Date: 11/13/26 6:21 pm From: Ryan Winkleman via OrangeCountyBirding <rswinkleman...> Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Orange County RBA: November 13, 2026
Mountain birds continued in the county this week but I wanted to point out
that a lot of people are chasing them where they are already known to be
at. For example, crossbills in pine trees where other people have already
found them. That’s all well and good, especially if they’re new birds for
you, but who knows what else is out there? My point being, at least in
South Orange County where I so very happily reside, there is a veritable
crapload (to put it mildly) of pine trees. Mission Viejo? Tons of pines.
Lake Forest? Pines. Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods? Big stands of tall
pines, just go down to the dead end of Ridge Route and look left. Rancho
Santa Margarita, the best city in Orange County? Yeah, not so many pines
actually so probably don’t bother unless you’re like up in Live Oak Canyon
or something. But Aliso Viejo? Do they plant anything *other *than pines
there? Like seriously, it is nothing BUT pines in that city, I’m not
joking. It’s like the City Planners made a plant palette for the City and
on that palette was written only one thing: “*Pinus *spp.” I have no clue
what the rest of the county is like anymore because, you know, South County
freaking rules and the rest of the county *just doesn’t* and other than
going to Lemon Heights last weekend to get honked at by nuthatches I just
have no desire to leave the greatest part of Orange County (i.e., SOUTH
COUNTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY), but anyway there are like
nausea-inducing numbers of pines in South County. Help check them! Then you
can be the next bird hero and go like this:
* California
* Orange County
* November 13, 2026
* CAOC26.11.13
This is the Orange County, CA weekly Rare Bird Alert (RBA) and local events
summary. California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) review species are
capitalized and marked with asterisks below. All documentation of review
species should be forwarded to the CBRC secretary, Tom Benson, at
<secretary...>
BIRDS MENTIONED
White-winged Dove
Pacific Golden-Plover
Cocos Booby
Neotropic Cormorant
Western Cattle-Egret
Zone-tailed Hawk
Lewis’s Woodpecker
*YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER*
Western Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Cassin’s Vireo
Plumbeous Vireo
Brown Creeper
Townsend’s Solitaire
Purple Finch
Red Crossbill
Grasshopper Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Dickcissel
A WHITE-WINGED DOVE was photographed at the Fullerton Pooch Park on
November 9.
A PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER was at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in Seal
Beach on November 13.
A COCOS BOOBY continued to be reported at the Dana Point Harbor jetty
through November 11.
NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS continued on the upper Santa Ana River in Anaheim
through November 10, with two at Ralph Clark Park in Buena Park on November
12.
A WESTERN CATTLE-EGRET was reported from Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in
Huntington Beach on November 13.
Up to two ZONE-TAILED HAWKS were reported flying around the vicinity of
Lake Forest Park in Lake Forest all week. Another was reported flying over
I-5 between Oso and Crown Valley on November 8.
A LEWIS’S WOODPECKER was reported from the vicinity of that Barn Owl box
(if you’ve been there, you know the one) at Aliso and Wood Canyons
Wilderness Park in Laguna Niguel on November 12.
A *YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER* was at Lake Forest Park in Lake Forest from
November 8 through November 13, generally along the southern edge of the
park in the trees in the ditch but otherwise ranging around the general
area. This is Orange County’s second record of this species.
WESTERN FLYCATCHERS were reported from the Skyline Drive Fire Station in
Tustin on November 8, Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest on November 11, and
Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach on November 9 and 10.
A TROPICAL KINGBIRD was at Eucalyptus Park in Cypress on November 11.
A CASSIN’S VIREO was at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest on November 10
and 11.
A PLUMBEOUS VIREO was in Aliso Creek in Lake Forest on November 11, another
was at Lake Forest Park in Lake Forest on November 12 and 13, another was
at the Tustin Financial Plaza (actual name) on the corner of Prospect and 17
th on November 8, and another was at Twila Reid Park in Anaheim on November
9.
A BROWN CREEPER was at the Shipley Nature Center at Huntington Central Park
West in Huntington Beach on November 7.
A TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE was photographed in residential Live Oak Canyon on
November 7.
PURPLE FINCHES were at the Shipley Nature Center at Huntington Central Park
West in Huntington Beach from November 7 through November 10.
A RED CROSSBILL was at the Los Pinos Trailhead on November 8. Two were at
the Juanita Cooke Trail in Fullerton on November 10. Up to a dozen were
reported from Mountain View Park in Lake Forest from November 11 through
November 13. Two were photographed in residential Aliso Viejo on November
9. Another was reported in residential Rancho Santa Margarita on November
13.
A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was reported from the Quail Hill Preserve in Irvine
on November 11.
A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach
on November 7 and 8.
A VESPER SPARROW was on the Borrego Trail in Lake Forest on November 7,
while two more were at Quail Hill Preserve in Irvine on November 11.
A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued at Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest
through November 12.
AMERICAN REDSTARTS continued at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach
and Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest, both on November 11.
A NORTHERN PARULA continued at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach
on November 7.
A CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER was photographed at Lake Forest Park in Lake
Forest on November 9.
A PALM WARBLER was at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa on November 10.
A BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER was photographed along San Diego Creek
across from UCI in Irvine on November 8.
A DICKCISSEL was photographed in residential Orange on November 7.
LOCAL EVENTS
Note: We will no longer be listing individual trips on this weekly email.
For a complete up-to-date list of current field trips, please visit the
webpage on Sea and Sage’s website:
https://seaandsageaudubon.org/field-trips/.
The Orange County RBA and events summary is produced weekly by Ryan
Winkleman. Sightings of rare birds can be posted to the OrangeCountyBirding
listserv, emailed directly to Ryan Winkleman (<rswinkleman...>),
and/or submitted to eBird (http://ebird.org/content/ebird). Any supporting
details (descriptions, photos, audio recordings, etc.) of rare sightings
that are not already disclosed on the listserv or on eBird should also be
emailed to Samuel Bressler (<pacificgoldenplover...>) separately for
consideration to be mentioned in the current quarterly report for North
American Birds.
Those sightings that are included in this summary generally include those
that are considered rare (regionally or seasonally) for Orange County based
on "The Birds of Orange County: Status and Distribution" (Hamilton and
Willick), "Birds of Southern California" (Garrett and Dunn), and/or more
contemporary changes in local or regional status and distribution. Rarities
that regularly or seasonally occur at a particular location, such as
annually wintering rarities on Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, may or
may not be included in this digest, but reports of these same species
occurring at other, atypical locations throughout the county may be
included. We don't include hybrids, subspecies, introduced or exotic birds,
or in most cases and for no real reason, geese. All bird reports are vetted
to the extent possible prior to each publication, but in the interest of
sharing information, the accuracy of any given report cannot always be
guaranteed, nor can the presence of any given bird for those who choose to
chase after them.
Information on upcoming local events can be viewed on the Sea and Sage
Audubon website (http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/). Sea and Sage Audubon
is based out of the Audubon House at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in
Irvine. They sponsor a number of public field trips, special birding
events, conservation lectures, and social gatherings throughout the year.
For the most current information please refer to the field trip list on the
Sea and Sage Audubon website at https://seaandsageaudubon.org/field-trips/.
It is also recommended that you refer to that website immediately prior to
engaging in any field trip to confirm that trips are still occurring. #RBA
