Best 2 Days of Birding Ever, August 2018

It all started with reports of a Little Egret in Westerly, RI – that’s only the 2nd record for the state based on eBird data, so it would be a great one to chase after.  And although the Egret was reported for a few consecutive days, it was only being seen between 5:30AM and 6 AM before flying off to points unknown with a flock of Snowy’s and Greats.  That was way too early for me to try for given my 2+ hour drive time.  But then the bird was found to be feeding during the day in marshes and perched in trees in the Winnapaug Pond area along Atlantic Avenue in Westerly.  So now it was very much chaseable.

And as I was putting my plans together to try for the Egret, a post came across the CT listserve from Tom Robben that he was able to see the continuing Bridled Tern on Great Gull Island in NY from a Lighthouse Cruise out of New London, CT.  This was presumably the same Bridled Tern that spent much of last summer on Falkner Island in CT.  Many birders got to see this reliable bird – that is the bird was reliable for almost everyone except for me.  I tried twice for the Tern without success.  And since this would be a life bird, I was still very interested in trying to see it this summer, even if it was in NY instead of CT.  Though Tom stressed that even if you were lucky enough to see the bird while on the Lighthouse Cruise it would still be very distant. 

So I started to revise my plans to start early morning in Westerly to try for the Egret, then head to New London to take the Lighthouse Cruise to try for the Tern.  While researching times for the cruise I noticed several e-mails regarding identification of a Hawk seen in Maine.  It took a while to unravel the story, but it was eventually ID’d as an amazing Great Black Hawk, native to Central and South America.  And despite some initial questions as to the location of the bird, it was verified to be in Biddeford, ME.  The bird was first seen two days earlier, but not re-found the next day.  What an exciting second ABA record!  But apparently no longer around.

And as they say on the infomercials – “But wait there’s more…”  I had just finished figuring out the Black Hawk story when an eBird NH Needs Alert came across with a Neotropic Cormorant seen in Gorham, NH 6 days earlier, complete with photos!  That would be a first record for NH and likely for all of New England.  But that was 6 days ago and a good 3 hours north of me.  So although there were now reports of 2 truly amazing birds north of me, both were now a bit dated, so I went back to continue my planning efforts to head south into RI and CT. 

Then minutes later came a report that the Great Black Hawk was re-found in Biddeford.  That certainly changed the equation.  And as I was piecing that together an e-mail arrived reporting that the Cormorant was still at the same location in Gorham.  I was having trouble keeping up…  Although the Little Egret and Bridled Tern were rare, they were not nearly as rare as the Great Black Hawk and Neotropic Cormorant.  So I changed my plans, and decided to start the day in Biddeford, then head north to Gorham.  The Egret and Tern could wait till the next day.

The Great Black Hawk was first reported two days earlier, though not surprisingly the observer needed help to identify this immature bird.  It was spotted in a small neighborhood along Maddox Pond Road just off the coast.  When the Hawk was re-found it was on nearby Lily Pond Avenue, with agitated Robins giving away its location.  So when I arrived at 7:30 that morning I headed right to Lily Pond Road and found at least 30 birders already milling about looking for our target bird.  No sightings yet.  But just a couple minutes later I could hear some Robins squawking a short distance to the south.  Could they have the Hawk?  I pointed out the calls to other birders, and many of us headed in that direction to check it out.  But before I could find the Robins here was another birder heading towards us to spread the word that he had the Black Hawk up ahead.  A minute later I came upon the squawking Robins, and there was the Great Black Hawk.  An amazing bird with such long legs and large bill.  It put on a great show, thanks to those marauding Robins.  Here are a couple phonescoped photos of the bird.

And a shot of the many happy birders who were there.

I spent about a half hour with the bird taking in all the great views, before it flew off a short distance back into the woods out of sight.  During this time I ran into Davis Finch, a long-time birding friend from NH.  I told him of my plans to try for the Neotropic Cormorant next, and he quickly accepted my offer to come along and make the trek up to Gorham.  After a short review of the maps, we planned our 2 ½ hour route, and at 8 AM our 2-car convoy started out through the country side.  About half way to Gorham I received a text with even more amazing news – a Wood Stork had just been spotted in southern NH at Pickering Ponds in Rochester!  There was only 1 previous hypothetical record for this species in NH, so it would be great to go after that bird too.  But we still needed to drive another hour north to try for the Cormorant.  And then it would take another 2-hour drive south before we could get to Rochester.  I shared the news with Davis when we arrived in Gorham, and we both crossed our fingers that the Stork would remain until we could get to Rochester.

But first we needed to focus on the Cormorant.  The eBird report included photos showing the bird perched on a line of orange buoys just upstream of a hydroelectric dam on the Androscoggin River.  Although directions in the first eBird report were cryptic at best, the new posts included good details, and after a short walk Davis and I approached the river where the Cormorant had been roosting.  As we crested the dike there was NH birder Steve Mirick already looking at our target bird.  I got these distant phonescoped photos of the Cormorant.

Interestingly the last Neotropic Cormorant I saw was earlier this year at Lake Mead near Las Vegas – also a rarity though certainly not as rare as this NH bird.  The NV Cormorant liked to perch on a floating “jetty” similar to our Gorham bird.  NH was my 8th state for this species which is increasingly prone to wandering from its regular range.

Although I was tempted to walk closer and get better views, both Davis and I were anxious to get back on the road to try for the Stork.  So by 10:30 our little convoy was heading south to Rochester, happily receiving updates that the Stork was still there.

Two hours later we pulled into the parking lot at Pickering Ponds, and within a couple minutes we walked up the dike to get a view of the impoundments.  There was a small group of birders up ahead, and they had the bird in their scopes.  Here’s a phonescoped picture of this most cooperative bird.

That was my second Wood Stork in New England – the first being in Barnstable, MA in November 1994.  And NH is now my 11th state overall for this species.

What an outstanding day!  I sure was glad I changed my priorities to head north to chase after these 3 extreme rarities.  And glad I went after the Hawk first because it was last seen at about 2 PM that day.

When I got home that afternoon I reviewed my e-mails and the Little Egret was seen again in Westerly, RI that day.  So that one was still in play.  And then I noticed an e-mail from a boat captain out of CT (Captain Ian Devlin) offering to take birders to Great Gull Island to try for the Bridled Tern.  That approach would certainly give me a much better chance of seeing the Tern compared to a “drive by” while on a Lighthouse Cruise.  I quickly replied back to him saying I would like to try for the Tern the next afternoon.  I also reached out to a CT birder Maggie Peretto who unfortunately was along with me on those same 2 unsuccessful attempts for the bird last summer, hoping that she might want to share the ride with me.  I got a quick reply from Maggie that she was interested, and she too sent an e-mail to Ian saying she wanted to go the next day.  But as the day progressed neither Maggie nor I had received a reply from Ian.  So despite the lack of responses, I planned to head out early the next morning to try for the Little Egret, then hopefully hear back from Ian to take his boat to try for the Bridled Tern.  But just in case I didn’t connect with Ian, I researched the times of the Lighthouse Cruise, as well as the regular New London to Orient Point ferries as fall back options. 

I was out of the house bright and early for the second consecutive day and arrived at Winnapaug Pond at about 8.  I was pretty familiar with this spot having seen 2 RI rarities there in the past – Ruff and White Ibis.  As I pulled up I could see another birder already there scoping the marshes.  Although he hadn’t found the Little Egret yet, he had found a flock of Snowy and Great Egrets about a quarter mile to the north feeding at the edge of the river channel.  This could well be the flock that the Little was associating with, so we spent the next few minutes trying to find out target.  But given the distance and all the tall vegetation we were unsuccessful picking out the Little Egret among those other white waders.

And then a couple of the Egrets left the flock and began flying toward us.  Then seconds later a few more took off.  I put a couple of these in my scope and initially thought in the distance that both were Greats based on size.  Then I realized one of them had a dark bill.  Now as they got closer I could see the dark-billed bird was a little smaller than the Great, and it had dark lores – I had the Little Egret!  The other birder spotted it in flight as well.  Interestingly, since the bird was flying nearly directly at us, neither of us saw the long head plume of the Little Egret.  Just goes to show you often need to focus on multiple field marks to make an ID.  I followed the target all the way to a nearby grove of trees, where it landed on the back side unfortunately out of view.  I waited another hour for the bird to drop down into the marsh to feed.  But it never came out into the open, nor were we able to re-spot it in the trees.  With the heat and humidity on the rise, I called it quits at 9:30, happy to have had at least a limited view of the Egret.  Good thing it wasn’t a lifer – I’ve also seen this species in ME, NH, and MA – otherwise I would have wanted better views.

Now I turned my attention to trying to get out to see the Bridled Tern.  I still hadn’t heard from Ian, so I gave him another call, but could only leave him another message.  It wasn’t looking like I would hear back from him, so I called the ferry company to see if they still had spaces open on the lighthouse cruise later that day.  Unfortunately the lighthouse cruise was canceled for the day.  This was bringing back awful memories of my futile attempts to try to get a boat out to see the bird last summer when it was in CT.  Although birders were heading out daily and seeing the Tern it took me a week to find a boat and captain to take me, and by then the bird was gone.  I probably spent more time trying to find a boat than my time actually on the water looking for the Tern.  Very frustrating…  But rather than head home, since I was already on the coast, I decided to just take a regular round-trip ferry ride out of New London to bird the Sound hoping for pelagics from the ferry.  Of course I would have next to no chance for the Bridled Tern – that would have to wait till another day. 

The next ferry with good viewing didn’t depart until 1 PM, so I had lots of time to kill.  I drove to New London, and parked in my regular garage, arriving at 10:30.  I relaxed in my car for a while, then headed into town and found a quaint sandwich shop for lunch.  It was now about Noon and just as I was about to head to the ferry to buy my ticket my phone rang – it was Captain Ian.  He could take me out at 2:30 that afternoon departing from Waterford a short distance to the west.  Next I tried to reach Maggie to see if she could go along with me.  Not only would it be great for her to have an opportunity to see the bird, but she could share the cost of the boat - $150 for 2 hours regardless of how many birders were on-board.  Unfortunately I didn’t have her phone number so could just send her an e-mail.

Now I had more time to kill, though first I had to find an ATM to get extra cash in case I was the only birder on board.  Within a few minutes I was at the boat ramp parking lot waiting for my trip to Great Gull Island.  Eventually I was able to connect with Maggie, but unfortunately she was unable to go along.  I was on my own, both with respect to paying for the boat as well as searching for the Bridled Tern.

Ian ended up being delayed in traffic, so we didn’t leave the dock until 3:45.  Luckily the water was quite calm because Ian’s boat seemed a bit small to head all the way across the Sound.  But after just a few rougher spots on our 20-minute ride, we neared Great Gull Island.  I had done quite a bit of research on the Tern, and thanks to info in blogs managed by Tom Robben (trips33.blogspot.com) and Joe DiCostanzo (inwoodbirder.blogspot.com), I knew that the Tern preferred to roost on rocks at the northeast corner of the island.  We headed right to that spot and I quickly started to scan the rocks.  There were quite a number of Common Terns scattered about, but no Bridled.  Then I did another scan, and then another scan – still no target bird.  I expanded my scans further to the east and west but still no Bridled.  This was bringing back most unpleasant memories from last summer. 

We had been at the island for maybe 5 minutes when seemingly all the Terns took off out over the water.  Ian spotted a Peregrine buzzing over the island and all the Terns were in chase.  I looked east into a boiling flock of maybe 500 or 1,000 Common and Roseate Terns low over the water and almost instantly picked out a darker-backed bird – I had the Bridled Tern!!!  We continued to follow the bird for a couple minutes as it flew around the boat, and I was able to get these pretty nice photos.

And later I got this shot of the Peregrine flying away, still mobbed by the Terns. 

At one point I watched the Bridled Tern land on the island, but it took off seconds later heading back out over the water.  We stayed at the island for the next 45 minutes but we never re-spotted the bird over the water nor perched, despite expanding our scans to nearby parts of the island.  The bird was obviously not perching in its favorite location.  Thank goodness for that Peregrine!  Otherwise I doubt we would have seen the Bridled Tern.


Before we headed back I spotted a Parasitic Jaeger harassing a Common Tern – in NY waters though.  I still need Parasitic for CT, which is the case for all the Shearwaters as well.  I had hoped that we might get lucky with other pelagics while motoring through the CT portion of the Sound on Ian’s boat, but it was too rough to scan while traveling along.  Though I certainly wasn’t going to be disappointed – after almost seeing a Bridled Tern while on a pelagic out of MA, having to pass on getting a boat to see one in ME, and 2 failed attempts last summer in CT, I finally had my life Bridled Tern!
What an ending to an outstanding 2 days of birding, not only seeing all 5 of my targets, but all 5 were also extreme rarities -

Day 1 –

    Great Black Hawk – life bird, first ME 2nd ABA record, bringing my ME list to 342

    Neotropic Cormorant – first New England record, NH bird #366

    Wood Stork – first confirmed NH record, NH bird #367

Day 2 –

    Little Egret – perhaps 2nd RI record, RI bird #330

    Bridled Tern – life bird, NY bird #284

My life lists now stand at 756 in the ABA Continental region (not including Hawaii), and 736 in the Lower 48.

In all my 51 years of birding, those were most definitely my best 2 consecutive days of birding ever!

Great Shearwaters in NY - But Still not in CT, August 2018

I’ve taken the Cross Sound Ferry out of New London, CT numerous times over the last several years in hopes of seeing various pelagic species.  The ferries travel from New London to Orient Point, NY and back, so obviously it’s important to know which state you’re in when you’re crossing.  On my first trip ever in August 2015 I had a pair of Cory’s Shearwaters but they were in NY, though just barely based on my best guess of where the state line was.  You see at the time I didn’t realize that the Apple map app would show the state line.  So ever since, that sighting has haunted me – could those Cory’s have actually been in CT and I didn’t realize it?

Since that trip I’ve accumulated a nice list of pelagics from the ferry.  In NY I’ve seen Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, and Common Murre – all 5 being new for my NY statelist.  My list of sightings in CT waters is much shorter – Wilson’s Storm-Petrel and Pomarine Jaeger, with only the Pomarine being a new statebird.  (I watched that Pomarine as it, and the ferry, passed from CT to NY adding it to both statelists.)  Hence I still need all the Shearwaters for my CT list.

Fast forward to earlier this summer - a large influx of Shearwaters made it into the Sound, with Great, Sooty, and Cory’s being spotted in both states on multiple ferries.  Unfortunately I had to stick around the home at that time and couldn’t get out.  And by the time I had a free day, pelagic sightings were once again very hit or miss – the large numbers were gone.  Undeterred, I decided to take a round-trip after all, feeling like I would be happy even if I had a single pelagic bird.  And of course finding it in CT would make me even happier.  So I researched which ships were scheduled for the next day (some boats don’t offer very good viewing), and selected that 10 AM departure on the Mary Ellen.  My plan was set.

Just before I boarded the boat I ran into a couple other birders.  They were out of NY, and had just been on the boat heading to New London.  They had a Parasitic Jaeger in NY waters, but no Shearwaters.  Later 2 other birders arrived, so 5 sets of eyes would surely increase our chances to find some good birds on the crossing.  But it was not to be – the best bird we had on the way to NY was a Roseate Tern.

But there’s always the trip back, though unfortunately I was the only birder on-board.  Thank goodness my luck improved on the trip back.  Not 5 minutes after leaving Orient Point I spotted a Shearwater sitting on the water – it was a Great.  A couple minutes later I spotted another Great in flight, then a Great on the water, and then a 4th bird in flight.  All were single birds, all east of the ship, and all in NY.  Here are a couple photos of the first Shearwater.

But this boded well for CT, right?  Unfortunately after we crossed the stateline I didn’t see any more pelagic species.  The Great Shearwater was a new bird for my NY list, #283, and finding 4 Shearwaters of any species was good for the ferry these days.  But I was still without any Shearwaters in CT.

NY was my 6th state for Great Shearwater, plus I’ve seen it in 2 Canadian provinces (see my state bird and province bird maps below).

 

One last thought on viewing pelagics from the ferry-  Virtually all my sightings of pelagics over the years have been to the east.  And on a sunny day, scanning to the east means scanning into considerable sun glare.  For instance on my 10 AM trip to NY this day the sun glare made viewing to the east very difficult.  Though on the Noon trip back to CT there was almost no glare to the east at all.  I wonder if midday or afternoon trips are the best options on a sunny day?

Black Rail, Alviso Marina County Park, CA, August, 2018

Another business trip to the San Francisco Bay Area meant another opportunity for adding a statebird or two to my CA list.  As with most of my trips, my birding time is limited to short treks after work, so targets need to be pretty close nearby.  With that limitation, and given that I’ve birded in the area quite a bit, my possibilities are usually pretty limited.  In fact, there were no possible statebirds at all on my last couple trips to the Bay Area.

Prior to this trip I set up an eBird Needs Alert for CA, and after wading through the numerous sightings of uncountable Egyptian Goose, Indian Peafowl, and many Parrot species, I eventually found a number of recent reports of Black Rails in Santa Clara County.  Black Rails have popped up on several of my previous CA Needs Alerts, but they were never close enough to be able to give them a try.  However, this time they were being seen at Alviso Marina County Park which is just 40 minutes from work, so definitely within striking distance.  I had my target.

Now it was time to do my detailed detective work.  Up to 5 Black Rails were being heard and seen (!) daily at this small park.  Many of the reports mentioned that the Rails were giving a growl call which I was unfamiliar with.  But that was one of the calls included in my iBird Pro app, so I was able to study this less typical call.  As for location, they were most often at the end of the shortest boardwalk “next to the Gatorade bottle”.  I found a map of the park on-line, and quickly found the location of the boardwalk, and a couple photos showed birds next to a Gatorade bottle that had been tossed into the marsh.  So I had a good handle on where to look and listen.  However most reports were in the early morning, and I wouldn’t be free to try for them until after work, so I was a bit worried whether the time of day would reduce my chances.  Nevertheless, I felt well-prepared to give this tiny, secretive bird a try.

Work was over right on time on my last day of the trip, and I headed south toward Alviso Marina County Park.  Luckily most of the rush hour traffic was heading the other direction, so I made it to the park pretty quickly.  I made my way to the short boardwalk, walked to the end, and spotted the Gatorade bottle down below. 

I had the right location, now I just needed the birds to cooperate.  I waited at least 15 minutes hearing no calls, nor seeing any activity in the marsh down below.  Did I need to be there in the early morning?  Then finally I heard a Black Rail giving its growl call off to the left.  Then a second bird joined in.  Eventually the calls were closer, seemingly right below me.  Then I started to hear a different call sounding like “keek keek keek”, similar to the cadence of the “kic kee doo” call, but all on one pitch.  And then I spotted a brief glimpse of a bird a few inches away from the infamous Gatorade bottle.

I was able to get this recording of the “keek keek keek” call on my iPhone.

CA was my 9th state for Black Rail, and the 4th time I’ve seen this elusive species (see my statebird map below).

With a couple hours of light remaining, my attention turned to a second possible target – Semipalmated Sandpiper.  One had been seen the last couple of days at Yosemite Slough, a restored wetlands on the waterfront in San Francisco.  I hadn’t brought my scope with me, but I thought maybe I could arrive at the right location, find other birders with scopes, and get views of the bird through their optics.  And since my hotel that night was close to the airport a short distance from Yosemite Slough, I figured it was worth a try. 

After a not-so-bad rush hour drive I exited Route 101 in San Francisco and started winding my way through the city on surface streets to get to the waterfront.  On GoogleMaps I could see 3 possible access points to the Slough – at the ends of Wallace, Van Dyke, or Griffith Streets.  But as I got closer to the area I left suburban neighborhoods and soon entered a really rough-looking industrial area.  I went right on by Wallace and Van Dyke Streets not wanting to stop even if there was access.  And at the end of Griffith Street I found a closed gate and chain link fence with a no trespassing sign.  That’s probably a good thing because even if I did find access there and left my car to go birding I’m not sure it would have been in 1 piece when I returned.  I quickly turned my car around and left the area, with no regrets.  There must be safe access to this spot from somewhere.  As it turns out the last sighting of the Semi Sand was the day before I was there so I probably didn’t miss it that day after all.

As I made my way to the hotel I reflected on that evening’s birding adventures - although I was happy to have added a new statebird to my CA list, bringing my total to 392, I was even happier to have returned from the San Francisco waterfront unscathed.

Six Statebirds in Colorado, Two in Wyoming to Reach “Reportable Plus 15”, July 2018

A family vacation to Fort Collins, CO, one of my favorite locations in the country, gave me an opportunity to fill some gaps in my CO statelist.  My CO list was pretty good at 274, 30 over the old ABA reporting threshold, but there are nearly always chances to add some statebirds.  And then there was WY where I was at 227, 13 over the ABA threshold.  That put me tantalizingly close to my goal of 15 over the threshold.  The WY stateline was a bit distant but perhaps there were some opportunities for me in the southeastern corner of the state that would be close enough to chase after.

Next it was time to set up eBird Needs Alerts in both states.  Not surprisingly many entries popped up, but CO and WY are big states, so I had to pare it down to counties near the areas where we would be vacationing.  Even just in the nearby counties there were quite a number of possibilities in CO, and several in WY.  But then I had to limit the possibilities even further since my birding time would be restricted generally to just the early mornings before the family was up and about.  With some additional planning I came up with 7 possible targets in CO and 3 in WY.  That would give me some nice potential additions to my CO list, and of course enough to hopefully reach Reportable Plus 15 in WY.  Now if only the birds would cooperate!

The targets for the first morning were right in Fort Collins, the first two being Common Gallinule and Green Heron at the Running Deer Natural Area.  The Gallinule was an extreme rarity for CO, and had been seen for a couple weeks, though most birders reported having to wait quite some time to see the bird when it was visible in a small opening in the cattails.  Plus it didn’t stay in sight for long.  Green Herons were not that unusual, and were spotted apparently while birders were waiting for the Gallinule to appear.  I arrived at the park before sunrise and after a short walk came to the eastern side of the wetlands.  There were multiple acres of dense cattail habitat, with only a couple small openings.  The one where the Gallinule was typically seen looked to be no more than 10 ft by 20 ft in size.  With such a tiny window for the Gallinule to appear in such a large wetlands, no wonder the bird was only being seen sporadically.

I set up my scope focusing on the open water, and in the dim light could see 3 Mallards swimming there.  They must have spotted me, because they soon took off.  And a few seconds later 8 more rose out of that same part of the wetland – though I couldn’t see them before they took off.  Seeing the Gallinune was going to be tough.  I needed to keep a close eye on the small opening in the cattails, but there was nearly constant movement of birds in the area easily diverting my attention.  I spotted 4 species of Swallows flying about, and good numbers of Blackbirds including a few Yellow-headeds were constantly in view.  Plus a calling Virginia Rail was a nice addition.  And in the distance I could see quite a number of waders heading into a nearby wetlands - several Great Blue Herons, a few Great Egrets, and an impressive flock17 Snowy Egrets.  But there were no Green Herons in sight.  But then I heard the characteristic “kearp” call of my target, followed by another call of the same or a different bird a few minutes later (statebird #1).  As shown in my statebird map below I’ve now seen Green Heron in all but 5 western states – not surprisingly the area of the country where they are least likely to be found.

With the Heron out of the way I could really concentrate on the Gallinule.  Despite all the diversions, I kept the binocs trained on the little opening in the cattails as much as I could.  I had been there about an hour when another birder arrived – a gentleman from western CO who still needed this species for his CO statelist.  He confirmed that I was in the right spot - he had tried unsuccessfully for the bird the evening before.  As we compared notes I looked back to the open water and there was the Gallinule swimming right out in the open!  (statebird #2)  It stayed in view for maybe 30 seconds, before swimming to the cattails in the back where it preened for a couple minutes only sometimes showing a portion of its body.  I got this distant phonescoped shot barely showing the orangey red bill and a bit of its dark body as it was tucked into the reeds.

Interestingly, the day I saw this bird was the last day it was reported.  Great to add this bird as a rarity in CO as my 31st state for this species, though I still need it in a number of eastern states where it is regular. 

Next I was off to a couple nearby reservoirs where Caspian Terns had been recently reported – Arapahoe Bend and Kechter Pit.  Caspians are rare migrants through the state, so it was nice to see multiple reports from two reservoirs in Fort Collins as well as a couple other reservoirs to the south.  But the local reports were now 5 days old, so I wasn’t too surprised that I came up empty despite finding a nice collection of Pelicans, Gulls, and shorebirds on the sandbars at the reservoirs.  Still a nice start to the trip – seeing 2 of 3 targets.  And I was still able to get back before breakfast.

The next morning my plan was to head a short distance to the south into Boulder County where Bobolinks and Dickcissels had been reported at several locations.  Both species are reasonably regular in eastern portions of CO, but are not routinely reported too near the Front Range.  In fact, neither species is listed in a 2008 checklist of birds in the Fort Collins area.  One of these locations also included a report of a Red-eyed Vireo, and there were a couple reservoirs in the area with Caspian Tern sightings, giving me 4 potential targets.  I arrived at my first stop a bit before dawn, where a couple reports included both Bobolinks and Dickcissels.  But the hay fields had been cut and my targets were gone.  That was the same way at second stop, and again at my third stop.  It looked like I was about a week too late to find these species that often only barely have enough time to fledge young before the agricultural fields are cut.  That is if they are successful at all.

I had one last area to check along St. Vrain Road that included several recent Bobolink sightings, and as I pulled up I noticed that the grasses in this field looked much more natural than the planted alfalfa fields I had checked out earlier.  And more importantly, the grasses had not been cut.  I got out of my car to listen for the characteristic Bobolink song but with no luck.  After a couple minute wait I spotted a bird flying low over the field – with a quick binoc view I realized it was a male Bobolink (statebird #3).  Then I noticed another in flight, and then several more.  I counted 11 Bobolinks in all, interestingly all flying from the western side of the field to the eastern side of the field.  Nice to see that at least this one field was likely to be a successful breeding site for them this year.

CO was my 37th state for this species.  I still need it in a few western states as a breeder and several south-central states as a migrant.

Since it took me so long to find the Bobolink I didn’t have time to get to the location with the Red-eyed Vireo.  And I had no more local Boulder County spots for Dickcissel.  But I had a couple other possible sites to check in the next couple days for this target so I wasn’t too worried.  And I decided to not try for the Caspians since these sightings were now a few days old, and they were likely long gone.  One new statebird was better than none.

The next day the family went up to Rocky Mountain National Park where I had just 1 possible statebird – Fox Sparrow seen at a couple locations in Endovalley.  I birded those spots a bit but it was mid-afternoon with limited activity.  Though it was fun to watch typical woodland birds like Black-headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, and families of “Audubon’s” Warblers, Mountain Chickadees, and “Gray-headed” Juncos.  But the highlight was watching American Pipits and Brown-capped Rosy Finches eat insects from the snowfields near the Alpine Visitor Center.  I counted 12 Pipits and 2 Rosy Finches in view at once.  Plus a pair of Mountain Bluebirds were feeding nearby – I never can see enough male Mountain Bluebirds!  (Henry David Thoreau said “a bluebird carries the sky on his back”.  I’d imagine he was talking about Eastern Bluebirds, but that’s only because he hadn’t seen the Mountain Bluebird!)

The next day I had some time mid-morning and planned a hike in the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area where there had been a couple recent Dickcissel sightings.  But to no avail, though a singing Blue Grosbeak was nice.  And that afternoon I took a little tour of Lory State Park where Dickcissels had also been reported, but again struck out.  Were these birds no longer singing this late in the summer?

I didn’t have any plans for the next day so I checked the Needs Alerts and noticed Caspian Terns were reported the previous day at yet another nearby reservoir, Timnath Reservoir.  And there was even a report of a flock of 34 Marbled Godwits there, but that was a couple days earlier.  With a bit of research it looked like access would be from the western side of the reservoir.  But it was a large body of water, and it was mentioned that the Terns and the Godwits were on a distant sand spit, so viewing might be a bit tough. 

And then I remembered another potential target – Eastern Screech-Owl.  Something triggered my memory that I had tried for this species unsuccessfully some years ago while on a work trip to Fort Collins.  I pulled up data on eBird, and although there had been no reports in the last month, there were several reports over the last couple years in a couple spots nearby – CSU Environmental Learning Center and the adjacent Prospect Ponds/Owl Woods.  (How could I miss at a spot called Owl Woods?)  So that gave me 2 targets to try for if I could get going early enough.

Luckily I was up and out of the hotel while it was still dark, and I headed over to Owl Woods to try for the Eastern Screech-Owl.  As I stepped out of my car the winds were light, there was a bit of a moon, and it was extremely quiet – ideal conditions to listen for owls.  I walked over to the trees and could hear several coyotes calling off to the north.  Then I played some Screech-Owl tape and quickly got a reply in the general direction of the coyotes.  But wait a second – was I sure it wasn’t the coyotes?  I walked a bit closer and played some more tape and it called again from the northeast while the coyotes continued to call to the north – Eastern Screech-Owl indeed (statebird #4).  Nice to finally add this species to my CO list at the western edge of its range, though I still need it in several eastern and central states in the core of its range.

As I was walking back to my car I heard some rustling in the grass just a few feet off the trail.  Using my weak flashlight it took me a while to figure out what I was looking at – it was a skunk no more than 10 feet away!  Needless to say I made a hasty retreat back to my car at that point.

Next I was off to Timnath Reservoir.  With a bit of searching I found a nice access point on the west side, and could see a distant spit with a number of birds on it.  But the spit was east of me, and soon the sun would rise nearly right behind it.  Needless to say that would make for miserable viewing conditions.  I needed to make my way to the east of the reservoir, but all I could see over there was a very nice new subdivision backing right up to the edge of the water.  Maybe there would be a gap between the houses that would provide a view of the water.

After a short drive I found my way over to the east side of the reservoir, and was wandering through one of the subdivisions.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find any viewing spots – certainly didn’t want any homeowners to get upset with me trespassing.  Then I got to another subdivision and found a small park-like spot with a paved walkway to the water.  Perfect!  The spit was still pretty far away, but not nearly as far as when I was on the west side.  And of course lighting was much better.  One of the first birds I spotted was a Caspian Tern, soon followed by a second bird, luckily not obscured by the much larger White Pelicans (statebird #5).  I “only” need this species in 7 more Lower 48 states to fill in my statebird map.

 

Also on the spit was a nice collection of gulls including several Franklins, and a few Killdeer, but no luck on the Marbled Godwits which were long gone.

Then I turned my attention to the marsh in the foreground there were a number of waders, including this one mixed in with a flock of Snowy Egrets.  Based on the bill coloration it made me think it might be a rare immature Little Blue.

But even this barely passable phonescoped picture showing the legs and feet is good enough to prove the bird was just an immature Snowy.

Later that day the family and I headed up the Poudre River Canyon for some sightseeing.  At the end of the day I was hoping we could make a stop where there had been yet another recent Dickcissel sighting – one last try for this target.  It was a pleasant day so we had the car windows down as he headed toward the canyon.  As we passed an alfalfa field I heard the loud “dick dick cissel cissel” call – recognizable even while driving at 40 mph!  I immediately pulled over and could hear at least 4 Dickcissel’s calling (statebird #6).  Finally!  I had struck out searching for them at several spots where they were reported, but ended up finding them at a new spot on my own.  I guess they were still calling after all.

That gave me 6 new birds for my CO list – putting my total at 280.  Very nice!

And now it was on to WY where my 3 possible targets were Dickcissel (again!), Lesser Goldfinch, and Burrowing Owl.  All 3 targets were near Cheyenne, so I had planned to spend a morning in the area giving them a try.  But as it turned out my time was more limited than expected, especially given the driving time to and from WY.  So I wouldn’t have much if any time to try for Owl.

I arrived pre-dawn at an area south of Cheyenne near the Wyoming Hereford Ranch where Dickcissels had been reported several times recently.  One spot that looked like it might be best was simply mentioned as “Burlington Trail Road”.  With no specific locations given on this pretty long road, I was a bit worried about how much time it might take to find the birds.  I started at the western end of this road driving slowly with my windows down.  In a short distance I came to a fork and unfortunately took the wrong one.  As I stopped to turn the car around a Dickcissel sang nearby!  And then as is often the case, I heard a couple others a few feet away.  I was able to get these phonescoped photos of the first bird illuminated by the rising sun.

I’ve now seen Dickcissel in most all of the central US states in its normal range and several eastern states where it is a rarity.

Next I was off to Steve Campanaro’s house.  Steve had posted that he was having quite a number of Lesser Goldfinches at his feeder and he agreed to have me come by to look for his birds in his backyard.  He had a very nicely landscaped yard, and there were quite a number of birds at his feeders.  It took just about 15 minutes for the first adult male Lesser Goldfinch to arrive – a black-backed bird.  Later a female came to the feeder as well.  Many thanks to Steve for his hospitality!  I got these photos of the male Lesser by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

And here’s a shot of the female.

 

WY was my 10th state for this southwestern species that just barely gets into WY.

Unfortunately I had run out of time and wouldn’t have a chance to try for the Burrowing Owl.  That one would have to wait for a future trip.  But with 2 new birds that gave me 229 for WY – 15 over the old ABA threshold.  WY is now my 43rd state where I’ve reached my goal of Reportable Plus 15.

I ended up with about 110 species for the trip, including the 6 new state birds in CO and 2 more in WY.  A most successful trip despite limited birding time.