Date: 10/17/26 10:27 pm From: Naresh Satyan via groups.io <naresh.satyan...> Subject: [LACoBirds] North slope of the San Gabriel mountains 10/17/26
Hi all,
Birding in the San Gabriel mountains this fall continues to be excellent, as evidenced by reports by a number of birders all along the range. Today (Sat, Oct 17), Mark Scheel and I spent a full day birding various locations on the north/desert slope of the San Gabriel mountains in the eastern part of the county.
We started at Table mountain, where the temperature was 45 F at sunrise, with some light north winds. After birding here for a couple of hours, we drove up the Angeles crest to Vincent gap. Brief stops along the way at the bleak Lightning Ridge vista point and the ruins of the Grassy Hollow picnic area did not produce much. After checking Vincent Gap for a bit, we drove the dirt road (4N56/4N12) down to Jackson Lake. The road was generally passable in any high clearance vehicle, but a couple of sketchy spots near Big Pines Highway needed AWD. We birded Jackson Lake, which had a number of interesting birds, and then drove down to check Saint Andrews Abbey and a quick stop at Stephen Sorensen park in Lake Los Angeles to close out the day. It was cool all day, getting increasingly overcast, and only getting to about 77F in the desert in the late afternoon. Santa Ana winds were not particularly strong in the places we birded.
The ongoing flight of montane species into the mountains continues. Some notes:
- Cassin's Finches were the most obvious species moving today, and we had them at most of our stops including the abbey. Table Mountain had at least 50 birds, including 30 birds in one flock feeding on the ground in the disc golf course. This was a spectacle, and 50 is a pretty high count for the San Gabriel mountains in our experience. Previous visits this fall haven't had nearly as many birds. - Red Crossbills were heard at multiple places, and we saw a flock of 7 birds fly by at one of the stops. They all sounded like Type 2 birds, but we only got recordings at Table Mountain - At least one (but likely more) Evening Grosbeak was heard flying on the north side of Jackson Lake, with the recording showing Type 1 flight calls - A Pinyon Jay was at Jackson Lake briefly before moving on to the east (one of three species of jay at this location today) - We heard and recorded a Pine Siskin at Table mountain, but they were frustratingly elusive otherwise - A male Williamson's Sapsucker was at Table Mountain, in the same tree that a female has been seen in the past weeks - American Robins seem to be moving through in good numbers closer to the desert floor - Swallows were migrating through in good numbers. Most of the birds we saw well were Violet-green Swallows, but we did see a small number of Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows flying low over the saddle at Vincent Gap in a mixed swallow flock.
