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.