Thanks for the feedback.

Joan Rubin
Mission Viejo

To hopefully put this to bed, Band-tailed Pigeons are fairly common throughout the interior of Orange County, most commonly in the Santa Ana Mountains and in the immediate foothill communities from my area (Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo) up the western side of the Santa Ana Mountains. They are virtually impossible to miss if you go to O'Neill Regional Park, and with the Arroyo Trabuco providing a strip of natural wooded habitat running alongside/parallel to Felipe/Olympiad, it makes sense for band-tails to be seen at the area in question. I have seen them at my feeders or from my house overlooking the Arroyo Trabuco many times. There is also a weird population at Disneyland for some reason, which I double-taked on the first time I saw a bunch of band-tails flying around at Downtown Disney. They do wander outside the breeding season and may venture to the coast in fall/winter but during the breeding season are expected more in the interior communities and mountains and would be very rare anywhere in coastal OC...with the exception that there is an outlier breeding population at UCI, where I have photographed chicks in a nest, which also extends into the surrounding community including Turtle Rock/south Irvine and upper Newport Beach. Our first known record of this breeding population was when five obvious hatch year band-tails showed up in a residential yard in Turtle Rock on 30 May 2019.
-Ryan
   
    
     
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Hi Braxton, Well, there are many records according to eBird through most of OC and including Mission Viejo and the intersection Joan mentioned. Ed Stonick Sent from Mail for Windows
   
    
     
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I photographed a Band-tailed Pigeon that seemed to be trying to build a nest at Turtle Rock Community Park in April of last year. I was surprised to see it so close to the coast.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107651137

Diane Etchison
San Clemente

Whoops, thats supposed to say fairly, not dairy!

   
    
     
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Ed, While Band-tailed Pigeons are dairy common in inland OC, they are quite uncommon/rare along the coast. Also, I havent seen any in south OC(including my town, Ladera Ranch, and Mission Viejo).

   
    
     
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Hi,
BT Pigeons are fairly common in your area and most of Orange Co.
Ed Stonick
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
   
    
     
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About half an hour ago, I noticed 2 Band-tailed Pigeons perched in our yard, noticeably larger and darker than the usual Mourning Doves, with the white stripe on the back of the neck and very yellow feet. I took a few pictures and they flew off after a few minutes. Are these ever seen around here
We're a few blocks west of the intersection of La Paz and Olympiad.

Joan Rubin
Mission Viejo

Hello,

I am so pleased so many birders are enjoying the American Redstart at Morningside Condos. If you do make the trip to see it, may I also suggest you swing by Santa Ana Cemetery/ Fairhaven Memorial Park right around the corner from the condo complex, south of Fairhaven Ave Its a very nice birding hotspot and one of Doug Willicks favorite places to bird. I dont think it gets as much coverage now that he moved away. Previous hits there include Black-thrusted Green Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow, Varied Thrush, and Band-tailed Pigeon.

Anyway, cheers,
Linette Davenport
Currently in El Centro

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Linette Davenport
Anchorage, AK

Mike Huang photographed a Common Ground-Dove in the same spot yesterday, so that is another bird to look out for that would be very good for the location. This is also not far from the weird coastal resident population of Band-tailed Pigeons that live right in that area, so it may be possible to get all four of the nativeColumbids that occur in Orange County at Bommer Canyon right now, which would make me--and maybe Doug Willick as well--very jealous.

A small flock of Band-Tailed Pigeons (10-20) were feeding on oaks in Carsland at Disneys California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Apparently unafraid of the resident Perigrine Falcon that keeps most of the Rock Pigeons away. I know, I know, not a rare bird, but totally unexpected at the happiest place on Earth. Made it a little happier for me.

Ralph Sugg
Lake Forest

Happy New Year, and welcome to the longest RBA weve ever had!
RBA
* California * Orange County * January 2, 2020 * CAOC20.01.02
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
Eurasian Wigeon Common Goldeneye Band-tailed Pigeon Mountain Plover Laughing Gull Mew Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Little Blue Heron *TRICOLORED HERON* Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Broad-winged Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Lewis's Woodpecker Gray Flycatcher Pacific-slope Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Ash-throated Flycatcher Brown-crested Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Plumbeous Vireo Golden-crowned Kinglet Townsends Solitaire Brown Thrasher Swamp Sparrow Green-tailed Towhee Black-and-white Warbler Pine Warbler
EURASIAN WIGEONS were at Pearson Park in Anaheim from December 31-January 1, somewhere in Brian Daniels Orange County 5MR on December 31, as well as off of Harriett Wieder Regional Park in Huntington Beach on January 1.
Three COMMON GOLDENEYES were in the Santa Ana River between PCH and Hamilton on December 27, with two more in the river adjacent to Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim from December 31-January 1.
BAND-TAILED PIGEONS reported from Arroyo Park in Newport Beach and UC Irvine in Irvine on December 29 were pretty close to the coast for this species, although there is evidently a breeding population of Band-tails in the UCI area as we discovered earlier this year.
A MOUNTAIN PLOVER first found at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach on December 6 continued through January 1. Its been seen most reliably inside the Least Tern nesting area at the end of the walkbridge coming from the PCH parking lot.
A LAUGHING GULL was at North Lake in Irvine from December 27-January 1, presumably the same bird that was at this location last January.
A MEW GULL was at Centennial Regional Park in Santa Ana on December 27. This species is generally rare inland.
An adult or near-adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was reported from the beach inside Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge on December 29.
Two GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, also rare-ish inland, were at Carl Thornton Park in Santa Ana on December 30.
A LITTLE BLUE HERON was at Le Bard Park in Huntington Beach on December 26 and apparently on December 29 as well. This is presumably the same bird that was here earlier in the fall, which is unusual given that this bird evidently disappeared and was presumed to have moved over to Upper Newport Bay where a white-plumaged Little Blue Heron was also present this fall. Anyway...this bird was at Le Bard Park (whatever).
A *TRICOLORED HERON* continued in Upper Newport Bay in Newport Beach through January 1. This is a CBRC review species, meaning documentation of any sightings should be forwarded to Tom Benson at secretary@... .
A YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was at Carr Park in Huntington Beach on December 26, with another at Dana Point Harbor through December 30 in the magnolia trees near the Nordhavn building.
An apparent BROAD-WINGED HAWK was photographed outside Irvine Regional Park on December 31. The bird was located at approximately 33.808611, -117.757444. It is presumably wintering in this area. Additional photographs are much desired considering the significance of this record.
A ZONE-TAILED HAWK was photographed from the edge of Aliso & Wood Canyon Wilderness Park on December 28, the Arroyo Trabuco bird was seen all over the area several times through January 1, and the bird at Irvine Lake continued through December 28.
A YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was in the eastern portion of Mason Regional Park (east of Culver) in Irvine from December 28-30, generally around 33.6542, -117.8186.
A LEWIS'S WOODPECKER continued at Caspers Wilderness Park off Ortega Highway, just past the entrance, through January 1. A second bird was reported from private property inside Coto de Caza on January 1.
A GRAY FLYCATCHER continued at Irvine Regional Park in Orange in the Sycamore Hill area through December 28.
A PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER was at Mason Regional Park in Irvine on December 29.
An EASTERN PHOEBE was found at Irvine Lake in Orange on December 21 and continued through December 29. It was seen near GPS: 33.7737252,-117.7176476. The access to this lake is restricted to Friday through Sunday. Your OC Parks Pass will get you access, but if you dont have one, its a $5 parking fee.
An ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was reported from the entrance to Irvine Lake on December 28.
In what has been a remarkable season for catch-up birds, the first BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER in the county since 2002, and only the third overall for Orange County, was found in the willows off Chrisanta north of La Paz on December 27. It has continued through January 1. This patch of vegetation has had a near-mythical ability to draw in amazing birds, including the county's first Brown-crested Flycatcher, a Gol den-winged Warbler, a Bay-breasted Warbler, a Broad-billed Hummingbird, and a Least Flycatcher. A TROPICAL KINGBIRD found at The Great Park in Irvine on December 9 continued through December 31 near the Reflecting Ponds.
A PLUMBEOUS VIREO was at Mason Regional Park in Irvine on December 29.
A GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET continued at Knollcrest Park in Irvine on January 1, and a flock of at least five birds was found in the pine grove following the first hairpin turn after the pavement ends in Silverado Canyon, also on January 1.
As many as six TOWNSENDS SOLITAIRES were reported from Silverado Canyon on January 1 between the Maple Spring Truck Trail gate and Bigcone Spring.
A BROWN THRASHER that was found at Aurora Park in Mission Viejo on December 2 continued through January 1 in the southeast section of the park where the large Brazilian pepper tree is growing near the top of the windy trail down to the lower section.
A SWAMP SPARROW was in the northeast portion of the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach on December 29, where the trail becomes flooded.
A GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE continued at Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park in Huntington Beach on January 1, north of the playground.
A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER continued at Aurora Park in Mission Viejo on December 27.
A PINE WARBLER continued at Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach through January 1.

LOCAL EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE ADVANCE RESERVATIONS
The CBC Rarities tour will take place on January 4. Meeting place is TBD, but more info will be sent out if Jeff and Bruce ever get compiled lists from the count leaders. Otherwise they'll just stick with the well-known rarities.
The Bolsa Chica bird walk will take place on January 16 from 8:00am to noon. Meet at the playground in nearby Harriett Wieder Regional Park.

UPCOMING EVENTS THAT REQUIRE ADVANCE RESERVATIONS
The Upper Newport Bay pontoon boat trips are held on the third Wednesday of every month but are full until February. You can email Nancy Kenyon at nancykenyon@... to sign up for the January trip or later.
The Winter 2020 pelagic trip will take place on January 11 from 6:30am to 3:00pm. Email Nancy Kenyon at nancykenyon@... to sign up.

BIRDING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES Sylvia Gallaghers Learning California Bird Sounds class will run for 10 weeks beginning in early January. The course flyer is here: http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/Classes/LearningCABirdSounds.pdf ***************************************************** 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 ( jbray4913@... ) 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 http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/FieldTrips/FieldTripSchedule.html . 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

--
Ryan Winkleman
Rancho Santa Margarita

RBA

* California
* Orange County
* July 18, 2019
* CAOC19.07.18

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

Northern Pintail White-winged Scoter Band-tailed Pigeon Reddish Egret Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Swainson's Hawk Yellow-breasted Chat Wilson's Warbler
A pair of summering NORTHERN PINTAILS continued at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach on July 12.
A male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER was seen in the nearshore area in a small flock of Surf Scoters between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach on July 17.
An adult BAND-TAILED PIGEON was unexpected immediately on the coast at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach on July 11.
An out-of-place REDDISH EGRET was photographed in San Diego Creek in Irvine on July 15. This is not only an unusual location being away from any of our known spots, but it's also pretty darn far inland for this species. On top of that, from photographs the bird appears to be a Hatch Year (HY) bird, which is even more unusual given we are in the middle of July.
An immature YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was reported at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach on July 17 in the vicinity of the tide gate. Word is that it has been around for the last week or so.
In what is sure, once again, to be the highlight of the summer, a pair of SWAINSON'S HAWKS was found in Seal Beach on July 11. They have been most regularly seen hanging out along the I-405 right-of-way on poles or flying over Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, but have also been seen on the Los Alamitos side of the freeway as well. From comparing photographs, it seems likely that one of the birds is the returning light morph bird from last year, although its mate appears to be probably a different bird this year. An official stakeout hotspot has been created at the Seal Beach Tennis Club parking lot.
A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was an unexpected bird in the "pocket pond" at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach on July 12.

Two WILSONS WARBLERS continued to be seen at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine through July 16. These appear to both be bachelor adult males.
LOCAL EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE ADVANCE RESERVATIONS

The monthly Bird Walk at Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach will take place on July 18 from 8:00am to 12:00pm. Meet atHarriet Wieder Park.
The Upper Newport Bay Bird Walk will take place on July 28 from 8:00am to 11:00am. Meet at the Big Canyon parking lot.
UPCOMING EVENTS THAT REQUIRE ADVANCE RESERVATIONS

The summer pelagic trip will take place on July 20 and still has room. Please e-mail Nancy Kenyon ( nancykenyon@... ) if youre interested in going. Details here: http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/FieldTrips/Trips/Pelagic/PelagicTrips.html
The Upper Newport Bay pontoon boat trip on August 23 is full, but you can email Nancy Kenyon at nancykenyon@... if you want to be on the waitlist.

BIRDING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES

None taking place.

*****************************************************

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 ( jbray4913@... ) 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 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 http://www.seaandsageaudubon.org/FieldTrips/FieldTripSchedule.html . 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

--
Ryan Winkleman
Rancho Santa Margarita

I went down to Bolsa Chica early this morning (July 14) and spent 30 minutes on the walk bridge at the PCH lot, but the only pigeons were Rock Pigeons. I also noticed that about 50 Elegant Terns were flying around making a lot of noise, with one flying by carrying a fish, and at least one pair flying together high overhead in their courtship. Unfortunately, there were none yet on North Tern Island.
--
Terry Hill
Huntington Beach

My apologies that this is a little late, but on Thu (7/11) between 4-4:30pm I spotted a lone bird first on the wooden footbridge & then it flew to the parking lot. It stayed for about 5mins, then later took off to join a passing group of Rock Doves/Pigeons. Short video at https://youtu.be/-NUq_7b9BFw

Tom Carranceja
Westminster, CA