Sunday, October 13, 2024
7:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Leader: Jon Feenstra

The flood basins are some of the last hold-outs of quality lowland riparian and alluvial fan scrub habitat in the Los Angeles Basin. Add to that a manicured park with irrigated grass, exotic fruiting trees, and a permanent lake and it makes for a nice mix of birds. Early October is perhaps the best time to check the weedy scrub for migrant and arriving wintering sparrows like Savannah, Lincoln’s, and White-crowned with chances of some less common ones like Vesper and Brewer’s.

We’ll also scope the lake edge for ducks, gulls, and the ever-present goose flock (usually with a few real geese slumming it with the barnyard crowd). If there’s time we’ll walk some of the park area and check the trees for migrant songbirds.

There is an entrance fee of $12 per car charged at the gate. The dam area may be muddy, so bring suitable footwear.

Participant number: No Limit.

Trip details such as meeting location will be emailed to signed-up participants 3-5 days before the trip.

PHOTO: House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). Photo by Chris Spurgeon

MONDAY, October 14, 2024
4:00 PM or so – 7:30 PM

Leader: Darren Dowell

This is a new trip concept, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s geared toward you night hawks who don’t like to get up early for birding, and with some luck, by the end of the visit we’ll see some Lesser Nighthawks which (surprisingly) wintered at this location last year. The trip is cleverly scheduled the day after Feenstra et al. have birded the park, and that may influence what we look for first during the daylight hours. Otherwise, we’ll visit one or two of the most inviting habitat types at the recreation area, whether that be open fields, park lawns, the lake shore, or alluvial scrub. We’re thinking that the resident Vermilion Flycatchers must look pretty nice in the late afternoon light. Since this trip is on a Monday, some may not be able to arrive at 4:00 PM; no problem, join when you can, and give me a call to find out where we are at the time.

Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area is located in Irwindale/Baldwin Park and has free entrance on weekdays.

Participant number: No Limit

Trip details such as how to get there and what to bring will be emailed to signed-up participants 3-5 days before the trip; expect fine tuning of the plan on the day of the trip.

PHOTO: Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis). Photo by Tom Benson. License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Saturday, October 19, 2024
7:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Leaders: Darren Dowell & Judi Hwa

(We’re going to try this again, after going with our backup plan to visit Legg Lake in September.) Join us for a morning of birding at the San Gabriel Coastal Basin Spreading Grounds in Pico Rivera. Especially during migration, this is a location promising surprises – including what kind of habitat we’ll find. Typical conditions include water and annual vegetation in the basins and river channel, surrounded by a more permanent ring of trees and bushes, and we’ll be seeking southbound and wintering shorebirds, warblers, sparrows, and more. We’re almost certain to see blackbirds and raptors as well. Views can be distant at this site, so scopes are helpful. We’ll be doing a stroll along the level, paved or compacted bike trail around the basins, up to 3 miles if we do the full loop. If conditions are still poor at the spreading grounds, we’ll once again give Legg Lake in South El Monte a try instead.

Participant number: No Limit

Trip details such as meeting location will be emailed to signed-up participants 3-5 days before the trip.

Photo: Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). Photo by Chris Spurgeon