Connecticut Warbler

The alarm went off at 5:00am right on schedule.  It took a little effort, but we all made it up and out in relattively little time.  We returned to the area where yesterday we cruised listening for Connecticut Warbler with no luck.  We hoped that today would be differennt.  For the first hour or so it was the same - no warbler.  However, we revisited our first place of the morning and this time the warbler sang.  We actually got to see it pretty well (web photo).  Buoyed by this success we visited a boggy spot which supposedly holds Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, but we couldn't find one.  After breakfast we tried a couple of other spots with similar success.  At Seney NWR we walked the nature trail and checked with the staff about sightings of the flycatcher and the Yellow Rail.  We checked into a nearby motel, snoozed a bit, and got ready for dinner.  The restaurant was one-third of a building, the other parts being a bank and the post office.  It took awhile, but we didn't have anywhere to go really.  After dinner, we drove some roads but the sun was in our eyes most of the way so we gave it up and went to Seney where we drove the wildlife loop again, clicking rocks for the Yellow Rail.  No rail responded, so we went back to the motel and crashed.  Tomorrow we look for the Spruce Grouse.

A Good Day in Michigan

It was an early start, about 5:00am to be inexact.  The four of us (Dave, Calvin, John, and I) assembled at the car ready for Calvin to show us the birds we needed in the Grayling area.  We made a quick stop for coffee and rolls.  The first target was the Kirtland's Warbler (web photo) which we found near Stephan Bridge Rd, the location where I saw my lifer over forty years ago.  Today we heard as many as 8 of these splendid birds in a christmas tree-like forest of jack pine.  We got excellent looks at a couple of the birds including one that teed up in a dead snag.  Then it was on to the Fletcher grassland where we had no more than stepped out of the car when we heard both Upland Sandpiper and Clay-colored Sparrow.  We had a nice walk around the grassland with many Vesper Sparrows and Field Sparrows singing.  As we were leaving the area traveling down a wooded two-track, Dave saw a young grouse scamper across the road.  We all piled out and I managed to flush the mama grouse, giving me a catchup bird as a bonus.  I celebrated by buying a round of coffee at McDonalds from where we headed back to Calvin's house.  Since Calvin remembered several thngs he had to do, he decided to stay behind while the three of us went on to the Upper Peninsula.  On to the north and over the Mackinack Bridge we entered the UP.  We reconnoitered the sites we would hit first thing tomorrow morning and headed to Paradise where we booked into Curly's Motel.  We cleaned up and went to dinner at Brown's Fish House where we all had the whitefish which was excellent.  Energized, we drove west to Seney NWR where we drove he wildlife loop twice, the second time in earnest as darkness fell in hopes of hearing Yellow Rail.  With the wind blowing a little too much, we didn't hear the rail  We'll have to try again tomorrow night.  We left the refuge at 11pm, drove back to Paradise, and hit the hay around 12:15am, having set the alarm for 5:00am to get an early start tomorrow.  The four new birds raised the total to 647.

We're in Michigan

More air travel.  Remember when flying used to be exciting and fun?  Maybe not, huh.  My two flights on Delta were a little tight.  Flying to Atlanta to fly to Detroit doesn't make sense except to the airline.  On both flights I was near the back of the plane.  Slept a bit.  Starved some.  Did one puzzle.  Finally arrived and called John's cellphone since he arrived earlier than I did.  After a couple more phone calls, we got together outside the terminal and I called Dave Johnson who had agreed to pick us up at the airport and haul us around for the week we would be in Michigan.  We headed straight away for Waterloo SRA where I had been given a location for Henslow's Sparrow by Allen Chartier.  When we drove up to the parking lot near the church, the wind was blowing.  Out of the car I thought I heard the call, but we needed to get a bit closer.  We waded into the mixed grass and the call became more distinct.  John played the call and the bird came zipping right in.  Once again I had left the camera in the car in my haste to get to the bird, so the image is a web photo.  From there we went to a couple of sites for Blue-winged Warbler, but they had grown up and we got no action.  At the last place Dave suggested we move down the road which looked a little more open.  We did and after a few minutes, a beautiful male Blue-winged Warbler came in.  To celebrate we went to McDonalds where I got a large coffee.  Fully satisfied we headed north to Grayliing where we will be staying with Calvin and Charlene Brennan tonight.  Tomorrow we go to look for the Kirtland's Warbler and a few other new birds.  Today's two new birds brought the total to 643.

Home, Briefly

Yes, I did get home! From Dallas at about 12:15pm today. Joyce picked me up at the airport, after buying a new patio furniture set, and we went back to the house where I haven’t been for exactly a month. I spent the day reorganizing for the trip to Michigan tomorrow, made a few arrangements for the Arizona trip to follow, and tried to keep track of the Cardinals game (they lost badly!). Joyce fixed a lovely fish dinner and we took a walk around the yard. It was still quite warm at 7:30pm. I tried to work the NY Times crossword, but my eyelids wouldn’t stay open. Even with Sunday night baseball on TV I couldn’t stay awake. I faded at about 9pm after setting the alarm for 4:30am so I could get to the airport and catch my early flight to Detroit.

I Didn't Get Home today

I'm writing this posting from Dallas.  That's as close to home as I could get.  And how did that happen, you ask?  Well, pull up a chair and I'll tell you.  As you'll recall John left for the airport to catch an early flight home.  When I arose, I showered, packed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and checked out of our motel.  I found out the way to get to the car rental return.  I needed to get the car back to Budget at the time I had said I would.  Remember, they threatened to penalize me if I returned the car early.  Specifics of the penalty weren't available, however.  I dropped it off right on time.  I hauled my stuff up to the airtrain and took it around to the American Airlines terminal where I found that American had cancelled a 9:30 flight and a couple hundred people were trying to rebook.  When I snaked my way to the check-in kiosk, I discovered that my flight had been moved up an hour and a half!!!  And my seat had already been given away.  As far as I'm aware, I never got any notification of this huge time change from either American or Travelocity.  BTW our motel reservation for last night was made through Travelocity.  The motel had no record of the reservation.  The motel staff worked hard to make certain there wouldn't be a double credit card charge. Anyway after learning the not-so-good news, I was directed to that other line with all the people rebooking.  Eventually I made it up to the counter and was told that I wouldn't get home tonight and I'd have to go standby which is what I did.  To do so I had to check my bag which would make the next flight even if I didn't, which is exactly what happened.  So American bumped me up to the next Dallas flight as a standby.  I waited two hours until the next flight boarded and thankfully I made that flight as a standby.  Nice flight to Dallas where I picked up my bag that beat me to Dallas by two hours and hauled it to a ticket counter nearby.  I was placed on the first Norfolk flight tomorrow (as the first standby) and received a sort-of boarding pass with no seat assignment.  But I had to wait until tomorrow to check my bag.  The agent then offered to arrange a Super 8 motel room for me at a low rate and she called their courtesy van to come get me.  I thanked them, but I had to wait more than half and hour for the van, but then I found out why - it took about that time to return to the motel.  The Cards won today and the USA soccer team didn't.  No new birds.  I hope I write the next blog from Norfolk.

Offshore from Monterey

Monterey is a well-known Calfiornia location to many people.  Certainly golf tournaments at Pebble Beach is one such reason.  But to birdwatchers it is the chance to go offshore on one of Debi Shearwater's many birdwatching pelagic trips.  Today John and I were on such a trip.  Greg Miller, one of the big year trio from a few years back, was also on board.  I had a nice chat with him about our hits and misses.  He was very encouraging about our chances of ending up with a good year's list.  Our current pace is ahead of his during his big year.  The boat ended up about 30 miles offshore where we reached the 1500 fathom line and some warmer water.  At the start of the trip in the harbor we had many Brandt's Cormorants (some on nests), Heerman's Gulls, plenty of Western Gulls, and Pigeon Guillemots.  A few of those cute Sea Otters, too.  Along the way out we saw several Black-footed Albatrosses (photo), Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, Northern Fulmars, Cassin's and Rhonoceros Auklets, Xantu's Murrelets. and couple Common Murres.  We also saw Fin and Humpback Whales, Northern Right-whales, Risso's, and Pacific Whitesided Dolphins, and Doll's Porpoise.  But the highlight for us occurred when a succession of three South Polar Skuas arrived at the boat, all of whom had missing primaries (photo).  At times all three were in view at once.  The boat ride back to port brought more auklets and a nice string of Sooty Shearwaters working the submarine canyon at the mouth of Monterey Bay.  Once on shore we found our car and pointed it toward San Francisco airport where our motel for the night was located.  Dinner was at an IHOP next door.  Tomorrow John and fly home but at different times.  The skua brought the list total to 641.

Bears Can Move

We drove from Fresno up into Sequoia NP to see the giant redwoods.  There are two redwoods: the coastal redwood (sequoia sempervirens) which we saw during our visit to the north coast of California  - one is the tallest tree on earth; and the giant redwoods (sequoia gigantea) which are bulkier although also quite tall.  There are several groves of these giants in the park and we saw many good examples.  We also walked a trail in the are near the General Sherman tree.  During that walk we spotted a Black Bear (really cinnamon colored) munching on aquatic vegetation in a meadow (photo).  We kept walking along the trail above the meadow until we were quite near to the bear.  I took some pictures.  Finally the bear noticed us and raced out of the water and up the slope ahead of us.  At that point he wasn't sure what we were, and since we were downwind from him, he couldn't smell us.  So he came closer for a better smell (photo).  And closer.  And closer.  At that point we slowly backed away until we were out of his sight.  He didn't follow any closer and we were relieved.  We visited the Sherman tree along with a large number of other people.  Finally it was time to leave the mountains without so much as a sniffle from any grouse.  However, construction again slowed our progress and it took a long time to get out of the park.  We set the gps for Monterey since we are scheduled to go on a pelagic trip there tomorrow.  We checked in to the motel I had reserved on line only to find that a Motel 6 was right down the street, a veritable motel row.  We drove to the waterfront and checked out the location of the parking lot and boat area for tomorrow.  We found a grocery for supplies.  Then it was time for a wonderful meal on Fisherman's Wharf.  No new birds today.  Off to bed for a good night's sleep.