We are in Arizona - Bird Number 300

A long day of flying.  Into Chicago with the snow.  Out to Los Angeles.  That's right Los Angeles.  It's right on the way to Tucson.  But right on schedule we arrived in Tucson.  My luggage made it, but John's didn't.  So after filing a claim, we picked up the rental car, a Prius, and headed south toward Madera Canyon.  It was late but we managed some new species, Yellow-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee, Acorn Woodpecker, and Painted Restart (bird species # 300) (web photo).  Tonight we're staying at the home of George West and his wife in Green Valley.  George wrote the bird guide to Alaska which we'll use later this year.

Arizona Not

While watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, I got a call saying that one of the legs of our flight to Tucson had been cancelled.  So we had to stop watching the game, missing the onside kickoff, and get new flights.  No new arrangement could be made for Monday, so we settled for Tuesday.  With the schedule open for today we decided to bird locally.  In the morning we went to the Dismal Swamp where we had a nice assortment of woodpeckers but didn't run into the hoped-for Rusty Blackbird.  However, I did manage to see a Brown Creeper which was a catch-up bird for me since John saw one in Indiana that I missed.
We returned to the house so I could pack up.  John was already packed.  Once I was finished, we went back out to check out the bay.  At Ocean View we spotted a couple of Horned Grebes, a species that was a catch-up for John.  We finished off the day at Crackers, a tapas restaurant, where we had a great meal.  Off to bed early since our flight departs Norfolk at 6:00 am tomorrow.

Bitterns

John and I set out from the house this morning, headed for Mackay Island NWR.  We went there on January 1 as part of our first day of the Big Year.  We drove the causeway slowly with the emergency lights flashing.  We were looking for American Bittern and King Rail, just as we were that first day.  We parked and walked the edge of the marsh on each side of the road, got back in the car and drove a little further, then walked another stretch of road edge.  Along the first stretch to our amazement, we flushed a Least Bittern, a bird I've seen only once before during the winter and that sighting was also at MacKay Island.  After lots more walking we were returning to the car when an American Bittern flushed to our left (photo).  My yelp of joy provoked a King Rail to call.  So we had bagged the birds for which we were searching.
Going from there to Back Bay NWR to scan the ocean sounded like a good idea.  At the ocean we did carefully study a Pacific Loon just beyond the surf.  But the hoped for scoters, grebes, and gulls were not there.  So we moved on to Fort Story.  As we were approaching Rudee Inlet it just made sense to stop and give it a look.  There were a few Surf Scoters, a female Common Eider, a Purple Sandpiper, and quite a few gulls.  In the midst of those gulls was an immature Little Gull, a catchup bird for John since he missed the one at the hotel yesterday in NC.  But unlike yesterday, there were only two Bonaparte's Gulls in the flock.  So you don't always need lots of Bonies to get a Little Gull.
We did make it to Fort Story, and after being checked out, we went to the bay overlook near the first landing monument.  There was not a lot flying except Red-throated Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers, plus a few Northern Gannets and a large unidentified alcid.
We headed home to get ready for our trip to Arizona tomorrow and to watch the Super Bowl.  Go Colts.  My species total now stands at 295.

Little Gull, a catch-up bird

The VSO field trip to the Outer Banks of NC officially began last night with a nice presentation by Jerry Via and Bill Akers and a compilation of species seen so far.  The pelagic trip added quite a few species to the trip list.  Today, after breakfast, we assembled on the raised deck behind the motel to scan the ocean for birds.  It was a bit foggy, but cleared up slowly during the following hour.  There were large numbers of Northern Gannets and Bonaparte's Gulls with other gulls and a few scoters.  One of the other gulls turned out to be an Iceland Gull in second winter plumage with a bit of silvery mantle showing.  Out over the breakers a small gull caught Jerry's eye (web photo).  I got on the bird; it turned out to be an adult Little Gull in winter plumage with its black underwings flashing.  This was a bird all of yesterday's participants on the pelagic trip had missed after Brian had sighted it.  After the gull disappeared to the north, the group reassembled in the parking lot, loaded up, and headed south to Pea Island NWR.  We tarried a bit, then caught up with the group at the south end of the Oregon Inlet bridge where they were looking at a Common Eider.  In the watery road edges there were Dunlin, a Short-billed Dowitcher, Semi-palmated Plovers, Wilson Snipe, and a Killdeer.  Further down on the refuge were Snow Geese, 3 White Pelicans, Western Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, and Tundra Swans.  A couple of Bald Eagles kept the waterfowl on the move.  Toward noon we broke away and started toward Norfolk with stops on the way to get some fresh fish and to pick up sunflower seed at the Cape Henry Audubon Society's birdseed sale.  It snowed most of the way home and was still snowing when we arrived at my home.  The snow raised  questions about our flying to Arizona on Monday since our flights go through Dulles which was closed today.  Ah well!  All part of the great adventure.  Tomorrow we'll bird locally.  My total species list now stands at 292.

Very Successful Pelagic Trip

As you probably gathered from yesterday's posting, I didn't think we'd get out today.  So what do I know?  Seven hardy VSO members boarded Brian Patteson's boat, the Stormy Petrel, just a bit after 6:00 am and shortly thereafter we were underway  .... in the dark.  We stayed inside until the boat made it through the inlet.  The first Razorbill was seen soon after that and the fun had begun.  The rain held off until afternoon as did the higher wind velocity.  Brian took us northeast along the coast where over 100 Razorbills were seen.  Then a few Dovekies popped up.  Chumming brought in many birds, mostly Herring and Great Black-back Gulls and Northern Gannets. But among them were an Iceland Gull and Manx and Greater Shearwaters.  We made it out to the Gulf Stream where we cruised the boundary for a time.  Among the Bonaparte's Gulls working the weed line were a half dozen Atlantic Puffins and a dozen Red Phalaropes.  With the wind rising and the rain beginning, we headed south still vigorously chumming.  And it paid off.  Out of the gray came a large dark seabird on powerful wings....a Great Skua, my number one target bird for this trip (net photo).  Brain turned the boat around and brought us quite close to the skua.  During the day he also manuevered the boat to give us great looks at all the pelagic species.  I had purposely left my camera in the car because I thought conditions were going to be wet and windy and not conducive to good picture-taking.  With the great looks we had at all those birds I think I could somehow have managed.

Species total is now 291.  We'll go over 300 in Arizona, our next out-of-the area trip; we'll be there next Monday night.

The First Pelagic Trip

John and I are back together again, this time for our first pelagic attempt of the year.  We're scheduled to go out of Hatteras NC tomorrow with Brian Patteson to look for alcids, winter gulls, Great Skua, and the like.  The weather doesn't look too terrific, but we're hopeful something will come of it.  We have to get up at 4am and drive to Hatteras from our Kill Devil Hills motel.  Traffic shouldn't be much at that hour.  The participants in this VSO pelagic trip are supposed to meet at the dock at 6am.  We will have done our 7-11 breakfast and coffee.  Though the temperature is now 37F, it is not likely to be much warmer tomorrow.  If we don't make it offshore tomorrow, it looks even worse for Saturday and Sunday.  Such are the vagaries of pelagics.  If we don't get out tomorrow, we'll spend the day birding onshore with special attention to the ocean side where we can look for the alcids and other birds we had hoped to find from the boat.  We'll give you a report tomorrow. 

Travel North and Fly Home

I bid Audrey, Bobbie, and Dixie (Audrey's dog) goodbye and headed out looking for a gas station that perhaps had coffee for sale.  I found one and as I emerged with cup in hand, who should greet me at my car but two Common Mynas, now a countable Florida exotic (net photo).  So they got counted.  With some coffee and a year bird under belt I headed north to Ft. Lauderdale where apparently the last remains of any Smooth-billed Anis in the country reside.  It's a commercial area south of the airport and isn't a place where anyone would like to spend spare time.  But I combed the area for well over an hour.  Just as I was about to leave John Pushock whom I had met yesterday drove up.  So he and I tried a little harder, but still without success.  At least I have the area figured out when John Spahr and I return in April.  During the time I was Ani searching, I glanced skyward from time to time.  About 9:30am there were some vultures in the sky.  A hawk joined them and then another.  Lo and behold it was a pair of Short-tailed Hawk, a bird that can be gotten in Texas and Arizona, but is most easily seen in south Florida (net photo).

I got back in the car for the journey north.  I had travelled perhaps 10 minutes when my cellphone rang.  I had just called my doctor's office about a perscription and was expecting a callback.  It wasn't the doctor's office; it was Audrey.  The La Sagra's was being seen.  It was now about 11am and I was a little more than an hour north of the site.  So I had to make a tough decision and decided I couldn't get down there and back to Orlando in time to make my flight.  Besides there wasn't any guarantee the bird would still be there if I did make the run.  There are NO guarantees in birding, folks.  So I bagged it and kept on going north.  I'll have to admit that I pulled off the road and thought about it, made several calculations, but stuck with my original decision.

Much further north near Vero Beach I experienced something new for me.  A bird flew up out of the scrubby vegetation that's all along that area.  It was easily identified as a Florida Scrub-Jay.  I've seen many of them during my visits to Florida, but never from the interstate.  And it's another Florida endemic, in fact a US endemic (web photo).  We'll see it again in April at a little more leisurely pace when it can be savored as it must be.

I made it to the airport in time to gas up, check in the rental car, check in for my flight, and grab a Starbucks to go with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich Audrey had made for me.  I enjoyed the meal.  The first flight was on time.  The second one is not.  I'm writing this blog in the Newark airport where I'm hoping the half-hour delay posted is in fact all the delay we experience.  Tonight, back in my own bed.  Tomorrow John comes to Norfolk and we travel to the NC Outer Banks for the VSO pelagic trip.  Species total is now 284.