Flight Log

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T17:25:00.002-05:00

It's December 31th, which means it's time for another recap of my past year birding. It was an excellent year, bird-wise, and I saw 318 species (255 ABA), and got exactly 80 lifers-- 60 in Europe, 20 in the U.S.

Long-eared Owl

I started the year off with a miss- Pennsylvania's first Anna's Hummingbird wouldn't show on the 2nd of January. I recovered fairly quickly, though, and finally saw my nemesis- the Horned Grebe, and an even better bird, the Long-eared Owl, at Greenwich Point in Connecticut a few weeks later. January went out with a bang, when I participated in the Superbowl of Birding, in Essex County, MA, seeing 72 species, 4 lifers, and having a lot of fun.

Eider at the Superbowl

February was fairly quiet, but I did manage to track down some of the irrupting Common Redpolls in Connecticut. March, on the other hand, found me birding near Orlando, Florida, with such goodies as Short-tailed Hawk, Snail Kite, and Limpkin. I ended the month on a pelagic trip out of Freeport, with Razorbills aplenty and my lifer Glaucous Gull.

Limpkin

April was a good month for migration, and I saw lots of warblers at local spots such as Glenwood Lake, Marshlands Conservancy, NY Botantical Gardens (where I saw a Prothonotary Warbler), and Central Park (including Hooded Warbler and Red-headed Woodpecker).

The real good migration birding was, of course, in May, and I visited three of the best migration spots on the East Coast: Central Park, Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, and Cape May. In all, I saw or heard 29 species of warblers in May, including 20 in a single day in Central Park. In Mount Auburn, I saw my life Black-billed Cuckoo and my first ABA Wilson's Warbler, among scores of other birds. The real highlight of the month, however, was the World Series of Birding. I captained a team, the Vagrants, and we had a caffeine-and-insanity-fueled big day in Cape May, netting 134 species. If that wasn't enough, my teammate Lewis Lolya, his father, and I did the same thing again the next weekend, but in New York, seeing 120 species, including my life Red-necked Phalarope.

The World Series of Birding

In June I didn't do as much birding, but did manage to get two nice grassland lifers in Connecticut- Upland Sandpiper and Grasshopper Sparrow. July was similarly low-key bird-wise, but I did conduct a research project with the Bronx Zoo Ornithology Department about invasive trees and their impact on birds (spoiler alert: they don't help, and they could hurt somewhat, according to my data).

Roseate Tern (left)

August, on the other hand, was packed with birding. A whalewatch at the start of the month got me my life Manx Shearwater, a trip to Plymouth Beach the next day was highlighted by Roseate Tern, and my second annual Big Day by Bike in Marshfield and Duxbury was a huge success, beating last year's total 76 to 68, including a rare-for-Massachusetts Royal Tern. Towards the end of the month, my family traveled to Paris and Asturias, in Northern Spain. The birds were good, and included my 500th lifer, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, White-throated Dipper, Alpine Chough, Eurasian Curlew, Long-tailed Tit, and Booted Eagle.

Dipper

The fall was much slower paced, as I missed a fair amount of migrations (and hurricane Irene) while in Europe, and was also in school again. A few visits to the Greenwich Hawkwatch in September resulted in plenty of hawks, and some warblers too. In October the story was about the same, though I did see some nice migrants, such as a Lincoln's Sparrow at marshlands. I chased a Calliope-turned-rufous hummingbird in Pawcatuck, CT, but missed. I also began to blog for the ABA Young birder blog, the Eyrie. November was highlighted by two chases: a Rufous Hummingbird at the Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers was my first lifer since August, and I saw firsthand the Snowy Owl irruption this winter, with a nice snowy at Duxbury Beach. While getting the snowy, I also saw some first-of-season winter seabirds, including a Black Guillemot, and lots of ducks, loons, cormerants, etc.

Allegedly a photo of a bird, if so, this is a Rufous Hummingbird

Finally, in December, I participated in the Greenwich Christmas Bird Count, which was productive, if occasionally somewhat bird-sparse. I did find my last new bird for my year list, a Green-winged Teal. And last weekend, I headed back out on Duxbury Beach to find another (or the same) Snowy Owl, getting excellent looks while it ate.

Normally I would do a big "Top 10 birds of the year" post, but that seems a bit excessive to have 2 year end posts, so here it is:

#1-Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture
Snail Kite
White-throated Dipper
Egyptian Vulture
Long-eared Owl
Eurasian Curlew
Alpine Chough
Booted Eagle
Thick-billed Murre
Upland Sandpiper

Honorable Mentions: Long-tailed Tit, Short-tailed Hawk, Alpine Accentor

Looking ahead to 2012, there seems to be a potentially fantastic year of birding in store for me. In the short term, I am going to be in Pennsylvania tomorrow and the next day, hopefully tracking down the Green-tailed Towhee in the area to start off the new year. More distantly, I have two awesome trips planned: in February I am going to the Yucatan Peninsula, and in July/August I am attending Camp Chirichuaua in Southeast Arizona. It should be a fun year overall, especially given that in March I can drive, which should improve my birding opportunities locally.

Happy New Year!

Bird Songs, Human Words

2011-12-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

My first post for the ABA Young Birder Blog, The Eyrie, was published today. It's about birds in poetry. Check it out at http://birding.typepad.com/youngbirders/2011/12/bird-songs-human-words.html, and feel free to comment.

Good Birds!

2011-12-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

After a fairly low-bird late October and early November, the past few weekends I my luck has turned, and I've seen some really cool birds.

The first was two weeks ago, when I decided to chase the young female Rufous Hummingbird that has been hanging around at feeders at the Lenoir Preserve, just 15 minutes from my house. My dad and I headed over to the preserve, arrived that the garden where it had been seen, and within five minutes the bird showed up, drinking sugar water at the feeders and feeding at pineapple sage flowers as well. We got great looks at my first lifer since August, making this my first ever successful hummingbird chase (after the miss of a different Rufous in Connecticut a few weeks earlier, and the miserable failure of an Anna's Hummingbird chase last winter in Pennsylvania).

Then last weekend, I headed up to Watertown, MA for Thanksgiving, and got a fair amount of birding time in. On Friday, I went to Fresh Pond, in Cambridge. I missed the Eastern Screech-Owl that nests there, but saw lots of waterfowl- Common and Hooded Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Canvasbacks, American Coots, and Pied-billed Grebes.

Ring-necked Duck

On Saturday my extended family all headed down to Green Harbor, on the south shore of Massachusetts, to visit my Grandma. While we were waiting for lunch at a the Venus II Restaurant, I headed across the street to the water, and quickly found many common (and less common) New England wintering birds. There was an out-of-place and cold looking Great Blue Heron perched on Brant Rock, alongside Dunlin and Sanderlings, and in the water were Common Eiders, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Red-throated Loons, Great Cormorants, and many Red-breasted Mergansers. Best of all, a small, whitish bird with a distinctly white patch on the wings buzzed by-- a Black Guillemot. A quick stop by my beach house, after lunch netted me a few more winter waterbirds, including Common Loon, Bufflehead, and Bonaparte's Gull.

The real birding target of the trip was a bird that everybody in my family was at least somewhat interested in, so eleven of us piled into two cars and drove out along Duxbury Beach, scanning the dunes and marshes for the Snowy Owls that had been seen there recently. We reached the end of the beach having seen Black-bellied Plovers, lots of Bonaparte's Gulls, a few Great Cormorants, and even four seals, but no owl. On the way back, however, people in both cars similtaneously spotted a white shape in a distant part of the marsh. I jumped out of the car, raised my binoculars, and saw the white blob raise its head and look in my direction-- it was the owl! We all got good, if distant looks, before a few other birds stopped by and spotted the bird, and let us use their scope, which gave us quite good looks at a really excellent bird. Since this seems to be shaping up to be an "irruption year" for Snowy Owls, it seems possible that I will see more of them before the winter is out, which would be awesome.

And you thought the Rufous Hummingbird photo was bad...
You just have to use your imagination on this one.

I'm Blogging for the Eyrie!

2011-10-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

For the next year I am going to be one of the Student Editors of the ABA's (American Birding Association's) Young Birder Blog, The Eyrie. The Eyrie is a great blog, and it should be lots of fun. And no, I am not contractually obligated to write that last sentence. My bio/intro is up today-- http://birding.typepad.com/youngbirders/2011/10/introducing-eamon-corbett.html

I'm definitely still planning to post to this blog as often as I can. I haven't posted very much on here lately, mainly because I haven't seen many birds out there lately. Most of my recent birding has been out the window of my high school classes (Current year record: 8 species, Calc Class last Friday. All-time Record: 14 species, 9th Grade Spanish). I did chase the Calliope Hummingbird that was in a backyard in Pawcatuck, CT for a day, but I was unsucessful.

Europe 2011, Part Two- La Costa Verde

2011-09-29T18:48:00.000-04:00

An horrio, or grain storage shed, a common sight in Asturias

Ok, I finally have the time to write this, part 2 of my European trip. When I left off, I was leaving Paris to head to Asturias, in Northern Spain, sometimes referred to as the Costa Verde (green coast), because of its lush vegetation and rainy climate. Our plane was supposed to leave Paris at 10:30 and, after a brief stop in Madrid, arrive in Oviedo (the capital of Asturias) by 2:30. I am not going to relate all of the gory details, but suffice to say that we were all exhausted by the time we finally arrived at our hotel, at around midnight. So much for our first day of

Spain--

this would prove to be the only day all trip that I did not see a new bird. On the plus side, the owner of the hotel, Corte de Lugas, was very friendly, immediately going outside to fly the American flag to herald our arrival.

Day 1, Friday (8/26)- I wake up to the sound of birdsong. Internal monologue- "Huh, where am I?

Spain

, right? Definitely

Spain

. Birds. Birds!!" And I jumped out of bed and rushed to the window to view a spectacle of avifauna. There was a large cloud of swallows twittering overhead- all Barn Swallow and House Martins, as far as I could tell. Then a large, dark bird of prey flew by, harassed by swallows-- a Common Buzzard. A small flock of songbirds alighted in a tree long enough for me to identify them as European Goldfinches. A Common Magpie made a brief appearance, striking in black, white and blue. In the same tree as the goldfinches, two birds- one rather drab yellowish, with a supercillium and a nervous tail-twitch (Iberian Chiffchaff) and the other black and rufous with a silvery brow (Common Redstart). Additionally, there were Carrion Crows, Chaffinches, Robins, Blackcaps, and White Wagtails. That made 5 life birds without even leaving the hotel! Not a bad start at all.

After a very good breakfast at the hotel, our friend Jesus arrived, and we began our first day of sightseeing. Jesus lives in Asturias, and was a very good "tour guide" in showing us around the province. Our first stop was Rodilles Beach, which is at the mouth of the Rio Villaviciosa. At the beach, I spotted a Northern Wheatear hopping around in the dune grass. The really good birding came in the river, however, where there is a tidal estuary that creates excellent mudflats. It's a nature preserve, and apparently quite a good shorebirding spot, a fact that my experience strongly supports. We were going over a shore bridge that overlooks some flats, when I spotted a large group of shorebirds. We stopped, I got out of the car, and quickly spotted 4 life birds- Common Redshanks in abundance, a few Common Greenshanks, a Little Egret, and best of all, a couple of cool Eurasian Curlews.

Rodilles Beach

The game plan was to sight-see along the spectacularly scenic Asturian coast for the day. The next stop was at "bufones" region, where waves crashing on high rocky cliffs have carved out passages in the rock. This results in blowholes at the top of the cliffs, which make a roaring sound and spew spray. We also went to a couple of beautiful beaches, where we swam, and a few scenic seaside towns. In Llanes we got churros y chocolate, the delicious fried dough and melted chocolate snack that is a Spanish specialty. Along the way I picked up a few new birds, including Yellow-legged Gull and Stonechat, as well as a Gannet out over the ocean.

Llastres

Llanes

In typical Asturian fashion, we ate at close to 10 o'clock, at a sideria, or ciderhouse.

Asturias

takes its (hard) cider seriously-- instead of bars, there are siderias, which sell mostly tapas and the drink, which is served in a rather ritualized fashion. A small amount of cider is poured from above your head into a glass at your hip, and then drunk immediately, so as not to lose any of the fizz. It's actually rather good, and so are a lot of the other typical Asturian foods- Chorizos (sausages) in cider sauce, shrimp, and many varieties of fish are among the best. On the other hand, the famous Asturian blue cheese was a bit too strong for my taste, to put it lightly.

Day 2, Saturday (8/27)- This was our mountain day, where we set off on an expedition to the top of the Picos de Europa, a large (8,000+ peaks) mountain range that divides the Northern coast from the rest of the country. This was my most anticipated birding day, because some of my targets were cool high elevation birds that I could not see at any other time, and also because I was getting very close to life bird #500, which I was expecting to see in the mountains somewhere. I made the first step towards that milestone looking out the window of my hotel room, when a pair of European Serins landed in a nearby tree.

Our first stop was at the so-called "Roman Bridge," actually medieval, in the town of Cangas de Onis. I quickly turned my attention to the stream that the bridge crosses, however, with one bird foremost in my mind. Grey Wagtails were a nice bird, with their tails even longer than the comically long tails of their more common relative, the White Wagtail, which were also present. Then I spotted my real target, and one of the avian highlights of the trip- a White-throated Dipper splashing around in the water almost directly below me. Dippers are among the coolest of birds, songbirds that are undaunted by water and have evolved to the point where they can swim and dive to feed on aquatic invertebrates. And out of the 7 species worldwide, the White-throated is one of the best looking, with a sharp white bib contrasting with its overall black and chocolate brown plumage. A Willow Warbler was also flitting around in the trees overhanging the river, and I was only 5 life birds away from 500, with one of my biggest targets already found.

We drove on to Covadonga, site of a 6th century battle between Moors and the residents of Asturias, who were led by Pelayo (who would become the first king of Asturias). The outnumbered Asturians won, marking the end of Moorish advances and beginning the reconquista. The Asturians attributed their victory to divine intervention, and set up a shrine at the site. Many centuries later, a basilica was also built in Covadonga, nestled amount the mountains. The location was great for birds as well, with more than a dozen gigantic Griffon Vultures circling overhead (another of my target birds), and some Crag Martins, with their distinctive white tail patches, darting around, and presumably nesting on the walls of the basilica. As well as having two of the best bird names in Europe, they were my 496th and 497th birds, respectively.

The road to the lakes

We intended to drive up to the Lakes of Covadonga, two scenic high-elevation lakes that can be reached from the basilica, but learned that the only way up during the high season is by bus, so we took that option. The bus ride was impressive, up a very narrow, winding, steep mountain road, with spectacular view on all sides and only a couple of inches between us and buses going the other direction. Seemingly against the odds, we made it to the lakes intact, and were treated to some really beautiful mountain scenery, as well as some nice mountain birds. In addition to the now-ubiquitous Griffon Vultures, there were Water Pipits, Stonechats, Great Tits, Chaffinches, a Common Raven, some Eurasian Coots, and lots of Red-billed Choughs. The pipit and choughs (another hoped-for high-elevation species) were life birds, bringing me to within a bird of 500. Then, at the overlook between the two lakes, I spotted a distant bird of prey: smaller than a Griffon Vulture, and a different shape. As it turned, I saw that is was mostly white-- an Egyptian Vulture, and my 500th life bird!

Lago Ercina

Lago Enol

Also Lago Enol

We completed the loop trail and headed back down to Covadonga, quite a bit behind schedule but still psyched about the milestone bird, and drove onward towards our last, and highest stop, the cable car at Fuente De. The drive there was through a deep gorge, with high crags surrounding a river and the road that went alongside it. At one point a Griffon Vulture flew low over the car before landing on a rocky outcropping, giving us a new sense of how huge (9 foot wingspan) those birds were-- they seem to have more in common with the mythical Griffon (or Gryphon) than "normal" vultures.

I spotted my life Grey Heron perched in a tree next to the river, and at a quick stop to take a photo, I found 4 birds of prey: Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Common Buzzard, and a life bird, a neat pale-morph Booted Eagle. Then we out of the gorge and on the other side of the mountains, in Cantabria. As we arrived at the cable car, I spotted a Red-backed Shrike perched on a wire, and a Coal Tit (as well as some Great Tits, Nuthatches, Chaffinches, and Robins) in a pine grove at the base of the cable car station.

The cable car, or teleferico in Spanish, at Fuente De is the easiest way to get to some real alpine habitat in the Picos, and is a good spot for some alpine birds, including my main target, the Wallcreeper. After a somewhat scary ride to the top, we disembarked into an otherworldly landscape of rocky scree, crags, and sheer cliffs, far above the valley.

Fear of heights, anyone?

Immediately obvious as soon as we got outside were the Alpine Choughs, small corvids with bright yellow bills, no fear of humans, and a tendency to never go below 5,000 or so feet above sea level. So while they were abundant up there, "up there" is the only place to see them, and I really enjoyed it-- they are very fun birds. We began hiking to the spot where I had heard Wallcreepers were most likely to be, along the way stopping to look at every smaller bird that we saw, in the hopes of something unusual. Mostly they were Water Pipits, Northern Wheatears, and especially often Black Redstarts, but I did quickly spot something out of the ordinary: an Alpine Accentor. The rotund songbird, colored in reddish and gray, is a member of a small and generally mountain-bound family of birds, and another species that it would be impossible to see elsewhere on the trip.

Chough

Find the accentor!

I think this pretty butterfly is a Silver-studded Blue

Unfortunately, we soon reached the "wallcreeper spot" and realized the difficulty of the task. There are hundreds of feet of cliffs, and a lot of area for a non-vocal, small, elusive gray bird to hide. After some searching, we had to give up and head back, leaving my life Wallcreeper for another time. We descended and headed back to Villaviciosa, where we met up with Jesus and my uncle Tim, and had dinner at our hotel.

Day 3, Sunday (8/28)- Before breakfast, I birding the area around the hotel, and, as well as the most common Asturian birds, such as Goldfinch, Chaffinch, White Wagtail, Blackcap, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Iberian Chaffinch, White Wagtail, Robin, Blackbird, House Martin, and Barn Swallow, spotted two lifers, both green: Greenfinch and Green Woodpecker, the latter seemingly the emerald European alternative to our Northern Flicker.

My family, Tim, and Jesus headed to Rodilles Beach. On the way, asked to be dropped off along the Rio Villaviciosa, and had a very productive half-hour of birding before rejoining them at the beach. In addition to the Greenshanks, Redshanks, and Curlews that I had seen earlier, I added Common Sandpiper, Little Stint, and Common Ringed Plover as shorebird lifers. Other nice birds included Gray Heron, Little Egret, Common Moorhen, Linnet, and Whinchat, the latter two also lifers.

Birding Rio Villaviciosa

After swimming, we again headed up into the mountains, this time to a lower coastal ridge called Sierra Sueve, where there was a hiking trail that Tim was very enthusiastic about. It was a very nice hike, with views of high peaks to one side, and down to the ocean on the other.

Looking North

Looking South. Note that what appears to be a high band
of dark clouds is actually the tops of mountains

Birding-wise, Griffon Vultures were absolutely everywhere, often quite low. Rounding out the raptors were plenty of Buzzards, and a single Booted Eagle. The common songbirds were present, and were joined by a few sharply patterned Pied Flycatchers. There were also cows (and sheep, goats, and horses).

After heading back to sea level, we found a sideria in La Isla, a picturesque seaside town. I also found some more shorebirds, though all of them familiar North American ones-- Sanderlings, Dunlins, and Ruddy Turnstones.

We had dinner in Gijon, the largest city in Asturias, a port city with a promenade alongside a nice beach, right in the middle of the city. More of the same excellent food and cider, with one addition- a dish that is essentially two slices of beef, with ham and cheese inside, all breaded and fried. It was really good, if not exactly a health food.

Day 4, Monday (8/30)- Our last day in

Asturias

. We spent the morning in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, known for its very old churches and its university.

After dropping Tim off at the airport for his flight home to London, we headed west to Cabo Penas, a series of cliffs at the tip of a peninsula that juts out into the Bay of Biscay/Mar de Cantabria. The cliffs are nearly 300 straight down, and unlike in the states, where there would be extensive signs and fences to keep people from falling, here there is, at most, a low wood fence and a sign telling you not to fall off.

Bird-wise, there were Yellow-legged Gulls everywhere, lots of Common Buzzards and Kestrels, Black Redstarts, and Northern Wheatears. Because of the location, I was hoping for some pelagics, and while I did spot a very distant shearwater (perhaps Manx or Balearic), I was unable to identify it. I did suddenly spot two black birds standing on a rock below, and a look through my binoculars confirmed my suspicions-- they were European Shags, which would turn out to be the penultimate lifer of the trip.

A nice Black Redstart.

Yellow-legged Gull on a precipice.

Northern Wheatear

Those black specks are the Shags.

Black Redstart

On the way back from the cliffs, we drove through Gijon, in daylight this time, to get a good look at the waterfront there. Because we had to leave at 5:00 the next morning, we wanted to eat dinner at a normal, American time, around 7 o'clock. Jesus pointed out that no restaurants in any of the cities would serve food before 9, so we went into the country and stopped at a Merendera, essential a rural ciderhouse, for dinner of more cider and seafood. We sat outside, so I got to try my hand at pouring the cider, with mixed results. In the parking lot, I saw a hawk reflected in the window of our car, and quickly realized that it was a Sparrowhawk. I looked up and, for a second, couldn't find it, leading me to ponder whether the reflection of a life bird is countable. The point became moot, however, as I spotted the bird, my 60th and last lifer of the trip, with a flock of European Starlings. The next day we left before dawn, and flew home to New York.

Europe 2011, Part One- Birding in the City of Light

2011-09-10T23:48:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently spent a 10-day family vacation in Paris and Asturias (a province in Northern Spain). Besides the more obvious attractions of these locations- art, history, culture, and food in Paris, stunning natural beauty, beaches, and more food in Spain, there were quite a lot of birds, particularly since I had never birded the continent before. I already gave you in an overview with last weeks post, so I'll jump right into the narrative.

We left New York on Friday night, August 19th. Because of the time difference, we arrived in Paris on Saturday at 2:30 or so, and began sight-seeing immediately. I saw a few birds on the way from the airport to the apartment we were staying at, but they were all ones I had seen before- House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Starling. We were renting an apartment in the 6th , so we headed to Notre Dame first, because of its proximity. But first, as we crossed a bridge over the Seine, I stopped for my first life bird- a Black-headed Gull.

Black-headed Gull along the Seine

The cathedral itself was breathtaking, and as a bonus I saw my second lifer of the trip from inside, a pair of Carrion Crows flying by.

Carrion Crow

Day 2 (8/21)- Not really a birding day- more of a sightseeing one. We spent the morning at the Musee d'Orsay, a great collection of impressionist artwork housed in what used to be a huge train station, with some excellent paintings by Monet, Van Gough, Renoir, Manet, and many others. Lunch at the Jardins de Tuileries netted most of the same birds, but I did get a good look at a European Common Moorhen, the first time I had seen one since they were split from the American Common Gallinule. For comparison, here are a shot of a Moorhen in Paris and a Gallinule from earlier this year, near Orlando:

Common Moorhen- Note the relatively small red shield on the forehead.

Common Gallinule in Orlando- Note the comparatively larger frontal shield.

Later, we went on a boat ride down the Seine, where I spotted a White Wagtail along the quay for my only life bird of the day. That night, we had dinner with a friend of my parents, and then went to the top of the Eiffel tower for a great view of the city of light, all lit up.

Day 3 (8/22)- In the morning we went to the Louvre, seeing a lot of artwork, including the "big three"- the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory, as well as some slightly lesser-known but perhaps even better pieces of artwork, such as two paintings by Vermeer (the Lacemaker, and my personal favorite, the Astronomer), and Renaissance works by Botticelli, Titian, Rafael, and many others. While looking at the Venus de Milo, I glanced out the window and was suprised to see a Black Redstart, another life bird.

From top left: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, The Astronomer, and a Black Redstart

An afternoon stroll in the Marais, where my sister and mom went shopping, had a consolation- a Blackbird in a small park across the street from the boutique in which they were poking and browsing.

This, rather than any of the (unrelated) new world blackbirds, is the bird
referred to in some nursery rhymes and the Beatles song.

Additionally, I got my first taste of real birding in Paris (as opposed to incidental sightings) when I walking in the Luxembourg Gardens in the evening. I quickly found 3 life birds- a flyby European Hobby (a kind of falcon), a Eurasian Wren, and a Great Tit, the common European counterpart to our chickadees. Also abundant in the Luxembourg Gardens were Wood Pigeons, the jumbo-sized versions of their more cosmopolitan cousins. A young Ernest Hemingway, living in poverty in Paris, allegedly caught pigeons in the garden, stuffing them in a baby carriage and bringing them home for dinner. The Wood Pigeons were so tame and large here that I have no doubt that he got a good meal out of them.

Were you a great novelist with no money, this could make a rather filling dinner!

Day 4 (8/23)- I had the plan all worked out- I would get up early, bird the Luxembourg Gardens intensely, then meet my family for a baguette and some croussants in the park, and later embark on a sight-seeing marathon around the city. I got to the park, and it began to rain. Sheltering under a chestnut tree, I was worried that the rain could sink our grand scheme. I still had time, between dodging falling chestnuts (and imagining my Monty Python-esque obituary were one to nail me), to notice the cotton-ball-on-a-stick silhouette of my lifer Long-tailed Tits. Those adorable and comically active birds were one of the highlights of the morning. Fortunately, they were not the only highlight, as the rain ceased and I began to find new birds. First a Common Chaffinch on a lawn, then a Blue Tit mixed into an active flock of finches and tits. Soon, there were a bunch of new birds- Eurasian Jay high in a tree, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming away, Blackcap foraging with the mixed flock, a Dunnock in a hedge (demonstrating the logic behind its alternative name, the Hedge Sparrow), and a nice Eurasian Nuthatch foraging. Over breakfast, a flyby Common Swift brought the lifer count for the morning up to 10.

The Palais de Luxembourg, in the Gardens

For the rest of the day, we went to all of the tourist spots that we had missed the previous few days, as this was our last full day in Paris. First we headed to Sainte-Chapelle, with its stunning array of stained glass windows.

A small portion of the stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle

Next we returned to Notre-Dame to go to the top of the towers. We had to wait an hour and a half, which I spent eating Crepes and watching gulls on the Seine- the abundant Black-headed, and a few Herring and Lesser Black-backed as well. Eventually we got up to the top, where we admired the view and the impressive variety of gargoyles.

We moved onward to the Arc de Triomphe, climbing the stairs to the top of Napoleon's impressive monument to himself for another great view of the city. From there we began a shopping expedition down the Champs de Elysee, which I reluctantly participated in.

We concluded the day at Sacre-Coeur, in the famous neighborhood of Montmartre, with more stairs (a theme of the day, we climbed hundreds up Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and 176 simply to get out of the subway station in Montmartre) and killer views, as well as a nice fly-by Jay.

Day 5 (8/24)- This was our Versailles day. We took the train out to the opulent chateau (I spotted a Eurasian Collared Dove, my first of the trip, along the way). At the building itself, I noticed many Common House Martins circling, and realized they had build their mud nests on the side of the building, wedged inside and between the many stone decorations.

A House Martin nest in a carved helmet decoration

After taking the tour of the chateau, including walking through the king and queens bedrooms, the multitude of state rooms (each dedicated to a Roman god or goddess) and the hall of mirrors, we headed outside to the gardens. We had the idea of biking around the gardens, which got me some good opportunities to look for birds.

A decent likeness of a Eurasian Jay in Louis XIV's Bedroom

In addition to the usual Blue Tits, Great Tits, and Chaffinches, I found a flock that contained a Short-toed Treecreeper, which I got excellent looks at. Another nice bird was a sharp adult European Robin, another lifer and a very cool bird. Apparently new data suggests that it is more likely an old world flycatcher, not a thrush as was previously suspected. Another highlight came when I spotted a Common Kestrel hunting over a grassy field on the far edge of the garden. Quite a cool bird.

There is a reason they called Louis XIV the Sun King. Nice place, huh?

Heading back into the city, I made a final swing by the Luxembourg Gardens, where there were few birds but one new one- a Song Thrush foraging in the undergrowth.

Unfortunately, as we were leaving early the next morning, we then had to pack up and prepare to say au revoir to Paris. The remaining half of our trip was spent not among the urban beauty of Paris but the natural beauty of Northern Spain.

European Panoramas

2011-08-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Europe, in Paris and Asturias, in Northern Spain. It was lots of fun, and I was able to sneak some birding time into our packed itinerary, seeing 76 species and 60 lifers, including my 500th bird. Highlights were (spoiler alert!) Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, White-throated Dipper, Booted Eagle, Alpine and Red-billed Choughs, Alpine Accentor, Eurasian Curlew (and lots of other waders/shorebirds), Green Woodpecker, and most of the common European songbirds. I got home last night, and haven't gotten around to going through my photos or writing a full post, but here are a few panorama photos that I took during the trip, to set the stage, so to speak. To view the full panorama, click on the photo.

Paris, from the top of Notre Dame

Alpine habitat in the Picos de Europa, above the town of Fuente De

Lake Ercina, one of the two high elevation lakes in the Picos

Beach Birding Part 2- Big Day by Bike

2011-08-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

Duxbury Beach, from Gurnet Lighthouse

On Tueday, August 9^th, I did a “Big Day by Bike” in Marshfield and Duxbury. I did one last year, on almost the same date, and saw a respectable (for early August) 68 species. I was hoping to beat that total. My planned route was more or less the same- first to Webster’s Wilderness for songbirds and woodpeckers, then to Daniel Webster Audubon for swallows, ducks, raptors, and grassland birds. On to the South River Marsh for Swamp Sparrow, Marsh Wren, and warblers. Lunch at my house, then down to Brant Rock for shorebirds and seabirds, and out on Duxbury Beach for more shorebirds and seabirds. The total distance is about 22 miles.

I started at 6:30 and biked to Webster’s Wilderness, finding most of the really common species on the way, plus a hummingbird and a Red-tailed Hawk. One of the most exciting sightings of the day came right in the parking lot. A clearly agitated Spotted Sandpiper circled the parking lot a few times, and then landed, bobbing furiously. Out of nowhere, a Cooper’s Hawk zoomed in and tried to grab the sandpiper, which took off and managed to escape.

In addition to those two good birds, the wilderness was very productive. I had a calling Scarlet Tanager almost immediately, and quickly found a Common Yellowthroat and a few Red-eyed Vireos. Added to that were a Green Heron at a small pond, a few Wild Turkeys walking along the path, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers drumming, a towhee scratching in the underbrush, and an unexpected Ovenbird.

An Eastern Phoebe feeding a cowbird was a sad sight, but did add two more species to my day list as I left for the Audubon. A quick tally of my list put me at just over 40-- a very good pace.

Daniel Webster Audubon is known for its breeding colony of Purple Martins and nesting Bobolinks. The former was easy to find, but the latter seemed to have moved on, and Bobolink would prove to be one of the biggest misses of the day. As compensation, however, I was able to find a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks, a Baltimore Oriole, and a singing Yellow Warbler. Phoebes were abundant, and there were a couple of kingbirds as well.

The “wet panne” marshy area did not produce the expected Wood Ducks or Green Herons (I had seen the latter at Webster’s Wilderness though), but it did have Mallards and Black Ducks, and I moved on still on a pretty good pace.

The next stop, South River Marsh, was one I had added in this year, after some scouting turned up some migrant waterthrushes and lots of other birds. It was much quieter during the big day itself, but did have the needed Fish Crows and Swamp Sparrows, with a bonus White-breasted Nuthatch. With my list close to 50, I headed home for lunch.

After lunch, feeling refreshed, I biked to the coast, in Brant Rock, where I added the four common gulls to my list, plus both egrets, a Great Blue Heron, Common Tern, eider, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and the common shorebirds, pushing my list up to about 65- only three below my previous total, and this was before my biggest stop, Duxbury Beach. I headed there next.

At this point, however, new birds slowed substantially. I got to 68, tying last year’s total, quickly, seeing Willet, Least Tern, and Black-bellied Plover. Then I was stuck for a while, biking out on the beach towards Gurnet Lighthouse without seeing any new birds, and still missing Ruddy Turnstone, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderling, Killdeer, and Piping Plover. In desperate need of these shorebirds, I decided to walk out on one of the mudflats on the bay side of the beach.

I had been in a similar situation last year- missing key shorebirds, I ventured out onto the flats to try to find them. Last year, I failed miserably, and to add insult to injury, ruined my shoes. This year was shaping up to be similar (minus the shoe part- I learned my lesson and was wearing waterproof sandals), because new shorebirds were nowhere to be found in the flocks of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Greater Yellowlegs, and Willets.

Eventually, however, I got an unexpected bonus- a pair of Surf Scoters in the bay, both adult males that made the unusual decision to summer here (they may not have had a choice- it’s possible that they were injured and could not fly). Bird number 69- I was now one better than last year. With that, though, my luck changed. I had Ruddy Turnstones and Least Sandpipers on the flats- numbers 70 and 71, respectively.

Continuing on in hopes of a Lesser Yellowlegs or at least a Sanderling, I reached a few more flocks of shorebirds- mostly semis and semis. Finally, as I was about to turn back, I noticed a bird off in the distance- it was white, either a tern or a gull. If it was a gull it was rather small, if it was a tern, it was very large. Either would be good. Drawing closer, I realized that it was a tern, and as I approached, I realized it was a Royal Tern- a very good bird in Massachusetts, so unusual that I had to write it in on the checklist I was using. The bird took off while I was still rather distant, and I watched it fly out into the middle of the bay and disappear into the distance.

After what was easily the bird of the day, seeing more shorebirds was less important, but I found some Sanderlings anyway- #73. I walked back to my bike and made the final push up to the lighthouse, where previous scouting had turned up Bank Swallow and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel. The swallows appeared quickly, flying overhead and below the edge of the cliffs that the lighthouse overlooks, where they nest. The storm-petrels were much more elusive, and I was wondering if I was going to be doomed to fall one bird short of 75 when I noticed a bird standing on the seaweed covered rocks at the base of the cliff. It was a Brant, another usual bird in the summer, and it was #75 for the day! A final scan of the ocean did turn up a few storm-petrels, and I headed for home with a final total of 76 birds, eight higher than my previous mark. Now I have a new total to try to best next year.

By the way, I’m going to France and Spain for ten days, and am leaving for the airport in 5 minutes or so. I’ll have lots of stories and photos to post when I get back. Until then, au revoir and adios!

Beach Birding, Part 1

2011-08-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

Gurnet Lighthouse

I just got back from 2 weeks at my beach house, in Green Harbor (pronounced Hahbah), Massachussetts. Between all of the the beaching/kayaking/biking/poker/pictionary/beatles rock band playing/jumping off bridges with cousins/aunts/uncles/grandmothers/friends/acquaintances, I was actually able to get in a good deal of birding.

My first birding expedition came when I was able to convince my family that a whale watch out of Plymouth would be a fun trip. Of course, I had an ulterior motive- Stellwagen Bank, where the boats go to, is a very productive pelagic birding location, and I wanted to see some shearwaters. My main target was Manx Shearwater, which was something of a nemesis bird for me, as I had missed it the past two years on whale watch boats. So at my urging, we boarded a whalewatch run by Capt. John’s Boats out of Plymouth on Wednesday, the 3^rd of August.

A heron fishes next to the Mayflower II, a replica of the pilgrims' ship

Our first pelagic birds appeared right on cue, as soon as we began to leave the bay- Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, swooping like dark, oceanic swallows in front of the bow, pausing on occasion and pattering their feet on the surface while hovering, as if they were dancing a jig on the waves.

This was the first and best photo I got of a Storm-Petrel. It is the best because you can tell that it is a bird.

There was a fairly long break after that before some new birds appeared, though the storm-petrels were our compainions the whole way. Eventually, as we neared Stellwagen Bank (which is an underwater plateau off Cape Cod), I began to see shearwaters. First was a fairly distant Great Shearwater. Then my dad spotted a pair of shearwaters landing on the water. I identified them as Sooty Shearwaters because of their very dark back and wings, which were the only parts of the birds I could see. I quickly realized my error, however- they were much too small, and as soon became clear when the boat drew nearer, they had white undersides- Manx Shearwaters! My target for the trip, seen right off the bat.

As it was a whale watch, it would be remiss for me not to mention the whales, of which there were many. We began to see they soon after the Manx Shearwaters. A few came right up to the boat, and we got great looks at both humpbacks and minke whales.

Our stops to look at whales provided me with more birding opportunities, as it is much easier to bird on a still boat than a moving one. I was soon able to see the two remaining shearwater species- Cory’s and Sooty, as well as a handful more Manx and one or two more Great Shearwater. On the way back to the harbor, there were more Sooties, a few large flocks of dozens of storm-petrels feeding, and a single subadult Northern Gannet

Check out the wing moult on this Cory's Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater.

The next day, Thursday the 4^th, we went to Plymouth Beach. This was also advocated by me, for the purpose of birding the tern colony in the dunes at the tip of the beach. To get there, it is a 3 mile walk out along the beach (and then, of course, another 3 miles back), but with the prospect of rare terns as motivation and the numerous shorebirds along the way make it well worth it. Plus, if the biggest obstacle to birding is that you have to take a long walk on the beach, then that is okay with me.

A typical assemblage of shorebirds on Plymouth Beach

The expedition as a whole was quite successful, with large numbers and decent diversity of shorebirds (Semipalmated Plover and Sandpiper, Piping Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper), and 8 species of larids, highlighted by multiple Roseate Terns, both adults and juveniles, at the colony.

Count 'em- 7 Piping Plovers

That's a really pale tern... Notice also that the leftmost bird is a young roseate- all-black bill, black forehead.

Nice Roseate/Common Comparison. Note the pale back and wings, dark bill, and banded legs of the Roseate

An adorable Bonaparte's Gull

On the way back I started to try to photograph shorebirds and terns in flight- not an easy task, given their speed and size, and the fact that I have a point-and-shoot without manual focus. I did get a couple of shots that were almost in focus, though.

That's Gurnet Lighthouse (See top) in the background

I did not notice until much later that the top tern is a roseate.

I also spotted this guy stuck in the sand in the yard of a house on the beach:

Plastic White Stork- a much classier version of the plastic flamingo

The next day, August 5^th, I birded with the Friday Morning Birders, a group that birds the south shore every week for a few hours (I think you can figure out when). The highlights of that trip were Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Solitary Sandpipers, an Ovenbird, a Veery, and some Saltmarsh Sparrows. The sparrows were a year bird for me, the 3^rd day in a row I had added to my year list. The weekend was occupied with non-birding activities, but I did bird some more the next week, which will be chronicled in part 2. Stay tuned.

Summer Summary, So Far

2011-07-12T17:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a long time, mainly because I've been away (at the beach, mostly, see photo), and not birding very much either way. Early July is a tough time for birding, because the usual breeding birds have been around long enough to be routine, there are no migrants in sight, other opportunities for interesting birds are somewhat limited (shearwaters don't show up in any numbers until a bit later, vagrants are all long gone...).

However, I have done some birding since summer began, most notably on a Connecticut Young Birders Club field trip a few weeks ago to the Hartford Area, where we saw grassland birds, including Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlark, Upland Sandpiper, and Grasshopper Sparrows. The latter two were life birds, and very nice ones too.

Right now I am doing a bird survey at the Bronx Zoo as part of a research project, and anticipating an excellent August, with two weeks at the beach (finally getting my Manx Shearwater, perhaps?) at the start of the month, and 10 days in Paris and Northern Spain (Wallcreeper and Griffon Vulture, perhaps?) at the end of the month. So a few weeks without too many birds won't kill me. Shorebirds will be here soon, anyway. Happy Summer!

World Series of Birding!

2011-05-18T18:00:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, birders from across the country converged on the state of New Jersey for what is probably the largest and most famous birding competition in the world- the World Series of Birding. In this admittedly insane contest, teams, consisting of 3 to 7 admittedly insane individuals, compete to try to see or hear the most species in a 24-hour period- from midnight to midnight. There are many levels of competition, and the playing field can be anywhere from a 17 foot circle (the "Big Stay") to the entire state. This year I participated in the madness for the first time, as captain of The Vagrants, a team sponsored by the New York State Young Birders Club. Myself and my intrepid teammates, Lewis Lolya and Nathaniel Hernandez birded in just Cape May County, at the southern tip of New Jersey, leaving the whole state division to the Razorbills, our marginally more insane friends, also sponsored by the NYS Young Birders Club.

I left for Cape May on Friday morning, getting a ride from Carena Pooth (an adult leader of the club and one of our drivers for the big day). Already scouting for birds down there were two of our other drivers and adult coordinators, Herb Thompson and Mary Batcheller (who took all the photos in this post), and Nathaniel, who had good news- they had heard a Cape May Warbler at the campground we were staying at. Five minutes later, we were all at the spot, listening to the high-pitched monotone notes of the warbler's song. From there, Nathaniel heard a Bay-breasted Warbler singing, and within minutes we were looking at two male Bay-breasted Warblers, another very nice and unexpected bird.

Planning out our route

With the birds seen, we began to plan our route for the next day. Planning and scouting are critical to any successful big day, because time is short, and it is a lot easier to stop quickly at a series of locations, quickly refind a bird you had seen while scouting, and leave, than it is to try to find new birds and string together locations on the run. Using a vast amount of scouting info gathered by Nathaniel, Herb, and Mary, as well as some given to us by other teams, and some from online listservs and ebird, we managed to lay down a rough route and schedule- Start at midnight at Jakes Landing for rails and other marsh birds calling in the night, then to Belleplain for owls and nightjars, then to Tuckahoe for more marsh birds. At dawn we wanted to be a Belleplain again for breeding songbirds, and after a series of stops for stakeout birds, including meadowlark, we would head to the beaches on the bayshore for shorebirds. After that we would go to the southern tip of the county, Cape May Island itself, for migrants, waterfowl, and other good birds. From there, we would work our way up the Atlantic coast of the county, stopping at Nummy Island for shorebirds and herons, and then a few more stakeout spots before finishing the day tracking down whatever night birds we had missed.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron!

While we were doing that, Lewis arrived, and all of us ate some pizza before heading to bed for a quick nap before midnight came. While eating, two heron-like birds flew over. Their silhouettes were odd, and none of us could figure out what they were until they landed in a nearby tree- they were Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, another good bird.

After a brief rest, we woke up, packed the car, and departed on our mission- first stop, Jakes Landing. The World Series of Birding had begun!

The Vagrants (Nathaniel, Lewis, Eamon) prepare to set off

12:00 A.M., Jakes Landing- As our watches and phones switched from 11:59 to 12:00 we tallied our first bird- Willets, calling in the distance. Virginia Rail, Marsh Wren, and Seaside Sparrow quickly followed suit, each sounding off from across the dark marsh. A Canada Goose honked. We still needed at least one bird here, and finally a Clapper Rail called, a series of harsh, unmelodious keks. We had what we needed, and left with our checklist at 6 species. Caffeine consumption begins.

12:50 A.M., Belleplain- In the distance, but still very loud came the unmistakable whistled song of a Chuck-will's Widow. High-fives were exchanged. Soon we found more chucks, plus 3 Barred Owls hooting and a handful of Whip-poor-wills, also loudly whistling their songs. Spirits were high as we headed north.

~2:20 A.M., Tuckahoe- A Virginia Rail and a few Swamp Sparrows were vocalizing as we arrived, driving on a narrow dirt road past the ominous silhouettes of huge ships grounded at a marina, at Mosquito Landing in Tuckahoe. Even better was the Eastern Screech-Owl calling from the woods behind us. We were off to an excellent start. In the category of "birds that got away" was a mystery bird that flew unseen overhead, giving a chuckling call. It wasn't until 30 seconds later that I realized, "Wait, I bet that was a Least Bittern," but at that point it was impossible to be sure enough to count it. An adventurous detour on dirt roads through the center of the marsh was very fun, but did not net us any new birds.

A dark road in Tuckahoe- there was a Chuck-will's Widow calling very loudly here

~3:30 A.M., Jakes Landing- We decided to stop here again, because we had plenty of time before dawn. It was the last time the phrase "plenty of time" was used that day. A calling Great Horned Owl completed our sweep of all expected nocturnal birds, and made the stop very worthwhile.

5:00- 8:45 A.M., Belleplain- The dawn chorus at Belleplain was frustrating, and so was the lack of birds at many of our first few stops in the forest, but we eventually managed to nail down many of the necessary species- Yellow-throated Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Pine Warbler, Wood Thrush, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, both tanagers, and finally Kentucky Warbler. Annoyingly, almost all of the birds were not visible, but I did see my lifer Acadian Flycatcher, and Yellow-throated Warbler and Summer Tanager added some color. Both waterthrushes were tough misses, though, and we had wasted a lot of time to get the birds we needed. Other locations in Belleplain were more sucessful, and we ticked Spotted Sandpiper, Eastern Phoebe, Kingbird and Orchard Oriole. We left Belleplain almost an hour behind schedule, but with less holes in the checklist than we had feared at first.

Listening for Songbirds at Belleplain

9:00 A.M, Woodbine- We had a tip that a field in Woodbine, just outside of Belleplain, was a good spot for Eastern Meadowlark, so we went there next. It was extremely successful, and we quickly added many species, including Black Vulture, Prairie Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Indigo Bunting, Killdeer, and, yes, Meadowlark. While driving to our next stop, we found Bald Eagle and Blue Grosbeak by the side of the road, two more good birds, and the latter a lifer for me.

~9:45 A.M., Jakes Landing- A quick stop at Jakes Landing in daylight for harrier and Saltmarsh Sparrow got us the harrier but not the sparrow. Nice looks at singing Seaside Sparrows and Marsh Wren were had, which was cool too.

~10:10 A.M., Beaver Swamp- We searched unsuccessfully for White-faced Ibis, but this stop got us Wood Duck and Glossy Ibis. Now even further behind schedule, unfortunately.

~10:30 A.M., Goshen CMBO- Back at Belleplain, Lewis and Nathaniel had both seen a hummingbird zip by, but I missed it. According to World Series of Birding rules, only 5% of your total can be birds seen by less than the whole team, so we stopped at the Goshen Nature Center to try to find a hummer at the feeders there. We didn't. but we got something better- a Pine Siskin, an excellent bird, quite unusual in Cape May in Spring. House Finch and Chimney Swift were bonuses.

~11:00 A.M., Reeds Beach- This stop was intended to get us shorebirds, and it did. Feeding on the beach were thousands of Laughing Gulls, and interspersed and flying by were some very nice and colorful Red Knots, along with Sanderling, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Ruddy Turnstone and Short-billed Dowitcher. On the way out, I spotted a Tricolored Heron, but the others couldn't get on it before it vanished into the distance, so the bird did not count for our list. We had all we needed at this stop by the time the no-see-ums chased us away.

A tiny fraction of the thousands of Laughing Gulls present

12:00 P.M., "Secret" Campground Location- We stopped at our campground to pick up some stuff and to see if any of the birds from the day before were still around. They were. We quickly heard Cape May Warbler in the exact same spot, and then heard and found Bay-breasted too. Perhaps even better was the fly-by night-heron that Lewis relocated in a tree- a Yellow-crowned, and our 100th bird of the day. Our 101st bird? Pigeon. It felt like the end of a long day, but in reality we were only half finished. It was shaping up to be a very tiring day, but we expected that, and our spirits were high after getting such good birds.

12:30 P.M., Higbee Beach- Now almost two hours behind schedule, we arrived at Higbee at around noon. It was pretty dead, because the winds had been terrible for migrants the night before. We got Field Sparrow and Yellow Warbler, but resigned ourselves to missing such common migrants as Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers. Michael Lolya, Lewis's father, met us here and brought sandwiches, the only real food we would eat all day- the rest was Dr. pepper (starting just after midnight), mountain dew (Starting at noon), wheat thins, twizzlers and double stuf oreos. On the way out, a Green Heron flew overhead.

~1:00 P.M., Cape May Point- A quick stop at the point brought us two new birds, both "least"- Least Sandpiper and Least Tern. Trying to make up time now, as we had to get to Nummy Island by 4 or so, so the tide would be in our favor. We cut out a few more planned stops on Cape Island.

~1:30 P.M., The Meadows- "The Meadows" was one stop we could not afford to cut, and it was very good that we didn't try. We nabbed Gadwall on the way out to the beach, and then, as we were climbing the dune, we had our most bizarre sighting of the day- a long-tailed bird flew by, and I thought "mockingbird," but we quickly realized that it was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, flying inland from out over the beach. Where it came from we have no idea, but it seems like it had to have been flying out over the water before turning inland- there were no trees or anything remotely like cuckoo habitat in the direction from which it came. While overlooking the beach, we got Piping Plover in its nest and a fly-by Black Skimmer, both key birds. Walking back along the end of the trail, we picked up a lot of new birds in quick succession- Savannah Sparrow foraging on the edge of the marsh, Bank Swallow buzzing by with a group of other swallows, Lesser Yellowlegs taking off and calling, a Wilson's Snipe flying overhead, and, best of all, a distance Common Moorhen walking slowly through the reeds. We found a bird in with a group of short-billed dowitchers that looked like a good candidate for long-billed, but opted not to count it, as we could not be certain. We left the Meadows with our list quite a bit higher, and headed towards Nummy Island, now more or less on schedule because of the skipped stops and short time spent at Higbee.

Cuckoo, Skimmer, and Piping Plover checked off, we pause for a photo with the Lighthouse

3:45 P.M., Wetlands Institute- We pulled up to this visitor center/museum, and quickly checked off the two "semipalmated" birds- plover and sandpiper. I also saw a Clapper Rail run across the marsh before disappearing, as is their habit to do. A tally of our list as we headed out came to 124, and we set a goal to try to get to at least 130 by the end of the day.

4:15 P.M., Nummy Island- We met my Dad here, and started scanning the extensive marsh, which was filled with birds, for ones we had not already seen, while pondering how a large suit of armor found itself perched on a hill across the marsh from us. Other teams found it too during scouting- this is what it looked like from where we were. Odd, right? If not for the fact that I had already seen that photo, I would have assumed I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. Brant, Black-bellied Plover, and Whimbrel were the first new birds we added. A Little Blue Heron flew by, our 128th bird. Then another team shouted "Black-crowned Night-Heron," and we simply looked in the direction they were looking- totally not cheating, it was their fault for being so loud (Thanks Chippers!). I then spotted a more distant Night-Heron without any inadvertent assistance from other teams, if the legitimacy of the previous bird was questioned. When a pair of Peregrine Falcons flew by a few seconds later, we were rather quiet about it, but inwardly we celebrated our 130th species of the day. A quick scan yielded another Clapper Rail and a Tricolored Heron that everyone saw, another new bird. Possibilities for new birds exhausted, and rather exhausted ourselves, we departed from Nummy Island with a new goal of 135 species.

~5:20 P.M., Random Parking Lot- We now had an extra car, so we left one in a parking lot. While a few people were in the bathroom, Nathaniel, Lewis, and I decided to scan the ocean for gannets, and were quickly successful, finding at least 5 of the large seabirds.

~6:00 P.M., East Shore Nursing Home- A stakeout spot for Cattle Egret, but we couldn't find any.

~6:30 P.M., Tamerlane Campgrounds- Another stakeout, this time for Red-headed Woodpecker. Similarly unsucessful. We were running out of daylight and new birds to shoot for.

Seaducks were seen at Sea Isle

~7:00 P.M., Sea Isle City- A mixed flock of seaducks held Common Eider, Surf Scoter, and Black Scoter, the former two new birds for the day. A peregrine was fun to watch overhead, both hanging suspended in the wind, and then turning around and rocketing down the beach with the wind at its back. The surf was too rough to get Purple Sandpiper on the jetty. Light was fading, and there was a light rain. "Tired" or even "Exhausted" would be an understatement at this point. No chance for any new day birds, and our total stood at 134. We were going to try for night birds, but we didn't have high hopes- the only ones that we hadn't heard the night before were the extremely elusive Black Rail and Least Bittern.

Peregrine overhead

~9:00P.M., Tuckahoe- We were falling asleep on our feet, quite literally beginning to hallucinate birds, and with the wind and rain the rail and bittern seemed impossible, so we decided to call it a day and head to the finish line. Our last bird was a Virginia Rail calling in the distance.

Barely awake- notice the vacant stares.

12:00 A.M., Finish Line- Our final total was 134 species, which was quite good for a day with very few migrants. For comparative purposes, we were 2nd out of the four youth teams that did Cape May County (The team that beat us were the Chippers, whose night-heron we "stole" at Nummy Island), and 6th out of the the 13 total teams that did Cape May, including the very competitive adult teams. The winning team in Cape May was the Cornell Redheads, who found 163 species. The Razorbills found 193 species, taking home the gold in the Youth division, and putting them third overall, an excellent showing for a youth team. The overall competitive was won by the Lagerhead Shrikes, who found 221 species across the state to win the coveted Urner Stone Cup.The Siskin that we found was the first to be reported by any team in the state, which was cool.

The Finish Line, obviously

Looking over the list, a few things are very clear. First, we saw a lot of birds, and there were quite a few really good ones- owls, Chuck-will's Widow, Siskin, Cape May and Bay-breasted Warblers, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and many more. Secondly, and perhaps even more obvious are our misses- warblers feature prominently, particularly Magnolia, Parula, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-rumped (!), both Black-throated warblers, and the waterthrushes. Woodpeckers are practically nonexistent on the checklist- we missed Hairy, Sapsucker, and even Flicker. Perhaps worst of all was the fact that we did not see a single Red-tailed Hawk all day (well, actually, flicker might be worse. But still...). Even so, everyone misses some birds, and we were definitely happy with our final tally. At least we finally found that pigeon- now that would have been an embarrassing miss.

Looking over the list

All in all, it was a awesome, really fun day. We saw a lot of great birds, and came us with a respectable total for our first year competing. Just wait until next year...

Some Good April Migration Birding

2011-04-20T11:12:00.000-04:00

I'm off from school this week, so the past 3 days I birded some spots in Westchester and the Bronx, seeing good numbers and diversity of migrants for this early date. In total, I saw 6 warbler species and plenty of other nice birds.

On Sunday, I went to the Marshlands Conservancy, probably my favorite local birding spot. There hadn't been that much migration the previous night, but there were still some birds around. The highlight was a pair of Great Horned Owls- a chick and an adult, at a nest. I got very good looks at both. Down at the marsh, there were lots of tree swallows flying around, as well as a single Great Egret, a pair of Osprey, and some common waterfowl. Heading back up along the field, I was surprised to find a nice male American Kestrel flying around and perching on the kestrel box in the field- hopefully they will nest there, as a female had been seen nearby the day before. I added 4 species to my Westchester year list, which I actually care about this year, because of the Ebirdathon.

On Monday, I biked early to Glenwood Lake, which is really a small pond in the midst of a residential area with some trees around it, but is still the best spring birding spot in biking distance, by far. I figure it's due for a nice rarity, but that day wasn't the day, I guess. Still, it was an excellent morning of birding- I arrive, locked my bike, looked up, and found Yellow Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Black-and-white Warbler, and Blue-headed Vireo in quick succession. About a quarter of the way around the lake, I ran into a largish flock of warblers. It was mostly Yellow-rumps, but with plenty of palms and a few pine warblers too. Also there were both kinglets, a Brown Creeper, a Hairy Woodpecker, a few more vireos, and a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Not bad! From there I biked on to Nature Study Woods, a large area of wet woods along the Hutchinson River Parkway. It was much quieter there, but there were lots of woodpeckers (all 4 common species), and 4 of the 5 warblers I had seen earlier. Also nice were plenty of Hermit Thrushes, a pair of Wood Ducks, another creeper, a House Wren, and an Eastern Phoebe. In total, I added 11 species to my ebirdathon list.

Yesterday I decided to chase the Prothonotary Warbler at the NY Botanical Gardens, and to see if there were any other migrants around. I got there by bus a little after ten, which is when the gardens open. I headed to twin lakes, the area where the bird had been seen, spotting a turkey and a fly-over group of four Monk Parakeets on the way over. I got to twin lakes, where there were lots of butterbutts (yellow-rumped warblers) in evidence, as well as palm and pine warblers, and a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Gnatcatchers. Over the lake itself were lots of Northern Rough-winged Swallows and a couple Barn Swallows, both my first of the year. The birds were actually very similar in numbers and diversity to the day before, with one big exception. Walking the trail around one of the lakes, I spotted the male Prothonotary Warbler foraging low in the branches of a tree that had fallen into the lake. I got fairly long and very good look at the brilliant gold bird, before it flew a little ways along the coast and disappeared. Awesome bird! If you don't know what a Prothonotary Warbler looks like, this photo (not mine, obviously) will explain why seeing one is such a big deal. I've actually had pretty good luck with Prothonotaries- the first rare bird that I found myself was one at Greenwich Audubon 2 years ago, then I saw one in Carara NP in Costa Rica last year, and of course the extremely tame bird in front of the New York Public Library last winter- making me 4 for 4! I spent the rest of the morning birding the forest at the Botanical Gardens, with Black-and-White Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, and tons of Gnatcatchers the highlights.

I'm not birding today, but hopefully migration will be good tonight, and I can head to Central Park tomorrow. Good Birding, and Happy Spring!

Birding Florida 2011

2011-03-24T18:49:00.000-04:00

I went to Orlando a little more than a week ago. While the trip was centered around Disney, of course, I was able to fit in some birding, and ended up with 3 lifers, and a lot of great birds. It was a welcome break from the fairly slow birding in New York in March, as well as from the cold.

Day 1 (Saturday, March 11th)- Got to Orlando at 10:30 or so, and started to see some of the familiar common Floridian birds- Boat-tailed Grackle, Tree Swallows, Turkey Vultures, and Herons and Egrets. On the drive from the airport to a waterpark, I had my first very nice sighting of the trip. While we were stopped at a toll, I noticed what I first though was a Little Blue Heron flying with a Snowy Egret. However, I soon realized that it was much too large to be a Little Blue, because it was noticably bigger than the snowy. Tricolored was eliminated by the lack of white underparts, and the bicolored bill and rusty neck sealed the id- it was a Reddish Egret, an unusual (though not unheard-of) bird in the area. At the waterpark I picked up a few more birds- Black Vulture, White Ibis, Bald Eagle, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Day 2 (Sunday, March 12th)- Headed to Animal Kingdom in Disney early. After making sure that the spoonbills were captive and not wild, I turned to watching the abundant white ibis. There were lots of birds overhead, and I picked out a Purple Martin overhead. There was a large cluster of vultures, and with them was a smaller bird- a dark buteo, with distinctive white patches on the underside of the wings. Short-tailed Hawk! I had been hoping for one on this trip, and had somehow found one, almost purely by chance. Later in the day, a Pileated Woodpecker flew by our car in a parking lot, and I found the first of many Palm Warblers.

Day 3 (Monday, March 13th)- Much of this day was spent observing the unprecedented invasion of northern owls into the Orlando area. While at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I found large numbers of snowy, great horned, barn, great gray owls, on a scale never before recorded in Florida. Additionally, there were multiple European Eagle Owls, which, if I am not mistaken, represent the first six records of this species in North America. Also of note was a presumed hybrid owl- looking like an abnormally large Great Horned Owl, it gave a Barred Owl call consistently and clearly. The reasoning for the concentration of owls is unknown, but it might have something to do with the fake snow covering nearby buildings- presumably all Snowy and Great Grey owls in Florida would be attracted to this spot, as it resembles the snowy north.

Perhaps this building has something to do with it?

Day 4- (Tuesday, March 14th)- I spent the whole day at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, which both had more birds than expected. Nice sightings were Cattle Egrets at the entrance to Magic Kingdom, and Brown Pelican, Bald Eagle, Osprey, and Mottled Duck at also around Magic Kingdom. Epcot is centered on a lake, which was filled with cormorants, anhingas, coots, and grebes. Much of the area around orlando is like this- there are tons of small ponds and water-filled ditches, and each of them has a handfull of nice birds in it- herons, egrets, coots, ibis, grebes, or moorhens, usually.

Day 5 (Wednesday, March 15th)- Our last day in Florida, and the only one with any real birding planned. The destination that I had picked was Brinson Park, on Lake Toho in Kissimmee, about 20 minutes south of our hotel. The spot is known as a reliable location for Snail Kites and other nice waterbirds. It was a good sign when we pulled up in the parking lot, and the first thing we saw was a pair of Limpkins, one carrying a snail.

Panorama of Lake Toho. Click to see the whole photo.

Birds were everywhere- there were hundreds of coots, at least a half-dozen Limpkins, a big cloud of Tree Swallows, more pied-billed grebes than I had ever seen before, multiple moorhens and anhingas, and more birds showed up at every scan. I quickly found some new herons for the trip list- Little Blue and Tricolored. Even better were a pair of Sandhill Cranes that flew by, quickly joined by a few more cranes.

Moorhen

I started scanning the bushes on the north shore of the lake, because I had read that Snail Kites sometimes perched at the top of low vegetation near lakes. This looked like pretty perfect Snail Kite habitat to me, but the distance complicated the search- without a scope, I saw a raptor-like profile in a tree a few times, only to realize that it was an anhinga, which looks oddly nothing like a cormorant when perched at a distance. With its upright posture and long banded tail, it looks almost like a Cooper's Hawk, until you see the head and neck, when the bird's identity becomes obvious.

While searching, I spotted a flock of duck-like birds flying by, and quickly realized that with their long necks and white wing stripes, they were Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, nice birds and my first outside of Costa Rica. Snail Kites were not in evidence, so I went back to watching the numerous and tame Limpkins, very cool birds whose abundance at Lake Toho belies their overall status- they are found in the US only in Florida, and are often wary and secretive. Here they were walking in full view beside a major road.

Glancing up, I spotted a large raptor flying over the lake closer to the opposite shore. Slow, floppy wingbeats? Check. Overall grey coloration? Yup. Distinctive tail pattern and white rump? Definitely. Snail Kite? Yes!! It flew down and perched on one of the bushes I had searched earlier, and I got a good look at it before it flew away and disappeared, only to reappear not long afterwards with another snail kite in tow, the second bird being either a female or an immature. Awesome. Great bird, great experience.

Snail Kite Paradise

After the kites flew out of sight, I checked the trees in the small park, finding some migrants- Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, a Savannah Sparrow, as well as another nice Floridian bird, a Eurasian Collared Dove. They will probably we everywhere in a decade or two, but for now this exotic is still mostly restricted to the southeast. We had to leave to catch our flight, but a Forster's Tern and a Green Heron wrapped up the sightings at Lake Toho. In all, we had been there for barely over an hour, but had seen enough good birds for an entire trip.

Collared Dove

And to top it all off, I got my lifer Loggerhead Shrike on the way to the airport.

Off to Florida!

2011-03-11T20:44:00.000-05:00

I leave for Orlando tomorrow for 5 days tomorrow morning. While much of the time will be spent in Disney, I will try to bird as much as possible. I definitely have some photos and posts when I get back. Good Birding!

Target Bird- Snail Kite (photo from wikipedia)

Bird Quiz #3- Crossley Guide Edition

2011-03-01T17:16:00.000-05:00

I just got my copy of the new Crossley ID Guide, which I really like, and decided to do something a bit different for this week's quiz.

It is based on the birding game in which one person reads lines out of a field guide and the other birders try to guess the bird. Generally this is done with the Sibley Guide, but it seems like it would be even more fun with the Crossley Guide, which has much more descriptive and colorful text (and much more text in general). Of course, the colorful plates are the obvious thing when you look at the guide, but the text is great too. There are five birds in this quiz, each with excerpts from the description in the guide.

Have fun, and leave your guesses in the comments. If necessary, I will add new clues later in the week.

1) A real tank...killer-like thick bill...overall impression is clean and bold...if in doubt, look at that bill...younger birds' contrasting plumage is neat and fairly distinctive.

2) Fluttering "butterfly-like"...often partially opens wings and spreads tail... then it's off again... shape and color pattern make this an easy bird to id overhead.

3)Fairly common breeder, scarcer in east... has a shuffling gait... seems to walk with feet back and chest thrust forward... commonly sings from barbed wire fences... large and particularly fat... distinctive head pattern.

4)Seems to embrace bad weather...Male is a real stunner...appears gentle...often seen standing on rocks...stubby bill on small head.

5) Simply beautiful; the epitome of grace (it would have been at home in the movie 'Avatar'). Flies just above the treeline, never in a hurry, but deceptively fast. Loves warm weather.

The Watson Effect, or, The Future of Bird iDentification

2011-02-22T21:17:00.001-05:00

In light of the supercomputer Watson's recent dominance on Jeopardy, I was wondering if birding could undergo a similar technological revolution- one that would allow computers to identify birds in the field. It's an interesting concept, and, if it ever is actualized, a controversial one. How would this change birding? Would it be good or bad? Would birders become redundant? Is it even possible?

To answer the last point, yes, I believe it is, and it is probably feasible using current technology- no need to invent anything new. Two products lead me to this conclusion. One is Shazam, the popular app that allows you to figure out what is playing on the radio. It "listens" to part of the song, searches its database, and quickly comes up with an answer (and, of course, gives you the link to purchase the song on iTunes). Could this be adapted to birdsong? Probably. I'm not an expert on the technology, but it seems that it would not be too difficult to program the database to account for the variation in birdsong. It wouldn't be able to id everything, but it could probably do a lot. The second product is Google's new program "Google Goggles." Known as an augmented reality program, it allows you to point your phone camera at an object (say, a storefront) and gives you information about it, overlayed on the image. This is a bit more far-fetched, but it doesn't really seem like crazy statement to suggest that within 5 years a similar program could match a name to an image of a bird that you take, if it is a distinctive bird and a good photo. Within 15 or 20 years, the majority of birds could probably be identified with a camera and computer program (or app, probably). Would this be difficult to create? Yes. Is it economically worth it for anyone to try? Maybe, maybe not. Is it possible? Yes, it seems so.

On the surface, the prospect seems both enticing and a bit scary. Would it take all of the fun out of birding to be able to point your phone at a bird, and have the id immediately? It seems sort of like cheating- like you wouldn't be actually identifying the bird, just letting other people id it for you. And in some ways, this would be true. It probably would take some of the skill out of birding- particularly, it would narrow the gap in knowledge between beginning birders and someone like me- who can identify most birds given a good look, but is not particularly adept or experienced at tough ids. Maybe that's a good thing- if more people can feel accomplished at birding without putting too much effort in, then maybe more people will become birders. Additionally, technology like that could help a lot with bird research- instead of spending days analyzing data (say nocturnal flight call recordings), one could use a computer to make the identifications and give scientists important data.

On the other hand, the technology probably could not exceed human capabilities anytime soon- I don't think a computer could handle empids or gulls, considering all the variables involved (lighting, individual variation, hybrids, feather wear, etc). For expert birders, it might be completely useless- if the computer can id it, they can too, and they (rightly) wouldn't trust it with any ids they wouldn't be confident about themselves. In a discussion of a possible Thayer's Gull in the Northeast for example, one could not simply pull out their iPhone and point it at the bird for a definitive id- the result would just be another point for the human observers to weigh. In the same vein, the accuracy of the reports could be doubted- if a beginner iDentified (yes, that's what I've decided to call it) all of their birds, then there could be many erroneous reports in ebird and elsewhere of confusing but rare species. Obviously, the program would have to use probability as a factor, but this might not be enough, or could lead to the opposite extreme- rare birds are overlooked because the program does not even consider them.

All in all though, it seems that a computerized bird identification system could revolutionize birding, and is not necessarily that far off. And though I can already picture the experts grumbling about how "birders these days don't even look at the birds, they just point their phone at them," and do agree with them to a point, it seems that such a thing would be a net positive for birding. As a birder, I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.

Do you? Leave your thoughts on whether a bird-identifying computer or app would be possible to create, and whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing for birding in the comments.

Bird Photo Quiz 2

2011-02-16T18:49:00.002-05:00

Well, given the response to my last photo quiz, which, if you haven't seen my comment, was a first year male Common Eider, I'm going to try to do a weekly photo quiz, if I can take enough photos to keep up.

This week's bird should be a bit easier than last week's, perhaps too easy (though I thought that about the eider too, so I don't know...). Photo taken in December in the Northeast somewhere. As always, leave your answer in the comments.

Oh, and to add a comment if you don't have a google account, just select Name/URL. You don't need to put in a URL, though you can.

A Quick Quiz

2011-02-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge. Leave your guess or answer in the comments. I am actually not 100% certain myself as to what it is, but I do have a guess. Photo taken in January in Massachusetts, if that helps.

Superbowl of Birding!

2011-01-31T18:43:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, the NYSYBC Razorbills competed in the Superbowl of Birding, an annual 12-hour (5 a.m. to 5 p.m.) birding competition in Essex County, MA, and Rockingham County, NH . The club had had a team last year, but this was my first time participating in the rather insane competition- this is Northeastern Massachussetts, for 12 hours, in January. It is usually pretty cold. What separates the superbowl from some of the other birding competitions, apart from the weather, is that the checklist has a weighted points system- a bird can be worth between 1 and 5 points, depending on its rarity. All 5-point birds have to be reported to the organizers, and the team that is the first to call in a 5-pointer gets an additional 3 points.

On Friday night, our team, consisting of Greg Lawrence, Jacob Drucker, Benjamin Van Doren, and myself, planned strategy in the lobby of our hotel room. Our route would be about the same as last year, working from Nahant up to Salisbury, with some modifications based on the scouting Greg had done that day. With birds such as Barrow's Goldeneye, Thick-billed Murre, and King Eider reported that day, hopes were high for some good birds.

First stop the next morning were a few owling spots. At the first, a screech owl and a Great Horned Owl were calling as soon as we got out of the car. 2 and 3 points, respectively. Calling for Barred, Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls was unsucessful, but we were off to a decent start as dawn approached. Our first daylight spot was to be Flax Pond, in Lynn, where a 5-point Northern Shoveler was staked out. We were hoping to be the first to call it in, but we learned that two teams had seen it at 5, presumably with a spotlight. Still, it would be a good bird. Unfortunately, when we got there, the shoveler was absent. Some consolation was in the fact that we saw Ruddy Ducks and American Coots (4 points apiece), but it was still a tough miss.

Next to Nahant, where we picked up more good birds- Greater and Lesser Scaup, Black Scoter, Brant, and Red-necked Grebe in the ocean (the latter being a life bird for me), and Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Tree Sparrow, Mockingbird, Song Sparrow, and others at the stump dump. Another try for the shoveler was also a failure- we learned later that it was seen at a different spot of open water we did not know about. We move onward to the Jodrey Fish Pier in Gloucester Harbor, where there were many birds and superbowl teams. We quickly spotted two murres- one nearer, which disappeared before I could get it in a scope, which the others IDed as a Common Murre, and one more distant, a Thick-billed that I saw well enough to count as a life bird. Greg found a Black Guillemot was perched on a beam under a distant pier, an odd location for an alcid, and there was a Peregrine Falcon perched on a distant tower. By the time we had left, we had seen 3 alcids, and were surprised to learn that we were the first to report the Common Murre- good for 8 points, plus 4 for the Thick-billed Murre. Very happy with our success, we moved out of the harbor to Eastern Point, adding 2 birds- Red-throated Loon and Purple Sandpiper, as well as more guillemots and some Song Sparrows foraging, oddly, on floating rafts of seaweed.

Thick-billed Murre

At Bass Rocks, we saw the long-staying adult male King Eider, a brilliant, if distant bird. Another rare duck was the Barrow's Goldeneye at Penzance Beach, and Harlequin Ducks were there as well, awesome, if common birds. (4, 3, and 2 points, respectively). We switched drivers and got our lunch/breakfast at Granite Pier in Rockport, but didn't find any new birds. Same a Halibut Point State Park. Heading up to Newburyport, we had made a couple of unsuccessful stops in a row. But our luck turned around.

Andrews Point, which was dubbed "hell" the previous year, was actually very pleasent, warm and sunny. In contrast to the norm, temperatures were as high as 40 degrees. The birds were nice too- multiple Razorbills (a lifer) and a second King Eider, this one a young male, were the highlights. A little while later, Jacob spotted a Cooper's Hawk perched in a tree. 3 points. Benjamin spotted another accipiter flying by less than five minutes later. Incredibly, it was a clear Sharp-shinned Hawk. 3 more points, and two potentially difficult gaps in our list filled. A stop for Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs yielded all 3 in quick succession. 8 more points, combined. We were in a celebratory mood as we arrived in Newburyport, but missed the turn for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. When we were turning around, we scanned the flats for birds, and Benjamin spotted a Northern Shoveler, our nemesis from the beginning of the day. We called it in for our second 5-point bird, and one that was completely off our radar after missing the one in Lynn.

Male Common Eider

Crossing the bridge over the Merrimac river to Salisbury Beach State Park, it was around 2 and the clock was ticking. We picked up Common Merganser from the bridge and Bald Eagle from the state park, before heading back south to Plum Island. There were still 3 embarrassing holes in our list- Dark-eyed Junco, Mute Swan, and Northern Harrier. We stopped at the North Pool Overlook to try to find a reported Wilson's Snipe, but got a much better bird when Jacob spotted a Brown Thrasher foraging at the edge of the water. 5 points, plus 3 more, and the last new 5-pointer to be seen by anybody that day. Unfortunately, other birds were scarcer, and we couldn't find harrier, Short-eared Owl, or even a junco. A distant Rough-legged Hawk saved us from a grassland raptor strikeout, and was a nice life bird for me, but apart from the thrasher and roughleg we could not find anything else new on Plum Island. With some time left, we headed to what was to be the last stop of the day- a small blackbird roost in Salisbury. On the way, however, we decided to stop at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, which we had been unable to access earlier because of construction. A 2nd cycle Iceland Gull, our 69th bird, made the detour very worthwhile. At the blackbird roost, we saw Red-winged Blackbird but missed Common Grackle. As the sun set and time wound down, a Northern Harrier flew over, our last bird of the day.

Back at the Hope Community Church, the finish line, we ate pizza, discussed sightings with other teams, and tallied our score. Our total was 71 species and 140 points, which was 10 species and almost 40 points better than last year, and good for 2nd in the youth category and 8th overall out of 21 teams. Not a bad showing, and a great day of birding.

White-winged Scoter

My Best Birds of 2010

2011-01-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

Last year I wrote a post of the ten best birds I saw in 2009. In 2010, however, I went to Costa Rica and did much more birding in general, so I couldn't compress the highlights into anything less than a Top 20 plus 1. Notice that most of them are from Costa Rica, and all but one were lifers. A lot of great birds were left off, because I don't have the time to write a "Best 50 Birds" post, and you don't have the time (or will) to read it. The rankings are a bit arbitrary, but reflect fairly well how happy I was to see that bird, and how memorable the experience was. Starting with #21, the rarest, most colorful, most awesome birds of 2010:

#21-Black-faced Solitaire- My favorite birdsong, this highland bird is a characteristic singer of Monteverde Cloud Forest. With bright red-orange legs and bill, it doesn't look bad either.

#20-Varied Thrush- A nice rarity, both unusual and colorful, that showed up in Central Park in December. Nicely patterned and orange.

#19-Northern Saw-whet Owl- Always a tough bird to find, but well worth it when you can track one down, it makes the list because I got to hold one while watching an owl banding project in October.

#18- Great Kiskadee- A large, loud, common, and charismatic flycatcher from Costa Rica. These guys were everywhere and always fun to watch.

#17- Common Nighthawk- This was my nemesis bird for a very long time, but I finally saw some in September. All nightjars are cool birds, and I was looking for this one for a long time.

#16- Cape May Warbler- One of the last warblers that I hadn't seen, I saw one at close range, fittingly, in Cape May.

#15- Black Guan- A huge black bird that looks like a turkey, sounds like a machine gun, has a bright blue face and red eye, and lives only in the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama. Sounds pretty awesome, right?

#14- Golden-winged Warbler- I was watching a small flock of warblers and sparrows when a brilliant male Golden-winged Warbler popped out of a thicket. Very surprising, and one of the highlights of fall migration.

#13- Golden-hooded Tanager- Tanagers are the epitome of colorful tropical birds, and the Golden-hooded was the most colorful one I saw in Costa Rica. Colored in pale gold, vivid turquoise, violet, and black, it hardly looks like a real bird.

#12- Fork-tailed Flycatcher- The best ABA bird I saw all year, this mega-rarity amazed hundreds of birders in Stamford, Connecticut. Excellent example of a visually striking rarity.

#11- Golden-browed Chlorophonia- A searingly bright bird, colored in neon green, blue and yellow. Plus it's a highland endemic to Costa Rica and Western Panama.

#10- Crested Caracara- It's a combination of a falcon and a vulture. What's not to like. Wildly considered one of the "coolest" birds in North America, I saw mine in the dry farmland of Northwestern Costa Rica.

#9- Black-and-White Owl- A great stakeout bird, the tale of how I saw it makes for a good Costa Rica birding anecdote. If you're in Costa Rica and want to see one, go to the town park in Orotina, look for the ice cream guy. He'll know where it is, as long as you buy an ice cream.

#8- Fiery-billed Aracari- My 400th life bird, it is a lowland endemic toucan with a bright red bill. What's not to like?

#7- Coppery-headed Emerald- Another milestone bird, this time my 300th lifer. It was the only bird I saw that is endemic solely to Costa Rica, rather than being endemic to a habitat or mountain range, like the previous near-endemics I mentioned. A small, bright green hummingbird.

#6-Violet Sabrewing- Costa Rica's uber-hummingbird, one of the largest hummers in the world. There are very few purple birds in the world, and this is certainly one of them.

#5- Blue-crowned Motmot- Motmots are my favorite family of birds, and I got good looks at the Blue-crowned Motmot at various points on my Costa Rica trip. Green overall, with a sky-blue crown. Very cool.

#4- Rufous Motmot- See above, but passes Blue-crowned on the list because it is less common, larger, and because looking up to see one 5 feet away at eye level is very cool. I heard it vocalize as well- a low, hooting tremolo.

#3- Common Potoo- The "stickbird," it looks like a cross between a nightjar, and owl, and a stump. Tough to see, I got lucky when a tour group spotted one while I was walking by.

#2- Scarlet Macaw- The stereotypical parrot, and a symbol of the tropics. Declining in Central America, and restricted to just 2 spots in Costa Rica. The saga of our getting good looks at macaws is another good Costa Rica anecdote.

#1- The winner is... Resplendent Quetzal- No real surprise there. After all, it is a Resplendent Quetzal. Red and luminescent green, with incredibly long tail streamers, it isn't hard to see why the Maya worshiped this bird as an incarnation of one of their gods. Birders do too, more or less.

CT Young Birders Club- Winter Waterbirds and lots of Owls

2011-01-15T21:27:00.001-05:00

Today the Connecticut Young Birders' Club took a trip along the coast of Fairfield County, stopping at multiple spots along the way. Our first stop was Sherwood Island State Park, where some of the first birds that I saw were a large group of Horned Grebes. Finally!! The Horned Grebe had been my nemesis bird for a long time, and I was very happy to finally see some. Other birds of note were Canvasbacks, Goldeneye, Wigeons, and a nice Merlin. We stopped at a few other spots nearby, but did not see too much, so we headed to another location in Fairfield, where we were seeking owls. First, however, we spotted a pipit and a few more grebes (how can I not have seen them until now?!?) by the bathrooms. Heading from there to the owl grove, we had high hopes for multiple species, and were not disappointed.

Almost as soon as we entered the grove (the location of which, by the way, I am not allowed to disclose), Brian started gesturing excitedly and pointing. The reason? A beautiful Long-eared Owl perched virtually in full view, just off the path. After all the time I've spent trying to see a long-eared at Hunter Island, it was nice to get one so easily, and to get such good looks. Second lifer of the day, and a great one at that.

Long-eared Owl!

Brian wasn't done, however, and we had only walked a few more steps when he spotted a Great Horned Owl near the top of a tall pine. Cool owl #2.

I am not a good digiscoper. At all. But still, that is a Great Horned Owl.

For the finishing touch on hoped-for owl trio, Brian (the owl-whisperer) found a Saw-whet Owl perched in a smaller tree, and we had seen 3 owls in less than 10 minutes. It was probably closer to 5 minutes actually.

The tiny Saw-whet Owl. It was a better view than this photo would suggest.

The owls were the clear highlight of the day, but we still found more birds after our Strigiform success- Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Brant, Red-throated Loon, Long-tailed Ducks, a Fox Sparrow in the parking lot, and a Bonaparte's Gull on the way home.

It was a great morning of birding, especailly the grebes and owls. Two lifers, lots of year birds, lots of fun. Another young birder, Brendan Murtha also posted about it on his blog here, if you want to see more owl photos.

Good Birding!

Birding 2010 in Review

2011-01-08T22:16:00.001-05:00

2011 is here, and that means wrap-up and review posts for 2010. First off, a month-by-month summary of last years birding:

January- I started off the year in Pennslyvania, and on the drive home found my first lifer of 2010, 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Deleware River at Falls Township Community Park. Other birding expeditions build my year list, including a trip to Stratford that netted Lapland Longspur and Saw-whet Owl. The NYSYBC annual meeting took place at Marshlands on the 16th, with the usual winter waterfowl and songbirds present.

February- I went to the Croton Point Eaglefest on the 6th, where I saw lots of eagles and waterfowl, as well as my lifer Redhead. I chased and found the Yellow-headed Blackbird in Chappaqua on the way back. Though not technically a birding trip, the NYSYBC set up tour of the collection of the bird department of the Museum of Natural History, which was really fun and interesting. The latter part of the month was my trip to Costa Rica, the by far birding highlight of the year. I found 174 species, 139 lifers, and such incredible birds a Resplendent Quetzal, Scarlet Macaw, Common Potoo, 15 different hummingbirds, toucans, motmots, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, more than a dozen flycatchers and a handful of tanagers. It was really awesome.

March- March is a slow month for birding, and I did not see that many birds. However, returning migrants such as Tree Swallows and Eastern Phoebe highlighted the NYSYBC trip to Stockport Flats. Other notable birds this month were displaying American Woodcocks at Marshlands and a Snow Goose on a golf course in Mamaroneck.

April- More returning migrants, with Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Marshlands, Swamp Sparrow and Bluebird at Greenwich Audubon, and a nice Wilson's Snipe at the tennis courts near my house.

May- Obviously excellent, with many warblers and migrants.16 warblers, including Bay-breasted and Cerulean were at Central Park on the 2nd, plus Red-headed Woodpecker and Rusty Blackbird. A very productive afternoon of birding at the Botanical Gardens added Blackburnian and Canada Warblers, with 10 others giving good views as well. Doodletown was excellent as usual, with Cerulean, Blue-winged, and Hooded Warblers highlighting. And to top off the month, a Sedge Wren near my beach house was a cool and rare lifer.

June- I didn't do too much birding, but visited Marshlands a couple times, and birded Jamaica Bay with Benjamin, Jacob and Lila, finding waders such as Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, and Little Blue Heron, as well as getting distant looks at my life Barn Owl.

July- I was at my beach house for most of July, finding Bonaparte's Gull, Common Eider, Whimbrel, and my life Arctic Terns at various beaches in the area. Back in New York, I went on the NYSYBC trip to Cupsogue, where shorebirds and terns were everyone, including Western Sandpiper, Red Knot, Black Skimmer, as well as Roseate, Gull-billed and Sandwich Terns.

August- Back in Massachusetts, a trip to South Beach did not turn up the reported godwits, but there were Whimbrels, a Roseate Tern, some Horned Larks, and Black and White-winged Scoters. A whale-watching trip to Stellwagen Bank had more whales than birds, but there were still a few Wilson's Storm-Petrels and Greater Shearwaters around. I did a "Big Day by Bike" on the 15th, finding plenty of birds, including some unexpected ones, like Broad-winged Hawk, Northern Waterthrush, Eastern Bluebird, Brant, Horned Lark, and Red-shouldered Hawk, posting a pretty good (for August and without a car) day total of 68. A bird walk with the local Audubon hit some good shorebirding spots, and ended up with White-rumped, Stilt, Pectoral Sandpipers and a Wilson's Snipe. A cool yard bird was a Black Tern, which ended up off the beach across the street from my house after a storm. To finish the month, I found a pair of Baird's Sandpipers at Jamaica Bay, a decent rarity and a lifer, and moved from shorebird migration to warbler migration by finding 9 warbler species at the end of the month.

September- One of the better months of the year for birding. I started off with a bang by finding a male Golden-winged Warbler at Marshlands, a lifer at the first fall record there. Two trips to the hawkwatch at Greenwich Audubon were very fun, with morning flight watching early, then warblers in the early morning, and hawkwatching for the rest of the day. I also found two longtime nemesis birds, one each day- Purple Finch and Common Nighthawk. One weekend later was some of the most fun birding of the year- watching nocturnal migration of warblers from the top of the Empire State Building. We saw more than 800 birds, including cuckoos, catbirds, vireos, grosbeaks, geese, a heron, an egret, and, of course warblers. A Peregrine Falcon added excitement by plucking birds out of the air- diving down from the spire to snag a warbler many times, with sucess 3 times. I got two lifers the next day in Central Park- Gray-cheecked Thrush and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

October- I went to Cape May the first weekend of October. The birding capital of the country was excellent as usual, with warblers at arm's length and many migrants of every variety. The best was probably Cape May Warbler, a lifer, plus it was cool to see my first in Cape May. I saw 95 species in 2 days, neither of them full days of birding. I went with Benjamin to Marshlands to successfully look for Nelson's Sparrows on the 11th, and went to the hawkwatch a few more times. Towards the end of the month, I saw the Prothonotary Warbler at the New York Public Library, and banded Saw-whet Owls.

November- This is rarity month, and most of my birding was in the form of "twitches." First was a failed chase after a LeConte's Sparrow at Milford Point, where consolation came in the form of two lifers- Sora and American Golden-Plover. Next up was the Stamford Fork-tailed Flycatcher, which I saw twice. Then the Cave Swallows in New Haven with the Connecticut Young Birders Club. Finally, a post-Thanksgiving twitch after Connecticut's first Northern Lapwing, which I missed by 5 minutes. Sort-of-Consolation birds were Barnacle Goose and my life Greater White-fronted Goose.

December- Rarity-chasing continued when I went to see the Varied Thrush in Central Park, with a Yellow-breasted Chat as a nice bonus. The day after Christmas I was up at my beach house, seawatching, when my life Iceland Gull flew overhead. Last life bird of the year. Other good birds there were both loons and White-winged and Surf Scoters. On New Years Eve I went to the Read Sanctuary in Rye, where I couldn't find redpolls or grebes, but I did see my last addition to my year list- a flyover American Pipit.

A really great birding year. Lots of beautiful birds (quetzal, macaw, tanagers), rare birds (forktail, barnacle goose, varied thrush), lifers (a lot), and memorable birding experiences. (empire state building at night, saw-whet owl banding, black and white owl stakeout in Orotina) Will 2011 top it? I don't know. It would be pretty awesome if it does.

Good Birding!

Dipping, Deja Vu

2011-01-02T18:11:00.001-05:00

If you scroll down and read my post Anatomy of a Chase, and replace "Connecticut's first Lapwing" with "Pennsylvania's first Anna's Hummingbird," "missed it by 5 minutes" with "missed it by 15 minutes," and cross out any mention of consolation birds, you have today's birding almost exactly. No need for me to write another painful post.

*side note- dipping, for those of you who may not know, is birder slang for looking for a previously reported rare bird ("twitching") and not finding it. It is not usually very fun.

Lifer

2010-12-26T09:03:00.002-05:00

The Scene: Scanning the waves across the street from my beach house, looking at scoters and hoping for alcids.

The Bird: A pale cream gull, soaring by on the wind.

The ID: First cycle gull, with an all dark bill. Glaucous would have more pink on the bill, and be bulkier, as per my new Birds of Europe guide.

The Lifer: Iceland Gull

Merry Christmas and good birding!

More Rare Birds- Varied Thrush in Central Park

2010-12-04T17:40:00.001-05:00

Today Benjamin Van Doren and I decided to chase the Varied Thrush that was found earlier this week in Central Park. It had been hanging around the area in the ramble known as "maintenance meadow," so we headed there after arriving in the park. The first bird we saw at the spot, however, was a young Cooper's Hawk, which was keeping the thrush in hiding. After a bit of searching in the thicket were it had been last seen, I happened to glance across the road and saw a distant bird high in a tree. Figuring it was a robin, I raised my binoculars, and was surprised to realize that it was the Varied Thrush! It then flew down and closer, foraging in its usual spot for a few minutes before disappearing again.

Next we wandered (or rambled, I guess) around the ramble, seeing a Fox Sparrow along with the usual suspects. There was a Bufflehead on Turtle Pond, but despite the good winds it was too late in the season for us to see any hawks. A stop back at the thrush spot yielded no more views, so we went to the Boathouse, where a Yellow-breasted Chat had been seen yesterday. No one had seen it yet today, so we were happy to find that it was still there, and it gave very good looks, especially for a normally skulking bird. The chat, belying its reputation, then flew into a dumpster, before joining a flock of House Sparrows foraging on the sidewalk right next to the entrance to the boathouse. So much for secretive and hard-to-see.

I got 2 lifers, the chat and the thrush, and extended my streak of both lifers and rarities to 3 weekends. Now about that Hermit Warbler...

The Anatomy of a Chase (or, Dipping on a Lapwing)

2010-11-29T17:58:00.002-05:00

A 10-step summary of a typical "twitch," from the perspective of my failed attempt at the Northern Lapwing in Connecticut on Sunday. A sort of how-to guide on missing incredible rarities.

Step 1- Learn about where the bird is. This is generally done through a local Rare Bird Alert or state birding listserv. Example: "Wow, Lapwing in Connecticut! Awesome."

Step 2- Find out where the bird is. Google maps is your best friend in this step. Example: Doing a google search on Storrs, CT shows that it is nowhere near anything. That is a setback.

Step 3- Scheme. If you own a car and have a lot of free time, this step is unnecessary, but for young birders like myself, it is critical. Where will you be nearest to the bird? Would your parents be willing to make a detour? What is there that is close to where the bird is? Think shopping centers, museums, whatever. Example: "We have to drive back on Route 84 anyway, and the lapwing is just 24 minutes out of the way..."

Step 4- Hype up the bird. A lot. If it's an empid, good luck. Example: "It's a really rare plover from Ireland. Striking plumage. Very cool. And its the first one ever seen in Connecticut"

Step 5- Overcome the vast number of obstacles in your path. Examples: The thanksgiving traffic on the Mass Pike, the impending darkness, and the UCONN basketball game.

Step 6- Arrive at the rarity location, after getting lost a few times. There are now three options. Either the bird is there (go to Step 7), it's temporarily out of sight (go to Step 8), or just flew halfway across the continent five minutes before you arrived (go to Step 9)

Step 7- Rejoice, brag, and add the bird to your life list. Blog about how awesome it was, and how great it was to have seen it.

Step 8- Desperately search for the bird and pray your trip will not prove to be futile. Depending on the outcome, go to step 7 or 10.

Step 9- "Oh, you just missed it. Yeah, it flew that way, and kept going. It's probably back in Ireland by now. Nope, absolutely no chance it's coming back." Go to step 10.

Step 10- Despair. Having now wasted a fair amount of time for a great bird that you are not going to see, the Barnacle and White-fronted Geese nearby are small consolation. Yes, the Barnacle Goose is a Code 4 bird too, and the White-front is a lifer, but neither of them are lapwings. Go home, and instead of posting photos of lapwings on your blog, bore your readers to death with a long-winded tale of your failed search.

Can you guess what route I took? And seriously, the geese were good to see. That's not to say they make up for missing the lapwing, but it was not as bad as I portrayed it above. I'll have another chance to see a Lapwing in North America. Maybe. If I move to Newfoundland.

A Taste of Winter Birding

2010-11-28T10:12:00.002-05:00

I went to my beach house in Massachusetts this weekend, which allow me to freeze my fingers off looking for cold-weather birds that would be tricky to find closer to home. Typing on a blackberry, as I am doing now, precludes a full report, but some of the highlights included Great Cormerant, Long-tailed Duck, eiders, Surf Scoters, Bonaparte's Gulls, and great looks at gannets. From a non-birding perspective, 4 seals were fun to see. It's not winter yet, and birding from the same spot at Christmas will be more productive, but an early start and a pair of year birds (GRCO and LTDU) were both good.

Excellent Birds with the Connecticut Young Birders' Club

2010-11-22T19:06:00.001-05:00

Where can you see a South American Fork-tailed Flycatcher, a Mexican Cave Swallow, and Canadian Common Eiders and Lapland Longspurs, all on the same day? Why, Connecticut, of course!

The first field trip of the recently created CT Young Birders' Club was on Sunday, to Hammonasset State Park in Madison, with possibly a few other stops thrown in, time permitting.

Our first stop was the parking lot of Hammonasset, which held a large flock of Horned Larks (including some with very white eyebrows- lark subspecies id, anyone?), a slightly smaller flock of Snow Buntings, and 2 Lapland Longspurs, all birds that are easy to see at Hammo, but, especially in the case of the Longspur, tricky to see at most places. The yellow-and-black faces and odd running gait of the larks, the huge white wing patches of the buntings, and the bold striped pattern of the longspurs make this trifecta fun to watch.

At the water, we scoped out many Common and Red-throated Loons, a Surf Scoter, two White-winged Scoters, 8 Common Eiders. Shorebirds were common on the rocks and jetties, with one Purple Sandpiper along with the more common Dunlin, Sanderlings, Black-bellied Plover, and Ruddy Turnstones.

Land birds in the thickets and brush were somewhat scarce, but included Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Tree Sparrow, and Hermit Thrush.

Leaving Hammonasset, we headed to a Sewage Treatment Plant (sewage = good birds) in New Haven, at East Shore Park. There are more insects there than anywhere else at this time of year (the warmth from the plant, I think), and as a result there are often late warblers and swallows, insectivores that would not usually be around this late in the year.

Our targets were Cave Swallows, a bird that breeds in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico, and winters in Central America. That is, most winter in Central America. Some end up on the east coast, where they find food at places like East Shore Park. And sure enough, there were two Cave Swallows swirling overhead not long after we arrived- a life bird for me. There were also a lot of warblers around for the time of year. In addition to the expected Yellow-rumped, there were an American Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, and 2 Pine Warblers. Others had seen Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a couple more warblers earlier in the day.

Everyone would have been satisfied with the Cave Swallows and the other good birds, but we made one last stop on the way back to Greenwich- Cove Island Park, new home of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, a South American bird 3000 miles from where it should be.

I had seen the forktail Saturday, but it was nice to see it again, and I actually got better looks this time. An excellent bird, and a great way to end an extremely successful first field trip.

I didn't really take many photos,(Alex Burdo and Benjamin Van Doren did though- check out their blogs here and here)but here is a very bad photo of both of the Cave Swallows overhead:

I'm weighing whether that can even be considered a record shot - if I hadn't labeled it, would you be able to id the birds? I'm not a photographer, and the good bird, awful photo tradeoff is fine with me.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

2010-11-20T15:17:00.002-05:00

A usually South American Fork-tailed Flycatcher was found a couple of days ago at Cove Island Park in Stamford, just a half hour from my house. I was hopeful it would stay around until the weekend, and it did, so I went today to see it. A great bird. I got very good looks at it. Photos were less good. Two digiscoped shots-

Cape May, Part 2

2010-11-05T22:58:00.002-04:00

I guess I really have to write about my second day in Cape May, even if it was practically a month ago. Waiting weeks to write a post is lazy, but never writing it is worse.

Even though the weather was not a good for migration as the previous night, I still had high expectations for Sunday, if only because I would be able to actually do some birding in the morning, instead of midday to evening. First stop was the dike at Higbee, for the morning flight. Because of the wind direction, there were not too many birds in the morning flight, but I still saw Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll, and Black-throated Blue Warblers, and a few Parulas. Birding Higbee afterwards was fairly quiet, but there were still plenty of raptors overhead, including an eagle, a few harriers, and tons of Accipiters. Swamp Sparrows made of the majority of songbirds, with one Lincoln's Sparrow as well.

I left Higbee and biked south to the Cape May Meadows, a marsh and wetland birding hotspot on the bay. By this time, storm clouds were quickly rolling in and rain seemed imminant. However, it stayed clear long enough for me to see some more Sharpies, a group of 20 migrating Great Blue Herons overhead, and a few Northern Pintail, which were my first of the year.

A stop at the hawkwatch was cut short by the rain, but I still saw all of the expected raptors, including a peregrine, and more migrating herons.

The final stop was to the CMBO Center, where I bought a CMBO Cape May Warbler hat, walked out of the store, and immediately saw a real Cape May Warbler. Along with a few Blackpoll Warblers, it was an excellent end to a great trip. Or so I thought.

It turned out that that was not the end of the birding. We ate lunch on the water, and I decided to walk on the beach (in the rain) to try to relocate a Royal Tern I had seen driving there. That turned out to be a very good move. I was soaked, but saw Royal and Forster's Terns, Black Scoter, and, best of all, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, all of which were nice birds and good additions to the trip list.

Royal Terns:

Lesser Black-backed Gull:

The final birds of the trip, however, were a huge flock of Black Skimmers loafing on the beach in the main part of town. Skimmers are great birds, with their striking black-and-white coloration and clownish bill, so it was great to see so many of them in one flock. There were at least 300, probably more.

From the front, Skimmers look like cartoon penguins:

95 Species, 1 Lifer, lots of cool birds- a very successful trip!

Yard Birds

2010-11-01T17:19:00.002-04:00

Birdwise, we are on the margin of two seasons- fall migration is trailing off, but there are still plenty of late migrants around, and winter birds are starting to arrive. The combination made for some pretty good birding in my yard yesterday.

I put up my bird feeders on Saturday, hoping for Purple Finches or siskins. No sign of them yet, but when I was filling one of the feeders I spotted a Hermit Thrush on our neighbors' fence- a yard bird. Two Fish Crows flying over were also nice.

By Sunday, the feeders were hopping with bird activity, and I counted 13 species there, including Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Cardinal, and Carolina Wren. The majority of the birds were chickadees, with a fair number of titmice and juncos as well. They were quite tame, with one chickadee briefly landing on my finger, and were unconcerned by me taking photos of them.

Chickadees:

Titmice:

At one point, I looked up, and was very surprised to see a group of hawks- 2 Turkey Vultures, 3 Buteos, and an Accipiter. I ran inside to get binoculars, and for the next couple hours did a hawkwatch, tallying 84 raptors. The species counts were:

Turkey Vulture- 20

Red-tailed Hawk- 21

Red-shouldered Hawk- 5

Cooper's Hawk- 3

Sharp-shinned Hawk- 18

Osprey- 3

American Kestrel- 1

Unidentified Raptor- 10

Unidentified Buteo- 2

Unidentified Accipiter- 1

Non-raptor migrants were also present, with a few flocks of Canada Geese, a flock of Brant, and a few dozen Double-crested Cormorants all flying over.

When a small bird with a forked tail fly by, I thought I might have found a siskin, but when I refound it, I realized it was actually a Golden-crowned Kinglet, another yard bird.

I saw 34 species of birds from my yard, which proves that to find plenty of birds, all you need to do it fill up a feeder, or just look up!

Saw-whet Owl Banding!

2010-10-30T22:58:00.001-04:00

Most birds, and most people, are diurnal (or crepuscular, if you want to be precise). Therefore, most birding takes place during the day. So if I am birding in the middle of the night, chances are there has to be some pretty good birding to drag me out of bed, and many of my best birding experiences (like watching migration from the Empire State Building) have been at night. Last night was one such time.

I went to the campus of Westchester Community College to watch researchers there band Northern Saw-whet Owls, the smallest (and, probably as a result, the cutest) owl in the Eastern US.

Benjamin Van Doren and I arrived at the nets at 7, and after helping Drew and Trudy (the people doing the banding) untangling the leaves that the strong wind had blown into the nets, we headed back to the Owl House, a small building on campus used as a warm location to band the owls and to wait.

With Drew and two other visitors, we located an owl that they had put a radio transmitter on the previous night. Following the beeps, we figured out generally where it was, but since it was on private property, we did not actually see it.

The nets are checked every hour, so at 8:30 we went out for the first time. The high winds were a concern, but otherwise the weather seemed fairly good for owl banding. In the first net we checked, there was an owl! That was easy. The other three nets were empty, so they carefully removed the owl from the net and we headed back to the Owl House to band it. On the way back, we ran into the people who live near the banding site, who seemed a bit annoyed at the audio that was played all night, but were very impressed with the owl.

To be able to see such an amazing bird at such close range was awesome. Trudy measured the owl, which was female, like the majority of the birds they band. It was also born this past spring- a hatch year bird. Though to me it looked identical to an adult, the key is that the flight feathers on the wing are all the same color, and therefore the same age. An older bird would have a mix of old and new feathers.

Another similar way to age the bird was to put its wing under an ultraviolet light. The feathers all glowed pink. Older feathers do not have as much pink, and other birds do not have a uniform pink glow. Instead, it is only on some feathers, or, in very old birds, virtually nonexistent. Check out Trudy's website for photos that show this much better than I am describing it: http://www.battaly.com/banding/

After all the data was collected, everyone there got to hold the owl:

(Me and the Owl)

After the photo ops, we released the owl, and it flew off, almost ghostly, into the night.

It would seem like catching an owl on the first try would be a prequel to a great night of banding, but there were no birds for the next two hours, and we had to leave at 11, saying., "Well, we got one!" And that one made it all extremely worthwhile.

Prothonotary Warbler in Manhattan!

2010-10-28T22:00:00.001-04:00

About a week ago, a NYC birder found a brilliant and rare Prothonotary Warbler in a very improbable location- the front of the New York Public Library, in the middle of Manhattan. The bird was eating with the usual White-throated and House Sparrows, and Pigeons, but its bright golden hue made it very clear that it did not belong there. Most Prothonatory Warblers are in Florida or Central America now, far from the streets of New York City.

On Sunday, my family and I were already in the city to see a play, so I convinced my parents to stop quickly at the library. Within 10 minutes, I found the bird, and watched it briefly before it flew off.

The photos did not come out great, but a very fun bird to watch.

For context, the bird was just to the left of the lion:

Good Birding!

Cape May! --Day 1

2010-10-19T22:17:00.001-04:00

Cape May in early October after a cold front is probably the fall birding in the United States, and I was lucky enough to be there in that situation 2 weeks ago. The famed location certainly did not disappoint.

We didn't get to Cape May until 11, but there were still tons of birds around. Our first stop was the CMBO Center and Bird Store, on the shores of Lily Lake. It is supposed to a good spot for warblers, vireos, and other small migrants, and it certainly upheld that reputation. As soon as we got out of the car, there were birds flitting everywhere, and I quickly saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blackpoll Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Carolina Chickadees, Northern Parulas, Redstarts, Black-throated Green Warblers, and, best of all, a single Cape May Warbler- a life and a cool bird to see. Plus, as we were in Cape May, it was a fitting spot to see my first one.

There were quite a few hawks flying over as well, mostly Sharp-shins, but with some broadwings, a few harriers, a merlin or two, and an eagle thrown in. I decided to head to the hawkwatch. There was a steady flight of birds there, with many accipiters, all falcons- including good looks at peregrines, some harriers and broadwings, and 5-6 eagles, a pretty good total for a fairly short time spent there. After that, I started on a loop around the Cape May Point State Park, which is adjacent to the hawkwatch. There were not as many birds as at CMBO, but there were still Yellow-rumps, Palms, Parulas, a single Pine Warbler, a Kinglet, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, as well as many flyover raptors. A single Killdeer on Bunker Pond was the only one of the weekend.

(Bunker Pond, the Hawkwatch Platform, and Cape May Lighthouse)

Butterflies were in abundance. Most common were Monarchs, but there were some others, mostly Common Buckeyes, which I had never seen before. Cape May seems to concentrate migrating monarchs the same way it does birds, and they were everywhere.

I biked back to the center, stopping on the way for a pond full of wigeons, gadwall, teal, and a single drake Wood Duck. The birding, which had been good before, became great. I spotted 12 warblers, all great looks, including Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Black-throated Blue and Green, Magnolia, and Black-and-White. Yellow-rumped Warblers were abundant, but Parulas were even more common, sometimes with up to 4 or 5 per small tree.

The really incredible thing about the birds was how close they were. I probably got within 3 feet of a parula, 4-5 of a Black-throated Blue, and even Blackburnian, normally a treetop bird, came down to eye level at close range. Another quite good bird was a Philadelphia Vireo, which also gave great looks, and there was always a couple raptors overhead, including Sharpies, Merlins, and a Peregrine that all dove at smaller birds, though none were successful.

I was planning to only stop briefly at the center before heading to The Meadows, another famous birding spot nearby, but there were so many birds, and so close, that I spent all afternoon in front of the CMBO store watching them, and new ones kept turning up- another Philly Vireo, another Blackburnian, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a couple of kingfishers, and a Bay-breasted Warbler.

By the end of the day, I had seen one lifer, Cape May Warbler, one ABA bird, Philadelphia Vireo, and 14 different warblers. Even better, I got really great looks at all of the birds, which is always good. Great birds, at arm's length, at eye level- birding at its best!

Black (and White) Skimmer

2010-10-07T21:40:00.001-04:00

Black Skimmer from Cape May- using "lithograph" special effects. More photos and a post from Cape May to come.

Great Manhattan Birding- Central Park and the Empire State Building at Night

2010-09-26T22:05:00.002-04:00

New York City at night.

Last night and this morning I went on the New York State Young Birders' Club (NYSYBC) trip to New York City- first to check out the nocturnal migration from the top of the Empire State Building, and then birding Central Park in the morning.

On a fall night, the 86th floor of the Empire State Building is a great spot to witness the spectacle of nocturnal songbird migration. There are spotlights at the top of the building, which illuminate the birds as they fly by- last night the lights were yellow, making all of the birds look unmarked gold in color. The experience was almost surreal- watching glowing gold warblers fly by while 1,200 feet over downtown New York City- and incredible. In the hour and a half that we were there, we counted 815 migrant birds. Unfortunately, identification is virtually impossible for most of the birds, but we did I.D. a few flickers and Downy Woodpeckers, a Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, a flock of geese, a couple of catbirds and grosbeaks, and 5-7 cuckoos. The rest were vireo-type, warbler-type, thrush-type, and the very vague "bird sp."

As if that wasn't enough, a Peregrine Falcon added to the excitement by diving at many of the birds flying by, catching 3-5 of them, including an unlucky Black-and-White Warbler.

Here is a (very) brief, and really bad clip of a dendroica warbler flying by. I would recommend viewing full screen and pausing it so as to actually see the bird:

I highly recommend an Empire State Building trip. Go on a night with Northwest winds, go to the northwest corner of the building, get there early, and, perhaps most importantly, buy your ticket online ahead of time.

This morning we went to Central Park for more migrants. We did not see as many birds as the previous night might have suggested, but there were a lot of species, and the birding was quite good. Highlights were Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Gray-cheeked Thrush, 13 Warbler species, Common Nighthawk, Winter Wren, and Purple Finch. Other migrants included lots of sapsuckers, both kinglets, creepers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, tanagers, thrashers, all three falcons, osprey, and Wood and Swainson's Thrushes. The species total for the day was 71, which is one of the best totals for a NYSYBC trip.

Overall it was an extremely fun weekend of birding, with the unorthodox skyscraper birding, as well as the always rewarding central park.

Next weekend I'm off to Cape May- Migration is awesome!

More Warblers and Some Hawks

2010-09-11T16:58:00.001-04:00

I birded at the Greenwich Audubon Sanctuary this morning, seeing 12 warblers, including many in morning flight, Blue-headed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Bobolink, and Lincoln's Sparrow. The hawk flight was also quite good, and the total was around 800 when I left. 12 eagles, 2 merlins, a few harriers and coops, and lots of kestrels and sharpies joined the 600 or so Broadwings.

Warblers:

Yellow Warbler- 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler- 5-8
Magnolia Warbler- 7+, with some during morning flight
Black-throated Green Warbler- 7-10, with probably many more unidentified at morning flight
Blackburnian Warbler- 1
Prairie Warbler- 1, at morning flight- landed briefly
Palm Warbler- 1
Blackpoll Warbler- 10
Black-and-White Warbler- 3-5
American Redstart- 15+, with probably dozens unidentified at morning flight.
Ovenbird- 1
Common Yellowthroat- 6-7

Mini-Warblerfest at Marshlands

2010-09-09T21:17:00.001-04:00

I had a very good morning of birding at Marshlands this morning, with 11 warblers, a Kestrel, and other migrants, such as Red-eyed Vireo, Baltimore Oriole, Veery, and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher all making appearences. The undisputed highlight was an adult male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER (!!) that popped out of a thicket for a few seconds of great looks, a few hours of joyful birding, and what will presumably be a few weeks of bragging about it. It was apparently the first fall record for Marshlands, a life bird for me, and immediately became one of my favorite warblers, behind the "tricolored triumverate" (it was the best I could think of on the spot) of Blackburnian, Prothonotary, and Cerulean.

Warblers were:

Magnolia Warbler- 5-8

Chestnut-sided Warbler- 2

Black-and-White Warbler- 6

American Redstart- 12-15

Golden-winged Warbler- 1

Tennesssee Warbler- 1

Northern Parula- 4

Ovenbird- 4

Northern Waterthrush- 1

Canada Warbler- 3

Common Yellowthroat- 10-15

Happy Migration!

Fall Warbler Counts 8/28-9/1

2010-09-01T19:36:00.001-04:00

Fall warbler migration is well underway! My counts from four days over the past week:

Saturday, August 28th- Jamaica Bay, Queens

Yellow Warbler- 2-4
Magnolia Warbler- 5-6
Black-and-White Warbler- 3
American Redstart- 8-12
Ovenbird- 1
Northern Waterthrush- 1
Common Yellowthroat- 2-3

Sunday, August 29th- Marshlands Conservancy, Rye

Magnolia Warbler- 2
American Redstart- 5-7
Canada Warbler- 1
Common Yellowthroat- 7-9

Tuesday, August 31st- Marshlands Conservancy, Rye

Magnolia Warbler 4-5
Black-and-White Warbler- 3-4
American Redstart- 7-10
Northern Parula- 1
Ovenbird- 1
Canada Warbler- 1
Common Yellowthroat- 20-30

Wednesday, September 1st- Nature Study Woods, New Rochelle

Chestnut-sided Warbler- 2-4
Black-and-White Warbler- 4
American Redstart- 4-6
Blue-winged Warbler 1-3
Northern Waterthrush- 2
Canada Warbler- 1
Common Yellowthroat- 1-2

Good Birding at Jamaica Bay

2010-08-30T16:36:00.001-04:00

On Saturday I headed to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, an excellent birding spot, particularly for shorebirds, which were my main target. The plan was to walk to trail by Big John's Pond first, then head to the North End of the East Pond for shorebirds on the mudflats at high tide.

Walking out to the East Pond revealed that warbler migration is getting pretty good, as I saw 7 warbler species. Redstarts were everywhere, sometimes accompanied by yellowthroats or magnolia warblers. Yellow warblers were present at Big John's Pond, as was a Black-and-White Warbler. One Black-and-White landed on a branch just three feet above my head. At around the same time, I looked ahead at the trail just in time to see an Ovenbird and a Northern Waterthrush walk past each other- the ovenbird going right, the waterthrush, bobbing, going left.

I also found a "life butterfly"- a White Admiral

There were a lot of birds at the end of the trail on the East Pond, but they were mostly waterfowl (including Gadwall and Blue-winged Teal) and gulls, with a few cormorants and a kingfisher mixed in- no shorebirds. Looking north, I could see that all of the mudflats were covered, and the North end was flooded. So much for the plan.

On the way back to the car, though, I had a stroke of good luck. An empid with a large eye-ring appeared, and turned out to be a lifer, if a long overdue one- a Least Flycatcher. Good looks at a Great-crested Flycatcher, plus kingbird and phoebe, quickly brought the flycatcher total to four.

Instead of going to the North end as I had planned, I decided to go to the South End, which was apparently not as flooded, though the water level was still high.

The thing about the East Pond that makes it so good for shorebirds is that it is muddy. Very muddy. The mud at the East Pond has been elevated to almost mythical status in the birding world (most recently by Corey Finger in his excellent "Ode to Mud" on 10000birds.) Therefore, I guess I should post a few mud photos, with a warning to those who haven't birded there that it should not be attempted without boots, or bad things could happen. (Of course, boots don't help if you sink up to your waist, which, according to legend, has actually happened before)

Overall, shorebird numbers were quite low, but there was decent, if not great, variety. Both yellowlegs were present, as were Short-billed Dowitchers, White-rumped, Least, and Semipalmated Sandpipers, a couple cool Stilt Sandpipers, and a single Semipalmated Plover.

The South End (note high water level)-

The two most common peeps- Least and Semipalmated

Least-

Stilt Sandpiper-

Lesser (I think) Yellowlegs-

Mute Swan-

I walked along the eastern edge of the pond to the raunt, a group of posts and pilings that apparently used to be a railway station and community, and is now a good landmark and birding spot on the pond. I found more of the same shorebirds there, plus some Northern Shovelers.

The best bird of the trip were two brownish, long-winged shorebirds in a flock of peeps. If you've been reading this blog, you already know that they were Baird's Sandpipers, not a common bird in New York, and a lifer for me. Since I've posted lots of the photos I took of them, I just put up one more to end this post. The others are in the previous two posts.

Baird's Sandpiper-

More Baird's Photos

2010-08-29T18:12:00.001-04:00

I overlooked these two photos yesterday, but they might actually be clearer shots of the Baird's (Which were apparently relocated today)

(right)

(top left and maybe center-facing right)

Baird's Sandpiper at Jamaica Bay

2010-08-28T21:21:00.003-04:00

I found a pair of Baird's Sandpipers at Jamaica Bay this morning. This photos aren't very good, but they are enough (I believe) to identify the birds. A full report of the trip will be up at some point.

(center)

(second from bottom left and flying)

(back right)

(center)

Good Birding!

A Rained-out Beach Day...

2010-08-23T23:01:00.002-04:00

...is still a good day if you can see gannets, my favorite bird, while lying down in bed.

And tomorrow could be even better, since I'm headed to Manomet Point for some more stormbirding.

Triskaidekaphobia

2010-08-15T19:53:00.002-04:00

Triskaidekaphobia-the fear of the number 13

On Friday, August 13th (8/13), at 8:13, 13 birders set out from the North River Audubon in Marshfield, MA, for a morning of birding. Superstious anyone?

Our first stop was Third cliff beach in Scituate. Shorebirds numbers were low, hightlighted by a White-rumped Sandpiper and a few Piping Plovers. Other good birds were a pair of Bonaparte's Gulls, a gannet, 2 coopers hawks, and a peregrine.

Even better was the next stop, Scituate reservoir. There we found a Stilt Sandpiper and a Pectoral Sandpiper in the same field of view, with a snipe and a few more white rumps nearby.

I finished the morning with 63 species, 3 year birds, and 3 state birds. Who says Friday the Thirteenth is unlucky?

One Good Tern...

2010-07-21T18:11:00.002-04:00

(Arctic Terns, Plymouth Beach, MA, 7/8)

... Deserves another. However, in this case, there was not just one other good tern, but 4. On a trip to Cupsogue, a great birding location on Long Island, I saw Gull-billed, Roseate, Sandwich, and Royal Terns. A lengthy trip report will be posted as soon as I write it, which might, unfortunately, be a while.

Young Northern Rough-Winged Swallows

2010-06-30T18:18:00.001-04:00

There were quite a few of these juvenile swallows perched on snags over the marsh at the marshlands conservancy last week:

Memorial Day Sedge Wren

2010-06-14T21:41:00.001-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- I've had finals, and been away for the past 3 weekends. The first of those three, Memorial Day, I went to my beach house in Massachusetts. I was lucky, and there had been a Sedge Wren, rare in MA and difficult to see anywhere, at the local wildlife sanctuary, Daniel Webster Audubon.

So as soon as we arrived, I went to the sanctuary to see if I could find it. There were Bobolinks and Purple Martins everywhere- Daniel Webster is primarily a grassland (good for bobolinks) and there is a large martin colony there. A Willow Flycatcher, Great Egret, and Osprey were also notable.

I made my way to the Fox Hill observation platform, where the wren had been seen. There were two people there. Thee wren had not been seen or heard in 30 minutes, they said. After 15 minutes of waiting and listening, the wren sang, then flew directly towards us, landing in a clump of grass, then perching near the top to sing- great looks. It dove back into the grass, and emerged a ways to the right, and slightly closer. It moved around a bit more, then flew even closer, giving great looks from 10-15 feet away, before sinking into the brush again, and falling silent. Great looks at a life bird, and one the is apparently not prone to giving great looks, ever.

No shots of the Sedge Wren, but some miscellaneous photos from the short trip:

Flicker-

Bobolink-

Bobolink Paradise (I know there is one in this photo, but I can't find it. Can you?)-

And finally, a difficult (I think) if not impossible quiz. I think the bloggers at 10000birds have the "diabolical quiz" thing trademarked, but this is one. Post your guess as a comment-

Good Birding!

State Birds--Revised

2010-05-17T18:53:00.002-04:00

State birds have annoyed me for pretty much as long as I have been birding. None of them seem to make any sense, and very few show any real knowledge about the state's birdlife. The lack of creativity is incredible- 7 states have the cardinal as their state bird, 5 have the mockingbird.

So I decided to change the birds around a bit, with a few rules-

The bird must naturally occur in that state.
No two states can have the same bird.
There has to be a good reason for that bird to be the state bird.

It also helps for the bird to be visually appealing- Baird's Sparrow may be a North Dakota specialty, but it's hardly going to excite any non-birders in the state. If the bird is Endangered or has a very small range, that helps too. So, in alphabetical order, the 50 new state birds- and one district bird (if there are more than one bird listed, the final choice is in bold)-

Comments are encouraged! There is absolutely no way that you would agree with me on all 51 of these, so voice your opinion about what could be changed.

Alabama -- It was the Yellowhammer, or Northern Flicker, but that doesn't satisfy rule #3, and Swallow-tailed Kite is cooler anyway.

Alaska -- The Willow Ptarmigan is actually a pretty good choice. While there might be a couple better birds, (Ivory Gull, Puffins or Alcids, Gyrfalcon), Alaska can stick with the ptarmigan.

Arizona -- Cactus Wren, the current state bird, isn't bad, but it is brown, and fairly drab. Neither of those characteristics can be associated with the Elegant Trogon, on the other hand, the most brightly colored of the Chiricahua Mountain specialties.

from Wikipedia

Arkansas -- The "Lord God Bird" itself- Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Who cares if it is maybe/probably extinct- it's still a better state bird than the mockingbird.

California -- There are tons of birds in this state, but the California Condor is the largest and the rarest. The current state bird is the California Quail.

Colorado -- (Currently Lark Bunting) Colorado is that state that is most associated with the Rocky Mountains, so I went back and forth between two mountain birds- the American Dipper and Clark's Nutcracker, and decided on the dipper.

Connecticut -- Hermit Thrush has a better song than the American Robin, and Vermont (which currently has the Hermit Thrush) can just take some boreal finch or Bicknell's Thrush.

Delaware -- Seriously, Blue Hen Chicken? Chickens do not make good state birds- they are neither majestic or native. The Red Knot, on the other hand, is native and threatened, and huge numbers stop in Deleware bay during migration

District of Columbia -- (Not technically a state, but they do have an official bird) I was thinking this would be the eagle, but it turns out that it is actually the Wood Thrush, which I'm fine with.

Florida -- Florida has some of the best birds in the country, so having a Mockingbird as the state bird is stupid. There are a few contenders here- Snail Kite, Florida Scrub Jay, Roseate Spoonbill, and Purple Gallinule. Tough choice, but I'll go with the gallinule.

Georgia -- Brown Thrasher is Ok, I guess, though it is pretty close to a mockingbird...

Hawaii -- Nene is cool, but it's still a brown goose. It is endangered, but so is basically every bird in Hawaii. Honeycreepers are more colorful, and the whole family is restricted to Hawaii, so one of those should be the state bird. My pick is the I'iwi.

(From http://www.stanford.edu/~petelat1/iiwi4.jpg)

Idaho -- Mountain Bluebird. It's blue.

Illinois -- I just picked a warbler for Illinois, to replace the cardinal, because there were no other birds that I could think of. Magnolia Warblers are cool.

Indiana -- Now I sort of see why there are so many Cardinals as state birds. I couldn't think of anything else, so I'm sticking with the Northern Cardinal.

Iowa -- I have no idea, so stick with American Goldfinch.

Kansas -- Western Meadowlark is the state bird of a lot of western states (but interestingly, the Eastern Meadowlark is not a state bird of anything), but here it actually fits.

Kentucky -- It's May, so I'm overloading the Eastern U.S. with warblers, but I'm not going to say Kentucky Warbler. Red-headed Woodpecker works.

Louisiana -- Brown Pelican- that is, if there are any left in the state after that oil spill.

Maine -- (Was Black-capped Chickadee) Definitely Atlantic Puffin. No doubt about it.

Wikipedia

Maryland -- They did name their baseball team after it, so Baltimore Oriole has to stay as the state bird.

Massachusetts -- (Was also Black-capped Chickadee) Something like half of the world's population of Piping Plovers breed in MA.

Michigan -- This is the easiest one on the whole list- Kirtland's Warbler.

Minnesota -- Common Loon is on their state quarter and everything, so I guess they wouldn't be happy if it was changed it to Boreal or Great-Gray Owl.

Mississippi -- Mockingbird is fine, but Great Blue Heron is better.

Missouri -- NY gets to keep the Bluebird, so Missouri has to switch. Eurasian Tree Sparrow isn't native, but Ruby-throated Hummingbird is, and there aren't any other hummers on this list.

Wikipedia

Montana -- Greater Sage Grouse deserves to be listed here, and on the endangered species list, but not on the menu of a french bistro. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here.)

Nebraska -- Sandhill Crane- in migration flocks can number in the hundreds of thousands.

Nevada -- Umm...Hmm...Uh... Give me a minute. (flips through Sibley's) I've got it! Golden Eagle.

New Hampshire -- Purple Finch is OK, but Gray Jays have more charisma.

New Jersey -- (Was American Goldfinch) Cape May is one of the best birding spots in North American, and there is no single species that represents the birdlife of Cape May or New Jersey, but the Cape May Warbler is named after it, so...

New Mexico -- Greater Roadrunner is good.

New York -- It's Eastern Bluebird, and it's going to stay that way.

North Carolina -- (Was Cardinal) Cerulean Warbler is awesome.

North Dakota -- Gyrfalcon!!

Ohio -- Fine. The "Warbler Capital of the World" can have Blackburnian Warbler. See if I care.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/u-z/Warbler_Blackburnian_MikeMcDowell.jpg

Oklahoma -- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is good.

Oregon -- Varied Thrush. (Was Western Meadowlark, but so were a lot of other states)

Pennsylvania -- Ruffed Grouse- Why not?

Rhode Island -- Rhode Island Red Chicken- here we go with domestic birds as state birds again. How about Peregrine Falcon. Why? Because I saw my first one here. Not that anyone else would care, but seriously, who's going to complain about having a falcon instead of a chicken?

South Carolina -- Carolina Wren makes sense, but Painted Bunting is more brightly colored. By a lot.

South Dakota -- Ring-necked Pheasant is not native, so I'd go with Snowy Owl, even though I don't know how common or uncommon they are there.

Tennessee -- Tennessee Warbler! No, Nashville Warbler... See what I mean about the warbler overload? Whip-poor-Will is unique, though it could be difficult to explain why your state bird is called a goatsucker...

Texas -- Another great birding state with a mockingbird. I was debating between Green Jay and Roseate Spoonbill, but the spoonbill is pink, so it wins.

www.tringa.org/

Utah -- There is actually a good story behind this one. California Gulls saved Mormon settlers by eating a swarm of crickets that would have otherwise destroyed their crops. There is a monument in Salt Lake City commemorating this, known to the Mormans as the "Miracle of the Gulls."

Vermont -- Hermit Thrush has been taken by Connecticut, but Vermont has boreal birds, so there is no problem replacing it. White-Winged Crossbill would be good.

Virginia -- Another Cardinal state. I know there have been a lot of warblers, but there will be one more- Prothonotary Warbler.

Washington -- This should be some sort of alcid. Tufted Puffin wins, beating the drabber Marbled Murrelet and Pigeon Guillemot.

West Virginia -- How about a different red bird? Scarlet Tanager instead of Cardinal.

sdakotabirds.com

Wisconsin -- American Robin is the current state bird, and I can't think of anything better, so...

Wyoming -- Dipper, Sage Grouse, Gray Jay, and Mountain Bluebird are all already taken. I personally prefer Clark's Nutcracker, but from a non-birding perspective, Trumpeter Swan wins.

Note- I used some photos from wikipedia or other sources for this post, to illustrate why certain birds (that I have never photographed, or at least not well) should be the state bird. The purple gallinule photo is mine, however.

Migrants in Central Park

2010-05-03T21:11:00.001-04:00

I had a great morning in Central Park yesterday, on a Bronx River-Sound Shore Audubon bird walk. Migration has been heavy the past few nights, and there were a lot of warblers around. I saw 16 myself, and in all of Manhattan 27 species were reported. I was too busy looking at the birds to take any photos though, so this post will be short.

In all I saw or heard 60 species. The highlights were great looks at an adult male Bay-breasted Warbler, a female Cerulean Warbler, my life Prairie Warblers, a Rusty Blackbird, awful looks at a flyover Red-headed Woodpecker, a Common Loon, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Brown Thrasher, Baltimore Oriole, Chiminey Swifts, Eastern Kingbird, and Great Crested Flycatcher. In addition to the three warblers already mentioned, I saw Blackpoll, Magnolia, Black-and-White, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Nashville, American Redstart, and the ubiquitous Yellow-rumped.

Others saw Summer Tanagers, Cape May Warblers, and Blackburnian Warblers, and there was a report of Brewster's Warbler, Chat, and a male Cerulean (ours was a female), but even without those it was an really fun morning of birding.

Costa Rica, Days 7-10- Manuel Antonio and #400

2010-04-23T22:10:00.001-04:00

Note: Sorry this post is so late- I haven't really had time to blog the past few weeks. This is the final post about my Costa Rica trip. If you haven't read the other posts from my trip, it might make sense to go back and read them in order. At this point in my trip, my life list was at 398.

With the number of good birds that I had been seeing, I figured I could get the 2 lifers I needed for 400 without any trouble- maybe even before breakfast. However, this was around the point that new sightings started to taper off. I still saw great birds- pelicans, frigatebirds, 5 tanagers, a few Euphonias, and a pair of Chestnut-manibled Toucans, but at this point I had seen most of them already, and lifers were becoming scarce.

We went to Manuel Antonio National Park, famous for its beaches and monkeys. There there were dozens of White-faced Capuchin monkeys, and they were very tame, stealing food from beachgoers and trashbins. Rarer were the Central American Squirrel Monkeys, a small, endangered species that is found in only 2 locations in Costa Rica. We saw both.

And, of course, the beach was incredible.

In addition to the monkeys, iguanas also raided our bags-

We walked out on Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point), a rocky outcropping in the national park. From the end of the point, when I scanned the ocean, I saw Frigatebirds, Pelicans, and another type of bird with a different silhouette. I quickly realized that they were Brown Boobies, a type of seabird closely related to the Northern Gannet. Lifer, and bird #399.

The view from Punta Catedral-

On the way home from the beach, we heard a very loud call, and then a tour leader pointed out a toucan. It turned out to be a Fiery-billed Aracari, a very cool bird with a large red bill. It is endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama, and it was my 400th bird!

That night my dad predicted that I was done for lifers on the trip, so I woke up earlyish, sat on the balcony, and found 2- Social Flycatcher and White-collared Swift. That's real extreme birding there- it takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to sit on a balcony at your hotel room, in your pajamas, with an ocean view, and watch tanagers, hummingbirds, frigatebirds, and other lifers fly by.

We went to the beach again that day. At one point there is a small bridge over a stream. I was a little behind, because I had been looking at Inca Doves, so when I got the bridge my parents were saying something about a wading bird with pink or red legs. I tried to think of a bird like that, and drew a blank, but luckily at that point a Gray-necked Wood-Rail popped out of hiding. Lifer, and an awesome bird.

I again used my foolproof birdfinding method of listening to hear people talking about birds, and then looking in the direction that their scope is pointed. This became especially useful when one guide started talking about a "stickbird." There are only a few birds that could accurately by called a stickbird, and the Common Potoo is one of them. It looked exactly like the top of the broken branch it was perched on.

At the beach I saw a flyby Royal Tern and a Green Kingfisher. Though the birding had been pretty incredible, I had not seen too many raptors- White-tailed Kite on the first day, and both Caracaras, but no hawks. I was therefore very happy when, while I was watching the potoo, first a Double-toothed Kite and then a Roadside Hawk both landed nearby. Both lifers, and, being raptors, very cool.

The kite-

An odd sound coming from a thicket turned out to be a quartet of Chestnut-backed Antbirds, accopanied by a Riverside Wren. Two more lifers, the latter endemic to CR/W. Panama. Back at the hotel room, I saw what I thought was a vulture from the balcony, but then looked again and realized it was actaully a Mangrove Black-Hawk, which pretty much eliminated the raptor shortage. At the pool a dusk, I found a flock of Smooth-billed Anis and a Lesser Nighthawk.

The next day was our last full day in Costa Rica. My dad and I went Jet-skiing, while my mom and sister went to a spa. Jetskis are obviously not ideal for birding, but I did get great looks at pelicans, frigatebirds, and a Brown Booby ~15 feet away, a much better look than the distant birds on the colony the previous day. Back at the hotel, I picked up Spot-crowned Euphonia, and we headed back to San Jose. On the way, I spotted both anis, both caracaras, a few herons, and an osprey. In the parking lot of a supermarket, I spotted a black bird and a brown birds- male and female Blue-black Grassquits, which would turn out to be my last lifer of the trip.

Back at the Hotel Bouganvillea, I saw many of the same birds as before- Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Canivet's Emeralds, Rufous-capped Warblers, Inca Doves, White-eared Ground-Sparrows, and a Blue-crowned Motmot. I managed to get an identifyable shot of the ground-sparrow.

The last bird of what was an incredible trip was a Tropical Kingbird just outside the airport, before we left the tropics for frigid New York.

Some Recent Spring Birds

2010-03-31T18:23:00.000-04:00

Finally I am seeing some migrants. On Saterday, I went on the NYS Young Birders Club trip to Stockport Flats, where I saw my FOY (First of Year) Eastern Pheobes, Tree Swallows, and Wood Ducks. There were actually a lot of tree swallows- at least 20 over the river. We also saw a few Ravens, two migrant harriers, and 3 eagles, one with a fish.

On Sunday I spotted a Great Egret and a Snow Goose at a golf course near my house, and this afternoon there was a Fish Crow across the street.

Spring is here, April starts tomorrow, and the warblers shouldn't be too far behind.

Costa Rica, Day 6- Macaws in Carara

2010-03-29T17:39:00.001-04:00

With our somewhat distant look at a macaw the previous night, we wanted better looks this morning, so we got up at 5:15 or so to try again. While we were waiting at the bridge, I found two flocks of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, a lifer and, taxonomically, the first bird on my list; a collared plovers and its chicks, a pair of Jacanas, some least sandpipers, more stilts, more waders, more oropendolas, more crocodiles, and, eventually, more macaws.

A pair of macaws flew in towards the National Park, followed few minutes later by another one, and another. Still distant looks, but much better than the previous night. As we headed to breakfast, two more (the same pair?) flew over our heads going the opposite direction. Macaws in flight, apart from their coloration, look nothing like I expected them to- their tails are very long, and they look more like kites or huge terns than parrots.

A Yellow-headed Caracara flew over, and I spotted a "Mangrove" Yellow Warbler, a White-tipped Dove, some more Groove-billed Anis, and an iguana.

After breakfast, we headed to Carara National Park, following the route Adrian had suggested when we discussed it in Monteverde. First we headed to the longer trail in the park, along the Rio Tarcoles. The first birds we saw were a group of Dot-winged Antwrens, apparently quite common in the park. I soon spotted a Royal Flycatcher- Carara has to be one of the best places in the world to see these. They almost never raise their spectaular crest, but even lowered the long feathers give it a weird head shape.

There were a lot of guided tours, so if they were looking at something we would stop and look in the same direction, and often see something good. In this way we came across an awesome Violaceous Trogon on its nest. I got a quick glimpse at another a ways down the path. Continuing in the flycatcher theme, I found a Northern Bentbill, which does, indeed, have a bent bill, and two tiny flycatchers- Slate-headed and Common Tody-Flycatchers.

At one point, the trail reaches a lagoon, and there is a colony of Boat-billed Herons, a bizzare cousin of our Black-crowned Night-Heron.

Also there was an Anhinga, and lots of lizards- multiple iguanas, and some basilisk lizards. A few of the smaller basilisk lizards ran a couple feet across the water, which they are known for.

A Prothonotary Warbler was also present at the lagoon, as was an adult Bare-throated Tiger-Heron.

Carara is really a tropical rainforest- hot and extremely humid, so after seeing a Black-hooded Antshrike and a Cherrie's Tanager, we headed back, seeing a White-shouldered Tanager and our first monkeys of the trip, a trio of White-faced Caphucins.

When we got back to the parking lot, we decided that we wanted to see another macaw. We talked to one of the guides, who offered a $20 per person 2 hour tour, but 3/4th of my family (I would be the other fourth) had had enough of birding and wanted to get to the beach. So we reached a deal with the guide, Antonio- he would take us to see a macaw for 10 dollars a person. If we didn't see any, it was free. It seemed like a good deal at the time.

After maybe 10 minutes of walking, where we saw 3 doves species (White-tipped, White-winged, Ruddy Ground) and a Streak-headed Woodcreeper, we arrived at a clearing. Antonio pointed out a cavity in a tree where a macaw was sticking its head out. Yes!

A second later, the macaw vanished back into the nest hole. It stayed inside for another 20 minutes while we waited, but it eventually stuck its head out, giving great looks.

On the way back to the car, now satisfied with our macaw sightings, we spotted some leafcutter ants and a Rose-throated Becard. At the hotel, I found a Cinnamon Hummingbird, before we left our hotel to get to Manuel Antonio, our next stop. Before that, though, we stopped for lunch at the Hotel Carara. It would turn out to be the best lunch of the trip- not because of the food, which actually wasn't that great, but because of the wildlife.

First off, it's right on the beach, and there were pelicans, frigatebirds, gulls, and a caracara all flying around. But the best part was when two macaws fly by and perched in a nearby tree. We got incredible looks at them eating and flying around- the forty dollars we had spent to see just one did not seem like such a good deal anymore. My life Neotropic Cormerant was completely overshadowed by the macaws when it fly by.

Macaw food-

While we were watching the macaws, a local woman whose house was next to the restaurant managed to tell us that there was a monkey in her yard and that we should come see it (by saying "mano" and pointing at her child's stuffed monkey toy until we caught on). Sure enough, there was a Howler Monkey there, which, along with the macaws, made for a pretty good group of animals to see over lunch.

We drove south down the coast to the Manuel Antonio National Park area, and checked into our hotel, Costa Verde, the nicest hotel of the trip. From the balcony, you could see the ocean and the national park, and a lot of birds. I saw frigatebirds, pelicans, Blue-Gray, Palm, and Cherrie's tanagers, Red-legged Honeycreepers, Costa Rican Swifts, Kiskadees, Tropical Kingbirds, and my life Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Red-crowned Woodpecker, and Tropical Gnatcatcher, all from the balcony of our room.

The view from our hotel room (click to see the whole panorama):

The pool area was no less bird-rich. I ended up getting a "pool lifer" when a stunning Golden-hooded Tanager perched a few feet away while I was swimming, and a Long-billed Starthroat, apparently a fairly good bird for the area, buzzed by. Add Palm, Blue-Gray, Summer, and Cherrie's Tanagers to the Golden-hooded Tanagers, and you have a 5-tanager pool.

I saw Costa Rican Swifts return to their roosts, and one nightjar flew over, but I did not get an identifiable look. Still, the number of birds boded well for the next day, and a quick tally revealed that I was at 398 birds for my life list- just 2 more for 400.

Costa Rica, Day 5- Cloud Forest to the Coast

2010-03-27T21:34:00.001-04:00

The morning was not particularly birdy, but it was really fun- we went ziplining through the cloud forest. It was really awesome. The longest cable was a quarter mile long and 100 feet up. Afterwards, we did a tarzan swing, where you are strapped to a rope, tossed off a 30 foot platform, and then swing out. That was much scarier than the zipline. Birds seen included Black-faced Solitaire, Common Bush-Tanager, and Violet Sabrewing.

Back at the hotel, a quick birdwalk produced Blue-and-White Swallows, Yellow-faced Grassquits, a Wood Thrush, 2 White-eared Ground-Sparrows, and a pair of lifers- Gray-breasted Martin and Paltry Tyrannulet.

Unfortunately, then we had to leave the highlands. The upside, however, is that we were going to the beach, and that our next target were Scarlet Macaws, the ultimate parrot, and the bird most people think of when they hear "rainforest."

Looking back towards Monteverde, we had a great view of the cloud forest and the valley below it.

As we decended towards Carara National Park on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, we were passing through dry cattle pastures, and we saw two denizens of this habitat- Groove-billed Ani and the remarkable long-tailed, sky blue White-throated Magpie-Jay. Another very cool bird that we saw while driving by fast was a Turquoise-browed Motmot. In NY you see pigeons and starlings by the side of the highway. In Costa Rica you see Magpie-Jays and Motmots.

We wanted to get the the Tarcoles River Bridge by dusk to see the Macaws, but we did have time for a quick stop- in the town square of Orotina, home of what has to be the most famous Black-and-White Owl in the world.

So me, my sister, and my dad, the only Americans in the town, were walking around with binoculars and cameras looking up trees. The ice cream vendor there must be used to that kind of thing, and he approched us, saying, "Black-and-White Owl?" It turned out that was the only English he knew.

But sure enough, he knew right where the bird was, and pointed it out. Of course, we had to buy his ice cream too.

We arrived in Tarcoles, checked into our hotel, saw a Turquoise-browed Motmot and some more Anis, and headed to the bridge.

Sillouette of the motmot (look at the tail!)

When we arrived, I began finding some of the common coastal birds that one might see in Florida or the SE United States- Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets, Little Blue, Great Blue, and Tricolored Herons, Laughing Gull, Black-necked Stilt, and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

Also interesting were the dozens of gigantic crocodiles in the Tarcoles River.

A Wood Stork flew past, as did some Montezuma Oropendolas. I spotted two lifers, a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and a Northern Jacana, the latter with yellow wing feathers and very long toes.

Around this time, a bird flew towards us from the direction of the forest. It called once, and flew on. Originally puzzled by the bird's shape, I suddenly caught a glimpse of the color on its wings- Red, Yellow, Blue. Scarlet Macaw!! It was a brief and somewhat distance look, but still a great bird. It got darker, and it became clear that that was the only one we would see for the night.

Still on alert for another macaw, I watched a different spectacle. When we had arrived, in broad daylight, there were huge amounts of swallows, mostly barn but with some mangrove swallow mixed in, catching insects over the river. As it got later, these birds began to move out, racing under the bridge and away towards their roosts, all in the same direction, alone or in small groups. At the same time, single Costa Rica Swifts were flying in the opposite direction under the bridge, to forage in the same spot that the swallows were before. When it grew even darker, the swifts, like the swallows had done earlier, began to move out. This time there was not as clear of a migration in, but suddenly there was a Lesser Nighthawk above me. The numbers grew until there were dozens of them, erratically chasing insects. They were the first of their family that I had seen, and they immediately became one of my favorite birds. The three groups of birds with similar food and foraging habits all used the same spot- swallows in day, swifts at dusk, and nighthawks at night, and I was there to watch their daily procession as the sun set.

Costa Rica, Day 4- The Hummingbird Gallery

2010-03-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

After we finished our walk in Monteverde, we headed up to the Hummingbird Gallery, at the entrance to the park. We had incredible looks at the hummingbirds, some as close as 6 inches away. There was literally no break in the activity- there were at least 12 feeders, and between them there was never less than 20 hummingbirds in view. Adrian said that we could see up to 8 species, and we saw all 8, so that was good. I also photographed all of them, some (Green Violetear, Violet Sabrewing) better than others (Magenta-throated Woodstar). In decending size order they were:

The incredible Violet Sabrewing,

The more common but still really cool Green-crowned Brilliant, which dwarf all but the hermits and the sabrewing:

The Green Hermit was the least common, and the last one we found. There were 2-4 individuals:

A male (with 1/3rd of a GC Brilliant):

And a female (with a Coppery-headed Emerald):

The Green Violetear, the current banner of my blog:

The Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, common but brilliant and also endemic (to CR and Nicaragua):

This photo is pretty bad (taken from a video) but it shows the iridescent color a bit better:

The females look entirely different (the other bird in this shot is a Coppery-headed Emerald):

Another mid-sized hummingbird was the Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, all green with distinctive rufous wing feathers and white tail feathers:

The Coppery-headed Emerald has, for me, two claims to fame- It was my 300th bird, and the only bird endemic solely to Costa Rica that we saw.

And last, and actually least (size-wise), the Magenta-throated Woodstar, a tiny, bee-like hummingbird that moved to quickly to get good photos:

There were also Bananaquits, another Incertae Sedis bird related to the tanagers. Like hummingbirds, they drink nectar, so they visit the feeders as well:

Many of these photos were actually taken with the macro/close-up mode on my camera, because otherwise they were too close to focus on.

After a while at the Hummingbird Gallery, we said goodbye to Adrian, and had lunch. A quick walk to a waterfall produced a Smoky-brown Woodpecker and a Black Guan, and there was a Silvery-throated Tanager with the Common Bush-Tanagers in the parking lot. This Coatimundi joined us for lunch:

We left Monteverde, and stopped at a spot Adrian had recommended. It was supposed to be a good spot for Golden-browed Chlorophonia, a brightly colored highland endemic.

My dad and I walked a little ways down the road- my mom and sister stayed back with the car. I spotted a Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and we found a really cool bird that had eluded us in Monteverde- a pair of Emerald Toucanets. There were also a Plain Wren and a Lesser Greenlet. 4 lifers in 10 minutes, but no Chlorophonia. When we were just about back at the car, my dad spotted a Blue Morpho butterfly, which was very large, and, as the name would imply, very blue. My mom and sister came out of the car to look, and while this was going on, someone was hit by a falling berry or fruit. I looked up, and there were 15-20 birds in the huge tree above us. They were the chlorophonias, and I got okay looks, though the birds were distant and only their undersides were visible (Think warbler neck, then make the tree 50 feet taller and you have chlorophonia-neck)

Back at the hotel, I took a walk around the grounds, finding a mixed flock of White-eared Ground-Sparrows, House Wrens, a Plain Wren, and a Rufous-and-white Wren, the latter being a life bird. However, the highlight was when I got lost and found myself off the trail in the orchard with a pair of green, yellow, and blue Chlorophonia 10 feet away at eye level. Unlike the other looks I had, these could not have been better. A Yellow-throated Euphonia was a nice bird, and an Elaenia species a frustrating ID challenge.

At dusk, we went on a guided night walk. The highlights of that were lots of coatis, a few agoutis, a porcupine, a glimpse of an olingo, some leafcutter ants, and a red-kneed tarantula. Birds were scarce (it was dark), but I did hear a Mottled Owl and saw a sleeping Black-and-White Warbler on a twig.

Later, I tallied off the day's birds, and found that I had seen 32 lifers, and with such amazing ones as Violet Sabrewing, Emerald Toucanet, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, and Replendant Quetzal, and can say that it was easily the best birding of my life, at least so far.

Costa Rica, Day 4- Quetzals in Monteverde

2010-03-13T14:34:00.000-05:00

This was expected to be the best birding day of the trip. We hired a guide for a 4 hour hike in Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. On the way to breakfast, in a clump of trees with berries that had been good for tanagers and Clay-colored Robins, I spotted a Masked Tityra, a pale gray bird with a black tail, wing patch, and black surrounding bright red facial skin. It is also a taxonomically interesting bird, in a group of birds, along with other Tityras and Becards, that have been placed with Cotingas, Flycatchers, and in their own family at different times. Now they are placed as Incertae Sedis, Latin for "we have no idea where to put them." It would be the first of many cool life birds that day.

At breakfast we met our guide, Adrian, who outlined his plans for the morning. We left our hotel and the paved roads of Santa Elena, us in our car an Adrian on his motorbike, which seemed to be the preferred mode of transportation for most people living there. It did better on the dirt roads than us, though it would probably be tricky to drive 2 hours on mostly unpaved roads while carrying a spotting scope and tripod, which he was going to do the next day.

After pulling into the parking lot, Adrian quickly found two good birds, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, an endemic that looks like a Kiskadee with a malar stripe, and Mountain Robin, a slightly darker version of the Clay-colored Robins, with a diagnostic black, not yellow, bill. Those two demonstrated how useful it was to have a good guide along. Without Adrian, I could have overlooked the flycatchers and passed the Mountain Robins off as Clay-colored Robins.

We started down one of the trails, and quickly found birds. Adrian would hear a bird ahead of us on the trail, then find it as we got to that spot. In this was we quickly picked up Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Plain Antvireo, Yellowish Flycatcher, Common Bush-Tanager, and Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, a tiny flycatcher with a long name that Adrian was very happy about seeing- apparently it is uncommon in Monteverde.

The Gray-brested Wood-Wrens were the loudest and had the most distinctive songs. Adrian said that they were often called "R2D2 birds," and hearing them, we could tell why. They sound exactly like the droid from Star Wars. See if you agree: http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/GPVWJPVGVN/2174/08b.mp3.

I spotted a Slate-throated Redstart, and Adrian heard and then found a Black-faced Solitaire. Adrian had a good description for its song too- It sounds like the sound made when you run your finger along the edge of a wineglass. For the whole time we were in the cloud forest, you could almost always hear them or the wood-wren, and often both. Two more birds that we heard, but did not see, were the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and Prong-billed Barbet.

A little futher along the trail, we came to a group of people, with a guide, looking at something to the left of the trail. We soon saw what- a male Resplendent Quetzal at a nest hole in a dead tree. After a couple minutes of watching in awe, it flew closer so that it was facing us. A female flew to where the male had been, then joined him on the branch nearer to us. It was incredible. We took a ton of photos, some digiscoped and some not, and, though it was very foggy, some came out pretty well. Us and 30 other people all were watching the quetzals, and when we left, they were still perched there.

Adrian and I looking at the quetzals (Note the huge crowd of birders on the right side of the photo):

After the quetzals, we contined birding, obviously. A Black-and-White Warbler, which would be up in NY in the summer, was spending its winter with the quetzals. Soon we found what looked like a black turkey, but high in a tree. It was the endemic Black Guan, all black with blue facial skin, red legs, and a loud, "machine gun" wing rattle when it flapped. Mammal-wise, we found a Three-toed Sloth and a Mexican Porcupine.

Adrian found a mixed flock composed primarily of Three-striped Warblers and Common Bush-Tanager, which also contained a Golden-crowned Warbler and an endemic Ruddy Treerunner. From a suspension bridge high in the forest, we could see epiphytes, a Yellowish Flycatcher, and Collared (endemic) and Slate-throated Redstarts. A Stripe-tailed Hummingbird buzzed by, and a secreative Ochraceous Wren (also endemic) was seen. A vocalizing Spotted Woodcreeper was my first woodcreeper, and my 350th bird.

Another really cool bird was a Violet Sabrewing, a giant, brilliant purple hummingbird. Though we would see many at close range later, this one seemed like more of a wild bird than the ones at the hummingbird feeders.

Another flock of Three-striped Warblers was accompanied this time by a Red-faced Spinetail. There was also a Slate-throated Redstart foraging a couple feet above the ground, giving great looks.

After that we returned to the parking lot, got great looks at Yellowish Flycatcher, and went up to the Hummingbird Gallery, an incredible collection of hummingbird feeders that produced 8 species and the best photos of the trip. That will get its own post later, but here's one shot for now- Purple-throated Mountain-Gem:

Costa Rica, Day 4- Some Cloud Forest Shots

2010-03-12T19:10:00.000-05:00

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about when I say "cloud forest," here are some photos from Monteverde, before I start the narrative of what would be the best day of birding of the trip, and therefore, I guess, my whole life (so far). Click on the photos to enlarge.

Costa Rica- Day 3- Volcano to the Cloud Forest

2010-03-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

Since I was up fairly early, our hotel had a balcony, and I had seen very few "caribbean slope" birds so far, I was able to see 7 lifers before breakfast- Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Black-striped Sparrow, the tiny Bananaquit, the really cool black-and-red Passerini's Tanager, Buff-throated Saltator, Ruddy-ground Dove, and a female Green Honeycreeper (nowhere new as colorful as the male, which I didn't see, but still green- sort of like seeing a female painted bunting without the male). Not a bad list, but unfortunately it was even rainier and foggier, so I did not see my life volcano.

After breakfast we decided to go to the Silencio Reserve, a private reserve that is about as close to the volcano as it is safe to get. Notice anything unusual about this sign?:

Just in case, they have you park facing the exit. That's how close the volcano is. Notice the fog, rather than spectacular volcano view, in the background.

Still, the birds were good. On the way there, I saw what I was fairly sure was a crow flying away. Then I realized that there are no crows in Costa Rica. Hmmmm.

When we pulled into the parking lot, my mom solved the mystery by spotting a large black bird with a yellow tail, orange-tipped bill, and some bare facial skin. Montezuma Oropendola. I had underestimated the size of these blackbird relatives. Instead of being grackle-sized, as I was assuming, they were easily crow-sized. The bright yellow tail contrasts with the overall black plumage, especially in flight.

In the parking lot I also found Bananaquits, an unidentified Pewee, and a lifer, Yellow-faced Grassquit.

We drove up to the parking lot where the photo above was taken, and started to walk down a trail. There were a pair of Chestnut-manibled Toucans in one tree, and Red-lored Parrots in another. Both lifers. Toucans and Parrots!!

Then, when I looked back, the Chestnut-manibled Toucans had been replaced with a Keel-billed Toucan, with an even more brightly colored bill. The birds on this particular walk tended towards the large and impressive- Oropendola, Parrots, Two Toucans. It turned out to be a great stop, even without a volcano.

Back at the hotel, when we were checking out, I still managed to get a few more birds, one of which I would have no chance at for the rest of the trip. In the parking lot I found a Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Palm Tanager, and Black-cowled Oriole (a Caribbean slope specialty). Toucans were trash birds by now- there were 4 chestnut-manibled and one fly-by keel-billed.

Palm Tanager camouflage:

Black-cowled Oriole:

We departed for what would be our best birding spot of the trip, the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. On the way, my mom pointed out a Crested Guan- an arboreal turkey-like (though unrelated) bird. At one point we ran into a roadblock of White-nosed Coatis (Also called Coatimundis), which apparently really like cookies.

Of course, feeding wild animals, even cute ones like coatis, is a bad idea, but we got good looks because of it.

By this time, we were skirting Lake Arenal, the largest lake in the country. We stopped for a couple minutes for the view at a restaurant. I stayed in the car at first, but then we switched off. I asked my mom and sister if I should bring binoculars. They said probably not. So I didn't. When I went across the street, it turned out that there were 4 Collared Aracaris (toucans) and 6-7 Gray-headed Chachalacas. I went back to the car to get my binoculars ("Sure, Mom, no need for me to bring my binoculars. It's not like anyone would want to look at toucans through them.") I got great looks at both. The Chachalacas were a lifer, and with the Creasted Guan my 2nd Cracid (Currasows, Guans, and Chachalacas) of the trip.

We stopped for lunch at the Lucky Bug cafe/art gallery/gift shop. The food was good, and the fresh fruit drinks were really good. So were the birds. Keel-billed Toucan, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Palm Tanager, Montezuma Oropendola, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, and two lifers, White-necked Jacobin and Yellow-throated Euphonia, were all present.

Black-cheeked Woodpecker:

Female and Male Yellow-throated Euphonia, A curious Palm Tanager:

White-necked Jacobin

We left Lake Arenal for the dry mountain regions on the way to Monteverde. (The 2nd photo is panorama. Click on it to see the whole thing)

The road up to Monteverde is known for being one of the country's worst. It is not paved, and has enough bumps so that we were very glad to have 4-wheel drive. The road was also not very crowded, which was good, because it was not very wide. Another good thing about that was that we could stop if I saw a bird. That would be useful on two occasions.

Because we were now in more of an open, cattle-pasture habitat, I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when a Crested Caracara flew by. Great bird, easily one of my top 5 favorite birds. The next bird we saw was quite a bit smaller, but far more vibrant. I was looking out the window, and spotted two brilliant blue birds. They were really blue. Not like the blue-gray tanagers, which are, well, blue-gray. These birds recalled indigo buntings, but they had a decurved bill, red legs, and bright yellow underwings. Red-legged Honeycreepers. Awesome. And unlike the Green Honeycreeper earlier, both were males.

See the yellow underwing on the left-hand bird in the last photo?

We drove higher, entered the cloud forest, finally reached a paved road, got to the town of Santa Elena, and found our hotel, the Arco Iris, which was really nice. A little birding around the hotel grounds got me 2 lifers- Blue-and-White Swallow and Wilson's Warbler, plus another spectacular Blue-crowned Motmot.

Good Birding!