Category Archives: life bird

Anniversary Birds

Friday would have been our 54th anniversary so while it was a bittersweet day, I decided to start it off with some birding at San Eligo Lagoon, one of my favorite spots in the area. Penny and I hopped into the van and ventured into the maelstrom of traffic called “the Five.” It’s always busy and even though my trip was only about six miles, it got my heart rate up. I think the Vermont plates and white RV stir up the juices in drivers already juiced up on caffeine or whatever.

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I’ve only birded here in winter and was not prepared for the many dog walkers who use the trails at the refuge. I spent as much time watching for dogs as I did birds, and Penny was her usual obnoxious self with most of the dogs we encountered.

I use the Birdseye app to check locations for recent sightings, especially stuff that I have never seen, and I had three birds on my target list. I got the first one, a Black-headed Grosbeak, in the first five minutes. The lighting was poor and branches screwed up the focus but I got the darn thing.

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Another recently-sighted bird that I hoped to find was a Ridgeway’s Rail. I’m used to furtive rails that are almost impossible to see but this guy was right out on the mud flat, oblivious to me across the estuary. These are on the Federal endangered species list.

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This bird is not in most bird books — it was a recent split formerly being the Clapper Rail. I did a little research and found this about Ridgeway:

So, who was Ridgway, and why did he earn a rail? Robert Ridgway was a giant of late 19th and early 20th century American ornithology. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution for 55 years, 43 of them as Curator of Birds. He was also a founding member of the AOU and later its president, and during his lifetime he described more new taxa of American birds than anyone else, among them the nominate subspecies of the rail that now bears his name. Ridgway’s taxonomic judgments overall have stood the test of time so well that some modern ornithologists still say, only half-jokingly, that rule #1 is: Ridgway was right.  by Dave Quady on Golden Gate Birder

The other bird I was looking for was an Elegant Tern. I figured I had to get closer to the ocean so I moved the van to the other entrance to the Lagoon and walked down the dusty trails. There were no dog walkers around and we were enjoying a nice California morning with lots of sparrows, wrens, hummingbirds, and bushtits. After a while, I saw a tern way off and got him in the binoculars, willed him to fly towards me and sure enough he did. As he passed I could see the long black crest that goes down the nape and heard the call as he departed. No time for camera work, I was just glad to get such a good look.

It was a good morning on a tough day.

Birding a bit in Wyoming

I never thought that the Black-billed Magpie, a life bird I picked up in Minnesota, would become a noisy pest but that’s sort of the way they are in Wyoming. I first saw three or four at the fishing access before I hit the mountains. Here in Jackson Hole they are everywhere – flamboyant and loud. Here’s one of many on my niece’s front lawn.

I saw this wind-blown White-crowned Sparrow at the fishing access area.

I got several new life birds here in Jackson. Walking Penny, I spotted a Golden Eagle far off lumbering away from some blackbirds. The following day, I got a closer look in the morning sun but did not have a camera.

I did have a camera for this Broad-tailed Hummingbird perched nearby the house. It was a lifer and turns out to be rather common. You can hear them coming.

This crow seemed to want to pose the other day as we walked close by.

One of the birds that locals could do without is the Eurasian-Collared dove that we see in Texas. Like magpies, they are pretty the first time.

Sunday morning I saw and heard a Dusky Flycatcher, a life bird, which was camera-shy.

The birding here is good and there are a number of species that I’d like to see. The foliage is heavy in the Cottonwood areas and many places ban dogs. I do hope to see a Violet-green Swallow before I head out. With sunny skies, breezes, and no bugs it’s a nice place to be outside birding. You can see why folks love it here.

A Few South Dakota Birds

The campground at Boysen State Park in South Dakota was nearly vacant in the middle of the week and I chose a shaded spot under a large Cottonwood on the edge of the lake. It was 90 degrees and not terribly comfortable but soon I found that I had two nesting bird families right above the Airstream. The parents and babies made quite a racket.

The first pair I saw was two Western Kingbirds.

Then I found the nest for two Bullocks Orioles – only about ten feet above my roof. The nest was well hidden but reminded me of our Baltimore Orioles nests. I couldn’t get the male to sit still but got his mate.

Penny and I took several bird walks as the temperature dropped. Ringed-billed Gulls were all over the place.

As were Lark Sparrows.

As I approached the end of the area, I saw this Western Grebe way out on the bay. It was actively fishing which means diving just as you find it in the lens finder. It was not a life bird but one of the few I have seen.

Lastly, I came upon this bird which I can’t identify. I suspect it is a female but perhaps one of my better birder friends can help out.

The park, which is a bit ugly, dusty, and unkempt, turned out to be a nice birding spot. You never know.

A Couple of Life Birds

I had just pulled in Juniper Campground at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, selected s site, and walked with Penny back to register. Coming back I met a couple of birders from Minnesota who were just starting out on a short walk themselves. As I walked into my campsite, two birds flew in low, perched and then flew back into the underbrush. One had a lot of blue so I called to the birders and they joined me. I had one in the binoculars, was trying to sort it out, when Penny yanked at her leash, and I lost the bird. Meanwhile, we were joined by an experienced friend of theirs and the three of us studied the female. Combining our observations, we decided we had seen two Lazuli Buntings. A life bird but not as well-seen as I would have liked. Well, I fixed that the next morning when I saw several more and got this photo of one feeding.

That next morning was a great outing – just dozens of birds singing and cavorting. I found these two Northern Flickers doing some sort of courtship routine, stretching their necks up into the air, one after the other.

I then heard, then saw two Western Kingbirds gathering food for their brood. I thought I had already logged these but no, it was also a lifer. (There are many Eastern Kingbirds out here- their range is nearly 2/3’s of the country.)

Then I saw a guy, a Common Nighthawk, sleeping right out in the open. I had seen him or a buddy flying overhead the night before and I left him undid turned to get some beauty sleep.

There are still many calls that I can’t sort out – but that’s part of learning. I continue to be entranced by the repertoire of the Western Meadowlark. What a happy bird – just what I need from time to time.

The Right Place at the Right Time

If you read my last post about searching for the Great Grey Owl, here’s “the rest of the story.”

I had a nice trip across mostly prairie – I did not realize Minnesota had such terrain, and crossing through Grand Forks, North Dakota, an interesting city in its own right, I came to Turtle River State Park, located on the river of the same name.

I had literally just turned off Route 2 and saw some white on the river and thought they were American White Pelicans, some of which I’d seen earlier I the day. There was a convenient pull off on the access road and I spotted three swans. The weren’t Mute Swans, which we see in the East, they were Trumpeter Swans. A life bird just floating, grooming, and feeding there. Here are some shots I took:

The swans were gone the following morning, likely heading northward. Nice payback for the wild owl chase but just proves that timing and luck can be as important as birding skills.

Now, just because I thought she was really pretty, I ending with a picture of a doe that watched me drive by Saturday morning on a camp road. Just a nice way to start the day and she stayed out and returned to feeding as I drove off. I hope your weekend is going well.

Dipping On The Great Grey

When I began thinking about this trip, I noticed that I was heading up to Minnesota and as I often do, I jumped on a state birding listserve for a while. I kept running into references to the Sax-Zim bog which I had known about as a hotspot in the winter for Great Gray Owls. I got on their Facebook page and found that they were seeing a few this summer. So, I put a little jog in my route and Wednesday morning were heading through Duluth for some big tract of land. Google maps was very confidant but they put me, after miles of dirt roads, in someone’s front yard. There was no one there, no 4g signal, and two guys in pickups I asked had no idea what I was looking for. I had plenty of fuel, plenty of afternoon, and water and food onboard.

Retracing my route to the main highway, I tried to call up a post that named two roads where he had seen Great Greys last week. I found it just as I found one of the roads so off we trucked, scanning trees and driving. Right away, there was a large bird in the road – sort of ![title]()grackle-looking. I stopped, got the binoculars on it and bingo: a Black-billed Magpie. I tried to get a shot through the bug-splattered windshield and then maneuvered the van so I could shoot out the window but it flew. I took this long-distance shot for the record. It was a lifer for me. That was easy!

Soon, a car approached from behind moving right along so I pulled way over and as he passed, a passenger gave a wave. “Looks like a birder,” I thought and tailed them from a distance on the dirt road. They pulled off in a grassy parking spot and were unloading when I came by and asked what’s up. In a nutshell, it was a guide from Duluth with two clients from Georgia who were after Black-backed Woodpeckers. Once I explained my ignorance of the area, he gave me his map, guidance on what roads to take, and to do it in the morning. I was so impressed with this guy, apologized to the Georgians for taking a bit of his time, and I was cautiously optimistic.

I drove the hour and fifteen minutes to the campground which is on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River. Here’s the lovely backwater for the dam.

As you can tell from the title, I drove back early Thursday morning and drove roads back and forth. I may have driven by one, who knows. It was a lovely day in some pretty special country – it reminds me of the Tug Hill Plateau in upper New York State. There were lots of birds out and I wasn’t really disappointed – how could you be on such a lovely day.

Meanwhile, flotillas of Canada Geese were on the river when I returned. Here is one gaggle. Off to North Dakota next.

“f/8 and be there”

Sometimes you just have to be present with a camera and neat things can happen. That was my experience with getting a Painted Bunting for life bird #440. (I realize that the total is not that impressive but I’ve only been at this for about seven years.)

The last two winters we were in Texas, there was a very reliable Painted Bunting at the Falfurrias Rest Stop on Highway 281 north of Edinburg, Texas. Day after day I’d see it reported on eBird but the one day that Mary and I went up to look for it, we scoured the place with no luck. Of course, someone saw it that day afterward.

This winter, a Painted Bunting was frequenting a feeder in mid-state Vermont and most of my birder friends got to see it. My time was tied up completely with Mary’s treatment and care and I never even thought about leaving to look for it.

When I got to the Skidway Island State Park in Georgia last week, I asked the ranger as I was checking in about whether they had any birders on their staff. He introduced a young woman who gave me a quick briefing and said, “You can probably see the Painted Bunting at the feeder in the morning. They are a little skittish but the love the millet seeds.”

I had picked the park since it was highly recommended by by brother and sister-in-law and was the right distance for the daily drive I was planning. I birded that evening and picked up a few new year birds for me, including a noisy but handsome Great Crested Flycatcher.

Up before dawn, I exercised the dog, grabbed a coffee, and went over to the nature center and picked one of the empty chairs. No one was around but Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, and a couple of cowbirds came and went. Only about fifteen minutes had gone by when suddenly from the underbrush, a Painted Bunting fly to the feeder. My camera was in my lap and I was so close that I didn’t want to spook him – but just then a noisy compressor from the building’s air conditioning system kicked in and off he flew. Well, I certainly saw him.

I adjusted the camera so that I could shoot when he came back but time went by, and I knew I had to pack up and do a rather long drive. Then, he was at the cage feeder and I took some photos, more for documentation than anything.

The cage screwed up the autofocus but there are plenty of good shots on the web.

The cage screwed up the autofocus but there are plenty of good shots on the web.

But not these two.

But not these two.

When he left, I did as well, very happy to get this pretty bird – and that success made the trip go well, to the point that I cancelled a reservation and drove nearly 12 hours to Pennsylvania, going from tropical temperatures and brightly colored birds to drizzle and a few damp Robins. It was a long but good day.

Florida Birds

I often tell folks that I don’t chase birds and generally that is correct. However, when I planned the 1500 mile trip to Florida to trade my truck in on an Airstream Interstate RV, I started to put a short target list together. I have never birded Florida so I wanted to grab a few of the common birds in the short time I would be there — I put a list of Limpkin, Wood Stork, and Florida Scrub Jay on a scrap of paper.

Well, the first early evening there, before the purchase was settled, I heard some sharp calling just outside the motel and got a new life bird of Nanday Parakeet. These are a lot like the Green Parakeets we see in Texas – the first time you see and hear them it is exciting, then it gets old pretty fast.

I had decided that if the transaction went ok, I’d stay in the area for a day or so. After a long Monday morning, I took possession of the new rig and drove about an hour over to Myakka River State Park and within an hour, was walking with the dog and finding two new life birds, Wood Storks and Limpkins.

 

Dozens of Limpkins and their young live in the park and are easy to spot as they forage.

Dozens of Limpkins and their young live in the park and are easy to spot as they forage.

There are many trails where in addition to birds, you might see opossum, alligators, raccoons, and plenty of squirrels. 

There are many trails where in addition to birds, you might see opossum, alligators, raccoons, and plenty of squirrels.

The next morning, we got up early and walked down to a fishing access area which was teeming with birds. Hundreds of Black Vultures (wait for a later post) were interesting to Penny but I found a new life bird foraging. I have seen many Common Gallinules but have never seen a Purple Gallinule. It was neat to see them on the same morning and note the very apparent difference.

Purple Gallinules are pretty striking looking birds.

Purple Gallinules are pretty striking looking birds.

 

This White Ibis was pretty showy in the early morning light.

This White Ibis was pretty showy in the early morning light.

So we packed up and headed out about 8 AM with four new life birds, in less than a day. Then, as the day’s fortune continued, I saw another life bird, a Swallow-tail Kite, right overhead as I drove up I-75. About a half hour later, I saw another one low over the road. They are tough to miss — lovely birds — and a nice bookend to a short Florida birding stop.

Del Mar Neighborhood Birds

We are in California for a few days seeing our son Robb and his family. What a nice change from the barren “stick season” of Vermont; we awoke early the first morning due to the time change to birdsong and rose bushes in bloom. I have taken some morning walks and while I think it is unusual to have a guy walking around the neighborhood with binoculars and a camera, only one person stopped to ask what I was looking at.

Del Mar is a bedroom community north of San Diego with tropical plantings and lots of birds.

Del Mar is a bedroom community north of San Diego with tropical plantings and lots of birds.

There are hundreds of hummingbirds flitting around — I think most are Anna’s but I did see an Allen’s bronzed back the other morning.

This young Anna's (I think) flew in a perched in the shade of a picture. I was only ten feet away.

This young Anna’s (I think) flew in a perched in the shade of a picture. I was only ten feet away.

Two days ago, I came across a kingbird doing its flycatcher routine, returning to a nearby wire. I took a few shots with little success but thought I had a Western Kingbird. In reviewing eBird reports and my photos, I realized that it was a Cassin’s Kingbird — fairly common here but a life bird for me.

The lighting on this photo is poor but the field marks are clear in some others.

The lighting on this photo is poor but the field marks are clear in some others.

I had a bit of trouble identifying one of the common birds here this time of year: Black Phoebe. I’ve seen a few before but they were always on low branches, doing their bug-catching routine. Here, they perch at the top of conifers, come down to the swimming pool for lunch, and work from rooftops and chimneys.

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Western Scrub-Jays are noisy and I suspect, pests at time. Here’s one I saw yesterday morning working up in a palm tree, oblivious to my presence (or just ignoring it.)Scrub-jayW

Some of the other birds I’ve seen in this built-up area are: American Kestrel, all sorts of warblers including a Townsend’s Warbler (Life Bird), and dozens of House Finches. This White-crowned Sparrow posed nicely for me on yesterday’s walk.WCSparrowW

I’m not doing a lot of serious birding here, spending more time with the grandkids and just enjoying summer-like temperatures. I have seen some nice ducks and waterfowl and will put together another post in the next day or two. Then back to New England and the reality of November.

 

The Kindness of Birders

A “boreal grand slam” in Vermont, and perhaps elsewhere, is to see the four boreal species (Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Spruce Grouse, and Black-backed Woodpecker) on one birding outing. Or for others like me, it’s to get them as life birds, period.

I had seen, quite some time ago, Gray Jays and a cooperative Spruce Grouse but had never seen the other two species. Monday, I hoped to remedy that with a trip to the Northeast Kingdom with my faithful hound.

It is about a 1 plus 45 trip to the Victory Wildlife Management Area but it was a beautiful drive – trees showing red buds, some patches of snow, warm temperatures. The dirt road into Victory was in great shape with no traffic and I could hear Winter Wrens, Blue-headed Vireos, and Black-capped Chickadees as we cruised in with the windows down. Did I say that it is too early for bugs — which are treacherous in later spring.

Our destination was a pipeline crossing which had recently been described by a local birder, Tom Berriman of Lyndonville, as one of the good spots for Black-backed Woodpeckers. He wrote on the list serve that they had paired up and building nests and included a digiscoped video of one at work.

I had never met Tom but “know” him through postings, Facebook, and his great photos on the NEK Audubon page. When I got to the crossing, sure enough, his truck was there. Penny and I trekked in for about a half mile when way up ahead, returning, was this guy with a telescope slung over his shoulder. I watched a young Red-tailed Hawk thermal as I waited for him. I knew it was him and he recognized me, from having Penny on a leash, as we shook hands and talked for a bit. It had been a quiet morning for him as well.

When I mentioned that I was looking for a Black-backed Woodpecker he immediately said, “Do you want me to take you to where I saw the two yesterday?” I thought that he was going to give me good directions but as we walked back to our trucks, it became evident that he wanted to take me there.

So, after shedding some layers (it was getting warm), we walked in on an adjacent gated jeep trail quietly talking about all sort of topics and listening for drumming. He has better hearing than I do, or recognizes the light tapping of the Black-backed, and he heard a couple that were off a ways. Soon, we got to the spot where he had seen them.

After a short wait, he motioned and we moved into the woods a bit, through tangles and dead trees (I had Penny on a leash which got tangled here and there) he pointed and climbing a spruce tree was a female Black-backed Woodpecker. I got a great look but no photo with the trees and dog to deal with. She flew shortly and that was it.

Female Black-backed Woodpecker. Photo credit to sfitzgerald86

Female Black-backed Woodpecker. Photo credit to sfitzgerald86.

As we waited a bit, I asked Tom how he knew she was there. “I heard some light tapping,” he said. I would have likely walked right by the bird.

He’d been tramping for four hours or so but still went out of his way to walk another half mile or so to guide me to this life bird. It is an example of his hospitality – he’s well-known and respected for taking birders to his favorite spots – but also of the kindness that I have found in the birding community here and in other states. It is a wonderful aspect and one more reason why birding can be so rewarding. Thank you Tom for life bird #428.