Date: 8/1/26 10:37 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: [LACoBirds] 2026 LA River Fall Shorebird Survey: Day 1 results
Hi all,
Today was also the first of three surveys of shorebirds in the Los Angeles river planned for this fall. We've been doing three surveys every fall since 2023. Many thanks to the regulars (and some substitutes) who came out to do the survey in the middle of the ongoing Extreme Heat event. I probably had the worst of the conditions in Burbank, but we managed to get it done before it got too hot.
Coverage: Jeff Boyd surveyed between Golden Shore and Willow St, Jon Fisher and Sarah Ngo from Willow St to Wardlow Rd, Lance Benner from Wardlow to Rosecrans Ave in Paramount, Mark and Janet Scheel from Southern Ave to Atlantic Blvd in South Gate/Maywood, Chris Dean checked all locations with good shorebird habitat from the 110/5 Fwy intersection up to Glendale Narrows, and I birded the Sepulveda basin dam area and Buena Vista Park in Burbank. We effectively looked at every part of the river that has any shorebird habitat.
Today's survey was one week earlier than past years, but shorebird numbers seemed to be slightly better. Western Sandpipers don't appear to be here yet in any significant numbers, but we did have 1148 Least Sandpipers. Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet numbers were pretty good, with quite a few young birds.
There were a few uncommon birds. Jeff Boyd found a Lucy's Warbler by the PCH, along with a couple of continuing Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at Golden Shore and a Common Gallinule on the lower river. 33 Black Oystercatchers at the river mouth by Golden Shore is a high count for the area. Lance Benner found a Solitary Sandpiper near Wardlow Rd. After the official count had ended, Mark and Janet Scheel also found a juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper at Willow St. We missed Lesser Yellowlegs and Wilson's Phalaropes.
We usually have to contend with half a dozen Peregrine Falcons, but the only one found today was an adult up by the Sepulveda dam. While Northern Red Bishops have gotten scarce, some other exotic species seem to be on the march. We had 34 Egyptian Geese today compared to 8 last year. Many of these were young birds that may not survive the next few months. Swinhoe's White-eye numbers continue to increase -- we had 67 birds today, and Lance reported one of them feeding a cowbird chick at DeForest Park.
There were fewer fish-eating birds down in Long Beach. From Jeff Boyd: "'There were significantly lower numbers today for a few fish-eating species, in particular Brown Pelican and Elegant Tern. Following the Boyle Heights warehouse fire this June, there'd been a die-off of green algae followed closely by a significant fish die-off. The algae has made a quick comeback, and the fish are beginning to repopulate the lower river but not yet in such numbers as to support the numbers of fish-eating birds that we usually have on the river at this time of year."
There will be two follow-up surveys this fall, on August 29 and September 19.
Regards, Naresh
-- Naresh Satyan Pasadena, CA Los Angeles Birders -- www.labirders.org
