Weather: 84° at the start, warming to 93° with calm conditions.
We changed the walk route that we normally take in the Sepulveda Basin due to migrants being late in their arrival this year. Instead of exploring the grassy areas of the park for sparrows and the usually lerpy eucalyptus by the cricket fields for warblers, we took a more direct route to explore the river area in the south preserve. The cool thing about birding is you never know what to expect and today we had a raptor-fest! Fishing Osprey, kettling Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawk aerial acrobatics and not one, but TWO Peregrine Falcons (a hunting juvenile and a banded adult female). The walk ended with good looks at a male Northern Red Bishop in his full breeding-plumage glory!
48 species
Osprey, Red-tailed Hawks, Green Heron and Northern Red Bishop.
Photos: Paula Maxwell
Canada Goose
Mallard
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Western Gull
California Gull
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Peregrine Falcon - 2,
one was banded
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
Western Bluebird
California Thrasher
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Northern Red Bishop
Mammals:
California Ground Squirrel
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Brush Rabbit
Reptials:
Western Fence Lizard
Adult Red-tailed Hawk
Photo: Ted Schwartz
4337 Woodman Ave. Sherman Oaks CA 91423 818-995-0022
