Pacific Flyway serving San Luis Obispo County, CA

Newsletter of the Morro Coast Audubon Society

Volume 52 Issue 2 June 2017

Annual June Picnic, Bird Walk, and Bat Walk Monday, June 19th at 5 pm, Picnic at 6:15pm El Chorro Regional Park, Poppy Group Area (near the entrance and across from the ball park)

MCAS will hold its annual June Bird Walk and Picnic on Monday, June 19th, at the Poppy picnic area across from the ball park. Join Audrey and Kyle Weichert for a bird walk from 5 to 6:15 pm around El Chorro Regional Park. After dusk, around 8:00 pm, they will lead a bat walk around the park. The potluck picnic will be held from 6:15 to 7:30 pm. Bring your main dish, a side dish to share, and your own reusable table setting, in addition to a picnic tablecloth if you have one. Assorted soft drinks will be provided by MCAS hospitality. The event is open to all at no charge.

Western Bluebird at El Chorro Park, Photo by Maggie Smith

East Sweet Springs Pre-Construction Tour and Reception On Sunday, April 23rd the MCAS Board hosted a pre-construction tour and reception for current and previous Sweet Springs Circle of Friends donors and bench and interpretive panel sponsors. MCAS President Dave Tyra and Secretary Stephanie Little led a tour showing where the entrance area, ADA walkway and boardwalk, overlook platform and bird blind will be located. After the tour, MCAS Field Trip Chair Jan Surbey had some fun thanking the donors by grouping them into different bird groups based on their donations. Over 50 people attended, and all were excited that after many years of preparation this expansion at Sweet Springs is ready to take wing!

Overlook at East Sweet Springs Photo by Joanne Aasen

MCAS has raised over 2/3rds of the $100,000 needed to fully fund this project and needs your help to put this over the top! For more information see Support Drive on page 3.

1

MCAS 2017-2018 BOARD President Dave Tyra [email protected] 805-286-7502 President-Elect Vacant Past President Vacant Treasurer Bart Beckman [email protected] Secretary Stephanie Little [email protected] 805-610-6229 Programs Joanna Iwanicha [email protected] Fund Development Chair Nancy Foley [email protected] Field Trips Jan Surbey [email protected] 805-772-7273 Conservation Doug Tait [email protected] Membership Rosalie Valvo [email protected] Education and Outreach Kaaren Perry [email protected] Lands Eric Wier [email protected] 805-543-8769 Communications Joanne Aasen [email protected] Director At Large Stephanie Seay [email protected] Lands Manager David Clendenen [email protected] 805-772-1991 Flyway Editor Dave Tyra, (Acting) [email protected]

Morro Coast Audubon Society Office and Outreach Center 601 Embarcadero, Morro Bay, upstairs in Marina Square (805)772-1991 [email protected] Hours: Tues., Fri., Sat. 1pm - 3pm, Thurs. 10am - Noon,

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1507, Morro Bay CA 93443 Website: www.morrocoastaudubon.org

Printed on recycled paper

2

BULLETIN Following our CREED: Education

CONSERVATION RESEARCH EDUCATION EXPANSION DIVERSITY

MCAS Education Volunteers Make a Difference

For the past 5 years MCAS Education Committee volunteers have reached out to boys and girls in San Luis Obispo County to share their love of birds and other wildlife. With each visit our goal is to enhance the enjoyment and appreciation of nature and to stress the importance of habitat protection and the conservation of our earth. This year has been no exception. The Education Committee will soon wrap up the Spring classroom presentations conducted throughout the county. Schools in Cambria, Los Osos, Templeton, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles were all visited by these MCAS volunteers. Huge thanks from Morro Coast Audubon to the team that makes this all possible. Our Education Committee members are Sue Barton, Karen Beckman, Vicky Johnsen, Jackie Knowlton, Ann Little, Judy Neuhauser, and Kaaren Perry.

Support our National Monuments! The Trump administration has ordered a review of certain National Monuments, including 6 in California, the Carrizo Plain among them. There is a period for public comment that is open now and ends July 10. You can make your comment in support of these National Monuments at the following link: https://www. regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001. You may also want to review this guide to making an effective comment: https://www.regulations.gov/ docs/Tips_For_Submitting_Effective_Comments. pdf. Here is a sample comment that you can use or modify: I support the existing National Monuments up for review. In particular, I would like to highlight and support the scientific interest of the Sand to Snow monument, the Mojave Trails monument, the Carrizo Plain monument, and the Giant Sequoia monument. The monuments are of particular interest for a number of scientific pursuits, including the study of many endemic plant populations.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Support Drive Good but Not Good Enough Yet As of today, May 17, our fund drive toward opening East Springs is up to $68,200. That’s two-thirds of the way to our goal of $100,000, which means one-third left to go. There is still one interpretive panel left to claim for $3,000 – the Morro shoulderband snail and native plants panel. But any number of brick pavers at $100 are available. Your name, your children’s names, a friend or relative you want to honor or memorialize, an organization you belong to – these are all possibilities. Go to our web site, www.morrocoastaudubon.org, and click on the link in the upper right hand corner to make your donation using PayPal. Or mail a check using the envelope you received with the letter we sent you at the beginning of April, or just send a check to MCAS at PO Box 1507, Morro Bay, CA 93443. Meanwhile, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has already made a donation.

Sweet Springs Circle of Friends Rick Derevan John Dilworth & Carole Maurer Claudia Duckworth Donna O’Shaughnessy

David Zarek Sandra Baird Dawn Beattie Lynne Breakstone John & Kelly Cherry Linda & David Chipping Keith Cox Roger Davis Kathleen Dillon Mary Eister David & Lois Feleay Gerald & Daphne Freedman Pamela Hartmann

Jan Surbey & Mike Cook Lynette Tornatzky Eric Wier & Laura Frank Joe Wojslaw & Joan Oppenheimer

Thank you to Our Donors! Debra Holt Marilyn Hornung Marsha Karl Kathleen & Tony Kent La Serena Inn David & Marcia Lamkin Ken & Gaby Levine Wendy McKeown Judy Obermeier Cindy Ochoa J P O’Connell Cindy Ochoa J P O’Connell

Stephanie Seay Glenn Silloway Harrison Truitt Starr Kenneth & Sherri Stoddard Max Wilmore Taylor Chuck & Bonnie Thompson Dave & Kathy Tyra Terrence & Lorraine Vail Patrick Walling Wilde Family David Zarek

Welcome to Our New Members! Arroyo Grande Teresa Andrews-Hurliman Atascadero Debrah C Cohen Joyce Hathaway Lompoc Madeline McDowell

Los Osos Rob Brantley Tammy Dalcin Martha M Eckstrom Tina Smilkstein Morro Bay Charles Stoll Paso Robles Irene Baltzer Michael Merk

San Luis Obispo Sheri Burrell Bertha W Foxford Annette Hackman Tony Hoffman Natalie Risner Templeton Dallas Sall

3

LOCAL EVENTS Bird Walk in the Salinas Watershed -

Friday is full, call to register for Saturday!

Join Roger Zachary, local Audubon field trip leader, and walk along the de Anza Trail section of the Atascadero Mutual Water Company’s property. We will be meeting at the Anza Horse Arena parking lot at 7:30 am, Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3. We will be birding in mixed oak woodland and riparian woodland along the Salinas River. We should be able to identify 30 or more bird species. We will be meeting at the Anza Horse Arena parking lot at 7:30 am. While we do start birding in that area, please try to be on time. I have included the link with directions below. Please note that North Ferrocarril and Ferrocarril do not connect, and web directions can easily take you to the wrong access. If something should arise that morning or you get lost contact Jaime Hendrickson at 235-8976 or Roger at 458-8838. Directions: http://goo.gl/maps/zxey9 Remember to wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat, sunscreen, water, and your own binoculars. I will email out the list of birds we see the following week. There are no water or restroom facilities at the site; Home Depot and Starbucks are the closest facilities. Sign up early. There is a limit to the number of participants. To register and for more details go to https://www. eventbrite.com/e/birdwalk-in-the-watershed-tickets-25174093391

Saturday, June 10th Birding by Ear Field Trip This will be the third, and final, Birding by Ear trip this season. We are again limiting the number of participants to 15. Participants must contact Jan Surbey, MCAS field trips chair, to request and receive a confirmed reservation for the trip. Jessica Griffiths will again lead this Birding by Ear trip, which will take place on Saturday, June 10th at El Chorro Regional Park. Exact meeting time and location will be given to those with confirmed reservations. Bring water, snacks, binoculars and field guides (if you have them), and dress in layers to accommodate changing weather. Sturdy shoes are recommended as there will be 1-2 miles of slow walking. Appropriate for ages 12 and up and all levels of birding expertise. Although the field trip itself is being offered FREE of charge, there is a $5 per vehicle fee to enter the park on weekends this time of year. To reserve a spot (s) on this trip and receive exact meeting time and location, please contact jansurbey@ earthlink.net

AUDUBON CONVENTION 2017 July 14-17, 2017 – Park City, Utah Don’t miss this unique opportunity for learning, networking, collaborating – and birding: Join us at Park City, Utah, July 14-17, 2017, for Audubon’s biennial convention designed to bring together Audubon’s vast network of dedicated chapter, state, national, and international leaders from across all four flyways. This can’t-miss event will feature an array of inspiring speakers, in-depth workshops and discussions, exciting field trips, and the camaraderie and networking opportunities that only the Audubon Convention can provide. • Hear from Dr. Drew Lanham, Kenn Kaufman, Jane Alexander, and more. • Join conservation, science, and outreach workshops, training sessions, and demos led by a variety of experts and Audubon chapter leaders like you. • Enjoy exciting field trips and birding adventures. • (Utah’s mountains, wetlands, deserts, and sagebrush, host more than 450 bird species.) For program details, scholarship opportunities, and to register, go to audubonconvention.org. For general queries, email us at [email protected]. 4

EUREKA! THE BIRDS OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY –APRIL 2017 The Piedras Blancas Lighthouse is probably the County’s best location for viewing spring seabird migration. Those who have subscribed to the slocobirding listserv for many years may remember the detailed posts Richard Rowlett crafted from the birds he observed there while conducting Gray Whale migration counts, including the thousands of Pacific Loons he recorded flying past the point. This year, Bernardo Alps recorded birds seen from the point and reported some interesting species. Four firstcycle Black-legged Kittiwakes flying north past the point on 4 Apr was not too surprising (but our only Apr report) given the number around in early spring, but six Scripps’s Murrelets on 13 Apr were north of the Channel Islands where they breed and are casual here is spring. An adult Marbled Murrelet in breeding plumage on Apr 20 was within the spring migration window documented by Rowlett and 12 Sooty Shearwaters on 4 Apr were the first reported this spring and followed by 500 the next day. A little farther to the south a first-cycle Glaucous Gull was at the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek on Apr 13 (T.Edell†) Cruise ship birding returned in Apr as companies repositioned ships to the northern hemisphere for the summer season. A birder on a ship that took an unexpected path out to 160 miles off our coast on 2 Apr (R.Taylor) recorded single Murphy’s Petrels(†) at 120 and 160 miles offshore and a Laysan Albatross 121.5 miles offshore. On 23 Apr a cruise on the usual NW path 45-50 miles offshore recorded an Hawaiian Petrel 47 miles WSW of Point Piedras Blancas (4th county record), 17 Cook’s Petrels, four Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, and seven Leach’s Storm-Petrels (P.Lehman). Last month I mentioned there is water in Soda Lake and the bigger sub-basins to the south and east. The wet conditions produced another first record for the Carrizo Plain National Monument with a Willet (†) at Soda Lake on 11 Apr. Though there was only one previous Dunlin record for the Carrizo Plain prior to this year, it was reported four times around Soda Lake in April suggesting it is likely a regular migrant there, albeit in low numbers when water is present. A Semipalmated Plover and 37 Wilson’s Phalaropes at the east basin on 11 Apr provided only the second Carrizo Plain record for each, though again this is tied more to wet conditions there than these species spring migration route. Black-necked Stilt breeds around the Carrizo Plain in wet years so it is not surprising to find three at Soda Lake on 4 Apr and an adult on the south basin on 29 Apr (all T.Edell). Two rare shorebirds seen away from the Carrizo Plain were a Solitary Sandpiper at the Atascadero Wastewater Ponds on 6 Apr (T.Edell†) and a Semipalmated Sandpiper at the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek on 28 Apr (J.Aasen†), only the third spring record for the county. There are a few rare to uncommon species that are found most springs. One of the most abundant in Apr was Yellow-headed Blackbird with eight found from the coast to the Carrizo Plain 1-27 Apr (mob). The number of White-faced Ibis found in the county seems to increase each year with at least 29 reported between 1-29 Apr (mob) that included a flock of 20 at Arroyo del Corral (B.Alps). Four Yellow-breasted Chats, all but one away from nesting habitat, were seen between 15-30 Apr (mob). Only two Calliope Hummingbird reports was not surprising given the abundance of flowering native plants available this spring. The preponderance of flowers allows them to skip feeders. Nonetheless, one was at Cerro Alto Campground on 13 Apr (R.Furrow) and another was at the Elfin Forest in Los Osos on 16 Apr (D.Dryman†). Hammond’s Flycatchers were found along the Salinas River above Santa Margarita Lake on 13 Apr (H.Elliott†) and in a residential yard in Morro Bay on 29 Apr-1 May (K.Perry†). Possibly less expected was a Gray Flycatcher seen along Bitterwater Road at Cottonwood Well on 15 Apr (T.Edell†, H.Elliott†). In addition to the pair of

Swainson’s Hawk west of Shandon all month, a sub-adult flew over Deer Canyon, Arroyo Grande, on 20 Apr (B.Schram). And though a rarely reported breeding bird in the drier eastern part of the county, Lesser Nighthawks were found at two locations on the Carrizo Plain on 23 and 26 Apr (D.Lawrence†, W.Knowlton†). Lingering waterfowl reports were widespread. The lastest report for Eurasian Wigeons at the Morro Bay Estuary was two males on 11 Apr (K.Perry†) and the last report of a Harlequin Duck at Estero Bluffs State Park was of a single female on 8 Apr (P&J.Clayton†). A male Redhead at the Atascadero Wastewater Ponds 6-9 Apr (T.Edell†) and nearby on Paloma Creek on 17 Apr (K.Frasier†) was probably the same bird. Continuing through the month were three Greater White-fronted Geese on the Morro Bay Estuary (T.Edell†) and a male Long-tailed Duck in the Morro Bay Harbor mouth (A&P. Vaughan†). Canada Goose nesting was documented on the Morro Bay Estuary where two broods totaling 12 precocial young were seen on 28 Apr and at the Atascadero Wastewater Ponds where a nest was seen on 6 Apr (T.Edell†). The first Wood Duck nestlings (16) this spring were also at the ponds on 6 Apr (T.Edell†) and the only inland Blue-winged Teal (a male) reported was present there 6-9 Apr (T.Edell†). Two interesting reports in the south county were a Surf Scoter on Oso Flaco Lake (occasionally seen here) on 1 Apr (J.Griffiths) and an unidentified swan circling over the Grand Avenue Ramp in Grover Beach on 5 Apr (R.Chapman). Two well documented late spring birds on the Carrizo Plain on 1 Apr were a Ferruginous Hawk (H.Elliott†) and a female Mountain Bluebird (R.Cimino). Apparently only five Whitethroated Sparrows remained in Apr, the latest being one at the start of the Cerro Alto Campground Road on 19 Apr (M.Smith,J. Knowlton). An adult Palm Warbler seen along the Morro Bay State Park Marina boardwalk 13-14 Apr (R.Zachary,M.Stiles) was possibly the same bird last seen there in Dec. Conversely, a male Blue Grosbeak along the Chumash Trail in Morro Bay State Park on 11 Apr (H.Elliott†) was only two days shy of the county’s earliest arrival date. Here are a few more interesting records from Apr. A singing male Northern Parula at the Pecho Road willows on 29 Apr (J.Royer, †) was earlier than expected as spring vagrants typically don’t occur until mid-May. A Chipping Sparrow at Deer Canyon, Arroyo Grande, on 15 Apr (B.Schram) provided the only spring report. A Lewis’s Woodpecker along Old Creek Road a little south of Hwy 46 on 1 Apr (T.Edell†) was the first to be found in that area of the Santa Lucia Range. In the “sooner or later” category, a pair of Common Ravens were found tending a nest on a high tension power tower at the top of Turri Road on 12 Apr (J.Carroll, †). Look for more ravens along the coast and in the Morro Bay area in the near future! And, interesting to those that look at Whitecrowned Sparrow subspecies, a bird photographed on the Carrizo Plain on 15 Apr (J.Wapotich†) had less dark in its lores than the rare subspecies Z. l. oriantha and based on expert opinions could represent the County’s first record of Z. l. leucophrys, though an intergrade of the two can’t be ruled out and it is important to mention that the bird was only analyzed using a single photo. The symbol † indicates a report was documented with a photo. For seasonal status and distribution information about birds mentioned in this report, consult the Morro Coast Audubon publication “The Birds of San Luis Obispo County, California”, eBird at the following link https://goo.gl/JQscuN , or contact me at [email protected]. For information on birding locations, including those mentioned above, consult the Morro Coast Audubon Bird Finding Guide at http://tinyurl.com/Bird-Finding-Guide ….Tom Edell

5

Morro Coast Audubon Society Membership Application NAME __________________________________EMAIL __________________________________PH_________________ ADDRESS ___________________________________________ CITY ____________________ STATE _____ZIP ________

What type of membership would you like?

MCAS Membership Details Please mark all that apply:

Morro Coast Audubon Society and National Audubon Society combined membership

____ I’d like to receive occasional “MCAS Alert!” email notifications of news and events.

___ $20 New/Intro Make check payable to National Audubon Society.

____ I would like to be contacted about volunteer opportunities.

Morro Coast Audubon Society membership only

____ I would like to receive information about the MCAS planned giving program.

(includes the Pacific Flyway newsletter and Audubon magazine)

(includes the Pacific Flyway newsletter)

___ $20 New or renewal Make check payable to MCAS.

For questions, contact the Membership Chair. (Contact information on page 2.)

For both membership types, mail form & check to: MCAS, PO Box 1507, Morro Bay, CA 93443

To check the status of your National Audubon Society membership or request changes call 1.844.428.3826, or email [email protected]

JUNE 2017 To promote the appreciation, conservation and restoration of ecosystems, focusing on the biological diversity of birds, other wildlife, and their habitats, particularly in San Luis Obispo County.

MISSION: P.O. Box 1507, Morro Bay CA 93443 805-772-1991 [email protected] www.morrocoastaudubon.org

Morro Coast Audubon Society