This morning there was an adult Common Loon in close to full breeding plumage in SB harbor marina where the rock jetty angles off of the breakwater.

Mark Bright
Santa Barbara

Nice looking male Common Loon in breeding plumage. I saw it earlier in the morning (around 10 am) when it was foraging in the Slough near the mouth.

https://flic.kr/ps/2A7WDv

Adrian O'Loghlen
Goleta

Mouth of Goleta Slough. 11:12am

David Levasheff
Goleta
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David Levasheff
Santa Barbara

Hi all,
In the morning yesterday Max, Jeremy, and I took some friends out Refugio rd, in hopes of seeing some migrant action. We didnt have a ton of migrant action, but found most of the expected birds. Notable kisses were Nashville warbler and cassins vireo. The best bird of note there was an interesting hummingbird, which the consensus on is a hybrid annas x costas hummingbird. At first glance, it had a strikingly purple gorget and we thought costas, but then it repositioned and looked more like an Annas. Upon closer inspection, the shape and gorget seem overall intermediate between the two species. Heres a checklist with some photos and more detail https://ebird.org/checklist/S133723394
Next I stopped by Coal Oil Point, where I counted an impressive total of 71 surfbirds, which is the most Ive seen at one time. A few other migratory shorebirds were present, but the shorebirds were definitely the most interesting. At Devereux I looked for the mysterious reddish egret without any luck. More musings on that at the end.
The other nice birds to see were a western tanager and 2 common loons migrating over at the bottlebrush row at the student health building at ucsb, where there was also decent hummingbird activity with one probable adult male rufous hummer. Lastly an estimate of 900 brant seen migrating incidentally from Elwood in the evening.
As for the possibility of a reddish egret, I know many people have looked but I think we should still keep an eye out at any suitable habitat. Ive now heard 3 separate reports of a weird egret/heron. First, my professor who is familiar with the common birds told me he saw a dark egret while biking through NCOS last week. Then w ebird report came through, even though there was no proper documentation. Lastly, a bird photographer friend said a buddy of his reported seeing an orange-ish great egret recently, also at NCOS. Not enough to be definitive, but it does raise my suspicions.
Happy birding, Alex Castelein UCSB/Isla Vista

Yesterday, I checked out East Beach and the Harbor area. What a mess! As Dave Compton already reported, there are no outfalls or lagoons any more, just water rushing to the sea. The beach has been heavily eroded to a small shelf of sand that is covered with branches and other debris. Nevertheless, I found the continuing Pacific Golden-Plover foraging below the orange construction fencing along with 8 or more Black-bellied Plovers. Otherwise, no shorebirds.
There was a nice mixed flock of gulls, Terns, and Skimmers on West Beach, where there is more sand. I spotted an adult Glaucous-winged Gull in the group. A walk out on the wharf gave good views of the bay, but there was not much bird activity in it. Best sightings were a Common Loon in the water and a Pelagic Cormorant that landed on the wharf behind one of the restaurants.
Today, I visited Lake Jocelyn. Wow! It can't get much fuller! I counted at least 15 Ring-necked Ducks along with the usual Mallards and Coots. I failed to find a Wood Duck, but picked up 3 Pintail and 2 female Teal working the vegetation along the edge. Also present was the Eastern Phoebe, perched on the far (north) shore about 3 feet above the water. I did not see the Wood Duck this morning.
I then moved over to Carpinteria State Park, which is closed to campers for the time being. Among the large Gull flock at the creek mouth, I found 2 Bonaparte's Gulls. I spent considerable time walking through the campground on both sides of the creek but failed to turn up the Vermillion Flycatcher that has been there for several weeks. This is the second time I have mossed it--Has anyone seen it in the last week or so
Florence Sanchez

All,
My attempts to do some post-storm birding were a damp squib. First the 101 west of Goleta was blocked, which torpedoed my Gaviota sea-watch plans. The near complete lack of wind in Goleta rendered any thoughts of sea-watching locally moot.
The water levels in Goleta Slough are impressive and there were many ducks scattered in the marshes visible from the Area K overlook. A Common Loon on UCSB Lagoon was unusual but predictablyoiled. A male Merlin eating its prey was along the road at Devereux.

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Nick Lethaby Goleta, CA
nlethaby@... Mobile: 805 284 6200
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Nick Lethaby
Goleta, CA

A Swamp Sparrow continues in the creek channel. I was with Wes Fritz, who got us on a Red-breasted Sapsucker in the willows, then in the eucalyptus at the edge of the road. Head color was a very rich red, but the absence of gold spots on the back led to the conclusion that it was ssp. daggetti (southern race).
Scanning the coast from off the pier, there were lots of pelican, Heerman's Gulls, Cormorants, and a few Surf Scoters. Wes also counted at least a dozen Common Loons out in the ocean.
Florence Sanchez

This morning the plover remains on East Beach, still across from the east end of Chase Palm Park. It was in the tide wrack when I saw it with Black-bellied Plovers.
Nearby, there was a Nashville Warbler, feeding in what I believeare a cluster of paperbark trees, betweenthe carousel and Cabrillo at Chase Palm Park. There were American Goldfinches in the sycamores.
The harbor was pretty quiet, with a Common Loon and a Surf Scoter being the only birds somewhat noteworthy.
Hugh Ranson SB

Mark Holmgren and Glenn Kincaid invited me along on a mini-Big Day today, for the eBird Global Big Day. It wasn't THAT birdy, but we did see some good stuff, with the best birds being Summer Tanager, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and single White-faced Ibis at three locations. Our modest total of 114 species partly reflects that we stopped at about 11:30 and didn't bird outside the south coast and the Santa Ynez Mtns.
We started around 4:30am, owling our way up Refugio Rd (about 10 Great Horneds and at one or two screeches was not a great haul), made our way up to West Camino Cielo, then headed back downhill just after dawn. From there, we birded Refugio Creek Canyon and lower Refugio Creek, before heading back into Goleta to bird the Sandpiper Golf Course pond, Devereux Slough, Coal Oil Point (for a sea watch) and Sands Beach (from the bluffs), Area K at Goleta Slough, Goleta Beach, and Laguna Blanca.
Some details: West Camino x Refugio Rd Cassin's Vireo (the only one of the day)
Refugio Creek At least three Yellow-breasted Chats, a couple of Swainson's Thrushes
Sandpiper Golf Course Pond Two Yellow-headed Blackbirds, White-faced Ibis.
Devereux Slough Eared Grebe, SUMMER TANAGER female - Mark spotted the tanager at the half bridge by the southern turnout, sitting on a fence of all things, and then dropping down into the vegetation. It eventually flew up into the dead eucalyptus tree, where Glenn got some photos.
Coal Oil Point Wewere assisted here by Linus Blomqvist, who spotted a Parasitic Jaeger and pointed out the distant westward movement of Sooty Shearwaters. There was also a Pelagic Cormorant, which surprised me.
Goleta Slough, Area K A second adult White-faced Ibis, one Dunlin
Goleta Beach Two more Pelagic Cormorants, two Common Loons sitting in the water, a Bonaparte's Gull on the sandbar in the slough mouth.
Laguna Blanca Still a sprinkling of shorebirds here, in several small pools that shouldn't last much longer. We saw our only Canada Geese of the day and our third adult White-faced Ibis.
It was a fun morning. Thanks, Mark and Glenn, for inviting me along!
Dave

All,
Migration was minimal this AM. In the watchpoint area I had a Western Kingbird and a couple of Warbling Vireos move through. There were several each of BH Groabeak and Lazuli Bunting but they were hangingout in an area of weedygrass where there was a flock yesterday so I wasn't sure if there active migrants.
I relocated fairly early to mid-canyon where the almost total absence of migrant warbler song was obvious. However, I had good looks at a Cassin's Vireo and an early Swainson's Thrush and heard a chat here.
Yet again Common Loons were moving up canyon. Perhaps someone with sharper eyes than me might actually get to see, rather than just hear, them.

--
Nick Lethaby Goleta, CA
nlethaby@... Mobile: 805 284 6200
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Nick Lethaby
Goleta, CA

Yesterday afternoon at Coal Oil Point I saw what I thought was a flock of about 50 small terns passing well out to sea. I wondered if they might be Bonaparte's Gulls, but I did not have my scope and so couldn't be sure and so didn't mention them in my report. I appreciate this post because now I suspect that's what they were.
Florence Sanchez
      
      
          
              
              
                   On Saturday, April 16, 2022, 02:41:46 PM PDT, Linus Blomqvist  wrote:
              
              

              

               Hi all,
Conor McMahon, Kate Reed, Olivia DArezzo, Aaron Kreisberg, and I from Goleta Coast Audubon Society + Steve Colwell had a good seawatch at Coal Oil Point this morning. Loon migration was in full swing with 3540 Pacific Loons and a few each of Red-throated and Common Loon. Only 109 Surf Scoters and no Brant, which was a bit surprising. One Pomarine Jaeger, one Rhinocerous Auklet, and four Fulmars were fun to see. The highlight for me was the impressive movement of Bonapartes Gull with a total of 598. This appears to be a high count for either COP or Campus Point by a fairly wide margin, at least according to eBird records.
Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S107212044
Linus Blomqvist Goleta --

______________ Linus Blomqvist

Hi all,
Conor McMahon, Kate Reed, Olivia DArezzo, Aaron Kreisberg, and I from Goleta Coast Audubon Society + Steve Colwell had a good seawatch at Coal Oil Point this morning. Loon migration was in full swing with 3540 Pacific Loons and a few each of Red-throated and Common Loon. Only 109 Surf Scoters and no Brant, which was a bit surprising. One Pomarine Jaeger, one Rhinocerous Auklet, and four Fulmars were fun to see. The highlight for me was the impressive movement of Bonapartes Gull with a total of 598. This appears to be a high count for either COP or Campus Point by a fairly wide margin, at least according to eBird records.
Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S107212044
Linus Blomqvist Goleta --

______________ Linus Blomqvist

Yes, Common Loons. I had a flock circling around Refugio some days ago. Luckily I had already heard them call.

I walked The Beach at Devereux this morning. It was high tide, not the best time for shorebird activity here, but it was my first chance to check this spot for the Golden Plover(s) Mark Holmgren found. I had no success in that regard. Incidentally, there was not a single Black-bellied Plover around either. There was an assortment of large shorebirds present (Whimbrel, Long-billed Curlew, and Willets), lots of Snowy Plovers, a few Semi-palmated Plovers and Sanderlings, and just a couple of Western Sandpipers. In the kelp patches were a good number of Least Sandpipers. Not much activity over the ocean either: a small flock of Brant flew by and there was a single Common Loon floating in the waters. I checked out the Dune pond and found only a pair of Kildeer there, though conditions look fairly good for additional shorebirds.
Moving on to UCSB, I first took a look at Area K, which still has a few ducks (Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, and lots of Gadwall). The water level is still a little high for shorebirds. I then went over to the Lagoon and Campus Point. The white-winged Scoter continues in the east end of the lagoon, but there was no sign of the Long-tailed Duck. The beach opposite the east end of the Lagoon was alive with small shorebirds, at least 200 of them. I was able to get good looks at them, mostly from the bluffs above as they moved closer to the rocks of Campus Point. I did not find a Red Knot among them, but had two different Dunlin in the mix. The majority of the birds were Western Sandpipers, followed by Sanderlings, Semi-palmated Plovers, and a few Least Sandpipers. They were joined by two Black Turnstones. There were no other Turnstones or Surfbirds on the rocks. On the south-facing beach next to the rocks, I had more small shorebirds and 3 Black-bellied Plovers.
Florence Sanchez

Took my bird class to these spots this morning. Lots of waterfowl at the refuge. The Greater White-Fronted Goose is still east to find at the entrance. At the third platform were two female Common Goldeneye near the zoo. From this spot we also heard Virginia Rail and heard (and glimpsed briefly) Marsh Wren.
The breakwater produced a Common Loon, a Red-throated Loon and a Peregrine Falcon. I was disappointed to find no terns or scoters nor any rock-loving shorebirds.

That's all,
Rob Lindsay