Lower Rio Grande Valley Trip Nets 6 Mega-Rarity Life Birds and 7 More State Birds, Jan. 5-9, 2024, Part 2 of 2

Before retiring in 2018 I would travel to Houston for work about a week a month.  I’d often squeeze in a little local birding time during most of those trips, working on my TX state list and sometimes even my LA list.  But the real attraction was the opportunity to bird in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which after all was only an hour plane flight from Houston.  On a number of my trips, I would add a vacation day to chase after some extreme rarity from Mexico (or even farther away).  As a result, I’ve made 14 trips to the LRGV and nearby areas in south TX over the years, with each of the most recent 9 trips targeting a single life bird. 

Fast forward to mid-December 2023 – I started hearing some buzz about rarities being seen in south TX this winter.  I did a quick eBird Needs Alert for TX and was blown away by the number of rarities on the list.  There were no less than 5 mega-rarities that were seemingly quite reliable –

• Roadside Hawk and Gray-collared Becard (first record for TX) at Resaca de la Palma State Park
• Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and Mottled Owl at Santa Margarita Ranch – property only accessible by hiring a guide
• Cattle Tyrant (a first for the US) in downtown Corpus Christi

Needless to say, all 5 would be life birds for me.  What an amazing group of rarities!  Plus there were sightings of 2 parrots that I had never seen before - White-fronted and Lilac-crowned.  Although these “exotic” species are countable per eBird rules, they are not countable per ABA and the TX Bird Records Committee. 

And there were more than just potential life birds to pursue.  Although my TX state list was already pretty respectable at 452, there were quite a number of possible TX state birds also being seen.  Key targets included – Long-tailed Duck, Western Grebe, Limpkin, Mountain Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Iceland Gull, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Hermit Warbler.  Another great list of targets!

With all those potential life and state birds it was a no-brainer that I had to give it a try and make my 15th trip to the LRGV.  After all, I’ve taken numerous trips to the Valley for just 1 potential life bird.  Albeit those trips started in Houston instead of western NC.  I found a window of free time in my schedule in early January, and made reservations to fly to TX on the 4th, returning on the afternoon of the 9th, giving me 4 and a half days of birding in south TX.   

All things considered I hoped to find 4 or 5 lifers, and an additional 5 state birds.  That’s quite a step up from my recent trips to the Valley hoping for just 1 target bird.

This post summarizes the second half of my trip.  The previous post summarized the first part of my trip.

January 7 – Corpus Christi and Vicinity and Parrot Search

The plan for the 7th was to travel to Corpus Christi where the key target was a long-staying Cattle Tyrant.  This flycatcher is typically a South American species (I’ve seen it several times in Brazil), which is normally not seen any closer to the US than Panama.  Though there was one being seen in Costa Rica now.  It’s unclear whether the Texas Bird Records Committee will decide to add this species to the state list.  But it’s best to try to see it in the meantime, and then await the Committee’s decision.  Interestingly, eBird already considers it to be countable. 

After (hopefully) finding the Tyrant, my plan was to chase after 3 rare potential TX state birds – Bar-tailed Godwit Iceland (Thayer’s) Gull, and Long-tailed Duck.  All 3 were being seen near Corpus Christi, or along the route back to the Valley.  Then I would get back to Brownsville by sunset to look for Parrots at an evening roost. 

I developed an itinerary that would in theory give me enough time to try for each of my targets and still get in all that driving time.  But that itinerary went out the window when I overslept – I guess I was really tired from my late night with the Owls.  I got out of the hotel an hour later than planned, and spent a lot of time on my drive to Corpus Christi going through the options to get back on schedule.  I ended up deciding to skip my search for the Bar-tailed Godwit.  Although that would be a great bird to see, it had not been reported for 10 days despite multiple checklists in the areas where it had been seen.  Plus I had planned on a lengthy 90-minute search for the bird, so skipping that one would give me more than enough time to find my other targets.

The very tame Cattle Tyrant was being seen in downtown Corpus Christi principally in an area covering one city block.  And one its favorite spots was a blue dumpster near the corner of Water and Lawrence Streets where it would eat flies and other unmentionable insects.  I finally rolled into downtown Corpus Christi at 9:45 and parked near that dumpster hoping for a quick look at the bird, but came up empty.  I took a slow walk around the city block but still no Tyrant.  At one point an employee of one of the local businesses came up to me and said he had seen the bird a bit earlier that morning, so at least it was still around.  By 10 some other birders started to show up and a few of us exchanged phone numbers to spread the news when it was sighted.    

During one slow period I checked my TX Needs Alert for updates and found a report that the Godwit was seen just an hour earlier, and a specific location was given.  That meant I should add the Godwit search back into my itinerary, but would I have time for all my stops? 

It was now 10:30 and still no sightings.  I was standing back at the dumpster when one of the birders I met earlier came by to say she had just found the Cattle Tyrant around the corner.  After a short brisk walk I turned the corner and saw these 2 birders standing in the road up ahead.  That’s the target bird in front of them walking in the road.

I walked a bit closer and got these nice digi-binned shots.

Cattle Tyrant was ABA Lifer #5 and State bird #8 – at least for now pending the TX Committee’s decision.

It turns out that one of the birders with whom I exchanged numbers was the person who re-found the Bar-tailed Godwit that morning.  Before I left I was sure to get very specific directions from him – he mentioned it was on the short rocky jetty at Indian Point Park.  That was 1 of 3 hotspots where it had been sporadically reported over the last month, and was just 10 minutes away.  So I was cautiously optimistic.  But since it took nearly an hour to find the Tyrant I might need to delay my try for the Long-tailed Ducks until tomorrow, unless I could find the Godwit quickly.

After a short drive I parked at Indian Point Park and walked right to the jetty.  I had a couple Willets and a Turnstone, but no Godwits.  It was indeed a very short jetty and there was nowhere for a large shorebird to hide, so I hadn’t overlooked it.  I then turned my attention to a small wetlands close to the jetty that had a Marbled Godwit and a few Black-bellied Plovers, but still no target.  So much for hoping to find the bird quickly.

Just northeast of the jetty was a large impoundment that looked like great habitat.  But that wetlands stretched some 2 miles to the north, and the Godwit had been reported throughout this impoundment.  But since the bird had just been seen on the jetty, maybe it hadn’t gone far.  I set up my scope and started to scan the southern end of the impoundment.  I was especially focused on the larger shorebirds, picking up another Marbled Godwit and a Long-billed Curlew.  Then I came to a large shorebird in the distance that was pale below.  I increased the magnification on my scope and confirmed I had my target Bar-tailed Godwit – creamy white below, lighter brown above, and upturned 2-toned bill (State bird #9).  Here is a crummy distant phone-scoped photo of the bird.  Nice that it picked a spot to be all by itself so it would stand out. 

Bar-tailed Godwits would normally be wintering in Australia or New Zealand, so this is quite a rarity for TX.  I’ve now seen this species in 4 states as a vagrant, along with AK as a breeder.

While I was looking at the Godwit two birders from CO arrived.  They were from CO and said they didn’t know their shorebirds well.  So I not only put them on the Bar-tailed, but also a Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, and Piping Plover.  Not birds you see in CO very often. 

Since it only took a few minutes to find the Godwit I was now only a few minutes behind schedule – maybe I’d have time for all my targets after all.

And that next target was an Iceland Gull.  This was an adult of the Thayer’s subspecies that was being seen along the John F Kennedy Causeway.  It was always reported at either of 2 fishing piers across a narrow channel from each other.  It seems the bird was looking for handouts among the Laughing Gulls there, and all the posted photographs showed the bird perched on posts at one of the piers. 

I pulled into the parking lot of the first fishing pier, the Cos Way Bait and Tackle, and scanned all the posts.  I had a few Laughing Gulls and a couple Pelicans, but no Iceland Gull.  Then I looked across the channel to the other fishing pier, the Red Dot pier, but again just found Laughing Gulls.  There were also small gull flocks resting in the shallows nearby, but all were still just Laughers.

I guess I might just have to wait a while for the bird to return.  From the Cos Way pier I could see both piers, but I was looking into the sun in order to see the Red Dot pier.  So I decided to drive over there and look back to the north at the Cos Way pier with the sun at my back. 

I drove to Red Dot, and although lighting was much better, I still couldn’t find my target.  The tide was pretty low at the time, and I wondered if the Iceland might be resting on a sand bar somewhere nearby.  I noticed a sleeping flock of gulls a short distance to the northeast beyond this boat.

I pulled out the scope and instantly noticed the third bird from the right was larger than the Laughing Gulls.  It was an adult gull without a hood but had considerable streaking on the head, had a pale back, and a small unmarked bill.  I had the Iceland Gull (State bird #10).  There were 2 other birders there at the time and I was able to get them on the bird as well.  Here’s a distant digi-scoped picture of the bird, of pretty poor quality I’m afraid.

My state bird map of Iceland Gull includes my sightings of both the Thayer’s and Kumlien’s subspecies, as they have recently been lumped into one species.

I was only 30 minutes behind schedule when I headed off so I should have enough time for my entire itinerary.  Especially if my next target, Long-tailed Ducks, were cooperative.  These diving ducks were surprisingly feeding in a shallow saltwater pond in Port Mansfield.  The eBird reports were quite confusing as to the ducks’ exact location, so I reached out to two birders who had recently reported the birds to get directions.  Both gave me directions to a pond just west of the point, labeled as the Port Mansfield Marine Sanctuary hotspot, requiring a short walk to the pond.  But one birder also mentioned they were sometimes seen in a lake east of the point - the Laguna Point Recreation Area hotspot.  He gave me directions to both lakes, so I should hopefully be all set. 

I drove to the small town of Port Mansfield, parking at the corner of Fox and Allen to take the short walk to the pool at the Marine Sanctuary.  But there wasn’t a single duck on this very small pond – just a couple Black-necked Stilts on the bank.  At least it was a short walk back to the car.  I then drove around to the Laguna Point pond.  I did a quick binocular scan and spotted several ducks near the eastern end of the pond.  The first ones I got on were a group of 4 Lesser Scaup.  Then a couple seconds later I spotted the black-and-white plumages of the pair of Long-tailed Ducks (State bird #11).  Here is a picture of the pond – my target birds were in the back below the blue arrow.

Not only were these diving ducks in a shallow pond acting like dabblers.  But they were also very far from their typical wintering range in the northern portions of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Great Lakes.  TX is now the 6th southern and central state where I’ve seen Long-tailed Duck as a rarity. 

The last stop of the day was an evening Parrot roost at Oliveira Park in Brownsville.  Some recent reports included hundreds of Parrots of up to 4 species – Red-crowned was the most common but there were also a few White-fronted and Violet-crowned which I needed as potential new countable life birds per eBird.  (Though they are not countable per the ABA and the TX Committee.)  And then again, some checklists had few birds and only Red-crowned.  I pulled into the park about 4:45 and found 3 other birders there also waiting for the Parrots.  The birds often don’t come in until close to sunset, which was still an hour away, so we birded the park a bit waiting for the evening flocks to arrive.

Around 5:30 I spotted a large flock of perhaps 100-200 Parrots flying in the distance.  This was looking promising.  But that flock never came to the park.  Finally a flock of about 50 birds flew overhead, circled a couple times, but never landed.  These were mostly Red-crowned but I also picked out at least 2 Red-lored with yellow cheek patches (I’ve already seen this species countable only per eBird), and 2 Yellow-headed (not countable by anyone’s definitions).  Unfortunately that was the end of the Parrot show for that night.  That was quite disappointing, missing both of my targets.  Though at least neither of them are countable per the ABA and TX Committee.

January 8 -  Second Tries for Fan-tailed Warbler and Mountain Plover

This day and the next were designed to be clean-up days to go after anything I had missed from the earlier part of the trip.  And the key miss was the Fan-tailed Warbler.  Since I tried for it on the 5th the bird was seen or heard multiple times on the 6th, but just once on the 7th.  Most sightings were from the original spot on the north side of the resaca, but a couple in the afternoon were from the south side of the resaca.  And there were several heard-only observations, as the bird gave its “tseee” call.  So the bird was still around, and despite its elusiveness, I decided to try for it again on the 8th. 

I arrived at the college campus around 7:30 and was greeted by a stiff wind coming out of the south.  That put the wind right into my face as I stood watch for the bird at its original location.  Soon I was joined by a number of other birders, but once again I couldn’t come up with the bird.  We all wondered if the wind was making it even more elusive than normal.  Then again, at one point I was quite sure I heard the bird giving its “tseee” call several times coming from the brush right in front of me.  I turned to other nearby birders to see if they thought that was the Fan-tailed, but no one even heard the calls.  I wasn’t going to check it off just based on the call notes, especially if no one else heard them.  So after a 4-hour vigil, no sightings by anyone that morning, and seeing almost no other birds, I decided to throw in the towel on the Fan-tailed Warbler. 

The other target that I had missed earlier in the trip was Mountain Plover, which was spotted once again in those same plowed fields the last 2 days.  I had the whole afternoon to try again for these birds, though I had to get there first since it was a hefty drive from Brownsville.  I arrived at the Edinburgh fields at 1:30 and spent the next 3 hours looking for the elusive shorebirds.  I covered 3 times the area I birded on my first trip, and was joined by some other birders who covered some additional area.  We found big flocks of Horned Larks, Mourning Doves, and Western Meadowlarks in the fields, but no Plovers. 

Near the end of my search I spotted a Falcon perched on wires in the distance.  I pulled over to check it out and it turned out to be a Kestrel.  But then I noticed another larger Falcon fly in from the distance.  I first noted it was brown above, and then it passed nearly right overhead giving me a great view of its dark underwing coverts and axillaries – I had a Prairie Falcon (State bird #12).  There was one sighting of a Prairie Falcon in the area 3 weeks earlier, but that was the only other sighting of this rare wintering species in the area this season.  So this species was not on my radar.  And along with sightings of a Merlin and Peregrine that day, it was a nice sweep of the local falcons. 

I only need this Prairie Falcon in 2 more states within its regular range.

January 9 – Third and Final Try for Fan-tailed Warbler

My flight out of McAllen was at 2 PM, giving me the whole morning to bird in the area.  After spending 7 hours trying for the Fan-tailed Warbler and seeing very few birds in general, my first thought was to end my trip at some location that was likely to be a lot more birdy.  Frontera Audubon came to mind - I’ve had great birds there in the past, and a couple rarities were being seen there this winter.  But then I got an email from a birder I met at the Fan-tailed spot mentioning the bird was seen and heard again on the afternoon of the 8th.  I hated to give up on the chance of seeing a life bird, despite the very low odds.  So with some misgivings, I decided to head back to the university campus and give the Fan-tailed Warbler one more try.

The temperatures were in the low 50s when I arrived at the Warbler spot – that’s pretty chilly for a Mexican bird.  So I headed across to the south side of the resaca where the vegetation was in the sun thinking that might be the preferred location for this chilly bird.  Here’s some of that vegetation on the south side of the resaca.

But as I stood there I remembered that birders had the bird at the original north side location at about 5:30 the evening before.  Maybe they were there as the target bird was going to its evening roost, and it might start its day today there as well.  I walked across the bridge to the north side to test my revised theory and there were several birders peering intently into the vegetation.  There had just been a sighting but only by a couple birders.  Darn – I guessed wrong with the feeding-in-the-sunlight theory, but at least the bird was in the area.

I spotted a little movement in the brush, but it was just the resident Wilson’s and Orange-crowned Warblers – undoubtedly the same ones I had seen there several times before.  Over the next hour there were no more sightings.  Had I missed it yet again?

Then about 9 AM I heard the Fan-tailed Warbler’s distinct “tseee” call 3 times coming from the brush.  Surprisingly once again no one else heard it so I alerted everyone.  And just a couple minutes later I heard another call just to the east - the bird must be moving east through the brush.  But still no sightings. 

And then at 10 came word that someone had a sighting of the Warbler a bit farther east.  It turns out there was a trail through the brush that would allow you to stand right in the middle of the thickest vegetation, and the Warbler was passing right through that area.  I got to this spot and almost instantly had the briefest of views of the bird – large for a warbler, with a dark back and long tail.  But that was all I could see.  And then finally at 10:30 I spotted movement down the bank to the resaca and there was the Fan-tailed Warbler – steely gray above, long fanned tail held cocked up a bit with white tips, yellow crown patch, and yellow below with a bit of an orange tint.  After 10 hours of searching over 3 days, I finally had the Fan-tailed Warbler (Lifer #6, State bird #13). What an excellent way to end the trip!  Though I was at the university so long that they almost made me sign up for classes for the spring semester.

Trip Summary

I ended the trip with 162 species, including 6 life birds.  An excellent tally especially compared to my expectations of 4 or 5 lifers.  That allowed me to reach a milestone of 750 for the Lower 48.  I’m now at exactly 750 by ABA’s accountability rules, and 753 by eBird’s rules.  The differences are related to whether several introduced species that I’ve seen are countable.  And my ABA Continental total is 770 per ABA and 772 per eBird.

I was lucky enough to tally 13 state birds, great results compared to my expectations of 9 to 10.  My TX state bird totals are equally as fuzzy.  My TX state list is now at 465 per ABA and 468 per eBird. 

Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report - Lower Rio Grande Valley, Jan 2024 - eBird Trip Report 

As a postscript, I put together this little summary of my 14 prior trips to the LRGV and nearby south TX locations -

·       April 1985 - 21 lifers, including my only ever Tamaulipas Crows

·       April-May 2000 - 12 lifers, including Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, White-collared Seedeater, and Muscovy Duck

·       January 2005 - 4 lifers - Rose-breasted Becard, Green-breasted Mango, White-throated Thrush, and Crimson-collared Grosbeak

·       December 2009 - 1 lifer - Northern Jacana

·       January 2011 - 2 1/2 lifers - Black-vented Oriole, Rufous-Backed Robin, and "Mangrove" Yellow Warbler

·       February 2011 - 1 lifer - Yellow-faced Grassquit

·       January 2012 - 1 lifer - Golden-crowned Warbler

·       November 2013 - 1 lifer - Amazon Kingfisher

·       June 2014 - 1 lifer - Yellow-green Vireo

·       August 2014 - unsuccessful attempt for Collared Plover

·       April 2015 - 1 lifer - Aplomado Falcon

·       August 2015 - 1 lifer - Collared Plover

·       April 2016 - unsuccessful attempt for Blue Bunting

·       February 2018 - 1 lifer - Blue Bunting

And now on my 15th trip in January 2024 – I saw a whopping 6 lifers – Roadside Hawk, Mottled Owl, Prairie Falcon, Gray-collared Becard, Cattle Tyrant, and Fan-tailed Warbler

Southern Idaho Portion of the Northwest Sagebrush Country Trip, May-June 2023

In January 2016 an armed group of protesters seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.  By the time the occupation was over in February 2016, there was a considerable amount of destruction of the refuge facilities, resulting in closure of the headquarters facilities for months.  Unfortunately, I had planned a summer 2016 birding trip to the sagebrush country of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Idaho to include a lengthy stop at Malheur NWR.  But given the issues at Malheur I shelved those plans and headed to Alberta and British Columbia that summer instead. 

But my interests in birding eastern OR, eastern WA, and southern ID continued as this was the last large section of the Lower 48 that I had not yet birded.  And a new part of the country for me would equate to considerable statebirding potential.  So after further delays first due to moving, and then due to Covid, I finally got around to scheduling the OR/WA/ID sagebrush country trip for the summer of 2023.  Plus I added a short side- trip to the South Hills of ID for Cassia Crossbill.  I reached out to birding friend David Donsker who often joins me on these trips, and he agreed to come along. 

After considerable research on-line especially on eBird, and with invaluable advice from a number of local birders, I set up an 11-day itinerary from May 24th to June 3rd, starting in Boise and southern ID, then into eastern OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home.  With a pretty good statelist in ID (224) my potential for new statebirds there wasn’t too great, but I still hoped to add perhaps 8 new birds in ID.

This blog post presents a summary of the ID portion of the trip.  My previous post briefly summarized the entire trip.  The next 2 posts summarize the OR and WA portions of the trip.

Day 1 – May 24 – Boise and East

With on-time flights into Boise, David and I left the airport at about 2 PM.  We needed to eventually make our way to our hotel in Twin Falls to the east for the next day’s visit to the South Hills.  So I considered several targets that could be found east of Boise, finally selecting 2 key targets that were not only roughly on our way but also not too likely near the South Hills – Black-throated and Sagebrush Sparrows.  Black-throated Sparrow was only reliable at one hotspot – the Oolite Trail in Owyhee County.  And since Sagebrush Sparrows were seen on most lists submitted from this spot as well, I had the potential for 2 statebirds at one stop.  Now we just needed the birds to cooperate.

After about an hour’s drive we arrived at the small parking area for the Oolite Trail.  Actually there were two trails leading from the parking lot, and we chose the southern one to start.  The habitat was dry scattered sagebrush seemingly no different from the habitat seen throughout the area.

We walked a short distance finding a couple Lark Sparrows in the sagebrush, but little else.  A couple recent checklists mentioned the Black-throated would respond to taped calls, so with so much habitat to search we thought we’d give it a try.  And sure enough after playing just a couple songs a sparrow flew in.  Eventually it perched and with excellent views we had a striking Black-throated Sparrow (ID statebird #1).  What a handsome bird!  My statebird map for this species is inserted below.  Blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this southwestern species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.

Next our attention turned to Sagebrush Sparrow.  We played a little tape of this species principally just to get acquainted with its song.  We listened for a while and thought we could hear one singing in the distance to the north.  So we retraced our tracks and headed back to the parking area to pick up the northern trail.  We were now closer to our singing bird and were pretty sure of the ID, but we kept walking on the trail to get closer and confirm it.  Eventually with of bit of scanning we spotted the singer – it was indeed a Sagebrush Sparrow perched on a sagebrush (ID statebird #2). 

Couldn’t have asked for a better start to our trip!

As a postscript – this location is named after a rather unique sedimentary rock called oolite, also known as egg stone.  It consists of small spheres that look like eggs formed when grains of sand are coated with calcium carbonate in marine environments.  Here’s a close-up picture of the egg-like structures that make up the oolite.

Day 2 – May 25 – South Hills Area

Our plan for the 25th was to meet up with local birder Pat Weber to bird in and around the South Hills.  Most birders go to the South Hills to look for the Cassia Crossbill.  David and I first traveled there in May 2010 looking for the endemic Crossbill but to no avail.  Subsequently I made a trip there in September 2012 and successfully found several small Cassia Crossbill flocks.  Pat knew them by call, and could separate them from the Type 2 and 5 forms of Red Crossbill that could be migrating through the area at the time.  So her help would be invaluable.

But first we had a couple pre-dawn targets in the South Hills – Common Poorwill and Flammulated Owl.  In past years both were routinely reported in and around the Magic Mountain ski area which was also among the best spots for the Crossbills.  So we hoped to pick up a couple pre-dawn species and then be in the right location for the Crossbills as they started their day.  At least that was the plan…

We played tape for the Flammulated Owl at several locations but had no responses.  It was a chilly 36 degrees at the time which would make it pretty difficult for insect-eating nocturnal birds.  So we theorized that they hadn’t yet migrated into the area, or perhaps were at lower and warmer locations while it was so cold.  But at least we were successful with the Poorwill, hearing 2 birds calling from the upper parts of the ski area (ID statebird #3).  ID was my 13th state to find Common Poorwill, and would be one of my targets in OR later in the trip.

Now it was time to switch our focus to the Cassia Crossbill.  Pat mentioned that the Cassia’s were nesting at the time, which could make it more difficult to find them.  And certainly they were not likely to be forming small noisy flocks foraging through the conifers as Crossbills often do.  Undeterred, we birded several likely spots including the Magic Mountain ski area, Diamondfield Jack campground, and Petit campground, but came up empty.  Then we headed to Porcupine Springs campground and walked in past the remaining snow banks.  There we finally heard 2 individual calling Cassia Crossbills but never get a look at them.  We gave it the old college try, but might need to come back after nesting season to increase our chances of finding them.  Notably, our other unsuccessful try for them was also on May 25 in 2010 – exactly 13 years earlier.  At least we had a number of other nice species during this year’s visit, like Cassin’s Finch, Green-tailed Towhee, MacGillivray’s and Wilson’s Warblers, and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

Our next target was Grasshopper Sparrow in the foothills below the mountains.  One had recently been reported on Cherry Spring Rd., the same spot where one was reported last summer.  Pat strategically parked the car in good habitat and played tape.  We all listened for a response but came up empty.  Then Pat noticed a small bird perched on top of a bush in the distance.  With quick binocular views we could see that it was a Grasshopper Sparrow (ID statebird #4).  That was a bird that David and I looked for unsuccessfully in the ID panhandle in 2022, so it was nice to finally find one.  Grasshopper Sparrow would also be a target for us in OR and WA later in the trip.

Our last stop of the morning was the riparian area along North Cottonwood Rd where rare Blue Grosbeaks had been seen each of the last 2 years.  Although there were no reports yet this year, I hoped that it was just because no one had looked, or perhaps it was just too early.  We spent nearly an hour there looking and listening, finding birds like Chats, Bullock’s Orioles, and a Willow Flycatcher in the riparian area, and Lark Sparrows and a calling Long-billed Curlew in the surrounding sagebrush, but no Blue Grosbeaks.  As of mid-June there were still no Grosbeak reports there, so perhaps they won’t be back this year.

It was now a bit past Noon, and it was time for us to begin our 5-hour drive west to Burns, OR.  We thanked Pat for all her help and hoped to see her again, perhaps birding in the east.

But we had one more stop yet in ID.  One of my other ID contacts, Cheryl Huizinga, had given me great tips on my Boise area targets, including telling me about a Peregrine Falcon nest box in Nampa, just a short distance west of Boise.  The nest box was on top of a silo at a sugar factory less than a mile off the highway, making it a perfect side-trip in route to OR.  As we neared the Northside Boulevard interchange on I-84 we could see the 6 silos a short distance to the north and quickly picked out the net box.  With a bit of effort we were able to pull off the road even with the silos with the correct angle to look into the box.  Unfortunately, it was empty.  I started checking the tops of the other silos and buildings nearby hoping to find a perched falcon.  Again with no luck.  Then I noticed a pair of raptors flying above the silos – it was a pair of Peregrines toying with each other in the sky (ID statebird #5).  That was lucky.  ID was my 41st state for Peregrines, though I still need this species in 8 states scattered across the country.

Day 10 – June 2 – Boise Area

Our plan was to return to the Boise area late on June 2nd after 7 days birding in OR and WA.  But we finished up earlier than expected in WA, so we left Walla Walla at dawn and got back into Boise by late morning on the 2nd.  With more time in ID than expected, that gave us the opportunity to pursue several additional targets.  Thanks to a tip from Cheryl we first headed to Deer Flat NWR where a Western Screech-Owl was being spotted in a Wood Duck box on the East Dike Trail.  We checked out about a dozen boxes mounted on large mostly cottonwood trees along the trail but couldn’t come up with an owl.  With all the natural cavities in the cottonwoods I guess it was spending its day resting in the trees somewhere instead.

Next we were on to the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, another spot not on our original itinerary.  But since this area is well known for our target Prairie Falcons, we were happy to now have the time to bird this spot.  We met up with local birder Kent Kleman who agreed to show us around the area, mentioning that that area was also good for another of our targets – Say’s Phoebe.  As we headed south toward the Snake River cliffs we spotted several Swainson’s and Red-tailed Hawks, but no target birds.  At Dedication Point we walked over to the cliff to hopefully find some falcons below us on the cliffs.  Along our walk through the sagebrush Kent spotted a Say’s Phoebe, which eventually gave us good views (ID statebird #6).  That’s another species we looked for extensively the previous year in the ID panhandle, so it was nice to finally see it in ID.  I’ve now seen this species in all states in its regular range, along with 3 eastern states where it is a rarity (the brown-shaded states).

By the time we reached the top of the cliff the wind was howling, making it difficult to peer down into the canyon.  We had Canyon and Cliff Wrens singing below, but still no falcons.

Next we drove to Swan Falls Park and decided to drive down into the canyon to try to get out of the wind a bit.  We made a stop about halfway down the canyon and looked and listened for the falcons.  Within just a few seconds we could hear Prairie Falcons above us and eventually got good looks of as many as 4 birds flying by and perched on the rocks above us (ID statebird #7).  Here’s a shot of the cliff above us.

Many thanks to Kent for his help in finding our 2 targets in this habitat!

Our next planned spot was a bluebird trail just west of the town Prairie.  It was a long 2-hour drive to the east, but I hoped it would be fruitful for our Western Bluebird target.  We started heading that way but soon realized that the last 24 miles would be on a very rural dirt road.  As we slowly drove east we could see a large thunderstorm forming also to the east.  And as we continued our dusty drive the thunderstorm just kept getting larger and was now directly east of us.  We had made it perhaps two-thirds the way along the dirt road when we decided not to take a risk on encountering the storm and having to drive on what may turn out to be a slippery and muddy road.  So we turned around and wished we had dedicated all that time to pursuing other targets instead.

Our last stop also wasn’t on our original itinerary.  The previous evening when making final arrangements for the day I pulled up an eBird Needs Alert for ID and was surprised that Bewick’s Wren and Anna’s Hummingbird were on the alert.  Distribution maps in the field guides indicate that both species are only found in ID as a rarity.  But numerous recent reports on the Needs Alert would suggest otherwise.  Unfortunately, with so much wasted time trying unsuccessfully to get to the Bluebird trail we only had time to bird one last spot that day, and decided on Hulls Gulch Reserve.  This suburban park had recent reports of both species, plus we got suggestions from Kent as to which trails to take, so we liked our chances. 

When we arrived at Hulls Gulch we were greeted by numerous mountain bikers on the trails.  Tough to bird when you’re avoiding bikes on the narrow trails.  We completed almost the entire loop without seeing a single hummingbird or wren, though we did have quite a number of Lesser Goldfinches.  At the very end of the walk I heard what may have been a hummingbird fly overhead.  As we stopped to look for a possible hummer I started to hear a short call that I wasn’t familiar with.  I recorded it on Merlin which called it a Bewick’s Wren.  Now I know that Merlin isn’t always correct, and should only be used as a tool and not be treated as “gospel”.  But here was my quandry - I was hearing a call I didn’t recognize, didn’t know Bewick’s Wrens calls well at all, their calls are “extremely varied” per the Sibley guide, and Merlin repeatedly ID’d this call as a Bewick’s.  Unfortunately, it was a heard-only bird, so I wasn’t sure what to do.  After returning home I checked numerous Bewick’s Wren calls on xeno-canto.org and found a nearly perfect match for a call recorded not too far away in WA.  So I finally decided to count it as a Bewick’s Wren (ID statebird #8).  In my statebird map below I decided to consider this species as a rarity in ID in keeping with my convention of using the Sibley range maps as the guide for my statebirding maps, even though Bewick’s are certainly not a rarity at least in the Boise area.

Day 11 – June 3 – Boise Area

My flight out of Boise was at about 2:30 that afternoon so I had all morning to bird in the greater Boise area.  That gave me plenty of time to pursue at least 4 of my targets.  The first was another attempt for Western Bluebirds in an area in the Boise National Forest along Grimes Creek Rd.  They had been reported there a couple times recently, and were also reported in 2022 “near the burn site”.  The Sibley guide says Western Bluebirds prefer “any open wooded habitat with areas of open or grassy ground”, so a recent burn would be ideal.  In fact, we saw a pair of Western Bluebirds a week earlier in a recent burn in OR (though I didn’t need it for my OR list). 

As I turned onto Grimes Creek Rd. and started my climb up the canyon I could see that the recent burn on the right side of the road.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it stretched at least a half mile.  I drove along slowly and stopped frequently but to no avail.  Then a bit farther along I came upon an area of pines where the undergrowth was managed to promote growth of a grassy meadow.  An even better spot perhaps?  I drove through this area even slower, stopping and walking along several spots, but still no Bluebirds.  The area was otherwise quite birdy, featuring Hammond’s Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Townsend’s Solitaire, Catbird, Veery (the spot to find them in the area), and Cassin’s Finch.  After 2 hours I finally threw in the towel.

Next I was off to Idaho City and the Alban’s feeding station which was the most reliable spot for White-headed Woodpecker in the area.  I had previously connected with the homeowner, Jennifer Alban, and got her permission to visit her yard to try for the Woodpeckers.  The first thing I noticed when I arrived were the large numbers of hummingbirds visiting multiple feeders.  I asked the homeowner whether she had any Anna’s but she said only rarely.  Otherwise, her hummers were Calliopes and Black-chins.  Can’t hurt to try I guess.  She pointed out the 3 trees with suet feeders, and I positioned myself on the porch where I could see all 3 trees at once.  While I waited for the woodpeckers to visit, the hummingbirds gave me great close looks, as did the numerous Cassin’s Finches on the seed feeders.  Not to mention I had this great view while I waited.

After about a 30-minute wait I heard the White-headed’s Hairy-like call that I had learned a week earlier in OR.  And seconds later a White-headed Woodpecker dropped into one of the suet feeders just 20 ft away (ID statebird #9).  What a gorgeous bird!   

My next stop was a longshot for White-breasted Nuthatch at the nearby Pioneer Cemetery.  The Nuthatch had only been reported a few times there so I wasn’t too optimistic.  But since the Woodpecker arrived so quickly, I decided to make a quick stop at the cemetery anyway.  The cemetery was certainly unique with graves and monuments tucked in amongst large pine trees and grassy undergrowth, with many of the graves dating back to the 1800’s.

I only had a few minutes so I walked into the cemetery and began to play some tape.  It was no more than 2 minutes later that a bird flew in over my head and landed on a tree trunk a short distance away – it was a White Breasted Nuthatch (ID statebird #10).  That makes up for some of my other ID searches that were either unsuccessful or took longer than expected.  I’ve now seen White-breasted Nuthatch in each state in its regular range.

The final birding stop of the day was along Bogus Basin Rd. north of Boise to try for Chukar.  This road rises out of the suburbs and goes uphill first through grasslands and then into areas with exposed volcanic rock – ideal for Chukars.  I made multiple stops in the right habitat playing tape along the way, but to no avail.  At least I was able to add Chukars to my OR and WA lists earlier in the week.  As Meat Loaf said, “two out of three ain’t bad”.

Conclusion

I ended the trip with 112 species in ID, which was a pretty good tally given that most of our time was spent chasing specific species rather than birding hotspots in general.  And of course that included 10 new statebirds, certainly a better result than the 8 I expected.  That brings my statelist to 234.  Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report for the ID portion of our trip –

ID Portion of ID-WA-OR 2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report

Many thanks to local birders Cheryl Huizinga, Pat Weber, and Kent Kleman for all their help on our searches!  And thanks to Jennifer Alban for allowing me to visit her tremendous feeding station!

Summary of OR/WA/ID Sagebrush Country Trip, May-June 2023

In January 2016 an armed group of protestors seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.  By the time the occupation was over in February 2016, there was a considerable amount of destruction of the refuge facilities, resulting in closure of the headquarters facilities for months.  Unfortunately, I had planned a summer 2016 birding trip to the sagebrush country in eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Idaho, to include a lengthy stop at Malheur NWR.  But given the issues at Malheur, I shelved those plans and headed to Alberta and British Columbia that summer instead. 

But my interests in birding eastern OR, eastern WA, and southern ID continued as this was the last large section of the Lower 48 that I had not yet birded.  And a new part of the country for me would equate to considerable statebirding potential.  So after further delays first due to moving, and then due to Covid, I finally got around to scheduling the OR/WA/ID sagebrush country trip for the summer of 2023.  Plus I added a short side-trip to the South Hills of ID for the Cassia Crossbill.  I reached out to birding friend David Donsker who often joins me on these trips, and he agreed to come along. 

But simply adding a lot of statebirds wasn’t my only objective for the trip.  Years ago, the ABA allowed you to report your totals for a given state only if your total exceeded half of the total number of species ever recorded in that state.  Many years ago I had set a goal to be able to report my totals to the ABA in each of the continental 49 states.  Eventually I exceeded those thresholds in each state except one – OR.  Although those ABA reporting thresholds no longer exist, they still represent a logical set of standards to strive for in each state.  And since the state totals inch up over the years as new birds are added to the state list, I set a somewhat arbitrary goal of being 15 over those old ABA thresholds (I call it “ABA plus 15”).  I started the 2023 trip with 249 species in OR, just 10 shy of that old ABA reportable threshold.  So this was certainly a realistic secondary objective for this trip.

After considerable research on-line especially on eBird, and with invaluable advice from a number of local birders, I set up an 11-day itinerary from May 24th to June 3rd, starting in southern ID, then into eastern OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home from Boise.  With pretty good statelists in ID (224), OR (249), and WA (267), my potential for new statebirds wasn’t too great.  I hoped to add perhaps 8 new birds in ID, 28 in OR, and 12 in WA.  Adding just 48 new statebirds was kind of a low tally for such a long trip, even though this was a new part of the country for me.  But for better or worse, I’m at the point of diminishing returns in my statebirding endeavors.

This blog post presents a brief summary of the entire trip.  My next 3 posts summarize the ID, OR, and WA portions of the trip.

Entire Trip Results, May 24-June 3

David and I were able to find 188 species on the trip as we chased after our targets over numerous, diverse habitats across the region.  A total of 67 of these were new statebirds, well over my target for the trip in each state.  That brings my “Total Ticks” (sum of all my state and province lists) to 15,114.  Here’s a summary of the trip by the numbers –

• 21 waterfowl species (not bad for a semi-arid region)
• 7 gallinaceous species
• 10 raptors
• 5 owls
• 7 woodpeckers
• 10 flycatchers
• 6 wrens
• 15 sparrows, and
• 10 warblers (it was out west after all)

Here is a link to my eBird trip report for the overall trip - ID-OR-WA 2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report

ID Trip Results - May 24-25, June 2-3

We found 112 species in ID, 10 of which were new for my statelist.  That brings my total to 234. Notable was a striking Black-throated Sparrow at Oolite Trail in Owyhee County.  Unfortunately, the sparrow’s dry sagebrush habitat isn’t nearly as attractive as the sparrow.

We also saw at least 4 Prairie Falcons at these canyons at Swan Falls Park in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Ada County.

A final personal highlight was finally seeing a Say’s Phoebe in ID, this one was at Dedication Point in Ada County.  This sighting was notable because David and I had completed many unsuccessful searches for this species the previous year in the ID panhandle.

Oregon Trip Results, May 26-30, June 2

We tallied 166 species in OR including 41 new statebirds.  That brings my new total to 290, well over the old ABA threshold.  We found 3 rarities – Virginia’s Warbler at Malheur NWR, Boreal Owl at Idlewild Campground in Harney County, and Wood Thrush (only the 6th state record) at Philberg Road in Union County.  We were also able to track down 3 other rarities found by others at Malheur NWR – Least Flycatcher and 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  The Grosbeaks were most cooperative, as they fed in the same tree where they were first discovered 10 hours earlier!

Interesting that both species that allowed me to reach the ABA reportable goal (Virginia’s Warbler) and my ABA reportable plus 15 goal (Rose-breasted Grosbeak) were rarities.  It’s nice when it happens that way.

Finally, finding a Black-backed Woodpecker nest in a recent burn next to the Idlewild Campground was very exciting.  Here’s the female just before it replaced the male on the nest likely incubating eggs.

Washington Trip Results, May 30-June 2

We found 112 species in WA, 16 of which were new for my statelist, increasing my total to 283.  Notable were a Gray Partridge in Walla Walla and an out-of-place Chukar in sagebrush in Benton County, nicely illuminated at dawn in this picture.

A final highlight was several Green-tailed Towhees singing from isolated patches of thick brush on slopes below Biscuit Ridge in Walla Walla County – just about the only spot to find them in all of WA.  One was singing from the brush in the middle of this picture.  And the scenery was nice as well!