Long-tailed Duck | Inca Dove | Black Swift | American Oystercatcher | Red Knot | South Polar Skua | Common Murre | Yellow-footed Gull | Red-throated Loon | Western Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay | Brown Thrasher | American Dipper | Northern Waterthrush | Blackburnian Warbler | Palm Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Painted Bunting
Long-tailed Duck | Common Goldeneye | Red-necked Grebe | Black Swift | Western Cattle Egret | Franklin’s Gull | Yellow-footed Gull | Pacific Loon | SWALLOW-TAILED KITE | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Swainson’s Thrush | Brown Thrasher | Cassin’s Sparrow |Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler
Long-tailed Duck | Red-necked Grebe | White-winged Dove | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Brown Booby | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Brown-crested Flycatcher | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Purple Martin | Brown Thrasher | White Wagtail | Clay-colored Sparrow | Orchard Oriole | American Redstart | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Black-and-white Warbler | Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Photo: Lewis's Woodpecker (melanerpes lewis), © Ian Routley, Courtesy of Macaulay Library
Birders are used to many types of change. Migration, increasing and decreasing bird populations, loss and gain of habitat, and varying access to favored birding locations are all familiar ones. Climate change adds an element that is transforming the distribution and habitats of birds, with the effects becoming more apparent every year.
Photo: Lewis's Woodpecker (melanerpes lewis), © Ian Routley, Courtesy of Macaulay Library
Birders are used to many types of change. Migration, increasing and decreasing bird populations, loss and gain of habitat, and varying access to favored birding locations are all familiar ones. Climate change adds an element that is transforming the distribution and habitats of birds, with the effects becoming more apparent every year.
Fall is the most exciting and most anticipated time of year for birders in southern California. Still, some years are better than others. Did this year live up to expectations, fall short, or exceed them? Now at the end of October, it’s easy to make the case that it exceeded them.
If the spring of 2021 was defined by a near complete lack of vagrants, the fall was defined by a complete reversal of those fortunes. To call it epic isn’t much of an exaggeration. Though there were few super rarities, unusual birds were discovered almost daily, with multiples of most expected eastern warblers and a variety of others represented in the mix.
A handful of early fall arrivals were recorded as were a number of late southbound migrants. It’s inevitable that as the intensity of birding in the county increases, the more rarities and early and late records will be documented. Naturally, weather, climate change and year to year variation in movements, breeding success and distribution play a role as well. Regardless, the number of vagrants found is represented by an upward curve.
While the deserts of Los Angeles County were hot as always, summer on the coastal slope was rather mild. Wildfires- devastating for parts of central and northern California- had a very modest impact locally. A good thing, since we could all use a respite after the ugly fire season of 2020 and the woes of the ongoing pandemic.
In 2021, with La Niña conditions having developed and expected to remain in place, the odds for a drier than normal winter are higher. Hope lies in the fact that this is not certainty. An exceptionally long drought capped by the remarkably dry winter of 2020-2021 leaves us hoping for at least average precipitation this winter. Aside from providing water for agriculture and every other human need, bird habitats would benefit significantly.
Let’s take a look at the greater and lesser birds of note from September and October…
With the onset of spring, rainfall remained sparse, though this was hardly unexpected. With precipitation at about twenty-five percent of normal, we are now past any chance to make up the deficit. Much of the western United States is in the same situation, or worse. Thankfully, plants and animals are fairly well-adapted to deal with these conditions- at least in the short term. Humans, with their voracious appetite for water, are less so.
Los Angeles is one of only two counties in the state— indeed in the country— that span the breath of habitats from offshore waters to coastline to mountains to deserts. The other is San Diego County; geographically next door to us. This situation naturally translates to a high diversity of birds, with both counties being closely matched and both having recorded over 520 species. The layperson is unlikely to think of Los Angeles as a great birding destination, but it is certainly that. Every year and every season demonstrate that clearly.
While much about the fall and early winter of 2020 was typical, much was not. The pandemic not only continued unabated but its intensity was on the rise. From a purely self-interested point of view, birding continued to be mostly unaffected. A truly ugly fire season thankfully exited with a whimper rather than a bang. Cooler temperatures finally arrived, but were accompanied by little precipitation.
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