19 Statebirds Near Las Vegas – Reportable Plus 15 (and then some) in Nevada, February 2018

With business trips to southern CA and the San Francisco Bay area on consecutive weeks, I decided to stay out in CA and take the weekend “off” instead of flying back and forth both weeks.  Not only would it save my company some money, but it would also give me some birding time in the region.  For a few years I’ve been thinking of adding some vacation time to a southern CA trip to head to the Las Vegas area to work on my NV list, and this would be the ideal opportunity.  My NV list was at 250 which is 8 over the ABA reportable limit.  But that put me 7 short of my somewhat arbitrary goal of 15 over that threshold – “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  So I set up an eBird Needs Alert for NV and there were indeed lots of possibilities for my NV list in and around Las Vegas.  The trip was on! 

And then to supplement my eBird research I reached out to NV birder Rob Lowry.  Rob and I have birded together in the Carson/Reno Valley area in the past where he is based.  But more importantly for this trip, Rob spends a lot of time birding throughout NV, and he gave me some great tips on several of my targets.  Plus he put me on to a couple possibilities that weren’t even on my radar screen.  So with Rob’s help I came up with a list of 24 recently reported target species that would be new for my NV statelist.  Of course some were long shots, so I hoped for maybe 10 or 11 new birds on this trip – Reportable Plus 15 was definitely in my sights. 

And then while fine-tuning my NV plans I remembered seeing reports of Nazca Booby’s in southern CA.  With a bit of research on the eBird Rarities Alerts I found daily sightings of up to 4 Booby’s in San Diego Bay.  And then I noticed multiple sightings of Streak-backed Oriole in Tucson.  Both would be life birds for me.  Could I make a giant loop south to San Diego, east to Tucson, north to Las Vegas, and then back toward Los Angeles before flying north to SFO?  I wouldn’t be proud of my carbon footprint, but it was all possible if I made it a 3-day weekend, though I wouldn’t have much time in NV.  But as the trip neared the Oriole was less cooperative, and not even reported in the week leading up to my trip, so I decided to pass on the Oriole and just focus on the Booby and NV.  As a result my plan was to get an early start out of LA and be in San Diego at dawn to try for the Booby, then make the trek northeast to NV for a long weekend of birding there. 

Day 1

The first leg of the trip couldn’t have gone any better – I had a pair of Nazca Booby’s in San Diego Bay before the sun had even risen on the first day.  (see my previous blog post for a summary of the Booby sighting)  I then quickly checked all the websites one last time in hopes that the Oriole had returned – but there were no updates on NARBA, eBird, or the AZ listserve.  So although I was disappointed to pass on another possible life bird, it was indeed on to NV.

I finally arrived in southern NV in mid-afternoon and my first stop was the tiny town of Searchlight to try for Curve-billed Thrasher (thanks to Rob for the tip on this one!).  According to eBird, this species had been seen in and around the town since 2014 but in very low numbers, and in multiple places around town.  There were only a few recent reports, but most mentioned singing birds, though with no one spot apparently being more reliable than others.  So I thought the best initial approach might be to slowly drive through town listening for singing Thrashers. 

I had driven no more than a few blocks through Searchlight when I thought I heard a Thrasher singing in the distance.  I stopped the car and listened intently (luckily there was no traffic) – it indeed sounded like the paired phrases of a Thrasher.  After a short walk I spotted a Curve-billed Thrasher fly up to perch on a TV antenna, soon to be joined by a second bird.  That was easier than I expected, and new NV statebird #1.  And since the bird was so cooperative, I got this record shot holding my phone up to my binocs.

 

Next I was off to the Davis Dam area on Lake Mead where numerous eBird posts included 4 possible statebirds – Barrow’s Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Hooded Merganser, and Herring Gull – along with one post of a pair of Harlequin Ducks.  Though several mentioned possible complications regarding which state the birds were actually in - different portions of the Colorado River are in NV or AZ depending on exactly where you were along the river.  For instance, although more than half of the river in the stretch farther downstream of the dam was in NV, the area right below the spillway was mostly in AZ.  And many of the photos of the Goldeneyes and Scaup posted on eBird showed the birds in this spillway area were likely in AZ.

As soon as I arrived in the little park below the dam I could see many waterfowl and cormorants loafing below the dam.  But with a quick review of the location of the NV/AZ stateline, I realized that virtually all were in AZ.  I got out the scope and with some scanning I soon found all 3 of my waterfowl targets – 6 Barrow’s, 5 Hooded Mergs, and at least 8 Greater Scaup.  But all were in AZ waters, and none were new AZ statebirds.  Eventually I spotted at least 1 Greater Scaup far enough downstream to be in NV (statebird #2), but the Mergs were far into AZ.  Two pairs of the Barrow’s were tantalizingly close to the NV stateline – but each time the currents moved them farther from the dam (and closer to NV), they would swim back into AZ.  Ugh…  So close but so far away…  I then walked a bit downstream and found a small flock of gulls on a sandbar, but all were Ring-bills with no target Herring among them.  This was turning out to be a bit frustrating.

With a bit of time on my hands, I decided to head above the dam on the AZ side where Surf Scoters had been reported, which would be a new AZ statebird.  After a 15-minute drive I got to an overlook above the dam (less than a mile from my first location “as the scoter flies”), and quickly spotted 3 Surf Scoters in the distance.  I got this passable phonescoped photo of AZ statebird #296. 

 

 

I also had 2 Pacific Loons which are rare for AZ but I had already seen them in the state.  With my sole AZ target under my belt, I quickly started to make my way back to the NV waters below the dam.  But along the way I noticed I could access the part of the river farther below the dam from a campground on the AZ side.  I pulled in there hoping for a different angle on the river, and quickly found the first of several Hooded Mergansers feeding well within NV waters (statebird #3).  I now have seen this species in each state in the Lower 48 except WY (see my statebird map below).

 

Then I spotted a female Goldeneye, but it was just a Common - I still needed Barrow’s for my NV list.  So I headed back to the dam to see if they had crossed the stateline.  Both pairs were still in AZ waters, but now they were mostly sleeping.  They would let the current move them close to NV, but then they would wake up and swim back into AZ, then fall asleep again.  I watched them do this multiple times – “lather, rinse, repeat” - as if they were taunting me.  But then finally one time they let the current take them farther from the dam and I felt good about adding them to my NV list (statebird #4).  When updating my statebird map I was a bit surprised to see that NV was my 19th state for this less-than-common species.

 

It was now getting late and I headed to my Las Vegas hotel happy that I had seen most of targets on both sides of the river.  And with the Booby in CA, that gave me statebirds in 3 states on the same day – only the 4th time I’ve been able to do that.

Day 2

I started at dawn in cool crisp weather at the Clark County Wetlands on the east side of Las Vegas.  This is a very nice park with manmade wetlands apparently managing treated wastewaters generated in the city.  Recently reported targets here included Peregrine, Ferruginous Hawk, Golden-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, and Least Bittern, though none were reliable.  My early morning walk through the trails yielded several raptors (Harriers, Cooper’s Hawks, Red-tails, and a Kestrel), but no Peregrine or Ferruginous.  And the only sparrows I could scare up were a few White-crowns and Songs.  So I decided to spend some time playing tape for the Least Bittern in several locations with nice cattail habitat, but again with no luck.  I was striking out.

I then diverted my attention to the southeast where a large flock of gulls were milling about.  Lighting was awful, but they all seemed to be Ring-bills.  Then I started hearing some Canada Geese honking from that general area, and then spotted a flock of about 20 Canadas flying right toward me.  With nothing else to look at I decided to check the flock closely on the off chance that a Cackling could be mixed in.  And sure enough there was 1 smaller goose in the flock, and it flew by close enough to see the shorter bill and steeper forehead – a Cackling Goose!  That was lucky.  (statebird #5)

Then I was off to the adjacent Duck Creek area of the Wetlands where there had been a single recent report of 2 Dunlins – it was likely a long shot but I thought I’d give it a try.  This portion of the park consisted of several man-made ponds with varying water levels.  I slowly walked along hoping to find some good mudflats to find the target shorebirds.  The first pond was nearly dry with no mud, and the second one was full of water with no exposed banks at all.  But then I reached the third one and it had a large expanse of mudflats (“just right” as they’d say in the Goldilocks story).  I started panning across the flats and soon had 4 Dunlins feeding in the mud (statebird #6).  I also found 6 Least Sands, a Greater Yellowlegs, and 5 Killdeer.  I only need Dunlin in 5 more states and DC to complete my statebird map for this quite common shorebird. 

This pond also had a nice collection of waders including Great Blue, Snowy, Great, Black-crowned Night Heron and White-faced Ibises.  Plus an uncooperative sparrow that sounded like it might have been a Swamp, but it wouldn’t show itself.

I headed out right on schedule and soon arrived at the nearby Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.  This is a great spot, once again consisting of managed wetlands treating the city’s wastewaters.  But unlike the previous park, most of the Henderson Preserve consists of multiple man-made impoundments, almost all of which are loaded with waterfowl.  Although I didn’t do a thorough survey of the ponds, I would end up with 12 waterfowl species that morning.  But at Henderson my key target was Least Bittern, which is sometimes seen or heard especially in Pond 9.  Unlike the other ponds, this pond is full of cattails.  I’ve looked for this species here 2 other times over the years without any luck.  But there had been 5 Least Bittern reports at Henderson since the beginning of the year, so I was hoping that my luck would be better this time. 

After checking in at the office I headed right to Pond 9 to start looking for the Bittern.  I’ve seen a lot more Least Bitterns than I’ve heard, most often seeing them flying low over the vegetation, and only a few times hearing them call spontaneously.  And only twice have I ever had them respond to taped calls.  So my plan was to find a place where I could look over the impoundment and hope to see one in flight.  The problem was the cattails were really tall, and my sightlines were very limited no matter where I stood.  So I decided to play some tape to try to enhance my luck.  My first stop was unsuccessful.  At my second stop I started playing tape and thought I heard something in the distance.  I turned off the call and listened.  A few seconds later there was the characteristic 3-note “hoo, hoo, hoo” call of the Least Bittern (statebird #7).  NV was my 30th state for this elusive species. 

And with 7 new statebirds that gave me 15 over the old ABA threshold – my 42nd state where I’ve reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  But there were many more NV targets still ahead of me.

Next I was on to Lake Mead and multiple stops principally for target species attracted to this large body of water in the middle of the desert.  The first stop was Boulder Beach where eBird reports included up to 2 White-winged Scoters often in a flock of Goldeneyes, and several Herring Gulls.  The water was smooth as glass which greatly aided in my waterfowl search.  I found a couple flocks of Goldeneyes, and 5 other species of common divers, but despite lots of effort, I could find no Scoters.  So I turned my attention to two flocks of gulls on the beach, but could only find a few California’s mixed in the Ring-bills.  I was even unsuccessful at turning a smaller Ring-bill into a Mew Gull.  That was disappointing.

Next I headed to the nearby Boulder Beach Campground where, thanks to a tip from Rob, my focus was on a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that had been reported occasionally along with its much more likely Red-naped cousins.  The campground was a classic island of mature cottonwoods in the desert where the Sapsuckers had spent the winter.  But it was a large campground with lots of trees – it looked like it could be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search.  I decided to start in the northeast portion of the campground where the cottonwoods were densest, and then wander through the campground looking for recent Sapsucker holes.  Amazingly the first trees I checked had rows of Sapsucker holes, and several looked fresh.  And then I hadn’t walked more than 100 feet from the car when a Sapsucker flew by me and landed in a large neighboring tree.  But what species was it?  Unfortunately the bird perched on the far side of the tree from me, and the campsite had a family camping there, so I was never able to get a look at it.  A couple minutes later I saw something fly by, and it was the Sapsucker, this time landing in a much smaller tree.  Finally I got good looks at the bird which was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with no red on the nape, and a red throat sharply demarcated by black (statebird #8).  NV is my 4th western state for this species as a rarity. 

A couple minutes later the Yellow-bellied was joined by a Red-naped Sapsucker, giving nice comparisons.  I’m sure glad I chose that part of the campground to start my search.

Next I was on to Hemenway Harbor where a Thayer’s Gull had been reported.  I took this rather sobering photo of the marina in the distance showing how low the lake level is.  All the dirt in the foreground would normally have been under water, and the normal high water mark is evident on the far side of the lake. 

I made my way around the harbor finding many roosting gulls, but no Thayer’s.  Although I finally found my first Herring Gull for NV (statebird #9), perched on a dock giving this nice comparison with a California and 3 Ring-billed’s. 

I also had a couple Greater Scaup here, eliminating any concern I had about adding this species to my NV list the previous day as it straddled the NV/AZ stateline.

Next I was off to Government Wash where up to 2 Yellow-billed Loons had been reported sporadically since late December.  I spent a fair amount of time searching the water here from multiple vantage points but with no luck.  I had an exact count of 192 Western/Clark’s Grebes but I couldn’t turn any of them into a Loon.

Then I was off to my last stop of the day at Calville Bay where there had been a long-staying Neotropic Cormorant always reported perched on a jetty.  There were also several reports of an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, and one of a second year Thayer’s Gull.  So lots of targets to pursue.  As I pulled into the area I could see the jetty in the distance, but it was really long, not very close, and portions were obscured by boats at the marina.  So I was a bit worried about finding the Cormorant.  But within seconds I spotted a small Cormorant standing next to a larger one, and a scope view quickly confirmed I had the Neotropic Cormorant (statebird #10).  Here’s what you might call a patriotic phonescoped view of both birds in the distance.  Hopefully it was a vagrant from somewhere in the US rather than Mexico. 

 

Also on the jetty were quite a number of gulls, but I was just too far away to do much with the IDs.  I looked down below in the marina and realized that I could probably make my way onto the docks and get a lot closer - hopefully I wouldn’t be trespassing.  So I headed down to the marina, and was able to walk down among the boats, setting up my scope less than half of my original distance from the jetty.  The 2 Cormorants were still there, and now I could see a group of about 30 gulls just to their left.  I started scanning these birds and I instantly spotted a bird that grabbed my attention – it was a uniform light/medium brown color, with a small all black beak, roughly the size of a California or Herring.  I quickly thought of Thayer’s, but since the bird was facing me I couldn’t tell much about the mantle nor wingtip color.  It then turned and it was still that uniform brown color with slightly darker (but not black) wingtips.  It then took off and it had pale underwings – I had found a first year Thayer’s (aka Iceland) Gull (statebird #11), though different from the 2nd year bird reported here once before.  Unfortunately it was all too quick for me to get a photo. 

I went back to look at the other gulls and now spotted one with a darker mantle.  It took me just a couple seconds to confirm it was an adult Lesser Black-Backed Gull (statebird #12).  This one stuck around a while, affording me the opportunity for this phonescoped photo.

NV was my 30th state for this increasing species.

Amazing to find the Neotropic Cormant, Thayer’s Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull, all within a few feet of each other on the jetty.  A nice way to end my day!

Day 3

My plan was to start Day 3 at dawn at Corn Creek in the Desert NWR about 45 minutes north of Las Vegas.  This riparian oasis in the middle of the desert can be a great hotspot for rarities, and a migrant trap in general.  In fact, in May 2012, David Donsker and I experienced an amazing fallout there that included several rarities as well as thousands of regular migrants.  So I was happy that the cancellation of the AZ leg of my trip gave me the extra time to be able to re-visit one of my favorite birding locations in the country.  On this trip the key Corn Creek targets were two wintering sparrows – a Golden-crowned and a White-throated.  Both were seen coming to a feeder maintained by one of the residents at Corn Creek and nearby lawns, and with great micro-directions from Rob, I knew exactly where to look for these targets. 

I arrived just before dawn to this spectacular sunrise – I had to stop for a picture.

I quickly headed toward the feeder area keeping my distance so as not to scare away the feeder birds.  There was a large flock of White-crowned Sparrows feeding on and below the feeder, with birds coming and going almost constantly.  So I kept watching the new arrivals, but could only find White-crowns.  Then I looked over to the nearby lawns and found even more White-crowns feeding in the short grass.  Lots of sparrows, but no target birds.  I turned my attention back to the feeder and within a couple minutes I spotted a slightly smaller sparrow fly in under the feeder – it was the White-throated Sparrow (statebird #13).  I’ve now seen this eastern species as a rarity in a number of western states.

Now I needed to find the Golden-crowned.  I kept watching the birds at the feeder, but each time I had a possible candidate it turned out to be just an immature White-crown.  After a while I decided I was trying too hard to make one of the White-crowns into a Golden-crown, so I started to focus on the birds foraging in the lawn.  There was a small group of sparrows feeding near the base of a large shrub, and with a quick view all were White-crowns.  Then I spotted a bird a few feet farther away and there was the winter-plumaged Golden-crowned Sparrow (statebird #14). 

With my 2 target birds out of the way rather quickly, I decided to spend some time wandering through the Corn Creek trails hoping to find some other rarities.  But birding was really slow, and the only woodland bird I found was a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

So it was off to try for my next target – Bell’s Sparrows that were reported sporadically in the desert along the entrance road to Corn Creek.  I’ve only seen this western split from the old Sage Sparrow once before – as a breeder in the hills of southern CA in 2013.  And I’ve seen the inland Sagebrush Sparrow before as a breeder in NV.  But apparently wintering birds near Las Vegas are typically Bell’s Sparrows, though eBird included a few Sagebrush Sparrow reports as well.  So I studied the differences between these newly defined species, and headed out to the desert to give it a try.

My plan was to just wander around in the desert and hope to find sparrows foraging in the area.  I first started north of the access road but didn’t find a single bird.  Then I decided to focus on somewhat lusher vegetation but still came up empty.  After nearly an hour and walking a couple miles, I crossed the road and started doing the same on the south side.  I came upon an area of thicker vegetation and spotted some movement of a sparrow up ahead.  I played a bit of tape of the call notes of a Bell’s Sparrow and the bird popped up and perched in front of me – it was a Bell’s Sparrow.  But then again it didn’t seem quite dark-headed enough to be a Bell’s.  I then found several others, each were dark-headed but not as dark as the drawings in Sibley, though each had limited (if any) streaking on the back and sides.  I spent the next 30 minutes studying a flock of about 5 birds, and none seemed perfect for Bell’s, though none were quite right for Sagebrush.  I got back to the car and did some research on my apps and realized I was actually looking at the interior canescens race of the Bell’s Sparrow, and not the darker-headed coastal belli race.  And the clincher was none had white in the tail which would have been visible the numerous times that I flushed birds as I neared them.  So I was finally convinced that I had added Bell’s Sparrow as statebird #15, after an hour and a half and 3 or 4 miles walking through the desert.

After having success with all 3 of my early morning targets, I was off to another of my favorite Las Vegas-area birding spots – the Mt. Charleston area.  An hour northwest of Las Vegas, this isolated mountain range rises well over 8,000 feet in elevation, with a road through Kyle Canyon ending at over 7,500 ft.  Here’s a view from one of the overlooks with the desert down below in the distance.   

There is a small community near the top called Old Town and another nearby at the Mt. Charleston Lodge, that have a number of feeding stations and excellent montane species.  On this trip my target was Lewis’s Woodpecker, with quite a number of recent eBird reports seen throughout the mountains, including Rob’s tip of birds right in Old Town and near the Lodge.  I spent a couple hours wandering the area looking for my target bird, and although I found quite a number of the expected montane species, had no luck with Lewis’s.  Given that the eBird reports were now a bit dated, I wondered if there had been an earlier incursion of Lewis’s into the area that was short-lived, and the birds had moved on elsewhere.  So I eventually gave up and started my drive down out of the mountains.  And soon after I started my drive down the mountain I noticed a large bird flying over the road – it was a Lewis’s.  Not the best of views, but good enough for statebird #16.  NV was my 9th state for this species – I still need it in MT and WY within its regular range.

I was actually ahead of schedule at this point, and had just one more possible target to try for – a Brown Thrasher seen recently at Spring Mountain Ranch.  But the most recent reports were now a couple weeks old, so I wasn’t too surprised that I didn’t find this target bird.  Though the birding in this park was fun anyway.

That evening after I entered my sightings into eBird I decided to check the ABA Rarity listing for the day, and amazingly the Tucson Streak-backed Oriole was re-spotted that day.  Ugh…  Made me wonder if I could have been successful with the bird a couple days earlier after all.  Oh well, at least the NV birding was going great!

Day 4

I needed to make my way back to the Ontario, CA airport late in the day for a flight to the Bay Area, so this day’s birding was focused on areas in Pahrump west of Las Vegas.  Then the plan was to make the long afternoon drive to the airport when my birding was done.  I had 3 key targets in the area – the first was an overwintering male Eurasian Wigeon.  This bird had been reported numerous times at the Mountain Falls Golf Course, though at multiple water features around the course.  And a further complication was that the golf course didn’t let birders on the course.  So my plan was to head to the course at first light to get there hopefully before the golfers arrived.  And one last challenge – the day before I arrived the bird was seen swimming all by itself rather than with a large flock of American Wigeons which had been its MO previously.  That could make it more difficult to find.

After the short drive from Las Vegas I arrived right on time and parked in the nearly empty parking lot – luckily it was indeed too early for the golfers.  Plus it may have been too cold – 30 degrees per my car thermometer.  I headed right to the lake next to the restaurant where the bird was most often reported.  My initial scans revealed many waterfowl but few Wigeons.  But then with from a slightly different viewpoint I could now see the far end of the lake and there was a nice Wigeon flock.  I got closer and scanned the flock numerous times but found no Eurasian mixed in.  I re-checked the entire lake a couple more times to be sure, but my target wasn’t there.  Next I headed to the nearby 9th hole where there were a couple more water features.  Here I picked up my only Snow Geese, White-fronted Goose, and Cinnamon Teal for the trip, though found only a few Wigeons and again no target.

The last area to check was a larger set of lakes on the far eastern portion of the golf course.  Luckily, since it was now getting a bit later (and warmer), these lakes were mostly visible from the edge of the golf course and I wouldn’t have to enter the course to get a view.  I drove around to the east and could see the lakes in the distance - they were full of waterfowl.  I found a place to park and with a quick binocular scan I found a nice-sized flock of Wigeons in the water and on the grass at the eastern end of the lakes.  I pulled out the scope and within seconds had my first glimpse of the red head of the Eurasian Wigeon (statebird #17).  I got these nice shots of the bird illuminated by the rising sun.

It’s nice when a search comes together like this!  NV was my 14th state for this rare but regular species.

Next I was on to nearby Discovery Park where a Vermillion Flycatcher had been sporadically spotted throughout the winter.  The previous day I had talked with a worker at Ash Meadows NWR who also happened to be a birder, and she had suggested that there were likely multiple Vermillions wintering in the park, and to especially look in the area west of the ponds.  I parked in the lot at the eastern end of the park, and started my walk west through this long, thin park.  One of the first birds I spotted was a calling Red-shouldered Hawk which was a bit of a surprise.  I got this photo holding my phone up to my binocs.

I continued walking west and soon arrived at the ponds.  In these cold early morning temperatures I especially focused on sunny areas close to the water that would likely be places where a flycatcher’s food would be most active.  I did find a Black Phoebe here, but not the target.  I then walked a bit further west and spotted some movement in the backyard of a house abutting the park.  A few seconds later there was the tell-tale bright red flash of a male Vermillion Flycatcher (statebird #18).  Exactly where the refuge worker had suggested.  I would have loved to get a picture of this beautiful bird, but that would have meant spending more time staring into this person’s backyard, so I headed back to my car.  That was my 10th state for this species which is prone to wandering from its regular range, especially in winter. 

My last target was Ferruginous Hawk, with several reported sporadically in and around Pahrump throughout the winter.  Initially it looked like this species was reported randomly throughout the area with no reliable locations.  But with some extra eBird research of sightings over the last couple years I was able to group the reports into 2 principal areas around town.  And then switching on the satellite view on GoogleMaps I could see that these spots generally coincided nicely with agricultural areas which would be likely habitat for Ferruginous.  So that would allow me to concentrate my search in these 2 key areas rather than randomly driving around the area hoping to run into one of my targets. 

I first birded the southern spot, finding a couple Red-tails, but no Ferruginous.  Then I headed to the northern area near the middle of town and again just found a Red-tail.  But then I could see a couple hawks perched in a tree far in the distance.  Too far to ID, I drove closer to the perched birds for a better look both they too were just Red-tails.  And then in the distance I could see another pair of perched raptors, and these appeared to be all white below.  I drove closer to these birds and sure enough they turned out to be an adult and immature Ferruginous Hawk perched together in a bare tree (statebird #19).  The adult soon flew off and later soared overhead with a Red-tail.  But the immature stayed perched nearby, and I was able to get this phonescoped photo in the distance.

What a nice way to end the trip – where extra detective work paid off in fine-tuning likely locations for one of my targets.

I ended up with 142 species on the trip, including finding 19 of my possible 24 targets – an excellent result given my hope for just 10 or 11.  And quite a number were rarities with 11 of the eBird NV “Rarity” sightings being my birds.  My NV statelist now stands at 269 which is obviously way above the old ABA reportable threshold of 242.  So no need to come back to bird in NV, that is unless I’m searching for a Himalayan Snowcock…

 

Nazca Booby, Life Bird, San Diego, CA, February 2018

With business trips to southern CA and the San Francisco Bay area on consecutive weeks, I decided to stay out in CA and take the weekend “off” instead of flying back and forth both weeks.  Not only would it save my company some money, but it would also give me some birding time in the region.  For a few years I’ve been thinking of adding some vacation time to a southern CA trip to head to the Las Vegas area to work on my NV list, and this would be the ideal opportunity.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert for NV and there were indeed lots of possibilities for my NV list.  Things were coming together.

But just as I was starting to plan for NV I remembered seeing reports of Nazca Booby’s somewhere in southern CA.  With a bit of research on the eBird Rarities Alerts I found daily sightings of up to 4 Booby’s in San Diego Bay.  And then I noticed multiple sightings of Streak-backed Oriole in Tucson.  Both would be life birds for me.  Could I make a giant loop south to San Diego, east to Tucson, north to Las Vegas, and then back toward Los Angeles to fly north to SFO?  I wouldn’t be proud of my carbon footprint, but it was all possible if I made it a 3-day weekend, though I wouldn’t have much time in NV.  And of course it would help if my key targets (the Booby and Oriole) were cooperative.  So I started planning for all 3 parts of my trip.

Birders were principally reporting the Nazca Booby’s while standing at 3 locations on the west side of San Diego Bay, with sightings from land mostly being pretty far away.  The prime location to look for the birds seemed to be from Attu Avenue.  Given the distant views, some birders were renting boats to get closer looks at the birds.  The Booby’s were often reported perched on buoys, especially buoy #34, rather than in flight.  So with these details, and daily positive reports, I was optimistic that I could see one or more birds quickly with an early morning stop, and then head to Tucson for the Oriole.

Then again, the Oriole was a different story.  It was coming to a feeder in a suburban yard, but not very reliably.  In fact one birder posted that he finally saw the bird on his 11th try!  That post made me dig a bit deeper and I was able to start to find negative eBird reports for that hotspot.  As my trip neared I saw no positive reports for the 5 days before my birding weekend, and several negative posts.  Typically birders will post if they see the target, but often won’t post if they miss it.  So no positive reports at all was probably bad news, especially for several days in a row.  Should I pass on the Oriole and “just” make it a San Diego and Las Vegas trip?  I waited until the last night of work but again only saw negative posts.  So at that point I revised my itinerary to head out early morning to San Diego, and then make my way to Las Vegas, skipping a try for the Oriole.

I arrived at Attu Avenue on the west side of San Diego bay as it was just starting to get light, and then made the short walk to the shore.  The bay was full of waterfowl – diving ducks, Brant, Aechmophorus grebes, and more.  But I was there for the Booby’s, so I quickly focused my attention on finding the buoys that were their preferred roosts.  From what I could tell from the eBird posts, the buoys would be northeast of my location, and likely on the far side of the bay.  Plus recent photos of the birds’ favorite buoy 34 had the broadside of a large gray ship in the background.  So I started to scan in that general direction and began to find buoys in the area, but it was still pretty dark so I wasn’t seeing numbers on them.  Then as I continued to pan a bit farther to the north I came upon a ship that looked like the one in the photos.  And sure enough there was a buoy in front of it.  I was in the right general area.

As I started to settle in and wait for sunrise I relooked at that buoy in front of the ship – wasn’t there a large pale bird on the lower level of the buoy?  I zoomed in to the fullest extent of my 50x eyepiece, and sure enough it looked like I might have my target bird roosting right there on the buoy.  But it was really far away (I later estimated 1.25 miles), and still pretty low light so I couldn’t be sure - basically I was seeing little more than a white dot in an all dark background.  But a couple minutes later the bird stretched its wings and I could see the diagnostic white body and leading edge of the wings, with black wingtips and trailing edges.  It was indeed a Nazca Booby!  Or maybe more accurately, either a Masked or Nazca Booby.

I continued to watch the buoy and could see the Booby move around a bit.  And then a bit later it was finally light enough for me to see the number on the buoy – it was #34 – its favorite.  A bit later the Booby stretched again, and then took off flying south down the far side of the bay low over the water.  As I continued to stay with the bird a second Booby joined it.  It must have been perched on another buoy nearby.  I watched them both for the next several minutes, diving a couple times, and generally making their way south.  Eventually both birds disappeared to the south at the closed end of the bay.  I decided to head down that way to Grand Caribe Shoreline Park hoping to re-find them perched closer nearby, but I could not relocate them.  Perhaps they headed out to the open ocean for their breakfast.  Or perhaps they had turned around and headed back north.  I thought about heading back to Attu Ave. to try to see if they had returned there, but given my plans for NV, I decided to make an early exit and head off to the Las Vegas area. 

But then again, with success finding the Booby’s so quickly, should I head to Tucson for the Oriole after all?  I quickly checked all the websites – there were no updates on NARBA, eBird, or the AZ listserve.  So although I was disappointed to pass on another possible life bird, it was indeed on to NV.

As I started the drive from San Diego I started to reflect a bit on my Booby sighting.  The key field mark to tell Nazca from Masked Booby is the bill color – orange to red for Nazca and more yellowish for Masked.  It was certainly not possible to see bill color when I had the one bird perched on the buoy.  And even though the 2 birds were a bit closer when they flew by, they were still maybe three quarters of a mile away at their closest point.  So I still couldn’t see bill color even then.  Other birders seemed to lament the same issue in their reports on eBird, which although the listed ID was Nazca Booby, several included comments that indicated bill color couldn’t be determined.  At least there were some photos of the birds seen at close distance with definitive IDs (when birders were on a boat out in the bay).  And there were no Masked Booby’s reported in the bay.  So although I couldn’t eliminate Masked Booby, I guess I could go with the Nazca Booby ID as many other birders did at least based on strongly circumstantial evidence. 

Nazca Booby was my Continental ABA bird #751 and Lower 48 #730.  And I can’t forget it was a new statebird for me in CA - #390.

And although I’ve never been to Attu (in Alaska), I guess I can now say at least I’ve birded Attu Avenue…

Ferruginous Hawk, Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR, TX, February 2018

While on my November 2017 trip to Houston my eBird Needs Alerts included several reports of potential new TX statebirds in and around the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR west of the city.  Not only does the refuge have countable Greater Prairie Chickens, though precious few of them, there have also been a few reports over the last several years of Ferruginous Hawks and Prairie Falcons wintering in and around the refuge.  Both raptors are reasonably common in far western TX, but they are rare this far east in the state.  I need all 3 species for my TX statelist, so I spent a couple hours late one day birding the area.  Although I didn’t come up with any of my targets on that November trip, I got a good feel for the area and made a mental note to try to come back to the refuge on a future winter day.

The opportunity for that return trip occurred in February when another Houston business trip would afford me a few hours one early morning to bird the area.  There were a couple Ferruginous Hawk and Prairie Falcon sightings in the area in the previous couple months, so both were potential targets, though I figured each was a low probability.  Unfortunately most of the wild Prairie Chickens did not survive the flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey, so the chances of running into one of these critically endangered birds was close to 0. 

As I neared the refuge that morning I started to find several Red-tailed Hawks perched in trees along the road.  And an occasional Kestrel kept me on my toes.  And as I started on the auto tour road I spotted a couple more Red-tails, multiple Caracaras, and several Harriers.  Definitely good numbers of raptors in the area – but none of the target species.  Then I spotted a large Buteo flying low over the grasses with shallow wing beats alternating with short glides.  I quickly hopped out of the car and looked for additional field marks – reddish mantle, white patches near the wing tips, pale reddish tail with white base – it was a light phase adult Ferruginous Hawk!  I followed the bird until it landed on a low post in the distance.  With the bird facing me I could see the pale chest and reddish feathering of the legs.  Nice to get such a cooperative bird.

I continued around the auto tour road and found quite a number of additional raptors, but no more targets.  One of the other highlights though was a recently burned field that was absolutely loaded with passerines feeding on the bare ground – I made a conservative estimate of 250 Savannah Sparrows, along with numerous Red-wings, Cowbirds, and Brewer’s Blackbirds, Horned Larks, and Pipits.  A nice collection of birds.  And nice to get a new statebird so quickly before heading off to work.

Ferruginous Hawk was number 440 for my TX statelist.  TX was my 15th state for this widespread bird of the west (see my statebird map below).

 

Five Statebirds in the Mid-Altantic – and “Reportable Plus 15” in Virginia, January 2018

A trip to visit relatives in MD in January gave me an opportunity to fill a few gaps in my Mid-Atlantic statelists, not to mention pursue a few rarities.  With the help of eBird Needs Alerts in MD, DC, and VA I found several targets in the area, though they were pretty spread out.  In DC potential statebirds were Turkeys and Lesser Black-Backed Gull both seen occasionally in Anacostia River Park.  Plus there were several sightings of Common Goldeneye and older reports of Tundra Swan in the Potomac seen from the Alexandria waterfront (the whole river is in DC).  The VA targets were more numerous, including a long-staying Clay-colored Sparrow at the Laurel Hill Equestrian Center, seemingly reliable Iceland and Glaucous Gulls at the Occoquan Regional Park and sites downriver, and a Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared Owls at Dulles Airport.  And in MD there was one key target – an overwintering Harris’s Sparrow at Bladensburg Waterfront Park.

That gave me a lot to search for.  Luckily I had a full day and an early morning of another day to chase after my targets, and I’d likely need all of that time.  Of all those targets the most important ones were in VA since my state total was 14 over the old reportable threshold, putting me just 1 short of my somewhat arbitrary “Reportable Plus 15” goal.  So my plan was to make a couple quick stops in DC and then spend the rest of the first day in northern VA.  Then early the next morning I would try for the Harris’s in MD. 

Anacostia River Park is a nice urban park running more than 2 miles along the southeastern side of the river.  This stretch can have some nice waterfowl (I had Cackling Goose here before), and wintering gulls including Lessers and Iceland.  And then there is the potential for Turkeys – this is basically the only spot for them in DC, though they are often elusive.  (I’ve tried for them unsuccessfully quite a number of times.)  I arrived in the park at dawn and drove slowly along the road looking for Turkeys to the inland side and gulls on the river.  But I was coming up empty on both targets.  Finally I got to the southern end of the park and noticed a few gulls on the ice.  A quick binocular scan yielded one darker-backed bird in the distance.  With the scope I confirmed it as an adult Lesser Black-Backed, and I was able to get this distant phonescoped photo. 

DC was my 29th jurisdiction for this rare but increasing Larid (see my statebird map below), and it was #184 for my DC list.

I spent a few more minutes touring the park without finding any Turkeys (again!), so with the key VA targets still ahead of me, I quickly headed to Alexandria to try for the waterfowl.  My first stop was at the Washington Sailing Marina and it was absolutely loaded with ducks – I guessed 3,000 to 4,000 birds total.  But despite lots of scanning I couldn’t find a lone Goldeneye that had been seen there recently.  And a local birder I ran into there said the Tundra Swan hadn’t been seen for several days.  So rather than further stops for the Swan, it was on to VA.

My first stop was at the Laurel Hill Equestrian Center where a Clay-colored Sparrow had been seen daily for some time feeding with White-crowned Sparrows along the grassy edges of the parking lot.  Seemed like a slam dunk.  As I pulled into the lot I spotted a couple birders a short distance away and asked if they had seen the bird.  One birder mentioned she had spished it in earlier in some brambles, but it hadn’t been since recently.  Another birder said to find the White-crown flock and you would find the Clay-colored.  But there were no sparrows at all feeding at the edges of the parking lot.  And although I found a number of sparrows including a few White-crowns in the brambles throughout the area, I never found a pure flock of White-crowns.

After about an hour I spotted a mid-sized raptor fly into a tree almost directly overhead.  It was a Merlin that stayed for at least 10 minutes.  Needless to say it scattered the sparrows down below.  While I waited for it to fly away so the sparrows would come back out, I mentally reviewed by VA state list and I realized that I actually needed Merlin for VA – that was number 247 for VA – 15 over the old ABA reportable threshold!  I now have 40 states plus DC meeting my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  My Merlin statebird map is pretty spotty for a species which is reasonably common country-wide.

But now it was time to get back to the sparrow search.  I spent another hour scouring the area, finding more sparrows including more White-crowns, but no Clay-colored.  Since Occoquan Regional Park was only about 15 minutes away, I decided to head there to try for the white-winged gulls, and then come back to try for the Clay-colored again.  Both Iceland and Glaucous had been reported at the park several times recently on eBird, as well at sites farther down the river, so I figured both would be somewhat reliable.  As I pulled up to the park I could see a couple birders already there with their scopes trained on the river and the flock of about 150 gulls out there on the ice.  I hurried up to them only to find out that not only did they not have the target birds, but one birder had been there for a while without success.  And worse yet - he had looked for the gulls there several times without any luck.  I asked about the spots down river and the birders suggested they would be even longer shots.  Though one birder did give me a new tip for finding the Clay-colored.

The target gulls certainly weren’t in the park, so I decided to head downriver to try for the gulls there.  I found good numbers of gulls on the water and shorelines, but couldn’t tease out any of my targets.  I had struck out on the white-winged gulls.

So I made my way back to the Equestrian Center to try for the Clay-colored again.  I figured I could give it about an hour before having to make my way to the Dulles Airport to try for the Rough-leg and Short-ears there.  First I checked on the grass around the parking lot and again found no sparrows at all.  Then I headed to the spot suggested by the birder at the Occoquan Park.  It had lots of sparrows, but no Clay-colored.  After my allotted hour I gave up and chalked it up as yet another missed target.

I wasn’t being too successful in VA – things had to pick up at Dulles, right?  The key location for the recent Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared Owl reports was a hotspot called “Dulles Airport- Snowy Owl Observation Point”.  After some research it looked like this spot was actually a parking garage, which I confirmed by asking a few birders I had met earlier in the day.  They also confirmed that security wouldn’t arrest a birder using a scope there to peer out over the runways.  (It’s never good to be arrested while birding.)  I think I had it figured out.

I needed to get there early enough to try for the Rough-leg but stay late enough for Short-ears to appear.  So I arrived at 3:45 to give me maybe an hour to look for the Rough-leg before dusk.  I started my scans of the areas around the runways, and soon spotted several Red-tails perched in trees around the perimeter of the airport, but no apparent Rough-legs.  Then in the distance I spotted 3 Harriers dive bombing what appeared to be a large dark raptor perched on a low post.  After some time I could eventually pick out some field marks on the perched bird and it appeared to be a Rough-leg.  But it wasn’t until I watched the hawk fly a short distance down to ground apparently to capture prey that I could confirm it was a Rough-leg.  Not bad for a bird more than a mile away!  VA was my 30th state for Rough-legged Hawk – I still need it in a number of states especially in the upper Midwest.

Harriers will often roost in the exact same areas as Short-ears.  In fact, Harriers head to these roosts in the evening at about the same time that Short-ears come out to start their “day” – a changing of the guard kind of thing.  So since there were 3 Harriers harassing the Rough-leg late in the day, I was hopeful that I might find Short-ears in the same area as dusk approached.  While I was waiting for it to get darker (dusk was still an hour away) a couple other birders arrived, and I got them on the distant Rough-leg.  And sure enough the Harriers were still harassing it.  And then as I was pointing out the raptors to one birder I noticed a different bird harassing the Rough-leg – it was a Short-eared Owl!  I was able to watch the owl on an off for the next 10 minutes as it flew around the area.  Nice to not have to wait for dusk.  My statebird map for this species is really spotty – I still need it in many different states across the country. 

That gave me 249 on my VA statelist – now 17 over the old ABA threshold.

The next day I planned to head down to Bladensburg Waterfront Park in MD to try for the Harris’s Sparrow that had been at the park for some time.  The bird was most often seen feeding in one stretch of one of the trails with other sparrows, eating seed that had been placed there by helpful local birders.  Although that all seemed easy enough, actually the bird wasn’t being seen on every trip there.  My guess was that if a group of birders was at the site they might end up scaring away the sparrows along with the Harris’s, keeping them from feeding out in the open.  So to maximize my chances I decided to get to the park as early as possible and be the first birder to the site.

Right on schedule I arrived at the park about 20 minutes before sunrise, and quickly took the 15 minute walk to the area where the sparrow was being seen.  I was the only person there – so far so good.  As I neared the bird’s preferred part of the trail I could see a number of sparrows up ahead feeding out in the open.  I stopped for a while optimistically searching through them but there was no Harris’s.  Then I happened to look farther down the trail and there was another flock of sparrows feeding there as well.  I got a few steps closer to that second area, though still keeping my distance, and scanned through that second group.  And within seconds the Harris’s popped out into the open and fed right out in the trail, providing distant but excellent looks at this continuing rarity.  Isn’t it nice when your plans come together so well.  That was #331 for my MD statelist.  MD was my 6th eastern state, along with 1 western state (WA) where I’ve seen Harris’s Sparrow as a vagrant, along with most of the central states where it is a common migrant and wintering species. 

A nice couple days of birding with 5 new statebirds, especially for states where I already had pretty good lists.