Reportable in Nevada – But only Barely – With Trip to Reno/Carson City, August 2014

Before we get to the successful trip to NV, a little background on the reason for my trip is in order.  For many years I’ve had a goal of being ABA reportable in each of the Lower 48 states plus DC.  Recently the ABA stopped publishing those thresholds, which had been defined as half the number of species ever seen in that state.  But since the thresholds would slowly increase as new species are added to the statelist, I’ve decided to revise that goal somewhat to be 15 over the last ABA published threshold.  That buffer should keep me safely above the “half the state list total” for many years.  I’m now rapidly closing in on those goals, with just 5 states below the old threshold, and 11 more reportable but less than 15 over the threshold. 

Now onto NV - NV is one of my 5 states below threshold (just 11 below), and for some time I’ve been thinking about a trip to the northeastern part of the state to try for the Himalayan Snowcock as a lifebird.  Plus there would be quite a number of other possible statebirds for me in that part of the state.  But would a trip to that area be enough to not only add the 11 birds I need to reach the old threshold, but also the buffer of 15 more?  I spent a little time on eBird and with range maps and realized that getting 26 new statebirds in one short trip to the northeast corner would be unlikely.  So to put together a plan to efficiently get 26 new birds in NV, I developed lists of possible targets for each key part of the state (southern NV near Las Vegas, western NV near Reno and Carson City, and of course northeastern NV), and for each season (winter, summer, and migration).  There were possible targets in each region and each season, but the fewest were near Las Vegas.  And there were a number in Reno/Carson City not likely in the northeast corner.  So I concluded that I would need a trip to the Reno/Carson City area in addition to an eventual trip to the northeast to reach my goal.

With an upcoming trip to the San Francisco area in August I started to wonder if a short side trip to the Reno/Carson City area could be a worthwhile addition.  The key feature of this area is a thin sliver of the Sierras and the only part of the state to try for a number of high mountain species.  Plus there could be a number of shorebirds I could try for near peak shorebird migration time.  I checked my lists and figured I could get 7 or 8 new statebirds with a day of birding in that part of the state.  So now with a possible critical mass, I decided to put a plan together.  I had birded Reno/Carson City in May 2012, and had connected with a couple excellent birders there.  In preparing for this trip I re-contacted one local birder, Rob Lowry, who gave me some great advice and offered to go with me to try for 3 of my targets – Rufous Hummingbird, Barn Owl, and Poorwill. 

With a midday arrival at SFO, and after a 4 hour drive, I finally arrived in the Lake Tahoe area a little before dinner time.  My first stop was at Van Sickle Bi-State Park which truly is partly in CA and partly in NV.  It was critical to know where the stateline was since my key target there, Pileated Woodpecker, had been reported from an area very close to the stateline.  I arrived between thunderstorms, and spent some time in and around the Pileated area.  Despite no luck with the target bird, there were a number of other woodpeckers including Red-naped Sapsucker and Hairy’s.  Then I noticed a pair of woodpeckers in the distance which were juvenile Williamson’s Sapsuckers – another of my targets.  But which state were they in?  I checked my map and GPS location, and realized they were in NV but only by about 20 yards – statebird #1.  NV was my 9^th state for this species.

I wanted to bird the area longer, but a succession of thunderstorms complete with hail made me retreat back to the safety of my car.  After about 30 minutes I decided to head east out of the mountains to get away from the storms, and made my way to the riparian area of Carson Valley.  One of my targets there was Sandhill Crane, which is a regular migrant but rare nester.  With just 1-2 pairs in a large area, it would be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search.  But on my first stop to scan a pasture area I spotted a pair in the distance - #2.  A short distance ahead I came upon a flooded field and stopped to check for shorebirds.  Although there were no shorebirds I spotted a hawk perched on a nearby post which at first glance looked like a young Red-shouldered Hawk.  Not one on my radar screen, I checked the field guide to be sure, and it was indeed a Red-shoulder (#3).  I would end up seeing another immature and an adult Red-shoulder in the area the next day, not bad for a species that is a rare nester in the area.  My statebird map pretty well matches the range for this species (with the exception of the gap in IA). 

 

Now I was on to Rob Lowry’s house to team up with him to try for Poorwill and Barn Owl.  But first there was a stop to check his feeders which were loaded with migrant Rufous Hummingbirds (#4).  Then we were off to Brunswick Canyon Road through the desert foothills.  Although our trip was delayed a bit by a flat tire, we heard 2 Poorwills at dusk and then saw 11 more in the road on the way back to town (#5).  Easily the most Poorwills I’ve seen and heard in a day.  And then we went on to what was supposed to be the last stop at Carson River Park for the stakeout Barn Owls that had nested there.  But a spotlight on the favorite perch of the last remaining juvenile bird to leave the nest came up empty – though it was there the day before!  We spent a bit more time scanning the nearby fields but with no luck.  As we drove back to town, Rob thought we might try one more spot where Barn Owls had been in the past.  We played some tape and a bird flew right in (#6).  I’ve never tried to use tapes to attract Barn Owls before – I’ve got to give that a try in the future to fill in some of the gaps in my statebird map.

Six statebirds in just a couple hours birding was a great way to start the trip.  And with just 5 to reach reportable, I was hopeful that I could reach threshold the next day.  But Rob mentioned that recent stops at the best shorebird spots had been very slow, so it certainly wouldn’t be a given to get 5 more on day 2.

I started the second day at dawn high in the mountains at Tahoe Meadows with hopes for a number of montane targets.  Although I didn’t add any statebirds there, birding was excellent, starting with at least 100 Clark’s Nutcrackers flying high overhead in small groups, all heading north.  There were also resident White-breasted Nuthatches which someday could be a new species - “Slender-billed” Nuthatch.  Other notables were White-headed Woodpeckers, numerous Cassin’s Finches, Western Pewees, Steller’s Jays, Audubon’s Warblers, etc. 

Next stop was at the Chimney Beach area on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe.  Rob had given me micro-directions for Pacific Wren which were perfect – I had two quick glimpses of this skulker along a willow-lined streambed (#7).  And while walking back to the car I heard a loud woodpecker in the distance – a Pileated (#8).  I would hear Pileated calls 4 more times in the next 5 minutes.  This was a great stop for these two species which only nest in this very isolated location in NV.  It’s also interesting to look at the range of the Pileated Woodpecker which closely matches my statebird map – regular throughout the east and in the Sierras and other far west mountains but not in the Rockies.

Then I was back into Carson Valley to try for American Bittern that had been reported several times recently on eBird.  But a long, hot walk along the river at River Fork Ranch came up empty.  Nor did I find Golden Eagle which is a regular in the area, though there were numerous raptors in site throughout my walk.  During this stop Rob called me to say that Washoe Lake, one of my planned shorebirds spots, had none of my targets.  At least that would save me some time, though I had sure hoped to get something there.

So the next stop was the south end of Pyramid Lake in the desert to the northeast, where the Truckee River empties into this large body of water.  On my 90-minute drive to the lake I kept tabs on very threatening clouds to my south and west.  And when they broke in on the radio to announce a severe thunderstorm warning for a storm to my immediate south and heading my way, it certainly piqued my attention.  When I finally arrived at the lake the storms were only a short distance away, and they had picked up very strong southerly winds that were sand blasting me as I got out of the car.  I was surprised to run into another birder who was leaving just as I arrived.  He said it was slow, but mentioned Red-necked Phalaropes, Snowy Plovers, and Baird’s Sandpipers – all 3 were on my target list.  So although that was not as good as I had hoped, those 3 would at least put me at the magic reportable threshold.  So I figured I needed to find all 3 of them quickly and get back to the car before the storms arrived.

Looking down from the parking lot to the south end of the lake revealed an impressive picture of dozens of acres of salt flats, extensive muddy shoreline, and many acres of shallow lake water – a classic Great Basin lake. 

 

South end of Pyramid Lake looking north - check out the impending storm!

Luckily the wind was at my back as I stared out to the lake, because looking into the wind would have been next to impossible.  A quick binocular scan showed that the shoreline and shallow lake were full of Canada Geese and waders, and there were small groups of shorebirds moving along the extensive mudflats.  But with so many acres to scope, and the storm on the doorstep, where do I start?  I made the quick walk to the lake level and first keyed in on a large flock of birds bouncing around on the water thinking they might be Phalaropes – but instead they were Coots.  Next I decided to scope the shoreline and soon noticed a group of 5 Phalaropes just offshore.  I first wrote them off as Wilson’s (distant birds, scope bouncing in the wind, etc.), but when I spotted a group of 3 Wilson’s a few seconds later, I went back to the first flock and realized they were Red-necked (#9).  I continued to scan the beach and kept seeing small flocks of shorebirds but most were in constant movement as if they were being spooked by a falcon.  One small group I keyed in on were peeps that I thought could have been Baird’s.  As they kept flying along the flats one eventually left the flock and landed a short distance away – it was indeed a Baird’s (#10).  Some western gaps on my statebird map are bit surprising for this bird that is especially found in the central and western states.

Now I needed to find Snowy Plovers, and turned my attention to the salt flats where it took me less than a minute to find several adult and juvenile Snowy’s running along the flats (#11).  In less than 10 minutes I had my 3 likely targets.  With no rain or thunder yet, I spent a few more minutes scanning the area, and found good numbers of dark Ibises (presumably White-faced), some Snowy Egrets, fair numbers of Avocets and Stilts, a scattering of peeps and Long-billed Dowitchers, and 3 Caspian Terns.  And rather than continuing to take my chances with the impending storm, I high-tailed it back to the car and considered it a successful stop.  Just a couple minutes’ later I encountered torrential rains that undoubtedly caused flash flooding in the area – I got out just in time. 

That gave me 242 for NV – the old ABA reportable threshold.  NV is my 45^th state at or above the threshold.  And 7 of my 11 new statebirds are not likely in the northeast part of the state, so I hope that a summer trip there will not only yield the Snowcock but also 14 other statebirds to reach my goal of 15 over the threshold.

With a bit of research I found that the official NV list as of 12/27/13 was at 492.  So if the ABA was still publishing thresholds at half the state total, the present threshold would be 246.  Although not surprisingly higher than the old threshold, it’s still well below my somewhat arbitrary buffer of 15 over the threshold at 257.  So my modified goal looks like a safe goal for some time to come.

White Ibis, Old Lyme, CT, August 2014

Denny Abbott and I had tried unsuccessfully for a White Ibis in Stratford, CT a couple years ago.  Although every miss is disappointing, that one was particularly frustrating as we were within 100 yards of the bird and didn’t know it.  We were looking at a pond on the south side of a warehouse near the coast while the bird was actually being seen in a pond we didn’t even know existed on the north side of that building.  It made for a pretty depressing ride home after that trip.  So when news of an immature bird in Old Lyme was posted to the listserve, I was itching to go.  And with another White Ibis I saw in NH a few days earlier, that gave us 2 in New England at the same time.

The listserve posts were not too detailed, and in fact the first two mentioned it was in Hawk’s Nest Marsh but did not give a road name.  But with a fair amount of additional research I eventually figured out that the bird was seen in the morning and evening in the marsh along West End Drive, especially associating with Snowy Egrets.  And one post mentioned that the bird was first spotted two days earlier.  That same birder posted his sighting on e-bird and mentioned the earlier sighting was from Otter Rock Road.  I looked at the tide tables and realized that there were morning and evening high tides at the time, so maybe the bird was most likely at West End Drive at high tides.  Or maybe that was just coincidence as there were no posts (positive or negative) from the middle of the day during lower tides.  Given our recent experience with the White Ibis in NH, I wondered if this bird too might disappear in channels at lower tides, and therefore would be easiest to spot at higher tides.  Going on that theory, I called Denny and we planned to head to West End Drive during the afternoon/evening the next day during the high tide.

We arrived at West End Drive mid-afternoon with a low but rising tide.  We quickly realized that the marsh near West End Drive was actually mostly salt pannes, likely not affected by the tides.  There was considerable Spartina marsh farther out, complete with a number of channels lined by brush.  So now my theory was starting to come together – perhaps the bird was seen along West End Drive in the salt pannes at high tide when there was no other habitat for it to feed in elsewhere in the marsh.  And at lower tides it would prefer to feed in the channels, likely out of view – just like the NH bird we saw a few days earlier.

We scanned the marsh and pannes and saw no waders at all.  Several active Osprey nests were nice to watch, as were a couple Saltmarsh Sparrows, but there were no waders.  At one point a flock of 14 dark ibises flew overhead – but no White Ibis was in the flock.  After about 45 minutes of scanning, and with a tide that was still pretty low, I suggested to Denny that we drive up to Otter Rock Road to see if the bird might be in the marsh there.  We could always come back to West End Drive later as the tide got higher.

Otter Rock Road runs along the western edge of the upper reaches of Hawk’s Nest Marsh, with houses on one side and the marsh at the edge of the road on the other side.  Although there was a lot of brush along the edge, we found a couple places to look out into the marsh, which was mostly Spartina with some large pools.  One Great Egret was standing exposed in the marsh, but we saw nothing else.  Then I noticed the head of a Snowy Egret appear at the top of a deep channel, then disappear, then appear once more.  If an all-white Egret could hide in the channel, then a mostly brown immature Ibis could certainly go unnoticed there.  Our level of optimism was definitely increasing.  I walked a short distance away to check out another vantage point and when I returned Denny mentioned he had just gotten a brief glimpse of a dark wader with some white plumage.  And just a few seconds later, the White Ibis popped into view.  For the next 15 minutes the bird continued to feed in the marsh, at times disappearing into the channels, then briefly coming back into view.  And all the time it was very closely associating with the Snowy Egret.  I was able to take several pretty nice phone-scoped photos.

 

Good thing I did all that detective work researching the places where the bird had been seen.  And it looked like my theory for how the tide might affect its movements might have been pretty accurate.

That was number 311 for me in CT, and my fourth New England state with White Ibis.

Sandwich Tern in MA, White Ibis in NH, and Royal Tern in ME – all in one July 2014 Afternoon

Hurricane Arthur passed by the New England coastline and made landfall in the Canadian Maritimes in early July.  In the days immediately following landfall numerous reports of southern terns were posted in the Maritimes.  And a few days later came reports of Royal and Caspian Terns and Skimmers from the ME coast – birds likely making their way back down the coast.  Most of these reports came from the Hills Beach section of Biddeford.  So I headed to Hills Beach, and despite spending an entire morning there, had no luck with any of the rarities.  As the reports from Hills Beach continued to come in over subsequent days I realized that most sightings were in the evening on rising tides.  I guess I was at the right place but the wrong time of day. 

So it was time to head back to Hills Beach to try again.  High tide on my planned next trip to Hills Beach was at 9 PM, so a rising tide would be at dinner time or later, meaning heading out about mid-afternoon.  But those plans changed when a report of a Sandwich Tern at Plum Island in MA came in around lunch time.  (Actually it was also seen the day before but I missed that report – ugh.)  I alerted Denny Abbott who needed Sandwich Tern for his MA list as well, and he headed right there.  Minutes later I was en route to Plum Island as well, hoping to try for that Tern first and then head to ME.  Denny called me from Plum Island saying that he had the Sandwich Tern, and it was sleeping on the beach in a flock of gulls so no need to rush.  So the pressure was off a bit – I should be able to drop into Plum Island, get the Sandwich Tern quickly, and have plenty of time to head up to Maine.  And then just before I arrived at Plum Island I got a call from Steve Mirick that a White Ibis was just reported on the NH coast.  Wow – another one to try for, through as long as the Sandwich Tern and Ibis cooperated, there still should be enough time.

When I arrived at Lot 1 at Plum Island I noticed a couple birders heading to their cars.  As I passed them en route to the beach I jokingly said something like “Don’t tell me the bird just left”, fully expecting that they would reply that it was still asleep on the beach.  Instead one birder replied that it had just flown away!  My heart sank.  I headed to the beach and the 3 other birders that were still there said that I missed it by less than 5 minutes.  The flock of gulls was still there, but there no terns at all.  They mentioned that it had flown to the south, but were otherwise not very helpful in giving any other details.  Not the friendliest of interactions I’m afraid.

Now what do I do?  Do I cut my losses here and head right up to NH (and then to ME) for the other targets?  Or should I stay here and try for the Sandwich Tern, increasing my chances for this bird but limiting my time and chances of getting the NH and ME targets?  I could see a number of small terns flying over the surf in the distance to the south which was the general area where the Sandwich was last seen.  So I optimistically hoped it could still be around feeding with the others, and decided to stay at Plum Island at least for a while.  I spent the next 10 minutes scanning through the terns but only found Commons and Leasts.  Another birder arrived and we both continued the scans.  Still with no luck searching to the south, I decided to look through the flock of sleeping gulls on the beach thinking that maybe the target bird would return to its roosting spot.  Just then I noticed a tern fly over the flock – it was the Sandwich!  I got the other birder on it, and we watched it make a couple passes before it dropped out of sight and presumably landed on the beach.  That was my first Sandwich Tern for anywhere in New England – my 426th species – and MA statebird number 403.  MA is only my 10th state for this southeastern species.

The other birder decided to walk to a different vantage point to try to see it perched on the beach.  But I had other target birds to try for, so after a brisk walk back to the car, I was headed off Plum Island to try for the White Ibis in NH. 

En route to NH I called Steve Mirick back to get an update on the Ibis.  Steve had refound it at Awcomin Marsh in Rye, NH, and with Steve’s excellent directions I mapped out a route to the spot.  After going through some challenging mid-afternoon coastal traffic, I finally arrived at the marsh and found at least another half dozen birder’s cars there.  Unfortunately the bird was no longer in sight – earlier it was perched on a tree at the marsh edge but has since disappeared from sight.  Maybe if I had gotten the Sandwich Tern quicker I could have been at the Ibis spot sooner and could have gotten that bird before it disappeared.  No one said it would be easy.

By now there were at least a dozen birders at the marsh observation deck all scanning the marsh and surrounding trees.  The tide was falling now, and there were a number of channels in the marsh that the bird could disappear into.  So Steve Mirick and Ben Griffith offered to go walking out in the marsh to try to flush it from a channel somewhere.  I and the others continued to scan the marsh in hopes that Steve or Ben might flush the bird.  After a few minutes with no success our hopes dwindled.  But just then I spotted the Ibis perched on a tree at the edge of the marsh – it had indeed been feeding down in a channel making it not visible from our vantage point.  Many thanks to Steve and Ben for volunteering to walk through the marsh to re-find it.  I got some pretty miserable phone-scoped photos of the bird looking almost directly into the sun.

White Ibis was number 353 for me in NH.  And I’ve now seen White Ibis in 6 Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states plus DC as a rarity, plus most the states in its typical southeastern range. 

I was now 2 for 2 pursuing my targets, with still plenty of time to get up to Biddeford, ME to try for the tern targets there.  After a relatively short 1-hour drive I was in Biddeford and arrived along Hills Beach by late afternoon.  Tide was quite low but rising, so I was hopeful conditions would be right to see the terns.  I parked toward the end of Hills Beach near Sky Harbor Drive where I had been earlier in the week, and started to scan.  There were a number of Common Terns and many gulls on the extensive sand flats, but no bigger terns.  Then I noticed a birder way out on the flats to the west closer to Basket Island, so I decided to head down that way and see if he was having any success – “bird the birders” as I call it.

I parked in the only area where you can legally park and gain access to the beach (opposite Bufflehead’s restaurant), and walked down to the sandflats.  I met up with the birder who told me he had a flyby Skimmer earlier, but no large terns.  There were many small terns on the flats, mostly concentrated in a few larger flocks.  So I set up my scope and started to scan through a flock of terns on one spit and almost instantly found a Royal Tern, and then another, almost side by side.  Until that day no one had seen 2 Royal Terns together during this recent tern “invasion”.  By now another birder arrived and we all got good but distant looks.  The other birders wanted to get some photos, so they headed out to get closer; I decided to keep my feet dry, so I continued to watch from a distance.  I got a couple distant phone-scoped photos that I had to crop extensively to see the Royals.

The other birders must have gotten excellent shots as the terns were not very wary.

 

I spent the rest of the evening there and continued to see both Royal Terns off and on, but there were no other sightings of Skimmers (at least I already had that one for my ME list).  And there were no sightings of Caspian Terns that day or beyond.  I guess if I could only get one tern it was better to get the Royals which were the rarer target.  That gave me 333 in ME and it was my fourth New England state as a rarity.

That capped off an amazing afternoon with 3 New England statebirds in 3 states – all seen in just a 2-hour span.  Only twice before have I been able to get new statebirds in 3 states in one day.  And that gave me 8 New England statebirds in July – an excellent month.  All three species are southeastern birds – in fact my statebird maps are quite similar for each of them.  The terns were likely blown north by Hurricane Arthur though you wouldn’t think the Ibis was affected by the storm.  And as a final thought, one could almost guarantee that I would see the Royal Terns after finding the Sandwich Tern because, as they say, “one good tern deserves another.”