Date: 3/14/26 9:23 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Swainson's Hawks over the San Gabriel mountains today
Hi all,
I hiked up to Barley Flats in the San Gabriel mountains today (3/14) and had a group of 47 Swainson's Hawks fly over mid-afternoon at 3:15 pm.
My sense is that most Swainson's Hawk observations in our area are of birds that come down to roost overnight, and these birds are seen in the morning as they leave, particularly against the foothills on the coastal slope and on overcast days. But I think we miss the majority of birds that are migrating high overhead throughout the day, taking routes determined by weather and wind conditions on the day, and impossible to see against blue skies. Anyway, for those who are more interested in what I actually saw rather than idle speculation: this was a single group of 47 birds flying low above / on the north side of the ridge at Barley Flats, heading due west at 3:15 pm. This ridge (Barley Flats/Lawlor/Strawberry/Josephine) is the southern wall of Big Tujunga canyon, which runs east-west in the area. Winds were light to moderate from the west at Barley Flats. These birds were heading west into the wind, at the southern edge of a large area with stronger west winds (the entire western Antelope Valley). As seems to be typical for early season birds, the majority of the birds in the flock were dark(ish) birds.
On my way down from the hike, I had a flock of about 100 Cliff Swallows also heading west into the wind, but taking a line over the West Fork San Gabriel canyon between Barley Flats and Mt Wilson.
Otherwise, there was little sign of migrant activity apart from a couple of hummingbirds that flew over without stopping and perhaps a slightly-higher-than-expected number (16) of Audubon's Warblers at 5500'. Most singing birds in the area were residents, and Mountain Quail were particularly vocal. A California Thrasher was doing a perfect impression of an Olive-sided Flycatcher (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/652807284).
