WhenToBird

Birding spot · Orange County, California

Birding at Fletcher Retarding Basin: What You'll See Each Week

In November, the birds most often reported at Fletcher Retarding Basin are Double-crested Cormorant (92%), House Finch (88%), and White-crowned Sparrow (87%). It is busiest in spring, when 98 species turn up on at least 1 in 20 checklists, and species counts peak in the second week of October (98 species). 176 species have been reported here across 1,086 complete checklists from 310 birders.

Species by week

020406080100Jan 1-7: 90 species on 5%+ of 31 checklistsJan 8-14: 73 species on 5%+ of 21 checklistsJan 15-21: 77 species on 5%+ of 27 checklistsJan 22-31: 82 species on 5%+ of 39 checklistsFeb 1-7: 66 species on 5%+ of 22 checklistsFeb 8-14: 82 species on 5%+ of 27 checklistsFeb 15-21: 89 species on 5%+ of 40 checklistsFeb 22-28: 80 species on 5%+ of 25 checklistsMar 1-7: 87 species on 5%+ of 23 checklistsMar 8-14: 77 species on 5%+ of 23 checklistsMar 15-21: 74 species on 5%+ of 26 checklistsMar 22-31: 96 species on 5%+ of 16 checklistsApr 1-7: 68 species on 5%+ of 21 checklistsApr 8-14: 78 species on 5%+ of 29 checklistsApr 15-21: 92 species on 5%+ of 28 checklistsApr 22-30: 94 species on 5%+ of 30 checklistsMay 1-7: 94 species on 5%+ of 15 checklistsMay 8-14: 80 species on 5%+ of 23 checklistsMay 15-21: 82 species on 5%+ of 24 checklistsMay 22-31: 77 species on 5%+ of 22 checklistsJun 1-7: low data (8 checklists)Jun 8-14: 80 species on 5%+ of 14 checklistsJun 15-21: 81 species on 5%+ of 18 checklistsJun 22-30: 73 species on 5%+ of 10 checklistsJul 1-7: low data (8 checklists)Jul 8-14: low data (9 checklists)Jul 15-21: 81 species on 5%+ of 13 checklistsJul 22-31: 77 species on 5%+ of 11 checklistsAug 1-7: 92 species on 5%+ of 13 checklistsAug 8-14: 75 species on 5%+ of 25 checklistsAug 15-21: 92 species on 5%+ of 24 checklistsAug 22-31: 82 species on 5%+ of 28 checklistsSep 1-7: 67 species on 5%+ of 22 checklistsSep 8-14: 83 species on 5%+ of 21 checklistsSep 15-21: 82 species on 5%+ of 21 checklistsSep 22-30: 85 species on 5%+ of 31 checklistsOct 1-7: 79 species on 5%+ of 41 checklistsOct 8-14: 98 species on 5%+ of 18 checklistsOct 15-21: 93 species on 5%+ of 39 checklistsOct 22-31: 86 species on 5%+ of 34 checklistsNov 1-7: 72 species on 5%+ of 23 checklistsNov 8-14: 86 species on 5%+ of 25 checklistsNov 15-21: 86 species on 5%+ of 29 checklistsNov 22-30: 88 species on 5%+ of 15 checklistsDec 1-7: 75 species on 5%+ of 21 checklistsDec 8-14: 74 species on 5%+ of 22 checklistsDec 15-21: 86 species on 5%+ of 17 checklistsDec 22-31: 94 species on 5%+ of 14 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Number of species reported on at least 5% of complete checklists, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

In November: what to expect

  1. 1Double-crested Cormorant92%
  2. 2House Finch88%
  3. 3White-crowned Sparrow87%
  4. 4American Wigeon85%
  5. 5American White Pelican83%
  6. 6Northern Mockingbird83%
  7. 7Yellow-rumped Warbler83%
  8. 8Mourning Dove82%
  9. 9American Coot80%
  10. 10Great Blue Heron75%
  11. 11House Sparrow74%
  12. 12American Crow73%
  13. 13Black Phoebe72%
  14. 14Great Egret72%
  15. 15Gadwall71%

Share of complete checklists at this spot that reported the bird in November. The sparkline is the whole year, with this month highlighted.

Season by season

Winter 87 species

  1. American Wigeon93%
  2. American White Pelican89%
  3. Double-crested Cormorant88%
  4. Canada Goose84%
  5. Northern Mockingbird83%

Spring 98 species

  1. Canada Goose95%
  2. Northern Mockingbird93%
  3. Double-crested Cormorant91%
  4. Mallard91%
  5. House Finch88%

Summer 83 species

  1. House Finch93%
  2. Mourning Dove92%
  3. Western Grebe92%
  4. Double-crested Cormorant91%
  5. Northern Mockingbird91%

Fall 88 species

  1. House Finch89%
  2. American White Pelican88%
  3. Northern Mockingbird87%
  4. Double-crested Cormorant85%
  5. Great Egret84%

Specialties

Birds reported far more often here than across California.

  • Northern Red Bishop9.4% of checklists here vs 0.1% statewide: 94.0×
  • Black Skimmer22% of checklists here vs 0.8% statewide: 26.4×
  • Mitred Parakeet9.6% of checklists here vs 0.4% statewide: 25.9×
  • Swinhoe's White-eye39% of checklists here vs 1.7% statewide: 23.3×
  • Egyptian Goose23% of checklists here vs 1.0% statewide: 21.6×
  • Clark's Grebe53% of checklists here vs 2.5% statewide: 21.4×
  • American White Pelican85% of checklists here vs 4.9% statewide: 17.5×
  • Western Grebe77% of checklists here vs 5.4% statewide: 14.3×

Nearby spots

Frequency is the share of complete checklists at this location that listed the bird, 2016–2025. Busy places report more of everything, and the weekly chart counts species on at least 5% of checklists so a few stray reports do not inflate it. How to read it.