2017 Birding Year Celebrating 2 Milestones – 750 in the ABA Continental Area and 50 Years of Birding

By far the biggest highlight of my birding year was reaching a big milestone – #750 in the ABA Continental area (not including Hawaii).  And it happened as I celebrated my 50th year of birding.  I also made excellent progress toward my goal of 15,000 Total Ticks in the US and Canada, and reached the old ABA reportable threshold in my 46th and 47th states.  But before summarizing my 2017 sightings, a few reflections on reaching my big life-long milestones.

 

50 Years of Birding

 

In August 1967 my parents bought me my first pair of binoculars when I was just 8 years old.  I can still remember the very first time I used them in my grandmother’s urban backyard in Baltimore, MD.  The first bird I looked at through those binoculars was probably nothing more exciting than a House Sparrow or a Starling, but my early interest in birding was sparked that day.  Soon thereafter I remember my parents buying me my first Golden Guide written by Chan Robbins which I began to study even before I left the store.  I even got it photographed by the author!  And I can also remember earning merit badges in Cub Scouts by identifying 10 species of birds. 

 

But most of what I learned in those early days I did on my own.  I grew up in a household that appreciated the outdoors, but I was the only birder in the family.  It wasn’t until I got to college that my birding skills truly blossomed, thanks to birding time with several grad students that were excellent birders.  Two memorable watershed moments were trips with one of my mentors, Jim Stasz - a summer day to coastal DE when I got 10 lifebirds; and a cold, windy winter day when we hunkered down amongst the rocks on the jetty at Ocean City, MD when Jim said something like I had just become a hardcore birder. 

 

With 50 years of birding I’ve been able to log many hours in many locations – I’ve birded in all 50 states and 9 Canadian provinces.  My statebirding interests have taken me to a lot of unique birding locations that few tourists, let alone birders, can say they’ve been to.  Some of my favorite less well-known birding locations have included –

• Fall migration in the suburban “oases” of western KS with numerous western rarities;
• Summer dawn chorus in the northern tip of NH;
• Berrien County in the southwestern corner of MI with numerous “southern” breeders and migrant rarities;
• East Point on Prince Edward Island with amazing seawatches;
• Memphis, TN sewage lagoons birding often with the “Ol’ Coot” himself Jeff Wilson – the best field birder I’ve ever birded with;
• The prairies of the upper Midwest with their native Sparrows and Longspurs;
• Fall in Neah Bay, WA with a dizzying number of rarities; and
• Winter in southwestern LA with an outstanding list of birds seemingly from any season and any geography.

 

And although I haven’t done too much international birding, I’ve birded in Brazil, England, Italy, Czech Republic, and Hong Kong over the years.  Plus Puerto Rico and Guam. 

 

And finally one of the key facets of my birding these days is to “pay forward” all that great support and advice I’ve received over the years.  I really enjoy helping other birders find that rarity that everyone is chasing after.  And I especially enjoy helping younger birders learn some of the finer points in birding.

 

Fifty years down, and fifty more to go.

 

750 in the ABA Continental Area

On 9/12/17 I saw a staked-out Common Ringed Plover at Gooseberry Neck in Westport, MA.  Not only was it a lifebird, but it was ABA #750.

 

I’d like to say that reaching 750 in the ABA Continental Area has been a long-term goal of mine.  However in reality, throughout most of my birding years, I’ve been much more focused on total ticks and state and province birding than chasing after life birds.  Only 3 times have I taken trips just to pursue potential new lifebirds –

• 2009 trip to AZ for Sinaloa Wren, Rufous-capped Warbler, and Black-capped Gnatcatcher(Jacana was also a target for that trip but it had moved on before I could get there); 
• 2012 AK trip adding Arctic Loon, Yellow Wagtail, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bluethroat, and Spectacled Eider; and
• 2013 trip to AZ for Nutting’s Flycatcher and Rosy-faced Lovebird. 

 

I’ve reached 750 without having been to Attu or Gambell to look for those tantalizing Asian vagrants.  As a result my Lower 48 list is a very respectable 729 - I’ve only seen 19 species in AK and 2 species in Canada that I haven’t seen in the Lower 48.  In a lot of ways I’m more proud of my Lower 48 total than in my ABA total.  For instance the ABA Listing Central has me in 73rd place in the Lower 48 but only 158th in ABA Continental area.  (Of course I realize that there are many birders who don’t publish their lists on the ABA site.)

 

And I’ve almost never used paid guides.  The notable exceptions being a couple AZ trips and the 2012 AK trip where guides were indeed most helpful.  I typically do my own research and often obtain micro-directions from local birders.  That intelligence has almost always proven to be invaluable.

 

The key sources of most of my new lifebirds these days have been short extensions to business trips to search for staked-out rarities.  On most of these trips I only get one new bird at a time.  For instance in 2015 I added one lifebird in each of 4 different business trips –

• Common Crane in Roswell, NM after a business trip to Midland, TX;
• Rustic Bunting in San Francisco prior to a business trip to the Bay Area;
• Aplomado Falcon in Cameron County, TX before a business trip to Houston; and
• Collared Plover in Hargill, TX following another Houston trip (though that was my second try for that bird).

 

Then there are the local extreme rarities that have not only been new ticks for one of my New England lists, but lifebirds as well.  Recent New England lifebirds include –

• 2012 – Red-billed Tropicbird – Seal Island, ME
• 2013 – Fieldfare – Carlisle, MA
• 2016 – Redwing – Hollis, NH (15 minutes from my home!)
• 2016 – Graylag Goose – East Providence, RI
• 2017 – Common Ringed Plover – Westport, MA

And perhaps the 2017 NH Shelduck will be added to that list as well.

 

A graph of my ABA total over time, starting with my first lifelist total I recorded (140 as of June 1972), is inserted below.

 

 

750 birds over 50 years – that’s an average of 15 per year.  If only I could expect 15 more in 2018.

 

Now onto some of the highlights of 2017 -

 

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island Total Ticks Trip

 

This was the second year in a row where my big “Total Ticks Trip” was to Canada, making a big 11-day, 10-night loop through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia before returning to the States on the Yarmouth- to-Portland ferry.  But before I go through any of results of this most successful trip, I have to recognize the tremendous help I received from local birders in all 3 provinces –Gilles Belliveau in New Brunswick, Dan McAskill in PEI, and Keith Lowe in Nova Scotia.  Many thanks to Gilles, Dan and Keith, without whom my trip would not have been nearly so successful!

 

The itinerary for this May/June trip was very similar to the one I took in September 2015, though of course this time it was focused on breeding birds throughout the region.  And with more time in the field in 2017, I added numerous stops, some for just 1 or 2 local specialties.  Of note, that included successful searches for several species that are near the northeastern limits of their ranges, like Black Tern, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Oriole, and Purple Martin.

 

With all that birding time, it was not too surprising to find several rarities, including -

• New Brunswick – Common Gallinule, Iceland Gull, Least Bittern
• PEI – Wilson’s Phalarope, Little Gull, Glaucous Gull, Thick-billed Murre in a flock of Razorbills, Kittiwake
• Nova Scotia –Glaucous Gull, Common Gallinule, South Polar Skua from the ferry

 

Perhaps at the other end of the spectrum were the species associated with urban areas or human activity in general that are common in the States but difficult to find in the Maritimes.  For instance I was able to add Killdeer (NB and NS), Nighthawk (NB and NS), Chimney Swift (NB, NS), Cowbird (NB, PEI), House Finch (NB and NS), and House Sparrow (all 3 provinces).  Maybe that’s the only time I actually got excited about finding House Sparrows!

 

I took a few pictures along the way.  Here is a phonescoped photo of the distant Wilson’s Phalarope in PEI.

And just a little while later Dan spotted this Harlequin Duck at one of my favorite birding spots, East Point in PEI.

And although not rarities, these New Brunswick birds were most cooperative.

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t throw in a couple scenery shots, like these from the Liscomb River and the West River in Nova Scotia.

Then there was spot in Jolicure, New Brunswick which is a local stronghold for House Sparrows – a spot where only House Sparrows would be at home. 

Leaving the best for last - my favorite picture was this one at the Sackville waterfowl park in New Brunswick.

The trip by the numbers -

• 193 new ticks, greatly exceeding my goals of 133 for the 3 provinces, and a remarkable 70% of my targets. 
• 175 species including 21 warblers and 20 waterfowl.
• Excellent boreal species including Gray Jays in 2 provinces, Boreal Chickadees in 2 provinces, Philadelphia Vireos, Red Crossbills in 2 provinces, and multiple White-winged Crossbills.  Though I couldn’t find Spruce Grouse or Black-backed Woodpeckers.
• 13 new species for Canada
• 60 miles walked (according to my Fitbit)
• Ticks in 3 provinces in 1 day (started the day birding in NS, then added my last tick in NB, then birded the evening in PEI).  Only twice before have I added ticks in 3 jurisdictions in 1 day – TN, AR, and MS; and MA, NH, and ME.

 

Smaller Statebirding Trips

 

In addition to my big total ticks trip I added birds in 12 states outside of New England, most with short additions to work trips across the country.  That included adding 2 new ABA reportable states in 2017, while on other trips I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelists, frequently using eBird Needs Alerts as an invaluable tool.  Highlights included –

 

Iowa and South Dakota, May – A rare business trip to Minneapolis provided an opportunity to bird in both IA and SD near the height of spring migration.  I was 3 below the old ABA reportable threshold in IA, and 13 below the SD threshold, both of which seemed to be within reach with a bit of effort.  My “Reportable Plus 15” goal (my somewhat arbitrary goal of at least 15 over the old ABA threshold) would be a bigger stretch, but I also hoped to reach those higher goals in both states.

 

In IA I contacted local birders Lee Schoenewe and Joe Jungers who had been so instrumental in helping me find my targets in northwestern IA during my July 2016 trip.  I teamed up with Lee and Joe on an amazing day and a half of birding resulting in 24 new IA statebirds (compared to a goal of 18) and a total of 143 species.  Some of my favorite sightings were a migrant flock of about 50 Golden Plovers flying over a farmfield, and seeing nearly 1,000 migrant Black Terns throughout the 2 days.  My new IA statelist is now at 232 – 21 over the old reportable threshold and 18 over a newly calculated threshold based on the present IA state list. 

 

Our IA results were so good that I shortened the IA portion of the trip to be able to spend more time in eastern SD.  That additional time would prove to be most helpful given the weather forecast – rain, strong north winds, and cold temperatures, for the entire next 3 days!  Certainly not conducive for finding many migrant passerines.  While doing my SD research I connected up with SD birder David Swanson who was in the process of publishing a guide to birding in SD.  David forwarded me site guides for many of the sites I planned to visit which proved to be most valuable supplementing eBird reports.  Despite extremely challenging weather (wind chills as low as the 20’s at times) I ended up with 150 species in SD, 36 of which were new for my statelist – most of which I had to work hard for.  Some of the highlights included –

• Least Terns and Piping Plovers on sandbars on the Missouri River;
• A migrant flock of 4 species of Terns – Forster’s, Common, Black, and Caspian;
• A flock of 15 Hudsonian Godwits in a wet field (interestingly finding migrant shorebirds was tough because they were too spread out among the many flooded fields) ; and
• A Lazuli Bunting rare in eastern SD but not new to my SD statelist.

 

That makes IA and SD my 46th and 47th states over the old ABA threshold, and my 39th and 40th states over my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  Combining my IA and NE results, I added 61 new statebirds on the trip, and had an amazing 178 species total.  That includes 20 species of shorebirds, and 21 warbler species.  Excellent results for a short 5-day trip under difficult weather conditions.

 

Louisiana, Multiple Short Trips – I had several work trips to the New Orleans area in 2017, plus birded in southwestern LA as extensions to a couple Houston trips.  These trips netted 20 new birds for my LA list, featuring quite a number of stakeout rarities, though several were just regular species that filled key gaps in my statelist.  Highlights included -

• 7 Flycatcher species over 2 trips in January and February – Eastern Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Scissor-tailed, Vermillion, Couch’s Kingbird, Brown-crested, and Ash-throated (I missed the Western Kingbird)
• 5 hummingbird species in February at Donna Dittmann’s and Steve Cardiff’s property outside Baton Rouge - Ruby-throated, Black-chinned, Rufous, Buff-bellied, and my first Calliope
• Yellow Rail near Thornwell in November – flushed from a tractor cutting a grassy field (I couldn’t find any rice fields being harvested)
• Finding a rare Wood Thrush in January (but not a new statebird)
• Brown Booby along the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in November – on my 9th try!

 

Here is a phonescoped photo of the Couch’s Kingbird, and a miserable shot of the Brown-crested Flycatcher, though it provided a definitive view of the under-tail pattern.

California Bay Area Rarities – With the help of eBird Needs Alerts, short extensions to business trips to the Bay Area netted 5 new ticks –

• Glaucous Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Red-naped Sapsucker in March
• Baird’s Sandpiper and a Gannet (on my second try) in August

Here is a phonescoped photo of 1 of my 2 Glaucous Gulls.

 

Plus a trip to the LA area which didn’t net any new birds, but did include a very cooperative Ridgeway’s Rail.

Texas Targets near Houston – I have nearly monthly business trips to Houston, and for most trips in the cooler months I try to add at least a little time to fill some gaps in my statelist.  Trips in 2017 featured Pacific Loon, Black Rail, and Nelson’s Sparrow in Galveston; Bachman’s Sparrow in Boykin Springs; and a rare Swainson’s Warbler close to Houston.  Plus somehow I had overlooked a reliable colony of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers close to the Bush Airport in Houston, which I saw in February.  Just goes to show that even though I have over 430 birds on my TX list, there are still some pretty easy targets to pursue.

 

Mississippi Coastal Low-hanging Fruit – A quick business trip to the MS coast in May gave me a short window of free time one late afternoon and evening.  I had a pretty good list in MS, but somehow I lacked a fair number of pretty easy birds at or close to the coast.  I came up with 8 feasible target birds - 3 on the coast (American Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, and Seaside Sparrow); 2 generally a bit inland (Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, and Anhinga) and 3 even farther inland (Chuck-will’s-Widow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and Bachman’s Sparrow) luckily all in the same general location at DeSoto National Forest.  Amazingly, this turned out to be one of my most successful birding trips ever, finding 7 of my 8 targets (only missing the Oystercatcher).  In fact, given my limited time, I wasn’t even sure that I’d have time to try for all 8 of the targets.  Here are photos of some of the birds in the Red-cockaded Woodpecker colony – one bird foraging high in the pines and another at an active nest illuminated by the setting sun.

 

Mid-Atlantic Opportunistic Birding – Several trips to visit relatives in MD yielded chances to chase after a few new statebirds nearby.  Most were species that are now regular but were less likely when I was growing up in the region, or were otherwise just gaps in my statelists, like –

• Cackling Goose, Ross’s Goose, and Trumpeter Swan in MD;
• Cackling Goose, Common Merganser, Sandhill Crane, Black-capped Chickadee, and Raven in DE; and
• Redhead in PA

Then there were 2 rarities that just happened to be around when I got to MD which I was lucky enough to be able to chase after successfully – Black-throated Gray Warbler and Shiny Cowbird.

 

All in all some nice additions to my already pretty good lists in the region.

 

New England Birding

 

Even though I reached my goal of 2,000 total ticks in New England 2 years ago, I continue to spend a lot of time chasing after rarities in the 6 New England states.  In 2017 I was successful in finding 15 of the 21 the birds I chased after (71%), including a lifebird – Common Ringed Plover in Westport, MA.  Then there was the long-staying Shelduck in NH which I haven’t counted, but could become a lifebird if accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee. 

 

Plus I found 2 pretty significant rarities on my own – Sabine’s Gull in VT (and NY), and South Polar Skua in RI.  On the negative side, I had to subtract Thayer’s Gull from 5 of my New England statelists.  Even without subtracting the Gull, my 16 new birds was by far my lowest total in any year since I moved to MA in 1993.  This continues the downward trend started in 2016.  I guess I’m a victim of my own success. 

 

Total Ticks

 

With 193 ticks in Canada and another 125 ticks in the US in 2017, and adding my whopping total of 7 in Hawaii (now in the ABA), that increased my total ticks to an even 14,500.  I’m well on my way to my goal of 15,000 with a manageable 500 to go.  As of January 1st my list continues to be the highest reported on the ABA website – a lead of more than 900.

 

ABA Area Totals

 

• A net of 1 new ABA lifebird –
• Common Ringed Plover – Westport, MA
• Cassia Crossbill - an ABA split from Red Crossbill, based on birds I saw and heard in the South Hills of ID in 2012
• Removal of Thayer’s Gull as a result of an ABA lump with Iceland Gull
• ABA Continental (not including Hawaii) total at 750
• ABA (including Hawaii) total of 753
• Lower 48 at 729
• US (including Hawaii) at 754
• Canada at 369

 

State and Province Birding Totals (see my statebird and province maps below with totals for each state and province) -

• ABA reportable in 46 states plus DC (adding 2 in 2017)
• “Reportable Plus 15” in 39 states plus DC (adding 2 in 2017)
• 325 new state birds and province birds.  New ticks in 17 states and 3 provinces.
• 11 new statebirds in New England (16 new birds added less 5 for the Thayer’s Gull lump) – 2,055 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 14,500, with 13,153 of those in the U.S.

2018 and Beyond

 

I’m continuing to work on 2 big goals – 15,000 Total Ticks, and Reportable Plus 15 throughout the Lower 48 states.  The latter goal includes being reportable in my last 2 remaining Lower 48 states (MT and OR).  Here’s a possible path to reach all these goals -

• Lower 48 Reportable Plus 15 - I only have 9 states left in the Lower 48 where I haven’t reached Reportable Plus 15.  Reaching that goal in each of those states would add 119 ticks (I only need an average of 13 birds per state). 
• Hawaii – now that Hawaii is part of the ABA, even a short tourist-related trip could add 33 ticks to increase my state total to 40.
• New England – I think I can realistically get at least 12 new ticks per year.
• Canada – If I got to 125 each in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland, plus 50 in Saint Pierre et Miguelon; that would give me 337 more ticks. 

If I could reach all these goals, likely over the next 4 years, that would give me 537 new ticks, or 15,037 total ticks.  Not to mention I’ll undoubtedly add a few additional ticks here and there.  All in all quite feasible with a little travel.

 

That would require only about 4 or 5 big trips to reach most all of these goals –

• Eastern OR and southern ID,
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID,
• Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba along with North Dakota (or is that 2 trips?), and
• Maritimes of Newfoundland and Saint Pierre et Miguelon.

 

Finally, with a lot of business travel across the country, I’ll likely continue to do some opportunistic chasing of statebirds and lifers with an extra vacation day or two.  And this year I might finally head to south FL to pursue Purple Swamphen and Egyptian Goose, both not-so-new additions to the ABA list.  (I’ve seen both in FL but before the ABA deemed they were countable.)   And speaking of new ABA additions, we will all have to watch pending lumps and splits in the New Year to see how they affect our lists, crossing our fingers for more splits than lumps.