Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - February 20, 2025

White-winged Dove | Sandhill Crane | Pacific Golden-Plover | Solitary Sandpiper | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Pacific Loon | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Ash-throated Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Least Flycatcher | Lapland Longspur | Thick-billed Longspur | Clay-colored Sparrow | Sagebrush Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Green-tailed Towhee | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Pine Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Black-throated Green Warbler | Painted Redstart | Hepatic Tanager | Rose-breasted Grosbeak

BIRDS OF THE SEASON
Jon Fisher
Birds of the Season—January 2025

Though we enjoyed two drought-busting winters in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, the current rainy season has been anything but.  In December and January, most of Los Angeles County was suffering from record dry conditions and extreme drought.  Vegetation, having increased significantly over two wet years, had not received any measurable rain for over eight months. 

Birds of the Season—January 2025
Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - January 15, 2025

Sandhill Crane | Pacific Golden-Plover | Solitary Sandpiper | Vega Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Pacific Loon | Swainson’s Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Short-eared Owl | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Ash-throated Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Least Flycatcher | Eastern Phoebe | Bell’s Vireo | Lapland Longspur | Thick-billed Longspur | Clay-colored Sparrow | Sagebrush Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Green-tailed Towhee | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Pine Warbler | Black-throated Green Warbler | Painted Redstart

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - December 31, 2024

Common Ground Dove | Sandhill Crane | Pacific Golden-Plover | Solitary Sandpiper | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Vega Gull | Least Bittern | Swainson’s Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Short-eared Owl | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Dusky Flycatcher | Western Flycatcher | Eastern Phoebe | Bell’s Vireo | SIBERIAN PIPIT | Lapland Longspur | Thick-billed Longspur | Sagebrush Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Hooded Oriole | Virgina’s Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Pine Warbler | Painted Redstart | Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rare Bird Alert
Jon Fisher
Rare Bird Alert - December 19, 2024

Sandhill Crane | Pacific Golden-Plover | Mountain Plover | Solitary Sandpiper | Vega Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Pacific Loon | Flesh-footed Shearwater | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Dusky Flycatcher | Western Flycatcher | Eastern Phoebe | Bell’s Vireo | Verdin | Lapland Longspur | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Thick-billed Longspur | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Black-chinned Sparrow | Sagebrush Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Baltimore Oriole | Lucy’s Warbler | Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Painted Redstart | Hepatic Tanager | Indigo Bunting

Birds of the Season — May 2024

It surely can’t be said that the spring of 2024 was an uneventful one.  This season is generally thought of as a comparatively slow time for vagrants, but this year seemed determined to turn that idea on its head.  There were a few of our more expected rarities, but some red-letter birds as well, including two first Los Angeles County records.  In addition, lingering wintering rarities continued to be reported, though by early May most of these had moved on. 

Sign up to join our mailing list to receive our newsletter and updates on upcoming events.