Date: 5/18/25 7:48 am From: Cathy McFadden via groups.io <mcfadden...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Migrant movement through the chaparral in Big Tujunga canyon 051725
Just to second these observations, we birded San Dimas Canyon yesterday
morning in similar socked-in conditions and witnessed the same large
movements going on there. Lots of Western Tanagers, Black-headed
Grosbeaks, Lazuli Buntings and flycatchers (mostly Western Wood-Pewees and
Olive-sided Flycatchers) moving down the canyon, in a SSW direction.
Movement actually seemed to pick up throughout the morning, especially the
number of tanagers.
eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S239337737
Good birding!
Cathy McFadden and Paul Clarke
Claremont
On Sat, May 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Lance Benner and I led a hike in Big Tujunga canyon today as part of a
> series of hikes in chaparral habitat for LA Birders. We went down the old
> FS road 3N27, which descends down to Big Tujunga creek from approximately
> the intersection of Angeles Forest Highway and Big Tujunga canyon road in
> the San Gabriel mountains -- going down from 3060' at the road to 2390' at
> the creek. Today was heavily overcast with a local cloud ceiling at 3000' -
> 4000', which made for interesting birding.
>
> Under these low overcast conditions, there was a very large number of
> landbird migrants moving down the canyon along the canyon walls. Movement
> lasted from when we began the hike at 7:30 am, and birds were moving all
> the way to noon. Western Tanagers were the most numerous migrants, but
> there were also good numbers of Black-headed Grosbeaks, Lazuli Buntings,
> flycatchers, warblers, orioles, etc moving through. The canyon is oriented
> roughly ENE-WSW in this area, and the birds were moving downcanyon, heading
> west-southwest. We are not sure where exactly the birds were coming from
> locally. I visit this area on and off, and certainly did not expect to see
> these many migrants -- not only good numbers, but also sustained movement
> all morning. It is likely that the numbers, time of movement and direction
> were all heavily influenced by weather conditions today. I haven't heard of
> any reports from Bear Divide (to our west) from today, but they may have
> been socked in. In any case, I encourage visiting chaparral habitat in the
> foothills in the spring -- good things may happen!
>
> There were also several birds setting up for nesting season and even some
> juveniles out already, and the most thrilling encounter for most
> participants on the hike was when we witnessed aerial food exchange between
> a pair of Peregrine Falcons that is probably nesting in the canyon.
>
> eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S239478665 >
> Regards,
> Naresh
>
> --
> Naresh Satyan
> Pasadena, CA
>
>
>
--
Dr. Catherine S. McFadden
Vivian and D. Kenneth Baker Professor
Department of Biology
Harvey Mudd College
1250 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711 USA
