Eastern Road Trip Nets Three Rare Nesters for the Carolinas, May 17, 2020

In February I noticed an eBird report of a Barn Owl to my east in Lattimore, NC.  That’s one I need for my NC list, so at first I was disappointed that the specific location for the bird was not provided.  But then again it’s best not to include locations of roosting or nesting owls to protect them from too much harassment.  Then in early Spring I met birder Bill Hooker from Cleveland County who had mentioned he had stakeout locations for Barn Owls.  Lo and behold he was the eBirder that reported one back in February.  He invited me to come visit one day to give it a try, though he stressed that perhaps I had just a 50/50 chance to see the Owls on any trip. 

I decided I’d wait until the Spring migration season was over to make the road trip to look for the Barn Owls.  So as migration was winding down I started to make my plans to visit Bill.  And while monitoring eBird I noticed reports of two rare breeders just a short distance southeast of me in the Upstate of SC – Dickcissel, and no less than 2 pairs of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  Perhaps I could make it into one longer trip, first into SC then a bit farther east into Cleveland County, NC.  But wait there’s more…  Two days before my trip a Wilson’s Warbler was spotted by my SC birding friend Michael Robertson in Greenville, SC, close to the Dickcissel and Flycatcher locations.  The Wilson’s was re-spotted the day before my trip, so now I had 4 targets.  The plan was to start with the Wilson’s, then off to try for the Dickcissels, then on to 1 or both Flycatcher spots, and then finally try for the Owls in the afternoon.

The Wilson’s Warbler was seen at a small hotspot in the Greenville suburbs called the Parkway Retention Pond.  Not only did it of course include a retention pond but also a trail at the edge of brushy woods along the back edge which is where the Wilson’s had been spotted.  Actually based on eBird photos it looked like there were at least 2 birds – both a female and a male had been photographed there.  I arrived by 7:30 and started slowly walking along the short trail.  The spot was rather birdy, but I could find no warblers at all.  It was now 9 AM which was my planned departure time, but it was tough to leave my first target of the day after an unsuccessful search.  I wanted to have enough time for my other targets, but what if I ended up getting the others quickly?  I would end up kicking myself for not having spent enough time trying for the Wilson’s.  However, given that the retention pond was pretty small, I felt like I had covered it quite well even in just 90 minutes.  So I stuck with my original plans and left at 9 AM.  It turns out that the Wilson’s were not re-found; I guess I made the right decision to not extend my search for the Warblers.

The next targets were the Dickcissels.  Per the National Geographic Field Guide, Dickcissels are “irregular east of the Appalachians; occasional breeding is reported outside mapped range.”  That was certainly the case in the Upstate of SC where Dickcissels were recent breeders in several locations.  There were several reports of likely breeding birds down in Anderson County, but the closest reliable location (just 15 minutes from the retention pond) appeared to be on Snow Mill Drive in Woodruff, with eBird reports dating back to 2018.  After the short drive I was now really close to Snow Mill, and as I pulled up to a stop sign I heard the characteristic song of the Dickcissel.  (Of course I was driving with my windows open listening for birdsong!)  But wait – I wasn’t at Snow Mill Drive yet.  I parked safely and looked at the map – I was still a quarter mile from Snow Mill.  I got out and walked toward the singing bird, nicely perched in a small roadside tree adjacent to a hayfield.  I got this barely passable photo holding my phone up to my binocs.  

As I tried for a better photo another bird flew into that same tree – it was a female Dickcissel.  And then I heard a second Dickcissel singing a short distance away.  Nice to find a new location for Dickcissel, though there was one reported from this location back in 2018 by another of my SC birding friends Gary Harbour.

Then again perhaps the Snow Mill birds had relocated to this spot.  After a quick “high-five” I drove a short distance to Snow Mill and almost instantly heard a Dickcissel there as well.  I only spent a few minutes here, but heard at least 2 singing males.  I also heard Bobwhites here – a bird I haven’t heard in years as they have become extirpated in New England (where I’ve done much of my birding recently) and their numbers have dropped dramatically even in more southern locations.  I also had a Bobolink here which is not supposed to be breeding this far south.  Perhaps it was a last holdout from a large likely migrating flock that was reported here recently.  And along with typical grassland birds like 8 Grasshopper Sparrows, 2 Meadowlarks, and 2 Blue Grosbeaks, it was a great stop!

Dickcissel was #266 for my SC statelist.  In my statebird map below, the blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Dickcissel in its regular range; the cross-hatched states are those where I still need this species.  The tan-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species as a rarity, at least based on Sibley’s range maps.  Those maps indicate that Dickcissel is a regular winterer on the Mid-Atlantic coast, but a rarity in a number of others in the east and northeast.  Though some might argue that Dickcissel is regular in many of these locations, including SC.

With Dickcissel nicely checked-off, it was time to try for Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  Amazingly there were not 1 but 2 pairs of Scissor-tails in northwestern SC this year.  Plus 4 birds likely nesting near Rock Hill.  One pair in Cherokee County to the east had already started nesting in the same location where nesting occurred last year.  A second closer pair was more recently discovered in Spartanburg County along Thompson Creek Drive near the town of Boiling Springs, though many eBirders commented on having just brief views of the bird(s).  Although this was a new location, last year they nested just a short distance away, so perhaps this was the same pair returning to the general area.  The Cherokee County birds were likely more reliable since a nest had been located.  But then again, that was on private property and viewing was apparently from a considerable distance.  Since I was now ahead of schedule I figured I could first try for the closer albeit perhaps less reliable birds, and then if I struck out there, I could try for the more eastern birds.  And both stops would require just short side-trips in route to Lattimore, NC to try for the Barn Owls.

After a short drive I pulled onto Thompson Creek Drive and quickly located the single house on the road - a couple posts mentioned the Flycatchers were perching on wires opposite that house.  I stopped a short distance away so as not to disturb any birds that might be near the house.  And with a quick binocular view there was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on the wires opposite the house, just as described in recent posts.  And perhaps just a minute later the bird flew to tall trees surrounding the house and disappeared.  I was hoping for better views, so I drove to the other side of the house and started to search from there.  I noticed some movement in the field to the west and spotted both Flycatchers flying to and from the treelines.  And then watched the birds fly to the cell tower and the chain-link fence surrounding the tower.  They would often go to the same area part-way up the tower – wonder if that might become a future nesting site.  I got these phonescoped photos of one of the birds on two of its favorite perches.

And while watching the Flycatchers this Grasshopper Sparrow perched up most cooperatively.

I texted Michael Robertson about my success with my last 2 targets, and he responded with a quote from Meat Loaf – “two out of three ain’t bad”.  So true, especially since the Wilson’s Warbler was a long shot at best.

In my statebird map below I’ve seen Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in all its regular south-central breeding states, and less common wintering state of FL, plus now 5 eastern states as a rarity. 

Now with Scissor-tailed Flycatcher added to my SC stateliest as #267, I didn’t need to look for the pair in Cherokee County.  So it was off to meet up with Bill Hooker and his wife Anita to try for their Barn Owls.  After crossing the stateline into NC and driving through similar agricultural areas I couldn’t help but wonder why there were no breeding Dickcissels and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers nearby in my home state.  The nearest Dickcissels were east of Charlotte nearly 2 hours away.  And there were no Scissor-tails, at all.  Though after my trip, on May 23rd, there was a tantalizing report of a flyby bird in Cleveland County.  Hmmm…

Just after lunchtime I met up with Bill and Anita in “downtown” Lattimore.  They described how they had found Barn Owls for a number of years in various former agricultural buildings scattered throughout the area.  Though they once again stressed that the birds might only be found on half their trips.  We hopped in our cars and I followed them to our first stop west of Lattimore.  We pulled up to an old building where a couple months ago a birder was able to find many fresh owl pellets though no birds.  We walked slowly around the perimeter, trying to peer into any opening we could find, but didn’t happen on any Owls.  Nor did we find any fresh pellets.  Perhaps the Owls were no longer using this building to roost.

Next we headed off to the north near Polkville to another former agricultural building.  A birder had recently found 2 Barn Owls at this location so we were hopeful.  First we sized up the building – seeing a couple likely openings where Owls might come and go.  Then we poked our heads into one open window without any luck.  We continued around the side of the building and noticed a pair of doors that could be opened.  So I headed over to start to slide one of the doors open.  Just then Bill yelled that he had an Owl flying away from the building.  We all quickly looked over and there was a Barn Owl flying from the building to the nearby trees.  And just after it landed a second Owl flew from one nearby tree to another tree – that one must has flown from the building a bit earlier and we hadn’t noticed it.  I wouldn’t have seen the birds at all if I had been there on my own.  Thanks Bill and Anita for all your help!

Barn Owl was #296 for my NC list.  And NC is my 25th state for this quite common species, though often a challenging one to locate.

If Meat Loaf thought that “two out of three ain’t bad”, then three out of four must be pretty darn good!

Four Statebirds in Louisiana, Reportable Plus 15, September, 2014

The old ABA state reporting thresholds were calculated as half the total number of species ever recorded in that state.  Those thresholds would slowly inch up over time as new birds were added to statelists.  At least the thresholds used to increase, since the ABA no longer publishes these thresholds.  As a result, to stay comfortably over what would be newly calculated thresholds, I’ve revised my statelisting goals to be at least 15 over the old thresholds.  In other words, as long as less than 30 new birds are added to a given state’s list, my “Reportable Plus 15” goal would keep me above newly calculated thresholds. 

My LA statelist has been over the old ABA reporting threshold for some time, but was only 11 birds over the old threshold.  That meant I needed 4 more to reach my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  My biggest opportunities for new statebirds in LA are migrant passerines and freshwater shorebirds, so a short trip in spring or fall migration could be pretty fruitful.  I had been thinking about a migrant trip in LA for some time, but had never gotten around to it.  Then with a business trip to Houston coming up in September, I decided to add a vacation day and do some birding in southwestern LA, one of my favorite birding areas, in hopes of finally getting some nice migrants.  I contacted my LA birding friend Marty Guidry who knows that part of the state like the back of his hand, and he came up with an itinerary to hit a number of passerine and shorebird hotspots.  Better than that, Marty was available to join me and show me around.

The day was forecasted to be hot and humid, so I was mentally prepared for the 75 degree dewpoint when I stepped out of my hotel room pre-dawn that morning.  What I wasn’t prepared for was the horde of biting insects at our first stop at Sabine NWR.  Although the DEET kept the mosquitoes from biting it had no effect on the deer flies.  We had hoped for Black-bellied Whistling Ducks at this dawn stop, but after just a few minutes we decided to head to our next spot and hopefully less bugs. 

Next we headed to the coast to check out a recent report of two of my targets, Barn Owl and Chuck-will’s-widow, in a patch of woods.  But the directions were not very specific, so we checked out a couple spots before stopping at a homestead surrounded by live oaks.  As we pulled up we flushed a large owl, which got us excited initially, but just turned out to be a Great Horned.  A few seconds later I noticed some movement in the trees and found a female Wilson’s Warbler – statebird #1.  Our first migrant passerine was a new statebird.  If only it continued to be that easy the rest of the day.

In my statebird map for Wilson’s Warbler I’ve seen it throughout the west, but in far fewer states in the east and especially in the southeast where it is less common.

Next stop was Peveto Woods which is well known as a migrant hotspot.  As we got out of the car we were instantly attacked by a swarm of deer flies.  Then the mosquitoes found us.  We could have probably coped with all the biting flies if we were seeing a good number of birds, but instead the woods were dead.  We had exactly 2 migrants – a Redstart and a Magnolia Warbler.  Although we might have found something else if we decided to stay longer, once again the flies caused us to retreat to the car after a short stop.

Our next several stops were along the coast at the southwest corner of the state to try for migrant shorebirds and maybe some passerines.  However, we were not successful on either accord.  The highlight though was an aerial display of a Caracara and Peregrine Falcon chasing each other low over the trees. 

It was almost lunch time and my new statebird total was stuck at a disappointing 1.  After a quick burger, we headed to East Jetty Beach in Cameron to try for Snowy Plover.  There were quite a number of shorebirds, terns, gulls and pelicans on the beach to scan through.  Eventually I found 1 very distant very pale plover that Marty and I both felt was a Snowy.  Statebird #2.  I’ve now seen Snowy Plover in most of its regular coastal states (just missing it in MS), and also in 6 states where it is an inland nester.

 

Marty then took me to several more islands of woods where he’s had good number of passerine migrants in the past.  But we kept striking out on the migrants.  At least the flies weren’t a problem anymore.  At one spot we were walking through the woods a short distance apart and I heard an odd sound of something flying overhead towards where Marty was.  I didn’t see it through the tree canopy, but it sort of sounded like muffled bird’s wings.  A few seconds later Marty yelled over that he just had a Barn Owl fly in, and then fly back my way.  Again I didn’t see the bird – ugh – missed it a second time.  But soon we heard several Blue Jays calling loudly nearby.  Thinking that maybe they were attacking the owl, we tracked down the Jays and sure enough there was the Barn Owl.  Statebird #3.  My statebird map for Barn Owl is really spotty – I’ve mostly only found this species when a local birder knows of a stakeout location.

Our last stop was back at the Wetland Walkway at Sabine NWR, where the flies had been so bad at dawn.  This time they were bearable, and we made a quick loop around the walkway.  As we neared the wooden observation platform I noticed a flycatcher fly up to the railing – a male Vermilion Flycatcher!  A very nice bird, and certainly the rarest thing we saw all day, but I didn’t need it for LA.  We scanned the open water for whistling ducks but with no success.  As we continued around the loop I tried playing some tape for Virginia Rail, another of my targets, whenever we got near patches of cattails.  Several times I got responses from King Rails giving their slow and low pitched grunt calls.  And then finally I heard two responses that were faster and higher – Virginia Rails.  Statebird #4.  I’ve had this common marsh bird in most states, but still have some gaps to fill in the eastern US.

With 4 new statebirds that gives me 251 in LA and puts me 15 over the old ABA threshold for LA – Reportable Plus 15!  LA is my 32^nd state with at least 15 over threshold, and have 13 more that are at least at the threshold though not 15 over.  With a little research I found that the LA statelist as of March 2014was 479.  That would yield a threshold of 239.5, up from 236 in the last ABA report in 2010.  That means I’m 11 ½ over what would be the present threshold.  So I’m safe until there are 23 new birds added to the LA statelist.

Reportable in Nevada – But only Barely – With Trip to Reno/Carson City, August 2014

Before we get to the successful trip to NV, a little background on the reason for my trip is in order.  For many years I’ve had a goal of being ABA reportable in each of the Lower 48 states plus DC.  Recently the ABA stopped publishing those thresholds, which had been defined as half the number of species ever seen in that state.  But since the thresholds would slowly increase as new species are added to the statelist, I’ve decided to revise that goal somewhat to be 15 over the last ABA published threshold.  That buffer should keep me safely above the “half the state list total” for many years.  I’m now rapidly closing in on those goals, with just 5 states below the old threshold, and 11 more reportable but less than 15 over the threshold. 

Now onto NV - NV is one of my 5 states below threshold (just 11 below), and for some time I’ve been thinking about a trip to the northeastern part of the state to try for the Himalayan Snowcock as a lifebird.  Plus there would be quite a number of other possible statebirds for me in that part of the state.  But would a trip to that area be enough to not only add the 11 birds I need to reach the old threshold, but also the buffer of 15 more?  I spent a little time on eBird and with range maps and realized that getting 26 new statebirds in one short trip to the northeast corner would be unlikely.  So to put together a plan to efficiently get 26 new birds in NV, I developed lists of possible targets for each key part of the state (southern NV near Las Vegas, western NV near Reno and Carson City, and of course northeastern NV), and for each season (winter, summer, and migration).  There were possible targets in each region and each season, but the fewest were near Las Vegas.  And there were a number in Reno/Carson City not likely in the northeast corner.  So I concluded that I would need a trip to the Reno/Carson City area in addition to an eventual trip to the northeast to reach my goal.

With an upcoming trip to the San Francisco area in August I started to wonder if a short side trip to the Reno/Carson City area could be a worthwhile addition.  The key feature of this area is a thin sliver of the Sierras and the only part of the state to try for a number of high mountain species.  Plus there could be a number of shorebirds I could try for near peak shorebird migration time.  I checked my lists and figured I could get 7 or 8 new statebirds with a day of birding in that part of the state.  So now with a possible critical mass, I decided to put a plan together.  I had birded Reno/Carson City in May 2012, and had connected with a couple excellent birders there.  In preparing for this trip I re-contacted one local birder, Rob Lowry, who gave me some great advice and offered to go with me to try for 3 of my targets – Rufous Hummingbird, Barn Owl, and Poorwill. 

With a midday arrival at SFO, and after a 4 hour drive, I finally arrived in the Lake Tahoe area a little before dinner time.  My first stop was at Van Sickle Bi-State Park which truly is partly in CA and partly in NV.  It was critical to know where the stateline was since my key target there, Pileated Woodpecker, had been reported from an area very close to the stateline.  I arrived between thunderstorms, and spent some time in and around the Pileated area.  Despite no luck with the target bird, there were a number of other woodpeckers including Red-naped Sapsucker and Hairy’s.  Then I noticed a pair of woodpeckers in the distance which were juvenile Williamson’s Sapsuckers – another of my targets.  But which state were they in?  I checked my map and GPS location, and realized they were in NV but only by about 20 yards – statebird #1.  NV was my 9^th state for this species.

I wanted to bird the area longer, but a succession of thunderstorms complete with hail made me retreat back to the safety of my car.  After about 30 minutes I decided to head east out of the mountains to get away from the storms, and made my way to the riparian area of Carson Valley.  One of my targets there was Sandhill Crane, which is a regular migrant but rare nester.  With just 1-2 pairs in a large area, it would be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search.  But on my first stop to scan a pasture area I spotted a pair in the distance - #2.  A short distance ahead I came upon a flooded field and stopped to check for shorebirds.  Although there were no shorebirds I spotted a hawk perched on a nearby post which at first glance looked like a young Red-shouldered Hawk.  Not one on my radar screen, I checked the field guide to be sure, and it was indeed a Red-shoulder (#3).  I would end up seeing another immature and an adult Red-shoulder in the area the next day, not bad for a species that is a rare nester in the area.  My statebird map pretty well matches the range for this species (with the exception of the gap in IA). 

 

Now I was on to Rob Lowry’s house to team up with him to try for Poorwill and Barn Owl.  But first there was a stop to check his feeders which were loaded with migrant Rufous Hummingbirds (#4).  Then we were off to Brunswick Canyon Road through the desert foothills.  Although our trip was delayed a bit by a flat tire, we heard 2 Poorwills at dusk and then saw 11 more in the road on the way back to town (#5).  Easily the most Poorwills I’ve seen and heard in a day.  And then we went on to what was supposed to be the last stop at Carson River Park for the stakeout Barn Owls that had nested there.  But a spotlight on the favorite perch of the last remaining juvenile bird to leave the nest came up empty – though it was there the day before!  We spent a bit more time scanning the nearby fields but with no luck.  As we drove back to town, Rob thought we might try one more spot where Barn Owls had been in the past.  We played some tape and a bird flew right in (#6).  I’ve never tried to use tapes to attract Barn Owls before – I’ve got to give that a try in the future to fill in some of the gaps in my statebird map.

Six statebirds in just a couple hours birding was a great way to start the trip.  And with just 5 to reach reportable, I was hopeful that I could reach threshold the next day.  But Rob mentioned that recent stops at the best shorebird spots had been very slow, so it certainly wouldn’t be a given to get 5 more on day 2.

I started the second day at dawn high in the mountains at Tahoe Meadows with hopes for a number of montane targets.  Although I didn’t add any statebirds there, birding was excellent, starting with at least 100 Clark’s Nutcrackers flying high overhead in small groups, all heading north.  There were also resident White-breasted Nuthatches which someday could be a new species - “Slender-billed” Nuthatch.  Other notables were White-headed Woodpeckers, numerous Cassin’s Finches, Western Pewees, Steller’s Jays, Audubon’s Warblers, etc. 

Next stop was at the Chimney Beach area on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe.  Rob had given me micro-directions for Pacific Wren which were perfect – I had two quick glimpses of this skulker along a willow-lined streambed (#7).  And while walking back to the car I heard a loud woodpecker in the distance – a Pileated (#8).  I would hear Pileated calls 4 more times in the next 5 minutes.  This was a great stop for these two species which only nest in this very isolated location in NV.  It’s also interesting to look at the range of the Pileated Woodpecker which closely matches my statebird map – regular throughout the east and in the Sierras and other far west mountains but not in the Rockies.

Then I was back into Carson Valley to try for American Bittern that had been reported several times recently on eBird.  But a long, hot walk along the river at River Fork Ranch came up empty.  Nor did I find Golden Eagle which is a regular in the area, though there were numerous raptors in site throughout my walk.  During this stop Rob called me to say that Washoe Lake, one of my planned shorebirds spots, had none of my targets.  At least that would save me some time, though I had sure hoped to get something there.

So the next stop was the south end of Pyramid Lake in the desert to the northeast, where the Truckee River empties into this large body of water.  On my 90-minute drive to the lake I kept tabs on very threatening clouds to my south and west.  And when they broke in on the radio to announce a severe thunderstorm warning for a storm to my immediate south and heading my way, it certainly piqued my attention.  When I finally arrived at the lake the storms were only a short distance away, and they had picked up very strong southerly winds that were sand blasting me as I got out of the car.  I was surprised to run into another birder who was leaving just as I arrived.  He said it was slow, but mentioned Red-necked Phalaropes, Snowy Plovers, and Baird’s Sandpipers – all 3 were on my target list.  So although that was not as good as I had hoped, those 3 would at least put me at the magic reportable threshold.  So I figured I needed to find all 3 of them quickly and get back to the car before the storms arrived.

Looking down from the parking lot to the south end of the lake revealed an impressive picture of dozens of acres of salt flats, extensive muddy shoreline, and many acres of shallow lake water – a classic Great Basin lake. 

 

South end of Pyramid Lake looking north - check out the impending storm!

Luckily the wind was at my back as I stared out to the lake, because looking into the wind would have been next to impossible.  A quick binocular scan showed that the shoreline and shallow lake were full of Canada Geese and waders, and there were small groups of shorebirds moving along the extensive mudflats.  But with so many acres to scope, and the storm on the doorstep, where do I start?  I made the quick walk to the lake level and first keyed in on a large flock of birds bouncing around on the water thinking they might be Phalaropes – but instead they were Coots.  Next I decided to scope the shoreline and soon noticed a group of 5 Phalaropes just offshore.  I first wrote them off as Wilson’s (distant birds, scope bouncing in the wind, etc.), but when I spotted a group of 3 Wilson’s a few seconds later, I went back to the first flock and realized they were Red-necked (#9).  I continued to scan the beach and kept seeing small flocks of shorebirds but most were in constant movement as if they were being spooked by a falcon.  One small group I keyed in on were peeps that I thought could have been Baird’s.  As they kept flying along the flats one eventually left the flock and landed a short distance away – it was indeed a Baird’s (#10).  Some western gaps on my statebird map are bit surprising for this bird that is especially found in the central and western states.

Now I needed to find Snowy Plovers, and turned my attention to the salt flats where it took me less than a minute to find several adult and juvenile Snowy’s running along the flats (#11).  In less than 10 minutes I had my 3 likely targets.  With no rain or thunder yet, I spent a few more minutes scanning the area, and found good numbers of dark Ibises (presumably White-faced), some Snowy Egrets, fair numbers of Avocets and Stilts, a scattering of peeps and Long-billed Dowitchers, and 3 Caspian Terns.  And rather than continuing to take my chances with the impending storm, I high-tailed it back to the car and considered it a successful stop.  Just a couple minutes’ later I encountered torrential rains that undoubtedly caused flash flooding in the area – I got out just in time. 

That gave me 242 for NV – the old ABA reportable threshold.  NV is my 45^th state at or above the threshold.  And 7 of my 11 new statebirds are not likely in the northeast part of the state, so I hope that a summer trip there will not only yield the Snowcock but also 14 other statebirds to reach my goal of 15 over the threshold.

With a bit of research I found that the official NV list as of 12/27/13 was at 492.  So if the ABA was still publishing thresholds at half the state total, the present threshold would be 246.  Although not surprisingly higher than the old threshold, it’s still well below my somewhat arbitrary buffer of 15 over the threshold at 257.  So my modified goal looks like a safe goal for some time to come.