Upcoming Field Trips

The quickest way to find out about upcoming trips and registration details is via our member's eblast (these will likely come out in the last week of month prior to the trip). If you have not already signed up for our eblasts .

Midweek Nice and Easy Birding Club with Ed Stonick

3rd Wednesday of each month, 8AM

Pasadena Audubon is relaunching what used to be our midweek “Magpie Study Group” events. Given that these tongue-in-cheek midweek trips involve little studying and even fewer magpies last year we thought we’d change the name to something that is just a little more descriptive. What these walks will offer is some easy paced birding, with generous later morning start times (8:00-9:00am) typically at just one local location at sites that are picked for both their quality of birding and accessibility for birders.
Upcoming trips will include the Los Angeles River, San Gabriel Spreading Grounds and more. Trips will mainly be run by PAS guide Ed Stonick, with some guest appearances from some other PAS trip leaders.
To sign up for the trips you will need to read our guidelines on field trips.

Then, sign up below. Once you complete the sign up you will be able to access and download the meeting time and locations for the Nice and Easy trips in the coming year. Unlike other current PAS trips these tours will not limit the number of participants.

Questions? Email Ed Stonick at edstonick@gmail.com or Luke Tiller at luke.tiller@gmail.com.

Sign up here

Least Bell’s Vireos, California Gnatcatchers, and Fairy Shrimp

Sunday, May 28, 2023
7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Trip Leaders: Jenna Carpenter and Robb Hamilton

On this new field trip offering, biologists Jenna Carpenter and Robb Hamilton will take us to Orange County in search of the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo and the threatened California Gnatcatcher. These are two highly desirable species for many birders, so getting to experience these rare birds in the company of biologists who study them will be a real treat! In addition to looking for these specialty birds, we will also visit a few vernal pools—a unique temporary wetland habitat. Here, we will look for endangered fairy shrimp species and a handful of rare plants that call these pools home.

Participant limit: 20 (chosen by lottery around May 21)

PHOTO: California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica). Photo by Tom Benson. License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. Trip details such as meeting time and location will be emailed to participants before the tour departs.

Sign up here

Butterflying For Birders

Saturday, June 10, 2023
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Where: San Gabriel Canyon
Trip Leaders: Dan Cooper and Luke Tiller

Join Luke and Dan for an exploration of the San Gabriel Mountains that will seek out some of the beautiful butterflies that call our local mountain range home. When temperatures rise and birds quieten down insects come into their element. Our trip will focus on looking at and identifying butterflies through binoculars rather than catching them. Butterflies need a little warmth to get themselves going in the morning, which means a slightly later start to this trip than average.

Participant Limit: 25 (chosen by lottery)

PHOTO: Nelson's Hairstreak (Callophrys nelsoni). Photo by Luke Tiller.

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. Participants will be picked via lottery and trip details such as meeting time and location will be emailed to participants 3-5 days before the departure of the tour.

Sign up here

Los Angeles Arboretum Monthly Bird Walk

Sunday, June 11, 2023
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Trip Leader: Katy Mann

We are excited to partner with the Los Angeles County Arboretum to offer free monthly bird walks to PAS members. Please note that due to new rules implemented by LA Arboretum these trips will only be open to current PAS members (and not friends of members as in past years). In other words all persons attending must be current Pasadena Audubon members -- either on their own, or as part of a PAS family membership.

Not a PAS member? Join here!

This field trip is offered by reservation only. To reserve a spot go to https://www.arboretum.org/events/bird-walk-with-pasadena-audubon-8/. Registration is scheduled to open at 9 AM on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Also be sure to check out the Arboretum's current COVID policies.

PHOTO: Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) by Luke Tiller.

Local Owls

Thursday, June 15, 2023
7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Where: To be announced, within 10 miles distance of Pasadena
Trip Leader: Darren Dowell

This is a new field trip concept, and the idea is to encounter the most common three nocturnal species (Great Horned Owl, Common Poorwill, Western Screech-Owl) without a long drive and without a strenuous hike. We expect that this trip will appeal most to those with limited nighttime birding experience. We’ll gather before sunset, in time to catch a few of the diurnal foothills species, then turn our attention to the owls and poorwill. Expect a hike of up to two miles roundtrip with some elevation change, but we will avoid the steeper local trails. Trip participation is limited to 15, and the field trip scheduled for a weekday, to optimize the listening conditions.

Participant Limit: 15 (chosen by lottery)

PHOTO: Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii). Photo by Luke Tiller.

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. Participants will be picked via lottery and trip details such as meeting time and location will be emailed to participants 3-5 days before the departure of the tour.

Sign up here

Huntington Library

Saturday, June 24, 2023
8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Trip Leader: Mark Hunter

This is a great walk for beginning birders and families, with easy walking and a nice variety of species present year round.

Please note that due to rules implemented by The Huntington these trips will only be open to current PAS members. You must be a Pasadena Audubon member to attend this trip! After you sign up for the field trip, you will receive an email acknowledging your signup. The acknowledgment email is not a guarantee of a spot! PAS will process signups in the order that they are received, verifying your membership status. The trip leader will contact you after signups are closed, informing you whether you have confirmed spots or are on the wait list. Not yet a member? You can sign up for PAS membership here.

If you have a Huntington membership that allows you to enter the gardens at 8:00 on weekends, please consider making a reservation using your Huntington membership, thereby freeing up spots for PAS members who are not Huntington members.

Photo: California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) by Chris Spurgeon

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. If you miss out on the initial places you will be added to a waitlist and will be emailed by the trip leaders if a place opens up. If you are unable to attend a booked trip please email the trip leader and allow them to make your space available to someone on the wait list.

See our full interim field trip guidelines here.

Sign up!

Black Swifts and Lesser Nighthawks

Sunday, June 25 2023
5:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Where: Clairemont and Duarte, CA
Trip Leaders: Luke Tiller and TBD

Black Swifts, so enigmatic was this species that up until 2012 ornithologists still had no idea where the birds wintered. We will seek out these aerial acrobats at Claremont Wilderness Park, the only reliable spot in LA County to find this most mysterious of birds. The swifts are best looked for late in the day and so we will spend a couple of pre-dusk hours seeking them out. On our return towards Pasadena we will make a sundown stop in Duarte to look for displaying Lesser Nighthawks.

Not a morning person, then this may be the perfect PAS trip for you!

Participant Limit: none

PHOTO: Black Swift (Cypseloides niger). Photo by Luke Tiller.

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. Trip details such as meeting time and location will be emailed to participants 3-5 days before the departure of the tour.

Sign up here

Dana Point Pelagic

Sunday, September 17, 2023
7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Departure location: Dana Point
Price: $120.00

Pasadena Audubon is excited to announce their first post pandemic dedicated pelagic. We will depart from Dana Point, Orange County on the Ocean Explorer and spend good amounts of our time in Los Angeles County waters. This nine hour trip will help us connect with species that are harder to see from just your average whale watch trip, and chartering the boat will allow us to focus specifically on the birds. (Your ticket helps support the Ocean Institute's work focusing on marine science, environmental education and maritime history).

PAS will be providing expert pelagic tour leaders for this trip to help pick out interesting species. Birds that might be encountered include a variety of shearwaters, jaegers, phalaropes, alcids, gulls and terns. One of our main targets will be the rafts of storm-petrels that gather offshore in September which may include both Black, Ashy and Least. Uncommon and rare species discovered on similarly timed trips have included Manx and Flesh-footed Shearwater, Arctic Tern, Red-footed and Blue-footed Booby and Craveri’s Murrelet, among others.

Note all ticket sales are final except upon cancellation. PAS will however allow transfers and do what we can to assist those.

Note: Driving time from Pasadena to Dana Point is a bit over an hour early on a Sunday morning, and all participants should plan on arriving a half hour before departure, to allow adequate time for checkin and boarding.

Register here!