Date: 5/2/2020

Location: Manhattan Beach 

Site Description: Urban Area near a beach. It is surrounded by houses and there is a beach 4 blocks west. There is also a park about 4 blocks east.

Species Account:

Gulls, in general, are very difficult to disguise between each other but the one thing I feel like this was for sure a western gull because of the pink legs, red dot on the lower bill, black tail, white torso, and gray wings. I could be wrong but it looks exactly like the western gull in the pictures on ebird. Overall I got a good glimpse of this single gull flying to the beach. There was not much flapping action at it was mainly gliding to the beach and lost sight of it since it flew over a house. I have seen these birds all over Manhattan Beach and I don’t like them. I am not a fan since they poo everywhere. They also go through my stuff often if I leave a sweater on the beach and they take things if its food. Overall a cool bird but I am not a fan. This bird is mainly seen in beach parking lots. It was strange to see this one alone but I have seen them alone before but they can also be seen in huge flocks it’s not as much as the sanitation site with the birds we saw at the end but it’s enough that it makes it hard to count.

Common Name: Western Gull

Species: Larus Occidentalis

Family: Lardiae

Order: Charadriformes

Observations: 501,438

Area: North America mainly the West Coast

Narrative: 

So I woke up and started birding on my patio. This was the first thing I did since I need to get these done. The weather was nice to the bird. Around the mid-70s with a slight breeze and the sun out. I could not ask for better weather. SO I begin by seeing a crow fly by. I look around and it’s difficult to see bird since they are so far away to ID so I only looked at the ones close by that I could get a positive ID on. There were a couple of ravens that landed on the house next to use and a crow landed on the electricity wires. I also saw a hummingbird land on it too. I did not see any loops made by the hummingbird because while I was about to take a picture the bird just peaced out and went on its merry way. I think it was a nice end to birding for the semester. It was chill and not that exciting but relaxing. I wish we could have done more with the class since that was really funny.

Bird List: https://ebird.org/checklist/S68276404

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68117951

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68117666

Date: 4/28/2020

Location: Manhattan Beach, 7th Street, and ocean Dr. 

Site Description:  It was cloudy about 70 degrees F. The beach is still closed and most people were walking on ocean dr, instead of the strand. There were no surfers out in the water.

Species Account: 

So I saw this bird on someone’s roof for a second and I do not know if that is a mourning dove. It was just chillin’ in this tree. It is very common everywhere in North America. It is half the size of a rock pigeon with a fat body, small head, and white wings. Usually seen in shrubs and trees.

Common Name: Mourning dove

Species: Zenaida macroura

Family: Columbidae

Order: Columbiformes

Observations: 10,201,831

Area: North America

Narrative:

I did the same thing as bird blog 8 and its just the same thing over and over again with crows, raven, and gulls. The waves are flat and there is a couple of police but overall this birding adventure was the usual as Bird blog 8. There is a mourning dove that I believe saw on someone’s house but I only caught a glimpse and then waited for like 5 minutes and then moved on. Saw gulls flying on the ocean and over the sand look like they are taking a liking to no human presence on the beach. I think in general the beach closed has made an impact on them since I barely see them on the beach anymore like we used to. I think it because humans leave things and then they eat it. I saw crows and gulls fly and then they go on a pole or something. I walked from the pier to 7th street on ocean dr.

Bird List: https://ebird.org/checklist/S68117930

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67502946

Date: 4/15/2020

Location: 7th Street and Highland Ave

Site Description: Urban area close to the beach, only houses surrounding this area. Manhattan Beach is made of up a lot of houses right next to one of each other.

Species Account: 

I saw this a rock pigeon land on the roof of the white house you see above. It was relaxing and just standing there for about 30 seconds and then flew on its way. It was flapping a lot unlike other birds like the gulls, ravens, or pelicans that I see soaring thru the sky. the rock pigeon is all over the world except Antarctica and the most North pole. A large dove that is common in cities, farmland, and grain elevators. Nests are often seen on cliffs, tall buildings. In high school, I saw one in the corner of a roof. There is a wide variety of colors but the most common is black, white, or orangey-brown. They sound like coo roo ctoo coo. These pigeons can be seen all over the beach too and usually stall in one place for a very short time. In the past, they used to be all over the pier but over time I have seen less and less on the strand house.

Common Name: Rock Pigeon

Species: Columba Livia

Family: Columbidae

Order: Columbiformes

Observations: 4,492, 666

Area: Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa, North, and South America,  

Narrative:

So this was by far the most boring spot for birding since there was barely any action I only saw ravens, crows, gulls, and a pigeon. There was not that much in this area. It was sunny, windy, and about 65 degrees. I did this around 4:45pm. This was the latest I have ever birded and will attempt this one more time to see if there is any difference because there were barely any birds flying around. I stood in this one area and mainly faced south, south-west, and south-east. I saw about 24 birds. It was nice listening to the ocean and the calls of the birds. Overall the birds flew on the electric or telephone lines and then left. I saw some soaring on their way to the beach. I did not see any shore-birds I have mentioned in the past. Overall, I think the most diverse birds I will find in on the beach or in Polliwog Park. Both are closed so that is a real bummer. I have not seen any changes in birds since I mainly see Gulls, pelican, terns, pigeons, crows, and ravens.

Bird List:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S67289821

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66931691

Bird Blog 9

Date: 4/5/2020

Location: Manhattan Beach Village Parking lot. Address: 1180 Rosecrans Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Site Description: The roof of a parking lot. I post up and looked around the entire lot. As expected in there are a lot of buildings around a parking lot but there were a lot of open areas. There were trees along the street and a whole empty construction site. There was also a huge open field in the distance. Overall, I thought about scoping this out and see what I could find.

Species Account:

So, we have seen this bird before and to me, it is an easy bird to spot because not only have I always seen this bird and familiar with it has such defining features. It is a cute bird with its green head, a white neckline that goes into a brown chest. After the chest, it leads into a gray/brown body, orange feet, yellow bill, and white wing bars. I usually saw these birds on the golf course or at my local park right next to my middle school. I think one pooped on me before or it was a gull. This is a quintessential duck that usually is in water, parks, creek, and other wetland habitats. Males are the chestnut breast and gray body while the females are mottled brown with orange and black splotches on the bill. These birds were flying across a field pretty high up and I lost sight of them after they descended near the golf course.

Common Name: Mallard

Species: Anas platyrhynchos

Family: Anatidae

Order: Anseriformes

Observations: 7,728,422

Area: North America, Europe, and Asia

Narrative:

So, you might be asking ‘why the heck would I go up to a parking lot?’ I don’t know why I came other than knowing that I would be able to see a huge area and see mainly North, West and South East since there is a Macy’s to the south. Anyways I spent about 20ish minutes in each direction. At the South-east direction, I first saw some mourning doves flying together into a tree. And a couple of crows and gulls. I am starting to get a little better at determining the difference between a raven or crow since a raven has a diamond shape tail where the crow has more of a triangle shape. Mainly you can see a huge building to the East and Macy’s cover the south but there is a huge field that you can see. Anyways moving on to the North. I saw a two Mallards flying in the air towards the Lakes Golf course where I have seen them before chilling in the ponds on the course. I forgot to take a picture, but you can see the new Rams/Chargers stadium in the distance (Not pictured). I also some gulls in this direction. It was great to see them, and I caught a glimpse of one doing the heat convention belt, like I have mentioned before with the hawks. I believe it was doing that because it was circling around a single spot. I also believe it was rising but I could not get a good sense of perception since it was so far off. The biggest thing was a huge open area with grasses and trees in the distance. It is right next to a shopping mall but there were no birds that
I saw on the grass which is where I was expecting to see the most birds during this trip. I hope that this was just today, and I got unlucky this day. I then moved on to the West where you can see a bunch of construction. My eyes were mainly on the dirt and the open site. I thought a bird might fly down there since there were no workers. I mainly saw crows or ravens and gulls in this area. It was a good day to go birding today, but I will most likely not coming here again since there was so much more at the beaches. Probably going to a park if it is not closed for next week.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66689952

Bird List:

~20 gulls (difficult to ID)

5 Mourning Doves

10 Crows or Ravens

5 American Crows

 

 

 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66543391?share=true

Date: 4/1/2020

Location: Manhattan Beach, Along Ocean, on 1st Street, 7th Street, Manhattan Beach Blvd, and 27th Street.

Site Description: It was sunny about 64 degrees F. The beach was closed and most people were walking on ocean dr, instead of the strand. There were no surfers out in the water.

Species Account: 

I think I saw a raven I am still trying to tell the differences between a raven and crow. The blackbird has a wedge tail. Ravens are larger than crows with thicker and larger bills. The raven’s bill is also larger than their head which is so different. Imagine having a mouth larger than your head that is something else. Usually, seen in deserts, coasts, tundra, and grasslands. It has smooth and steady wing flaps. I saw the raven right outside my outside chilling on my neighbor’s house on their roof. There was only one and I have always seen it before but it was brushing your teeth in the morning. It is just a regular thing you do/see. The common raven tends to alone 🙁

Common Name: Common Raven

Species: Corvus Corax

Family: Corvidae

Order: Passeriformes

Observations: 3,132,367

Area: North America, Europe, Asia

Narrative:

So I basically did the same thing as the last blog but instead, I could not walk on the beach or the strand. The beaches are closed in the LA county. There are no locals/tourists walking on the strand, no one coming to the beach, no surfers in the water. It really felt like a different time. I talked about it with other people and they said it’s wild and you should take it in cause this has never happened before. A nice sunny day and no one is out on the beach. I on the weekend too and it was insane how no one was there. Only once I saw someone on the beach. Then I saw police driving straight to em. The other thing that was incredible since there were no birds on the sand. I only saw three shorebirds that I could not ID because I was so far. I usually see a flock of some kind of trens or gulls on the beach or pigeon but I did not see a single group on the stretch of 1- 12th street and then a wide view of 26th street. Maybe if I looked around more I would see more but I will see when I go out on a bike ride today. Update in the next blog. The things I did see was crows or ravens still trying to figure out what the difference is I will take pictures and paste them in the next blog. I saw them soaring and flapping. I saw a group of brown pelican going south again except usually I see them on the water but this time they were soaring above the strand. I went from 7th street to Manhattan Beach Blvd then to 26th street and back but went to 1st street and ended my birding back on 7th street to see if anything changed in the 50 minutes I have been gone. I spent about an exact hour of birding and going in-between spots. I did not see some things at the separate street but most of my time was at the Manhattan Beach BLVD. Which, is where the pier is. I saw a blackbird in a tree and I believe it is a common raven because of the big bill. I also saw a bird floating in the water but also could not ID it. It was floating on the water and going in between the pier columns. It floated there and saw it do a dive fly over some crashing waves which was nice to see but it did not dive under the water like I have seen other birds in the water do.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S66875472

Bird List:

5 Rock Pigeons

7 Brown Pelicans

10 American Crows

7 Common Ravens

20 Gulls