Date: 9/19/26 8:18 am From: Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Clark's Nutcrackers at Upper Shake Campground
Ed,
The main thing that this fall's irruptive species have in common is a diet
that depends largely on pine seeds. So I wouldn't expect ecologically very
different species (such as a boreal forest waxwing) to be involved, except
through coincidence. Likewise, there is little indication (at least up to
this point) of any strong irruptions of finches into our region (a few
siskin and crossbill reports, but no local Evening Grosbeak reports, for
example).
Besides the corvids, there are lots of Red-breasted Nuthatches in the
lowlands, and Mountain Chickadees seem much more widespread on the deserts
than in most falls. I wonder about the possible presence of Great
Basin/Rocky Mtn. Mountain Chickadees this fall (subtly different, with
buffier flanks and a bit more white on the supercilium and forehead), and
apparently there has been at least one "Interior/Mountain" White-breasted
Nuthatch (tenuissima, with the distinctive staccato call notes) in the
coast range north of L. A. County. Birders should be aware of the potential
for that taxon in L. A. this fall (though the 2-3 White-breasted Nuthatches
I have found on the Antelope Valley floor this fall have been coastal
aculeata). Please try to record vocalizations of any desert lowland (or
odd-sounding coastal) W-b Nuthatches.
We still don't know where these corvids are coming from, other than conifer
forests and woodlands somewhere from the Sierra Nevada east to the Rocky
Mtns, (thus, likely much of the Great Basin as Naresh indicated). And
unless the Santa Barbara folks have figured it out, we don't know where the
triple (even quadruple) digits of Clark's Nutcrackers seen almost daily at
La Cumbre Peak are coming from and headed to each day and whether it is new
birds or repeat birds each day.
The good news is that there are lots of birders out there reporting on
eBird, and maybe by the end of this season's phenomenon we'll have a better
understanding of the patterns that are unfolding.
Kimball Garrett
Juniper Hills
On Fri, Sep 18, 2026 at 9:40 PM Ed Stonick via groups.io <edstonick=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> This is the first I've heard of an invasion of northern Great Basin birds
> to L. A .County.
>
> Have there been similar events in the past? What else might we expect in
> Southern or other parts of California e. g. Bohemian Waxwings, woodpeckers,
> etc.
>
> Thanks,
> Ed Stonick
> Pasadena, Ca
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: "Naresh Satyan via groups.io" <naresh.satyan...>
> Date: 9/18/26 7:58 PM (GMT-08:00)
> To: "<LACoBirds...>" <lacobirds...>
> Subject: [LACoBirds] Clark's Nutcrackers at Upper Shake Campground
>
> Hi all,
>
> I had a couple of Clark's Nutcrackers at Upper Shake campground (west of
> Lake Hughes) this evening. There are no previous reports of this species in
> the western part of the Angeles National Forest (west of about Mt Gleason),
> at least on eBird. It is hard to be sure what's going on with nutcrackers
> in the eastern San Gabriels where there is a resident population, but these
> birds would appear to be solidly linked to the ongoing corvid irruption
> from the Great Basin.
>
> I did not hear any Pinyon Jays (or see any, but my chances of seeing a
> silent bird were pretty slim).
>
> Regards,
> Naresh
>
> --
> Naresh Satyan
> Pasadena, CA
>
>
