Date: 11/16/25 9:21 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Post-storm birding in the Antelope Valley
Hi all,
I spent the day visiting some locations in the Antelope Valley today. It was cool, overcast, somewhat breezy, and there was only a small amount of rain all day.
I spent the morning at Piute Ponds. It was good to be back, but the roads are a muddy mess as expected. I only drove as far as P1 and Division, and covered Duckbill, Big Piute and Ducks Unlimited all on foot. The roads were slick even to walk on. Others were more adventurous -- a sedan was stuck in the mud on the east side of Duckbill all morning, and other roads were somewhat chewed up by trucks. I'd recommend not driving on the roads for the next few days until the roads dry up. All the ponds are now getting full, and birding is particularly great at the south ponds after this year's burns. I missed most of the birds Kimball found on Friday, but there was a nice juvenile Herring Gull on Big Piute.
After Piute, I checked some other random places. The flood basin at Ave H and 25th W is often interesting after rains, and it was great today. I made my way to the west side of the basin, and had a spectacular flock of 150-200 Mountain Bluebirds around me picking off insects from the flooded fields. My last stop was at Antelope Valley Country Club where there were more Mountain Bluebirds, a few Vermilion Flycatchers, and a "slate-colored" Dark-eyed Junco in the ditch on the west side.
It seems to be a good year for Mountain Bluebirds.
