9 New Statebirds in Georgia, “ABA Reportable Plus 15”, February 2015

In my early days of statebirding, my GA statelist was one of my best.  I reached 200 in GA way back in 1989 as a result of short trips I would take to southern GA when I was living in northern FL.  At the time, it was only my eighth state with 200 (today I have 47 states over 200).  And I reached the ABA reportable threshold for GA in 1994 – my 14^th reportable state at the time, whereas today I have 45 over threshold.

But then my travels to GA became few and far between, and the last time I added any statebirds to my GA list was in 2005.  At that time I had 224 on my statelist, which was 16 over the ABA threshold.  But the ABA threshold (calculated as half of the total statelist) slowly increased to 212, putting me only 12 over.  Since the ABA stopped publishing the thresholds, I’ve set a goal of being at least 15 over threshold in each state to make sure I stay above half the total statelist hopefully forever.  I call this “ABA Reportable Plus 15”.  So I needed at least 3 more in GA to reach this somewhat arbitrary personal goal.

My opportunity to reach ABA Reportable Plus 15 in GA arrived February 2015 with a business trip to Atlanta.  As the trip neared I reviewed my statelist and realized I had several gaps that could be quite easy to fill.  That included Gadwall which I had seen in each state in the Lower 48 except GA.  And that doesn’t include any rarities that might be around.  With a fair amount of eBird and listserve research I came up with a list of 17 possible statebirds to pursue, including 3 rarities – Mute Swan (which was hopefully countable), Cackling Goose, and Ross’ Goose.  My typical results on these types of trips is to find about half of my possible targets, so I was hopeful that I could add more than the 3 needed to reach my goal.

My plan was to start north of Atlanta and work my way south throughout the day.  My first stop was Dogwood Lake in Calhoun where 2 Cackling Geese had been reported.  Since this was a small lake, and there were only about 50 Canadas there, I hoped I would pick out the Cackling Geese pretty quickly.  I arrived shortly after dawn and found the small flock of Canadas on the near shore.  But with a quick binoc scan I didn’t find the Cacklers.  I pulled out the scope but still couldn’t turn any into the target birds.  I scanned the far shore and found a few more Canadas, but still none of their smaller cousins.  The most recent report was now 5 days old, so I wondered if they had moved on.  Then I scanned the lake with my binocs and noticed 2 small geese swimming by themselves out in the middle.  I put the scope on them and they were indeed the continuing Cackling Geese (statebird #1).  I got this phonescoped photo of the birds -

As I was about to get back in the car I heard a small flock of Juncos flyby (statebird #2).  This species was rather regular north of Atlanta so I was hopeful that I would run into it somewhere.  But since I had no stakeout spot for this one, I was happy to get it out of the way.  GA was one of my last states for this species in the “Lower 49” - Lower 48 plus DC (see my statebird map below)

 

The next stop was nearby Mansfield’s Pond in Bartow County where a Ross’ Goose had been reported.  After a short drive I was able to find this spot but the only waterfowl there were a couple Canadas.  In the far distance I could see a larger lake which was only partially visible that had a lot of geese and ducks.  I scanned the portions of the lake that I could see, but saw no white geese at all.  Who knows if the Ross’ was tucked away in a part of the lake that was not visible.  But I did find another target – Gadwall (statebird #3).  I’ve now seen this species in all the Lower 49.

The next stop was Brandon Farm where Brewer’s Blackbirds had been reported most of the winter, though recent reports said numbers had dropped to just 2.  Other targets there were Sandhill Cranes and Pipits, so I was hopeful this could be a good stop.  I didn’t have a specific location for the Blackbirds, but when I arrived I noticed that this was a cattle ranch and found a feeding trough in the distance.  I know Brewer’s like to be at feedlots, so I scanned this area as best as I could but only found Starlings.  I drove along a bit farther and found 2 other feeding troughs right along the road and thought I had the right spot.  But despite quite a bit of effort, I only found a large flock of Starlings with a few Cowbirds.  I also listened for Cranes and Pipits with no luck.  Things weren’t looking up for me - not only had I missed my last 4 targets, but I was now quite a bit behind schedule.

Next stop was at Ellison Lake where a Virginia Rail had been reported.  It took me a while to find the wetlands where the Rail had been heard, but could not find a way to get close enough to play tape and hope for a response.  The only silver lining of this miss was that I spent a lot less time here than planned since I didn’t even do much birding here.

Lake Lanier was my next destination where Horned Grebes had been reported.  This is a large manmade lake, so I wasn’t sure how easy it might be to find my targets here.  As I approached West Bank Park and was driving along the water’s edge I noticed 2 small black-and-white birds in a cove.  Could these be the Grebes?  Unfortunately there was no place to pull over, so I continued to drive to the park and did my best to figure out which cove the birds might have been in.  I quickly put my scope on the area and instantly found a Horned Grebe (statebird #4).  I’ve now seen this species in all but 7 states – all in the central part of the country.

 

Now I was ahead of schedule so decided to take a little time to scan the lake to see what else might be around.  I started to notice a lot of gulls near the dam – mostly Ring-bills and some immature Herrings – maybe 200 in total.  Then I noticed a different bird – Herring-sized, long-winged, dark checker-boarded back, pale head, all dark but small bill.  It was very distant but I thought I had a first-year Lesser Black-backed.  I got back in the car and found another closer viewing spot.  Luckily the gull was still there and it was indeed a Lesser (statebird #5).  Finding a rarity makes up for some of my earlier misses.  Lighting was bad, but I got these barely passable phonescoped pictures. 

I’ve now seen this species in 27 states throughout the eastern and central portions of the country.

 

Next I was on to Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve where a flock of 3 Fox Sparrows had been reported “near the entrance” the previous day.  I got to the Preserve and found 2 different entrances, but realized there was a feeding station near one of them.  So I headed to that spot and noticed some movement in the brush.  The bird was very obscured but it was in fact a Fox Sparrow (#6) – the first bird I saw there.  In the next few seconds it and two others flew from the brush.  And then two others popped into the open – 5 Fox Sparrows in one bush!

Next stop was Panola Mountain State Park where a Mute Swan had reportedly just shown up at Alexander Lake.  The Swan was easy to find as soon as I arrived.  It was mixed in with a number of Canadas, mixed dabblers, and a few divers.  It was free swimming, free flying, and didn’t appear to be tame.  I assumed it was a “wild” bird and counted it as statebird #7 – hopefully it is indeed countable.   I’ve now seen this species in 20 states as it has expanded beyond its traditional range in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

After a bit of a drive I was at my next stop at the E. L. Huie treatment ponds.  This had been my key spot for Gadwall, though of course I had already found them, as well as Pipits and Cranes which had been reported there at least infrequently.  There were indeed many Gadwall there, along with a few other waterfowl, but the area otherwise was pretty slow.  My strategy for the Pipits was to scan the water edges hoping to see them as they foraged.  Luckily I didn’t need to do this for long since a flock of three flew almost directly overhead when I reached the second pond – very helpful to know their call (statebird #8).  I've now seen American Pipit in all but 7 states across the county. 
But once again I struck out on Cranes. 

The next location was Nash Farm where Cranes were observed in nearly every eBird post, along with infrequent White-crowned Sparrow sightings.  Just about the first birds I noticed at this spot was a flock of about 50 Canada Geese foraging in a field.  I started to scan through the flock and the field beyond hoping to find some Cranes when I noticed a flash of color – it was a group of 4 White-fronted Geese in with the Canadas.  Although I already had this species on my GA statelist, it was nice to find these rarities.  I spent a fair amount of time looking through sparrows at the farm but didn’t find any White-crowns.  And I kept my eyes and ears open for Cranes, but with no luck as well.

The final stop was a suburban pond in Springwater Chase where a female Canvasback had been wintering in a large flock of Redheads.  But despite 45 minutes of distant scanning, I could not find the Canvasback.  At times a portion of the flock would disappear out of view, and additional birds flew in at one point.  So maybe the bird was hidden or at some other nearby location when I was there.  At least I sure think I would have been able to pick it out if it was in view while I was there.

That gave me 8 new statebirds and 77 species for the day – a very nice day of birding.

But my statebirding wasn’t quite done.  My business meetings were downtown, just a 5-minute walk from a spot where Peregrine Falcons had been reported a month earlier.  And on the first day of the meetings one was once again reported perched on the same building at the Lenox Towers.  During a late afternoon break I took a short walk and eventually found a Peregrine perched on the corner of one of the buildings (statebird #9).

My GA statelist is now 233 – 21 over the old ABA threshold.  And with this trip GA is now my 34^th state over my goal of ABA Reportable Plus 15.

Striped Sparrow (Lifebird ?) and McCown’s Longspur, Williamson County, TX, February 2015

On January 11 it was reported on the NARBA website that a Striped Sparrow had been discovered in Williamson County, TX close to Austin.  I had never heard of Striped Sparrow before, and for good reason - this was the first sighting of the species in the ABA region.  The bird is normally found in Mexico in states as close as Sonora and Chihuahua, within about 500 or 600 miles of Austin.  That wouldn’t generally be considered to be too far for a bird to wander, but the problem with Striped Sparrow is that it is non-migratory. 

Given this background there was considerable discussion on the web about whether this bird would ever be accepted by the Texas Rare Bird Committee as a countable species and a new addition to the ABA list.  Though on the other side of the coin, this species is not generally kept as a caged bird, did not have any obvious feather wear, and did not appear tame.  And certainly the fact that it was spending the winter in a flock of sparrows in the middle of nowhere sure didn’t sound much like it had just escaped captivity.

The Texas Committee had accepted other similar controversial vagrants in the past.  And the bird was apparently quite reliable, being reported almost daily feeding on a roadside with a flock of other wintering sparrows.  So with an upcoming business trip to Houston, I decided to add a vacation day to give it a try.  You know what they say – see the bird first, then wait to find out if the authorities decide to accept it.  And since it will likely be long gone by the time the Committee rules on it, you certainly can’t wait on the ruling to chase after it.

At first light I arrived at the well-described roadside spot where the Striped Sparrow had been frequenting – along CR 428 0.1 miles east of its intersection with CR 361 near the No Dumping sign.  There was already a flock of sparrows feeding on the shoulder, but it was a bit too dark to identify them.  I parked the car a short distance to the east and set up my scope to wait for a little more light.  As it got closer to sunrise I could start to pick out quite a number of Harris’ and White-crowned Sparrows, along with smaller sparrows which were especially Songs and Lincoln’s.  But no target bird.  I was still optimistic, since there was almost constant activity along the shoulder – I just needed to wait until it arrived at its identified feeding spot. 

Between 8:00 and 8:30 4 other birders arrived, which ordinarily would have been a good thing – more eyes to look for the bird.  But a couple of the birders were quite talkative, and one was especially loud.  Plus one talked the others into standing closer to the feeding spot to get a better look at the bird when it did arrive.  With all the talking I was worried that we were too close.  During this time one birder mentioned that they had been there 5 hours the previous day and had not seen the bird.  Another said it is now most likely seen near dusk.  Suddenly I wasn’t feeling too optimistic. 

Then one birder mentioned that maybe we should look back to the east a short distance since it was seen there the previous day.  I hadn’t read anything about this second spot, but I looked over there and sure enough there were about a dozen sparrows feeding there at the road’s edge.  It was 150-200 yards to the east and too far to identify the sparrows from our new location.  So I decided to walk toward that second area and give it a try.  Besides, there was no reason to have all of us looking at just the one location.  Plus I could get away from all the yacking that was going on.

Over the next hour or so the sparrows continued to come and go – I counted 10 species in total.  And there was a constant chorus of Carolina Wrens and Red-bellied Woodpeckers from the adjacent woods.  At one point I heard a Titmouse and I took a break from the sparrow watching to see what I imagined would be a Black-crested Titmouse for the first time in years.  However, it turned out to be a Tufted Titmouse – a rarity for the eBird list.  Another rarity for the area was an adult Red-headed Woodpecker that came within earshot.  A couple flyby Caracaras were nice too though not unusual – I just don’t see that one much (despite a couple tries for one in Maine this summer!). 

Another interesting reflection while scanning through the sparrows was that I probably saw more Harris’ Sparrows that day than ever before – likely 15-20 birds.  Then I realized why – although I’ve seen this species in 14 states across the country, I’ve never birded in their key wintering range in winter.

At 9:30 I finally struck paydirt.  I was back to scanning through the flock when all of a sudden, there it was – the Striped Sparrow.  No question about the ID – a large sparrow (roughly Harris’ size), wide black ear patch, white supercilium, and dark rusty cap.  I quickly got the other birders on it, and we enjoyed long views of it as it fed.  At times it would retreat with the other sparrows back to the brush, and would then reappear a couple minutes later on the shoulder.  Where had that bird been all morning?  Although the sun angle wasn’t the best, I got a number of phonescoped photos, including these passable shots. 

I had a couple more hours free before having to head back to Houston, so what to do next?.  Earlier I heard one of the birders mention that McCown’s and Chestnut-collared Longspurs had been reported nearby.  The only Longspur I had on my TX list was Lapland, so both would be targets.  With my BirdsEye app I found the locations where each species had been seen, though the McCown’s were more regular.  After a short drive I was at the edge of a dirt field where most of the McCown’s sightings had been.  There were sounds of prairie birds everywhere – singing Eastern Meadowlarks, and calling Horned Larks and American Pipits were all around me.  I started to walk into the field and quickly flushed a small flock of Western Meadowlarks – paler backs and slower wingbeats than Eastern.  A short distance away I saw a flock of Longspurs of some type landing in the field and I headed their way.  Although I didn’t refind them, I did see another closer flock of 10 birds fly by.  With my binocs I got good views of the tail patterns of the birds – they were indeed McCown’s.  Later I had a single bird fly over and land pretty close to me and got good scope views of the sitting McCown’s.  TX was my eighth state for McCown’s and covering most of its regular range – in MT, WY, ND, CO, and NE as a nester, NM and KS as a migrant, and now TX as a wintering bird (see my statebird map below).

I made a couple other stops where the Chestnut-collared had been reported but with no luck.  Though there were more Larks and Meadowlarks at each stop.  I ended the day with nearly 70 species – not bad since I spent most of the time standing in just one spot watching Sparrows.

If the Striped Sparrow is countable, it will be #744 for me in the ABA and #722 in the Lower 48.  And the Sparrow plus the Longspur would give me 419 in TX.  Although TX is my largest statelist, it is only 66% of the total TX list.  My best list as a percentage of the total for that state is NH at 89%, though my state list is just 354.

Long-eared Owl, Silver Sands State Park, Milford, CT, February 2015

For several weeks there had been occasional reports of 1 or more Long-eared Owls at Silver Sands State Park in Milford.  I hadn’t really paid much attention to them since I just assumed they were at a roost at a secret location.  But then I noticed several eBird posts from consecutive days that they were flying around at the park at dusk.  So now that I realized that they might be rather reliable, it was time to get some directions.  Unfortunately the directions on the eBird posts were not very detailed, and not very helpful since I had never been to the park.  But I noticed Frank Mantlik posted some advice on the CT Listserve for separating Long-ears from Short-ears based on his observations at the park.  So I reached out to him for directions, and he sent along some excellent advice, not only as to location, but also regarding the time the Long-ears come out to hunt. 

The next day I was on my way to Milford.  Since I didn’t need to be at Silver Sands until after sunset, I decided to do a little late afternoon birding at Hammonasset State Park along the way.  Just as I arrived at Hammo I decided to check my e-mail account and noticed that I had just received an e-mail that a Thick-billed Murre had been found from shore in Newport, RI.  I went to my map app to figure out if there was enough time to head east to Newport, and still get back to Silver Sands for the Owl.  But there just wasn’t enough time.  So I decided to stick with my original plans, and try for the Murre the next morning.  (Unfortunately the next day was snowy and I couldn’t get to RI.  And although I did try the following day, the bird was gone.  If only the info on the Murre had come along earlier…)  In any case, I did a sea watch for about an hour at Hammo, and got a Red-necked Grebe and a few Scoters as flybys. 

I arrived at Silver Sands about an hour before sunset and started to familiarize myself with the park.  I quickly found Frank’s suggested viewing location, between the parking lot and the old landfill, and set up my scope to begin my vigil.  Frank mentioned that they would fly very low over the landfill, and even roost on the chain link fence at the landfill edge.  Also, Long-ears come out to feed later than Short-ears do, typically only a few minutes before darkness.  So likely with only a very small window of daylight to see the birds, I was happy when three other birders arrived so that there would be more of us searching for the targets.  One of these birders very definitively suggested a different spot to wait for them, saying he had seen them there on 6 of 8 tries.  Reluctantly, I went along with the other 3 birders, and we headed to a spot at least 200 yards west of Frank’s suggested location. 

As we set up at the new location I soon realized that all 4 of us would end up scanning to the west, and we would never see the birds if they actually appeared at Frank’s suggested location.  Plus it just didn’t make sense for all of us to be looking in the same general direction.  So I moved a bit to the east between the two sites, and trained my scope back to east toward the first site. 

It was now after sunset, and getting darker by the minute.  On one of my scans I noticed what appeared to be a dark spot on top of the chain link fence.  I zoomed in and there was the Long-eared Owl – looking back at me.  I got the other birders on the bird and we all got good though very distant views.  If I had only stuck with Frank’s directions the bird would have been directly in front of me. Despite the distance and that it was nearly dark, I could still see the ears and the orange facial areas.  I got this miserable phonescoped picture at least 20 minutes after sunset.

 

The bird (and/or others) flew low over the landfill a couple times later.  But it was now so dark that we could just barely see dark objects moving against the pale snowy background.

CT is only my seventh state for Long-eared Owl, and only my third for New England (see my statebird map below).  And that was my New England total tick #1,995.  Five more to go to 2,000.

Catbird, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Tucson, AZ, January 2015

In January the family took a short vacation to Tucson, AZ – likely my favorite birding area in the entire country.  And with that reputation, my family gave me a ½ day off for birding in and around the city.  First I did a quick review of the eBird Rarities list to see if there might be any lifers nearby.  There was a tantalizing semi-reliable Rufous-capped Warbler at Pena Blanca Lake.  I’ve tried for that bird in AZ three times, and it is on my lifelist, but just as a heard-only bird.  So I’ve always wanted to actually see this species.  But the site was at least 90 minutes away, and with my limited time, I would only have an hour or two to look for it.  So despite more than just a few misgivings, I decided to turn my interests to possible statebirds instead.

My AZ statelist was at 292, so statebird possibilities were likely to be rarities.  And in southern AZ in winter, many of those rarities will typically be eastern vagrants.  So not surprisingly, the eBird AZ Rarities list revealed a few possible statebird targets in the region, including two eastern species – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Catbird, and Clay-colored Sparrow.  All but the Catbird were within the city, and the Catbird was less than an hour away, so all were feasible even in just a half day.

My first stop was McCormick Park where there were reports of a Sapsucker trifecta - Yellow-bellied, Red-breasted, and Red-naped.  This was a small town park just 10 minutes from the hotel.  I’ve had lots of success looking for wintering rarities in small parks like this one in a number of southwestern locations, so I was quite optimistic I could find the Yellow-bellied with just a short trip before breakfast.  I arrived a bit before dawn and scouted the park – just 15 or so large trees, and many with recent sapsucker holes.  Soon after I arrived I had a Sapsucker of unknown species fly over my head and leave the park.  But despite the promising conditions, that was my only Sapsucker sighting during my short 45-minute window of opportunity.  After going back to the hotel for breakfast with the family, I decided to head back to the park for another try.  But despite another 45-minute search, I had no Sapsuckers at all.  Though 5 very cooperative Vermillion Flycatchers were a nice consolation.

Next stop was Fort Lowell Park a short distance to the east where a Clay-colored Sparrow had been reported just the day before.  But no location within the park was given in the eBird report, so I was not as optimistic about this target.  Shortly after I arrived I ran into a pair of birders who had just spent the last couple hours looking for the Sparrow with no luck.  So I decided to not commit any more of my limited time on this one, and instead try for my other targets.  I was certainly more than just a bit disappointed since I had missed my first 2 targets.

The next possible statebird was a Gray Catbird continuing at Avra Valley Road a short drive to the north.  The good news was that directions for this bird were quite good – in brush along the river right near the bridge.  The bad news was that most birders reported only fleeting glimpses of the bird.  And since you won’t see negative reports on eBird, I wondered how reliable this bird might actually be.  I arrived at the area late morning and quickly realized the key complication – the vegetation where the Catbird was likely residing was extremely thick, extended along the entire length of the streambed, and was inaccessible on the other side of a chain-link fence.  I got to the bridge and found a local birder who had been there since dawn.  He said he might have had a brief glimpse of the bird earlier, but that was all.  Within a couple minutes of arriving I heard one characteristic “mew” call note of the Catbird.  The local birder was not familiar with its call, so perhaps it had been calling earlier.  Over the next few minutes we both heard six or eight more call notes, and the other birder might have seen the bird briefly again.  I never did see it - luckily I count heard-only birds.

I’ve now seen Gray Catbird in 46 of the Lower 48 states plus DC (see my statebird map below).  That includes seeing it at the very edge of its range in UT and NM, and now as a rarity in AZ.

 

The next target was a Lewis’s Woodpecker which was reported on eBird as continuing at an alley behind Mohave Rd. back in Tucson.  Although this species is a resident of northern AZ, where I haven’t done too much birding, it is a rarity this far south in AZ.  Before I left the Catbird spot, I asked the local birder if he was familiar with this bird.  Luckily, he had seen it a couple times this winter, and said it spent most of the time in one single tall eucalyptus tree that was along this alley.  After a quick drive I arrived at the block-long alley and was happy I had his micro-directions – it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods and there were many barking dogs.  At least all the dogs were chained up or in small fenced yards.  I quickly found the single large eucalyptus tree and started to scan, but with no luck, even though I searched from multiple directions.  After about 20 minutes I noticed a Golden-fronted Woodpecker fly into the eucalyptus, and instantly the Lewis’s Woodpecker flew out of another part of the tree to chase it away.  Amazing the Lewis’s was probably there the entire time.  I’ve now only seen this species in 7 western states – it’s regular in large portions of at least 4 others.

 

I had just a little more time before having to get back to the family, so I decided to swing by McCormick Park for one more quick try for the Sapsucker.  By now I knew the park well, and had just enough time to make one circuit around the park to visit each of the trees with sapsucker holes.  I walked to the middle of the park, and as I approached the second tree, amazingly, there was the immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – right at eye level.  Where was it during my previous 2 visits?  As I was about to leave, two birders arrived looking for the Sapsucker.  I mentioned that I last saw it in a tree at the edge of the parking lot close to their car, and within seconds we all had the bird.  They were very happy birders.  I’ve now seen Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as a rarity in 3 states – CA, MT, and now AZ – along with most of the states in its regular range.

That gave me 3 new AZ statebirds for this short trip, which was more than I would have expected given my very slow start.  And now with a statelist of 295, can 300 in AZ be far behind?  Maybe I’ll reach the 300 milestone on a future trip in a quest to finally see a Rufous-capped Warbler.