Upcoming Field Trips

The quickest way to find out about upcoming trips and registration details is via our member's eblast (these will likely come out in the last week of month prior to the trip). If you have not already signed up for our eblasts sign up here.
Sign up and confirmation notes:

If the Google sign-up form for the trip you want to go on doesn't work the first time, try reloading the web page or restarting your browser, then try again.

If it's less than 3 days before a trip that you signed up for, and you think you should have gotten a message but haven't, try looking for it (carefully) in your spam/junk folder.

If these suggestions didn't help solve the issue, please contact us at fieldtrips@pasadenaaudubon.org .

November 2: Mount Wilson Beginner Birder Walk

Sunday, November 2, 2025 8:30 AM-10:30 AM
Trip leader: Jodhan Fine

The Pasadena Audubon Society and Mt. Wilson Observatory will be hosting a beginner birder walk on Sunday, November 2nd 2025 from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. Pasadena Audubon staffer, Jodhan Fine, an avid birder and naturalist, will lead the walk. We’ll be hiking the relatively flat, roughly half mile rim trail in search of widespread species common to the LA area as well as less regular birds that are restricted to higher elevations like Mt. Wilson. Jodhan will bring a spotting scope to help view birds up close and Pasadena Audubon will supply around 20 pairs of loaner binoculars on a first come first serve basis. After the walk concludes, consider grabbing a bite to eat at the Cosmic Cafe or going on a tour of the observatory. Tours are available at 11:30AM and 1PM.

Note: Apps do not work well for navigating to Mount Wilson. We suggest using the maps here for navigation: https://www.mtwilson.edu/1map/

Please be aware you will need a U.S. Forest Service Adventure Pass to park at the Observatory, as it is located on U.S. Forest Service land. The $5 day pass or the $30 dollar annual pass may be purchased at many locations around Los Angeles before you head up. Visit the U.S. Forest Service website for more information and purchase locations. If you have an "America the Beautiful" National Park Annual Pass, that is also valid. https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/passes/adventure-pass

TRIP LIMIT: 30 people. Participants will be chosen by lottery.

IMAGE: Lewis's Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis). Photo by B W - flickr.com License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Sign up here

November 5: Midweek Birding Group at Peck Rd. Water Conservation Park

Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Trip leader: Ed Stonick

Our next Midweek Birding Trip will be to Peck Rd. Water Conservation Park located in North El Monte.

To reach the parking lot where we will meet, go south from the 210 freeway on Myrtle Ave., which becomes Peck Rd. The entrance is on the right, about two miles south of the freeway and a quarter mile south of Clark St., which has a traffic light.

We'll spend two to three hours at the site, but anyone can leave sooner if they wish. The walking is mostly on level roads and trails. We can expect to see a nice variety of water birds, raptors, and passerines. A scope is helpful if you have one.

Peck is no. 9 of the eBird hotspots in L. A. County, with an all-time list of 274 species.

The weather will be mostly sunny and fairly pleasant, but you may want to have a hat and a light jacket for the first hour or two.

There's more information about the location on the L. A. Parks & Recreation website.

Participant number: No Limit

PHOTO: Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Photo by Chris Spurgeon

Sign up here.

November 9: Caltech Birdwalk

Sunday, November 9th, 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Trip leaders: Jieyu Zheng, Alex Coffey

Join Pasadena Audubon Society for a new bird walk on the beautiful campus of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Led by current PhD student Jieyu, this walk will explore the surprisingly rich wildlife community found in the heart of Pasadena. We’ll look for resident species such as Acorn Woodpeckers, Black Phoebes, and Dark-eyed Juncos, as well as fall migrants that favor the campus’s diverse trees, exotic shrubs, and open lawns.

TRIP LIMIT: 30 people. Participants will be chosen by lottery.

PHOTO: Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)

Sign up here

November 9: Los Angeles Arboretum Monthly Bird Walk

Sunday, November 9, 2025

8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Trip Leader: Katy Mann

We are excited to partner with the Los Angeles County Arboretum to offer free monthly bird walks to PAS members. Please note that due to new rules implemented by LA Arboretum these trips will only be open to current PAS members (and not friends of members as in past years). In other words all persons attending must be current Pasadena Audubon members -- either on their own, or as part of a PAS family membership.

Not a PAS member? Join here!

This field trip is offered by reservation only. To reserve a spot go to https://www.arboretum.org/events/bird-walk-with-pasadena-audubon-8/. Registration is scheduled to open at 9 AM on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT REGISTERING FOR THE ARBORETUM WALK: Evidently when the monthly Arboretum walk has reached capacity, the sign-up form stops functioning correctly. This issue is beyond our control. If in doubt, sign up early!


PHOTO: Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) by Luke Tiller.

November 19: Midweek Nice and Easy Birding Group: Bette Davis Picnic Area

Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Trip leader: Ed Stonick

Bette Davis Picnic Area and Glendale Narrows Riverwalk. Meet on Rancho Ave. Use 1533 Rancho Ave. for GPS location. (MAP)

We should see a nice variety of waterfowl, herons and egrets, shorebirds, raptors, and passerine species.

Participant number: No Limit

PHOTO: GHreen Heron (Butorides virescens). Photo by Chris Spurgeon.

Sign up here.

November 22: Huntington Library

Saturday, November 22, 2025
8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Trip Leader: Mark Hunter

This is a great walk for beginning birders and families, with easy walking and a nice variety of species present year round.

Please note that due to rules implemented by The Huntington these trips will only be open to current PAS members. You must be a Pasadena Audubon member to attend this trip! After you sign up for the field trip, you will receive an email acknowledging your signup. The acknowledgment email is not a guarantee of a spot! PAS will process signups in the order that they are received, verifying your membership status. The trip leader will contact you after signups are closed, informing you whether you have confirmed spots or are on the wait list. Not yet a member? You can sign up for PAS membership here.

If you have a Huntington membership that allows you to enter the gardens at 8:00 on weekends, please consider making a reservation using your Huntington membership, thereby freeing up spots for PAS members who are not Huntington members.

Photo: California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) by Chris Spurgeon

Field Trip General Notes

This field trip is offered by reservation only. If you miss out on the initial places you will be added to a waitlist and will be emailed by the trip leaders if a place opens up. If you are unable to attend a booked trip please email the trip leader and allow them to make your space available to someone on the wait list.

Sign up!

November 23: Colorado Lagoon

Sunday, November 23, 2025, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Trip leader: Robb Hamilton

Enjoy a morning of fall birding at Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach. By the second half of November, we should be able to count on seeing various waterbirds, wintering finches, sparrows, and warblers, and perhaps some late-year surprises. The open channel to Alamitos Bay has not yet been completed, and the adjacent playing field remains under construction, but these areas can still produce interesting birds – recent observations of Tropical Kingbird and Vermilion Flycatcher, for example. Robb Hamilton leads an easy 1.5-mile walk around the lagoon’s perimeter.

Participant number: No Limit

Trip details such as meeting location will be emailed to signed-up participants 3-5 days before the trip.

PHOTO: Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus). Photo by Chris Spurgeon.

Sign up here

November 29: Parrot Roost

Saturday, November 29, 2025
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Leader: Luke Tiller

The San Gabriel Valley is known nationally for its overnight roosts of Amazona parrots and Mitred and Red-masked Parakeets. On most late afternoons during the non-breeding season, the suburban skies and soundscape are overtaken by cacophonous flocks returning from their daytime foraging sites to gather at the roosts. These parrots and parakeets are not native to the United States, but large populations have established themselves in the Los Angeles area and become an important part of the local ecosystem. Join Pasadena Audubon as we sort through the impressive numbers of parakeets and Red-crowned Parrots, looking for some of the less common species. For this trip, we will mostly be standing around letting the birds come to us. We may stroll slowly through the neighborhood to get closer to roosting flocks, but this will involve minimal walking on sidewalks.

Participant limit: none

PHOTO: Lilac-crowned Parrot (Amazona finschi). Photo by Luke Tiller.

Trip details such as meeting location will be emailed to signed-up participants 3-5 days before the trip

Sign up here