The 2015 birding year was an
exciting one, with many individual highlights especially related to adding
total ticks. By far the high point of
the year was reaching my long-time goal of 2,000 total ticks in the 6 New
England states. I got this idea from NH
birder Denny Abbott soon after I moved to New England in 1993. Since I had always been into statebirding,
Denny’s New England quest to reach 2,000 sounded like a fun one to try. When I moved here I had just 723 New England ticks
(MA was my highest list at 138), so I had a long way to go. Denny would end up reaching his target in the
year 2001, and he has kept chasing New England statebirds ever since (he now
has over 2,200!). My #2,000 was a Tennessee
Warbler seen on May11 at Lonsdale Marsh, RI.
A bit ironic that after 20+ years of birding in New England #2,000 would
be a regular migrant instead of a rarity such as my RI Swallow-tailed Kite which
was #1,999.
Unlike in previous years I
did not take a big statebirding trip in 2015, and as a result for the first
time in 10 years I didn’t add any new ABA reportable states. Instead my interests turned to “province
birding”, taking 3 trips to eastern Canada birding in 4 provinces. I took one trip to southern Quebec in
September, adding 61 birds to my province list including finding this rare Lesser
Black-backed Gull.
I was also able to understand
just enough French to track down 2 stakeout shorebird rarities – a Stilt
Sandpiper and this most cooperative Long-billed Dowitcher.
I also took a second trip to
Quebec in November adding 28 new birds, raising my province total to 152. In addition to finding a rare Sandhill Crane,
a highlight of this trip was searching through a flock of 80,000 Snow Geese on
small Reservoir Beaudet for Ross’ Geese and other target birds. Here’s a panoramic view of the geese –
And although I didn’t think I
had seen any Ross’s that day, scrutiny of this picture of an out-of-focus
Cackling Goose revealed an adult and 2 immature Ross’s Geese –
My other province birding trip was to the maritimes – a 7 day trip including travel time through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, returning to the states on the Yarmouth to Portland ferry. Prior to this trip I had a grand total of just 2 ticks in these 3 provinces combined, so of course I had a lot of potential to add new province birds. My goals were to add 75-100 ticks each in NB and NS, and 50-75 in PEI. The trip was most successful, exceeding all my goals – adding 100 species in NB, 105 in NS, and 85 in PEI, and 140 species total. The highlights of this trip included –
- A passerine fallout in NB featuring a rare Yellow-throated Vireo
- Tufted Titmouse on a NB whale watching trip of all things – on one of many islands in the river off St. Andrews
- Watching the amazing fluctuations in the tides in the Bay of Fundy
- Finding rare Gnatcatchers both in PEI and NS
- Great birding at East Point, PEI – the best birding spot in PEI, including finding a Little Gull
- Birding two of the best hotspots in all of NS - Hartlen Point and Cape Sable Island – though birding was slow at both locations except for finding Oystercatcher at its northernmost breeding location on Cape Sable Island.
And perhaps the most
memorable part of the trip was the 10-hour ferry ride back to Portland,
ME. Weather conditions were ideal, and I
birded off the stern of the boat for all but 15 minutes of the ride, tallying
823 Shearwaters - 480 Greats, 14 Cory’s, 7 Sooty, 2 Manx, and 320 unidentified
sitting on the water (likely mostly Greats).
Other notables were 19 Fulmars, 459 Gannets, 1 Red and 3 unidentified
Phalaropes, and 1 adult Pomarine and 4 unidentified Jaegers. Plus I had 2 Harriers and 2 Peregrines
migrating past the boat seemingly taking the same route as we were. By far the best experience occurred early in
the ride while still in NS waters when I noticed several big splashes just off
the stern. It was a Great Shearwater
diving into the water trying to elude a larger dark bird with white flashes in
the primaries. It was a Skua, but which
one? I got several views of the
undersides and mantle of the bird as it continued to chase the Shearwater and
it had paler feathering below and above, making it a Great Skua. A lifebird!
But alas I had no Great Skua, or any other new bird, for my ME list.
And the cetaceans put on a
nice show as well, all in NS waters. I’m
no expert on whales, but at one point I saw blows of at least 4 whales together
which were likely Right Whales based on the blow angles. Plus there were at least 2 larger whales, one
of which appeared to be very large and had an all pale body. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pale-bodied
whale on any of the whalewatch or pelagic trips I’ve taken. Could it have been a rare Blue Whale?
That brings my Canada totals
to 794 total ticks and 277 species in Canada.
Still pretty low numbers, but since I started the year with just 415
total ticks and 237 species, that’s a nice improvement. I’ve definitely been bitten by the province
birding bug.
And now back to the US - although
I didn’t add a large number of statebirds in any individual state, I took
shorter birding trips to several locations.
In some cases my objective was to get my state totals above my somewhat
arbitrary goal of reaching at least 15 over the old ABA threshold. In a couple cases I was pursuing a stakeout
rarity as a lifebird. And in some cases
I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelist, frequently using eBird Needs
Alerts as an invaluable tool. Highlights
included –
Georgia – I
added a vacation day to a February business trip netting 9 new statebirds,
including finding a first-year Lesser Black-backed Gull. That put me 6 over my “reportable plus 15” goal.
Washington, DC and Northern Virginia – In January and December I took 1-day trips to DC
and northern VA to fill in some gaps in both statelists. In DC I added 8 new “state” birds, giving me
3 over the reportable plus 15 goal – my 35th “state” to reach that
plateau. That included this most
cooperative stakeout Cackling Goose.
I added 7 new statebirds to
my VA list on these trips, leaving me just 1 shy of reportable plus 15. This stakeout White-fronted Goose offered
some nice Kodak moments.
California –
my work travels took me to CA several times during the year. And although I made 3 failed attempts at
seeing a stakeout Falcated Duck (that makes 5 unsuccessful trips over 3
years!), I did add a stakeout Rustic Bunting as a lifebird on one trip. And overall I added 9 CA statebirds during
the year including a few reported rarities like Blackburnian Warbler and
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. I might
have been able to add even more CA statebirds if I hadn’t spent all that time
on those unsuccessful Falcated Duck searches.
Nevada – I
ended 2014 with a NV total right at the old ABA threshold of 242. But with several additions to the NV state
list, a newly calculated threshold (half of the total statelist) would be 246. So saying I had reached the old ABA threshold
was a rather hollow victory in NV, and a good example of why I’ve set a goal of
being 15 over the old ABA thresholds in each state. So in May I extended a Bay Area trip with a
vacation day to the Reno/Carson City area, adding 7 new birds. The highlight was hearing Flammulated Owl for
only the 3rd time ever.
Texas – I
have business trips to Houston at least once a month, and this year I extended 3
trips to chase after life birds. The
first was a wintering Striped Sparrow near Austin, which would be the first ABA
record assuming it gets accepted. After
a bit of a wait the bird put on quite a show –
My next trip was to south TX
to look for Aplomado Falcon which was only recently considered to be countable
due to a recent change in the ABA rules.
With a bit of research I was able to find a pair at a nesting tower.
The 3rd lifebird I pursued
was a Collared Plover that returned for the 2nd consecutive year to a playa in
Hargill. I chased after it in 2014 only
to arrive the day after it moved on.
This year I was much more lucky, finding the bird almost as soon as I
arrived.
With the help of eBird Needs
Alerts I added 6 additional TX statebirds on these and other trips, giving me 426
for the state – my largest single state list.
New Mexico –
With a January trip to Midland, TX I added a day to pursue a Common Crane being
seen not too far away in Roswell, NM. It
took me quite a bit of time, but I eventually chased it down, getting this
distant photo of the target bird.
New York – I
made several trips to Long Island during the year, and although my list was already
well over the ABA threshold, there were still a number of gaps to fill. I ended up adding 12 statebirds during the year,
including a couple stakeout rarities like Yellow-throated Warbler and
White-faced Ibis. I also took several
ferry rides between Orient Point, NY and Groton, CT, finding three rarities in
Long Island sound – Pomarine Jaeger (also in CT waters), Cory’s Shearwater, and
Common Murre.
On all my trips I have received
tremendous help from local birders. Many
thanks to all who gave me great advice!
With 379 ticks in Canada and
another 103 ticks in the US in 2015, that increased my total ticks to
13,679. And with just shy of 1,000 new
ticks over the last 2 years, my ABA total ticks tally has climbed significantly
during that time. When I updated my
totals on the ABA website on January 1st I noticed that I’m now listed as #1 in
total ticks, 92 over Thomas Heatley who had the top list on the website for
several years. Ever since I got to
10,000 total ticks back in 2003 I’ve focused on increasing individual state and
province totals rather than total ticks per se, so I was a bit surprised to see
that that I had the top listed total.
Though of course adding state and province birds adds total ticks
too. But now a reality note - I know my
total isn’t the highest. That title
undoubtedly goes to Paul Lehman who hasn’t reported his totals in a while. If I remember correctly, the last time he
submitted his numbers his total ticks were over 18,000. But at least for now, the official ABA
website lists me at #1.
Here’s 2015 by the numbers -
Lifebirds -
- 6 new ABA lifebirds –
- Common Crane – Roswell, NM
- Rustic Bunting – San Francisco, CA
- Striped Sparrow – Williamson County, TX
- Aplomado Falcon – Cameron County, TX
- Collared Plover – Hargill, TX
- Great Skua – Yarmouth-Portland Ferry, NS
- ABA total now at 747, US at 748, and Lower 48 at 724
State and province birding (see
my statebird map below with totals for each state) -
- ABA reportable now in 44 states plus DC
- “Reportable plus 15” in 35 states
- 482 new state birds and province birds. New statebirds in 18 states and 4 provinces.
- 29 new statebirds in New England – 2,022 total ticks now in New England. I was successful in finding 64% of the birds I chased after, and 5 of my new ticks were birds I found on my own.
- Total Ticks – now at 13,679, with 12,885 of those in the U.S.
Looking ahead, I think I may
be only about 3 big trips away from reaching most all of my statebirding goals
–
- Northern NV, eastern OR, and eastern WA;
- Western MT and the panhandle of ID; and
- Eastern NE, eastern SD, eastern ND, western MN, and western IA.
I’m not sure if I’ll go on
one of these trips this year, or maybe continue to work on my province lists
instead. Then again I may do a combined
state and province birding trip. And
since most of my province totals are so low, I will likely increase my total
ticks faster through province birding than through state birding.
What’s next for birding in Maritime
Canada? I am planning a short Quebec
trip for May 2016 to perhaps net 20-30 regular breeding species for my
list. In the Maritimes my totals for NB,
PEI, and NS are still less than half of the old ABA reporting threshold, so
there are lots of pretty easy birds yet in all 3 provinces. For instance a breeding season trip with a
couple days in each province could net maybe 50 per province. Plus I have never birded in Newfoundland and
St. Pierre et Miguelon. But the
Maritimes will likely have to wait until 2017 and beyond.
Back in the states, I have 2
short trips planned so far for the beginning of the year. A January trip to NE, where I’m only 7 over
the ABA threshold, could net a few birds.
And in OR where I’m still 41 below the threshold, I’m planning a short
February trip to the southwestern part of the state. It would be nice to pick up perhaps 10
species that are unique to southwest OR to help me creep up to the threshold.
Plus of course I’ll still concentrate
on New England statebirding in 2016. Since
as my list gets larger there are less potential new statebirds, I’ll be happy
if I can continue to get at least 20 new New England ticks each year for now.
Finally, with a lot of
business travel across the country, I’ll likely continue to do some opportunistic
chasing of lifers when I can go after them with an extra vacation day. I’m just 3 short of 750 in the ABA region – maybe
I can reach that milestone this year. Though
that will likely be a function of any new lumps or splits that may be announced
in 2016.
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