ORANGECOUNTYBIRDING - Message Board

RBA * California * Orange County * December 23, 2022 * CAOC22.12.23 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 *MEXICAN DUCK* White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Pacific Golden-Plover Neotropic Cormorant Bald Eagle Zone-tailed Hawk Lewiss Woodpecker Brown-crested Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Plumbeous Vireo Mountain Bluebird Townsends Solitaire Grasshopper Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Baltimore Oriole Ovenbird Black-and-White Warbler Tennessee Warbler Northern Parula Black-throated Green Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak The presumed *MEXICAN DUCK* continued at Carr Park in Huntington Beach through December 21. Note that this bird has still not been accepted by the CBRC, so until it is accepted it technically is not considered valid on the OC list of countable birds. A WHITE-WINGED SCOTER was photographed off of Bolsa Chica State Beach on December 22. An adult male BLACK SCOTER continued off of Bolsa Chica State Beach on December 20. A PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER continued at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach on December 17. An adult NEOTROPIC CORMORANT was reported to be continuing at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine on December 19. BALD EAGLES were at Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve on December 20 and December 16, respectively. A ZONE-TAILED HAWK was reported flying over Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in Buena Park on December 17. A LEWISS WOODPECKER continued at Irvine Regional Park in Orange through December 21, while as many as four were seen in the restricted Limestone Canyon area on December 18. The BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER continued at the Chrisanta Drive spot in Mission Viejo through December 22. A TROPICAL KINGBIRD continued at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine through December 18. A PLUMBEOUS VIREO was photographed at the playground in Sycamore Park in Mission Viejo on December 22. Two MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS continued on the Puma Ridge Trail at Irvine Regional Park in Orange on December 18. Up to 11 were reported at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa this week, and two were reported in the field next to the parking lot at the Upper Newport Bay Muth Center in Newport Beach on December 20. One was in Silverado Canyon on December 18 and another 10 were at Irvine Lake on the same date. A TOWNSENDS SOLITAIRE along the railroad tracks south of Chrisanta Drive in Mission Viejo continued through December 20. A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW continued at my favorite spot in Orange County, Bommer Canyon in Irvine, on December 21. Another continued at Irvine Regional Park in Orange on December 18. WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were found in the last week at Harriett Wieder Regional Park in Huntington Beach on December 16, at the Harding Canyon Trail in Modjeska Canyon on December 18, and in Limestone Canyon on December 18. Four VESPER SPARROWS were on the Puma Ridge Trail at Irvine Regional Park in Orange on December 18, with another continuing on the same date in the O'Neill Regional Park Wilderness in Rancho Santa Margarita. New birds included one at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in Seal Beach on December 17 and one in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch on December 18, at the southern end of the Live Oak Trail off of Glenn Ranch Road. An adult male BALTIMORE ORIOLE continued at the nature center at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley through December 17. An OVENBIRD was in the southeast corner of the fenced portion of the Urban Forest in Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach on December 22. A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued on the east side of Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach on December 17. TENNESSEE WARBLERS were reported in the last week in residential Laguna Niguel on December 17, at the edge of Del Obispo Park and the Sycamore Creek Trail in Dana Point on December 20, and at Veeh Ranch Park on December 18. A NORTHERN PARULA continued at Del Obispo Park in Dana Point through December 20, where it seems to favor the oak and tipu trees by the leg over exercise station. A BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER proved to be extremely popular at Estancia Park from December 18 through December 22, where it was last found in the tipu trees along Adams. An immature male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK has been hanging around a bird feeder on the east side of Chrisanta Drive in Mission Viejo from December 19 through December 22. LOCAL EVENTS For a complete up-to-date list of current field trips, please visit the webpage on Sea and Sages website: https://wp.seaandsageaudubon.org/home-sas/field-trip-2/#FTSchedule The next San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary bird walk will take place on January 8 from 8:00am to noon. Meet at the Audubon House. The next Carbon Canyon Regional Park bird walk will take place on January 15 from 8:00am to 12:00pm. The next Upper Newport Bay pontoon trip is on January 18 from 8:15am to 11:30am but is currently full. The annual Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) have been scheduled for December and January. The San Juan Capistrano CBC is on December 26, the Chino Puente-Hills CBC is on December 31, and the Coastal CBC is on January 2. Reach out to Darrell Wilson, Sam Bressler, or Bettina Eastman, respectively, if interested in any of these counts. BIRDING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES None beginning anytime soon. **************************************************** The Orange County RBA and events summary is produced weekly by Ryan Winkleman and Jeff Bray in collaboration with Doug Willick. Sightings of rare birds can be posted to the OrangeCountyBirding listserv, emailed directly to Jeff Bray ( jbray3928@... ) and/or 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 Ryan Winkleman 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 is taken largely from 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. Information regarding upcoming local events should be considered accurate at the time of this posting. However, for the most current information please refer to the field trip list on the Sea and Sage Audubon website at https://wp.seaandsageaudubon.org/home-sas/field-trip-2/#FTSchedule . 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. If you know of additional upcoming events that are not sponsored directly by Sea and Sage Audubon, please email Ryan Winkleman and/or Jeff Bray for inclusion. #RBA
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Ryan Winkleman
Rancho Santa Margarita