Category Archives: Life list

Chasing Mister Yellowthroat

It started about eight-thirty one night over a week ago when a sharp knock on the Airstream door launched Penny into a barking frenzy. I got her leashed as I opened the door to two Canadian birder friends who were doing a Paul Revere imitation, spreading birding news. "Dick, did you hear about the rare Gray-crowned Yellowthroat discovered at Estero today?"

I not only had not heard about it, but had never heard of it. They filled me in a bit and then went on to notify other birders in the park. Here’s what I read online the next morning:

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat is common shrubland species from northern Mexico throughout Middle America to Panama. It was formerly a breeding bird in the ABA Area, but more or less disappeared at the turn of the 20th Century. It’s become somewhat regular in south Texas since 1988 or so, with a number of records scattered throughout the area. A pair of birds even attempted nesting in Cameron County in 2005, though at least one of them was likely a hybrid with Common Yellowthroat. The last record of this species in the ABA Area was in 2006.

With Mary watching the dog, I was off to Estero Llano Grande State Park, about 45 minutes away. There was a bird walk scheduled but I decided to look for the Yellowthroat and joined 20-30 others on a path soon to be called "the stakeout." We watched, pacing to and fro, for a couple of hours and seeing/hearing nothing, most of us decided to go on an informal walk with a couple of the park hosts. We saw a wide variety of birds ( the place is one of the top spots in the Valley) but returning, met a couple of guys with big smiles, who told us, "We saw it about 15 minutes after you left." Returning to the stakeout, we spent another hours seeing nothing but brush and tall grass. C’est la vie.

I took a day off for other stuff but returned two days later about 9:30 A.M. to the news, "Sue (one of the hosts) and some folks just saw it. Go get it." There were even more birders waiting, some napping, some reading, some chatting. It was like old home week, I saw a couple of folks I first met last year. And the photo gear – several had "baby joggers" to carry in their massive lens. All was for nought – I waited nearly three hours and the bird never showed again. I decided to forget it.

So every day for a week, I read eBird reports on morning sightings, as I went elsewhere for other birds or activities. Finally, I decided to try one more time. I left before daylight yesterday and was the first onr there. After an hour, three other birders showed up and wouldn’t you know, walked right past the bird in the first ten minutes. The problem was, I was back on the path searching, just out of sight. One came back to let me know (which was very nice to do) but by the time I got there, nothing – except a nice picture they took. I watched for another half hour, getting pretty discouraged, thinking that I wasn’t destined to see it.

More birders showed up and shortly, there was a yell (someone had heard it call) and as I got there, some people were seeing it in the grass but I couldn’t. Looking through binoculars, just willing that bird to show up is hard work. But, one eagle-eyed gal from Illinois was caling out positions ans suddenly, it moved up the bush and we all had decent looks. My camera’s autofocus went wild on the branches so the documentary shot I took was pretty sad.

However, Dan Jones, one of the top birders in the Valley, took a shot two days ago when the bird was perched. As you can see, it’s beautiful.

So much of birding is being at the right place at the right time. If I never again hear, "Oh, you should have been here 15 minutes ago," I won’t be heart-broken. Meanwhile I am enjoying the memory of finding such a neat bird for life bird #417.

Sorting Sparrows at Goose Island State Park

Our six-day trip to Texas was highlighted by:

  • Trekking down our icy driveway with last minute luggage for a 5:45 AM launch Monday
  • Whiteout with treacherous driving for 20 miles around Saratoga on the Northway
  • Awful crosswinds for the first three days
  • Black ice on I-81 in PA below Chambersburg
  • Freezing rain and 30 degrees in MS
  • Heavy rain around Beaumont and steady rain through Houston (and a backup that I luckily circumvented, pulling the Mass-h_le trick of driving up the right side of everything)
  • Four comfortable nights in La Quinta Inns which, while seeming to lower in quality as we went south, still were clean, warm, and restful.)

Once out of Houston, the weather cleared and we stopped for fuel at Buc-cees (and topped off our fat levels with some great barbecue sandwiches.  Soon, I was starting to see more birds –  and at 70 mph (on low traffic roads) I noted Eastern Meadowlarks, Great-tailed Grackles, a Crested Caracara, several Northern Harriers, many Red-tail Hawks, and the ever-present Turkey Vultures. We are now settled at Goose Island State Park for a week and whilebit’s cool and windy, the only white stuff around are American White Pelicans and Great Egrets. The park is one-third full and we have a quiet spot to relax and get the trailer organized.  And bird.

I took Penny on four walks today and the bird activity was good — too early for warblers except for many Yellow-rumps, but loaded with sparrows. Sparrow identification is not something I would list when considering KSA’s (Knowledge, Skill, Ability.) It’s not easy when they keep flying up from the tall grass to spots just out of binocular range while the Vizsla on leash pulls your arm off.  I missed more than I even got a look at.  Yet, I got a lifer, a Harris’s Sparrow.  It popped up on a bush not too far away and I got the glasses, then the camera, on it. I didn’t know what it was but went back, downloaded the photos, and tentatively identified it as a juvenile Harris’s.  Then I emailed my friends at North Branch Nature Center and Chip, the Executive Director, agreed with my call.  So it was life bird #412 — first of the year and the trip.

This was one of two juvenile Harris's Sparrows I saw this morning. Lifer #412

This was one of two juvenile Harris’s Sparrows I saw this morning. Lifer #412

I ended up with six sparrow species (and may have missed others):

  1. Song
  2. Field
  3. Savannah
  4. Lincoln’s
  5. Harris’s
  6. House

I hope to sort ducks and gulls in the next couple of days.  There are rafts of Redheads and Northern Pintails and it will be time to relearn the gulls and shorebirds. Good birding.

eBird Targets–Exploring the Possibilities

Cornell’s eBird just announced the launch of eBird Targets–a new tool that creates a prioritized list of county, state, or life birds that you can expect to find in a region. You enter a region, range of months, and then select the list you’d like to compare. eBird compares your selected list against the full species list for the selected region and months, creating a target species list that can be sorted taxonomically or by frequency (the percentage of checklists that have reported the species). Each time you submit a checklist to eBird, a geo-referenced tag is created that allows you to keep track of your lists on the My eBird pages. From the simple life list to very focused region-based year lists, eBird Targets allows birders to play the games they find most interesting while creating more and better data for science.

I decided to run a list to see what I might find in my target county for this year, Lamoille. I am sort of stuck on 130 species and recent visits have drawn blanks and the combination of other commitments, weather, and the departure of many of my “missing” birds, make 135 to 140 a reasonable expectation.  So let’s see what eBird says — what I want are the birds that will be there during the next six weeks that I don’t have on the year’s list.

So first, I run this query:

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.24.11 PM

Now this is for a life list for the county, which in my case is the same as the year list.  The report shows 34 species and ranks them by frequency — so if I can get five I’ll be happy.

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.26.45 PM

The other neat aspect of this program is that it provides a map of where a given species was reported in the past, highlighting recent sightings.  Here is one for Evening Grosbeak.

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.31.00 PM

I’m sure that I’ll be using this a lot as we start traveling to states in the Southwest. Combined with alerts from eBird, email listings, and various iPhone apps that cull eBird data, we have a lot of tools available.

The eBird team ends with this suggestion:

Please give the new eBird Targets output a try, and use it to find everything from your next life bird to your next year bird in your home county. Have fun, and submit lots of complete eBird checklists along the way!

Some Florida Target Birds

One of the reasons we are traveling to Florida is to see some birds which I’ve never seen; many of the birds we’ll encounter are those that also frequent the Southwest but there are some that are more unique to Florida. Here are a few of my top ones (photos are by an excellent photographer, Mark Vance, who has a gallery on Flickr here.

A large, white, bald-headed wading bird of the southeastern swamps, the Wood Stork is the only stork breeding in the United States. Its late winter breeding season is timed to the Florida dry season when its fish prey become concentrated in shrinking pools.photo by Mark Vance

A large, white, bald-headed wading bird of the southeastern swamps, the Wood Stork is the only stork breeding in the United States. Its late winter breeding season is timed to the Florida dry season when its fish prey become concentrated in shrinking pools.  Photo by Mark Vance

An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative.

An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative. Photo by Mark Vance

A strikingly marked raptor of wetlands in the southeastern United States, the Swallow-tailed Kite captures flying insects or plucks insects and lizards from the tops of trees.

A strikingly marked raptor of wetlands in the southeastern United States, the Swallow-tailed Kite captures flying insects or plucks insects and lizards from the tops of trees. Photo by Mark Vance

A bold and curious bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay can become hand-tame in areas where it comes in contact with people. Unfortunately, it is restricted to the rare oak scrub community of Florida, a habitat under constant threat of development, and is classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

A bold and curious bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay can become hand-tame in areas where it comes in contact with people. Unfortunately, it is restricted to the rare oak scrub community of Florida, a habitat under constant threat of development, and is classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Photo by Mark Vance

Caption text is from Cornell University “All About Birds“

A Morning Surprise – #400

One of my 2014 birding goals was to reach 400 life birds – in my fifth year of birding. I saw two Black-tailed Gnatcatchers as I checked into the Salton Sea State Receation Area last weekend (for 398).

The following morning I birded the Wister Unit about 25 miles south and after a great session birding from the truck crawling along managed wetlands, I came right up to a large hawk, who peered at me through the open window about 20 feet away. (Fortunately, the dog was napping in the back seat.). I got my binoculars up slowly, studied the large bill, the feathery legs, and after about a minute, the hawk shook out his feathers, took a dump, and slowly flew away. It was my first Ferruginous Hawk and an "up close and personal" encounter for number 399.

So for several days, I’ve been wondering what number 400 might be. We have been back at Gilbert Ray County Park in Tuscon and while I have had some good outings, the birding has been rather slow. I figured that perhaps in the week ahead in New Mexico, I’d get lucky.

This morning, I walked Penny just at sunrise since we had a long drive to Las Cruces ahead of us. I had my binoculars but no camera as we circled the camp loop. I spotted a hummingbird, the first I had seen there, and thought, "Another Anna’s." When I got my glasses on him, it was a spectacular Costa’s Hummingbird. I got some good looks but then he was gone. The trailer was close by so I dropped off the dog after feeding her, and grabbed my camera. Of course, he was not there – and so I started packing the truck. I went back and found him perched, in bad light, in a far off tree. The shots I got don’t capture the irridescent gorget and crown – but I saw them in the sunlight and they were spectacular. The photos do capture the pot-bellied shape.

What a neat #400. I got it just as we were leaving its range so it literally was the last chance. The morning encounter made the long trek across Arizona and New Mexico desert much more enjoyable and we are settled into a nice New Mexico state campgound.

Trogons – Aren’t They Elegant?

We are presently situated at Patagonia Lake State Park, which is beautiful in an Arizona high desert fashion and home to a nice variety of birds, but lacks wifi or cell coverage. There is no tv and FM radio is all from Mexico. The view from our park site makes up for a lot – this is the hill we see each morning.

Two weeks ago, in an email exchange with the assistant park manager, I learned that she had seen an Elegant Trogan – a spectacular bird that is a target for most birders. I’ve been out with Penny and picked up three or four new life birds: western birds that are often pretty common here – but I’ve not been this far west birding. I’ve added Gray Phoebe, Bridled Titmouse, White-throated Swift, Hammond’s Flycatcher, and Gila Woodpecker in two days.

Last night, we met with neighbors to discuss options for our future stops and the first thing that Donna, our new friend, did was to pick up her camera and said "Let me show you a picture." My response was, "I don’t know that I want to se it." Sure enough, she and her husband had seen and photographed a beautiful male trogon yesterday afternoon, I was truly happy for them but motivated.

This morning, a bird walk was scheduled for nine AM and Mary was planning to go (we take turns dog-sitting.). I decided to go out early for an hour or so before the thundering herd took to the paths.

I took the tags off Penny to quiet her and we walked the half-mile or so, seeing some nice morning activity. The lake was active with Northern Shovelers, grebes, Cinnamon Teal, and Ruddy Ducks while dozens of Ruby-crowned Kinglets worked the trees. I saw eight Western Bluebirds and many woodpeckers as we worked our way toward the creek where thr trogon had been spotted the day before.

I was just about ready to head back, knowing the group was getting ready, when a flash of color popped on to a low bush ahead. A male Elegant Trogon was looking at us, as Penny strained at the leash. I watched, tried a few photos, and handled the dog as the bird hopped to the ground, flew up to another tree, and challenged my camera/dog balancing abilities. The autofocus was going crazy with the brush and I didn’t want to spook the bird, which was rather calm.

I quit without a "great" shot and quietly retreated, happy to have seen this great lifer. As things happen, Mary’s large bird group did not see this guy but found the juvenile/female companion so they too all got their trogon.

So we have to drive four miles to check email – birds like this are why folks love southern Arizona.

Life Birds #368 & #369

Warblers can be frustrating, flitting from branch to branch, often moving through and suddenly gone, and causing you neck pain as you try to watch them high in the trees. I’ve had several that were target birds but which I kept missing. The other day, several birders gave me the old "We got some good looks at them a few minutes ago" spiel, which while true, didn’t make my day.

Saturday, I returned with the dog to Anzalduas County Park to try once more. It was quiet (there is a fee for weekends) but when I saw and heard a singing Loggerhead Shrike on the way in, and then spotted an Eastern Bluebird as I parked the truck, I was expecting a good morning. And it was.

Going into the grove of trees we visited the other day, I saw all sorts of activity up ahead. Dozens of Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and Orange-crowned warbers worked through the foliage, with many American Goldfinches feeding as well. Then I spotted something different – smaller, black and white – and a Black-throated Gray Warbler, life bird #368, popped out in the open. I studied it as it moved back into the branches, and grabbed for the camera. It was moving away, little by little.

As things happen, I then saw some yellow and in seconds, was looking at my first Yellow-throated Warbler. This time I was ready with the camera and grabbed this shot.

Then, as is often the case with warblers, it was over. They had moved on and I was left with this "wow, that was something else" feeling of being at the right place at the right time. Good Birding.

The Rare Roadside Hawk (from the archives)

As part of my preparation for our SW trip, I joined birder email groups in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas. One of the big deals for the last ten days has been the roadside hawk, a rare species from Mexico, that showed up at Falcon State Park.

I’m not that serious a birder, but getting more serious, and that sort of locked in our next destination from Goose Island State Park. This place is right on the Mexico border, next to a big international reservoir, and full of birds and birders. People drive here just to try to see the hawk.

Yesterday was our first day here (it’s a nicely laid-out park filled with Canadians and folks from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and elsewhere north. Very few New Englanders.

I was out walking Penny just after dawn (which comes here late so far west in the Central time zone) when a car stopped and asked me if I knew where the roadside hawk was. I passed on some news I’d heard about possible locations and returned for breakfast. Later that morning, they drove slowly by again — still no hawk.

A little later, I was talking with our Oklahoma neighbors (who have been coming here for 23 years) when the same car stopped, rolled down the window and reported, “He’s down by the recreation area in the top of a tree.”

I grabbed my binoculars and walked down in that direction. Passing the recreation hall, a young man asked me if I had heard of any hawk sightings and soon he and his parents were walking with me down the road, where up ahead, we saw a small group of birders set up. (It turns out that my companions had driven over from Louisiana just to get to see the bird — every day a bunch more show up.) Sure enough, the young hawk was sitting in full view in a big bare tree, easily visible by binoculars. I could make out the striping and coloration but when I had a chance to look through a spotting scope, it was even more remarkable. He posed for ten minutes or so and then flew off, not to be seen the rest of the day.

We are seeing some amazing birds — most of whom never get up our way. Green jays are spectacular as is the vermillion flycatcher. Today we saw all three orioles resident here: altimira oriole, Audobon oriole, and the hooded oriole. Visiting a sanctuary filled with golden-fronted woodpeckers, Great Kiskadoos, and orioles reminded me of the first time I snorkeled in tropical water. It was sensory overload.

So, Mary and I have given up snow for Lent. But we are reveling in the wonders of this part of our country. Originally published – 2/18/10

Roadside hawk photo by Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes
Green jay photo by JunCTio

Black-billed Cuckoo — check!

As you know if you follow my Vermont Airstreamers blog, I’m in the midst of a major renovation project and thus, am spending little time for birding. This morning, I was tempted to spend an hour or two early at North Branch Nature Center, seeing if I could run into the Black-billed Cuckoo they have been hearing nearly daily.  I have been down there on several occasions recently with no luck — and today I decided to press on and get some errands done downtown.  I came home with my supplies for the Airstream project and after coffee, headed out to strip some clear coat  off two stubborn panels.

I had tested a couple of stripping compounds and had just started to check them when I heard a cuckoo sound just across the driveway and up in the woods.  I ran to the garage to get my binoculars and Mary, whose window was open, said, “Was that a cuckoo?”  I said it was and went up to look for a few minutes but it had ceased calling.  I returned to my project since I needed to rinse off the stripper before it dried on.  About then, the Black-billed Cuckoo called again from a different spot.

A Black-billed Cuckoo on Wood Road in North Middlesex, VT.

A Black-billed Cuckoo on Wood Road in North Middlesex, VT.

So, I had my cuckoo — a life bird and a County bird — but I was not satisfied because up to this point, have always seen the bird I log as a life bird.  I know that hearing it is a positive ID and I worked for about another fifteen minutes, hearing the bird periodically.  Finally, I decided to drop things, get the dog, and go for a little walk looking for it.  And so we did, down the driveway and across the road where I last heard it.  After ten minutes, I caught movement of a cuckoo-sized bird but had trouble finding it in the foliage.  I finally got part of it in the binoculars just as it started a very soft co0-coo-coo.  I fiddled with the camera, struggled to get it in the frame, and snapped off a couple of shots for a record.  I grabbed the binoculars as a second cuckoo joined the first but they moved off before I could get the camera up again.  They moved off, calling now and then, and the dog and I returned up to the trailer to get back to work.

Black-billed Cuckoos have been a nemesis bird for me now for several years – I can’t tell you how many trips I’ve made to look for them.  And two just show up in our dooryard!  Such is birding.   I’m glad I got a good look and the photo – it feels more like a real life bird — number 357 and the second one this month.

O’ Canada

I’ve taken a break from birding for the last three weeks, aside from walks with the dog in our woods, as I work on some Airstream projects. Today, my friends at Grow Compost, a wonderful local business, had a day-long event which included a brief afternoon bird walk. A friend of mine was leading it and the owners hoped I might drop by, and so I did with very low expectations. After all, it is mid-afternoon in July.

A few of us gathered including the leader, Patti, and another Mad Birder friend, Pat Folsom. The six of us, after a repast of lemonade and cookies, trudged out by the fermenting piles of compost, aiming toward a Turkey Vulture perch at the end of the property. We saw and heard the usual suspects — Song Sparrows, Ovenbird, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee and once at the edge of the woods, found a few flycatchers that we finally decided were Eastern Phoebes.

It was fun being out and with some good birders and we ticked off about a dozen species, and then watched a warbler working away, actively feeding. It was pretty plain and of course, silent, so we sort of chalked it up to “unknown female/juvenile warbler.” Pat said, “Sometimes you just have to let them go.” Up ahead, we heard some chipping in a thicket, and stealthily approached, thinking that it might be a Common Yellowthroat. It was pretty aggressive calling and Pat got a glimpse of yellow but that was it. And it stopped.

We waited a while and since the time was over for the walk, had just decided to head back when a bird popped out on a hemlock branch. I spotted it and said, “I see it, it’s yellow, get over on it, Canada Warbler, got it …” I was sure it would disappear but the group got on it right away and sure enough, a male Canada Warbler was scolding us. He hopped around, giving us great looks, and I grabbed this shot of him. (Warblers are tough, they are always moving.)

This guy is life bird 346 for me -- a long time coming.

This guy is life bird 346 for me — a long time coming.

It was a year-bird for all of us and I was pretty sure that it was a life bird for me. (It was) We realized that it likely had a nest nearby, and that we had likely seen the female earlier. We quietly withdrew, with him still chipping away at us, and finished the outing on a real up note. It got us thinking that we should bird this area more extensively since there are miles of trails up high that have great potential.

The takeaway item for me was: you just never know with birding — sometimes it just pays to show up.

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