WESTERN ANTELOPE VALLEY
Previous Surveys
Mike San Miguel surveying birds on Nebeker Ranch, December 4, 2009. © 2009 Callyn D. Yorke
Nebeker Ranch
December 4, 2009
Weather: Fair, 55-59F; winds 0-2 mph.
Time: 1220-1400 hrs.
Observers: Mike San Miguel and me.
Area Covered: Nebeker Ranch on 60th Street West between Avenue B and C, Los Angeles County, CA. We drove and walked
around the alfalfa fields and sheep ranch on dusty roads, surveying mosaics of burned and flooded fields (irrigated with wastewater), ditches and a small pond with riparian borders on the eastern boundary. We also surveyed weedy yards around abandoned homesteads, functional hay barns and sheep enclosures, using 10x40 binoculars and a spotting scope. There was very little traffic on the ranch and conditions were good for observing birds throughout the 700-acre ranch. Old fences and utility poles along roadways provided perch sites for a variety of birds of prey.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) next to pond on Nebeker Ranch. © 2009 Callyn D. Yorke
BIRDS NOTED
1) California Quail 8 brushy edge, along E-W roadway on S border.
2) Cattle Egret 1 in alfalfa field, NE corner.
3) Great Blue Heron 1 open field, central.
4) Northern Harrier 2 (m,f) one f on ground, central; one m on eastern boundary, flying low.
5) Red-tailed Hawk 2 on utility pole and fence post bordering pond (see above photo).
6) Ferruginous Hawk 1(imm) perched on roof of barn; flew off over field.
7) American Kestrel 3 on utility poles and flying across fields.
8) Prairie Falcon 1 (imm) on utility pole, flighty.
9) American Coot 1 in pond on east side.
10) Sora 2 in flooded ditch with cattails along eastern boundary (MSM).
11) Killdeer 100 in flooded fields throughout.
12) Long-billed Curlew 14 foraging in flooded fields, central-W.
13) Least Sandpiper 1 flooded roadway, central.
14) Rock Pigeon 15 foraging on ground near hay barn.
15) Say's Phoebe 3 fence lines, yards and edges of fields.
16) Black Phoebe 2 roadsides and barnyards.
17) Loggerhead Shrike 1 flying W low across field; calls.
18) Raven 30 foraging and flying around flooded fields.
19) Horned Lark 20 flying low and high over fields; calls.
20) Marsh Wren 5 flooded ditch next to field; weedy yard next to sheep corral; calls.
21) Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 riparian E.
22) Mountain Bluebird 30 flying low over fields; some on utility pole lines; large flock in NE section.
23) European Starling 20 flooded fields and barn yards; in trees and foraging with blackbirds.
24) American Pipit 5 flooded fields, fly; calls.
25) Yellow-rumped Warbler 10 willows next to pond on E side.
26) Savannah Sparrow 100 ubiquitous.
27) Lincoln's Sparrow 3 on wire fence in weedy yard next to sheep corrals (see photo below).
28) White-crowned Sparrow 50 brushy areas around edge of fields.
29) Red-winged Blackbird 5 foraging in flooded field with TCB.
30) Tricolored Blackbird 60 (mostly f's and imm m's), foraging in flooded fields, central.
31) Brewer's Blackbird 30 (m,f) , foraging in fields and barnyard.
32) Brown-headed Cowbird 1 foraging with TCB's in flooded field (MSM).
33) Western Meadowlark 60 ubiquitous.
34) House Finch 20 barnyards and brushy areas around old buildings.
35) House Sparrow 5 sheep corral area.
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) on Nebeker Ranch. © 2009 Callyn D. Yorke
January 6, 2009
