Mountain Bluebird, Portsmouth, NH, April, 2016

It was early Saturday morning and I had just settled in to get caught up on some paperwork.  Then my cell phone rang and it was David Donsker – he was in route to a Mountain Bluebird just found at the Pease Golf Course in Portsmouth, NH.  I hadn’t heard about this sighting yet, so I was very happy that David had called me.  Needless to say that changed my plans in a big way.  Within 10 minutes I was out the door heading to Portsmouth.  Along the way I got an update call from David reporting that he was on the bird as it was perched with some Eastern Bluebirds on top of the fence separating the golf course parking lot and the airport area.  I was most optimistic with these very explicit micro-directions.  But then he gave me a second call a few minutes later suggesting I get there quickly because the bird was working its way down the fence and could eventually move out of sight.  Unfortunately I was still 20 minutes away but crossed my fingers that I could still get there in time.

When I arrived I quickly found a small group of birders at the far edge of the golf course parking lot, but no one was looking at the bird.  Then I got the scoop from Jason Lambert who first spotted the bird - just a couple minutes before I arrived the Bluebird had worked its way down the fence line and out of sight, just as David had predicted.  Jason then wondered if we could walk farther down the fence line to try to refind the bird, though that would mean leaving the parking lot and walking into the golf course proper.  Without any “No Trespassing” signs in view, and the possibility staring at me that I had missed the bird by mere minutes, I quickly said that we should take our chances and walk farther down the fence line to give it a try.

With just a 50 yard walk from the parking lot we were able to see a section of fence that was not visible from the parking lot.  I quickly spotted a Bluebird perched on the fence but it was just an Eastern.  Then I spotted a second Bluebird and it was indeed the female Mountain Bluebird.  We got some acceptable views of the bird, but at considerable distance.  Just then the Mountain Bluebird flew up the fence line and landed practically right in front of us next to the parking lot.  This cooperative bird offered up these “Kodak moments” -

It is reported in “The Birds of New Hampshire” by Keith and Fox that there was only one previous record of Mountain Bluebird in NH “which was never verified and for which adequate details have not survived”.  So perhaps this is the first accepted NH record.  And along with sightings of Tufted Duck and Redwing (also both NH state firsts) in March, this continues a remarkable string of excellent rarities in the Granite State. 

Mountain Bluebird was #361 for me in NH, and my 4th New England State for this species.  Plus of course I’ve seen this common species throughout almost all of its regular range in the west.

Three TX Statebirds – Swallow-tailed Kite, Heermann’s Gull, and American Bittern, March 2016

Although my TX state list is my largest, I continue to set up eBird Needs Alerts for TX on each of my monthly trips to the state.  And those Needs Alerts keep pointing me toward at least a few possible new statebirds for my TX list.  The first bird I looked for in the Needs Alert for my upcoming March trip was Swallow-tailed Kite.  Back in summer 2015 when I started to do TX Needs Alerts I realized that the Kite was especially regular at one location (Port-o-call Street) a bit east of Houston in Crosby, but was only seen there in spring and early summer.  But by the time I knew about this spot, and realized I actually needed Swallow-tailed Kite for my TX list, it was too late in the year.  Though I did try for them in the heat of on late afternoon in July 2015.  So I made a mental note to check the Needs Alerts for the Kite on my first spring trip in 2016.  Sure enough, the Kites had just started to show up, and there were a couple sightings at Port-o-call Street.  Since my flight was to arrive around dinner time, I would have time to try for the Kites the evening I arrived.

But as they say in the infomercials – “But wait there’s more…”  The Needs Alert also mentioned several American Bitterns spotted recently at Sheldon Lake State Park.  Since that’s a pretty common wintering bird in TX, I was a bit surprised that I still needed it for my state list.  The park was only a short distance off my route from the airport to the Kite location, so I figured I would have enough time to quickly try for the Bitterns first, then head a bit farther east to try for the Kite.  Two possible statebirds in one evening of birding – not bad.

My flight landed 20 minutes early, giving me lots of time to try for both of my targets.  Less than 20 minutes after leaving the airport I neared the entrance to Sheldon Lake State Park, only to find that the park closed at 5 PM.  That was a surprise, and a disappointment as well.  So I headed over to Port-o-call Street to look for the Kites.  I’m not sure what is so special about this location, except that it offers a good panoramic view of the sky.  I started my vigil scanning the sky with no luck for the first 30 minutes.  Then I noticed something soaring in the distance.  Despite harsh lighting looking toward the setting sun I could pick out all the field marks of a Swallow-tailed Kite.  While watching it another passed through my binocular field, and then another.  Soon I had a flock of at least 6 birds soaring in the distance.  TX was my fifth southeast state for this species, plus I’ve seen it as a rarity in RI.

As my Houston trip progressed a couple of my meetings got cancelled, giving me a bit of spare time in the early morning one day.  With some free time on my hands, I checked the Needs Alerts again and noticed multiple sightings of an extremely rare immature Heermann’s Gull at the Texas City Dike.  Plus a Glaucous Gull was spotted there as well.  I had never birded there before, and just assumed it was pretty far away.  But it turned out to be just an hour southeast of Houston.  And if I arrived there at dawn, I would have enough time to be back in the city in plenty of time for work by mid-morning.  And if the gulls were really cooperative, I could even make a short side trip to Brazos Bend State Park where multiple American Bitterns had been reported recently. 

The Heermann’s Gull was being seen quite cooperatively among a flock of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls at the westernmost parking lot on the Texas City Dike.  And the Glaucous Gull was seen in the immediate area as well.  Those directions were very explicit so I knew exactly where to search.  However, both gulls were only seen there for 1 day (the Heermann’s was seen several days earlier in nearby Galveston), so I was a bit worried about how reliable they might be.  If they were one-day wonders at this site I would make the long drive for nothing.  But despite a few misgivings, given how rare the Heermann’s was, I decided to take a few hours off and give it a try.

I arrived at the Texas City Dike right at dawn and quickly found the parking lot where the target gulls had been reported.  There were a number of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls loafing around, with a few Herring Gulls sprinkled in, but no rarities.  I drove a 100 yards farther east to check out another small gull flock but again just saw Laughing and Ring-billed.  Suddenly I had that sinking feeling – had I made the trek for nothing?  Then I scanned back to the west and noticed an all-dark gull on the rip-rap – it was the Herrmann’s!  Within a couple minutes it flew to the parking lot and took its place among the other more common gulls likely looking for handouts.  I took a few record shots of this tame bird with my iPhone. 

I’ve now seen this species as a rarity in TX and FL, along with its regular West Coast states.  And come to think of it, I remember seeing flocks of Heermann’s acting just as tame on the CA coast, loafing in mixed flocks in coastal parking lots. And the FL bird I saw was quite tame as well.

Just then I ran into a couple other birders who were there the previous day and had seen the Glaucous Gull.  They mentioned that the Glaucous was there all morning perched on light poles around the parking lot.  But the bird was not seen there the rest of the day despite many searches.  With those tips, I did a couple scans around the area especially focused on birds perched on the light poles.  But there was no Glaucous in site.  Now it was decision time.  Since the Herrmann’s was so cooperative, if I left now I still had time to try for the American Bittern.  Or I could stay longer to hope that the rarer Glaucous would return, but that would mean passing on the more regular Bittern.  Despite my preferences to try for the rarer bird, I had a feeling that the Glaucous was not going to cooperate, and decided to head to Brazos Bend State Part to try for the Bittern.  As a side note it turns out I made the right decision since the Glaucous was apparently not seen at all that day.

The reports of American Bitterns at Brazos Bend State Park were pretty amazing.  Just in the past week this shy and elusive bird had been reported daily on eBird, with 3 birds seen the day before and one report of 11 birds earlier in the week.  Looking back at earlier posts I saw one birder remark - “continuing and obvious". So the good news was there were a number of Bitterns in the park.  However, the bad news was that no locations were given in the recent posts.  I had downloaded a park map the night before and there were numerous wetlands that could be suitable for Bitterns, so I would need some advice where to look for these birds, especially given that I had limited time.  Finally I decided to look back into older eBird reports and started seeing a couple locations given repeatedly – 40 Acre Lake and Elm Lake.  So I was hopeful that my detective work would be sufficient to finally check this bird off my TX list.

I arrived at the State Park and went right to 40 Acre Lake near the entrance.  The lake had a long boardwalk surrounded by low wetland vegetation that I hoped would harbor a Bittern.  As I neared the lake I noticed a photographer out on the boardwalk and I crossed my fingers that he could help me with my search.  It turned out that he was a volunteer at the park, and was very familiar with all the Bittern sightings – he mentioned one birder counted 26 there last week!  Instead of birding the middle of 40 Acre Lake along the boardwalk he directed me to a trail along the north side of the lake and told me to check the edge of the wild rice to the north of the trail.  A few minutes later I was slowly walking along the trail and something caught my eye at the edge of the marsh – it was a nearly motionless American Bittern.  Here’s a shot of the bird taken with my iPhone – can you pick out the bird?

A couple minutes later I had two other Bitterns in flight chasing each other.  I would have really liked to continue down the trail and see how many Bitterns I could find, but I had to get back to work.  And even though I was just there for five minutes, I probably saw more Bitterns that day than almost any other day of birding.

Although American Bittern is a rather common bird seen virtually throughout the country, I’ve usually found this to be a very elusive bird, mostly because it can stay motionless for such a long period of time.  As a result I still need it in 16 mainland states.

With three additions to my TX list that gives me 429 for the state, 20 more than my next highest statelist.  Though since the total possible TX list is so large, I’ll undoubtedly still have many more possible statebirds to try for on future trips to TX.

Eastern Screech-Owl, York Harbor, ME, March 2016

Eastern Screech-Owl is a rather common bird in southern New England, as well as in the western part of the region in VT well north into the Champlain Valley.  But this species is quite uncommon in NH (I’ve only had it twice in the state), and is exceptionally rare in ME.  I’ve unsuccessfully chased after this diminutive owl once in ME, and can’t remember hearing of other reliable sightings of this species there.  Though since many birders don’t report the locations of owls, perhaps there have been more sightings that just haven’t been published.

As a result I was very interested when an eBird Needs Alert from ME appeared in my inbox with a report of a Screech-Owl in York, ME.  Axholme Road was given as the location, and the description included this comment – “Haven't heard one in the area since last summer.”  So maybe this was a regular bird in the immediate vicinity.  Then the next day another Needs Alert came across and this one had a very specific location a short distance from Axholme Road in the same suburban neighborhood in York Harbor.  And then the bird was reported again on a third consecutive day, though the exact location was withheld.  The bird was reported about 8 PM each evening, so I hoped it was calling regularly.  And the location on the second evening was so specific I crossed my fingers that that had been the location of all the sightings.  I guess I had talked myself into deciding that this was a reliable bird worth a chase, especially since this was just a little more than an hour’s drive from home.

The next evening I arrived in the York Harbor neighborhood shortly after sunset and started to get my bearings.  The area was a nicely wooded quiet suburban neighborhood with a small stream passing among the houses.  The directions from the second sighting were perfect and I quickly picked out the exact location where the bird had been heard.  I got out of my car and quietly stood alongside the road to start listening.  It wasn’t quite dusk, and as time passed by, I started to wonder if a lone person standing alongside the road might get someone’s attention.  I certainly wasn’t trespassing, but still have had homeowners call the police on me for a lot less.

A few minutes later I saw two people walking by with their dog.  When they stopped a short distance away and stared at me I figured it was time to tell them what I was up to.  I walked up to them and said I was birdwatching and listening for a rare owl that had been heard there recently.  To which one responded – “I know, I was the one that reported it.”  Just when I was about to heave a sigh of relief a heard a neighbor from across the road say – “What are you people doing out there?”  The birder went over to tell the homeowner what was up, and all was OK yet again.  Thank goodness for friendly Mainers.

I spent a couple minutes talking with the birders and they mentioned I was in the right location, and this was the time they had heard it the last 3 nights.  However, the road noise from the highway to the west that evening was much louder than on previous nights.  And the bird’s calls the past 3 nights had been difficult to hear even with less road noise.  So as they walked away they wondered if anyone would be able to hear the bird on this fourth consecutive night.

Alone again, I cupped my hands around my ears to listen for the Owl.  I was able to hear a twittering Woodcock in the distance, but no owls.  At one point I heard the distant sound of a truck’s jake brakes that sounded a bit like the whinny of a Screech-Owl, but I was trying too hard.  Then all if a sudden there it was – the monotone trill of an Eastern Screech-Owl!  I felt a smile come across my face as I focused my attention in the direction of the call, and heard it a second time.  For a few seconds I thought about staying to hear it again, but figured I shouldn’t push my luck with the neighbors any further, and decided to call it a night.  A most successful trip – a New England statebird plus I didn’t get arrested. (Note that the location I've provided in this post is only approximate as I didn't want to take the chance that I might send additional birders to the location, wearing out our welcome in this quiet neighborhood.)

Eastern Screech-Owl was #338 for me in ME, and the 241st bird I’ve seen (or heard) in each New England state.  My statebird map for this species is pretty well filled in, though I still need it in some of the western states in its region, plus there are the obvious glaring holes in NY and MS.  Interestingly I remember being stopped by police years ago in MS when I was unsuccessfully listening for Screech-Owl.  Luckily my ME experience was a better one.

California Gull, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, CT, March 2016

The CT coastline has numerous great spots for “gulling”.  And one of the best times to go gulling on the coast can be when plankton feeding occurs in spring.  Each spring I anxiously watch the CT listserve hoping for sightings of large flocks of Bonaparte’s which sometimes include a Little Gull – the last regular rare gull I need for my CT statelist.  However, chasing after spring rare gulls on the CT coast can be challenging - the best plankton feeding spots seem to vary somewhat from year to year, and a good day at one spot one day could be followed few gull sightings at that same location the next day.  Hence a key reason I still haven’t successfully chased after a Little Gull in CT.

The spring 2016 CT gull sightings started not with large numbers of Bonaparte’s but instead a report of a Mew Gull at Hammonasset Beach State Park.  I had a Mew Gull in Southbury, CT in 2014 so didn’t need to chase this one for my CT statelist.  But then a second Mew was spotted, and this one was the first CT record of the even rarer mainland US subspecies some call a “Short-billed” Gull.  As a candidate for a split someday I was tempted to go chase after it.  But free time was limited so I decided to forego the chase.

Then the next day a somewhat cryptic e-mail was posted on the CT listserve titled – “Cali-type Gull Hammo-3:50”.  I didn’t recognize the observer’s name, and no details were included, so didn’t want to get too excited about the bird just yet.  Then Mark Szantyr posted that he saw the photo and confirmed the ID as the first CT state record of California Gull.  But the bird was not refound later that day in the large flock of 4-5,000 gulls plankton feeding at Hammo, so I questioned how chaseable it might be.  That is until the next day when the California was spotted early and often throughout the day, along with the continuing Mew Gulls.  And numerous photos of the immature California were posted, improving my chances of being able to pick out the target bird in a big gull flock.  The chase was on.

The next day I was able to take some time off and was at Hammonasset by mid-morning.  When I arrived there were at least a dozen birders looking out on the gull flock on the water and the beach.  Unfortunately there were no more than just 150 birds in view.  And the birders reported that although the California had been seen earlier in the morning, it had not been spotted for some time.  Now with a much smaller flock of gulls at Hammo I worried that the target bird had moved on with the rest of the flock to a better feeding location.  Was this another example of the plankton feeding locations changing on a daily basis?  A couple birders kept trying to turn immature Ring-bills into the California with no luck.  Then someone mentioned to check out another bird at the back of the flock.  I panned in that general direction and instantly picked out the target California Gull.  I guess didn’t need to stress out after all.

I stayed at the park for the next several hours, and the California was seen off and on much of that time.  And most of the time the bird was quite cooperative, allowing me to get these passable phonescoped photos.

Unfortunately the Mew Gulls did not return while I was there, but at least I don’t need that one for my CT statelist based on the present counting rules.  Though I still need Little Gull for CT.

California Gull was #327 for my CT statelist.  And it was my second New England state for this species – I found an adult California in MA back in 1994.  Plus of course I’ve seen it in numerous western states (see my statebird map below).