Yellow-headed Blackbird, Storrs, CT, January 2019

The last time I was at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs was November 28, 2010 when I successfully chased after a Northern Lapwing - a life bird for me at the time.  The Lapwing was foraging in the fields around Horsebarn Hill.  Little did I know that I would be back to that same spot some 8 years later chasing after another rarity – Yellow-headed Blackbird.  The Blackbird certainly wasn’t a lifer, but it was somewhat of a nemesis bird for me in CT, having chased after this species in CT three times before.

 It all started on New Year’s Day when a post came across that a Yellow-headed Blackbird was found in flock of Starlings and Cowbirds at Horsebarn Hill.  I couldn’t break free that day, nor the next for that matter.  But luckily the bird was re-found multiple times on the 1st and 2nd.  Several posts included location details, and even though my last trip there was more than 8 years ago, I could picture exactly where the Blackbird was being seen.  The bird was seen in flocks of Starlings and Cowbirds, with posted photos showing the birds in pasture grasses which cover many acres throughout this area – the same grasslands that attracted the Lapwing back in 2010.

With morning and late afternoon appointments on the 3rd, I had a 2-hour window to look for the Blackbird in the early afternoon.  I got out of my morning appointment and checked my e-mails for updates – unfortunately there was just one post and it was from a birder asking for updates.  There were no reports of the bird from that morning at all.  Ugh…  But I decided to head to Storrs anyway to give it a try.

As I pulled onto Horsebarn Hill Road I quickly spotted a large flock of Starlings milling around the large red barns on the right side of the road.  Since the posts had mentioned mixed Cowbird/Starling flocks I was hopeful that I wouldn’t have to wade through the many thousands of Starlings at the barns.  But at the edge of the parking lot I saw a small group of Cowbirds foraging in the grass, so I spent a bit of time looking through that flock.  But it was just Cowbirds.  Hopefully the bird was in another flock farther to the east.

I drove a bit farther along the road and noticed a couple birders out in the field.  Maybe they had the Blackbird - “bird the birders” as I always say.  I walked over to them and sure enough they had just seen the target bird in a flock of Cowbirds.  So the Yellow-headed Blackbird was still around, but the Cowbird flock was no longer in the field.  Now we had to re-find the flock. 

With just a bit of scanning I spotted a flock of about 500 Cowbirds a short distance away.  Was this the right flock?  We anxiously looked through the birds as they fed in the field.  But the grasses were quite tall, mostly obscuring the birds as they foraged.  They were almost constantly in motion, so I mostly watched as birds popped out of the grass to move to other parts of the flock.  As the seconds grew into minutes, I flashed back to my previous trips looking for Yellow-headed Blackbird in CT, spending hours poring through blackbird flocks unsuccessfully searching for patches of yellow in a sea of all dark birds.  But just then I did indeed spot a flash of yellow – I finally had the Yellow-headed Blackbird!  I continued to bird the area for the next hour, and although the cowbird flock was in view most of that time, I only re-spotted the Yellow-headed a few times, and only had it in view for perhaps a total of a minute.  You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to spot, but in all fairness this was a female or immature so the yellow was limited and wasn’t that bright.  Plus there was no white in the wings to look for in flight.

I took a few photos of the Cowbird flock with my iPhone, including this one through my windshield from the warmth of my car.

I didn’t realize it until I looked at the photo on my computer, but amazingly I was lucky enough to snap the shot when the Yellow-headed was visible near the right side of the flock.  Here’s a cropped version of the previous photo.

And all of these sightings were within a couple hundred yards from the spot where I had the Lapwing in 2010.

As a side note - a photographer from the Willimantic Chronicle was at the site as well, taking a couple pictures of the blackbird flock as well as the birders - 

http://www.instantimagegallery.com/iig/p/772/12642327?state:cat/Photo=BrO0ABXcgAAAAAgEAByRCb3JkZXIAEG9yaWdpbmFsQ2xpZW50SWRzcgARamF2YS5sYW5nLkludGVnZXIS4qCk94GHOAIAAUkABXZhbHVleHIAEGphdmEubGFuZy5OdW1iZXKGrJUdC5TgiwIAAHhwAAADBHcKAAAHcGhvdG9JZHNxAH4AAADA6BY%3D

My 5 minutes of fame I guess. 

Yellow-headed Blackbird was number 333 for my CT state list.  As shown in my statebird map below, I’ve now seen this species in the east as a rarity in 4 states (FL, CT, MA, and NH), and throughout almost all of its normal range in the central and western US.  The 3 cross-hatched states are the last ones in that regular range (though barely) where I still need this species.

2018 Birding Year in Review

2018 was once again filled with lots of exciting birding, featuring stops in 17 states and 2 provinces over the year.  My longest birding trip was a 11-day trek through Newfoundland, punctuated by finding quite a number of rarities.  Yes my focus in total ticks has evolved to include a lot more birding in Canada.  Back in the states, I continued to make progress toward reaching my “Reportable Plus 15” goal throughout the Lower 48, facilitated by a number of short trips to focus on individual state lists.  And speaking of rarities, I continued to chase after new birds for my New England lists, which are nearly all rarities these days.  That includes 2 days in August which were my best ever 2 consecutive days of birding.  On all my trips I received tremendous help from local birders.  Many thanks to all who gave me great advice!  

First the year by the numbers -

Total Ticks

With 143 ticks in Canada and another 69 ticks in the US in 2018, that increased my total ticks to 14,712.  I’m well on my way to my goal of 15,000 with a manageable 288 to go.  As of January 1st my list continues to be the highest reported on the ABA website – a lead of more than 1,100.

ABA Area Totals

• A total of 8 new ABA lifebirds.  
• Nazca Booby - San Diego Bay, WA
• Blue Bunting - finally on my 5th try over the years - Quinta Mazatlán, TX
• Gray-headed Swamphen - Green Cay Wetlands, FL
• Egyptian Goose - Snook Island Natural Area, FL
• Great Black Hawk - Biddeford, ME
• Bridled Tern - Great Gull Island, NY
• Northwestern Crow - seen in Seattle, WA in 1992 but for some reason I had left it off my Lower 48 list
• Common Shelduck - seen in 2017 and accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee in 2018
• ABA Continental (not including Hawaii) - now at 757
• ABA (including Hawaii) - 760 (my Hawaii list is tiny)
• Lower 48 - 737 (the list I'm proudest of)
• US (including Hawaii) - 758
• Canada - 376

State and Province Birding Totals (see my statebird and province maps below with totals for each state and province) -

• ABA reportable in 46 states plus DC (no additional states in 2018)
• “Reportable Plus 15” in 42 states plus DC (adding NV, WY, and VA in 2018)
• 212 new state birds and province birds.  New ticks in 17 states and 2 provinces.
• 17 new statebirds in New England – 2,072 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 14,712, with 13,222 of those in the U.S.

Now on to some of the key highlights of 2018 -

Newfoundland Total Ticks Trip – June/July

This was the third year in a row where my big “Total Ticks Trip” was to Canada, making an 11-day trip through Newfoundland in June and July – my first ever trip to that province.  As I was putting my plans together to visit this beautiful province, I made two key observations that were somewhat surprising -

• Many of the birds that are regular here in New England don't typically make it as far north as Newfoundland.  And even birds I think of as northern species like Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers are rare in Newfoundland.  But many of these “southern” species will overshoot their regular ranges and are rarities to hope for in Newfoundland - especially in spring and early summer.
• There are few species in general in the area.  While a "Big Day", or even just a full day of birding in New England, will often far exceed 100 species, breaking 100 in Newfoundland in a day is quite unlikely.

After several months of preparations, I planned an 8-day itinerary covering a large portion of Newfoundland (but not Labrador).  And despite all this birding, I expected perhaps just 96 species, though of course I hoped to run into several rarities.  A silver lining to encountering lower number of species was that it would be relatively easy to keep accurate totals of the exact numbers of each species I saw and heard at each location – all to be entered into eBird.

But wait a second – I planned an 8-day trip but ended up with 11 days in Newfoundland.  The difference was an aborted planned side trip to the French islands of St. Pierre et Miguelon.  The plan was to take a ferry to the islands from Newfoundland, giving me 2 days on St. Pierre, plus a short side trip to the island of Langlade.  But there is precious little information about birding in the French territory, few eBird posts (none just prior to my trip), and I was unable to connect with any birders there even to just suggest the best locations to bird while on the island.  So my hope was that I might get 50 species there by just wandering around St. Pierre on my own looking for nice habitat.  Not exactly the best situation.  As a result, I wasn’t too disappointed when my ferry to St. Pierre ended up being canceled.  Though on the negative side it meant passing up on what was likely my only ever opportunity to get any “ticks” in this tiny ABA jurisdiction.  On the positive side, it also meant a couple extra days in Newfoundland.

My initial itinerary included –

• Multiple stops throughout the Avalon Peninsula which is the easternmost portion of the province and the best part of Newfoundland for seabirds. 
• Several days in the southwestern corner of Newfoundland which is the key area for most of the southern species which barely get as far north as Newfoundland as breeders.  Not to mention the best area for hope for those southern rarities.
• Gros Morne National Park with excellent boreal habitat.

And then with additional time with the cancellation of the St. Pierre leg of my trip, I added stops in and around the Terra Nova National Park for additional time in boreal habitat, the seabird nesting colony at Cape St. Mary’s, and additional stops on the Avalon Peninsula.

Before getting to the results of the trip, I want to thank local birders Alvan Buckley and Jared Clarke who provided a lot of general advice, as well as tips to bird a number of my key sites.  Many thanks Alvan and Jared!

My results were absolutely spectacular, literally from my first day to the last few minutes of my time in Newfoundland.  For instance boreal species were key targets, and I was successful with Red Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, Boreal Chickadees, Canada Jays, Spruce Grouse, and Olive-sided Flycatchers.  Though I never found a Black-backed Woodpecker or White-winged Crossbill.

Another key highlight was the amazing seabird nesting colony at Cape St. Mary’s with large numbers of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Thick-billed and Common Murres, and Razorbills.  This spot was not on my original itinerary since it is a bit far to get to, and each species would be feasible elsewhere, but with my extra time resulting from the canceled St. Pierre trip, I was able to spend much of an afternoon there.  I’m sure glad I decided to make a stop here.  Here are some of the many photos I took of the nesting colony.

Elsewhere I also made stops at nesting colonies of Fulmar and Atlantic Puffins to round out the list of nesting pelagic species.

Then there were the rare but regular species in the southwest part of the province.  I was able to catch up with all my targets there, like Great Blue Heron, Veery, Least Flycatcher, Willet, and Blackburnian Warbler.  And I can’t forget seeing multiple Black-headed Gulls at Stephenville Crossing which is likely the only known place in North America where they breed.

Even rarer were a number of unexpected but staked-out rarities including – Northern Parula, Eastern Kingbird, Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Sora, Great Cormorant, Killdeer, and Tufted Duck.  Though several of these hadn’t been reported for a week or two.  I guess there hadn’t been too many birders around since they were found earlier in the spring.

Here are pictures of the Kingbird, Great Cormorant, and Killdeer, the last one by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

And finally there was an amazing total of rarities I found on my own –

• Seabirds – Cory’s Shearwater (though locals wanted me to call it a “Shearwater, sp.”), King Eider, and a Sandwich Tern
• Marshbirds – Virginia Rail and Bobolinks (surprisingly in a cattail marsh instead of a field)
• Landbirds – Black-throated Blue Warbler (2 singing males), another Parula, and a Black-billed Cuckoo

Here are some very distant photos of the Sandwich Tern taken in a driving rain storm.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t include some scenery shots from this beautiful province.  Like these pictures from Gros Morne NP.

And one from atop the Starlite Trail in the Codroy Valley in the southwestern corner of the province.  This is the spot in the province for Least Flycatcher and Veery, both of which I found there.  This is taken from the “Veery overlook” - that's my car in the parking lot far below.

And one of my favorite sightings was my first ever iceberg, visible (but just barely) on the horizon in this picture taken from the northern Newfoundland coast at Anchor Brook.  

Then there are weather-related pictures – first one from the south coast in the fog when visibility was just a few feet.  That day I had hoped to do some seawatches – needless to say, the fog changed my plans that day.

And one day when it snowed quite heavily, requiring plowing of the roads in late June!

The Trip by the Numbers

• 141 total species in Newfoundland, including finding a bunch of rarities, plus multiple stakeouts.  To think I only expected about 96 species.
• Found 95 of the 96 species that I thought were “likely” – amazing!
• 19 warbler species, with the most common being 58 Yellows, 56 Black-and-whites, 44 Northern Waterthrushes, 40 Magnolias, and 40 Black-throated Greens.
• 96 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers – likely more than I’ve ever seen in all my 51 years of birding combined!
• 0 species on St. Pierre as that part of my trip was canceled
• 7 new Canada species – total now at 376
• 4 days with precipitation – often heavy rain, strong winds, very dense fog, and even one day when it snowed heavily.  Often requiring me to change my itinerary to do landbirding when it wasn’t raining (or at least not raining very hard), and birding from the car (often as seawatches) when the conditions were the worst.
• 61.2 miles and 144,600 steps walked (assuming you believe my Fitbit)
• 4,000 kilometers driven (2,500 miles) – at least my rental car was a hybrid getting 5.7 L/100 km (or 41.5 mpg if I did the math right)

Smaller Statebirding Trips

In addition to my big total ticks trip I added birds in 11 states outside of New England and one province, most with short additions to work trips across the country.  That included adding 3 new states to my “Reportable Plus 15” list, while on other trips I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelists, frequently using eBird Needs Alerts as an invaluable tool.  Highlights included –

19 NV Statebirds, Plus 1 in AZ, and a Lifer in CA, February – A rare alignment of work trips in southern CA on consecutive weeks provided me an opportunity for a free birding weekend in the “area”.  I use “area” in quotes since I spent most of the weekend birding in the greater Las Vegas area to fill gaps in my NV statelist.  Though my first stop was in San Diego to successfully tick off Nazca Booby as a lifebird, finding 2 of the long-staying birds in San Diego Bay.  What was most gratifying was finding the first bird at a distance of 1.25 miles in the pre-dawn light.

In NV, I planned a detailed itinerary chasing 24 possible targets, expecting to add perhaps 10 or 11 new birds to my statelist.  Prior to the trip I was 8 over the old ABA threshold, so I hoped this trip would safely get me to Reportable Plus 15.  I ended up with an amazing 19 new birds for my list, and 142 species on the trip.  And quite a number were rarities with 11 of the eBird NV “Rarity” sightings at the time being my birds.  

One of the highlights was seeing three rarities all sitting within a few feet of each other on a jetty in Lake Mead – I found a first-year Thayer’s (Iceland) Gull, and re-found a long-staying Neotropic Cormorant and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  

Here are a few photos some of my other new NV statebirds - 

Eurasian Wigeon in flock of Americans

Ferruginous Hawk

Curve-billed Thrasher in the distance

And for good measure, I was able to add these Surf Scoters above the Davis Dam on Lake Mead just barely in AZ waters.  

My NV statelist now stands at 269 which is obviously way above the old ABA reportable threshold of 242.  So no need to come back to bird in NV, that is unless I’m searching for a Himalayan Snowcock…

Two Lifebirds and Three Other Statebirds in South Florida, April.  It’s been quite a number of years since the ABA added Gray-headed Swamphen and Egyptian Goose to the ABA list.  And although I had seen both species in south FL about 10 years ago, that was before they were deemed to be countable by the ABA with viable populations, so I had never added them to my list.  Needless to say when a vacation to visit FL relatives came up in April, I added a couple extra days in the southeast portion of the state to try for these two lifebird targets.  It turned out that both were relatively easy.  For the Swamphen I chose Green Cay Wetlands and Nature Center southwest of West Palm Beach as my best option.  I ended up with 5 Swamphens there, and although they were outnumbered by 30 Common and 3 Purple Gallinules, they really stood out.  Here’s a photo of a most cooperative bird.

As for Egyptian Goose, research on eBird suggested there was a pair in most every park or golf course in the area that included a freshwater pond.  But most locations had just a few sightings, and never more than a couple birds.  The key exception was Snook Island Natural Area and the adjacent golf course where there were several eBird reports including a family group with multiple goslings, so this seemed to be my best opportunity.  It took a little while, but I eventually found these 2 Egyptian Geese preening right in front of me. 

At other stops on the trip I added Yellow-headed Blackbird, Nelson’s Sparrow, and found a rare Cerulean Warbler as additions to my FL statelist, which now stands at 319.

Six Statebirds in Colorado and Two in Wyoming to Reach “Reportable Plus 15”, July.  A summer family vacation to the greater Denver area provided me a nice opportunity to fill some gaps in my CO statelist.  I came up with a realistic list of 7 possible targets, and interestingly all were birds primarily from the east, most barely reaching CO.  I was lucky enough to find 6 of these targets, including a stakeout but difficult-to-locate Common Gallinule.  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.  You can probably see why it was so tough to locate this rarity.

Interestingly, the day I saw this bird was the last day it was reported.  I ended the trip with a CO statelist of 280.

In WY I was 2 species shy of Reportable Plus 15, so I was happy to come up with 3 possible targets in the southeastern part of the state just across the line from CO.  Luckily I added exactly 2 birds – Dickcissel and Lesser Goldfinch – making WY my 43rd state reaching Reportable Plus 15.  

Six Statebird Additions in Texas, Multiple Short Trips – Work took me to Houston most every month of the year, providing multiple opportunities for short side-trips to try to add a target or two nearby.  I was able to squeeze in stops to add 6 new birds to my statelist, bringing my TX list to 445.

• Glaucous Gull, Gannet, and Yellow Rail on Galveston Island in March
• Blue Bunting (lifebird) and Allen’s Hummingbird in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in February.  The Bunting was perhaps my greatest nemesis bird anywhere in the US, after 4 unsuccessful searches for this species, going back to literally my first trip to the Valley in 1985 (33 years ago – yikes!)
• Ferruginous Hawk at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR in February
• Plus a non-countable Red-vented Bulbul in Houston in September

Best Ever 2 Days of Birding, August – An amazing number of extreme rarities were found across New England in mid August.  Despite a large carbon footprint, I found all four first state records (2 in NH, 1 in ME, and 1 in RI) over a 2-day period.  And for good measure, I was able to get a boat out to Great Gull Island, NY in Long Island Sound to finally see the Bridled Tern as a lifebird, after 2 unsuccessful boat trips to look for this bird in CT waters in 2017.  A few details on these “Best Ever 2 Days of Birding” - 

Day 1 -

• Great Black Hawk, Biddeford ME.  2nd ABA record, 1st record for New England,1st record for ME
• Neotropic Cormorant, Gorham, NH.  1st record for New England, 1st record for NH
• Wood Stork, Rochester, NH.  1st accepted record for NH

Day 2 -

• Little Egret, Westerly, RI.  1st record for RI
• Bridled Tern (life bird), Great Gull Island, NY.

Here are photos of the Hawk, Cormorant, Stork, and Tern.  Unfortunately the Egret wasn't as cooperative.

  

New England Birding

Even though I reached my goal of 2,000 total ticks in New England 3 years ago, I continue to spend a lot of time chasing after rarities in the 6 New England states.  In 2018 I was successful in seeing 16 new birds, including the Great Black Hawk in Biddeford, ME as a lifebird.  I also added Common Shelduck to my NH and life lists, seen in NH in 2017 and accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee in 2018. 

Key highlights in addition to those during my “Best Ever 2 Days of Birding” (summarized above) were –

• Blue Grosbeak found on my own in Brattleboro, VT – only the 8th state record
• Roseate Spoonbill at Milford Point, CT – first state record (I didn’t chase after this same individual in Maine when it was a 5-hour drive northeast of me)
• Evening Grosbeak in Exeter, RI – a bit of a milestone as the 250th species I’ve seen in each of the 6 New England states

That’s 2 years in a row when I saw just 16 new species in New England.  This continues my downward trend starting in 2017 - from 1999 to 2016 I averaged 31 new ticks per year.  I guess I’m a victim of my own success. 

2019 and Beyond

I’m continuing to work on my 2 big goals – 15,000 Total Ticks, and Reportable Plus 15 throughout the Lower 48 states.  Reaching the latter goal would include being reportable in my last 2 remaining Lower 48 states (MT and OR).  Here’s a possible path to reach all these goals-

• Lower 48 Reportable Plus 15 - I only have 6 states left in the Lower 48 where I haven’t reached Reportable Plus 15.  Reaching that goal in each of those states would add 109 ticks (I only need an average of 18 birds per state). 
• Hawaii – now that Hawaii is part of the ABA, even a short tourist-related trip could add 33 ticks to increase my state total to 40.
• New England – I think I can realistically get at least 12 new ticks per year.
• Canada – with a bit of work I could get to 125 each in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

If I could reach all these milestones, likely over the next 3 or 4 years, that would give me 340 new ticks, or 15,052 total ticks.  Not to mention I’ll undoubtedly add a few additional ticks here and there.  All in all quite feasible with a little travel.

That would require only about 4 or 5 trips to reach most all of these goals –

• Eastern OR and southern ID,
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID,
• Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba along with North Dakota (or is that 2 trips?)
• Hawaii – even with just a bit of birding during a trip focused on tourism.

And for 2019?  As of now I have no specific plans for trips in the new year.  Having recently become unemployed (or is it retired?), I no longer have business trips around which to plan statebirding adventures.  But if this truly is retirement, that gives me more time to chase rarities, whether locally or in some distant state or province.  And maybe retiring to a different part of the country could be in the cards – perhaps to the mountains of western NC or maybe CO.  I would dearly miss my New England friends, not to mention New England birding.  But I would look forward to having an opportunity to beef up my statelists in another part of the country.  And then there’s my interest in starting my own bird guiding company which I’ve contemplated for years.

Lots of options.  An exciting time ahead…