American Oystercatcher, Seabrook Harbor, NH, June 2015

Oystercatcher has been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me in NH.  Although they do not nest in NH, they are regular but rare in NH especially as they pass by in route to their nearest nesting site a short distance up the coast at Stratton Island, ME.  Most NH birds are seen either as fly-bys along the coast, or on-shore especially at the mussel beds in Seabrook Harbor.  And even when they do land in NH their locations are very tide dependent, so they are typically not very chaseable.  The closest I’ve been to seeing them in NH was one I missed by a few minutes as a fly by on the coast (though I did see the Sabine’s Gull that day!), and a pair I missed by less than an hour that amazingly showed up inland at the Rochester sewage treatment plant.  The bottom line is that American Oystercatcher is the most common bird I still need for my NH statelist.  Then again maybe it’s tied with Black Vulture for that auspicious title.

So needless to say I was very excited when a post came across the NH listserve one early June morning that a pair of Oystercatchers were spotted in Seabrook Harbor from the Yankee Co-op.  The birder posted the sighting nearly real-time from the field, and since I noticed the e-mail just a couple minutes after it was was posted, this was all within 10 minutes of his sighting.  Five minutes later I was out of the house and heading to Seabrook, which would put me at the harbor within 90 minutes of the sighting.  That was pretty fast, but would it be fast enough?  The mudflats could change significantly in an hour and a half, so I could only hope that the birds might still be around when I arrived.

As I neared the coast I drove over the Blackwater River in Seabrook and saw that the tide was pretty low but rising.  Hopefully the mussel beds were still exposed.  Five minutes later I pulled into the co-op parking lot and the mussels were still above the rising waters, so I was optimistic.  I quickly scanned the mussel beds with my binoculars but there were no Oystercatchers.  I then pulled out my scope to check more closely but again I came up empty.  Suddenly my optimism was waning.  I then expanded my search to the mudflats to the south, and then the mudflats to the north, but still no Oystercatchers.  Then I looked even farther to the north and saw two distant dark dots on the flats.  I zoomed in and there were the pair of Oystercatchers – perhaps a ½ mile off.  Good thing they are big showy birds. 

I kept an eye on them because I knew other birders were on their way.  At times they would disappear behind a small rise in the mudflats and I got a bit worried, but they would soon reappear a short distance away.  Within a few minutes 8 or 9 other birders arrived and all got good looks at the birds.  At one point they flew in a bit closer, and I got this still very distant phone-scoped picture.

This is when they flew in "closer" - imagine how far away they were when I first spotted them

About 40 minutes after I arrived the Oystercatchers started to fly around the flats a bit, likely due to the rising tide.  And a couple minutes later they were gone, about 2 hours after the initial observation.  Sure was great that the initial sighting was posted so quickly.  Interestingly, they never landed in the mussel beds while I was there.

American Oystercatcher was # 355 for me in NH.  I’ve now seen this species in each Atlantic Coast state and each Gulf Coast state except for MS (see my statebird map below).

Seven Statebirds in Reno/Carson City, NV, and One in the San Francisco Bay Area, May 2015

My work travels take me to the San Francisco Bay Area frequently, and on several of those trips I’ve added a vacation day to either chase after a rarity (Falcated Duck no less than 5 times - all unsuccessfully) or pursue other statebirds.  Twice I’ve headed east to NV to work on that statelist, specifically to the greater Reno/Carson City area.  There I’ve teamed up with local birder Rob Lowry who really knows the local area, and has given me some excellent advice to help me find my targets.  Since I still need a number of birds for my NV statelist that summer in that area, I thought I’d add a day during my upcoming May trip to the Bay Area to try to fill in some of those gaps.

Before this trip I had 242 species in NV which is exactly the old ABA reporting threshold, last updated in 2010.  The most recent NV checklist published on-line (as of March 2015) by the Nevada Bird Records Committee is 492.  Using the old ABA formula that the threshold is half of the total statelist, the new threshold for NV would be 246.  So saying I’ve reached the old ABA threshold is a rather hollow victory in NV, and a good example of why I’ve set a somewhat arbitrary goal of being 15 over the old ABA thresholds in each state.  So with a number of potential targets, advice from Rob, and a lot of research on eBird, I was optimistic that I could make good progress on reaching the “Reportable Plus 15” goal for NV.  Realistically I hoped for at least 5 new statebirds on the trip.

The first stop was in the little town of Verdi just barely east of the CA/NV border to try for Acorn Woodpeckers.  There were several recent sightings with a pretty specific location given (the Bridge St. bridge over the Truckee River).  But a 45-minute stop yielded only a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers and a pair Flickers nesting in the dead cottonwood snags.  And even a quick stop at a nearby patch of woods where one was seen the day before was unsuccessful.  Interestingly, I never saw a single oak tree at these locations.  Not a very good start to the day.

Then it was on to Pyramid Lake to try for a number of waterbirds and migrants.  The route to the lake passed through some desert which had had a number of recent Golden Eagle sightings.  Although most appeared to be just lucky sightings of birds passing through the area, there was one eBird post of a pair carrying food at a nest.  A specific location was given, though of course you never know how accurate the eBird locations are.  I got to the reported nest location and scanned the mountainside with my binoculars, but did not see a nest.  But then I noticed a bump on one of the rocks, and with a scope view confirmed it was an adult Golden Eagle – statebird #1.  Hats off to the eBirder for putting in a very accurate location of the nesting spot!  I’ve now seen this species in 15 western states but only 4 states in the east.  (see my statebird map below)

The next stop was a spot called The Willows on the west shore of Pyramid Lake.  This is an oasis consisting of a thick stand of mature willow trees that can be quite a magnet for migrants.  I spent about 90 minutes there and found a number of passerine migrants, but they were all the regulars – like Wilson’s, MacGillivray’s, Yellow-rumped (both Audubon’s and Myrtle), and Yellow Warblers; Dusky and Ash-throated Flycatchers, Western Pewee, and Black-headed Grosbeaks.  Nothing new here, though a Great Horned Owl was nice.  Then I spent some time at the lake where late Greater Scaup and a Red-necked Grebe had been reported a couple weeks earlier.  But they were long gone, though the lake was teaming with Western Grebes. 

Then it was on to the southern end of Pyramid Lake in hopes of Long-billed Curlew and other shorebirds.  Although there had been no recent Curlew sightings here or elsewhere in the area, this had been a location for several sightings at this time last year.  But no luck here – the only shorebirds were 4 Red-necked Phalaropes.  I’ve looked for Curlew on all 3 of my trips to this area without success.  I also spent some time trying to find a summering odd gull but could only find California and Ring-billed.  On a brighter note a rare Common Tern mixed in with the Forster’s and Caspian Terns was nice. 

It was now past noon, and I only had 1 statebird in four stops.  Things had to pick up, right?

Then I was on to Mira Loma Pond in the Reno suburbs where a Common Goldeneye had been reported 2 weeks earlier.  Of course there was a good chance that this was a late migrant duck that was long gone (like the Greater Scaup and Red-necked Grebe at Pyramid Lake).  But over the years I’ve picked up a number of normally wintering waterfowl as statebirds during summer, so I was hopeful that this bird too might have decided not to migrate north for the summer.  And besides, this was a small pond and right on my route to the next location so it would be a quick stop.  When I arrived I scanned the far side and got some nice dabblers, a late Bufflehead, and several families of Canada Geese, but no Goldeneye.  Then I noticed a small group of waterfowl practically at my feet and there was the female Common Goldeneye (statebird #2).  I’ve now seen this species in 43 states across the country.

 

The next stop was Davis Creek Regional Park which is the spot for Calliope Hummingbird in the area.  It seems a male Calliope likes to perch on one specific bare branch where the nature trail crosses the road near the group picnic area.  That sure is a specific set of directions – though when I was in the area last year I spent over an hour at this spot without finding the bird.  So I gave myself at least an hour to try for the bird this time.  I arrived at the spot and didn’t see the bird at first, but then looked a few feet away and noticed what almost looked like a small bump on a nearby bare branch.  With binoculars it was obviously the very tiny Calliope Hummingbird (#3).  I go this phone-scoped picture of this most cooperative bird – where was it last year?

And then the bird flew off and was replaced by this bird with a remarkable gorget.

I still need Calliope in OR and MT in its regular breeding range, though I’ve seen it in four eastern and central states as a vagrant.

Then I was off to meet up with Rob Lowry so he could take me to a nest box southeast of Carson City where he had a Western Screech-Owl nesting.  After a short walk we arrived at the nest box, and Rob opened a panel of the box to reveal an owlet inside the box (#4).  Very cute.  A nice addition to my statebird map, but I still have several gaps for this species.

 

The last stop of the day was at Mason Valley WMA which was about a 90-minute drive to the southeast.  A couple weeks earlier Rob had had two of my targets there – American Bittern and Black Tern.  He gave me excellent directions to the two locations of these birds, but I wondered if they were just migrants and likely long gone, or would they be nesting locally.  Rob’s hand-drawn map to the spot was perfect, and I first went to the marsh where the American Bittern had been seen.  I’ve never had much luck getting bitterns to reply to taped calls, so I wasn’t sure how this one would go.  I started playing tape but got no response.  While I waited I noticed several terns flying around the marsh, but they were all Forster’s.  Now I wondered if I would miss both birds.  I walked a little bit farther along the marsh and played some more tape – still no response.  Then I thought I heard a faint call in the distance.  I turned off the tape and sure enough it was a distant calling American Bittern (#5).   

Now I needed to focus on the terns. This time I did a more thorough scan of the marsh but once again only came up with Forster’s.  But then I re-checked Rob’s map and realized he actually had the Black Terns in an adjacent marsh, not the one I was looking at.  So I redirected my attention to the neighboring marsh and instantly saw 3 Black Terns flying over the reeds (#6).  Things usually turn out better when you follow directions!  I’ve now seen this species in 41 states across the US, with the biggest gaps being in the Midwest. 

 

The next morning I woke up early to try for a pair of owls recently reported nearby – Flammulated and Saw-whet.  Both were reported more than 2 weeks earlier pre-dawn at Chimney Beach along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, barely in NV.  This is the spot where last year I got Pacific Wren and Pileated Woodpecker – two great birds for NV.  I arrived a bit before 4 and walked a short distance to the north to get into the conifers.  It was extremely quiet with no wind, so conditions were great.  Soon after arriving I started to hear Poor-wills calling – likely 3 different birds.  But there were no owls.  I started to play Flammulated tape and within a minute one was calling back (#7).  It continued to call the entire time I was there.  That was only my 3rd time hearing a Flammulated (CA and UT are my other states); I’ve still never seen one.  I also played some tape of Saw-whet but couldn’t coax one into responding.

That gave me 7 new NV statebirds and 90 species for this brief outing - a most successful trip.  And now with a statelist of 249 in NV, I’m 7 over the old ABA threshold and well on my way to “Reportable Plus 15”.  Or more accurately, I’m 3 over the calculated threshold based on the recently published NV statelist.  I’m tentatively planning a trip to northeast NV in summer 2016 to look for the Himalayan Snowcock and spend at least a day working on my NV statelist.  I’m hoping that after that trip I’ll be over the threshold to stay.

And now onto California –

After my mini-vacation in NV I returned to the Bay Area for my business trip.  One morning I had a couple free hours so I checked the eBird CA Needs Alert for local possibilities.  I keyed in on nearby Coyote Hills Regional Park which regularly had reports of American Bittern, and recently had a report of Black Rail.  I spent 2 hours there early that morning, and although I dipped on Black Rail, I did have a flyover American Bittern - #376 for me in CA.  I really like the eBird Needs Alerts!  Even after adding American Bittern in CA and NV my coverage for this species is still very spotty - like I said I've not had a lot of luck getting bitterns to respond to tapes.

Cerulean Warbler, Route 4 Rest Stop, Ira, VT, May 2015

For a number of years I’ve read Ian Worley’s accounts of Cerulean Warblers nesting on Snake Mountain.  I had not made it a priority to chase after them until 2014 when I reached out to Ian to get some details on his birds.  The problem was they didn’t show up that year, so I had unfortunately waited too long to see the Snake Mountain birds.

But then in 2014 I noticed a couple e-bird posts with sightings of Ceruleans at the Route 4 Rest Stop just west of Rutland in the town of Ira.  That spot used to be known for nesting Golden-winged Warblers, and I had successfully seen this rare and declining species there back in 1995.  Unfortunately those birds are no longer at the Rest Stop since the woodlands have grown up quite a bit.  I didn’t try for the Ceruleans there in 2014 mostly because the directions were a bit vague.  But then reports of birds at the same spot started to come across in May 2015, with some good details on their locations.  So I decided it was finally time to try for Ceruleans in VT.  I got some micro-directions from a local birder, and 2 birds were singing there the day before my trip, so I was cautiously optimistic.

I arrived at 8 after a 2 ½ hour drive, and quickly headed to the top of the hill above the Rest Stop where the birds were most often heard and seen.  There was a lot of song in the area, with the most common species being Redstart, Ovenbird, Veery, Wood Thrush, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  Within a couple minutes I heard 2 distant Cerulean songs off in the distance to the north.  That was good enough to check it off my VT list, but since this is a bird I don’t hear or see very often, I wanted to spend some more time with them.  Since they had been regular there, I figured I wouldn’t have to wait too long.

However, I spent the next two hours in this immediate area and never heard or saw them after the 2 initial songs.  The closest I could get were at least 2 Redstarts that were giving superficially similar songs.  I ended up with nearly 40 species including 9 species of warblers – 1 of which was a skulking female Mourning Warbler.  Not bad for a 2-hour long “big sit”.  Though I sure wish the Ceruleans had cooperated.  I remember Ian mentioning his birds would stop singing pretty early in the season as nesting was progressing.  Maybe that’s what the birds at the Rest Stop were doing now – or perhaps they were just being very uncooperative the day I was there.

Cerulean Warbler was #269 for my VT list.  That was almost exactly 20 years since the last time I was at the Route 4 Rest Stop, when Golden-winged Warbler was VT bird #146 for me.  VT was my 20th state for Cerulean, which I guess isn’t too bad for this declining species.

Wilson’s Warbler, Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI, May 2015

Wilson’s Warblers were being reported almost every day in mid-May from Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.  Although a key target of mine, and one I missed by just a few hours the week before, my work commitments prevented me from getting to Swan Point to try for it.  Finally I had an upcoming morning free, so I planned to get there soon after dawn that day to see what kinds of migrants had arrived overnight.  Unfortunately, the weather the night before my planned trip was not very conducive for migration - cool with light northwest winds.  Undeterred, I decided to give it a try anyway.

I met up with a birding friend at 7, and we headed to the southern part of the cemetery.  This area is a bit wetter and brushier than most of the rest of the cemetery, so more likely to harbor a Wilson’s Warbler if one was around.  Birding started pretty slow with just a few late migrants here and there.  But then we found an area with a little more song so we decided to stick with this spot for a while.  There were several Redstarts, a Magnolia, a few Blackpolls, and a Parula as migrants, along with the ever-present Yellow Warblers.  Then I heard a distant trill – could it have been a Wilson’s?  I took a few steps in that direction and it sang again – it was indeed a Wilson’s Warbler!  Unfortunately it never sang again, but good enough to check it off.

Wilson’s Warbler was number 322 for me in RI, and the 236th species I’ve seen in each of the 6 New England states.  My statebird map below shows that I’ve seen it throughout most of the country, with the obvious exception being the southeast where it is less common.

Wilson’s warbler 2 map