Yellow-legged Gull

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.