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Monthly Archives: April 2025

Hot Spots for eBird first week of May – Thursday May 1 – Wednesday May 7

4:18 pm

Greetings

Here are the Hot Spots for the week and a link to a map showing the locations.
Agua Hedionda Lagoon–east end
Batiquitos Lagoon–Aviara Parking
Black’s Beach
Camp Pendleton–harbor & beach
Carlsbad Blvd. and Manzano Cliff overlook
Carlsbad Premium Outlets
Carlsbad Research Center pond
East Penasquitos Canyon
Encinas Creek–Paseo del Lago
Encinitas Viewpoint Park
Forester Creek Trail
Friendship Park
Hanson Pond Trail
Juniper Canyon
Little Italy (San Diego)
Mission Heights Park
Mission Trails Regional Park–Barker Way Trailhead
Moonlight SB
Ocean St. Overlook
Palomar Mtn.–Silvercrest Picnic Area and Trail
Pepper Park & Sweetwater River mouth
Questhaven Road Nature Trail
San Diego Bay–Ballast Point
San Elijo  SB & Campground
San Luis Rey River–Benet to Foussat
Shelter Valley–general area
Stevens Creek Area
Sun Gold Point
Tijuana River Valley–campground
Tijuana River Valley–Sunset Ave. freshwater ponds

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=18vrZNygtaLNcwNadlv5FnYYsLn_fsP4&usp=sharing

Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

John Bruin
Bay Park

Hammond’s and lots of Lazulis at Morley Field

5:43 pm

There’s a Hammond’s Flycatcher hanging out along with probably 30 Lazuli Buntings at Morley Field (Balboa Park) at the Clay-colored Sparrow spot. I didn’t see the CCSP myself, but Ian Swirka did before my arrival.
(32.7391019, -117.1365245)
 
Other migrants around include two Nashville Warblers and a pewee.
—
Nick Thorpe
University Heights

miscellanea and Mount Soledad morning flight

4:03 pm

The wintering Little Stint was still present today, April 29, just east of the middle of Pond 23 (off 11th) at the Salt Works, on the little salt-mud islands. At the limit of identifiability from the public edge. The latest this bird has ever remained in spring is 4 May (2021). The April total of migrant Purple Martins in the county now stands at 15, a very good total–likely at least partly the result of the fair amount of cool, inclement weather. Same reason it’s been a very good month for Vaux’s Swifts. Lazuli Buntings have been plentiful the past 10-14 days, highlighted by a SINGLE feeder in Ramona hosting 56+ birds yesterday (photo’d by feeder owner).
The weather looked promising today for a reasonable morning flight at Mount Soledad in La Jolla, where it had been pretty slow up until now due to mostly incorrect weather and relatively low number of migrants in general (until the past week). Three observers (Mulholland, Herzfeld, Lehman) were treated to a good (though not exceptional) flight from around 6-9AM, peak numbers between 6:30-8:15. Migrant totals were as follows:
218 Vaux’s Swift
1 Hammond’s Flycatcher
4 Western Flycatcher  (in mediocre numbers so far this spring)
19 Western Kingbird
19 Warbling Vireo
3 N. Rough-winged Swallow
10 Barn Swallow
10 Cliff Swallow
1 Swainson’s Thrush
40 Cedar Waxwing
11 Phainopepla  (single flock heading north–likely dispersers from well inland)
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 White-crowned Sparrow
2 Golden-crowned Sparrow
7 Hooded Oriole
3 Bullock’s Oriole
6 Orange-crowned Warbler
3 Yellow Warbler
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler
10 Black-thr. Gray Warbler
14 Townsend’s Warbler
8 Hermit Warbler
51 Wilson’s Warbler
7 Western Tanager
4 Black-headed Grosbeak
63 Lazuli Bunting
–Paul Lehman, San Diego

Re: Lazuli bunting

9:38 am

Five Lazuli buntings have been feeding at my feeders for the past four days (3 males and 2 females). I live in the Lake Hodges area. Two Lazuli buntings were spotted yesterday and heard singing loudly at the reserve next to the San Diego Safari Park by a team surveying for Cactus wrens. That team also identified  White-throated swifts, a Costa’s hummingbird, and a Canyon wren. Tracy Henchbarger  trachhench@… or thench@….

—
Tracy Henchbarger
thench@…
Lake Hodges, Escondido, CA 92029

Early Black Swift at Mission Trails on 4/28/2025

10:38 pm

I met up with former San Diego resident Nathan Goldberg this evening to look for Lesser Nighthawks around 7:10 p.m. at the west edge of Mission Trails Regional Park (Colina Dorado Trailhead). Around 7:20 p.m. we noticed a bird flying north at medium height and noted the all dark wings and slowish flapping that didn’t fit with Lesser Nighthawk. Nathan called it out as a Black Swift. Nathan and I started taking photos immediately and our photos show a large, basically all dark swift with long, curved wings and slight scaling of the belly plumage. Black Swifts have been reported from this side of MTRP over a decade ago but nothing more recent. This is among the earliest dates for Black Swifts in San Diego County records, and may not be easily repeated as there are many checklists from this hotspots from the last decade with no BLSW reports.

Good luck if you try, the more we watch, the more we learn

Povey will be missed, Nathan came back to San Diego to pay his respects and we celebrated Dave with a great evening birding.

Be kind to everyone you meet.

Dan Jehl
San Diego

Palm Warbler Santee Lakes, Sunday morning

7:59 am

Palm warbler was chased into a pine tree by a yellow-rump on the east shore of Santee Lake 4. Pine tree is just north of the foot bridge that goes out to the round island in Lake 4. Time was about 7:10 AM Sunday April 27, 2025.
 
Jeremiah Stock
Santee CA
jeremiahstock278@…
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