Western Gulls
LOS ANGELES It’s synonymous with the rich and famous, but LA is also the perfect location for a birding trip
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WORDS: DAVID LINDO normally breeds within caves and other crevices well outside the city has recently been found breeding within the very skyscrapers that they swirl around. It’s another case of an amazing discovery made right beneath our noses.
City tour
Contrary to what you might imagine, LA is very much a seaside city set in a desert. It is an irrigated oasis with a surprising amount of available habitat despite its huge population. Almost anywhere along its coastline can offer good seawatching opportunities, especially during migration periods. The bluey-grey Pacific race of Fulmar and other tubenoses, such as Flesh-footed Shearwater, can be identified from the shoreline, along with alcids like Rhinoceros Auklet. Brown Pelican, Western and Heermann’s Gulls are givens. Additionally, during the winter months, Pacific Diver, Glaucous-winged Gull, Surf Scoter and Western Grebe can easily be found. An early morning visit to the beaches will result in waders, terns and gulls, even at popular spots like Venice Beach. You can get ridiculously close to Hudsonian Whimbrel, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Royal and Elegant Terns and California Gull. There are many birding sites within the city to discover and not many of them are regularly birded. My favourite spot is Ballona, which is a 1,087-acre mixture of saltwater, brackish and freshwater marshland situated on the coast very close to LAX, the city’s main airport. It is a veritable urban birding paradise and during the appropriate seasons you are practically guaranteed Long-billed and Short-billed
Want to see Acorn Woodpecker? Try, for instance, Franklin Canyon
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Dowitchers, Western and Least Sandpipers, Black Turnstones, Surfbird and Wandering Tattler. Raptors are not under-represented here, either, with American Kestrel, White-tailed Kite, Redtailed and Red-shouldered Hawks all possible. Indeed, it is hard to describe this site without reeling off a mouth-watering bird list. Near to Ballona is Sand Dune Park. It’s an unlikely site as it is a tiny wooded coastal slope with a children’s play area on the inland side. Despite being heavily used by the locals it attracts truckloads of migrants especially the American warblers, plus Summer Tanager and several of the vireo species are regular. Another amazing migrant trap is Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, simply known as Harbor Park by the locals. It is the third largest park in the LA area and is very popular for recreational purposes. Yet birds abound. Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teals are commonplace and passerines such as Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat and Red-winged Blackbird can be found. Los Angeles has many parks and open spaces, ranging from a myriad of pocket parks and sports fields to Griffith Park, the largest park in the city at 4,310 acres. Almost all are potentially good birding patches. Among my favourites is Madrona Marsh Preserve in Torrence. It is one of the last remaining urban wetlands in the city.
WESTERN GULL The Western Gull is arguably the default larid in LA. They can be frequently seen lazily flapping overhead almost anywhere in the city. The species is listed as a marine gull and is therefore more prevalent along the coasts where they often form lounging flocks. To the European eye, they strongly resemble Lesser Black-backed Gulls with similarly hued dark grey wings with black wing tips. However, beware the paler, grey- mantled northern occidentalis race that can often be mistaken for a slightly dark American Herring Gull. They are around the size of a Herring Gull but seem to have shorter wings with a stout, barrel chested body. Yes, identifying gulls is certainly a vexing subject, but at least you can rest assured knowing that the Western Gull is the only dark-backed gull to be regularly found in the city. The species has a restricted range that hugs the western coast of North America stretching from British Columbia to Baja California in Mexico. Although it is not rare, it is vulnerable, given its small worldwide range. It has got one major claim to infamy as being featured as one of the main antagonists in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film The Birds. Is there a gull species anywhere that has a positive reputation?
Naturally, waterbirds feature majorly here with Snowy Egret and Pied-billed Grebe being regulars. It is also a good place to look for the scarce Tricoloured Blackbird. Finally, if you are based in West Hollywood, then Franklin Canyon is always worth a visit. This valley is great for Acorn Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Spotted Towhee and the occasional California Quail. NEVADA
CALIFORNIA
Griffith Park Ballona Torrance
MORE INFO
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Jon L. Dunn / Jonathan Alderfer Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America – David Sibley Friends of Ballona Wetlands; ballonafriends.org Madrona Marsh Preserve; friendsofmadronamarsh.com
LOS ANGELES LAX Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park
Tony Gale / Alamy
OS ANGELES IN ‘Califauna’, as I like to call the state. The mere mention of this mega city’s name conjures up images of opulence, movie stars, prefect beach bodies, flash cars and wall-to-wall sunshine. Let us not forget its great musical heritage, but can you imagine LA as an urban birding venue? Many people’s visions of LA are actually of Hollywood, itself just a city cluster within an even bigger urban conurbation. If you take a walk down Hollywood Boulevard to stare down at the Hollywood Stars emblazoned onto the pavement, or drift along the highly salubrious Rodeo Drive to examine the bling in the store windows: look up! If you do, you may notice the ubiquitous Mourning Doves and cawing American Crows heading over the streets, accompanied by the larger and decidedly urban Ravens. Interestingly, the Ravens in California, currently deemed as being of the same species as our very own birds, are now mooted as a potential split. You may also notice pot-bellied Western Gulls patrolling the same skies as White-throated Swifts and, if you are really lucky, you might sight a Band-tailed Pigeon winging its way towards the Hollywood Hills looking like a rakish Woodpigeon. As with all cities, not all its streets are paved with gold. Some of LA’s Downtown area looks and definitely feels ropey. But even here, if you glance up during the summer, you could see a Peregrine, the classic international urban raptor. You might also glimpse groups of Vaux’s Swifts hawking among the high rises. This tiny swift that
KEY SPECIES
KEVIN ELSBY / Alamy
THE URBAN BIRDER VISITS
You can get very close to Hudsonian Whimbrel on the beaches
82 May 2016
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