Date: 3/1/23 3:02 pm From: Tom Cassaro <tcassaro...> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Massive migration of American Robins
I'm circling back on the American Robin discussion as there is an
interesting article from Mendocino County on the topic, see below. Alvaro
Jaramillo is quoted in the article.
Robins are still here in South Pasadena, although the largest groups I've
seen in the last week have been in the 10-20 range. The weather has made
it difficult to get good, consistent views so there could be larger numbers
still present.
On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 5:05 PM Larry Schmahl via groups.io <larschmahl=
<aol.com...> wrote:
> Fellow birders,
>
> Regarding the influx of American Robins in LA County....
> Sycamore Canyon in Whittier has had hundreds of American Robins for the
> past month. Most of them are in the mouth of the canyon.
> Birders have been putting 300 birds on their ebird checklists but the
> numbers could easily be higher.
> Because there are multiple groups, some very large, moving about, it's
> difficult to be sure if one is seeing old groups or new groups.
> There are large, swirling flocks in the morning with other huge flocks
> coming over the ridges from Whittier to the south and Rose Hills to the
> north.
> The odd thing is, they are not descending on Toyon for the berries. There
> doesn't seem to be any obvious reason for them to be in the canyon.
> The spectacle seems to end about 9:30 or so.
> The gate to the canyon usually opens at 9 but it sometimes is opened
> earlier. The ranger has gates to open at a couple of different locations.
> He can't be everywhere at 9 so some get opened early.
>
> Larry Schmahl
> Whittier
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Barth <busyday...>
> To: 'David Ellsworth' <davidells...>
> Cc: 'LACoBirds' <LACoBirds...>
> Sent: Fri, Feb 17, 2023 4:31 pm
> Subject: Re: [LACoBirds] Massive migration of American Robins through
> Cabrillo Beach area
>
> Birders,
>
> Following up on David Ellsworth's report of 400 American Robins...Jeff
> Boyd, Juan Limon and I had a flock of 40 fly over us at the L.A.River in
> Long Beach this morning heading west, a little before 8 AM.
>
> Richard Barth
>
> -----------------------------------------
> From: "David Ellsworth"
> To: "LACoBirds"
> Cc:
> Sent: Friday February 17 2023 9:16:32AM
> Subject: [LACoBirds] Massive migration of American Robins through Cabrillo
> Beach area
>
> About 400 American Robins came flying roughly
> southward toward the Cabrillo Beach area at
> 7:52am today (Feb 17). Their flight pattern was
> very different from other large flocks of birds
> I've seen; they were all bouncing around in
> different directions. Unfortunately, my camera
> was not ready (it was on a tripod with
> teleconverters attached), as this would have made
> quite a spectacle to get on video. I thought they
> had simply passed through, but they must have
> taken a rest hidden in the trees as they
> exploded back out at 8:09am and flew back to
> north. Had I prepared for this, I could've got it
> on video at that point, but I had gone back to
> eating my breakfast and left the camera on its tripod.
>
> (The only time I've seen Robins in my local patch
> is when they're passing through. I conjecture
> they don't spend any significant amount of time
> actually stopping over and foraging here because
> when they do, they get chased away by
> Mockingbird(s). I once saw this happen at Angels
> Gate Park with 1 Robin and 1 Mockingbird who
> repeatedly divebombed the robin until it left.)
>
> Did anybody else get a look at this migration?
>
> I'd once before seen a large American Robin
> migration, on 10 Jan 2016 at South Coast Botanic
> Garden. During the bicycle ride over to there I
> was seeing small flocks of them continue to
> stream by, and once arriving, I estimated there
> to be 160 spread out at the park itself. What I
> saw today dwarfed that not only in that I saw all
> 400 or so at the same time, but the number itself was quite a bit larger.
>
> David Ellsworth
> San Pedro, CA
>
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