2,000th Statebird in New England – Tennessee Warbler at Lonsdale Marsh, RI, May 2015

This post is not only about the Tennessee Warbler as a new statebird in RI, but also about reaching my 20-year goal of recording 2,000 statebirds in New England.  First, some background on how I got started on New England statebirding -

Soon after I moved to New England in 1993 I met Denny Abbott, a long-time birder from New Hampshire.  Denny is well-known for his birding efforts throughout New England, and at the time, Denny told me about his goal to record 2,000 New England statebirds – the sum of his 6 New England statelists.  Since I had always been into statebirding, Denny’s long-time mission sounded like a fun one to try.  After all, since all the states except Maine were pretty small, it seemed like it would be much easier than trying to maximize my lists in areas where the states are much bigger.  When I moved to New England I had just 723 statebirds in the 6 New England states (MA was my highest list at 138), so I had a long way to go.

Denny would end up reaching his target in the year 2001 – his #2,000 was a Lark Sparrow in CT.  Though he didn’t stop at 2,000 - he has kept chasing New England statebirds ever since, and his total is now up to a remarkable 2,232.  We’ve birded together in every New England state over the years, and have picked up a number of birds that were new for both of our lists.  Though since his lists are much higher than mine, I’ve gotten more statebirds on these trips than he has.

Now nearly 22 years later I was closing in on my goal of 2,000 statebirds in New England.  I finished 2014 with 1,993, and with a recent average of 32 new birds in New England per year, I would be on pace to reach my goal in Spring 2015.  This Spring I was planning to spend more time than usual pursuing some not-so-rare migrant passerines in RI and CT (I needed several in each state), so I made a prediction that #2,000 would be a regular migrant in RI.  Though of course any bird that I still needed after 22 years of birding in New England would be rare in one way or another.

So with a total of 1,999, and a reasonable prediction of a good migration day coming up, I planned to head to Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, RI, generally the best spring migrant passerine spot in RI.  The night before I coordinated with a couple RI birders who reported not only seeing a Wilson’s Warbler at Swan Point, but also a Tennessee Warbler at nearby Lonsdale Marsh in Lincoln – two of my target birds.  And then came a report of a Eurasian Collared Dove in Stratford, CT.  The Dove is certainly quite a rarity so a higher priority than the warblers.  But I figured that if it was still around it would stay for a while, while the migrants are most reliable early in the morning.  So I decided to head to Swan Point first, and then go to Stratford if the Dove was re-spotted.

I was about halfway to Swan Point the next morning when I got a call from a RI birder – the Tennessee Warbler was back at Lonsdale Marsh.  And armed with what seemed like good micro-directions (“just past the rusty fence in an apple tree”), I changed my route and was headed to Lonsdale Marsh. 

Just a few minutes later I was at the Lonsdale Marsh parking area, and started the walk down the trail.  Up ahead I could see another birder, and as I got closer I could see a rusty chain-link fence running perpendicular to the trail.  And just beyond that I saw several crabapple trees in bloom – right where the other birder was standing.  So it looked like I would be in luck.  But when I arrived at the spot, the other birder said he had not seen the Tennessee despite waiting for a while.  So much for my optimism.

We split up and decided to bird nearby parts of the woods.  I headed to the east and soon heard a very distant trill that could have been Tennessee-like – but it was really far away.  I told the other birder and we both headed in that direction.  Soon I was hearing the bird again, and it was indeed the Tennessee.  We eventually got fleeting glimpses of the bird in a honeysuckle tangle, and then followed it back to the main trail.  It spent the next 15 minutes singing from either of 2 blooming crabapples where we got great views of the singing bird.

RI was my 37th state for Tennessee Warbler – I’ve now seen it in almost all the states east of the Rockies (see my statebird map below).

Soon after we got the Tennessee Warbler I got word that the Collared Dove was re-found in Stratford.  So I left Lonsdale and made the trip to the CT coastline.  In route I heard that a Wilson’s Warbler was seen at Swan Point.  So maybe I could get lucky and get to Swan Point after Stratford, and end up with 3 new statebirds for the day.  However it was not to be.  After a 2 hour search in Stratford I found the Dove, but it turned out to be a non-countable African (Ringed) Collared Dove.  And by the time I got back to Swan Point it was in heat of the mid-afternoon and there was little activity there.  So I only got one new statebird for the day, but it was the long-awaited #2,000!

And now for some reflections on reaching 2,000 in New England.  First about which bird turned out to be #2,000 - 

After chasing all those rarities across New England it is a bit ironic that #2,000 would be a regular migrant.  Perhaps Swallow-tailed Kite in RI which I got at #1,999, or Surfbird which was a first New England record and was my #1,997, would have been more appropriate.  But Tennessee Warbler and the other not-so-rare migrants I still need in southern New England have similar patterns of occurrence – although seen each year in low numbers they are not generally chaseable when they are spotted.  So even though I’ve done a lot of birding in migration in RI, I’ve never been lucky enough to find Tennessees on my own, and have not been able to chase after one.  That is until now.  

By the Numbers -

A number of birders have asked for my New England state totals -

• MA - 405
• NH - 354
• ME - 336
• RI - 321
• CT - 316
• VT - 268

Although my highest total is in MA, my NH total is actually the best one on the basis of percentage of each state’s total statelist – I’ve seen 89% of all the species on the official NH statelist as compared to 83% of the MA statelist.  But to put these state totals into context – Denny’s amazing total of 2,232 in New England is an average of almost 40 more than I have in each state.  And most of his birding was done before e-mail, listserves, and of course e-Bird! 

Some more “gee-whiz” numbers - Tennessee Warbler was the 235th species that I’ve seen in each New England state, and I’ve seen 429 species at least once somewhere in New England.

Reaching 2,000 had required quite a bit of effort – who knows how many trips and hours of birding have been involved.  And of course a lot of driving has been necessary.  To reduce my carbon footprint, I drive a hybrid, plus I generally limit my driving distances to a 2-hour one-way trip.  That has meant missing out on some rarities found in western CT, northern VT, and northern ME.  Though as my lists have grown I have found that I’m more likely to extend my drive time at least a bit. 

Finally, some thoughts on what the key factors have been that allowed me to reach 2,000.  In increasing order of importance –

• Luck – this is very over-rated in my mind.  What some would call good luck or bad luck can more likely be attributed to how good your preparations and planning have been, or whether you got proper directions to look for a rarity.
• Birding Skills – of course this is important, but when you’re chasing after a rarity your identification skills aren’t as important for seeing a bird that has already been identified.  Then again, if I wasn’t familiar with Collared Dove identification I would have incorrectly added Eurasian Collared Dove to my CT list.
• Time to Chase After a Rarity – it’s really important to have the time to run around New England to chase after rarities when they are reported, particularly if you can drop everything and chase as soon as something is reported.
• Receiving Accurate and Timely Directions – my chances of seeing a rarity are greatly improved if I hear about the sighting in a timely manner, and if directions are accurate and complete.  Many thanks to all those New England birders who have given me great birdfinding advice over the years – without that support I would have never reached 2,000.  Then again, some of my most satisfying chases have been for species where I’ve had to do a lot of detective work to piece together incomplete, or even inaccurate information to find the target bird – the detective work is actually more exciting than seeing the bird sometimes. 

But I can’t stop at 2,000.  First of all, there are published papers that suggest that Hoary and Common Redpolls could be lumped into one species – that would mean I would lose 5, putting me back to 1,995.  (Though there are also suggestions that I could add 5 others though possible splits – Sooty Fox Sparrow in NH; Audubon’s Warbler in NH; and Eurasian Teal in MA, VT, and ME.)  And secondly, of course it’s been in my blood for 22 years to chase after each rarity as it gets reported.  So I can’t just turn it off.

On to 2,001…

One TX and 3 CA Statebirds Using eBird’s Needs Alerts, April-May 2015

This post is much more about taking advantage of birding research tools than actually using birding skills to see new statebirds. 

I travel to San Francisco and Houston often, and have developed pretty good state lists in both states – 372 in CA and 419 in TX.  As a result, in the last few years I haven’t spent much time working on my statelists when I travel to these locations.  If I do actually do any birding on those trips, it is typically to chase after any rarities that may happen to be in the area when I’m in town.  And to isee if there are any rarities to chase after locally I’ve been using eBird’s Rarity Alerts for a given state.  I filter through the latest rarity sightings to eliminate the ones I already have for that state, and then focus on any remaining birds near where I’m traveling too.  This has helped me add a number of new statebirds over the years, including most recently a Painted Redstart in TX.

But recently I figured out how to use eBird’s Needs Alerts.  Prior to my most recent April trip to Houston I entered my entire TX statelist info the eBird database, and then set up daily Needs Alerts for the state.  The Needs Alerts then summarizes the sightings of any species not on my TX statelist – rare and common birds alike.  The only drawback to this report is it includes my needed birds throughout the state.  So to avoid this problem I set up a Needs Alert just for the local Harris County, thinking this would provide a listing of any bird I need for TX that has been reported in Harris County.  Unfortunately, it gave me the list of birds seen in Harris County that I had not reported in my eBird submittals just from Harris County.  That turned out to be a very lengthy list.

So since the Harris County Needs Alert wasn’t too helpful, I went back to the TX state-wide Needs Alert, and then keyed in on sightings in Harris County.  And lo and behold, there were a number of reasonably common TX birds that were being seen near Houston that I still needed for my TX.  It was migration season and there were a number of regular passerines passing though that I still needed – though I didn’t even realize these were gaps in my TX list.

It seemed like Houston Audubon’s Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary was the location where the highest number of my needed birds were being seen, including Hooded, Golden-winged, Swainson’s, and Worm-eating Warblers.  (Notably none of those would have shown up on the TX Rarities Alert.)  The park was just a few miles away from my Houston meetings, and it was small enough to bird pretty extensively before work in an early morning visit.  The problem was none of my needed migrants were still around the morning I was there.  In fact, there were few migrants at all. 

While I was at Moore Sanctuary I ran into another birder who suggested also trying Bear Creek Park for migrants.  This park is also not far from work, so I decided to head there after work that day.  Although I still had few migrants, I found a pair of Philadelphia Vireos – #420 for my TX list.  That was only my 17th state for this species, which can be a difficult bird to find in migration (see my statebird map below).

Other interesting birds in the park were a kettle of 16 Mississippi Kites, a Painted Bunting, and several singing Kentucky Warblers.  Though the mosquitoes greatly outnumbered the birds there.

Since using the eBird Needs Alert worked pretty well for my Houston trip, I decided to give it a try for my next San Francisco trip in May.  Again I entered my full statelist into eBird, and requested daily Needs Alerts.  Recent sightings of a couple reliable local breeding birds popped up – Poorwill and Grasshopper Sparrow.  As with my Houston trip, I didn’t even realize these two species were gaps in my CA statelist.  The best spot for Poorwill seemed to be Mount Diablo State Park.  However, I did a quick Google search and found that the State Park didn’t open until 8 AM, so that wouldn’t work for a pre-dawn Poorwill search.  With a bit more eBird research I found that nearby rural Riggs Canyon Preserve had a couple Poorwill sightings at this time last year, so that seemed like a good alternative though of course the posts were a year old.  As for Grasshopper Sparrow, they were apparently breeding at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness area, just a short distance from Riggs Canyon.  So I set up a plan to be at Riggs Canyon by 4:30 for the Poorwills, then over to Las Trampas by dawn (6 AM) for the Sparrows.  In theory I would have 2 new CA statebirds before work started at 8:30. 

I arrived at Riggs Canyon at 4:30 right on time, and parked at the end of the road.  I got out hoping to hear Poorwills right away, but with no luck.  I walked a short distance up the canyon but still no birds.  In my experience Poorwills are generally pretty tape responsive, so I decided to play a bit of tape.  I must have played no more than 5 calls when one replied from the foothill above me, and was still calling non-stop when I left a couple minutes later.  That was easy!  CA was my 12th state for Poorwill though I still need it for several of the states in its range. 

I then headed to Las Trampas and arrived at the park entrance at about 5:30 just as the first rays of light were coming over the hills to the east.  Unfortunately, the park didn’t open until 8 – just like Mount Diablo.  Argh…  But I could probably get back to Las Trampas after work the next day to try for the Sparrows, so I wasn’t too disappointed. 

The road up the canyon to the park had some excellent habitat – dry scrub, grassland, and riparian woodlands.  So with some time on my hands, I decided to bird along the entrance road for a little time before work.  There was quite a bit of song throughout, featuring species like California and Spotted Towhees and Scrub Jays.  Shortly after dawn I stopped along a thick riparian ravine and added gobbling Turkeys to my day list.  Then I heard a bird calling from the woods giving three low hoots.  The first 2 hoots were identical to typical Long-ear Owls with respect to pitch, cadence, etc.  But the third hoot was different – it was longer (lasting about 2-3 times the length of the first hoots), and lower pitched.  It sounded like - Hoot… (2 second break) ...Hoot….(2 second break)… Hooooo.  It then gave the same 3-hoot call a few seconds later.  This looked like a perfect spot for a nesting Long-ear, but the call wasn’t ideal.  But what else could it be?  The call notes were somewhat dove-like, and there were Band-tailed Pigeons in the area.  But with some research on the Xeno-canto website these calls weren’t like those of a Band-tailed Pigeon.  So I decided to count it as a Long-eared Owl.  CA is only my 8th state for this elusive bird.

 

I was back at Las Trampas after work the next day to try for the Grasshopper Sparrows.  One recent eBird post gave the location as “near the Cuesta Trail jct”.  With a park map I found the Cuesta Trail, and its beginning along the Rocky Ridge View Trail, so I figured that was the spot.  Although it was less than a mile hike from the parking area, it included about a 500 foot elevation increase to the spot, so it turned out to be a pretty strenuous hike.  As I neared the trail junction I stopped to listen, and instantly heard the song of a Grasshopper Sparrow.  There were at least 3 singing birds in the area.  I took this photo with the grassland habitat in the foreground and the excellent view from this high vantage point in the distance.

I’ve now seen this widespread species in 41 states across the country. 

So with the help of the eBird Needs Alerts that gave me 2 pretty easy statebirds in CA, plus it got me out birding to a spot that resulted in finding the Long-eared Owl.  Just before leaving the area I noticed another post on the CA Needs Alert with both an American Bittern and a Black Rail near my typical work location.  A likely spot to try on my next business trip to the Bay Area. 

Swallow-tailed Kite, Hope Valley, RI, April 2015

April and May is definitely the time to hope for Swallow-tailed Kites out on Cape Cod, especially on the outer Cape.  And though they are seen there most years (9 of the last 13 based on eBird reports), they are still quite a rarity.  So it was quite notable when four Swallow-tailed Kites were reported together on Cape Cod in April 13th, and likely at least one of these birds was respotted at several locations on the Cape a few days later.  I’ve never even tried for Swallow-tails on the Cape because they are not typically chaseable – usually only providing fleeting glimpses over a hawk watch, or just a flyover somewhere if you were lucky enough to be looking up at the time. 

And Swallow-tailed Kites are an extreme rarity in RI.  There was only one sighting listed on eBird – 1 on 5/15/13 at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.  That is before this year.  Midday on a Wednesday in mid-April came a post that a pair of Kites were seen over Hope Valley in southwestern RI – even though they were apparently first seen early that day.  At first I thought about heading out to try for them, but Swallow-tailed Kites don’t typically stick around.  And they only continued at this spot for a couple more hours that day, so I felt like I made the right decision.  They were probably long gone – a one day wonder.  Though I wish I had gotten the news earlier in the day.

I checked the listserves a few times while at work on Thursday just in case they might still be in the area.  A couple negative posts came across in the morning so I thought the Kites were certainly gone.  But then a positive post came in just before lunch.  I would love to try to chase after them, but the rest of my day was a busy one and I wouldn’t be able to break free.  I could take the morning off on Friday, but would they continue?  I would normally think that they wouldn’t stick around that long, but if they were in the area for two days in a row, maybe they would still be around for a third day. 

Virtually all of the sightings had been from the URE parking lot in Hope Valley.  It seemed that this spot just happened to have a wide view of the sky, so many birders just camped out there and waited and hoped for them to fly by.  But then late Thursday came news that they were also seen feeding much of the day at a mill pond nearby.  So if that was their preferred feeding area, that could greatly increase my odds of finding the birds on Friday.  And even though I heard that they were last seen on Thursday at about 3 PM, I still decided to give them a try on Friday morning.

I arrived at the URE parking lot about 8 AM and started to get my bearings.  This spot did give a pretty good view of the sky, and was situated between a large lake to the north and the smaller mill pond to the south.  So it could be a pretty good location if the Kites were passing between these 2 possible feeding spots.  But of course they would have to be pretty high up in the sky to see them.  I next went down to the mill pond to check out their feeding spot from yesterday.  There was already another birder there who had not spotted them yet.  We decided to trade cell phone numbers, and I would go back to the URE parking lot while he stayed at the mill pond to double our chances of finding them. 

Back at URE I had several flyovers of an Osprey which got me excited, as did a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Raven flyover was a good RI bird.  But there were no Kites.  About 9:30 I was joined by a couple MA birders who had missed the birds by minutes the day before.  Just then I noticed a raptor high in the sky to the northwest.  I put my binoculars on it and it was a Swallow-tailed Kite!  I got the other birders on it and we watched it soar high off to the southwest and out of view.  Certainly not great looks but diagnostic. 

I quickly called the birder at the mill pond and he said he was about to call me – he had a pair of Swallow-tails just then low over the pond.  That meant there were 3 Kites in the area, though earlier birders never found more than 2.  I jumped in my car to see his birds and as I neared the pond there were his two Swallow-tails right overhead.  I hopped out and they were no more than 30 feet over my head.  I was able to get this picture with just my iPhone and no magnification.

They slowly circled overhead, joined a pair of Red-tails, and got higher and higher in the sky before disappearing off to the south.  Sure seemed like these birds were moving out of the area.  And in fact, they were not to be seen again.  They were only in view for less than 5 minutes on Friday – I felt very lucky to have seen them – all 3 of them.  Were these the same birds first seen on Cape Cod nearly 2 weeks earlier?  And it’s anyone’s guess where they were off to next.

RI is only my fifth state for Swallow-tailed Kite – of course the other 4 being in the deep south (See my statebird map below).  It was #320 for my RI list, and the 429th bird I’ve seen anywhere in New England.  And this was #1,999 for me in New England.