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Vagrant Wood-Warblers Around the Palos Verdes Peninsula |
Chestnut-sided Warbler at Alondra Pk.
All contents © DMH/2001-03, all rights reserved
The Palos Verdes Peninsula is the nub that sticks asea at the SW corner of mainland LA County, CA. RED - Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park (KMHRP) PINK - Banning Park - 1 mile E. of 110 on PCH (Two places with 30 species wood-warbler lists) 
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Christmas Bird Count official 15 mile diameter circle. Roughly the area concerned for the records summarized here. |
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The Palos Verdes Peninsula and vicinity is the vagrant capital of Los Angeles County. This former channel island is an oasis of green in a sea of concrete. It projects off the coast, and has the main ingredient in fall, a south-facing dead-end. The confused birds turn around, usually flying north to find a place to settle down. The area concerned is roughly the CBC circle. Unlike other more famous dead-end south-facing Points, like Reyes, and Loma, it suffers from acute lack of coverage. 
The Palos Verdes Peninsula (poor photo of a poster I have) Regardless, it has produced an astonishing number of vagrants, any year that it receives good coverage. For example 10 Blackpolls have been recorded in a single fall, more than once, and five in a single day, more than once. Over 100 Blackpolls have been found all told; probably several factors of the sum total of all other LA county records combined! This well illustrates its "vagrant magnetism factor". 
Canada Warbler - 10/17/71 at Pt.Fermin Pk., San Pedro 1st LA Co. record 
Black-throated Blue Warbler at Banning Pk., 10/91 
Prothonotary Warbler at Sur La Brea Pk., Torrance. This is a list of vagrant warbler records from the PVP and vicinity, with approximate numbers of total sightings. This is a compilation of about 35 years of records, some 10 of which had almost NO records whatsoever, reflecting its coverage those years (mostly 82-89). Parentheses, ?'s or +'s, indicate additional SOS's (single observer sightings) for the extreme rarities. |
| Category 1 - one to five records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Golden-winged - 1 | 1 | ||
| Painted Redstart - 2 | 2 | ||
| Yellow-throated - 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Prairie - 5 (+) | 4+ | 1 | |
| Mourning - 3 (5+) | 1? | 3? | 2 |
| Category 2 - six to ten records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Worm-eating - 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Hooded - 8 | 3 | 5 | |
| Prothonotary - 10 | 10 | ||
| Black-throated Green - 11 | 2 | 9 | |
| Canada - 10 | 10 | ||
| Lucy's - 11+ | 1 | 7+ | 3 |
| Category 3 - 11-15 records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Bay-breasted - 13 | 5 | 8 | |
| Blackburnian - 12 | 11 | 1 | |
| Black-throated Blue - 12 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Category 4 - 20+ records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| N. Parula - 22+ | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Magnolia - 20+ | 4 | 16 | |
| Ovenbird - 21+ | 7 | 14 | |
| Chestnut-sided - 22 | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| Category 5 - 40-50 records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Virginia's | 2? | 50+ | |
| Tennessee | 10+ | 35 | 2+ |
| N.Waterthrush | 2? | 35 | 5 |
| Category 6 - 100+ records | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Palm | 8 | 60 | 40 |
| Black & White | 30 | 60 | 10 |
| Blackpoll | 5 | 100 | |
| Am. Redstart | 6+ | 100 | 6 |
| Totals by season | 85+ | 590+ | 70+ |
| Yearly average | 3-4 | 16+ | 2-3 |
| 25 "vagrant" species - 700+ individuals (means 7000 went by) |
| Hypotheticals - SOS's - single obsvr sightings | Spring | Fall | Winter |
| Kentucky - 1 | 1 | ||
| Grace's - 1 | 1 | ||
| Blue-winged - 1 | 1 | ||
| Cerulean - 2 | 2 | ||
| Cape May - 4 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connecticut - 3 | 3 |
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25 "vagrants" + 11 "regular western" = 36 confirmed documented sps. + 6 hypothetical - probably correct = 42 probably seen sps. |
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The PV area and vicinity has produced over 26 sps. of warblers in a single fall. If you see something on the Hypothetical or Category 1 list, it is imperative you document, and/or get word out to locals ASAP!! Most vagrant hunting occurs near the immediate coast and the places with the most records are: Banning Pk. (Wilmington), Pt. Fermin, Peck & Leland Pks., and Vista de Vizcaino (San Pedro- Cabrillo Bch.), Wilderness Pk. (Redondo), Sand Dune Pk. (Manhattan), Harbor Park(KMHRP), So. Coast Botanic Gardens, and Madrona Marsh (Torrance). Harbor and Banning Pks. have 30+ sps. Warbler lists! The PV Birding sites page (link below) shows where each of these places is. 
 Northern Parula at Pt. Vicente - probably just in off the ocean It's OK to have poor fuzzy pictures if they document or prove an identification or record. Other equally astounding records of "vagrant" warblers occur, and are not listed. These are the few summer records of otherwise 'regular' western warblers. Most amazing was the Townsend's Warbler that summered singing at Harbor Pk.!!! The July Lucy's Warbler at Malaga Cove is another example, but there was a recent invasion of late summer Lucy's, nearly doubling the number of local records ('04). A Wilson's summered singing at Harbor Pk., in '03 for the first modern local summer record, and positively bred for the first time locally in '04. Northern Paurla also summered at Harbor Pk., in '04 and PROBABLY bred as well!  Hooded Warbler at Banning Pk.  American Redstart at Banning Pk.  Urban birding can be ugly... LA County's first ever Yellow-green Vireo, also at Banning Pk.., in the water in a tire rut, through a chain link fence, but hey, we got the docu shots! That's an Orange-crowned Warbler to the right. |
| 20 species have wintered and CBC data reveals remarkable phenomenon: |
| 1966-77 - 12 years | Averaged 3.75 warbler sps. per CBC |
| 1978-91 - 14 years | Averaged 7.6 warbler sps. per CBC |
| 1992 - Y2K - last 8 years |
Averaged 10.2 warbler sps. per CBC |
| 5 of last 8 counts |
Recorded 11 warbler species |
All contents © DMH/2003, all rights reserved
| To other P.V. pages ... |
| Birding Places on the P.V. Peninsula | Birding the Malaga Creek Area |
| Neptune Fountain at Malaga Cove Plaza | Home |
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If you have any comments regarding this list, please e-mail me at birdfish@gvec.net Thank you! |
