Smith’s Longspur, Saugus, MA, January 2016

A post came across the MA listserve describing a Smith’s Longspur seen at the Bear Creek Sanctuary in Saugus.  This site is a closed landfill that is only open to the public as part of formal weekly birdwalks led by Soheil Zendeh.  Because of the rarity of this bird (only the third MA state record), Soheil offered to lead another walk just for this bird in a couple days.  I certainly was interested in trying for the Longspur, but wondered if it might stick around.  And even if it was still there, how easy would it be to find in acres of suitable habitat at a closed landfill.  And then there was the issue of the cold and windy conditions forecasted the day of the trip.  But despite more than just a few reservations, I decided to join the next walk and give it a try.

Wind chills were close to zero when 30 other birders and I assembled outside the entrance to the landfill that morning.  Soheil told us that this bird was actually first seen about a month ago on the day after the local CBC, and a couple times since then, but only definitively identified 3 days ago.  So it sounded like the bird may well be wintering at this spot.  That eliminated one of my reservations.

As our group headed out into the landfill we soon came upon a small group of Horned Larks and 1 Longspur that turned out to be a Lapland.  Then another group of Larks flew by and disappeared in the distance.  And soon we saw a flock of mostly Snow Buntings in the distance as well.  That was my next concern – how would we find that one Smith’s Longspur in all this habitat, and with so many Larks and Buntings it could mix with? 

Several other birders and I continued to look at the Lark group in front of us trying to pick out another Longspur.  But after a couple minutes I realized Soheil and several others had moved over to the right about 50 yards and had scopes trained on a another spot.  I walked over to them only to find out that they were looking at THE spot where the Smith’s Longspur had always been seen – I didn’t even realize there was a key spot to look for this bird.  And better yet – they had the Smith’s!  Sure enough, at the edge of a dirt road a short distance away there was one lone bird feeding in some short grasses and it was the Smith’s.  The field guides say that Smith’s like to feed alone, and that was certainly the case with this bird.  Later we moved to a closer location with a better sun angle, and the bird continued to feed no more than 3-4 inches from its original spot.  I got these phonescoped photos of the bird –

 
Smith’s Longspur is #408 for my MA statelist, and the 432nd species I’ve seen anywhere in New England.  MA is only my 5th state where I’ve seen this species, though I’ve yet to see it in breeding plumage in AK (see my statebird map below). 

Also, this was the 500th species that I’ve photographed.  Most of those pictures were taken in the old pre-digital era – I have boxes of slides of many of the first 400+ species I’ve photographed.

Ross’s Goose, Ellington, CT, January 2016

I was on my way back home from a business trip when I got a call from CT birder Mark Szantyr that a Ross’s Goose was found that day in CT.  It was only the third CT state record for this species, and CT was the New England last state where I needed Ross’s.  So I really wanted to get this bird.  The challenge was I had heavy commitments at home, and at best had only a small window to chase after it in 2 days. 

The key question was – would it stick around?  The bird was first found in the afternoon swimming in a mill pond with many Canada Geese.  The next day it was reported in the same mill pond but only in the early morning.  After that it and most of the other geese flew off to points unknown.  But thankfully the goose flock was re-found a couple miles away feeding in a corn field.  Amazingly, Pink-footed and White-fronted were also found in with the Canadas – but I didn’t need those two for my CT list.  The Ross’s stayed with that flock during the day, and then all the birds left and headed back to the mill pond that afternoon.  So it looked like the target bird had a routine – roosting on the pond late afternoon, overnight , and early morning, then feeding in a nearby cornfield during the day.

The next day was my only chance to try for the Ross’s so I was happy to see an early morning post that the Ross’s was in the mill pond.  And then a late morning post came across that it was now feeding in its favorite cornfield.  With that confirmation I started my 1 hr 45 min ride to Ellington.  Although typically I prefer at least a little bit of a search when pursuing a new statebird (I’ve always said an hour of searching time might be ideal), this time I was hoping to see the bird right away given my limited availability.  I crossed my fingers that when I arrived there would be a birder or two at the spot, and ideally on the bird. 

As I got close to the field I could see at least a dozen cars pulled over on the side of the road.  And there were maybe 20 birders with scopes pointed toward the cornfield.  Within seconds I had parked the car and walked scope in hand over to the birders.  Quickly I had confirmation that they had the bird in the field, though it wasn’t visible at the time.  I started to scan the field and was blown away by the number of Canadas – maybe 4,000-5,000 birds.  Since I was looking for a white goose in a sea of dark geese and dark soil, you would think the bird would really stand out.  But the smaller Ross’s can easily hide behind a larger Canada.  Plus there were some small dips in the field that concealed some of the birds.  I figured out the direction everyone was looking, and stared intently into the Canadas in that area.  Within a minute I caught a glimpse of white, and then the bird walked out into the open, albeit briefly.  Success!  The bird was very distant, and not very cooperative, but I got this phonescoped photo of the bird among the Canadas –

Ross’s Goose was number 326 for me in CT, and the 239th species that I’ve seen in each New England state.  And CT is the 29th state where I’ve seen this expanding species.

2015 Birding Year in Review

The 2015 birding year was an exciting one, with many individual highlights especially related to adding total ticks.  By far the high point of the year was reaching my long-time goal of 2,000 total ticks in the 6 New England states.  I got this idea from NH birder Denny Abbott soon after I moved to New England in 1993.  Since I had always been into statebirding, Denny’s New England quest to reach 2,000 sounded like a fun one to try.  When I moved here I had just 723 New England ticks (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, and he has kept chasing New England statebirds ever since (he now has over 2,200!).  My #2,000 was a Tennessee Warbler seen on May11 at Lonsdale Marsh, RI.  A bit ironic that after 20+ years of birding in New England #2,000 would be a regular migrant instead of a rarity such as my RI Swallow-tailed Kite which was #1,999. 

Unlike in previous years I did not take a big statebirding trip in 2015, and as a result for the first time in 10 years I didn’t add any new ABA reportable states.  Instead my interests turned to “province birding”, taking 3 trips to eastern Canada birding in 4 provinces.  I took one trip to southern Quebec in September, adding 61 birds to my province list including finding this rare Lesser Black-backed Gull.

I was also able to understand just enough French to track down 2 stakeout shorebird rarities – a Stilt Sandpiper and this most cooperative Long-billed Dowitcher.

I also took a second trip to Quebec in November adding 28 new birds, raising my province total to 152.  In addition to finding a rare Sandhill Crane, a highlight of this trip was searching through a flock of 80,000 Snow Geese on small Reservoir Beaudet for Ross’ Geese and other target birds.  Here’s a panoramic view of the geese –

And although I didn’t think I had seen any Ross’s that day, scrutiny of this picture of an out-of-focus Cackling Goose revealed an adult and 2 immature Ross’s Geese –

My other province birding trip was to the maritimes – a 7 day trip including travel time through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, returning to the states on the Yarmouth to Portland ferry.  Prior to this trip I had a grand total of just 2 ticks in these 3 provinces combined, so of course I had a lot of potential to add new province birds.  My goals were to add 75-100 ticks each in NB and NS, and 50-75 in PEI.  The trip was most successful, exceeding all my goals – adding 100 species in NB, 105 in NS, and 85 in PEI, and 140 species total.  The highlights of this trip included –

• A passerine fallout in NB featuring a rare Yellow-throated Vireo
• Tufted Titmouse on a NB whale watching trip of all things – on one of many islands in the river off St. Andrews
• Watching the amazing fluctuations in the tides in the Bay of Fundy
• Finding rare Gnatcatchers both in PEI and NS
• Great birding at East Point, PEI – the best birding spot in PEI, including finding a Little Gull
• Birding two of the best hotspots in all of NS - Hartlen Point and Cape Sable Island – though birding was slow at both locations except for finding Oystercatcher at its northernmost breeding location on Cape Sable Island.

And perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was the 10-hour ferry ride back to Portland, ME.  Weather conditions were ideal, and I birded off the stern of the boat for all but 15 minutes of the ride, tallying 823 Shearwaters - 480 Greats, 14 Cory’s, 7 Sooty, 2 Manx, and 320 unidentified sitting on the water (likely mostly Greats).  Other notables were 19 Fulmars, 459 Gannets, 1 Red and 3 unidentified Phalaropes, and 1 adult Pomarine and 4 unidentified Jaegers.  Plus I had 2 Harriers and 2 Peregrines migrating past the boat seemingly taking the same route as we were.  By far the best experience occurred early in the ride while still in NS waters when I noticed several big splashes just off the stern.  It was a Great Shearwater diving into the water trying to elude a larger dark bird with white flashes in the primaries.  It was a Skua, but which one?  I got several views of the undersides and mantle of the bird as it continued to chase the Shearwater and it had paler feathering below and above, making it a Great Skua.  A lifebird!  But alas I had no Great Skua, or any other new bird, for my ME list.

And the cetaceans put on a nice show as well, all in NS waters.  I’m no expert on whales, but at one point I saw blows of at least 4 whales together which were likely Right Whales based on the blow angles.  Plus there were at least 2 larger whales, one of which appeared to be very large and had an all pale body.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pale-bodied whale on any of the whalewatch or pelagic trips I’ve taken.  Could it have been a rare Blue Whale?

That brings my Canada totals to 794 total ticks and 277 species in Canada.  Still pretty low numbers, but since I started the year with just 415 total ticks and 237 species, that’s a nice improvement.  I’ve definitely been bitten by the province birding bug.

And now back to the US - although I didn’t add a large number of statebirds in any individual state, I took shorter birding trips to several locations.  In some cases my objective was to get my state totals above my somewhat arbitrary goal of reaching at least 15 over the old ABA threshold.  In a couple cases I was pursuing a stakeout rarity as a lifebird.  And in some cases I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelist, frequently using eBird Needs Alerts as an invaluable tool.  Highlights included –

Georgia – I added a vacation day to a February business trip netting 9 new statebirds, including finding a first-year Lesser Black-backed Gull.  That put me 6 over my “reportable plus 15” goal.

Washington, DC and Northern Virginia – In January and December I took 1-day trips to DC and northern VA to fill in some gaps in both statelists.  In DC I added 8 new “state” birds, giving me 3 over the reportable plus 15 goal – my 35th “state” to reach that plateau.  That included this most cooperative stakeout Cackling Goose. 

I added 7 new statebirds to my VA list on these trips, leaving me just 1 shy of reportable plus 15.  This stakeout White-fronted Goose offered some nice Kodak moments.

California – my work travels took me to CA several times during the year.  And although I made 3 failed attempts at seeing a stakeout Falcated Duck (that makes 5 unsuccessful trips over 3 years!), I did add a stakeout Rustic Bunting as a lifebird on one trip.  And overall I added 9 CA statebirds during the year including a few reported rarities like Blackburnian Warbler and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.  I might have been able to add even more CA statebirds if I hadn’t spent all that time on those unsuccessful Falcated Duck searches.

Nevada – I ended 2014 with a NV total right at the old ABA threshold of 242.  But with several additions to the NV state list, a newly calculated threshold (half of the total statelist) would be 246.  So saying I had reached the old ABA threshold was a rather hollow victory in NV, and a good example of why I’ve set a goal of being 15 over the old ABA thresholds in each state.  So in May I extended a Bay Area trip with a vacation day to the Reno/Carson City area, adding 7 new birds.  The highlight was hearing Flammulated Owl for only the 3rd time ever.

Texas – I have business trips to Houston at least once a month, and this year I extended 3 trips to chase after life birds.  The first was a wintering Striped Sparrow near Austin, which would be the first ABA record assuming it gets accepted.  After a bit of a wait the bird put on quite a show –

My next trip was to south TX to look for Aplomado Falcon which was only recently considered to be countable due to a recent change in the ABA rules.  With a bit of research I was able to find a pair at a nesting tower.

The 3rd lifebird I pursued was a Collared Plover that returned for the 2nd consecutive year to a playa in Hargill.  I chased after it in 2014 only to arrive the day after it moved on.  This year I was much more lucky, finding the bird almost as soon as I arrived.

With the help of eBird Needs Alerts I added 6 additional TX statebirds on these and other trips, giving me 426 for the state – my largest single state list.

New Mexico – With a January trip to Midland, TX I added a day to pursue a Common Crane being seen not too far away in Roswell, NM.  It took me quite a bit of time, but I eventually chased it down, getting this distant photo of the target bird.

New York – I made several trips to Long Island during the year, and although my list was already well over the ABA threshold, there were still a number of gaps to fill.  I ended up adding 12 statebirds during the year, including a couple stakeout rarities like Yellow-throated Warbler and White-faced Ibis.  I also took several ferry rides between Orient Point, NY and Groton, CT, finding three rarities in Long Island sound – Pomarine Jaeger (also in CT waters), Cory’s Shearwater, and Common Murre.

On all my trips I have received tremendous help from local birders.  Many thanks to all who gave me great advice! 

With 379 ticks in Canada and another 103 ticks in the US in 2015, that increased my total ticks to 13,679.  And with just shy of 1,000 new ticks over the last 2 years, my ABA total ticks tally has climbed significantly during that time.  When I updated my totals on the ABA website on January 1st I noticed that I’m now listed as #1 in total ticks, 92 over Thomas Heatley who had the top list on the website for several years.  Ever since I got to 10,000 total ticks back in 2003 I’ve focused on increasing individual state and province totals rather than total ticks per se, so I was a bit surprised to see that that I had the top listed total.  Though of course adding state and province birds adds total ticks too.  But now a reality note - I know my total isn’t the highest.  That title undoubtedly goes to Paul Lehman who hasn’t reported his totals in a while.  If I remember correctly, the last time he submitted his numbers his total ticks were over 18,000.  But at least for now, the official ABA website lists me at #1.

Here’s 2015 by the numbers -

Lifebirds -

• 6 new ABA lifebirds –
• Common Crane – Roswell, NM
• Rustic Bunting – San Francisco, CA
• Striped Sparrow – Williamson County, TX
• Aplomado Falcon – Cameron County, TX
• Collared Plover – Hargill, TX
• Great Skua – Yarmouth-Portland Ferry, NS
• ABA total now at 747, US at 748, and Lower 48 at 724

State and province birding (see my statebird map below with totals for each state) -

• ABA reportable now in 44 states plus DC 
• “Reportable plus 15” in 35 states
• 482 new state birds and province birds.  New statebirds in 18 states and 4 provinces.
• 29 new statebirds in New England – 2,022 total ticks now in New England.  I was successful in finding 64% of the birds I chased after, and 5 of my new ticks were birds I found on my own.
• Total Ticks – now at 13,679, with 12,885 of those in the U.S.

Looking ahead, I think I may be only about 3 big trips away from reaching most all of my statebirding goals –

• Northern NV, eastern OR, and eastern WA;
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID; and
• Eastern NE, eastern SD, eastern ND, western MN, and western IA.

I’m not sure if I’ll go on one of these trips this year, or maybe continue to work on my province lists instead.  Then again I may do a combined state and province birding trip.  And since most of my province totals are so low, I will likely increase my total ticks faster through province birding than through state birding.

What’s next for birding in Maritime Canada?  I am planning a short Quebec trip for May 2016 to perhaps net 20-30 regular breeding species for my list.  In the Maritimes my totals for NB, PEI, and NS are still less than half of the old ABA reporting threshold, so there are lots of pretty easy birds yet in all 3 provinces.  For instance a breeding season trip with a couple days in each province could net maybe 50 per province.  Plus I have never birded in Newfoundland and St. Pierre et Miguelon.  But the Maritimes will likely have to wait until 2017 and beyond.

Back in the states, I have 2 short trips planned so far for the beginning of the year.  A January trip to NE, where I’m only 7 over the ABA threshold, could net a few birds.  And in OR where I’m still 41 below the threshold, I’m planning a short February trip to the southwestern part of the state.  It would be nice to pick up perhaps 10 species that are unique to southwest OR to help me creep up to the threshold.

Plus of course I’ll still concentrate on New England statebirding in 2016.  Since as my list gets larger there are less potential new statebirds, I’ll be happy if I can continue to get at least 20 new New England ticks each year for now. 

Finally, with a lot of business travel across the country, I’ll likely continue to do some opportunistic chasing of lifers when I can go after them with an extra vacation day.  I’m just 3 short of 750 in the ABA region – maybe I can reach that milestone this year.  Though that will likely be a function of any new lumps or splits that may be announced in 2016.

5 “State" Birds in Washington, D.C. and 2 More in VA, December 2015

On most of my recent trips to Baltimore to visit relatives I’ve done at least a little birding in Washington, DC, VA, and/or WV to try to fill gaps in those “state” lists.  Although I had exceeded the old ABA reportable threshold in all 3 some years back, my key goal was to be at least 15 over the threshold in each location.  I reached the “reportable plus 15” goal in WV in 2014, but I was still short by 2 in DC and 3 in VA.  So that meant I needed to focus my Baltimore-area birding on DC and VA on future trips.

With an upcoming trip to Baltimore in December 2015, I set up eBird Needs Alerts for both DC and VA to see what might be around.  I was surprised to see that recent reports included no less than 7 possible “state” birds in DC and another 5 possible state birds in northern VA.  And many had been seen multiple days so they might well be chaseable.  I also sent a note to local DC birder Paul Pisano and he was most helpful giving me some micro-directions on each of the DC targets.  But as the trip neared, the reports on all but 3 species stopped coming in, and even a few negative reports were posted.  I was now less optimistic, but still hoped for 2 new birds each in DC and VA.  Armed with the latest information I set up an itinerary starting with birding in 5 locations in DC, followed by birding at 3 locations in northern VA, which would give me a chance at all 12 recently, or at least somewhat recently, reported target birds.

I started my trip at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in the northeast corner of DC, arriving there about 20 minutes before dawn.  The prime targets here were an American Bittern, Purple Finches, and Ravens.  Although all had been reported regularly a week earlier, there were negative reports for all 3 species in the last 5 days.  In fact, given the negative reports I even wondered if I should make a stop here at all.  But ever the optimist, I began to walk slowly along the main trail in the pre-dawn light making my way toward some ponds that had been the favorite spot for the Bittern.  I was only part way down the trail toward the ponds when I stopped to check out some gulls flying overhead.  Just then a bird flushed from a small area of cattails not a few feet away – it was the Bittern.  I probably would have walked right by it had I not stopped for the gulls.  A nice rarity for DC (a “write-in” in eBird) and my first new DC bird.  This has been an elusive species for me across the country, even though it is regular throughout most regions (see my statebird map below).

I continued out to the boardwalk listening intently for calling Ravens or Finches but to no avail.  I then headed back toward a spot where an unconfirmed Orange-crowned Warbler had been reported the previous day.  There was a nice flock of White-throats and Juncos there, but no warbler, though a singing (!) Hermit Thrush was nice.  And then I heard the faint “tick” calls of Purple Finch overhead, and looking up I saw 2 birds passing by (#2).  Not a rarity but still a tough bird in DC, filling in the last gap in the northeast portion of my statebird map.

I headed out of Kenilworth very happy to have seen 2 of my 3 targets, which frankly were 2 more than I expected.

Next stop was the Rock Creek Golf Course where a Red-headed Woodpecker had been reported for 2 consecutive days a week ago, though there were no updates in the last 7 days.  Luckily a specific location was mentioned, and I was able to quickly find the dead tree where the bird had been seen.  But the best I could do was to find a Pileated in the distance.  I walked a bit farther down the fairway and heard a Red-belly and a Flicker  Then in the distance I heard several familiar Red-headed call notes that the BirdTunes app calls “rattle calls” (#3).  DC was the last gap in the eastern part of my statebird map for this species.

The next target bird was a Mute Swan that had been reliably seen around Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River.  It had most recently been seen on the east side of the island, viewable from Rock Creek Parkway, and Paul Pisano’s suggestion was to drive slowly down the Parkway and look toward the island as I drove past the Kennedy Center.  Sounded simple enough, as long as I could look for the bird safely in DC traffic (when was the last time anyone drove slowly down any parkway in DC?).  As I neared the island I hoped for a place to pull over, or that there would be a red light to stop traffic - but it wasn’t to be.  Luckily as I got to the Kennedy Center I was able to slow down a bit, looked to the right, and there was the Swan swimming close to the island (#4).  DC was the last northeast “state” where I needed this species.

Then I was on to Hain’s Point where a recent report included 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls mixed in Ring-billed Gull flocks.  I drove around the perimeter of the park and saw very few gulls at all.  The best I could do was to find a late Laughing Gull in a small mixed gull flock.  So lacking the critical mass of gulls, I headed out of the park rather than searching any further.

My last DC stop was the LBJ Memorial Grove, which is on an island on the western edge of the Potomac River, just barely in DC.  For about 10 days an Orange-crowned Warbler had been seen here with a mixed Chickadee/Kinglet flock.  Amazingly an American Redstart had also been seen in this or a nearby flock.  The Orange-crowned was reported to be rather easy to find in brush immediately north of the parking lot, while the Redstart was only seen infrequently in the same general area.  Within a minute of getting out of my car I heard some Chickadee calls and quickly found a mixed flock of Chickadees and Kinglets in the brush just north of the parking lot.  Fully expecting to find the Orange-crowned with them, I looked through the flock multiple times, presumably seeing each bird in the flock several times, but the target bird was nowhere in sight.  The flock moved on to the east, but was soon replaced in the brush by another mixed flock.  This group included the typically harder to find Redstart which gave excellent views.  Although the Redstart is a rarer bird in winter than the Orange-crowned, I have seen Redstart in DC in the warmer seasons, and needed the Orange-crowned for my DC list.  So I decided to try to re-find the first Chickadee/Kinglet flock to see if the target bird had joined them.  I eventually re-found the flock in some pines to the east, and after a little searching found the Orange-crowned Warbler mixed in (#5).  How did I miss it when I first looked through that flock?  My statebird map for this species is very spotty in the east where it is uncommon or rare, though not surprisingly I’ve seen it in most of its regular western states.

I left DC with 5 new birds – much better than the 2 that I expected.  And 4 of these (Bittern, Red-headed Woodpecker, Swan, and Orange-crowned), along with the Redstart, were “write-ins” on eBird.  It was a nice start for the day, and now it was on to VA.

The first VA stop was at the Belle Haven area along the Potomac River in Fairfax County, where there had been 2 recent reports of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and one of a cooperative Merlin.  When I arrived at midday the tide was high but falling and I could only find about 50 gulls, and nothing unusual.  Over the next 45 minutes more gulls flew in, but they were just the regular suspects.  And there was no Merlin in sight.  I considered staying longer in hopes that more gulls might arrive as the tide continued to drop, and maybe even the Merlin might appear.  But with 2 other stops to go, I decided to head out.  Interestingly, I made a stop here at Belle Haven on my last trip to northern VA in January 2015, and searched for but missed these same 2 species on that trip as well.

Next on my itinerary was Huntley Meadows Park where multiple Rusty Blackbirds had been reported most every day over the last couple weeks.  I had birded this park a couple times before, and knew that there were lots of wet swampy woodlands that would be ideal for Rusty Blackbirds.  But since no specific locations for the Rusty’s were mentioned in the eBird posts, I was concerned about how long it might take me to find them – if I found them at all.  As I arrived I went to the nature center thinking that I might find a park worker who might be able to give me some suggestions on the Rusty’s.  But before I could ask the worker behind the desk I noticed another birder and asked him about the birds.  It turned out that he had just completed leading a birdwalk at the park, and had had several Rusty’s that morning.  He took me to the spot where he had seen Rusty’s mixed in with Red-wings perched in some low trees, but we only found 1 Red-wing.  I decided to wait at this spot hoping the birds might return.  Over the next 15 minutes small groups of Red-wings flew in, and finally a lone female Rusty Blackbird joined them (VA statebird #1).  That fills a big gap in my statebird map, though I still need this species in 3 other states where they are regular.

My planned final stop was to be at turf farms in Fauquier County, about a 90-minute ride to the southwest.  There had been a recent post from Grassdale Road in the middle of the turf farms with 26 American Pipits and 5 Vesper Sparrows – 2 of my target birds.  But I had had reservations about heading to this spot from the beginning – the sightings were listed in just one post, there were no details on the birds, and it was a long ride away.  And now with my misses as Belle Haven, I wondered if I should head back there to see if my luck might improve instead of heading to the turf farms.  But the turf farm post was only 3 days old.  Plus I had birded a nearby spot at the turf farms last winter and had had good luck there with Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs.  So I decided to stick with my original plans and headed to the turf farms.

The first thing I did when I arrived was to slowly drive the mile-long road to get the lay of the land, with car windows open to listen for Pipits, and also watching for sparrows that might flush from grasses along the roadside.  But I heard just 1 Horned Lark and found no sparrows at all.  On my way back I stopped several times to listen even more intently, but only heard one sparrow which turned out to be a Song.  I was now close to the beginning of the road sitting in my car wondering what to do next.  Then I heard a couple call notes that sounded Pipit-like coming from quite close to the car.  I got out and scanned the grass and found an otherwise silent flock of 14 Pipits foraging in the grass near the road (#2).  If that bird hadn’t called I likely would have missed them altogether.  I now only need American Pipit in 6 more mainland states.

With a few more minutes before I had to head back, I took the short drive to the spot I birded last winter with long-shot hopes I might run into Vesper Sparrows there.  And although I found a flock of at least 20 Savannah Sparrows, none had white outer tail feathers.  So Vesper Sparrow would have to wait for future VA trip.

I ended up with about 65 species for the day, including 5 additions for my DC list and 2 for my VA list.  My DC total is now 183, 18 over the old 2011 ABA threshold of 165 – of course exceeding my somewhat arbitrary “reportable plus 15” goal.  But a more up-to-date threshold could be calculated if one could find the total DC list.  With some research on the web I found out that the total DC list as of 4/19/15 was 334.  Dividing that number by 2 as the ABA used to do to calculate the thresholds, that would equate to a new threshold of 167.  In other words, 4 more species have been added to the DC list since 2011.  I would imagine my 183 will be safely over newly calculated DC thresholds for many years to come. 

My VA list is now 246, which is 14 over the 2011 ABA threshold of 232.  As of December 2015, the total VA list had increased to 471 resulting in a new threshold of 235.5.  So the VA list would have to increase by 22 before I would no longer reach the “reportable” threshold.  And although that sounds like a big number, the VA list increased by 7 from 2011 to 2015.  At that rate the threshold would pass my total in about 15 years.  Seems like even 15 over the old threshold might not be enough in VA.