Date: 7/19/26 5:47 pm From: Lance Benner via groups.io <lbenner...> Subject: [LACoBirds] LA County Bird Atlas blocks that need coverage
Hi Everyone,
Here's another update on Bird Atlas blocks in Los Angeles County that still need coverage. There are still more than 50 with zero coverage, but to keep the numbers manageable in this email, here are a few with good access from paved roads that aren't in remote places.
Canoga Park NW
0.6 h of effort, 2 checklists, 6 coded, 4 confirmed. It's in the western San Fernando Valley and includes northern part of Topganga Canyon Blvd and the eastern part of Chatsworth Nature Preserve. 56 Species were found here during the atlas in the 1990s so there should be plenty of birds.
Oat Mountain CW
This is another one on the edge of the San Fernando Valley that hasn't gotten much coverage: only 1.3 hours of effort, only 9 species have been coded, of which one has been confirmed. During the atlas in the 1990s, 67 species were coded here.
Oat Mountain SE
This block is mostly suburban but it includes some open space along lower Aliso Canyon, freeway bridges, parks, golf courses, 52 species were coded here in the 1990s. To date in 2026, only 6 species have been coded and only one has been confirmed.
Agua Dulce CW
This block includes a section of Soledad Canyon Road along a riparian area, a lot of open space, chaparral, and Agua Dulce Canyon Road. Only 4 species have been coded and there's been only 1.7 hours of effort. 51 Species were found here during the atlas in the 1990s, and of those, breeding was confirmed for 27.
Malibu Beach CE
This is a block just barely north of the coast that has only three checklists and only 15 species coded. 79 Species were coded here in the first Los Angeles County Atlas and breeding was confirmed for 51. There are several paved roads, canyons, trails, and chaparral.
Although breeding season is slowing, there are still a lot of young birds around, particularly in the San Gabriel Mountains and in the highlands north of Santa Clarita. Both areas still need a lot of coverage.
For example, Chilao Flat CW (which includes a lengthy section of Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road, chaparral, and riparian habitat) has only 11 species coded; Chilao Flat NW (which includes Monte Cristo Campground, Angeles Forest Highway, riparian areas, and dirt roads through chaparral) has only 11 species coded. During the atlas in the 1990s, 60 species were coded in Chilao Flat NW and 57 were coded in Chilao Flat CW.
Lake Hughes SW and Burnt Peak SE are along Lake Hughes Road and neither block has ANY coverage. There's a lot of good habitat in both with an active creek, cottonwoods, alders, sycamores, live oaks, conifers, chaparral, and canyons. During the first atlas 60 species were coded in Burnt Peak SE and 46 were coded in Lake Hughes SW.
As is clear from the discussion above, we still need help in the Santa Monica Mountains and in the western San Fernando Valley. We need help in the Antelope Valley too, but breeding there is largely over, so it's probably more productive to concentrate elsewhere now and plan to devote more time to the Antelope Valley next spring.
Some other things:
The most recent monthly summary of statewide progress is now available at:
Sam Safran created this tool a couple of months ago and just gave it a major update. It's a really useful tool that uses existing eBird data to predict the species that could be present in each block, provides an estimate of the likelihood of finding them, and summarizes the number that have been reported as possible, probable, and confirmed breeders. It's really helpful to illustrate species not yet coded in each block.
More locally, the Los Angeles Birders monthly webinar on July 14 summarized results so far for Los Angeles County. If you missed it, the presentation was recorded and is available on YouTube at:
Finally, although things are going well in Los Angeles County, there's still a lot to do and we need help! More than 50 blocks still have zero coverage and most others still need breeding confirmed for many more species. The atlast uses a dedicated eBird web portal at:
