Susan Castor

Birds of the Season — March 2025

Birds of the Season — March 2025

Following the unprecedented disastrous fires of early January, the remainder of winter was downright calm.  We were spoiled the past two winters by above average precipitation, but the 2024-2025 season had a very dry start. 

At last we received measurable precipitation, with a handful of fronts passing through in late February and March.  These alleviated extremely dry conditions in the region, though we are still well below normal and unlikely to catch up.  As we enter April, we’re nearing the end of any significant chance of rain. 

Birds of the Season–September 2024

Birds of the Season–September 2024

Summer on the deserts is always hot, but on the coastal slope the summer of 2024 was relatively mild.  At least that was the case until early September when the first real heat wave of the season arrived.  Up to that point, the county had been left largely unscathed by wildfires, but things were about to change dramatically.

Birds of the Season—July 2024

Birds of the Season—July 2024

Spring migration largely ended in early June, but quite a few good birds continued to be found well after that.  As always, observers scoured various parts of the county looking for the unexpected, and their efforts were certainly rewarded. 

Hanna Hayman

Hanna Hayman

On July 15, 2013, our beloved volunteer, Hanna Hayman passed away.

For nearly 10 years, Hanna volunteered weekly at Audubon House in Plummer Park, the headquarters and bookstore of Los Angeles Audubon Society. Hanna assisted the staff and other volunteers by greeting visitors to Audubon House, proofreading submissions to the WESTERN TANAGER and helping with mailings to our membership.

Birds of the Season — May 2024

It surely can’t be said that the spring of 2024 was an uneventful one.  This season is generally thought of as a comparatively slow time for vagrants, but this year seemed determined to turn that idea on its head.  There were a few of our more expected rarities, but some red-letter birds as well, including two first Los Angeles County records.  In addition, lingering wintering rarities continued to be reported, though by early May most of these had moved on. 

Lancaster CBC Analysis Over the Last 45 Years and Beyond

For 2023, we tallied a total of 16,177 (16.2K) birds. Sounds like a lot! It isn’t especially in light of Count history. After excluding one anomalous** year, the adjusted Overall Count Avg is (33.0K/yr); that’s right, we’ve lost more than half (50.9%) of our birds in the Antelope Valley over the last 45 years, compared to our adjusted Count Average!