Redondo Beach Birding info wanted (1 Viewer)

Newport Beach Birding info wanted

I stumbled across Thayer's list of the 100 hottest birding spots in North America and immediately decided I am going to have to spend a week at each one. I figure at the rate of about three hot spots per month and I will have seen them all in about 3 years. I am currently in Santa Barbara, California (#31) and in a few days I am heading for Newport Beach, California (#26). I have never been birding in Newport Beach so I was wondering if anyone has recommendations on where the best birding spots are. I am a bird photographer and I am interested in seeing and photographing anything with wings and feathers.

Get a copy of the ABA/Lane Guide "Guide to Southern California Birding". You'll have to get it at an Audubon bookstore, unfortunately it's not carried by the Borders or Barnes & Nobles of the world. But it's the single best and most detailed guide on where to find birds in Southern California.

Forget Redondo Beach. It's just another public beach and boat marina. But 1 mile south of Redondo is the Palos Verdes Peninsula, with several points along its perimeter that are great for sea and shorebirds and has several pockets of native coastal sage scrub habitat where you'll get the hard-to-find California Gnatcatcher, Rock Wren, among others. (I live in PV so know this area well.)

However, before getting to Redondo, you might want to take Hwy 1 from Oxnard south. Not the 101 (freeway). You want the old Pacific Coast Hwy. Starting at the navy base just before (north of) Pt. Mugu (a big rock), stop and check out the marshy fields there. Behind you, scan the tops of the coastal hills (actually, they're the north end of the Santa Monica Mountain range) for Golden Eagles and other raptors.

Pt. Mugu rock itself and the small parking lot turnout is a great place to see flying and floating seabirds and, now, probably gray whales as well as other marine mammals.

Continuing a couple miles south of Pt. Mugu are La Jolla and Sycamore Canyons (on your left). Sycamore also has a Cove on the right (ocean) side of the highway that's also good for checking out seabirds.

Several miles farther down PCH is Malibu Lagoon, a fantastic place for all kinds of waders and seabirds.

Once you get into Santa Monica, however, PCH cuts inland. But another good stopping place is Playa del Rey, just north of LAX. If you want to get there, PM me and I'll give you directions. There are some jetties and a small lagoon that're worth checking out.

Otherwise, I'd honestly bypass the beach cities of Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach -- all of which are just developed areas with lots of people and no native habitat. We've had very windy weather, as you know, so probably finding something interesting will be easier from points on the Peninsula than from any of the beaches inside Santa Monica Bay. :t:

LOL, I see you edited your post from "Redondo" to "Newport" while I was typing -- and the latter is a WONDERFUL area for birds, but unfortunately I'm not intimately familiar with the area at all. We've got some members down that way, though, so hopefully they'll see this!

Katy Penland said:

LOL, I see you edited your post from "Redondo" to "Newport" while I was typing -- and the latter is a WONDERFUL area for birds, but unfortunately I'm not intimately familiar with the area at all. We've got some members down that way, though, so hopefully they'll see this!

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Yep, my brain doesn't quite function this early in the morning. I don't know how I mixed up Redondo with Newport. That is really braindead.

I second Playa Del Rey.

There is a little man made pond there. My family has always called it the "duck pond" but it's official name is the Del Rey Lagoon. Within walking distance from the lagoon is a jetty.

I'd venture to say that well over half of my life list was recorded at the Del Rey Lagoon and the jetty. I live in El Segundo which is only a few miles south of the lagoon. It's a quick easy spot for me to get to.

If your list is short on shore birds the Del Rey Lagoon and the jetty are a good spot for them.

Also not far from the Lagoon is the Ballona Wetlands. I haven't been out there for a while. But it's another good spot for birding. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly wreaked my car craning my neck to get a better look at something in the air as I drive past the wetlands.