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Catching up with some spring migrants

 


In my previous post, I alluded to a number of species that are distinctly commoner in spring migration than at other times of the year in Santa Barbara County. In between doing bird surveys up on the Strauss wind farm, near Lompoc, I have been making regular visits to Refugio Canyon, Goleta Slough, Campus Point and the Santa Ynez River to try to catch up with them. I also did a couple of seawatches at Point Conception Lighthouse, part of a volunteer migration monitoring program I organize each spring. The photo above is courtesy of Jamie Chavez.

Initially, I failed to have much luck with the best being a few Blue-winged Teals arriving at Area K in Goleta Slough and the Santa Ynez River Estuary. Both my seawatches at Point Conception were not blessed with favorable weather for large movements, but we did have both a male Black Scoter and a breeding-plumaged Rhinocerous Auklet close-in on the water on April 5, while a White-winged Scoter flew by on April 12.

Fortunately, things began to pick up after that. Some suitable winds at Refugio Canyon, failed to produce many migrants, probably because a rain front had just preceded them. However, on my second visit there on April 14, I heard the distinctive ‘pip’ note of a Hammond’s Flycatcher in the mid-canyon area and was able to get some passable looks at the bird, well up in an oak tree. Walking a little further up the canyon, I was surprised to hear a hard, rattling call that sounded like a Summer Tanager. I tried a little playback and, sure enough, a female Summer Tanager popped into view. This is a species that I have been expecting to find at some point, but later in the spring, when the vagrant season begins in May. Very small numbers of Summer Tanagers do winter along the coast of southern California, favoring areas with exotic winter-blooming plants such as eucalyptus trees. I suspect that this was a bird that had wintered in southern California and was now starting to move north, explaining the early date.

Brandt's Cormorants at Campus Point, taken with a cell phone!

The next day, during my surveys on the wind farm, a cracking male Hermit Warbler popped into view, while I also heard my first Swainson’s Thrush of the year. I had been diligently checking both Area K and Campus Point most days and on April 16 things picked up a little in Area K, with singles of Forster’s Tern and Bonaparte’s Gull. Both these species were formerly much commoner and, although still regular, I am always happy to see them. Encouraged by the appearance of some new birds, I walked out to Campus Point, hoping that my luck with Surfbirds was about to change. It did with a nice flock of 58 birds showing well on the rocks. I usually see this species on most visits out here in the spring, but this was my seventh attempt. The rocks around the point have been overrun with Brandt’s Cormorants in recent weeks due to the warm waters further offshore. As a result, many birds are now fishing in a narrow zone of cooler water closer to the shore. I had been hypothesizing that the Surfbirds didn’t like the presence of so many larger birds.

Common Loon

The next day, I again checked out the Santa Ynez River Estuary after finishing my surveys on the wind farm. There were more birds around although nothing unusual. It looks like it is going to be a big year for Elegant Terns heading north up the Pacific Coast as I have already had them a couple of times at the river mouth, with at least 35 that day, along with smaller counts of Caspian and Royal Terns. One minor surprise was the presence of three loons (divers for my UK readers) actually in the river mouth, where they are only occasional. One Common Loon in full breeding plumage showed very well.

Black Turnstone

The next morning, I birded the beaches around Coal Oil Point in Goleta, hoping for some more ‘rockpipers’. Although I had no luck with any Surfbirds, a nice flock of 14 Black Turnstones, many of which were in full breeding plumage, provided some nice compensation. Various other shorebirds and terns of the expected species were scattered along the beach, including the first Snowy Plover chicks of the season. 18 Sanderlings represented another worrying low number for the beach here and I fear that this species is undergoing a major decline.

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