Bob's Birds and Things

Cinnamon Teal at Back Bay NWR

2011-04-15T16:17:00.003-04:00

This morning while Sarah Davis, Ken Markley, and I were conducting an impoundment survey, Sarah noticed an odd teal and brought it to my attention. It was an obvious male Cinnamon Teal. I took a few photos to document the sighting. The provenance of the bird is unknown. Whether it will be accepted by VARCOM will depend on whether this sighting fits the currently known vagrancy pattern for Cinnamon Teal. So stay tuned. The bird was found in an area that is currently not open to the public. However, the west dike is open for birdwatching and we also saw 5 Black-necked Stilts in the north end of C pool which should be visible from the west dike. Since the teal could move around, anyone visiting the refuge should be on the alert for the Cinnamon Teal.
In addition during the beach survey we found an Iceland Gull on the beach at False Cape State Park and a Piping Plover on the north mile section of the Back Bay NWR beach.

The Calendar of Big Year Talks

2011-01-22T14:41:00.003-05:00

Starting in the fall, I will be giving talks about the Big Year to various bird clubs and other groups. In response to a question from Cathy and Terry Bond, who wanted to know when and where the talks would be, I have posted the calendar on my website. Just click on the link "Calendar of Big Year talks" on the left side of the Blog under "Link to Website." I hope you'll find a talk that fits your needs. Contact information for each program is provided.
I have also cleaned up the two Big Year species spreadsheets. One has the species listed by date seen in reverse order, the last seen at the top, the first seen at the bottom. The other list has the birds listed in ABA order with the gaps showing graphically which birds I missed during the year. You might have fun with those as your time permits.
As far as the blog goes I'm going to try to write a paragraph on some timely subject or what I'm seeing or not seeing, trying hard to be interesting, but not stimulating enough to throw readers into a flaming rage. So check it out and see what I'm up to; your responses will be a clue as to whether it's interesting enough to continue.
Incidentally you might be interested to know that the Blog got about 10,000 hits a month until December when the hits topped 18,000. I don't have a complete record of hits for the whole year because I didn't turn the counter on at the beginning because I didn't know about it. My guess is that if I had been counting from January 1, 2010, the total from the year would have exceeded 110,000 hits. I do know that for the last half of the year the total was over 72,000 hits.

It's Over

2011-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

     Today is a gorgeous day in Tidewater VA. The sun is shining brightly, enough so that I spent an hour cleaning up the backyard. Our statuesque pine, the one with the perfect shape prior to the last snow storm, has three more missing limbs, a product of the enormous wet snow we had a week or so ago. I did start on my year yardlist, and I did start on my Virginia yearlist, the routine type of listing, but The Big Year is over.
     Joyce and I ended the year last Friday by hosting the compilation for the Little Creek CBC on New Year's Eve. On Saturday we began the new year by going to the VA Eastern Shore with Audrey to see the Mountain Bluebird, state bird #404 for me (photo). Yesterday I participated in the Nansemond River CBC for which I am the compiler. Our enthusiastic group tallied a few over 120 species and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the compilation and food at David Matson's house in Suffolk. Today seemed like a good time for a little reflection on the year past.
     Am I happy with the Big Year? Overwhelmingly so! How could I not be, having passed numerical goal after goal once the original goal of 650 was reached. Everyone should understand that the birding strategy morphed through the year. In the beginning I set up an itinerary and expected to follow it religiously pocketing the rarities along the way that happened to be where I was. Little if any chasing. The reasoning? Using that approach would keep the cost at a reasonable level. That plan held for about the first half of the year. That approach brought John and me to the point in March where we had all the birds and were waiting for the migration to bring us more. It was that approach that gave us the 650 by July 1. That firm foundation gave a clear track to the chasing which came later rather than having to clean up a bunch of missed species during the last third of the year.
     Finding the Blyth's Reed-Warbler at Gambell in September has to be the highlight of the year. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that a new North American record would be part of the Big Year, much less dream of being the one who found it. Others of course helped in securing the identity of the bird. But standing there in the boneyard by myself looking at this bird created an exhilaration that is difficult to match.
   I also derived a great deal of pleasure and a large sense of accomplishment when I missed a bird, but came back to get it. There were quite a few of those like La Sagra's Flycatcher, Moscovy Duck, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Brown Shrike, Himalayan Snowcock, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl just to name a few. After missing the Black-tailed Gull three days in California, I got it in Newfoundland, a reward I'm claiming for my earlier effort.
     No Big Year is accomplished without help. There are countless people who gave me and John their time, advice, support, housing, food, and general good will throughout the year. First and foremost on my list has to be Joyce, my wife who never wavered in her support and good words from before the year began right up to that very last day. This next year is her year to decide where we will go. Well, maybe I'll still sneak off to a Cardinal's game. Chief among the commentators on my blog were Renee and Ned who kept up my spirit and offered advice when some of the going got tough. The other supporters and helpers were justly important but I won't attempt a complete list at this point. You all have my most heartfelt gratitude. I hope you know that this year would not have met the success it did without your help.
     Where do I go from here? This year 2011 will be a Virginia year, more or less. I'll do the birding things I usually do like the weekly walks in the Great Dismal Swamp, the bird surveys at Back Bay NWR, and VSO and CVWO field trips. But in and around the edges I will be pulling together the details of the Big Year for inclusion in a book I'm planning to write. I'm open to any suggestions from you, best delivered via email to robertake@gmail.com. The blog won't go dead, but a little of the electricity will be gone.

Decision Not To Go To Texas

2010-12-31T14:13:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday afternoon another White-throated Thrush was found in Texas, this time at Estero Llande Grande State Park in Westlaco. I'm certain this is not the bird that was seen in Pharr a few days earlier. When I heard the news, I got on the computer to see if I could get a flight to the valley the following day. After some monkeying around, my only option was a very expensive round trip. In addition I would only have the last day of the year to look for the bird. The resulting quandary was typical of those that arose all through the Big Year. The decision didn't come easily. However, later on Wednesday night I decided to let the thrush go. It was too much buck for the bang! There had already been a precedent. I had decided a month ago not to go for McKay's Buntings at a feeder in Nome even though it was an almost guaranteed bird. That decision was made primarily on financial grounds, but in Alaska the travel conditions are always a little iffy and add an additional constraint. This time the thrush was not a guarantee, but probably would show up sooner or later at the water feature as the Rufous-backed Thrush did at Laguna Atascosa NWR last week. That proved to be the case. A late afternoon sighting yesterday showed the White-throated Thrush to be still around. Whether it shows today or not will have no effect on my Big Year. As I learned, very few choices are clear-cut. I'm pleased that so many of mine went the right way.

A Nice Day in the Rio Grande Valley

2010-12-26T13:11:00.012-05:00

I spent last night in South Padre Island, the closest motel to Laguna Atascosa NWR. The Motel 6 was a notch above the rest. This morning I got going after sunrise since the outside temperature was only 39F and I needed it to warm up a bit. Although I was heading to a Denny's for breakfast, I discovered that it no longer existed, the space being converted into a retail store. Instead I found a small breakfast spot near the causeway bridge that offered an inexpensive breakfast and lots of people watching. I was intrigued by how few tourists there were during this holiday time. I would have thought that South Padre Island would be a location where families might go for a holiday fest, although it was cold as hell today. Still a walk on the beach and eating out are favorites most any time of year. After breakfast, I drove to Laguna Atascosa and ran into Jeff Lemons whom Joyce and I had met at Pea Island NWR in NC when we went to see the White-cheeked Pintail. He and his family were visiting the valley and they were having a ball. He was picking up lifebirds at a rapid rate since this was his first trip to the valley. I wandered around the area and finally encountered the Rufous-backed Thrush at one of the water sources. It didn't hang around long enough for anybody else to get there. I told Jeff about the sighting and then left to drive all the way to Bentsen State Park to spend the last hours of the day there. I spent a lovely three hours walking around in an area that was just re-opened yesterday. I didn't see anything rare, but it was nice to get great views of many of the valley specialties. I left after sunset and got a motel in McAllen. I walked to a nearby restaurant and then retired and watched TV from the bed. Since I don't watch much TV, it was a bit entertaining, although I'm depressed with how small the content/advertising ratio has become. I didn't measure it, but I would guess that there's no more than 35 minutes of real content per hour of TV time. Tomorrow I'll try to fly home. I hope my planes are flying and reasonably on-time. Even if they are on time, I won't get home until midnight. Then, only four days left in the year.

Christmas Day in the Rio Grande Valley

2010-12-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

Christmas eve was pretty much a travel day, but it did go well. My flight schedule didn't get me to Harlingen early enough to get any birding done. I checked into my Motel 6 in Mission, positioned well for my trip to Bentsen State Park first thing in the morning. This morning I was awake and up early, very antsy to get going and looking for the Black-vented Oriole. I checked out of the motel and went to a nearby Denny's for breakfast. I still arrived at Bentsen SP before it was light enough to see. Other birders began to arrive. Clearly the oriole had brought 'em out, even on Christmas. There were more than a dozen by the time the visitor's center opened at 8:00. Admission was free since the floods earlier in the year had closed much of the park to visitation and what little was open was free. After I had been there half an hour, I got a call from Carolyn Stenberg, a volunteer at Santa Ana NWR whom I met when she volunteered at Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR and helped me on the Fisherman Island surveys. She had gotten my message that I was coming to the valley to look for the oriole and she was on her way to look for it with me. She arrived and we kept circulating in the area where the oriole had been seen during the past two days. After two and a half hours, we decided to walk into the park proper since they were re-opening a section today. When we approached the first feeding station and tram stop, a couple were waving their hands excitedly. We hurried ahead and there was the oriole (web photo) bathing, then preening, and then climbing up into the twigs and into clear view. But it continued on up and out of sight. Cellphone calls to those still back at the visitor center area didn't help. By the time they arrived, the bird had disappeared. As far as I know it didn't re-appear for the rest of the morning and maybe for the rest of the day. I called Joyce to tell her and was told that I had gotten an email from Susan who manages NARBA that since she knew I was in the valley I should try to check out a report of a White-throated Thrush in Pharr TX. I called the person reporting the bird and made arrangements to meet him in 45 minutes so he could show me the area where he had seen the bird yesterday afternoon. I said my goodbyes to Carolyn and the others who wished me well on my Big Year and raced off to Pharr. I met Don at the entrance to the gated RV park and golf course and he took me to the tree where he had seen the bird. The wind was terrible and there weren't any berry bushes or trees around. So after two circuits of the only semi-acceptable habitat around the golf course, I left, asking Don to call me if the bird turns up again. Another phone call from Carolyn invited me to share Christmas dinner with her, her husband, and a group of refuge volunteers. I accepted and it was a very nice get-together. Mid-afteernoon I left and drove to Laguna Atascosa NWR to look for the Rufous-backed Thrush that's being seen there. I had no luck, so decided to try again tomorrow. I drove to South Padre Island, the location of the nearest motel, got a room and some dinner. In light of the snow storm which will blanket Norfolk on Sunday, I decided not to move up my return by a day, but instead to come home on Monday. So I'll have a day and a half more in the valley. I'll do some slow birding instead of chasing, except I will look for the thrush again tomorrow morning.

The Oriole Is Back

2010-12-23T15:41:00.000-05:00

The Black-vented Oriole which was found at Bentsen State Park in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas ten days ago and then promptly disappeared for the next ten days, was seen again today and photographed in pretty much the same area where it was found. I've booked a flight to the valley for tomorrow, but I won't get to look for the bird until Christmas Day providing the park will allow access that day. Meanwhile, I've enjoyed several nice days with my granddaughters and my twin grandsons, so those visits were nicely wedged into the lull in the Big Year birding. My try for the oriole probably squashes my chance to participate in the CBBT CBC on Sunday, a day I thoroughly enjoy spending with Ned and Bob. Sorry guys. We'll see whether my sacrifice pays off, won't we. Good luck at any rate.

Not in California

2010-12-19T12:03:00.003-05:00

The Common Crane mentioned earlier turned out to be an old acquaintance, an escape that's been visiting NJ with a Sandhill Crane consort raising hybrid cranes for years. The TX oriole has made no further appearance and the same with the Western Spindalis in FL that was a 30-second wonder. But on Friday news of a Little Stint at Point Reyes CA came in. I sat down and figured out how to get there yet still put in an appearance at home when our holiday visitors are there. I settled my Southwest Airline flight schedule through a combination of using a free ticket and traveling into and out of San Jose instead of Sacramento, San Francisco, or Oakland. With all that finalized, I enjoyed time with Joyces' daughter Jana, her husband Dan, and their twins. After their arrival on Saturday, they went ice skating. Then we all went to see the Lion King at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk. Several years ago Joyce and I had taken Bethany's family to see it. It was a hit again this year. The puppetry, choreography, and choral work were outstanding. The entrance march of the animals is still magical and the story still resonates. When we got home, I checked the rare bird ticker, found the stint had not been seen on Saturday and the weather was expected to deteriorate, so I cancelled my carefully made flights, and went to bed. Today we're enjoying a fine morning at home with the kids. The robins have arrived in the holly and the Red-breasted and Brown-headed Nuthatches are successfully competing with the squirrel for sunflower seed. Later today Joyce and I will attend a seventieth birthday party for Rosemary Julian. It should be a blast.

I Came Home

2010-12-16T13:18:00.001-05:00

During the night before last I woke up, got up, and made the decision to go home. It was 1:30am and I was in my Spokane motel. I checked on the computer for any last minute good news on the Black-vented Oriole in Texas. Finding none, I took the plunge. I changed my airline reservations for Wednesday. I was going home. With those changes in place I went back to bed for a few hours and got up in time to shower and catch the shuttle to the airport. I checked in at Southwest but I because my layover in Denver was longer than four hours, I would have to pick up my bag and wait three hours to re-check it. The route from Spokane to Denver flew over much of the length of the Rockies. Snow, snow, snow. It was gorgeous to behold. I'm sure the ski resorts are loving it. In Denver I waited, read, had lunch, and finally checked in including another security ritual. I'm still awaiting my first groping. Another three hours of waiting, but during that time I watched a Rough-legged Hawk and a Ferruginous Hawk hunting over the airport grasslands. Really nice! Then I was on my way to Chicago Midway. The plane was a bit late and my connection was tight, so I didn't get the meal I had planned. Of course when I got to the gate which was all the way around on the other side of Chicago Midway, my flight was delayed and there wasn't food to be had. I enjoyed a couple of granola bars, boarded the plane, and flew to Norfolk where Joyce picked me up. Got to bed about 1:00am.
Today I'm watching our bird feeders while it's snowing at home and I'm enjoying it immensely. The TX oriole hasn't been seen again. There's no follow-up on the Common Crane sighting in NJ, but I'm checking into it. So I'll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup of coffee, and wait for something cool to drop in at our feeder.

The Last Chicken

2010-12-14T16:57:00.001-05:00

Those of you who have tried to show other birdwatchers any of the chicken-like birds - quail, grouse, and their kin - know that it's not easy to predict whether you'll actually see them even though you go to places where you have seen them before. They seem to have a mind of their own. Those like the prairie chickens use a lek which makes the process of seeing them easier. But for the others it can be kind of a crap shoot. The reason Gray Partridge is the last of the regular ABA species for me this year is that I just haven't been in any of their prime habitat. In fact if you examine where I've been and where I haven't been, you'll see that those places where I've spent no time outline almost exactly the range of this partridge. That was a consequence of my plan of getting the midwest breeders on their wintering grounds since I wanted to spend a big chunck of their breeding season in Alaska. I knew that the winter is a fine time to see Gray Partridge; snow makes the process easier plus they tend to be in coveys then. So I came to Spokane out of California because the partridge is there and because Southwest Airlines flies there. I had gotten some helpful information from Allan McCoy and Jon Isakoff as to where I might find the birds in the Spokane area. Jon, in fact, had outlined a route I was to follow. After arising to a downpour, I had breakfast at my motel, a Ramada right across from the airport. The skies were very dark as I headed west, but at least the rain had stopped. The wind was whipping the car around a bit, but I found the first set of roads I had been advised to try. I completed that loop with no partridges, but the Horned Larks were abundant along the snow-packed roads. A few ravens, magpies, and red-tails were checking out the roads as well. I turned south out of Davenport WA and started the second, longer loop. There was more snow here. I checked the bushes along a creek where three pheasants were drinking, but not in the company of partridges. After a series of right-angle turns, I was stopped dead in my tire tracks. In front of me on the road was a covey of ten Gray Partridges. They were between me and the sun, so my first photos were a little too backlit. However, the covey took off, flew over the car, and landed on the road behind me. I turned the car around and got the upper photo (photo). They didn't stay there long, choosing instead to fly up the hill, alighting on the snow (photo) where they picked at the ground and acted as if they were feeding. I gave myself a high five and headed back to town where I checked out the flights out of Spokane. A Black-vented Oriole was seen yesterday in the Rio Grande Valley, so I made reservations to go there tomorrow. I had no sooner completed those changes when NARBA posted a report that a group of twenty or so birders had not been able to re-find the oriole this morning. Before I make any other changes, I'll wait and see what the rest of the day brings. It's been a good day. Will Gray Partridge be the last bird of the year?

CVWO

2010-12-13T22:28:00.002-05:00

I want to again ask those of you who enjoy reading this blog to consider making a donation to CVWO, the research and education organization that operates the Kiptopeke bird banding station on Virginia's Eastern Shore and sponsors other projects involving birds, butterflies, and conservation. It's the end of the year and a good time to consider charitable donations. CVWO is a 501c3 organization with a good track record. It hires quality paid staff to carry out their mission and produce the results which have made them the premier Mid-Atlantic songbird banding station for several decades. Just click on the CVWO button in the upper left of my blog and you will be taken to their website which guides you through the online donation process. Your contribution will help maintain the high quality work from this outstanding organization. Thanks.

Brown Shrike

2010-12-13T00:32:00.002-05:00

After a night of very little sleep and much driving, I reached the Clam Beach area of Humboldt County where we searched for the Brown Shrike ten days ago. I had stayed in a Motel 6 in Ukiah for four hours and rose to find a good luck message at reception from Bill Mauck, a fall Gambell colleague. In McKinleyville I met up with my birding partner, John Spahr, at his motel. He had seen the shrike yesterday as had Chris Hitt and Wes Fritz. But he wanted to show it to me today. We walked down the hill to the spot where it had been seen yesterday. There were three birders there already. It was at that point that I realized I hadn't brought my binos down the hill. So, I walked back up the hill to get them and walked back down only to meet one of the birders coming back with the story that John had found the bird three minutes after I left. They all yelled after me and John tried to call me on my cellphone, but it never rang. I wasn't worried; I had two days for the bird and I knew it would pop up for me. And it did! (web photo) Not long after John left to go look for a Tufted Duck which had been reported, the shrike appeared in a bush not far from where it had been seen earlier. It put on quite a show, hopping around and flying short distances. Then it took off to somewhere and couldn't be re-found. Our group left and drove up to where John had just seen an Arctic Loon and called to tell us (now the cellphone works!). We found the loon and scoped it, a yearbird for Chris. Then I left to go to a wireless hotspot to move my airline reservations up a day to tomorrow. While I was doing that, John got his Tufted Duck. So Chris is now at 699 and John is at 701, the shrike being bird #700. John and I had lunch together, after which he went to the Arcata airport for his flight and I drove back to San Francisco to a motel. Tomorrow I fly to Spokane to look for Gray Partridges.

In California - For the Last Time This Year?

2010-12-11T21:01:00.002-05:00

Let me fill you in on yesterday. I woke up in St. John's at 4:11am; the alarm had been set for 3:30.....pm(mistake). Yeah, I know! Everyone's done that, but I didn't have much time to think about it since I had a 6:00am flight to make. I put on my clothes, dragged my stuff down to the car, and drove to the airport in the falling snow. A road-closed detour slowed me down a bit, but I found the rental car return place at the airport, parked, and slipped the keys into the hole in the desk for that purpose, since it was a little before they opened the desk. At the Air Canada desk the agent checked my bag but could only give me one boarding pass. I was to get the other two passes at my next stop. I went through Canadian security and had enough time to get a muffin and a cup of coffee. Wandering around in the boarding area was this fidgety 300 pounder. I pegged him as my seat mate. I was right. He just couldn't get settled the entire way to Halifax. Our flight was delayed an hour getting out of St. John's while they cranked up the de-icer. Once we got to Halifax I asked where I should go since I was an hour late, and was directed to the American security area where they, of course, asked for my boarding pass. I didn't have one and was redirected to the United Airlines counter where the agent printed them out. Back to security. I got the full treatment - the full body scan plus every section of my backpack swabbed and searched. I finally made it through and to the gate in time to make the flight to Chicago. In Chicago the flight to Norfolk was late so I got into home port an hour late, but my bag was there and I got to spend the rest of the day with Joyce. We had a lovely trout dinner and I got through the chores I needed to so I could leave today.
My flight today left at noon so it wasn't a problem to get things together in plenty of time. Of course I left something behind. You'd think I could get out of town flawlessly by this time, wouldn't you? So now I'm in San Diego waiting for my flight to San Francisco where I'll get my rental car and drive to Ukiah and a Motel 6. Tomorrow I'll finish the drive to McKinleyville where the Brown Shrike has been seen this past week. There was an unconfirmed ebird report of the bird for today, but I haven't heard from John Spahr, Chris Hitt, or Wes Fritz yet as to whether they saw it today. May tomorrow be ShrikeDay.

My Last Full Day in Newfoundland

2010-12-09T13:31:00.001-05:00

What is it they say? Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. It was indeed a red sky this morning as I headed out for my last full day here in Newfoundland (photo). At breakfast I tried oatmeal rather than my usual bacon and eggs; I liked it. With coffee, of course. First stop was the sewage outfall, the location where the Black-tailed Gull had been first seen in St. John's. After about an hour, Jared Clarke arrived. We chatted and checked out the gulls for a bit, then he left. Not too much later I left too to go to Pleasantville, the other major place where the gulls have been hanging out. Today they were on a grassy terrace and not on the metal roof of the large building as they have been the past two mornings. I scanned carefully, but no black-tail. Jared drove up, scanned, and moved on. I went back to the sewage outlet with mostly the same results except that the Common Gull showed up. Then back to the grassy area where it was clear more gulls were present. But still no black-tail. Up to this point I had seen eleven species of gull in St. John's; black-tail would make twelve. You can't come to Canada without visiting a Tim Hortons. Now was my time to do it. I got some pastries to go with a large coffee and then found out they didn't take Visa or American cash. Fortunately I had just enough Loonies to make the purchase. Back to the car and gull watching. I finished the snack, took a few more great gull close-ups, and was debating lunch when the phone rang. It was Jared. He had the gull, right at the spot where I had been half an hour earlier. Fortunately I knew the way since I had driven it so often. It still took longer than I could bear. But the gull stayed and I got to see it well. It was sitting near Great Black-backed Gulls out in the open so I'm quite sure it wasn't there on my last visit. I thanked Jared. He had also called Bruce Mactavish who drove up at that point. We both took quite a few pictures (photo). It's a small gull, being only slightly larger than a Ring-billed Gull. The bird's bill is long and narrow and has a unique red and black tip. The mantle color is similar to that of a Lesser Black-backed Gull. You can see the black tail band in the photo. So thanks to the enormous help of Bruce Mactavish, Dave Shepherd, Dave Brown, and Jared Clarke I have bagged the three target birds for which I came to Newfoundland. I'll get a great night's sleep tonight. I have to; I need to catch a 6:00am flight home tomorrow. On Saturday I fly to Calfiornia for another try at the Brown Shrike.

Yellow-legged Gull

2010-12-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

This morning Dave Brown helped me find and study a Yellow-legged Gull. Sighting of this bird raised my year's list to 727 placing me second all-time on the list of ABA Big Year's Lists. I was able to get some photos of the gull which considering the distance and the gull's location on a metal roof, turned out okay. The top photo is taken with my 500mm mirror lens, cropped, and blown up. In the photo you can see the bird's mantle is slightly darker than that of the nearby Herring Gulls. You can also see the short-legged look not described in fieldguides. As the winter progresses heads of Yellow-legged Gulls get whiter and whiter. This bird still has a few dark flecks, but was definitely the lightest headed gull around except for the Great Black-backed Gulls, of course. The second photo is a not-so-great digiscope attempt that, however, does show the sharp demarcation of the black wing tip from the rest of the wing as well as the slightly darker mantle color and bright yellow legs. Lesser Black-backed Gulls show a more shaded transition to the black wing tips and usually don't have legs that are this bright yellow in winter. After a brief celebration, Dave went off to a job interview, and I spent the rest of the day doing the circuit of the various gull spots trying to discover what my other target, the Black-tailed Gull, does with his day. I never got a nibble on that one. So tomorrow I will spend my last day in Newfoundland making that same circuit over and over until I find the bird or it gets too dark or rainy to see. I will also be looking for the Slaty-backed Gull that's been seen here just to relieve the tedium. I've handed out quite a few of my calling cards to local birders. If I don't find it, maybe someone else will and my cellphone will ring. By the way - Dave got the job.

First Day Birding in Newfoundland

2010-12-07T16:52:00.001-05:00

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, I was picked up by Bruce Mactavish who showed me the gull hot spots of St. John's. After he dropped me off back at the hotel and headed to work, I drove a couple more iterations of the circuit and ended up with nine species of gulls including the Common (Mew) Gull shown in the photo. I returned to the hotel and was figuring out the rest of the day when I got a call from Bruce saying that the Northern Lapwing had been seen at 10am (now 11:15am) and he recommended that I go for it which I did...sans lunch. The drive really wasn't too bad. As a note of interest SE Newfoundland is having a heat wave, in my honor no doubt. There was indeed fog to deal with, but my major driving problem was keeping my speed down since I knew there was a yearbird waiting for me if I could just get there. It took two hours. I had called a contact, Dave Shephard, in the town with the lapwing, Portugal Cove South. Dave was away from his phone. I found out later he and a friend were doing Tai Chi in a neighboring town. He called me back when he returned and we arranged to meet in his village. On the phone he told me the lapwing was there when he passed it a couple of minutes ago. I was now only one hour away. A very long hour! I met Dave at the designated spot and we drove to where the lapwing had been seen. It wasn't there or anywhere around there. We drove the roads looking at all the likely grassy spots similar to the one where it has been seen the last couple of days. Still nothing. Another viewing of the original spot. Nothing! A second round of driving. Nothing! As we approached the original spot for the third time, Dave said, "I think it's there; yes, it's there." And sure enough posing at the grassy edge of the hill was the Northern Lapwing (photo). We maneuvered several times to get better views and better angles for photos. I was really hungry, so I asked Dave if there was a place in town that had any food and he took me to a little convenience store that had some sandwiches. Unfortunately they didn't take either American money or Visa. But, not only did Dave help me find the bird, he bought me my lunch. I certainly owe him big time. The drive back to St. John's was uneventful, thankfully, since the fog was by now very thick. A big bull moose would not have been a fun thing to run into. Tomorrow it will be back to gull hunting.

I'm in Newfoundland

2010-12-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

After a long day of travel, I have arrived in St. John's Newfoundland where I will spend three full days birding. I learned that US airlines don't have a monopoly on delays. We spent two extra hours in Halifax NS because there was a mechanical problem that required attention. The good news is they got it fixed and we got to St. John's where I picked up my bag and rental car, drove to the Battery Hotel where I checked in and had some supper. It is raining hard since a very deep low is passing out of Maine and heading NE. I'm meeting Bruce Mactavish tomorrow morning for an introductory birding run. Dave Brown had something come up which will keep him home, so I'll have to manage by myself after Bruce excuses himself to go off and earn a living. I should be able to handle that. Sunrise here is 7:30am and sunset is around 4:30pm, so there aren't many daylight hours. I'll make the most of them, probably checking out the gull locations which I understand can be accomplished from the dryness of my rental car. Let's hope so.

The Dreaded La Sagra's, at last!

2010-12-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

Every day seems to begin at a Motel 6 and a Denny's. Today was no exception, but today I'm in south Florida. From the time I got up, everything was on schedule with an arrival at Bill Baggs State Park on Key Biscayne a few minutes before 8:00am when the gates open. The attendant drove up, raised the state and national flags, and opened the gate. I paid my entrance fee and zipped to the parking lot where I've parked several rental cars already this year. Before I hiked to where the bird was seen, I spent a few moments making sure I had my binos and camera. Commonly I race toward the bird only to discover I'm missing some key component or have nothing to eat in case it's a long wait. I even took my sweatshirt off; after all this IS Florida. As I walked down the Naure Trail my heart was thumping. Would this visit finally turn the trick? I was hearing no birds at all until a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher called. When I arrived at the White Gate, I paused and looked around at what has become a familiar location. Then it called, and again, and again. It was 8:13. I rushed headlong down the path to get into postion before it stopped calling. I was amazed at how far the call carried since I didn't come abreast of the bird until I had gone about 100 yds. I figured out where it was in a tree; I could see the shape. It jumped up a little and I got a couple of manual focus shots through the twigs. It was active, so it didn't take long before it popped out into the open where I got a better picture (photo). I followed the bird's activity for about twenty minutes. There was no one around to share the experience until Teodor, formerly from CT but now from around Miami, showed up. I told him where I had last seen the bird and he asked if I had seen a Fork-tailed Flycatcher this year. I thanked him and told him I had.

I saw my first La Sagra's Flycatcher in 1982 after it had been discoverd by Wes Biggs in 1982. I came to Florida with Paul Dumont and Doug Cook, both of whom are no longer alive. After seeing the flycatcher on an island in Key Biscayne NP, we drove to the Everglades where we hired a boat and went into Florida Bay and got some Flamingos. As we left the Flamingo area a Short-tailed Hawk flew over. One of those three birds was my 700th for ABA.

I left Bill Baggs SP and drove back to Fort Lauderdale hoping I might get an earlier flight to Norfolk and get home early. Since arriving at the airport and checking in, I don't think that's going to be possible. It's a zoo here, with 13 cruise ships having discharged their passengers. Everyone wants to get home! So I'm prepared to enjoy a big part of today in the airport. Tomorrow I fly to Newfoundland, a place I've never been, to look for some gulls and a lapwing. For those keeping score the Baikal Teal yesterday put me in sole possession of third place all-time on the ABA Big Year list. I need two more to move into second. Wish me luck.

Back For the Baikal

2010-12-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

It just had to be. When I came out of the Motel 6 in Mesa this morning on my way to the nearby Denny's for breakfast, I noticed that the license plate on my rental car was simply meant for me. Later I got a passerby to take my picture with the car. He turned out to be Matt VanWallene, the birder who found the Tufted Flycatcher at Big Bend NP in TX. It becomes a very small world when a very rare bird pulls 'em in from everywhere. I arrived at the Gilbert Water Reserve, parked the car, and began to look for the crowd of birders I expected to be staring at the teal. I ran into Tom and Sean from last June's Gambell AK trip. But after wandering around the various ponds and not seeing any of the birders I expected to see, I went back to the original spot and started over. However, at that point one of Tom's friends came by and told us the bird was in Pond Six, a new location for it. So we charged over there and sure enough, there was the crowd and there was the bird (photo). It was in with Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, and a few Mallards. We watched it for a hour, taking photos and chatting with friends as we watched. It was nice to see so many birders having a good time. Finally I went back to the car, drove it back to the airport, checked it in, and went to the terminal. However about that time news came in that a La Sagra's Flycatcher had appeared at Bill Baggs Park in Miami FL. So....you guessed it! I changed my flight home and instead took a flight to Fort Lauderdale. I'm in my Motel 6 (I got the last room) where I'll get set for a successful go at the dreaded LaSagra's tomorrow.

Home then Back to the Chase

2010-12-03T19:27:00.001-05:00

I did indeed fly back to Norfolk arriving late Thursday night. I got a great night's sleep in my own bed. Got up this morning, made coffee, filled the bird feeders, and started the day's backyard list. Joyce had an event at ODU which she was overseeing. She stayed through another of my cups of coffee, then left. Last night I had heard about the Baikal Teal near Phoenix, but I thought I would be going for the Northern Lapwing (net photo) in MA on my way to Newfoundland. However, this morning Chris Hitt called telling me he had changed course last night and gone to Phoenix for the bird, and was in fact looking at it as we spoke. That coupled with the fact that the lapwing had flown the coop, got me thinking about a change of plans. What else have I done the last two weeks besides CHANGE PLANS. But I had come home for a doctor's appointment that I had made from San Francisco, and I had to see what the doc would say. He said I had at least another month to live, so I changed my Southwest flight from Manchester NH to Phoenix AZ departing at 4:30pm today. I did a little rushing around, but I made the flight and I'm on my way to Phoenix. Hopefully tomorrow I too will be looking at the Baikal Teal. As always such waterfowl raise the question of from whence it came. This bird sounds pretty good (no bands, no nail clipping, arrived at the same time of year as previouly accepted vagrants). I saw my first Baikal Teal in China three years ago and it was a stunner. Oh I almost forgot to tell you. I booked a flight for a Monday departure to Newfoundland where a Northern Lapwing arrived today!!!

No Shrike in the Rain

2010-12-01T01:54:00.003-05:00

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, just with more rain. We spent the morning watching, waiting, wiping optics, and hoping for an appearance by the Brown Shrike. But none of the dozen birders saw any hint of a shrike. There were some songbirds (shrike food) moving around like the Sooty Fox Sparrow (web photo), but they didn't seem to attract the attention of our wished-for bird. Around noon we reconvened at the McDonalds to use their facitlities, get some food, and log-in to their wifi. There wasn't any further good news about a rarity anywhere, so I continue to be on track to go home tomorrow. However, a Black-tailed Gull was found in Newfoundland, increasing my resolve to go since there's almost always a Yellow-legged Gull there during December. Chris on the other hand has nothing to go for, so he's planning to stay in California near an airport (San Francisco) in case a rarity is discovered somewhere requiring a flight. He'll wait a few days until the weather in northern CA is predicted to improve and then he and Wes will try for the shrike again.
I should have mentioned the other day that John Spahr has returned from his trip to Chile and is interested in finishing the year with some more year birds. He presently has 694 for the year after adding Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Pink-footed Goose yesterday. His goal is to get to 700. Chris Hitt is also at 694, and he now has the top Lower 48 BigYear List and is working to get to 700 before the year's end. Today is Chris's birthday. Amazing that we have back-to-back birthdates! To celebrate the three of us went to one of Chris's favorite Chinese restaurants in San Francisco where we had the expected wonderful meal. Wes dropped us off at our motel near the San Francisco airport and headed on home. At the motel I've been working on the travel plans for Newfoundland. It's not going to be cheap to get there and the weather isn't your ideal resort weather. But you know...a year bird or two is hard to ignore.

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-11-30T20:15:00.001-05:00

Today is my 72nd birthday. It started last night when Wes picked up Chris and me at the San Francisco airport and we drove north to Ukiah CA where we checked into a motel at 1:00am, got four hours of sleep, and resumed driving, arriving in Eureka CA, the vicinity of the target bird, around 9:00am. Eventually, there were about a dozen birders looking for the Brown Shrike, an Asian vagrant which was found a couple of weeks ago and since then has been playing peek-a-boo with those trying to see it.   When the bird has been seen, it was in bushes around a coastal pond. We spent three plus hours searching until it began to spit rain. We hadn't seen the bird and it was getting hungry, so we went into town to a wifi restaurant where we checked out the weather forcast and the rare bird reports and then had lunch. After lunch, we went to the north rock jetty west of town and had a great bird show including Black Turnstones, a Wandering Tattler, Surfbirds, and a couple of Rock Sandpipers (web photo), the latter being a year bird for Chris and a state bird for me. We also had Black and Surf Scoters, Harlequin Ducks, Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants, two Pomarine Jaegers harrassing a Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Murres, Pacific Loons, Western Grebes, and Herring, California, Western, Ring-billed, and Glaucous-winged Gulls. After the rock jetty, we decided to get motel rooms and try to catch up on some rest.
     I have decided as a birthday present to me to take the two splits which ABA has sanctified this year. As most of you already know those are Pacific Wren (from Winter Wren) and Mexican Whip-poor-will (from Whip-poor-will). I have gotten both of those birds earlier in the year and ABA Big Year rules allow splits during a year to be counted. I was going to wait until the end of the year to add them, but my birthday seems an appropriate time to bring them in. That's the reason my total has jumped two birds without my getting any new ones today. With that addition I am now tied with Lynn Barber for the third highest all-time Big Year list total. I need four more to reach second. First is totally out of the question.
     The weather is questionable for tomorrow, so we'll just have to see what it looks like in the morning. If it's not raining, we'll probably go look for the Brown Shrike again. If it is, we'll head south and get positioned for another attempt at flying home.

Streaked-backed Oriole

2010-11-29T22:58:00.000-05:00

After a motel breakfast, Chris and I headed out of Phoenix toward Yuma. It took a bit less than three hours to get to Tacna AZ, turning north and then west to reach the grove of trees surrounding a pair of houses associated with the large agricultural fields in the area. When we stepped out of the car, we knew immediately what we were up against. The wind was blowing about 15-20 mph. You couldn't hear anything and the birds were hunkered down. We spent about three hours walking up and down the road checking out the trees, bushes, and thickets alongside. We did see several of the birds characteristic of southern AZ like Crissal and Curve-billed Thrashers, Abert's Towhee, Gambel Quail, Vermilion Flycatcher, Gila Woodpecker, Verdin, and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. But nothing like an oriole appeared. So we hopped into the car and drove back to the interstate which brought us closer to food and to an internet connection. We cancelled our previously reserved trip to San Francisco so we could spend the afternoon looking for the bird without the worry of getting back to Phoenix for a flight. After lunch, we went back to the ranch where Ericka Wilson and two friends were looking for the oriole. So we all looked together while I caught up on Erika's news. An hour and a half didn't produce the oriole, so Erika's group left intending to return tomorrow. Shortly after they left, the owner of the house invited us into her yard. We started carefully worked the southern edge. In a non-windy interlude we heard an oriole-like chatter which froze us on the spot. Directly in front of us was a pomegranite bush with fruit. The call had come from there. We inched up and took up positions on opposite sides of the bush. I squeaked and out popped the oriole. "I've got it!" Chris raced over and after some initial frustration got to see the bird. I managed a couple of pics (photo). We called Erika to tell her the oriole had shown up. I called Paul Lehman to thank him for finding the bird and for calling me. Erika and friends returned and we showed them where the bird was, but it had become a supreme skulker and was staying hidden in the interior of the bush. We left them to get the bird and drove back to Phoenix. Along the way I made new airline reservations to fly home tomorrow. But at a stop at McDonald's for coffee and wifi, we discovered that the Northern Lapwing had gone missing for the day, but the Brown Shrike had been seen. Chris and I discussed what to do and finally decided to rebook a flight to San Francisco for tonight where Wes Fritz would pick us up and we would go for the Brown Shrike tomorrow. We made it back to the airport in time to turn in the car and get checked in for our flight. Tomorrow, we'll be in Northern California trying to get the shrike before the weather gets foul.

Tufted Flycatcher at Big Bend TX

2010-11-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

The hotel shuttle bus took me to the Baltimore airport at noon Saturday, and I sat around watching families head home. Although flights were delayed, mine to Albuquerque NM and then to Midland TX were right on time. In Midland I met Chris Hitt at baggage claim. He had been waiting for hours, had watched several football games, and had already gotten the rental car. So we loaded up and took off about 10pm. About twenty miles down the road, it was apparent the car had a flat tire. We stopped, I changed it (in the dark!), and we took the car back to the airport for a replacement. Back on the road, we grabbed a McDonald's snack and drove the two hours to Fort Stockton where we spent a few, too few, hours asleep in a motel. At 5:40am we arose, showered, grabbed some breakfast in the motel lobby, and began the drive to Big Bend NP. We had almost arrived at the flycatcheer spot when we were stopped by the park police for speeding. Trying to explain how our excitement had pushed the pedal a bit too much really didn't sell. But, when we finally were able to check yesterday's flycatcher location, we found Jay Hand in place trying to photograph the bird. We were ecstatic. I took plenty of pictures, two of which are posted here (photos). The bird was calling and doing sorties from a variety of perches, finally settling for a large cottonwood with plenty of little twigs upon which to perch and be photographed. We birded around the area and then headed back to Midland where we booked a flight to Phoenix to look for the Streak-backed Oriole near Wellton AZ tomorrow. The internet told us the oriole was seen today, so we're hopeful of seeing it tomorrow. In addition the Brown Shrike in Northern California was re-seen and a Northern Lapwing was discovered near Storrs CT. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of birds to chase at present. Ah, the challenging life of a Big Year birder.

She's a Beautiful Lady

2010-11-26T19:39:00.000-05:00

It took two hours but she finally put in an appearance. If you've followed this blog, you know that I've looked for a White-winged Crossbill in Colorado, Alaska (three times), New Brunswick, and New Hampshire with no success. Over a week ago this female appeared at a Juniata County PA bird feeder and I got wind of it through the state listserve. She then flew into a window and developed a bump on her head and a bum wing. However, being the resilient soul she is, she righted herself and hung on for over a week just so we (Joyce and I) could see her, and she seems to be doing very well at present. She was visiting feeders at the Lost Creek Shoe Shop in Oakland Hills PA. It's a store run by an Amish family. They also do shoe repairs including putting new Vibram souls on hiking boots. We waited an hour in the store watching their feeders through the windows with no luck. Then better news! The wife and mom of the operation returned from their house across the street to tell us that the bird was feeding at the feeders at the house. We went there only to miss the crossbill by a minute. So we sat and chatted with Aden Trayer, the former store owner, recently "retired," who is quite a birder and has traveled to Churchill. We traded Churchill stories while we waited for the bird's arrival. After almost exactly another hour had passed, she came in to her favorite feeder. I got a reasonable picture (photo) although she stayed on the shady side of the feeder. After chalking up yearbird #719, we went back to the store and bought some bird related items to take with us. Aden also sells optics, as in Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, etc. He showed me some of his wares, and I priced a new scope. But I also found out it he takes in trades including scopes. I told him I'd get back to him when I was ready to buy my replacement scope. Joyce and I then took his lunch recommendation and went to the Bread of Life in McAlisterville. During lunch I checked emails, NARBA, and listserves on my netbook, and found that the Tufted Flycatcher at Big Bend NP had been seen well this morning. Using the netbook, I got an airline ticket to Midland TX for tomorrow to give the flycatcher a try. I also made reservations for a BWI airport motel so Joyce and I could spend another evening together before parting ways again. And another chase is on.

Long Beach Redux

2010-11-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

I spent a day and a half in the area of Long Beach where the Black-tailed Gull had been seen most of the day on Sunday. We did see a nice variety of water birds around the cove like the Western Grebe (photo) and Heerman's Gull (photo), but not the gull we were seeking. Outlying areas were also checked by astute observers with the same negative result. Nobody knows where the gull goes when it's not in the cove. About noon on the second day I left to drive back to LAX where I boarded a plane and headed for home. I got back to Norfolk about midnight and retrieved my duffel which had come to Norfolk on Sunday without me while I went to CA. During the day there had been no news from Northern California about refinding the Brown Shrike, but when I arrived in Chicago, word came in that a Tufted Flycatcher had been found in Big Bend NP TX. As you probably know Big Bend is one of the more difficult places to get to, so I want to be somewhat certain the bird is still there before flying in to Midland and driving to the park. I'll keep my ear to the ground and follow the news. Meanwhile I'll let Thanksgiving happen at Joyce's daughter's house in MD.

Going Home, but not Directly

2010-11-21T23:19:00.000-05:00

I was heading home to spend some time with Joyce. At least that's what I thought when I got up this morning. But when I read my email and found out that the Black-tailed Gull had been seen again in Long Beach, I wasn't so sure. It did give me something to think about during the drive with Denny to the airport in Manchester NH. The checkin for my flight to Norfolk was very quick and easy. During my wait for the plane to board, there was a call for volunteers to give up their seats since the flight was overbooked. I volunteered, but when the boarding process began, the agent told me that there were some no-shows and my seat wouldn't be needed. So I boarded when my time came. I was two-thirds the way down the ramp to the plane when I heard my name called. A couple of late-comers needed my seat if I still wanted to give it up. I did, and took the bump for which I picked up $457 to be used to pay for future flights. My new flight to Norfolk left only forty minutes later, going through Chicago instead of Baltimore. On that flight I sat next to a freshman at St. Paul School in Concord who introduced herself to me as Hannah. She was lovely. I told her I had been born about fifty years too early. She giggled. When I got to Chicago, I changed my mind about going home and booked a flight from there to Los Angeles to go for the gull. When I got to Denver, an intermediate stop, a phone message told me that a Brown Shrike had been found in Humboldt County CA. Another bird on the radar. As the plane touched down in LA, it was clear there wouldn't be enough light to see the gull today, so I slowed down a little. I picked up my rental car just as I got a call from Chris Hitt saying that the shrike had disappeared. So take a bird off the radar for the moment. Once inside my rental car I set the GPS for the Long Beach gull location and queried it for the location of a nearby motel. Guess what! There was a Motel 6 only 1.5 miles from the gull site. Sounds like it was meant to be. I drove there, checked in, and walked across the street to a nice Thai restaurant where I had a spicy scallop dish. Now, will the Black-tailed Gull give me an audience tomorrow or the cold shoulder?

White-winged Crossbills - Not

2010-11-20T22:41:00.002-05:00

Denny's neighbor called at 8:25am. The crossbills were at her feeders. We got over there in less than three minutes, but there were no crossbills. We waited for an hour for them to return, but they didn't. We adjourned for breakfast and returned to sit in the car in their driveway where we had an excellent view of the feeders. Still no crossbills. We walked the neighborhood streets, listening and looking, but no luck there either. One more hour in their kitchen watching the feeders, again with no luck. Denny and I began to think that something wasn't quite right. Our feeling is that after the initial verification last Saturday, the reports from the nieghbor were not necessarily of crossbills, but perhaps goldfinches with their strong wingbars. So something that seemed like such a slam-dunk turned out not to be. Ah, that's birding. In the evening Denny, his wife Terry, and I went to a nice restaurant, The Barn, in York ME to celebrate Terry's birthday. It was a delightful meal. When I got back to Denny's, I packed up my stuff for the flight home tomorrow.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

2010-11-19T22:45:00.002-05:00

Up at 4am in San Antonio and off to the airport for my check-in with Southwest Airlines. I swore the whole way there at having to be there at such an early hour, but later when I learned that security had become hopelessly clogged and bogged down to the point that our plane had to wait a half hour for our last passenger to board, I was relieved. It was much better to be sitting on the plane, working a crossword puzzle and nodding off, than swearing my way through the TSA lines. On to Chicago and thence on to Hartford where Denny Abbott and Davis Finch were waiting to tell me they had already seen the Fork-tailed Flycatcher earlier today. I followed them to their car, and we all motored to Stamford CT and Cove Island Park where the flycatcher was still amazing birdwatchers. We watched it and photographed it at a distance (photo) for about an hour and then headed back to NH in a vain effort to get ahead of the commuter traffic. Alas, we were instead in the thick of it. Pausing only momentarily to gas up, we soldiered on until hunger pangs forced us off the road at the same Cracker Barrel at which Denny and I had mourned the loss of my scope last month. A nice, if unexciting meal was had by all. Then onward, dropping Davis off at his house and driving on to Denny's home where I cancelled my flight to FL for tomorrow awaiting better news on the Thick-billed Vireo. But wait!..... there are crossbills just across the street.

Crimson-collared Grosbeak

2010-11-18T16:32:00.001-05:00

It was really difficult to contain my excitement this morning. I had made arrangements to visit Allen Williams at his home in Pharr. He had reported a Crimson-collared Grosbeak a couple of days ago, and since the other grosbeak which had been reported at Valley Nature Center wasn't seen yesterday, I decided to look for the bird with Allen at his place. After a mistake with his address and a follow-up call to Allen, I finally parked the car and walked into his yard. His wife popped out of the house and the three of us chatted for a bit about how putting in native plants on their property had blossomed (?) into a full-time business in the Valley. He took me on a tour of the property, a little over three acres. All the while the two of us were listening for the up-down call note of the grosbeak. We saw a Clay-colored Thrush (lower photo) which used to be a very rare bird, but has now become a regular breeder in the Valley. A Curve-billed Thrasher hopped into the birdbath. A Kiskadee called. After our walk during which he put fresh fruit out on tree snags, we separated, he going toward the front yard while I stayed in the back. Finally Allen called, I heard the call note, and the bird flew into a tree next to me where I was able to get a recognizable image (photo, manual focus) for the record. In the photo the bird is chewing on a leaf. Yum! I hung around in the hopes I might get a better one. But aside from another brief good look at the bird, another photo-op didn't materialize. I left Allen to get on with his work and drove to Denny's where I had a nice breakfast, and used their wifi to catch up on the day's bird happenings. Which were - the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in CT was seen today and the Thick-billed Vireo in FL was seen again and verified. The chase is still on.
I had much of the day left to bird so I drove to NABA's Butterfly Park near Bentsen SP where a Rufous-backed Thrush had been found. Although it was seen today by a staff member, it didn't come to the birdbath as hoped while I was there. I did see some nice birds and the mix sort of reminded me of a good Christmas Bird Count up north on steroids. Lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Orange-crowned Warblers, many Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos, House Wrens. You get the picture. There were, of course, some Valley specialties such as Olive Sparrow, Long-billed Thrasher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Black-crested Titmouse, and Green Jays. And, oh yes, the butterflies! They were unbelievable, colorful, varied, and plentiful. I got a lifer with the appearance of a Tropical Leafwing. I also ID'ed one a Comma only to find that Comma's don't occur in the Valley. Ah me!
So now I'm in the Harlingen airport waiting for my flight to San Antonio which is already an hour late. When I get to San Antonio, I'll try to get a good night's sleep before my early departure tomorrow to meet up with the intrepid Mr. Abbott in CT. May the Fork-tailed Flycatcher be there tomorrow afternoon.

A Change of Plans

2010-11-17T22:20:00.001-05:00

Normally not much happens on a travel day. And for the first half of today that was true. But when I arrived in San Antonio from San Diego, I had three phone messages which told me that there was a Fork-tailed Flycatcher in CT and a possible Thick-billed Vireo in FL. At that point I was on my way to the Rio Grande Valley to try for the Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and I decided to continue on that path. But I changed my return flight from Harlingen TX to Hartford CT instead of Norfolk VA, so I can try for the flycatcher on Friday afternoon. I'm holding on plans for the vireo until it is confirmed and it's relocatable (yes, that's a word!). In Hartford my New England companion Denny Abbott will meet me and we'll go to Stamford where the flycatcher was discovered. Denny is going to try for that bird tomorrow. After a hit or miss on the flycatcher, I'll return with Denny to NH where I hope to see the White-winged Crossbills which have been coming to his neighbor's feeder ever since the day after we returned from our Maritime trip. But let's not get too distracted from the current main course. Tomorrow is grosbeak day.

The Salton Sea

2010-11-16T22:28:00.002-05:00

I was in place this morning way too early; I didn't want to miss seeing the goose fly in. But I wasn't the first to be there. Another car with a single occupant was already parked there with its brake lights on because the driver's foot was on the brake pedal. I waited awhile then got out and listened to the sounds of the morning - the coyotes, all the geese quietly murmuring, a few Sandhill Cranes calling. And all the while it was getting lighter and Venus was fading away. Another car drove up and thedriver of the first car, Richard Messenger, a self-proclaimed nomad who had broken away from the r/v park in Arizona where he hosts, got out and introduced himself. The recent arrival was Kim Kuska from San Mateo. We all enjoyed the dawning together. A few geese were getting up and flying around, but not the one we were inteerested in. At about 6:22am Kim saw a single large dark goose flying toward us above the Snows and Ross's Geese that were beginning to move from a pond to fields to feed. The bird got closer, and then turned to the east (photo) and landed in a field where he was the only goose. Those with scopes trained them on the bird and confirmed that it was indeed the Taiga Bean-Goose. The long sloping bill with its characteristic pale band was easily seen as was the long thin neck, brown back, and orange feet. The head and neck profile is very swan-like. There were high-fives all around. A new year bird and an ABA bird. A group of three Greater White-fronted Geese joined the bean-goose. After we enjoyed several minutes watching the bird, it began to disappear into the grasses among which it was feeding. About that time a carload of four young birders arrived from Phoenix. It took a little patience but they all finally got to see it. It provided some espcially great looks after a harrier flew over the field and the goose walked up onto a little mound. In addition to the geese mentioned, we saw Brant, Cackling Geese, and the blue phase Ross's Goose which had been reported. The other photo is of a Loggehead Shrike that took to posing on a sign post which someone had used to display a glove somebody had lost.
About 9:00am I headed toward Long Beach to look for the Black-tailed Gull which was found last week, but which had not been regularly seen for several days. I had a little trouble finding the location, but when I did, it turned out to be a pretty neat place. I did see gulls (Western, Ring-billed, California, and Heerman's), but not the sought-after Black-tailed. There were also Marbled Godwits, Willets, Black-bellied Plovers, a Sanderling, Eared and Western Grebes. After a couple of hours of wandering around the area and convincing myself the gull wasn't there, I drove back to San Diego and got things together to fly tomorrow to Texas, where I hope to find one of the Crimson-collared Grosbeaks that have been reported recently.

Florida Pelagic

2010-11-14T10:26:00.003-05:00

I was home from Canada for less than a day. I had arranged to go on a pelagic trip out of New Smyrna Beach FL in the chance that maybe I could snag a tropicbird. Odds were not good, but there was at least a possibility. Go, and you have a chance; don't go and you definitely don't. Yesterday I flew into Orlando, the gateway to Disney World and the capitol of airline travel for youngsters. My rental car was a Ford Fusion, fully loaded, classed as a compact. It's a nice car. My motel was a mom-and-pop operation, my room was fine, and it was cheap. I ate at a family restaurant nearby and hit the hay to get a good night's sleep.
The pelagic trip left at 6:00am aboard a 100ft aluminum boat. It took a little while to get out of the inlet, but the weather was great and the winds were down. The swells were as high as 12 feet, but the interval was longish so it wasn't bad The forecast a week ago would have forced a cancellation. Highlights included a great Pomarine Jaeger show; Cory's, Great (photo), and Manx Shearwaters; Bridled, Sooty, Sandwich, Royal and Common Terns; frigatebirds (photo); Black-capped Petrels. But no tropicbirds. Tomorrow I fly to San Diego and drive to the Salton Sea to look for the Tiaga Bean-Goose.

A Day on Prince Edward Island

2010-11-11T14:43:00.001-05:00

Denny and I spent the entire day with Dwaine Oakley, the premier birder on PEI. He tried his darndest to get us the crossbill and partridge, but it was not to be. We did, however, witness my first Dovekie crash, a total of ten birds in over land, or on small bodies of water, or trying to evade the swooping pursuit by a Common Raven. We did have some Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins, and a flock of well over a hundred Bohemian Waxwings (photo). We had a fine day with Dwaine and did pass Green Gables, the literary location for which the island is famous. We drove west reaching Calais ME before stopping for the night. These posts are late because I'm waiting to reach the US where my wireless connection yields cheaper data transfer rates.

Better Photos of the Pink-footed Goose

2010-11-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Denny and I returned to the field with the Pink-footed Goose and I was able to get better photos. The lower one shows his namesakes and the upper shows, through the riffled feathers, the extent of the wind. Please do not underestimate the strength of this storm; it was a monster. We were indeed pleased to get these two rare geese, although it is probable that the storm helped keep them in position. After the photo session , we drove onto Prince Edward Island, a Canadian province I had never visited. We tried a couple of areas which had been suggested but we had no luck with either the crossbill or the partridge. We spent the night in Souris.

Two Geese Are Better Than One

2010-11-09T19:15:00.001-05:00

It was fine weather for ducks or rather geese, but awful for the rest of us. It wasn't too bad as we headed east from Calais ME and into Canada. But as we got to eastern New Brunswick the wind was howling from the northeast and the rain was pounding down. It took about three hours of tough driving to get to the area where the Pink-footed Goose had been seen. The goose was found a couple of weeks ago by Stu Tingley who since then has kept track of its whereabouts. A phone call from Stu recommended that since he hadn't found the Pinkfoot yet, we should go for the Graylag Goose. We followed his suggestion and were half-way to Truro NS when he called again to say that he had re-found the goose. We elected to keep going to Nova Scotia and return to New Brunswick after we had tried for the graylag. I called Eric Mills who had found the graylag originally and who had also been with John and me on Gambell this fall. He related that two birders were currently looking at that goose and gave me the new location and also the phone number of Ian MacLaren, one of the birders at the goose spot. I called Ian who updated the directions, but said he would not be able to stay until we arrived. We got there a little over an hour later and found the flock of geese. Shortly thereafter I spotted the Graylag Goose and was able to get a photo (lower) even though the conditions were terrible. After thanking the homeowner who had graciously allowed us to view the geese from his yard, we headed back to New Brunswick. I thanked Eric and Ian by phone for their help with seeing the graylag. After a couple more hours of driving in intensely bad weather we reached the area of the pinkfoot and called Stu who told us where he had last seen the goose. When we arrived at the spot, we found the goose, but the photographic conditions were even worse than they had been for the graylag. However, I have posted an image (upper photo) and tomorrow we will return and try to get a better picture. After that, if the weather is reasonable, we will probably go to Prince Edward Island to look for crossbills and partridges. The two geese bring the year's list total to 715.

Calais, Maine - It's Almost Canada!

2010-11-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

The flights from New Orleans to Manchester NH via Baltimore went smoothly. I used the flight time to re-read "The Big Year" and found it quite enjoyable and and belatedly informative given my different perspective this time through. In Manchester I was met by my friend Denny Abbott. We collected my bag and headed east making only two stops - one for gas, the other for food. We reached Calais ME by 8:30pm and decided to launch our assault on the geese tomorrow from here. We'll try to get an early start armed with coffee and donuts (Dunken Donuts is the earliest opening foodery here). The Pink-foot will be first followed by the Graylag. If we're successful, we'll turn our attention to White-winged Crossbill and Gray Partridge on Prince Edward Island. Of course you all have heard that an adult Black-tailed Gull was found today in Long Beach CA. Maybe that would be after the PEI birds....or should it be before them??

Last Day in Louisiana

2010-11-07T19:39:00.000-05:00

A really lazy morning! With no scheduled activity to get us out of bed, David and I got up an hour later than ususal. And this on top of the time change making a clock difference but not a sun difference! We also used the motel's business center to print out our boarding passes for tomorrow's flights. After breakfast with lots of coffee, we checked out and headed back to Lacassine NWR for a final buzz through some good Louisiana coastal prairie habitat. At the refuge entrance David thought the cypress swamp along the road looked good for Barred Owl and he was right (photo). David called one in and we shared it with a group of birders from Ohio who were on their way to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and had been following my Big Year on this blog. We revisited the refuge pool unit where we had been a couple of days ago and found mostly the same birds, but we did see some new ones and lots of alligators which we didn't see when we went through before. The Neotropical Cormorant (formerly Olivaceous Cormorant) posed so nicely I had to take his photo. The drive back to Jennings for lunch and on to New Orleans was uneventful. Now at the airport motel we're getting organized to make the rental car drop and trip to airport tomorrow morning as efficient and quick as possible. By tomorrow evening I should be in Canada with the goose search first thing Tuesday morning.

A Full Day on the Coast of Louisiana

2010-11-06T22:26:00.000-04:00

Our last day at the festival didn't include any romps with Yellow Rails. Instead we joined a group of festival goers on a trip to coastal Louisiana where we scored 109 species for the day moving along at a casual pace and obviously seeing lots of good birds. We added a couple of new plovers (Wilson's and Snowy (photo)) to our trip list, plus Reddish Egret, White Pelican, Wood Stork, Inca Dove, White-winged Dove, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, two Barn Owls, and four woodpeckers. Tomorrow with a late start and perhaps some birding along the way we drive back to New Orleans where we will get a good night's sleep and fly out on Monday. David will return to Norfolk and I will fly to New England to meet up yet again with the intrepid Denny Abbott with whom I will go to Canada to try for the Pink-footed and Graylag Geese. Thankfully I now carry my passport and I'm not taking my scope.

More Yellow Rails

2010-11-05T22:08:00.001-04:00

Early this morning David and I went on a local field trip just south of town where we saw Bald Eagles sparring with Northern Harriers, tons of geese and ibis, and a few songbirds for our Louisiana list. Then it was back to Thornwell for our assignment to a rice cutting field for another round with Yellow Rails. Today there were a lot more festival goers than yesterday, and since the combine could only take four riders, it took quite a few trips before David and I were able to ride the combine. However, that didn't stop us from seeing many more Yellow Rails from the edge of the field. I tallied an even dozen solid sightings such as the two shown in the photos. See if you can find the rails. At one point I nearly was able to snatch one out of the air as it flushed from where we had marked its landing. BTW let me set something straight about the combines and the rails. The combines are in the rice fields cutting the rice. The birders are there at the invitation of the rice farmers and see the rails as a simple consequence of the rice harvest. Under no circumstances were the combines run through the rice fields simply to flush rails. At the conclusion of our combine ride we were served some boudin, a rice-based sausage which originated in this area. After lunch David and I toured the wildlife drive at nearby Lacassine NWR. There were lots more ducks, geese, ibis, herons. We also saw an American Golden Plover, lots of Long-billed Dowitchers, a Neotropical Cormorant, five Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, a bunch of Roseate Spoonbills, and Savannah, Vesper, Song, Swamp, and White-crowned Sparrows. In the evening we attended a reception with hors d'oveurs including bacon-wrapped alligator served with wine at the Zigler Museum, a local art museum. David and I both won a door prize and both chose a pound of local coffee. There is a god.

Yellow Rail

2010-11-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

What a day! This morning we gathered in the conference room of the motel where we were greeted and told the virtues of growing rice. It was actually quite interesting and the idea for the festival came from a conversation about initiating a cooperative effort between rice farmers and birders to highlight the value of rice fields to the wintering population of Yellow Rails. At the conclusion of the morning session we adjourned to a rural location where we divided into two groups, each going to a different farm where combines were harvesting rice. At each farm two of us at a time got to ride in a combine which was harvesting the second cutting of rice. The combine flushed rails ahead of it, the rail show including King, Virginia, Sora, and Yellow. Yes we got Yellow Rails. I saw eight of them, four viewing from the combine and four from land while watching the combine move through the rice. It certainly was a worthwhile venture and adventure to come to this festival to add Yellow Rail to my year's list #713. Overhead there were thousands of geese (Canada, Greater White-fronted, Snow, Ross's), ibis (White,White-faced), and grackles (Boat-tailed, Great-tailed). Other birds flushed by the combine included sparrows (Song, Savannah, Swamp), American Pipit, and Wilson Snipe. On the way back to the motel we stopped by a place John and I had visited in January and flushed a Sprague's Pipit. In the evening after dinner (gumbo, fried pickles), we attended a festival event at a museum which held the contents of an old general store. We were served sweet dough pie a la mode. Neither David nor I won a door prize. Better luck tomorrow.

We're in Louisiana

2010-11-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

For all the bad flight days I've had, today was indeed a very good one. David Hughes picked me up at the house and drove us to the airport where we had a little trouble finding a parking place in the long term parking garage. But that was our only glitch. After getting a bite to eat, we took the plane to Baltimore where we caught our connection to New Orleans arriving there ahead of schedule. Our luggage appeared promptly. The rental car was ready when we got to the Alamo counter, and we headed west on I-10 for several hours, arriving in Jennings by 8:20pm CDT. At that point we decided to eat before checking into the motel since restaurants may close early. David ordered oysters and I got catfish; both turned out to be tasty. We are now in our room at the Hampton Inn, the headquarters for the Yellow Rail Festival. Tomorrow we'll head out into the rice lands and see if we can find that poster bird for the festival. Wish us luck.

A Few Rarities

2010-10-31T19:28:00.005-04:00

Saturday was a pretty day for our MD visit and Joyce and I got to watch our granddaughter Bre play soccer (photo). However, still nothing new on the bird rarity scene as we left the playing field and headed toward Baltimore. Our hotel right on the harbor front was a few notches up in quality from my usual overnight digs on the birding highway. We arrived with enough time before the wedding to rest up. With our wedding duds on, we took the shuttle bus running between the hotel and the wedding venue, the American Visionary Art Museum, with its sculptures modeled after a hot air balloon and an early airplane hanging aloft (photo). The bride and groom were not teenagers, but were still a lot younger than we are. And the vows spoken and the readings given were very young, quite spirited, and clever. There were many young children in attendance who were asked to participate from time to time. I like that. The dinner reception which followed was upstairs in the museum, two floors up. It was great seeing and chatting with all of Joyce's cousins. As usual the music was too loud, but it was a young people's night. We did get in a dance (slow) before we called it a night and returned to the hotel. I checked the email and saw that a Pink-footed Goose had been found in New Brunswick. I went to bed wondering what I would do about it.
On Sunday we went to a lovely brunch in a restaurant nearby and I continued to wonder if I should chase the goose. I began the drive home. But after we got into Virginia, Joyce drove, giving me a chance to make a couple of phone calls and try a few northeastern itineraries using my wireless router and laptop. In the end I decided to stay on course with my upcoming trip to Louisiana and go for the closer Pink-foot that will make an appearance before the end of the year. It was also good to see that several other rarities popped up over the weekend, but none that I needed for the yearlist.

Home and No Rarity Reports

2010-10-28T16:45:00.000-04:00

Tuesday I flew back to Norfolk from San Francisco. You'll recall that was the day of the storm in the north midwest. As you might guess that storm produced airport delays primarily in the Chicago area, but those trickled down through the system and affected many flights later in the day. My flight to Las Vegas was on time, but the flight from there to Norfolk was delayed due to "mechanical problems." As a note of interest to those who make note of obscure facts, I think this particular flight on Southwest is the longest direct flight from or to Norfolk. Anyone know of a longer one? My flight took off over an hour late, but because of the huge tailwind (>120mph!), I arrived in Norfolk only 20 minutes late. The flight time was less than four hours. See image at left for an illustration of a tailwind (web photo).
Yesterday and today have been errand days and watching the birds in the backyard where nothing particularly exciting has flown in. Tomorrow Joyce and I will head for Baltimore for a wedding of the daughter of one of Joyce's cousins. It should be a fun weekend. Meanwhile I'll keep my ear to the ground for the arrival of a rarity anywhere in the ABA area. They certainly haven't been plentiful this last week; I guess that's why they're called rarities, eh?

A Lazy Day in California

2010-10-25T00:21:00.000-04:00

After finding that it would cost too much to fly home a day early, I decided to do some local birding. It was fun. No, I didn't go to Big Sur and look for Condors. I went to a local park near Petaluma where there were ten joggers and dog walkers for every birder. The park is an area associated with a set of sewage lagoons for the city of Petaluma. There were lots of water birds including hundreds of Long-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts. Near the beginning of the trail around the impoundments a nice group of Tri-colored Blackbirds were croaking away (photo) [After re-examining my notes and checking in the literature, I think these were the "Bi-colored Blackbirds" which occur in Central California]. Their vocalization is quite different from that of the usually more common Red-winged Blackbirds. There were no Red-wings at the park. Overhead a Red-shouldered Hawk was screaming (photo).
The second place I visited was the Benicia State Recreation Area which was on the edge of the bay, so there were some Western and Clark's Grebes there. A pair of Clark's Grebes were interacting and vocalizing (photo). Around the edges were White-crowned Sparrows, many Song Sparrows, and a few Western Scrub-Jays and California Towhees.
During the day there was a rumor of a Smew in British Columbia and news that a few White-winged Crossbills have been seen in Maine. So far the Smew is not firm enough to chase, and I'll get the crossbills when I go north in December, but it was nice to get the news. Tomorrow I fly home via Las Vegas which is a much better route than going back through Minneapolis or Detroit given that a perfect storm will lash the north midwest tomorrow.

Not so Sunny California

2010-10-24T14:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday went more or less as planned, but unfortunately the rain and wind showed up as predicted. Ahead of the adverse weather I was able to do some roadside birding on my way to Point Reyes. At Rigdon Currie's house his wife and a friend were putting up fruit jams , while over lunch Rig and I caught up on what's been happening in our respective lives. From there I birded north along the coast where I photographed the Wrentit shown here. Other interesting birds were White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, California Thrasher and Towhee, and a big flock of Marbled Godwits and Willets. The house that Kate Sutherland had rented for a group of pelagikers including me was lovely. As a group we watched a screening of "The Birds," the Hitchcock movie filmed in Bodega Bay, after which a pork chop dinner was prepared and served. Yum!
We all had hoped we could get offshore the following day. But it was not to be. Even though the final decision was postponed until 9am, the answer was the same. We didn't go out on the ocean. We waited for that final decision while having a full breakfast in The Tides, the restaurant right on the water. Outside the rain was pounding and the wind was howling. Now I have to decide what to do. I could go back to Norfolk early. I could bird somewhere south of here where there's better weather. What shall I do?

In California

2010-10-22T10:45:00.018-04:00

This was a travel day and indeed it was again "One of those days!" All went well until I got to LA where I was to change planes for the flight to San Francisco. That flight was moved to a new plane which delayed the arrival into San Fran by nearly two hours. Obama had been there earlier in the day and had probably slowed things down a bit anyway. In the exchange of planes, my bag came up missing. I used the same car rental agency I did last time and that worked out very well again. When I arrived at the motel, the receptionist recognized me, and when I told her I again was awaiting the delivery of an errant bag, she asked if I was carrying something I shouldn't be. Not that I know of, I replied. My cheapie motel didn't carry the TV channel doing the baseball playoffs, so I listened on the clock radio in the room to Joe and John on ESPN radio which turned out to be just right. Dinner at the IHOP next door followed and the wait for the bag ended with its delivery around 11pm. Kinda a looooong day. Tomorrow I'm working my way north with a little birding at Point Reyes. I'm dropping in to see Rig Currie who is Dick Peake's cousin and with whom I traveled to Papua New Guinea some years ago. I'm hoping the boat gets out on Sunday. Ned Brinkley, Brian Patteson, and Kate Sutherland as well as many of the west coast pelagickers will be aboard. I'm looking forward to spending time with all of them.

Thanks for the Scope Offers

2010-10-19T15:48:00.000-04:00

Nothing new on the bird front, but it is certainly heartwarming to know that there are some really nice people out there. I have been offered the use of a scope with no strings attached by three different people. At present I'm just hanging in there and using my larger Leica scope when I can work out of the car (and not leave it behind!). I have contacted our insurance company and under our homeowners policy it looks as if I'll be able to recover some funds which can be used toward the purchase of a replacement scope, probably next year. In the meantime I'm enjoying being home and checking out the birds in the backyard with a cup of coffee, of course. I'm trying to get over to Kiptopeke, but I haven't made it yet, because I've been getting some chores done and preparing for the West Coast pelagic trip this coming weekend. I've also kept my eye on the Rare Bird Alerts and have seen Jack Snipe (AK) and Wood Sandpiper (BC) be recent one-day wonders, so no chase has been possible. Several other sightings around the country were of birds whose identity could not be corroborated, so I rejected them. Right now there's an unconfirmed sighting from NV posted on ebird of a Fork-tailed Flycatcher. I could stop on the way to CA and have a go at it IF it turns out to be genuine and stays put long enough to be seen again. Meanwhile there are the baseball playoff games. Yahoo!

Exotic Waterfowl

2010-10-16T08:48:00.025-04:00

Joyce and I got started toward Pea Island NWR on the Outer Banks of NC at a pretty reasonable time. There was very little traffic. As we were crossing the Albemarle Sound bridge, I called Audrey Whitlock, who has been keeping track of the White-cheeked Pintail to see if she could join us. She was in the midst of packing up for a fishing tournament at Hatteras, but would try to meet up with us later. When we got to the refuge visitor's center and got out of the car, we discovered how strong the wind was. It was probably blowing about 25mph and became a real nuisance in our search for the duck. Chris Hitt, he of the lower-48 big year, was already there and reported that he hadn't found it yet. We looked together from the platforms where it had been seen this week, but in two hours of careful scanning, we didn't find it. Audrey called and said she was heading down to help us search. She scanned from the road which had a better sun angle, but didn't find the duck either. We were all getting a little hungry, so we adjourned to Whalebone Junction for lunch at Sugar Creek and Audrey continued looking. We had no more than ordered when Audrey called to say the bird was in sight. Chris and I left Joyce at the table and hurried back to glimpse the bird. Audrey had left, but on the platform was Fred Alsop, a long-time friend, and his class from East Tennessee State University who were keeping track of the duck. They also were viewing a Eurasian Wigeon. Then it was back to meet up with Joyce who had gotten our meals as takeouts. We dined in the comfort of our cars and Chris headed back home and Joyce and I went back to Pea Island where I tried to get a photo of the pintail (photo). The sun angle was terrible, so I only modestly succeeded. Whether I count this duck on my year's list depends on whether the NC bird record committee votes to accept the record as being of a wild bird and not an escape (exotic). That vote probably won't be for awhile. In the meantime I won't hold my breath.

No Scope and I Take a Bump

2010-10-15T09:47:00.001-04:00

Today was spent entirely in airports and in the air. I flew back to Norfolk from Manchester NH leaving Denny and Terry Abbott to keep things going until I returned later in the year. There has been no word about my lost scope, so I am presuming it is not going to return. I'll file an insurance claim and get some funds to use toward a replacement. I also took a bump on the flight from Baltimore to Norfolk meaning I gave up my seat and gained a chit worth $457 toward a future Southwest flight. I view that as scope money too. Tomorrow Joyce and I will go to Pea Island NWR in NC to look for the White-cheeked Pintail. Whether it will count as a yearbird is out of my hands.

That's Not a Canada Goose!

2010-10-14T21:54:00.004-04:00

The drive from New Hampshire to Connecticut went smoothly. We arrived at MacKenzie Reservoir in Wallingford CT and found no geese at all present. So we canvassed the surrounding fields and found lots of Canada Geese, but not the one we sought. After a couple of hours we went back to the reservoir where amazingly there were now over 500 geese. After a rather brief scan, I found the Barnacle Goose along the near shore. The goose was yearbird #712. I took some pictures of the goose and his friends and we drove off to get some coffee. The new bird, however, came at some cost. When we got as far north as Worcester MA, we refilled the gas tank and I repacked my stuff for the airport. At that point I realized I had left my scope at the reservoir. Denny called a friend of his in CT and asked if he could get someone to go to the spot and see if the scope was still there. It seemed to me the best course of action would be to turn around and go back to CT which we did. In route I revised my airline reservations since I wouldn't get back to Manchester NH in time to fly out today. To make story short after a long drive (560 miles today), the scope was not there. Several birders had in fact driven over to check the spot before we got there and also didn't find it. So it's probably history although a minuscule chance remains. I know what you're saying: Expensive bird, eh? and I would agree. If any of you knows someone interested in selling a small, quality scope, have them get in touch with me. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner (lemon pepper trout) on the way back north and arrived at Denny and Terry's about 9pm where I'm writing this blog. Tomorrow I fly home (via Tampa, believe it or not!).

A Plum of a Bird

2010-10-13T18:34:00.001-04:00

The two flights on Southwest Air to Manchester NH went without a hitch and my friend, Denny Abbott, was there to pick me up at the airport. We took off for Plum Island refuge, formally known as Parker River NWR. Actually the bird we were seeking, Curlew Sandpiper, was on the state property adjoining the NWR on the south side. When I got off the plane, I had a phone message from Chris Hitt who is doing a lower forty-eight big year. We had talked last night and I learned he was taking a red-eye to Boston to also look for the sandpiper. I called him and he had already been looking for the sandpiper, had not found it, and was getting some lunch. We made plans to meet at the park after lunch and look for the bird together. Denny and I stopped and had a sandwich and then drove on to Plum Island. We drove to the parking lot at the south end, parked, and walked south to the are where the bird had been seen. There were a total of about a dozen birders also looking for the bird. We were waiting for high tide when the shorebirds would be pushed up onto the wrack where they could be easily scoped. We certainly looked at a lot of Dunlin, but they were all Dunlin. There were plovers, gulls, and a few Caspian Terns around. Finally we noticed that there were a bunch of birds on the higher areas, so we turned our attention to those. After a false alarm with a Dunlin, we finally found the bird and everyone breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed watching it feed for quite a while. It was so tame that it wasn't hard to get photos of it which I did. In one you can see the white rump. This bird raised the list total to 711. Tomorrow Denny and I are gong to try to find a Barnacle Goose which arrived in a reservoir in Connectictut a couple of days ago.

Homer and No Crossbill

2010-10-12T19:55:00.000-04:00

I spent Sunday around the Sonneborn's house in Anchorage. After Dave got off hospital call duty, we did a little birding around Anchorage, with some Barrow's Goldeneyes being the best bird. Andy prepared a great feast for that night for their sons and families and I happened to be there to join in on the fun. It was a lovely evening.
Yesterday Dave and I drove to Homer where we hunted for White-winged Crossbills on the way to and around Homer itself. We did see birds like Spruce Grouse, Northern Shrike, and Boreal Chickadee, which would all be great for someone from Norfolk, Virginia, but since I wanted those crossbills badly and we couldn't seem to find any, both of us were greatly disappointed. This year has been a bad year for White-winged Crossbills in Alaska, once again not something I really wanted to hear and not the palliative I needed. So with daylight about gone, I boarded an ERA commuter plane in Homer for the half-hour flight back to Anchorage. Once in the Anchorage airport I changed clothes for my red-eye home and checked my luggage. Recall that I had used frequent flier miles to get back to Alaska. For the return flight on that ticket they put me in first class to which I raised no objection. That boost would really help with my trying to get some quality sleep on the way home. And indeed it did. So for the next few hours I'll be in Norfolk. But tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, I'll jump a Southwest Airlines plane for Manchester NH where my friend Denny Abbott will pick me up and we'll try to find the Curlew Sandpiper that's been at Plum Island in Massachusetts for several days, waiting for me to show up and see it.

Around Barrow

2010-10-09T13:40:00.000-04:00

I'm having trouble loading pictures. It says my browser isn't able to handle cookies. Never happened before. Tried to correct it as they suggested, but it didn't help. So.... for now....no pics....too bad. I rode around Barrow today trying to find photographable Ross's Gulls. Not much luck. At one point the snowing was thick so I left the camera in the car, and you guessed it. The snow stopped, the sun came out, and a flock of Ross's flew by. I did take a lot of pics of Glaucous Gulls feeding on the whale carving scraps. Every plumage was present so it made a nice collection. However, it's not likely that I'll see a Glaucous Gull in early October in Virginia, so these plumage pics will only be suggestive. The big dark gull from yesterday has been called a Great Black-backed Gull which is pretty neat, except I didn't give it an early stamp of approval. Pretty bad when an East-coaster can't definitively ID a GBBG! It's only Alaska's second record and appears to have come around the Arctic route. The first was on Kodiak Island. I also took a couple of pics of Arctic Foxes trying to help themselves to the whale scraps. One was dark and the other was nearly white. Late in the day John Pushock and his group found Spectacled Eiders in a flock of King Eiders. Then it was time to gas up the rental car, turn it in, repack, and get to the airport for the flight to Anchorage where I took a cab to Dave and Andy Sonneborn's house and waited for them to return from the opera. We then had a nice late dinner at TGIFs and returned to their house and went to bed. Tomorrow I'll watch some baseball and get ready to go to the Kenai on Monday with Dave to look for White-winged Crossbills.

Gull Day at Barrow

2010-10-08T00:25:00.003-04:00

Today convinced me that I made the right decision to come to Barrow. It was my biggest yearbird day in two months. This morning I was more than ready to go when Bob Dittrick and Dave Porter came around at 9:00am to pick me up at my hotel, the King Eider. Outside it really wasn't light enough to see until then. We drove out to the spot where the whales had been brought in for carving. That process was pretty much finished and the scraps and pieces were being picked up by machines and put into dumpsters for disposal at The Point, where if bears came, they would be far away from where the people are. We scanned for a while until Dave spotted a female Snowy Owl sitting on a little mound. Shortly thereafter a couple of arctic foxes came by and harrassed her, but she held her ground and eventually they went away. Then I spotted the bird I really came to Barrow to see, a Ross's Gull. Not just one, but a flock of a dozen. Wow! Things were going well. Then the Glaucous Gulls, which up to that point had been rather scarce, began to come in to the whale scraps. Yesterday Bob and Dave had seen about two dozen. Today I figure we saw about a thousand. Big change! Then more Ross's Gulls went by. For the day I thought we saw about a hundred total. At one point we looked over at the Glaucous Gulls roosting on the ice and there was a Ross's Gull (photo) standing on the ice. It's not hard to see the pink. This was my only photo op today, but I hope to improve on it tomorrow. We were moving away from the area when John Pushock called to say they had an adult Thayer's Gull. We quickly returned and scoped it, and later saw another. As it began to snow, two birders from Ketchikan, Andy Piston and Steve Heinl, came back to tell us they had just found an adult Ivory Gull (photo). At that point word came in that two more bowhead whales had been harpooned and were being towed in for carving. We watched the process for quite a while then went to dinner, after which Bob and Dave went to the airport for their flight back to Anchorage. I took over their rental car and went to the Airport Inn, my new hotel. When I got on the internet, I got the final new yearbird of the day. The small white-rumped storm-petrel that we saw on the Grande trip out of San Diego has been re-evaluated and determined to be a Wedge-rumped Storm-petrel. That's what I thought it was during my initial reaction, but I didn't push the case then. I'm glad the photographers did a good job; their good work is the reason I picked up an additional yearbird. So for the day I picked up four new ones, bringing the total for the year to 710.

I Made it to Barrow

2010-10-07T01:29:00.002-04:00

It was a long day of air travel that went with no hitches. Yes, you read that correctly. I even arrived in Anchorage early enough to change to an earlier flight to Barrow that would get me in before it got dark. When I arrived in Barrow, it was 25F and there was some new snow on the ground. Bob Dittrick and Dave Porter picked me up at the airport and we went out to the spit to scan for Ross's Gulls, but didn't see any in the waning light. We did pass the native group that was carving up three Bowhead Whales that had been harpooned today. It was a pretty efficient operation. It had to be since any leftover whale would attract polar bears. Maybe I'll get to see my first one in the next couple of days. However, it does make birding on the spit a little dicey, requiring vigilance. We had a nice Japanese dinner at the Osaka Restaurant, topped off by a slice of apple pie. I picked up my bag which came in on the plane I was originally to arrive on, and went to the King Eider Hotel where I checked in and met a couple of birders new to Barrow. Tomorrow we'll all be out looking for pink gulls.

Revisiting Southern California Locations

2010-10-06T01:11:00.001-04:00

After breakfast, I chose to drive to San Diego with stops at a couple of birding spots John and I visited in March on our first California trip. The first, Jacumba, is an historic town sandwiched between the interstate and the Mexican border fence. I liked it when we were there earlier and I still got a kick out of this visit. Since I was between meals, I didn't stop at the quaint restaurant, not even for a cup of coffee. This is the location where we saw our Tricolored Blackbirds (web photo) and they were still here, in even larger numbers than earlier. I spent some time listening to their croaking calls, very different from those of the ordinary Red-winged Blackbirds. Further west I left the interstate to drive north on Kitchen Creek road up to the campground where I had hoped there would be some migrants in the oaks. But it was pretty quiet. Just phoebes and House Wrens plus Wrentits bouncing their balls and scrub-jays yelling up on the hill. I drove into San Diego and found my motel where I repacked for the trip tomorrow and watched post-season baseball games. The Phillies look to be hard to beat. Tomorrow I fly to Barrow, Alaska to seek the Ross's Gull(s).

Yellow-Green Vireo

2010-10-05T23:59:00.000-04:00

To get the day moving quickly, I ate leftover snack food from the pelagic trip, but of course washing it down with a cup of coffee from the urn in the Motel 6 lobby. And then I was on my way east on I-10 to Desert Center CA, a small oasis community just off the interstate with a pond and golf course. The water keeps the vegetation green and attracts migrants creating what is known to birders as a migrant trap. I had good specific directions from Curtis Marantz who had found the bird and they worked to perfection. I parked the car and walked to the corner where he had suggested I begin. He had also said that if the group of Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers weren't around, the vireo had probably also departed. But there they were, the Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers in a tall tree on the corner. And into this group popped the Yellow-green Vireo (web photo by Tom Benson is of the bird I saw today). But as with the previous two days the bird was seen, it disappeared behind some leaves and didn't reappear. I never saw it fly, but after waiting and waiting, I can only conclude that it must have flown unseen by me. I birded the area for a couple of hours and had fun doing it, but the vireo never came back. Did have some Sandhill Cranes fly over as well as have a Prairie Falcon lift off from a palm tree with a prey item. And did I mention the barking dogs?
I decided to spend the rest of the day at the Salton Sea looking for a Blue-footed Booby. I know! I know! There's been no report of one, but I thought I'd get a jump on it. Well, it was a lot of fun seeing hundreds of American White Pelicans, Caspian Terns, and Black-necked Stilts, plus Marbled Godwits, Long-billed Curlews, and a thousand Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibis feeding in one field. I could have looked for the Brown Booby which has been seen recently on the east side of the lake, but since I'd just seen two yesterday, that didn't really excite me enough to get it done.
So tomorrow I'll either bird some more around the Salton Sea area or check out some wooded areas in the Laguna Mountains for landbird migrants. The vireo raises the year's total to 706.

The Three-Day Pelagic Trip on the Grande

2010-10-04T19:59:00.003-04:00

I'm writing this a day later than I had planned because my internet connectivity last night was acting up.
On Saturday morning, October 2, at 7:00am our party left the dock in San Diego aboard the good ship Grande and headed out into the Pacific Ocean, passing over several significant underwater features, like the nine-mile bank and the thirty-mile bank, that tend to have birds. A highlight was a multi-part flock of storm-petrels that was about 2/3 Least and 1/3 Black and totalled about 5,000 birds (photo). In the flock was one small white-rumped individual that was thought to be the Townsend's race of Leach's Storm-Petrel. As the sun was setting, we were passing San Clemente Island. For the day we had a good shearwater show, too, with a lot of good looks at Pink-footeds, Black-vented, and a few Buller's and Sootys. After dark, a Leach's Storm-Petrel collided with one of the birders who grabbed it, checked it over for injuries, and released it after all had gotten a close-up look. On Sunday morning while it was still dark, we all got up to see what passerines had been attracted to the ship's lights. There were Yellow, Wilson's, and Townsend's Warblers, a pipit, Red Phalaropes, Arctic Terns, a Burrowing Owl and a Lesser Nighthawk. For all the daylight hours on Sunday, we were over very deep water in the hopes of finding a mega-rarity, but none turned up. We did get some good looks at the hypoleucus race of Xantu's Murrelet, which is a candidate for a split. Monday's pre-dawn watch produced no birds in the ship's lights. During the day we saw the same birds as on the previous days except we had a great jaeger show and the big storm-petrel flock didn't appear. But a couple of Brown Boobies did put in an appearance. Over the three days we did see many marine mammals including Blue (photo), Fin, Sperm, and Minke whales as well as Guadelupe Fur Seals, Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions.
The Grande is a nice ship although it is a bit slow. The sleeping accomodations were adequate and the food served was very nice especially since it meant you got a series of tasty hot meals without having to make them youself or having to bring your own food aboard. The leadership was excellent with everyone kept informed about what was being seen and where, plus helpful information on the birds and mammals we did see.
The big disappointement was that I didn't get a single new bird. Although I knew that Craveri's Murrelet was a long shot since none had been seen this year, I thought we'd see at least one Red-billed Tropicbird. But I got skunked. And I don't have an opportunity to try again for the missed birds.
When I got back into cellphone country, I checked my messages and found out from Ned that there was a new Yellow-Green Vireo in California, this one in Riverside County about a two-and-a-half hour drive away. So after dropping a couple of the passengers off at the airport so they could catch their plane and going to Paul Lehman's place to pick up my stuff, I took off for Indio where I got a motel room and started a good night's sleep, so I could get to the vireo spot at dawn.
So no new species leaves me at 705.

Black-capped Gnatcatcher, but Not the First Day

2010-10-01T12:18:00.001-04:00

I'm writing this blog early today because firstly I fell asleep last night without realizing I hadn't written the blog; and secondly because I have the time now and there probably won't be any further birding done today. Yesterday, although I was awake very early, I had trouble getting going. I finally got my stuff together and headed for the local McDonald's which is open at 5:00am. I got a quickie breakfast and headed for Montosa Canyon. The drive is only about twenty miles and takes you past the Whipple Observatory where you're asked to dim your lights so they won't interfere with the astronomy going on there. Along the road I was treated to a great morning show of Lesser Nighthawks doing their best to get themselves killed by the car. But no thumps were heard. I arrived at the area where the gnatcatchers are seen about 6am. The elevation here is about 5000 feet and the temperature was a cool but very pleasant 66F. I birded until after 9am when the temp had risen to 90F and the bird activity had quieted. Although I saw and heard many nice Arizona birds, I got nary a nibble from any gnatcatchers. Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers, many Bell's Vireos as well as a couple of Hutton's and a Warbling, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, woodpeckers, wrens, and Northern Cardinals. For those who haven't seen the Arizona cardinals with their longer crests and a somewhat different red color, you need to make the effort. I drove to Proctor Road at the base of Madera Canyon, but it was very quiet. Madera Canyon had some road construction, but since Mexican Jays were the only birds I saw, I went back down and drove over the Greaterville Road to Sonoita. I had lunch in a mercantile store at the main intersection, but I saved the piece of pie I bought, that one that looked too good to pass up, for later. Even though the temp was close to 100F, I decided to see what was happening at the Paton's feeders in Patagonia. There were four species of hummers (Anna's, Black-chinned, Rufous, and Broad-billed) and the total numbers of hummers increased after a lovely red-head appeared and refilled the feeders. While there, I chatted with a lady from Boise who was visiting her family in Phoenix and had broken away for a couple of days to visit SE AZ. Midafternoon I left to drive back to Green Valley where I cleaned up and had dinner at a family restaurant which turned out to be just right. Back at the motel I watched "Men in Black" again and as noted earlier failed to post a blog.
This morning was virtually a carbon-copy of yesterday except I made it to Montosa Canyon about 15 minutes earlier and there were fewer nighthawks along the road getting there. I had to wait a bit since it was a little too dim to see anything well. I had decided just to walk the road twice in both directions, feeling that getting down into the bottom of the dry watercourse didn't do much yesterday, and half the walk would be on pavement without the attending gravel crunch with every step. The temp was the same as yesterday but a little breeze made it feel cooler. Not surprisingly on the first pass the mix of birds was similar to that yesterday. I spent much of the time pishing and whistling owl calls to try to stir things up. By the time I started the second circuit, the sun was warming the road and the hillsides. I was doing the owl whistles and I picked up a few species I didn't get yesterday or earlier today including Dusky Flycatcher, Northern Beardless Tyrranulet, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. The warbler put on quite a show within twenty feet of me in the bright sun. And then there they were! Right in front of me. Twelve feet away below eye level. I assumed it was a pair. Neither bird had a black cap (as shown in the web photos) and the male shouldn't at this time of year. So at first glance they looked a lot like Blue-gray Gnatcatchers,. But their bills were clearly bigger and their tails were indeed nicely tapered, a field mark that was very clear when they cocked and fanned them. The call notes they were giving were somewhat harsher than calls from Blue-grays. They were in no hurry to disappear since I watched them for five or six minutes never more than twenty feet away and always in full sun. And....you guessed it....no camera. This sighting was at 7:45am so I decided to drive back to the motel and write this blog and still have plenty of time to get to the airport, turn in the rental car, and check in for my flight to San Diego.
Tomorrow I head out to sea on the Grande, a boat which will be my home for two nights. My targets will be Red-billed Tropcibird and Craveri's Murrelet. I don't expect to have connectivity so I won't take my computer. You'll just have to wait until Monday night to find out what we saw.
The gnatcatcher was yearbird #705 and a great catchup. This was the third trip to AZ and John and I had looked for it multiple times on the two previous trips. It provided yet another success for going back and back and back, even immediately after a day of not seeing it.

Green Valley AZ

2010-09-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

I flew Southwest from Norfolk through Nashville and Los Angeles to Tucson. Yes, that's right. You go to LA to get to Tucson! The flight from LA to Tucson was a half hour late, but that didn't impact anything in AZ. The rental car was ready and I drove it to Green Valley south of Tucson where I got a room and got out of the 100F out-of-doors. The sun felt like it looks in the web photo. There wasn't enough time to do anything useful today, so I got setup to go to Montosa Canyon tomorrow morning very early to look for Black-capped Gnatcatchers. John and I had spent an early morning here in July. In fact it was the last morning before we flew back home. Obviously since I'm going back, we didn't get the bird. I hope that changes tomorrow. It will be hot again, and get there very quickly, so it will have to happen in the first hour or so. After that, I'll seek someplace that has a little elevation and the cool that goes with it. It's always exciting to be birding in SE AZ.

Still in Norfolk, but Not For Long

2010-09-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

On Monday no good news came in from around the country about yet-to-be-seen yearbirds that were being seen by someone. That meant that I didn't revise my travel plans and leave early. So I stayed at home and enjoyed the buckets of rain pouring down on our house (web photo). Early on when the rain was a bit lighter, I did see a few birds around the yard. But after the deluge set in, it was difficult to see anything moving except the rain. So for now the plans are to fly to Arizona on Wednesday, continuing on to California on Friday for a two-day pelagic over the weekend, and on to Barrow next week. I'll be back in Norfolk on October 12

Bethany's Birthday

2010-09-26T13:07:00.001-04:00

Today is my daughter Bethany's birthday. She's a very young how ever old she is. After all, she can't be very old since I'm so young. Joyce and I drove down to Raleigh to spend the middle of the day with her and her family (shown in the photo at a friend's wedding last fall). Last night they had held their highly successful backyard oyster roast so there was a little cleaning up still going on when we arrived. We packed everyone up in their van and went to the restaurant of her choice where we all enjoyed the food and conversation. When we got back to their house, she packed up a care package of some locally grown vegetables for us to take home. We had brought a batch of chocolate-chip cookies. I'll let you decide who won on that exchange. On the drive home we ran into several horrendous thunder storms. Along the way several cars had skidded off the road or had hydroplaned since there was a large amount of water on the highway. We did make it home safely. I found out from the rare bird website that a Yellow-Green Vireo had been seen today in San Diego. I made a quick check of the airline schedules and saw that it would be possible for me to rearrange my Arizona, California trip to start in California. But I'll wait until tomorrow and check with my contacts to see what the status is then before making any changes. And from another part of the country comes a report of a La Sagra's Flycatcher in Florida. Such are the ups and downs and tugs and pulls of a Big Year.

Kiptopeke Challenge

2010-09-25T12:32:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, the Kiptopeke Challenge. As has been the case the last few years, the day has started with an Eastern Screech-Owl at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR. And as has also become the norm, we didn't follow that success with a Great Horned Owl although there are many of them around. As it got lighter and the wind picked up, it was apparent that today was going to be an uphill battle to get landbirds. The usual spots turned up no activity, no chips or tweets, and indeed a struggle it was. But at Ramp Lane on the refuge we encountered about 250 Sandwich Terns with a few Royal Terns mixed in moving past in the predawn light. This is by far the largest group of Sandwich Terns I've seen away from the breeding area on Wreck Island. Overhead there were a few Sharp-shinned Hawks hunting and the sought-after White Ibis made their appearance. A nearby perched and singing Marsh Wren was a bonus. At GATR tract we actually encountered a few nice landbirds including a Summer Tanager, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and the gem-of-the-day, a Golden-winged Warbler, a bird we have actually gotten once before during a previous Challenge at Chincoteague NWR. When we reached Kiptopeke SP, we saw friends Bob Anderson, Harry Armistead, and Zach Poulton who were participating in the Challenge while they manned the hawk platform. At Oyster we caught the high tide, but still found a nice bunch of Greater Yellowlegs and an Eastern Meadowlark and some Savannah Sparrows on the shore. The dump had a few Pied-billed Grebes, many Fish Crows, both night-herons, and our first Little Blue Herons, plus a lone American Black Duck. Eyre Hall was quiet but we rousted out a Black-and-white Warbler plus Harry and Downy Woodpeckers. Then it was on to Chincoteague with a not-so-brief stop at the Coffee House on the way. There was open admission to get into Chincoteague, so the place was a bit crowded especially the beach. The wildlife drive had a nice scattering of shorebirds including Pectoral and White-rumped Sandpipers and a few ducks. A Peregrine kept the birds a bit on the jittery side. At that point I left David Clark and Andrew Baldelli (photo including David's new Prius) to drive back to Norfolk so I could attend the performance of the Virginia Symphony. I just couldn't stand to miss another concert this year. I managed to make it to the performance and enjoyed it immensely. David and Andrew persisted after I left and got quite a few more birds for the day including a couple Buff-breasted Sandpipers and a few warblers along the pony trail. Our final total for the day was 111, symptomatic of the heat and southwest wind. Maybe next year without the distraction of a Big Year, we can put our collective minds together, plan a good route, and win this thing.

Getting Set for the Kiptopeke Challenge

2010-09-23T19:39:00.003-04:00

I returned to Norfolk today a bit zonked. It was, however, good to get home where a Blue Jay was bathing in our bird bath (Charles Harper web snatch). I celebrated by taking a little snooze since my day had started at 4:30am with the airport shuttle in Ft. Lauderdale. This coming Saturday David Clark, Andrew Baldelli, and I will also have an early start, this time on Virginia's Eastern Shore as part of CVWO's fundraiser, the Kiptopeke Challenge. I hope you've made a pledge or have contributed to CVWO by clicking on the link in the upper left of this blog and following the directions there. I don't think I'll get any new birds during the day to increase my year's list (except maybe the White-cheeked Pintail, if I choose to count it), but it will be a fun day and we plan to obtain a good count. Dare I hope for over 130! That might happen if Mr. Weather gives us a break this year and drops a big wave of migrants. That would be fun to sort through all those birds. Tomorrow I'm finalizing my plans for the couple of weeks after the Challenge. It will involve a multi-day pelagic out of San Diego and possibly a run to Alaska to see the Ross's Gull migration at Barrow, if I can find the airline miles to cash in.

They're So Cute!

2010-09-22T17:44:00.001-04:00

I was prepared to spend the whole day if necessary to keep from repeating the negative outcome of our April try at the Budgies. The location was the same as it was then. I knew how to get there. I just felt if I was a little more persistent, things would work out. You'll see that I didn't need to worry. The motel I fell into last night was a Hampton Inn, about three cuts above my usual level of overnight accommodations. It was so nice, I just couldn't get myself away from the high thread count sheets, the thick towels, the warm breakfast. Eventually I did leave and drove to the Budgie spot arriving before 9:00am. I took a walk around the neighborhood and as soon as I turned the corner, there they were, all lined up on a telephone wire. There were eight of them in all which has to be most of what's left of this population. In a few years there won't be any and ABA will remove Budgerigar from its list just as it did the Crested Myna, the Blue-Gray Tanager, and the Black Francolin. I recall when I saw my first countable budgies. It was in the 80's. I waited several years to go see them, because you had to go to St. Petersburg and I wasn't all that hot to check off an exotic. But around that time my folks acquired a place in Sarasota where they went for the winter and my sister and I alternated visiting them at Christmas. So it became a little more reasonable thing to attempt. One year, on our way back to Norfolk, I drove somewhat out of our way to the local streets in St. Petersburg where you were supposed to find the Budgies. Before you got to the area where they were, you could hear them screeching. When you did get there, the telephone wires were loaded with them by the hundreds and hundreds. Most of them were green, but there were a few of the varietals that aviculturists created for the pet trade. It's hard to believe how quickly that scene became a thing of the past, and we're indeed reduced to a couple of handfuls. The current last stand is a location where an individual supposedly fed a large group of them up to a few years ago. A neighbor told me today that the flock was over a couple hundred birds. He wasn't sure whether the person feeding them was alive any longer, but I suspect he/she has passed away or moved. I'm happy to say that I've now added them to the year's list (#704). After taking a satisfactory photo, I got back in the car and set the gps for Ft. Lauderdale where I arrived five hours later, checked in my car two days early, changed my return airline ticket to a flight tomorrow, got a motel room, wrote this blog, and planned to watch a baseball game on TV. You're right! It won't be the Cards.

A Day in the Everglades

2010-09-21T22:22:00.003-04:00

After a nice Denny's breakfast, I returned to Gate 3 on Long Pine road in the Everglades NP where the couple, Ron and Carol from west of Austin TX, whom I had met last night,was looking upward but (for the moment) not at the Cuban Pewee. Another birder there, Mark Berney from Ft. Lauderdale, heard a call which he tracked down and it turned out to be the Cuban Pewee which obligingly landed on a bare branch for a photo. Everyone got good views and I got a photo. The call is a series of slightly upturned...wheeeet...notes. It gave this call repeatedly even though many of those times we couldn't see the bird. However we did get several nice views of the bird. After satisfying myself with views of the pewee, I spent a little time looking for the Western Spindalis which had been reported not too long ago. But nothing much was calling or moving, so I hopped in the car and motored slowly southward toward Flamingo where I was to meet Pete Frezza. While I was waiting for Pete at Flamingo, I found a young Lark Sparrow hopping around near the marina store. There were also a couple of Manatees swimming around near the boat launch, the best views I've ever had of that mammal. After Pete arrived, he launched the boat and we took off over Florida Bay toward the section known as Snake Bite which has nothing to do with getting bitten by a reptile! It took about twenty minutes to get to the area where a few American Flamingos had been seen, but when we did arrive, there they were - four beauties that spent most of the time with their heads tucked. However, when we were at some distance, they did pick up and fly low with their heads and legs extended, turn around, and return to their original location. All of that so I could see that beautiful deep pink and black wing pattern. To get close enough for a photo, Pete had to pole the boat over the shallows. After much poling, I was able to get the photo shown here. Very exciting since this was the first time I had seen them in the ABA area since my first time in the 70's. After we got back to the dock at Flamingo, I set the gps for Hernando Beach FL, the site of the few remaining countable Budgerigars. I was shocked to see that it was 400 miles away. Oh well! A yearbird is a yearbird, eh? About 9:30pm I checked into a motel and crashed. Tomorrow is budgie day. The two birds today brings the total to 703.

Cuban Pewee - not yet

2010-09-20T06:26:00.006-04:00

It was to have been an easy travel day, but, of course, it wasn't. My Southwest plane did leave right on time. There was a stopover in Jacksonville with no change of planes. But after the plane's door was closed we sat there for awhile until it was announced that there was a mechanical problem which they worked on until a further announcement told us we would have to be moved to another plane. So we trouped out of the plane and across the way to another plane going to Fort Lauderdale. We were seated before the other passengers who were about to board. Strangely, we all fit and Southwest didn't have to fly two planes to Fort Lauderdale. Remember People's Express! They pulled that move all the time. But then again it may just be my suspicious mind. The two plus hour delay cost me just enough time to put me into Miami traffic so I didn't get to the Everglades until 6pm. I spent an hour at the pewee spot with not a nibble. I did see a couple of Red-bellied Woodpeckers, though. (photo) I'll be back tomorrow. The highlight of the day was spending a couple of hours chatting with Becky and Debbie White. We caught up on what's been happening in our collective lives. And oh yes; how could I forget. The Cards played a makeup game in Florida with the Marlins for which the timing was perfect for me to listen to while driving. However, Carpenter gave up a grand slam and the Cards scored no runs all in a one hour and fifty-two minute game. Perhaps shorter is better when you lose.

Back Home

2010-09-19T18:14:00.000-04:00

Most of yesterday was spent in moving me from the west coast back to Norfolk, VA. There was no birding involved. I'm still trying to get rid of this respiratory problem, so I rested as much as I could. The nonstop flight from SFO to Dulles got off the ground an hour late requiring me to hustle a bit when we landed. However, the flight attendants had asked all those with more than a half hour connect time to stay seated until the rest of us exited, and that worked out very well. As I came forward from the back of the plane, I thanked all those who were still in their seats. And my bag also made the connection, because it was there in Norfolk for me. Yes!!
Today I have been preparing for a jaunt to Florida to try for the Cuban Pewee which still seems to be hanging around. I'm also going to do a boat out into Florida Bay to see if I can find some Flamingos. If my endurance lasts, I'll drive north to look for the few remaining countable Budgerigars. So we'll see how it goes.

Half Moon Bay Pelagic II

2010-09-17T11:06:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a repositioning day moving from Santa Rosa to my motel near the San Francisco airport. In addition to making it easy to get to the airport, this is also a convenient location to stay when doing Half Moon Bay pelagic trips. I had to get a few snack supplies for the boat trip and work on arrangements for the trip next week.

Today I drove over the coastal range on a winding road in the fog to get to La Granada on Half Moon Bay where the marina and the boat are located. We did get started on time but the first hour plus was fogged in. We finally started getting enough visibility that we could see the birds. The species composition was pretty much the same as on Monday. We got out to warmer water, about 62F, where we did run into several flocks of storm-petrels sitting on the water. We worked them as carefully as we could. It's difficult to get very close to these flocks before they break up and fly away. But on the day we did have six species of storm-petrel: Ashy (photo) the most common by far, Black, Fork-tailed, Wilson's, Leach's, and Least. During the long day of chumming a couple of Laysan Albatrosses (photo) came in. But the bird of the day was a Flesh-footed Shearwater that came through the chumming at the back of the boat and kept on going. I got a reasonable pic (photo). This was a yearbird and brought the total to 701. On the way back to the marina we encountered a group of feeding Humpback Whales. It's been a good year for krill here along the California coast and the whales were chowing down. They roll on their side and push forward with their mouths open. Then they close their mouths and squeeze the excess water out through the baleen and swallow. The whales weren't the only creatures feeding on the krill. Lots of squid were doing it too. We noticed the squid first by their water squirts that shot out of the water. That's a product of their method of propulsion. We netted a couple of them and some krill to take a closeup look. I got my hand inky as a consequence of trying to pick up a fallen squid. The krill are pink, shrimplike organisms about an inch long. The squid were about six inches long. We spent about an hour watching this spectacle. During this feeding process, the whales were all around us, sometimes coming right under the boat. Tomorrow I fly to Norfolk so Saturday will be a travel day.

Bodega Bay Pelagic II

2010-09-15T13:14:00.001-04:00

Since I had scouted out the commute to the boat dock yesterday, it was an easy drive today with only a few bits of fog here and there. The boat was again the New Sea Angler which was our boat from here last month. The good news was that the fog which hung over the hills I drove through wasn't too bad although it came and went for much of the way out to sea. The water temperature was in the mid fifties so I was glad to have my warm clothes on. We got out about 40 miles into some warmer water and that paid off because we had a great, close flyby of a Cook's Petrel. This was not a new bird for me, but it was certainly a much better look than the one I had out of Santa Barbara. However, it was new for Chris Hitt who had missed the bird on that earlier trip. Although I didn't get any new yearbirds, the trip had a lot of birds. We had Ashy, Black, Fork-tailed, and Wilson's Storm-Petrels; Sooty, Pink-footed, and Buller's Shearwaters; Black-footed Albatross; Northern Fulmars, both dark and light; all three jaegers (Parasitic photo) and South Polar Skua (photo); Western, California, Heerman's and Sabine's (photo) Gulls; Arctic Terns; Common Murres, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets; Tufted Puffin (photo); Xantu's Murrelets; Red and Red-necked Phalaropes. Tomorrow is a day to rest and recover from this cold I brought back from Alaska that I can't seem to shake. On Friday I go out from Half Moon Bay again, hopefully picking up a yearbird.

CVWO

2010-09-14T21:40:00.001-04:00

During the fall, Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory operates a songbird banding station, a hawk migration count, a hawk banding station, and a monarch butterfly tagging program at Kiptopeke State Park on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Those programs have produced invaluable data to aid in wildlife conservation and management. Each program is staffed by a paid, highly qualified, knowledgeable and hardworking young biologist. CVWO needs to raise funds annually to staff these positions. The biggest fundraiser is the fall birdathon known as the Kipotpeke Challenge. This year's challenge is on Saturday, September 25, and I plan to participate with David Clark on the Laughing Falcons team as I have done in the past. If you have enjoyed following my Big Year on this blog, please consider making a donation to CVWO to support their work. You can do so by clicking on the tiny CVWO link at the upper left side of this blog page above the picture of me, and following the directions given there. Your support would help continue the important work this organization is doing. You can read more about CVWO at their website http://www.cvwo.org/.

Half Moon Bay Pelagic I

2010-09-13T20:53:00.001-04:00

Chris and I carpooled to the boat dock arriving plenty early. Before leaving the dock I have to make sure that I've got warm clothes on because the weather out on the Pacific Ocean is plenty cool. As is true on most pelagic trips you also have to bring your own food for the day, since very few boats have a galley serving food. So I had to make sure I had my food supply.

There were a lot of birds on the jetties as we left the harbor including Double-crested Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Western and Heerman's Gulls, and Elegant Terns. A few Pigeon Guillemots and Western Grebes were bobbing around on the water. Although the deep, cold water which is close to shore provides much pelagic excitement, the captain set a course to get us out to the albacore fishermen in the warm water. Please realize that Pacific coast warmer water is in the 60's, whereas our Atlantic warmer water is in the 80's. A big difference! We did manage to make it out to the albacore grounds, but it wasn't very birdy. One of the albacore fisherman gave Debi Shearwater a couple of albacores since it was her birthday. Wes Fritz, the master chummer, did spot a Cooke's Petrel, but none of the rest of us could get on it before it disappeared. However, the pelagic bird show on the way out was quite a spectacle. We had Black-footed and Laysan (photo) Albatrosses, Ashy, Black, Fork-tailed, and Wilson's Storm-Petrels, Pink-footed, Sooty, and Buller's (photo) Shearwaters, Northern Fulmars (mostly dark phase), Red and Red-necked Phalaropes (photo) migrating by the thousands, Arctic Terns, Common Murres, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets, and all three jaegers plus South Polar Skua (photo). But Chris and I are tough customers. We wanted something new for the year and neither of us got a new bird. We got back to the dock a bit late. I dropped Chris off at his truck and headed north, driving to Santa Rosa where I got a room in a Motel 6 for three nights.

Chris Hitt

2010-09-12T19:28:00.001-04:00

I slept late and then worked on my blog. While I was working in my room this morning, I heard music coming from the room where the motel's continental breakfast was served. The room had became a "store front" church. The best thing about that was the music which was of the gospel variety with three or four part harmony and plenty of rhythmic clapping even though there was a drum set accompaniment.
Chris Hitt (shown in the photo with his family), who is doing a lower-48 big year, will be on the boat trips I'm taking off Half Moon Bay and Bodega Bay. He offered and I gratefully accepted sharing his motel room. We had made arrangements to meet at his motel this afternoon. So I drove south on US101 only to find that at 3 am this morning a multi-car accident had occurred with two deaths and the freeway has been closed ever since. With help from my gps I navigated around the stoppage and made it to the motel. A short time later Chris arrived and we compared notes on our bird wantlists. When we went out to find some dinner, the Chinese restaurant he had chosen was having a bash; a group had reserved the whole restaurant. So instead we went to a nearby Whole Foods, a grocery chain with which Chris was associated before his retirement, and there got supplies for tomorrow's pelagic trip and picked up some sushi for dinner back at the motel. We watched a bit of the Cardinals' game on TV since the game with Atlanta was the Sunday night game. Tomorrow the pelagic trip.

Travel Day and More on Mystery Bird

2010-09-11T12:03:00.001-04:00

I certainly didn't think my Big Year would include finding a new bird for North America. When I found the bird last Thursday in the near bone yard on Gambell, it struck me as something like an Acrocephalus warbler, but I wasn't sure. I don't have a lot of experience with Locustellas, another Old World warbler genus, but my bird didn't strike me as from that genus. It had a big, pink bill, brief eye stripe, dark eye line, nonpatterned warm, brown back, all of which fit Acrocephalus better than Locustella. When Paul Lehman got over there to look at it, his first reaction was something like a Paddyfield Warbler which seemed about right to me. So we'll see what the experts say. It's not as easy to get Asian experts as it is to get European ones, but someone should be able to ID it. The photograhers trailed the bird around until it fortuitously flew up on the roof of a nearby house and Barrett was able to get some decent photos.
My exit from Alaska was put on hold when the plane from Kotzebue had mechanical problems that required a substitute plane be flown in from Anchorage. The new departure time at 1:30am required that I rebook all my connections today at additional cost. Those flights took me through Anchorage, Seattle, Salt Lake City, to San Francisco where I arrived around 4pm but without my bag. I picked up my rental car, drove to my nearby motel, and waited until about 10pm when my bag finally caught up with me. Although my clothes and toiletries were important, the bag's arrival was even more of a help because I had packed my electronic cables including the one to recharge my cellphone in my checked luggage - not a good idea. My cellphone was dead, but it came back to life with a bit of a charge. An interesting side note: my flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco flew over the Ruby Mountains in Nevada where John and I saw the Himalayan Snowcocks last month. Lamoille Canyon and Island Lake had gotten a dusting of snow and reminded me of our first try for those birds in June.

Dusky Warbler - #700

2010-09-10T18:17:00.000-04:00

My last day in Gambell "dawned" dark, windy, and rainy. So, what's new! After breakfast of French toast and bacon, I made the decision not to participate in this morning's seawatch, and instead to begin the process of getting my stuff together. That decision held for a couple of hours, even after the return of our guys from the seawatch. But it went out the window when the two-way radios chattered that Aaron Lang had found a Dusky Warbler near the radio towers near the point. It didn't take me long to get ready for the soggy out-of-doors and to hop on the back of the ATV behind Bill and race over the gravel to the point. The bird was not being seen when we arrived. All of the birders present formed the usual line and swept through the area with the result that the bird was re-found. As with the warbler yesterday, this bird was flushed and re-flushed until all those who wished had gotten satisfactory looks at it. I was congratulated all the way around for reaching the Seven Hundred Mark, a mark I didn't think was possible when I began this year. Getting to 700 was a large, joint effort, the product of much help from an enormous number of people all of whom I collectively thank here and now. But the year is not over yet, and there are a few more birds I can get, and I intend to keep trying. This afternoon, if the airline gods are with me, I'll board the Bering Air late afternoon flight (the one that didn't come two days ago!) for Nome. Then it's on to Anchorage and California on a red-eye, where I'll do a series of three pelagic trips before I go back to Norfolk.

A New Bird

2010-09-09T16:37:00.001-04:00

We did the usual seawatch today, now with our group reduced in size but augmented by the addition of the Wilderness Birding group. We did see a Red-necked Grebe and a distant Kittlitz's Murrelet which were both new for the trip although not for the year. We followed that activity with a march through the far boneyard and then I decided to walk the near boneyard by myself. I had Bill Mauck let me out near the runway and I did a complete meandering search. I had almost completed the circuit when I flushed a small, brown bird which landed so I could see it for a moment. It had a pink bill and a brief eye-stripe. I new it was a new bird. So after making sure I knew which clump of wormwood it was hiding in, I called Paul Lehman on the two-way radio, and he came over from the lodge. He was able to get a brief look at the bird and thought it might actually be an Acrocephalis warbler of a new species for North America. All the birders converged and for four and a half hours we chased the bird around the boneyard until some satisfactory pictures had been obtained. After studying the photographs, the current concensus is that the bird is an adult Middendorf's Grasshopper-Warbler. All of the fall bird records of that species except one have been young birds. So it doesn't look like it will be a first NA record, but it will be a life, ABA, and yearbird. The total is now 699.

The Group Splits Up

2010-09-08T16:34:00.000-04:00

Four members of our WINGS group are going on to the Pribiloffs with Gavin Bieber as leader. John Spahr is heading back to Virginia. I'm staying two additional days. The Pribiloff group and some others were expecting to leave this morning, but the fog prevented the Bering Air flight from coming to Gambell. So we all birded some more, had lunch, and those who were leaving got packed up and hoped the later flight would make it. As the afternoon flight time approached, everyone wondered whether Bering Air would arrive. An ERA plane arrived and since they had a couple of spaces available, two of the group including John departed early on that flight to Nome. We then got word that the Bering Air flight had been cancelled, so it looked like the others would be here for another day. Gavin had to change all the ground and flight reservations for his group. However, a call came in that a second Bering Air flight that had gone to Savoonga, which is the other village on St. Lawrence Island, was coming to Gambell and was ten minutes away. So....Gavin resurrected all of his transformed reservations, and everyone got their stuff together and made the flight. It turns out to have been a good thing that two of our group got on the earlier plane, because the Bering Air plane that did arrive was smaller and could not have carried the weight required to get everyone back to Nome. Ah well! The joys of air travel, especially in Alaska. So John's gone, and I do miss him, and I'm on my own for awhile.

A New Group Arrives

2010-09-07T16:17:00.000-04:00

Today the Wilderness Birding Adventure group arrived to take up residence in the red house. That's the same house our group stayed in during our June visit earlier this year. It was good to see the leaders, Aaron Lang, Dave Porter, and Bob Dittrich, again. The new group will add some new eyes and enthusiasm to the search for birds. We did pick up Yellow-billed Loon and Orange-crowned Warbler today as new birds during our stay, but no new yearbirds.

A Tale of Two Tattlers

2010-09-06T21:38:00.000-04:00

Instead of doing the usual seawatch this morning, John and I headed east and south along the road that goes along the base of the mountain to the east of Troutman Lake. We knew this to be one of the best areas to search for tattlers. After we had gone about half-way, we elected to leave the ATV behind and walk the tundra along the edge of the lake in case a shorebird was tucked in and out of view from the road. It paid off when John spotted a bird ahead of us that was definitely a tattler. We put the word out on the two-way radio although the message turned out to be somewhat garbled by the wind and distance. Eventually other members of the group got the word and converged on our location. Paul Lehman worked his way into a position close to the bird and handed down the decision we didn't want to hear. The bird was a Wandering Tattler, a bird we had seen earlier in the year in California. Pretty disappointing! We did the far boneyard since we were in the area without finding anything, then returned to the lodge. I had a cup of coffee, took a shower, and changed clothes. While I was getting dressed, a radio message came through from Paul Lehman at the sewage pond. He had a Gray-tailed Tattler. I quickly finished dressing, donned my outdoor clothes, and John and I steamed off on our ATV to the sewage pond where we got great views of the new yearbird. So after getting skunked for seven days, we finally broke the drought and the total is now 698.

Birds and Whales

2010-09-05T01:49:00.001-04:00

Late today while we were running the beach looking for shorebirds and scanning offshore, we noticed a group of birds feeding over a Gray Whale. There were three Short-tailed Shearwaters, eight Sabine's gulls, and many Red Phalaropes. Earlier in our beach run we had seen a large group of gulls, mostly Black-legged Kittiwakes and Glaucous Gulls, in a feeding frenzy over a tight school of small fish. There were also four Parasitic Jaegers in the group. This morning it was so foggy we couldn't conduct our usual seawatch. We took a spin around Troutman Lake and there were more than a hundred Crested Auklets with a few Least Auklets on the lake where they had dropped in instead into the Bering Sea because of the fog. Later this afternoon the auklets had disappeared, hopefully making it successfully to the open water. A few young Crested Auklets also ended up crashing into the boneyards where members of our group picked them up and transported them to the seashore.

Shorebirds

2010-09-04T01:45:00.001-04:00

Along the vast pebble beach on the west side of the point, there has been a goodly amount of marine vegetation cast up over the past couple of days. Shorebirds have been poking around in it and we've been able to get some great looks at them. These include Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, Pacific Golden-Plovers, Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitchers, Western Sandpipers, and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.

Maybe a Dusky Warbler

2010-09-03T14:35:00.002-04:00

The weather wasn't too bad today, but the birding results were pretty much the same. Nothing new. During one traverse of the far bone yard, a bird was flushed that to the leaders looked like a Dusky Warbler, another leaf warbler that's on the brownish side. It couldn't be re-found even after several further traverses of the bone yard later in the day. We continue to circumnavigate Troutman Lake, hoping for the Gray-tailed Tattler. Maybe soon.

Common Rosefinch

2010-09-02T10:41:00.014-04:00

This afternoon co-leader Gavin Bieber found a Common Rosefinch on the lower slopes of the mountain. This is about the sixth fall sighting here. Everyone was able to get satisfactory looks, many through a scope. For most it was a life bird but for John and me it wasn't even a year bird. We had seen one in June when we were at Gambell this spring. The weather today is milder with the wind coming from the East and periods of low clouds and drizzle. We did have a few flocks of shorebirds overhead from time to time including a group of seven Bar-tailed Godwits. Up to this point Paul Lehman had seen only three singles in the fall.

It Got Away

2010-09-01T10:57:00.000-04:00

Today in the far bone yard another North American rarity was glimpsed well enough by Paul Lehman to identify it, but not well enough by anyone else to count it. The bird was a Yellow-browed Warbler, one of the leaf warblers from Asia that has been seen about a half-dozen times in the US. We recrossed the bone yard multiple times but no additional sightings were forthcoming. We covered the slope above the bone yard thoroughly several times as well. The rain and twenty mph winds didn't help. We're supposed to get more of that tomorrow. Ah, yes! Fall birding at Gambell. A challenge indeed!

A Bird Chase

2010-08-31T10:39:00.001-04:00

In the late morning we always carefully work through the far bone yard in a group. This morning while walking through in a line, trying not to fall into one of the many holes dug by the natives looking for ivory or artifacts, I flushed a bird ahead of me. Although I saw it fairly well, it didn't ring any bells as to what it was. Paul Lehman was the only other person who glimpsed the bird. We revisited the bone yard three more times today trying to see the bird again with no luck. Such is Gambell! One of the strong suggestions for the bird was Middendorf's Grasshopper-Warbler, but we'll probably never know. Rain is forcast for tomorrow and we may never see the bird again, but we will look. Today we did record our first Spectacled Eider of the trip.

Gambell Monday

2010-08-30T01:34:00.001-04:00

We did have some new birds show up at Gambell today, but they were White-crowned Sparrow and Grey-cheeked Thrush. The Grey-cheek breeds in Russia and crosses to Gambell in the fall, so it's not as bland is it may sound. We had a little excitement today that caused us to rush back from the south end, but to no avail. The mystery bird flew the coop and wasn't around by the time the major group of us arrived where it had been. A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and a Slaty-backed Gull were seen, but I didn't see anything new for the year. Let's hope for a different outcome tomorrow when the wind shifts around to the southwest.

Red-throated Pipit

2010-08-29T11:21:00.001-04:00

My computer is not cooperating currently. But apparently I can access the blog on the lodge's computer. So I'm shifting to doing that which means that in addition to not having pictures, the posts will be brief since it's a public computer. Today our full WINGS group flushed a pipit from the far bone yard which after several flushings and chasings was confirmed as a Red-throated Pipit which was a new year bird #697.

First Full Day at Gambell

2010-08-28T01:50:00.030-04:00

There is wifi in our guest house and I should be able to post blogs. However, it is very slow, so I've elected to omit the photographs for the moment. Let's hope it goes well.
All days at Gambell start with a sea watch and today was no exception even though it was drizzling which it kept doing most of the day. We did have a French toast breakfast before heading out on our ATVs. This was my first time driving one and I think I did pretty well negotiating over the pea gravel for which Gambell is notoriously famous. We did see some Ancient Murrelets quite close to shore. But further out were a few Short-tailed Shearwaters, a new bird for the year. Later in the day we would see a more vigorous movement. The numerical champion movers offshore were the Crested Auklets which probably numbered over a million birds in motion. I counted passage of 120,000 per hour. We also searched the boneyards with no success as well as a couple of sorties to the south end of Troutman Lake. We spent a fair amount of time trying to turn a couple of Arctic Warblers into something exceptional, but Paul Lehman put a stop to that. We looked through several flocks of gulls which were mostly Glaucous Gulls and finally found a couple of Slaty-backed Gulls, which were year birds. There were Northern Wheatears everywhere and several White Wagtails. Large numbers of Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs were flying up from near the roads. The rain stopped and the sun shown in the evening, so after dinner John and I went out to do a brief sea watch, stopping first at the sewage lagoon. There were a few shorebirds there including Pectoral Sandpipers, a Long-billed Dowitcher, and a couple of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, a new birds for the year. The three new birds brings the total to 696 for the year.

Out to Gambell and Out of Contact

2010-08-27T14:40:00.000-04:00

John and I are in Nome today where we flew early this morning from Anchorage. We're waiting for our Bering Air flight to Gambell where we will be for about two weeks. Unless things have changed since June, there won't be an opportunity to post any new blogs until I get back to Nome on September 10. However, I will continue to write them and save them until I can post them. So you'll just have to wait until then

Out on Resurrection Bay and Beyond

2010-08-26T14:07:00.000-04:00

Since our boat didn't leave until 9:00am, we had time to walk around the area near our motel to see if we could encounter a White-winged Crossbill. We didn't, but we did enjoy a decent sit-down hot breakfast. There were about 70 passengers on the boat, but the capacity was a lot higher, so we had plenty of room. Once underway the skipper asked if anyone had any special birds they were looking for and I told him about the two murrelets. He said he'd try to make it work for us. We did see Doll's Porpoises, Humpback Whales, Orcas, Steller's Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and lots of glaciers (web photo). The captain, named Bob, kept us informed about what we were seeing and a lot of natural history to go with it. He had a good approach to seeing but not harassing the wildlife. When we got into Northwestern Fjord we did see an Ancient Murrelet and later I got a Kittlitz's Murrelet, separating it from the similar Marbled Murrelets which we also saw. All day long Horned and Tufted Puffins were in view as well as Common Murres and a few Rhinoceros Auklets. When we got back to shore we both felt it had been a good trip. We didn't encounter much traffic on our way back to Anchorage. We dropped our stuff off at the Puffin Inn and John took the rental car back to the airport and the motel shuttle back. We repacked our stuff for the flight tomorrow. The two new birds raised the year's list to 693.

Back in the USA

2010-08-25T13:48:00.001-04:00

We returned the rental car and flew from Victoria to Vancouver where we went through customs and immigration (a little piece of the US in Canada)and caught our flight to Anchorage. In Anchorage we picked up the rental car, hooked up the gps, and headed out of the city toward Seward. Once we got there, we checked on tomorrow's boat trip, found we were on the list of those going, so we checked into our motel and went out to dinner at a waterfront restaurant. I had halibut cheeks in a pasta that was very good. Halibut is the king of fish here in Alaska (web photo). I'm not sure they catch all that many big lunkers anymore, but those that are caught are still pretty good sized. We saw a few birds we don't see in Virginia like Northwestern Crow and many Glaucous-winged Gulls and Black-legged Kittiwakes flying around the harbor. Tomorrow the boat trip.

Vancouver Island

2010-08-24T09:31:00.001-04:00

Barbara Begg had fixed us up with a young local birder, Jeremy Gatten. The object of our searches today would be Sooty Grouse, a bird we've heard this year but not seen. Since it would be a lifer for John, we hoped to see it to add it to his life list. We met Jeremy early this morning in the Victoria Butterfly Gardens parking lot. From there we went to Koksilah River Provincial Park where we drove logging roads looking for Sooty Grouse and avoiding logging trucks (web photo). Mercifully, there were no encounters with those big rigs. When the logging roads were closed, we walked them. We did see some nice birds but no grouse. Next we tried hiking up Mt. Wells where a grouse had been heard earlier this year. It was a nice hike, but no grouse. We had lunch at Mom's Cafe in Sooke, a folksy nook indeed. Then we drove west to some logging tracks Jeremy knew. Lots of Steller's Jays, American Robins, Varied Thrushes, and Red-shafted Flickers, but no grouse. After many kms of these sometimes rough roads, we headed back to town where we dropped Jeremy off at his place and we returned to the motel. Tomorrow we fly to Alaska.

Sky Lark

2010-08-23T00:08:00.001-04:00

It sure was early this morning when I got up and Joyce drove me to the airport. Once there I was reminded by the agent at the counter that my flight was an international flight which required that I have a passport. And of course my passport was home in the dresser drawer. So I called Joyce on her cellphone and told here where I thought it was. It was there, and she brought it back to me at the airport in time for me to get checked in and catch my flight. From that point onward, everything worked out well. I got a couple of hours of sleep going to Chicago. I got an aisle seat going to Vancouver. Canadian customs and immigration was very mild. My very short (14 minute) flight to Victoria was on time. And most importantly Barbara Beggs, the Vancouver Island's caretaker of their Sky Larks, was waiting for me when I emerged. We went to a nearby area where Sky Larks occur and walked slowly through the field, flushing three birds which we heard and saw well (web photo). We did a little more birding and then she took me to the motel where I checked in and left my luggage. Later she dropped me off back at the airport and I picked up the rental car and returned to the motel to work on the blog and listen to the Cardinals game (they won!). John's first flight of the day was delayed, upsetting his remaining connections. The outcome was that he wouldn't arrive in Victoria until after 6pm. When he did arrive, I drove to the airport and picked him up, and we went straight to the field where I had the Sky Larks earlier. After two circuits of the area and no Sky Larks, I was getting a little apprehensive, but decided to take one more loop. That worked! We found six in a cluster and got great looks at several. We celebrated with a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant that Barbara had recommended. We also set up a rendezvous with a young birder to help us see a Sooty Grouse tomorrow. The Sky Lark was bird #691.

Oregon Inlet Pelagics I and II

2010-08-22T19:01:00.006-04:00

On Thursday afternoon my wife Joyce and I headed south to the Outer Banks of NC to position me for the three days of offshore birding primarily to search for the White-faced Storm-Petrel. Our good friends Audrey and Bobby lent us the use of their house while they were in Virginia for some fishing. Brian Patteson's boat, the Stormy Petrel II, was to be moored at Wanchese for this set of trips. When we got to the south end of the Outer Banks, we drove over to check out the location of the repositioned boat. I found Brian on his boat; he had just arrived from Hatteras. Having accomplished the mission of finding the boat, we turned our attention to getting some dinner. We decided to pick up some steamed shrimp, salad fixings, and eat at Audrey's. It turned out to be a great choice.
   The next morning I was up early for the drive to Wanchese, stopping at the 7-11 for a breakfast muffin, coffee, and a sandwich for lunch. We left the dock at 6:00am and headed northeast out of Oregon Inlet. It was a two hour run to get to the area where the storm-petrels might be found. We did find some flocks of Wilson's Storm-Petrels and the occasional Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, and some Cory's and Great Shearwaters (photo) on the water. We had good looks at a Minke Whale. But during the whole day we never got a glimmer of the target species, although Brian did his very best to make it happen. We did catch and release a spearfish and hoisted the billfish flag to trumpet that fact. Plus we hooked another, but lost it. Back on shore Chris Hitt, he of the lower 48 big year who was also on the boat, suggested eating at Basnights on the causeway. It sounded like a great idea, so I picked up Joyce and met Chris there. We had a marvelous meal.
      The next day was very similar to the first day with not a sniff of the white-faced guy. We did catch a big Mahi-mahi which splattered me with blood since I was holding the ice chest open while the gaffed fish was brought onboard.
      On Sunday I decided that it would squeeze the schedule too much if in fact I did the third pelagic trip. So I slept in, had some breakfast, and rode back to Norfolk with Joyce driving while I worked on the to-do list to get ready to go to Alaska. When we got back to our house, I started assembling the items on the list and had it all packed up by the time I went to bed. Tomorrow I have an early flight to Victoria BC where I hope to add the Skylark to the year's list. The pelagics did not add any new birds to the list so the total remains at 690. And by the way Chris called to say that Sunday's trip also did not turn up the White-faced Storm-Petrel.

No Gray Partridge

2010-08-18T09:33:00.001-04:00

We drove east to Wells NV where we had breakfast in a brothel. I didn't know that Nevada had legalized brothels a while back. Once alerted to this fact I then understood the billboards advertising various "ranches" that heretofore I assumed were dude ranches (web photo). After breakfast, which by the way was the worst meal I've had all year, we followed the directions we had been given yesterday and ended up at Angel Creek SP, a nice smallish camping area, but no partridges were there. Neither were they in the agricultural areas to the south. So back to Elko where we packed up and drove nearly non-stop to the Sacremento CA airport. John and I parted ways, since his flight wasn't until tomorro morning. My flight, however, was a red-eye,. I chose this flight because it gave us an extra morning's birding should we have needed it for the snowcock and it got me home in time to drive down to NC for pelagic birding. For my flight I was a little early (about three hours!) so I used the free wifi offered at the airport. It's a nice service and allows travelers access to the web. The flight boarded and departed on time.

Himalayan Snowcock II

2010-08-17T23:17:00.000-04:00

To have any chance of seeing the snowcock (web photo) required that we leave the motel at 3:00am, so we could start the climb up the hill to Island Lake at 4:00am, and arrive at the lake at 5:00am well before sunrise. Island Lake is in Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains south of Elko. This is the most convenient place to try to see the snowcock, an introduced bird from Asia that loves to live at excedingly rugged high altitudes. It was cold when we started up the hill. It took about an hour to make it to the lake during which time my flashlight faded out. At the lake we hiked up a little higher to put ourselves on a bench where we could observe the scree slopes and the rim of the cirque. When the sun began to light up the rim and we hadn't heard anything, I began to get that uncomfortable feeling. John wandered off up the hill and came back shortly to say he had heard a sound and turned to see two large birds drop off the rim and fly around the corner out of view. John had seen two snowcocks, but not very well. But I hadn't seen or heard any! Then we both heard a far off call from a snowcock probably on the next ridge. So at least I had heard it. By then I had moved up the hill where I could hear much better away from the stream. I turned to investigate a sound that sounded like fussing Northern Flickers and was surprised to find two large birds flying toward me. They were snowcocks. They flew up the hill, passing John by only a hundred feet or so. With such a close sighting of a difficult lifebird it was very easy going down the trail and back to the car. Motoring back into town, we had a nice breakfast and spent the rest of the afternoon north of Elko looking for Gray Partridges which we didn't find. When we got back to town, we stopped in at a store where we had received birding advice last June. We wanted to see if there was some new info on the partridge, and we did get a location to try tomorrow morning. Our dinner location was a basque restaurant which served us family style. The snowcock was lifebird #4, ABA bird # 759, and year bird #690.

Willow Lake CA

2010-08-16T20:12:00.007-04:00

For some time now one or more Yellow Rails have been calling from the end of Willow Lake near Chester CA. This morning John and I decided to try and hear it call for us. It took almost two hours to get to the lake from Red Bluff CA where we had overnighted. The web directions were very good, but the last part of the route into the lake was a bit bumpy and narrow. We parked and walked out along the lake edge to where the rail was known to call. We worked the area for over two hours but we couldn't get any action. John did, however, see something clamber over a treefall at the water's edge, but the sighting was so brief that no id was possible. So we drove back into Chester where we had lunch and then put the pedal to the metal in the direction of Elko NV for our second try at the Himalayan Snowcock. Last June we tried, but failed to even hear a snowcock. This time we hoped for better. We arrived in Elko at dusk and checked in at the Motel 6. We had a nice dinner at one of the casinos nearby. Then we set the alarm for 2:45am and retired.

Ft Bragg CA Pelagic II

2010-08-15T00:30:00.003-04:00

It was incredibly calm this morning when we all boarded our Shearwater Journey's boat, the Telstar, at the harbor in Ft. Bragg. There were several passengers that had also been on the Friday trip, but also some new ones aa well. It was good to see some friends for the first time in a long time. Scott Tirrell and Peter Pyle were two of the leaders onboard. Jen Fowler and her brother were aboard. She was the caretaker of the nightingale-thrush in SD and was in CA for her brother's wedding next Friday. Our course today was almost due south after we left the inlet. We encountered numbers of Cassin's Auklets and a pair of Marbled Murrelets before we had gone very far. We saw many of the birds we had seen on Friday. However, we did add a new one....Hawaiian Petrel, which was a lifebird for me and definitely a new bird for the year (#689). (Photos of my lifer are courtesy of Todd McGrath) The petrel approached the boat from the stern, made a turn, went around the back of the boat, and along the starboard side. Everyone got great looks at this rarity. Later we got to see an immature Franklin's Gull, a good bird for CA just as it's a good bird for VA. Again today there were good numbers of Sabine's Gulls, Buller's Shearwaters, and Long-tailed Jaegers. We also saw a South Polar Skua. When we got back to port, John and I quickly headed for the car and went to the nearrby Starbucks for a take-away coffee and snack. We drove 200 miles across the coastal range and up I-5 to Red Bluff where we got a motel. We're positioned for a run tomorrow morning for the Yellow Rail that has been calling at Willow Lake.

A Day of Rest

2010-08-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

Slept late this morning and dined on the breakfast offered by the motel. In late morning we drove to a state park on the beach a few miles north of Ft. Bragg. It turned out to be a gem. It had good access to the beach and the rocky islets just off-shore. We studied gulls and noted a few rock birds like Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher. The three Pacific cormorants were there plus lots of Harbor Seals with pups. After the beach walk, we discovered a trail that circled a freshwater pond. The new habitat added birds to our day's list. It's hard to get used to seeing Steller's Jay and Pygmy Nuthatch at sea level. That's what moving several hundred miles north does. On the way back to the motel we picked up lunch both for today and for tomorrow's boat trip. I struggled through the Card's loss to the Cubs. Carpenter gave up two homers and that was the ballgame. I've posted a couple of images from yesterday's boat trip. The first is of Common Murres with young. Supposedly it's the males that care for the young at sea, so this image includes two such pairings. The young birds can be confused with murrelets, but since they seem always to be with an adult, it shouldn't really be a problem. The second image is that of one of several flocks of Sabine's Gulls that passed the boat. These were all adults. The young birds will be along later.