7 December 2024: Pearblossom Park and St. Andrew’s Priory, LACO CA (40 Species) Callyn Yorke
Weather: Fair; 39°F to 60°F; wind NE 0-7mph, variable, increasing gradually by 1000 hrs..
Time: 0658-1130 hrs.
Areas Covered:
Pearblossom Park (PBP, 121 St. E and Ave. V-14, Los Angeles County, CA: 0658-0900 hrs.). Elevation 3,123 ft. asl.. From the parking lot at the corner of 121 St. E and V-14, I walked the park perimeter and through the central sections, surveying birds on lawns, in gardens and ornamental trees (e.g. Chinese Elm – many parasitized by European mistletoe (Viscum album) and mature Aleppo Pine). I also walked on Avenue V-14, between 123 St. E and 121 St. E, surveying birds in the vicinity of adjacent residential yards. Lastly, I made a brief visual and auditory survey of approximately fifty yards of Joshua Tree-Creosote Bush desert, directly across from the parking lot on 121 St. E. The total area surveyed at PBP was about 10-acres.
Birdlife was scarcely detectable until around 0800 hrs., when, as sunlight illuminated the tops of trees and open areas, birds appeared in the park trees and edges of adjacent residential yards. A diverse association of species, i.e., Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus sp.), Western Bluebird, European Starling, Phainopepla, Northern Mockingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warbler, hovered around clusters of fruiting mistletoe in the park elm trees. Residential yards with a garden variety of native and exotic xerophytes, bordering native desert scrub, became quite active with birdlife, including American Pipit, Verdin, House Finch and White-crowned Sparrow. Subsequently, ground-feeding sparrows moved from trees to a sun-shade mosaic on lawns, foraging in wary, mixed species flocks (msf). By the end of the PBP survey, I had tallied twenty-five bird species.
St. Andrew’s Priory (Abbey) (SAP, 0917-1130 hrs. ) Elevation approx. 3,750 ft. asl.. From the east Conference Center parking lot (with about five other vehicles when I arrived), on the southern margin of the Pallet Creek drainage basin, I walked slowly through a fragmented old apple orchard, cottonwood grove, then southwestward and upstairs to the main pond, continuing on a trail to an outdoor amphitheater. I returned along the southern edge of the developed property bordering a north-facing hillside transition zone of Joshua Tree-California Juniper desert-upland chaparral.
Developed portions of the SAP property, included about fifteen-acres of lawns, gardens, terraces, ornamental shrubs, conifer and cottonwood, an artificial pond, paved driveways and walkways around residential buildings and group meeting facilities; this was primarily the area I surveyed. A few people were walking on the paved paths and driveway during my visit; the entire survey area (about twenty acres) was quiet and little disturbed by human activities.
I did not venture far beyond the above-described sections of the property, e.g. fields north and east of the Convention Center parking lot bordering the Pallet Creek drainage basin. Instead, using a 10×42 binocular and Nikon D850 camera with a pf 500mm lens, I made stationary observations of the Pallet Creek area while in the orchard-parking lot section. Most breeding and winter resident birds at SAP appeared to be habituated to human presence, e.g. California Thrasher and Red-naped Sapsucker, and previously unseen species would occasionally appear at close range, when I remained stationary, e.g. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Lincoln’s Sparrow. However, I probably missed some bird species associated with the riparian strip along Pallet Creek, e.g. California Quail, Downy Woodpecker, American and Lesser Goldfinch, Spotted Towhee, etc..
BIRDS NOTED
- Mallard 13 (m,f) a mix of albinistic domestic and hybrid and wild-type, greg. all but a few birds swimming toward me as I approached the main pond, SAP.
- Eurasian Collared Dove vocal (unseen) east edge of the park/residential area, PBP.
- Anna’s Hummingbird 2 (m,f) greg. initially seen in an aerial dispute; subsequently a male alighting on a limb over the main pond, SAP.
- Red-shouldered Hawk 1 (imm) flying low and alighting at 10 ft. agl near the main trunk of a willow at the north side of Pallet Creek, SAP.
- Red-tailed Hawk 1 (ad.) perched in the subcanopy of a cottonwood at the north end of Pallet Creek, SAP.
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 (fem. imm.) Possibly a continuing bird. ID: relatively pale gray and black head, incipient red feathering on forecrown; white chin; spotty, buff-brown feathering on nape; mantle showing horizontal rows of alternating black and white bands, punctuated by chevron markings; breast whitish-gray with black chevroned bands extending to sides, flanks, separating posteriorly into thin black chevron marks on the under tail coverts – the latter area and belly with faintly yellowish feathering.
This individual (or perhaps a second YBSA) in the area) was apparently associated with other sapsuckers making frequent flights between a variety of deciduous tree species (e.g., willows, cottonwoods and apple trees with abundant rows of sapsucker holes); At 1115 hrs., an immature YBSA was observed and photographed grasping the outer bark of a young deciduous tree. The bird remained in a stationary, vertical position at about 7 ft. agl, for several minutes in full view in the east parking lot area; Possibly, this bird was the same individual, photographed at SAP by Mark & Janet Scheel, re-found by other birders, e.g. Kimball Garrett, during the previous two weeks, SAP (the header YBSA image and the following image, represent the same immature female YBSA that I found at SAP).
- Red-naped Sapsucker 1 (m) ID: A specific assignment of this bird awaited a subsequent evaluation by an experienced reviewer (KLG). His comments regarding the partial, upper body image, supported an opinion that it represented a RNSA. However, this bird, as seen in the following image, showed extensive red feathering on the head, suggesting a Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) x Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) introgression.
Such genetic reshuffling has been documented among sapsuckers, including those currently regarded as separate species (Natola, L. et. al., 2023). Indeed, one might reasonably question the current specific designations for these three, closely related sapsuckers, Yellow-bellied, Red-naped and Red-breasted, which were described by earlier ornithologists as subspecies of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and given an aptly assigned binomial, Sphyrapicus varius (Bent, A.C. 1939). These three sapsucker ‘species’ may actually represent geographical subspecies within a wide-ranging, polytypic species Sphyrapicus varius ssp., c.f., the consolidation of Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), now including multiple subspecies, e.g., Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flicker (Aguillon SM et. al., 2021; Short, L., 1965). If exclusive reproductive compatibility within similar, naturally occurring populations birds, is the litmus test for determining a biological species (Mayr,1942; reviewed by Amal, 2017), then further field studies of these birds are needed (including photo-documentation) to sort out their correct systematic relations and taxonomic designations.
- Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 (m) seen briefly (no images were obtained) while it foraged mostly mid-level on the main trunk of a willow bordering the south side of the Pallet Creek basin. This individual showed all the marks consistent with RBSA (Sphyrapicus ruber), the commonest sapsucker in this region.
- Sphyrapicus sp. 1 seen briefly but not well enough for specific identification; the bird was making acrobatic flights around a mistletoe infested elm with PHAI and NOMO, PBP.
- Nuttall’s Woodpecker 2-3 (m,f) vocal; a male atop a distant utility pole; a female foraging in the middle of a mistletoe infested elm on the southern border of the park, PBP.
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 (m) vocal, flew to top of utility pole in adjacent yard on the south side of the park; also seen briefly in a mistletoe infested elm on the south side of the park, PBP (photo).
- American Kestrel 1 on utility wire over Pallet Creek near the east entrance road, SAP.
- Black Phoebe 1 sallying to lawn from a low pine limb, PBP; 1 sallying to ground from low limbs at orchard/Pallet Creek edge, SAP.
- Say’s Phoebe 1 sallying from drinking faucet to lawn, PBP.
- California Scrub Jay 4 vocal, loosely greg, flying between trees, SAP.
- American Crow 1 flying over Pallet Creek, SAP.
- Common (Northern) Raven 14 greg. vocal, pairs and trios in trees and on lawns. scavenging on food wrappers, containers and other debris strewn around garbage cans; one bird in flight overhead, holding with its toes a small food container, dropped it in the street and returned to retrieve it, apparently unafraid of my presence a few feet away, PBP.
- Oak Titmouse 1 vocal in pepper tree of adjacent yard on the south side of the park, PBP.
- Verdin 1 vocal in adjacent yard on the south side of the park with large cacti and other xerophytic garden plants, PBP.
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 foraging in dry foliage of an elm; msf with YRWA, PBP. 4 greg. a pair foraging in deciduous trees bordering the main pond; other individuals in both conifers and deciduous trees with mostly desiccated foliage, SAP.
- White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 vocal at the top of a conifer in an adjacent yard on the north side of the park, PBP.
- Rock Wren 1 active on an adjacent house (east side of park) roof with solar panels, PBP (photo).
- Bewick’s Wren 2 individuals in tall shrubs and small trees, SAP (photo).
- European Starling 4 greg. vocal, in mistletoe infested elms with PHAI, WEBL and YRWA, PBP.
- California Thrasher 1 approachable to within about ten ft., then moving to brush and giving a series of calls from an adjacent terrace – south section of a walkway around the main pond, SAP (photo).
- Northern Mockingbird 3 (ad., imm) vocal (alarm calls) while foraging in mistletoe infested elm; msf with PHAI (observed chasing two PHAI in the same tree and/or being chased by them), WEBL, NUWO, and Sphyrapicus sp. PBP; 1 on lawn in orchard, SAP.
- Western Bluebird 14 (m,f) greg. in msf with several species (see above) foraging in mistletoe infested elms; perched together in adjacent pine, PBP; 9 (m,f) greg. in cottonwoods, on lawns and in a variety of trees and shrubs with small fruits, SAP.
- Hermit Thrush 5 individuals on ground and lawns; flushed from garden shrubs in shaded areas throughout, SAP (photo).
- Phainopepla 4 (m,f) greg. foraging actively in mistletoe-infested elms; msf with WEBL, NOMO, YRWA, EUST and other birds, PBP (photo); 4 (m,f) greg., in mostly leafless deciduous tree canopies around main pond and adjacent gardens, SAP.
- House Sparrow 10 (m,f) greg. vocal, in adjacent yard on the north side of the park, PBP.
- American (Buff-bellied) Pipit 3 greg. on utility line over adjacent yard on the south side of the park, PBP (photo).
- House Finch 16 (m,f) greg. vocal, in trees throughout park and in adjacent residential yards, PBP; 8 (m,f) greg. in trees and on lawns, foraging with WCSP and DEJU, SAP.
- Purple Finch 2 (f) greg. foraging on ground and lawns with DEJU in orchard; flushed to lower limbs of apple tree, SAP (photo).
- Chipping Sparrow 2 greg. foraging on lawn next to the baseball field, PBP (photo).
- Lark Sparrow 5 greg. in elm canopy initially; later observed foraging on lawn with nearby DEJU and CHSP, PBP (photo).
- Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 5 (m,f) greg. foraging on lawn in msf with LASP, VESP and CHSP, PBP; 8 (m,f) greg. foraging on lawn in orchard, SAP.
- Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco 2 individuals in msf with Oregon Juncos on lawn, PBP; 1 in msf with WCSP, foraging on lawn in orchard, SAP.
- White-crowned Sparrow 25 (ad./imm, roughly 3:1 ratio), greg. vocal (calls and brief song) on ground and lawns, gardens, in park and adjacent Creosote bush desert, PBP; 10 (ad., imm) greg. in gardens and foraging with DEJU on lawns, SAP.
- Vesper Sparrow 1 on lawn with DEJU and LASP, PBP (photo).
- Lincoln’s Sparrow 1 flew from dense brush cover to a fully exposed perch on a middle willow limb, south side of Pallet Creek basin, SAP (photo).
- California Towhee 1 vocal, on pavement in parking lot next to an embankment of the Pallet Creek basin, SAP.
- Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler 15 (m,f) greg. vocal (calls) foraging in a wide variety of vegetation, at all height levels – ground to canopy; often in a msf with other birds, e.g. HOFI, WCSP, WEBL, RCKI, PBP; 15 (m,f) greg. vocal (calls) behavior as noted for PBP, SAP.
Literature Cited
Aguillon SM, et. al. 2021. Extensive hybridization reveals multiple coloration genes underlying complex plumage phenotypes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 288: 20201805.
Amal Y. Alahebiani, 2017. Species concept and speciation. Saudi Journal of Biological Sci. 25 (3): 439-440.
Bent, A.C. 1939. Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers. Dover Publications, New York (pp. 126-154).
Mayr, E. 1942. Systematics and the Origin of Species. Columbia Univ. Press.
Natola, L. et. al. 2023. Geographic variability of hybridization between Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsucker. Evolution (77) 2: 580-542.
Short, L.L., 1965. Hybridization in the flickers (Colaptes) of North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 129: 307-428.