Date: 4/8/25 4:56 pm From: <thebrit1...> via groups.io <thebrit1...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Golden Triangle/Tejon Pass
I just arrived back in the mountains and started counting on Saturday. Unlike other years, I will post them on www.trektellen 'Tejon Pass/Golden Triangle. Daniel Irons posted the count here a couple of years ago. For those who don't know, Trektellen is the global site where nearly all major migration counts are. Bear Divide has just started using it and I also do another count 'Del Haven' (my Cape May, NJ home) in fall. Numbers are live where there is internet (not here).
This year, sadly, will probably be my last one and so I will try to be more transparent with information. I believe Tejon Pass and the general area is the best place in spring for visible migration (vismig)/morning flight in western USA. Geographically, it is so striking; multiple geographic features meet there. I bought a house based on google earth - it is so obvious! It is feed by birds migrating through (1)The Antelope Valley, (2) along the northern edge of LA Forest (Pine Canyon Rd/Quail Lake), (3) through the LA Forest (Old Ridge rd) - similar to Bear Divide, (4) LA Basin birds travelling up I5. These birds all meet at the Golden Triangle (I5/Gorman Post Rd/138 triangle) and fly up the pass when the wind has west in it: it is typically NW. Birds in the daytime always want to fly into the wind - with the wind at night. It is a big area and, unlike Bear Divide which has one funnel, there are lots of ways birds can move. Up the pass is the favorite. Anywhere along Gorman Post Rd where the slopes meet the road can be good, occasionally amazing! Birds sometimes cut over the back by the quarry and come out over Castac Lake just over the brow of Tejon Pass and just to the north of the services there. This can be a great place for raptors and I have seen as many as 6 Golden Eagles at once and is the way most Swainson's Hawks go.
No single place is the best - a good, and bad, thing. Old Ridge Rd is great for solitude; the two passes before the old inn frame are the best. The bird composition is like Bear Divide though they are more spread out here. These birds exit the hills above Copco Rd (next to the i5/138 ramp). The tracks wind up into the hills from here and the tallest peak that looks down on I5 and Tejon Pass to the north is the best. Most birds drop down the valley from here, while others such as Townsend's and Hermit Warblers typically fly up into orbit. It is the end of the chaparral so there is no food for them below. Where do they go? That is the million dollar question! Most of the birds that drop cross Copco road, particularly at the start of it. This is the best place for flight photography - as they rise up to cross the 138 slip road. As for Gorman Post Rd - just look for the birds. If you look at these places on a map, it will make sense. Better still, visit, and really look around and think what you would do if you were a bird.
Saturday started with 3000 Yellow-rumps. There have been decent flights each day since with good numbers of all 3 goldfinches, up to 500 Western Kingbirds, flocks of Chipping and White-crowned Sparrows, lots of swallow etc. More interesting have been several Hairy and Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Common Yellowthroat and Swamp Sparrow flying up the pass - birds less prone to visible migration. Orioles, Grosbeaks and other migrants are getting commoner by the day. If its warm with wind from the NW in the area, there are usually birds. The pass is usually very windy even when it is calm nearby. If it's easterly, stay in bed! Check www.trektellon/ Tejon Pass -Golden Triangle - the dates are top left to look at previous days.
Richard Crossley/Crossley Books
