a bloodcurdling shriek and felt a chill go down my spine! What was going on in Mar Vista?
Following a relatively cool early July, summer finally arrived. Temperatures increased and some weak systems brought a modicum of subtropical moisture. Thankfully there were no significant wildfires locally thus far.
But the stunner from a weather and birding perspective was a very strong tropical storm- the remnants of hurricane Hilary— that hit the county on August 20. This event dumped five inches of rain or more in many locations and was accompanied by high winds in many places. The added precipitation from Hilary makes severe fires even less likely, but not out of the question.
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