Three Opportunistic Chases Nets Two Statebirds in Knoxville, TN, March 7-8, 2023

My wife and I scheduled a trip to Knoxville, TN in early March 2023 to take our dog to the University of Tennessee Veterinary School for some testing.  If we had spare time, that could present some statebird opportunities in a part of the state I don’t often get to.  Though at best my time would be limited, so the targets would likely need to be nearby.  I started to watch the eBird Needs Alerts during the week leading up to the trip but initially came up with no nearby targets.  But then the day before we left a report came in of a Tundra Swan in a small impoundment at a treatment plant a short distance east of Knoxville.  It was about 10 minutes off our route to and from Knoxville, so it was one to try for likely on the way home.  At least that gave me one to look forward to.  Assuming the Swan stuck around, that is.

We made the drive to Knoxville on the 6th, and that evening I re-checked my Needs Alert.  The Tundra Swan was still around, so that was good news.  And even better, two more of my “Needs” were reported that day no more than 15 minutes away – a Red-necked Grebe and a Black Scoter, both on Fort Loudoun Lake.  It sounded like I would have some free time in the middle of the day on the 7th, so it would be feasible to chase after both birds.  Suddenly I was up to 3 statebird possibilities. 

It turned out that I had about 2 hours of free time in the early afternoon of the 7th, which was perfect to bird nearby Loudoun Lake.  I first went to the boat ramp at Concord Park where the Red-necked Grebe had been spotted the previous day.  Comments from that sighting noted that the bird was with Pied-billed Grebes generally on the far southern part of the lake.  Unfortunately looking to the south meant looking into the sun that time of day, and my initial scans came up with just a couple Cormorants in the difficult lighting conditions.

Then I panned more to the southeast in somewhat better lighting and picked out a few Pied-billed Grebes in the distance.  Had I found the correct spot?  Sure enough a few seconds later I spotted the much larger Red-necked Grebe loosely associating with the Pied-bills.  The large yellow bill and longer neck were clinching field marks.  I tried some distant digiscoped photos but each time I got everything lined up the bird dove.  Here’s a picture of the reservoir with the Grebes about 2,000 ft out.

My statebird map for Red-necked Grebe is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 4 cross-hatched states are those in its normal range where I’ve yet to see it.  And the brown-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity – several southeastern states as a wintering bird, and 2 central states as a rare breeder.

Luckily it only took a few minutes to get the Grebe, so I quickly headed to nearby Carl Cowen Park where the female Black Scoter had been reported the previous day.  The bird was swimming in a distant tight flock of 35 diving ducks, so I figured my best shot at finding the Scoter was to look for that flock of divers.  Unfortunately, once again I was looking to the south into the sun – ugh.  Amazingly I almost instantly found a flock of divers – did I have the flock?  But like the Grebes, they were nearly a half mile away.  I counted 47 birds, and watched the flock for at least 45 minutes.  Unfortunately, not only could I not pick out the Scoter, I couldn’t even be sure of the IDs of the other ducks (though I assumed they were Ring-necks, Scaup and/or Redheads).  I bet I had the Scoter in view, but the flock was just too far away and lighting was so bad that I couldn’t be sure.  That was frustrating.

After getting negative results on our dog’s tests (yay!), we headed home on the 8th.  Luckily my non-birding wife agreed to let me take the 10-minute side trip to try for the Tundra Swan.  The bird was being seen now 3 days in a row in an impoundment at a sewage treatment plant along Route 160 in Hamblen County.  The small impoundment was right next to the road, so I hoped we would need less than 5 minutes to find my target bird.  We pulled over on the road shoulder even with the pond and I did a quick binocular scan.  Even though that large white bird should have jumped out at me, I couldn’t find it.  Had it moved on since yesterday’s sighting?  There were some cattails and other vegetation on the pond, so maybe it was a bit obscured.  And sure enough, with a closer look I found the Tundra Swan on the near shore partially hidden by cattails.  Here’s a shot with no magnification of the impoundment, and with an arrow pointing toward the Swan.

TN is now my 8th state where I’ve seen Tundra Swan as a rarity.  Though I still need it in a number of states where it is a regular migrant.

That gave me two new TN statebirds in less than an hour of birding time.  That’s pretty efficient birding, and very opportunistic given my time and geographic constraints.  And with the addition of 2 birds my TN statelist is now at 255.

Five Statebirds on the Georgia Coast While Returning from a Florida Chase, February 5-6, 2023

In January 2023 I had a most successful birding trip to the FL panhandle.  Not only did I see my first new life bird (White Wagtail) in several years, it was also my first trip to FL from my home base in western NC, greatly expanding my horizons for potential trips.  I was now watching the ABA Rarities eBird alerts more frequently, especially focused on potential lifers.  And the most likely “nearby” location for those additional lifers would be in south FL. 

Sure enough late in January I started to notice reports of a Bahama Mockingbird in Cape Canaveral, FL.  I’ve birded south FL a number of times, picking up several rarities there over the years.  But there has never been a Bahama Mockingbird there during any of my trips.  As a result, this species has been a key target for me.  And with this individual being relatively “close”, at only halfway down the peninsula, it was definitely one to chase after.

And of course, there was also statebird potential along my route back home through GA and SC.  My route would take me along the coast, and with a little research, I found no less than 7 statebird targets in GA.  From south to north I hoped for –

• Bullock’s Oriole coming to a feeder on Jekyll Island,
• Saltmarsh Sparrow near Jekyll Island (and most anywhere along the coast),
• Black Duck with Mottled Ducks in Brunswick,
• Dickcissel coming to feeders in Savannah,
• A White-winged Dove and a Western Tanager at a feeding station on Tybee Island, and
• Black Scoters off the north end of Tybee Island. 

That’s lots of potential for just 2 partial days of birding.  As it turns out I only found 2 of 6 targets in FL, though the 2 I found were lifers.  (See my previous blog post detailing the FL portion of the trip.)  To improve my hit rate in GA I reached out to birding friend Diana Churchill who lives in Savannah for local advice.  She gave me excellent tips to help me find my targets, especially in gaining access to all those private feeders.  

This blog post focuses on my GA searches on this trip.  The SC portion of the trip is summarized in my next post.

Day 2 – February 5

After an early morning stop in FL, where I missed both of my targets, my first GA stop was on Jekyll Island for a Bullock’s Oriole.  This bird had been regular at a feeding station through January 18, before disappearing for 2 weeks.  So it never made it to my radar screen as I prepped for my trip.  But then on February 3 the homeowner reported that it had returned.  So now one to chase, though given its recent history, I wasn’t too overly optimistic.  On a positive note, Diana shared with me that all the homeowner’s feeders were in the front yard and visible from the road.  So no specific access was needed.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the Oriole despite waiting there for 90 minutes.  In fact, there were no Orioles at all, which is a bit odd for coastal GA feeding stations.  A consolation prize was finding a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird that had not been previously reported there.

Next I had planned to look for Saltmarsh Sparrows in the marshes as I left Jekyll Island.  But it’s easiest to see these Sparrows (and their Seaside and Nelson’s cousins) during the highest tides.  And it was now a falling mid-tide, so not the best conditions.  Since I had a full day in front of me, I decided to pass on this pretty common target, and try for it later on a higher tide.

My day wasn’t exactly starting off very well…

My next stop was a small pond in a suburban neighborhood in Brunswick where a Black Duck had been seen with Mottled Ducks and Mallards.  In preparation for IDing these 3 very similar species, the night before I spent some time brushing up on the key field marks that separate them.  Now I had to figure out how to bird the site since it looked like the pond was surrounded by houses and pretty inaccessible.  But finally I found a couple eBird checklists with pretty explicit descriptions, including the access point at the end of a cul de sac.  I was all set. 

Within seconds of arriving I did a quick binocular scan of the pond and picked out 2 pairs of dabbling ducks.  With closer scope views I could tell all 4 were Mottled Ducks.  I made several more scans, this time with the scope, but found no more waterfowl on the water.  Then I looked over to a grassy bank on the right and noticed a pair of Canada Geese along with another pair of dabblers.  One was much darker than all the others, and with scope views I could confirm the ID as a Black Duck (GA statebird #1).  Not only was it significantly darker, but these pictures show its speculum had no white edges. 

My statebird map for Black Duck is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  Iowa is the last state where I’ve yet to see it where it is a regular species (cross-hatched).  The 3 brown-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Black Duck as a rarity.  Although this species is a rarity on the GA coast, it is a regular wintering species in the northern half of the state.

My original planned next stop was a Savannah feeding station where a Dickcissel was an infrequent visitor (it typically didn’t appear until 4 PM or later).  I was a bit ahead of schedule so I had just enough time to squeeze in one additional brief stop before heading to the feeders.  Since it was an afternoon high tide I thought about trying for Saltmarsh Sparrows, but the tide wasn’t particularly high that day.  I guess they’ll have to wait for another trip.  Instead, I decided to move one of tomorrow’s stops up to today -a trip to the north jetty of Tybee Island for long-staying Black Scoters.  Several eBird pictures showed the Scoters right next to the jetty, which was only a 5-minute walk from the parking lot.  So if all went well a quick visit would give me plenty of time to see the Scoters and still get to the Savannah feeders in time.

I pulled into the parking lot for the Tybee Island Marine Science Center at 2:35, and took the short walk to the north jetty.  Not only were there no Scoters there, the jetty was almost completely underwater due to the high tide and waves.  In hopes that the Scoters were still around and just dispersed on the nearby waters, I did a number of quick scans, but the only waterfowl I could come up with were a small group of Buffleheads and 2 Red-throated Loons.  I would just have to come back the next morning which was my original plan.  I just hoped my 20-minute stay at the jetty didn’t make me too late for the Dickcissel.

The Savannah feeding station was in the back yard of Steve and Sandra Calver.  Once again with Diana Churchill’s help I connected with the Calver’s and they were happy to let me come into their yard to look for the Dickcissel.  They mentioned that the target bird appeared at 4:39 PM the previous day, so I was optimistic that my 3:44 arrival time was early enough.  I settled into one of the chairs they had in the yard, and began to take in the show – they had dozens of feeders that were just full of birds.  I had been there no more than 3 minutes when I spotted a large sparrow feeding on a tube feeder filled with millet – I had my target Dickcissel (GA statebird #2).  In my haste I took these two barely passable out-of-focus digi-binned photos of the bird.

Before I could get the bird in better focus it flew off, with a total viewing time of less than a minute.  Good thing I didn’t spend even just 5 more minutes looking for the Black Scoters on Tybee Island.

I’ve now seen Dickcissel in 13 states along the east coast.  It wasn’t too long ago that they were principally a species of the central US.

Since I had my target bird so quickly I thought about heading off to another spot, but decided to stay longer to enjoy the “show” at the feeders.  The Yellow-rumped Warblers were the most numerous bird there, with at least 5 to 10 there all the time.  Another highlight was an adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird that stopped in twice.  But undoubtedly my favorites were the Baltimore Orioles.  There were at least 7 of them – 2 adult males, 1 adult female, 2 immature males, and 2 immature females – though there could well have been more.

At one point the immature female Orioles came in together.  Initially I got excited that I had a Bullock’s, but with good looks at both of these 2 birds I could see solid white wingbars and dull heads making them just Baltimores.  But then I noticed another immature female that had a noticeably brighter orange head.  Luckily it came to a jelly feeder giving excellent close looks at the wingbar.  I could see that the leading edge was notched with black feathers giving it a toothed look – I had found a Bullock’s Oriole (GA statebird #3).  Although I missed the stakeout Bullock’s earlier in the day, I had found one of my own.  I alerted the Calvers and they were able to confirm the bird with photographs the next day.

Since moving to NC I’ve seen Bullock’s Oriole as a rarity at feeders in VA, NC, SC, and now GA.

I spent 90 minutes at the Calvers’ feeding station especially focused on the Orioles, and was able to see the Bullock’s come in one more time.  Though the Dickcissel never returned.  What an excellent way to end the day!

Day 3 – February 6

The plan for GA portion of the day was to make 2 stops, both on Tybee Island.  And since I had 2 targets in SC to pursue, and still needed to make my way home that day, I hoped for quick successes in GA.  I started at sunrise at the home of Deb Barreiro (thanks once again to Diana Churchill’s connections) where she hosted a White-winged Dove seen on a nearly daily basis.  The Dove was often found perched overhead in trees at her house, and sometimes coming to her feeder, often with Mourning Doves.  She also formerly had a Western Tanager in her yard.  But since she had not seen that rarity for a week I was much less optimistic about that one.  Soon after I arrived, Deb met me in her yard and we both spent quite a bit of time searching through her trees for perched Doves.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find any Doves of any variety over my 1 hour and 40 minute stay.

At one point she showed me the area where she used to see the Western Tanager - a hedge along the eastern edge of her lot.  While we were standing there we heard a 3-note call that sounded like the chatter of a Western Tanager.  Did we have the bird?  I stayed along the hedge for the next 10 minutes and heard the same call one more time.  Then I got a brief flash of yellow on a larger bird in trees above the hedge.  Then the bird flew up to a palm tree providing excellent views – it was indeed the winter-plumaged adult male Western Tanager (GA statebird #4).  The bird appeared to be eating fruit of the palm trees, as were a flock of roughly 50 Cedar Waxwings.

My statebird map for Western Tanager is actually quite similar to the map for Bullock's Oriole.  I've seen both species throughout their regular western ranges and in a number of states in the east as a rarity.  GA is now the 8th eastern state where I’ve seen Western Tanager as a rarity.

On one of my later searches for the Dove I once again saw the Tanager, this time perched high up in the live oak over the property.  I never would have thought I would end up missing the Dove but seeing the Tanager.  But if I could only see 1 of them, I’m glad it was the rarer of the 2.

Although I wanted to stay longer and wait for the White-winged Dove to appear, I had a full itinerary ahead of me.  Unfortunately, that included another try for the Black Scoters at the north jetty since I missed them the day before.  This time the tide was lower, and the wind was much lighter, so I was more optimistic than the previous day.  I pulled into the parking lot and started the short walk across the dunes toward the jetty.  In the distance I could see exposed jetty rocks and much calmer seas – things were looking up.  And even before I got to the beach I could see a small group of sea ducks swimming right along the jetty.  Even without optics I knew I had my target Black Scoters (GA statebird #5) – 9 of them.  They were often obscured by swells, but I managed these phone-scoped photos of both male and female birds.   

GA was my last Atlantic Coast state for Black Scoter.

What a great way to end the GA portion of my trip!  And with such a quick stop at the jetty I was back on schedule to pursue my SC targets on the way home.

I ended up seeing 5 of the 6 GA target birds I pursued, which was a huge improvement over my success rate of just 2 of 6 targets in FL.  Couldn’t have done it without the help of Diana Churchill, especially in helping me gain access to those private feeding stations.  And now with the addition of 37 GA statebirds since moving to the region in 2019, that brings my GA state total to 270. 

Life Bird and 10 State Birds, Florida Panhandle, January 5-7, 2023,

Late in December 2022 I noticed a post from a local birder where he mentioned he had just seen a White Wagtail in FL.  That would be a lifebird, one I missed back in 2016 practically in my backyard in NH because I was out of town.  Although I’ve had the eBird ABA Rarities alert turned on for years, I haven’t been checking it lately since I’m not doing much traveling during Covid.  So a Wagtail in FL wasn’t exactly on my radar.  But with some quick eBird searches I found out that the White Wagtail was being seen nearly daily in Tallahassee.  That seemed pretty far away, but with a drive time of “only” 7 1/2 hours, it was actually about the same amount of time it takes to drive to the NC Outer Banks.  The hunt was on!

It turns out the White Wagtail first arrived on November 24, and was being seen quite reliably at a couple runoff retention ponds in downtown Tallahassee.  It was feeding along muddy shorelines, and judging by the excellent photos posted on eBird, birders were able to get quite close to it.  In theory I could drive down to Tallahassee in one day, hopefully see the bird, and drive back the next day.  But why not add a couple days to the trip and look for some statebirds in the FL panhandle and in southern and central GA on the drive back.  So I started planning for a 4-day trip to try for the Wagtail as a lifebird and a number of statebirds in both states.

I first focused on potential statebirds in FL within a couple hours of Tallahassee.  I used to live in Gainesville, FL, and remember that the Tallahassee area was home to a number of wintering birds that are very difficult to find elsewhere in FL, including – White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, and Dark-eyed Junco.  And an agricultural area a short distance west of there was the only spot for Horned Larks in the state.  I only made it to the panhandle in winter once before but focused on water and marshbirds during that trip, so all of these local specialties were still targets.  And speaking of waterbirds, my eBird research revealed a number of other possible statebirds at nearby St. Marks NWR.  All told I had a possible 14 targets in FL (including the Wagtail), which was a surprisingly high number given that my FL list was already at 320.  I realistically hoped to find perhaps 8 of them.

Then it was time to research targets in GA.  My statelist was only 258, so there would be lots of possible statebirds.  My route to and from Tallahassee would go through much of GA, way too much to bird effectively on this short trip.  Plus all my GA stops would have to be just be on the way back home since I wanted to make a beeline for Tallahassee on the first day of the trip in search of my key target, the Wagtail.  So I needed to focus on potential targets that might be closer to my direct route home, thus minimizing drive times for side-trips.  That meant I wouldn’t be able to get to the coast, which was unfortunate since there were a number of my targets there.  And north of Atlanta would be out of bounds as well.  Despite all those constraints, I was still able to map out a route back taking me through the center of the state then heading northeast to Augusta that would give me 12 possible statebird targets.  I figured if I could find 6 of them that would make for a successful GA portion of the trip.

As I was making my final preparations for the trip I heard from my birding friend Bill Hooker that he and his wife Anita were planning to head to Tallahassee for the Wagtail the same day I was.  That would be great – whoever got there first could report their results to the other.  The trip was really coming together!

This post covers the FL portion of my trip.  The next blog post will cover the GA half of the trip.

Day 1 - January 5

I was out the door earlier than expected on the 5th and luckily made the trip around Atlanta through the morning rush with no backups.  My ETA in Tallahassee was around 2 PM.  That gave me lots of time to think about seeing my target Wagtail.  The bird was being reported from 2 runoff retention ponds – nearly daily at Lake Elberta, and occasionally at the nearby Mills Street Pond.  Unfortunately, there had been only 1 report of the bird on the 4th, at the Mills Street Pond.  And there were a couple posts where the Wagtail had not been seen that day.  And even worse, a Merlin was included on one checklist.  The Merlin might keep the Wagtail away from its regular feeding spots.  Or even worse, the Wagtail could become Merlin food.

So with the less than stellar reports from the 4th, I was very anxious to check reports from the morning of the 5th to see if the Wagtail was re-found.  The first report from Lake Elberta was posted about 8 AM - no Wagtail was seen.  Two others from Lake Elberta were posted soon thereafter and again no Wagtail was included.  Then there was a report from Mills Street Pond – no Wagtail there either.  Was I going to be a day too late for the Wagtail?  Then at 11 AM another Mills Street checklist was posted - I was almost too afraid to open it.  But I scrolled down to the end and there was the Wagtail complete with a picture.  The Wagtail was back!  I could breathe again!  I shared the news with Bill and Anita, and it turned out they would be arriving just a few minutes after me.  I pushed the accelerator down a bit harder as a I realized that I still had 3 hours to go before I got there.

After taking what seemed like forever to navigate through the traffic lights of downtown Tallahassee, I finally pulled up to the Mills Street Pond.  Pretty unremarkable actually.

Just up ahead there was a car parked on the side of the road with a camera sticking out of the driver’s window.  This was looking positive - “bird the birders” as I always say.  I pulled in front of the birder’s car and quickly scanned the small grassy mudflat while still sitting in my car.  In just a few seconds I picked out the White Wagtail walking along the mudflat, wagging its long tail as it went.  I called Bill and gave him the news, suggesting they stay in the car when they arrive.  A few minutes later they pulled in, and Anita got this great photo of our key target bird.

Unfortunately, my digi-binned photos were not nearly as good.  I tried to get out to get a phonescoped photo but the bird flushed to the southern end of the pond.  At least we got to hear the 2-note “pipit” call when it flew.

White Wagtail was #763 for my Continental ABA list, and #743 in the Lower 48.  It was the first new lifebird I had seen since 2018, though I’ve added at least one new lifebird each year since then due to ABA splits or decisions that certain introduced species were now countable. 

With our key target out of the way, we could focus on our other birding priorities for the trip – mine were new statebirds and Bill’s were county birds.  But Bill mentioned that since so many of my statebird targets were pretty rare in FL, he would come along with me and try for them as well.  Afterall, they would likely be new county birds for him as well.

And since we saw the Wagtail so quickly we had quite a bit of birding time left that day.  Our next stop was just a short 30-minute drive to the east at the Fred Myers Williams Fish Pond where a large flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds were reliably being seen.  A little surprising to have Brewer’s at a fish pond – normally they’re associated with cattle feed lots – but we’d give it a go.  As we pulled up to the hotspot location we saw a small herd of cows in the field immediately to the right, and sure enough there was a large flock of blackbirds with them.  

With a quick scan we realized that nearly all of them were Brewer’s – we estimated 300 (FL statebird #2) – with just a few cowbirds mixed in.  We never did see a pond.  My statebird map for Brewer’s Blackbird is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 3 cross-hatched states are the last ones in its normal range where I’ve yet to see it.  And the 5 brown-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Brewer’s as a rarity.  Since I moved to NC I’ve added Brewer’s Blackbird to 5 southeastern statelists – VA, NC, SC, GA, and now FL.

We had time for one more stop that afternoon, and decided to head to Faulk Drive Landing on Lake Jackson where a Clay-colored Sparrow had been reported earlier in the week.  Unfortunately, the only sparrows we had there were a couple Swamps in the marsh.  A consolation prize was a most cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler.  A nice way to end a most successful day.

Day 2 – January 6

Our first stop of the day was at Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park on the north side of Tallahassee.  There had been a number of recent reports of Dark-eyed Junco in the park with specific directions to one spot near Gate A.  It was also known as one of the better spots for White-breasted Nuthatch in FL (though with no recent reports), and occasional winter sightings of Brown Creeper including one in the past week.  A target-rich location.  We didn’t have specific locations for the Nuthatch and Creeper, so we’d just have to get lucky to run into them.

We arrived at Gate A a bit before sunrise and quickly heard a couple Great Horned Owls as our first birds of the day.  As we headed over to the trail where the Juncos had been reported we were surrounded by excellent hardwood and softwood woodlands.  We kept our ears open for our Nuthatch and Creeper targets and crossed our fingers.  While we waited for the morning sun to hit the Junco trail we played some Screech Owl calls nearby and were inundated by passerines with big numbers of Pine Warblers, Chickadees, and Titmice, a few Brown-headed Nuthatches, and goodies like Yellow-throated Warbler and Blue-headed Vireo.  But none of our targets stopped by. 

Then we walked over to the spot where the Juncos had been reported most often and I noticed some movement in the grass.  There was a group of 3 Juncos foraging on the ground at the edge of the trail (FL statebird #3).  FL was my 48th state for Dark-eyed Junco – I have to get back to ND to finish filling in my statebird map for this species.

We headed back to the car and kept our ears open for Nuthatches and Creepers but to no avail.  At least we added one of our targets.

Next we were on to Gardner Road Landing just to our north where Winter Wrens had been rather reliable, and quite vocal.  When we arrived we found quite a bit of very nice wet wooded habitat perfect for a Winter Wren.  We listened for their chattering calls but only heard Carolinas.  We then walked a short distance to the end of the road and noticed some movement low in the brush.  Then the small brown bird started to chatter and gave us brief views – it was our target Winter Wren (FL statebird #4). 

After a quick view of the wetlands at the end of the landing road, we headed off to Roden Cove Landing where there had been a report of 2 White-faced Ibis.  Unfortunately that was 10 days ago, so this one could well be a long shot.  We took a short walk to the edge of the wetlands and began to scan.  There were quite a number of birds there, dominated by at last 1,000 Coots.  And the marshy edges had good numbers of waders, including a small group of White Ibis, but no dark ones.  Then I spotted a flock of 6 dark Ibis in flight in the distance, unfortunately way too far to ID.  And they kept flying farther away and eventually disappeared.  That was frustrating. 

We went back to scanning the closer marsh and picked up another dark Ibis foraging alone.  This one was close enough for a potential ID, but we had left the scopes in the cars.  So Bill and I rushed back to get the scopes and Anita stayed with the bird.  When we returned the bird had moved a bit but was still close enough to try to see eye color.  The Ibis was actively feeding so it took a while to get good views of the face, but we could definitely see red eyes.  Plus the wings and mantle were greener than you’d normally see on a Glossy – we had our target White-faced Ibis (FL statebird #5).  FL was my 9th state seeing this species as a rarity.  White-faced sure is prone to vagrancy in the east.

A bit later we found another group of 7 dark Ibis nearby, though the difficult sun angle made it tough to see eye color.  Luckily one bird was close enough that we could see it had dark eyes and confirmed it as a Glossy.  We started to take a hike along the marsh edge to change the sun angle on the others but decided it would be best to spend that time looking for our other targets instead.

We headed back to the parking lot which was nearly surrounded by mature live oaks.  There had been a recent report of White-breasted Nuthatch at this hotspot, and these trees looked like an ideal spot for one.  We played some Screech Owl tape, getting a number of birds to respond, but not our target Nuthatch.  I hated to leave that one behind, but with no specific locations for the Nuthatch, and several targets waiting for us at the coast, we decided to pack up and headed south.

Our next stop was St. Marks NWR, a spot I had not visited since I lived in FL in the late 80’s.  I had 3 possible statebird targets there, the first being a long-staying American Golden-Plover that was reported to be most cooperative at the East River Pool.  Little did we know that our biggest problem finding this bird would be gaining access to the pool.  The 2-lane road was being repaved, and nearby parking lots were full of construction vehicles.

But Bill was able to talk one of the workers into allowing us to park briefly in one of the lots, giving us enough time to walk to the pool.  With the clock ticking we quickly made it to the metal pier and almost instantly picked out the American Golden-Plover (FL statebird #6).  Most cooperative indeed.

Although I lived in FL for a time, I was never able to see any of the “grasspipers” including Baird’s and Buff-breasted.  Interesting that I finally saw the Golden-Plover in FL in winter when they are normally supposed to be in southern South America.

The next target was a Long-tailed Duck that had been reported for awhile at the end of the Cedar Point Trail near the Lighthouse Pool.  But the sightings had been intermittent.  In fact, as we walked down the trail we met a couple groups of birders coming back from unsuccessful searches for the bird.  So I wasn’t very optimistic.  We got to the end of the trail and started scanning the offshore waters.  There were quite a number of Scaup and Bufflehead in the distance, but no sight of my target bird.  Then in one of my distant scans I noticed some ducks in the foreground.  I focused on the closer waters and there was the Long-tailed Duck (FL statebird #7).  It was diving frequently, along with a small group of Buffleheads.  Maybe it was overlooked by the other birders because they were focused on the more distant ducks, like I did initially.  I was able to get Bill and Anita on the bird, along with a number of other birders that passed by.  FL was my 4th state with Long-tailed Duck as a rarity.

Our next target was a long-staying American Flamingo that is often seen in the Lighthouse Pool.  I had seen Flamingo before in FL – a flock of 16 off of Snake Bight Trail at Everglades NP in 2008.  But I could never turn down an opportunity to see such a striking bird.  Unfortunately, the Flamingo was not on the flats at the pool, nor on the small offshore island it sometimes frequents.  Though the pool was full of waterfowl and shorebirds.

Our last stop at St. Marks was to bird the offshore waters near the lighthouse to look for a Surf Scoter that was first found there in late December.  Although it had been spotted numerous times since then, it was last reported 3 days ago.  There had also been occasional reports of Black Scoter from this spot.  I did several scans from the parking lot but came up empty.  We then walked west along the south shore, and I scanned at several more vantage points but to no avail.  With no other possible spots for Surf Scoter I hated to give up, but it was time to throw in the towel.  Even though we missed a couple targets, it was still fun to bird St. Marks again after so many years.

Our next target was Black Scoter which was quite often seen nearby at Alligator Point and Bald Point SP.  In fact, I had a 20-year-old FL birdfinding guide that said that Alligator Point was the best spot in the area for Black Scoter.  The local birder I ran into at the Wagtail spot mentioned that they are best seen near the “area of new pavement”.  As we arrived near the point this spot became obvious– there was a section of the coastal road that had apparently washed out in a recent storm and had just been replaced.  And sure enough large rafts of ducks were there just offshore - we estimated 500 birds.  With a quick binocular scan all I could find were Greater Scaup.  But with so many divers surely there were Scoters mixed in somewhere.  I scanned through the flocks more closely and picked out a few Redheads and even a Ring-necked Duck, but no Scoters. 

I could see another raft in the distance a bit farther west so I decided to change my vantage point and give them a look.  But a couple scans revealed just more Scaup.  Then I spotted a group of 4 larger, all dark ducks just offshore which only provided a quick but tantalizing view before they dove.  Did I have my target bird?  A few seconds later they all resurfaced - they were indeed Scoters but surprisingly they were female Surf Scoters instead of the expected Black Scoter (FL statebird #8).  I’ve now seen Surf Scoter in each of its expected coastal and Great Lake states except for PA, plus have seen it in 4 inland states as a rarity.

I then spotted another Scaup raft a bit farther to the west and again picked out 2 more Surf Scoters diving at the nearshore edge of the flock.  Anita was able to get this nice picture of this pair of birds.

It sure was great to find these 6 Surf Scoters, especially since they had not been reported here recently.  But we were still missing our target Black Scoter which was supposed to be the Scoter species for this spot.  There had been a Black Scoter report from nearby Bald Point SP the day before, so maybe we’d get lucky there.  It took us a while to find the park and an access point to scan the offshore waters, and it was now closing in on sunset.  But at least we were looking nearly due east with the setting sun to our backs, and the water was almost flat, giving us excellent visibility.  An initial scan revealed just a couple Scaup and little else.  So I started scanning farther out and picked out perhaps 200 Scaup and 10 Redheads far in the distance but they were way too far out to try to see if a Scoter might be mixed in.

Then I spotted a flock of perhaps 50 ducks far to the east roughly flying towards us.  As they got closer I could finally start to pick up some field marks – they were generally uniform brown indicating they were Redheads.  Then the flock turned so that they were flying perpendicular to our line of sight and I noticed one darker bird mixed in.  I was getting excited…  I kept staring at the flock and eventually could see the darker bird was all black, and on their closest approach I could see the yellow knob on the bill.  Finally, we had our Black Scoter, and an adult male at that (FL statebird #9).  My Black Scoter statebird map has a few less states shaded in than in my Surf Scoter map - Black Scoter is often the least common of the wintering scoters.

What an excellent way to end the day, finding 2 Scoter species and Long-tailed Duck on the Gulf Coast.  When the eBird checklists were all compiled (thanks to Bill for maintaining the checklists!) we came up with 109 species for the day – an outstanding total for a January day.

Day 3 - January 7

We had just one more planned stop together in the FL portion of our trip – a set of fields in Jackson County in the panhandle close to where AL, GA, and FL come together.  This area is well-known as the sole spot where Horned Larks are somewhat reliable in FL.  In fact, I remember this location when I lived in FL in the 80s but never made the trek there to give the Larks a try.  There were also a couple recent records of Lapland Longspur mixed in with the Larks and Pipits.  Another one to watch and listen for. 

We left the hotel pre-dawn so that we could arrive at the Concord Road Ag Fields hotspot by sunrise.  When we arrived I was bit surprised to see that the soil in the agricultural fields was nothing but sand.  Must be tough to grow a crop there.  But it sure was great habitat for those “prairie birds”.  And the roads were mostly just compacted sand, though hard enough to be passable.  Here’s a picture of one of the fields with the road in the foreground.

Our first birds of the morning were a pair of Great Horned Owls calling in the distance.  Then we picked out a Harrier sitting in the fields.  A nice start to the day…  But it was time to focus on our targets.  Eventually we started to hear Pipits calling overhead or out in the fields.  And with scope views I could see some Pipits flying far out in the fields.  Then we heard the characteristic calls of Horned Larks as a pair flew overhead.  And a couple minutes later a flock of 4 Larks flew over low enough that we could see their unique face pattern (FL statebird #10).  Horned Lark is 1 of only 26 species that I’ve seen in all 49 continental US states and Washington D.C. 

I then spent a little time scanning the fields hoping to find a Longspur.  But with the exception of that initial group of distant Pipits, I could find no other birds foraging in the fields.  I was tempted to spend more time scanning additional fields but had a full day of stops planned through GA as I headed back toward home.  So I decided to pass on further attempts for the Longspur to ensure I had enough time for my GA targets.  And with Bill and Anita now focused on birding other nearby counties in the FL panhandle, we wished each other good birding and went our separate ways for the rest of the trip.

I ended the FL portion of the trip with 10 new statebirds, including of course the White Wagtail as a life bird.  That’s much better than the 8 I had hoped for.  That brings my FL list up to a respectable 330. 

The GA portion of my trip is summarized in my next blog post. 

6 Louisiana Statebirds – Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes in Southwestern Louisiana, January 2017

As of the beginning of the year I set a new goal to reach 15,000 total ticks – “just” 825 to go as of January 1.  That meant I couldn’t turn down any reasonable opportunity to add new statebirds even in states where I already had good totals.  So as my regular January trip to Houston neared, I started to think about whether there might be some statebirds I could add in Louisiana, even though my state total there was a respectable 256 – 20 over the old ABA threshold.  The southwestern corner of the state is only about a 2-hour drive from Houston, and it’s one of my favorite places to bird anywhere in the country.  Then again –I should say it’s one of my favorite places to bird in winter – believe me, it’s blasted hot, humid, and buggy there in summer. 

Now I needed to see if there might be a sufficient number of new LA statebirds in the area to justify adding a vacation day to my trip.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert, and the first thing I noticed was numerous records of Black Scoter.  And there were a couple White-winged Scoter and Long-tailed Duck sightings too, all from Holly Beach along the Cameron Parish coast.  I had seen Surf Scoter in this same part of the coastline in the past, but needed all the others.  But then I started to have cold feet - would heading all the way to LA be a bit too much for just a 1-day trip?  But I routinely take a 2-hour drive to chase after a single rarity in New England, so a 2-hour drive into LA from Houston, with multiple potential targets, would surely be worthwhile.  I talked myself into it - the trip was on! 

Now came all the pick and shovel work to do research on eBird and the LA listserve.  One of the challenges to researching sightings in the southwestern corner of LA is that there are very few birders in the area, so there are few routine reports.  Most of the recent posts came from this year’s Christmas Counts, and luckily there are quite a number of counts in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes.  So that led to quite a few reports, but most were now several weeks old.  Hopefully the great birds seen on the Christmas Counts would stick around.  With this initial research I found 10 possible targets to pursue. 

Next I connected with my LA birding friend Marty Guidry.  Marty is not only very active birding in LA in general, but also has a long history with the Christmas Counts in southwestern LA.  Sure enough Marty had some good details on many of the birds I had researched on eBird, and was available to bird with me on my vacation day.  As on my previous LA trips, his micro-directions and local advice would prove to be invaluable.

I met Marty at the edge of the tiny town of Holly Beach, a town still rebuilding after being total demolished by Hurricane Rita back in 2005.  Marty knew that the diving ducks had been hanging out just west of town, a critical detail since no specific locations had been mentioned in eBird.  After a short drive to the west we had our scopes out and began to scan the surf.  We found many Lesser Scaup bobbing in the water, but no scoters.  Then we began to pick out an occasional Black Scoter in the flock (LA statebird #1).  LA was my third state for this species away from its more common wintering ranges on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts (see my statebird map below).

 
Although it was great to finally find a couple scoters, the reports and photos on eBird showed whole flocks of Black Scoters.  I mentioned to Marty that maybe we weren’t at the right spot, so we took a short walk to the west to scan a new part of the coast.  And here we finally found several groups of 5 to 8 Black Scoters – finally critical mass to find the others.  I picked out a couple Surf Scoters here and there, and then finally found one immature male White-winged Scoter (LA statebird #2).  With more shaded inland states than for my Black Scoter map, my statebird map for White-winged Scoter is reflective of the fact that this species is typically the most common inland wintering scoter.

We spent some more time scanning through the numerous birds in the surf, but couldn’t pick out the Long-tailed Duck that had been occasionally reported here.  Although I didn’t want to give up on this bird too quickly, there were many other stops ahead of us.  So we decided to move on, very happy to have tallied 50 Black Scoters, 8 Surf Scoters, and 1 White-winged Scoter, in with at least 100 Lesser Scaup.

The next couple stops were more speculative, with low-probability targets.  First we birded the Cameron Oxidation Ponds where a Redhead had been reported a couple weeks earlier.  We found lots of Ruddy Ducks and some Lesser Scaup, but no Redhead.  Then we made a brief stop where a Black Rail had been found a few months earlier, but it was long gone.  Or at least it didn’t reply to any of our playbacks that day.

Next we were on to a residence on the west side of Creole where a Buff-bellied Hummingbird had been reported since November.  The most recent eBird report was more than a month old, but Marty had it on the Christmas Count.  And most importantly Marty had the homeowner’s phone number – with a quick phone call he found out that the bird was still being seen and we were allowed to come look for her bird.  When we arrived Marty mentioned that his first try for the bird, while he was standing in the back yard, was unsuccessful.  But the bird quickly came to the feeder when he looked from inside the house on his second atttempt.  Unfortunately the homeowner wasn’t home the day we were there, so we would just have to cross our fingers that the bird would cooperate while we watched from out back. 

To try to improve our chances we stood far to the side of the yard and began our wait.  This actually put us quite far from the house, and we had to use binoculars to see if anything was at the feeder.  I was a bit worried whether we would notice the hummingbird fly in.  Then I remembered that Buff-bellied Hummingbirds can be quite vocal – years ago I looked for one coming to a feeder in FL and heard it calling long before it arrived at the feeder.  So I not only kept my eyes open, but also my ears open, for our target bird.  And almost as predicted, after about 20 minutes I heard the Buff-bellied calling in the distance.  Then I spotted it perched in a tree in the backyard.  And a few seconds later it flew in to drink at the feeder (LA statebird #3).  LA is only my third state for this species – in addition to the calling bird at the FL feeder, and of course birds in their regular range in TX.

Our next stop was just a short distance to the east at the Oak Grove Sanctuary.  This is an isolated natural patch of woods and underbrush that is well known as a hot spot for landbirds, especially during migration.  Marty had taken me here on an earlier trip when we were successful finding a wintering Barn Owl.  Today our targets were two stakeouts - a Woodcock and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches that Marty and others had seen a few weeks earlier on the Christmas Count.  First we slowly walked the stretch of trails where the Woodcock had been seen several times, but it was not to be.  The entire patch of woods seemed to be good habitat for Woodcock, so we kept our eyes open during our entire visit.  But we would end up missing this one.  Another 100 yards down the path we got to the area where the Nuthatches had been seen.  As we watched and listened for the birds we both remarked that this wasn’t typical Red-breasted habitat – the trees were all deciduous with no conifers in site.  After a short wait with no luck Marty started some playback, and a minute later I heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch reply.  Eventually we got good looks at the bird foraging nearby (LA statebird #4).  Surprisingly I still have 5 more states to go to fill in my statebird map for this wide-ranging species.

The sanctuary was very birdy, and we made several more stops along the trails, checking off numerous Gnatcatchers, Kinglets, and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We were making our way back to the Woodcock spot for one last try when I spotted a Thrush on the ground – it had an orangey back, and as it turned I saw large brown spots below on a white background.  It was a Wood Thrush, very rare for mid-winter.  Certainly not a new statebird for me, but by far the rarest of our sightings for the day.

We then turned north to head to Cameron Prairie NWR, and specifically Pintail Drive.  This is a classic auto route through excellent wetland habitat loaded with waterfowl.  Our targets here were a Tundra Swan, a male Cinnamon Teal, and Redheads.  Although all had been reported during Christmas Count season, only the Teal had been reported recently.  As we started around the drive we encountered the first of many large flocks of dabblers.  Soon we had every expected dabbler species, but no Cinnamon Teal.  Then we started to see small mixed flocks of White-fronted and Snow Geese, which was important since the Swan was typically seen with the Snows.  But Marty mentioned the number of geese was way down from the count day, and with no Swan in site, perhaps it had moved on with the wintering flocks of Snows. 

As we continued around the drive we stopped to check for the Teal anywhere we spotted dabblers, but still no luck.  None of the eBird reports mentioned where the Teal had been seen, and with many hundreds of dabblers scattered throughout the impoundment, I was thinking this would turn out to be a “needle in a haystack” kind of search.  We now had reached the eastern part of the drive, and looked to the east into deeper water where Marty had had the Redheads mixed in with other divers.  But we saw no divers at all.  Like the geese, had the divers also already moved out to start their spring migration?

We turned our attention back to the shallow impoundment and yet another flock of dabblers in the distance.  I started to scan the flock with my binocs and picked up a brief glimpse of bright red.  Did I have the Cinnamon Teal?  But then it was gone.  I continued to search the area and spotted the red plumage again – it was indeed the Teal in the distance (LA statebird #5).  We got the scopes on the spot and eventually the bird reappeared as it played hide-and-seek among the other dabblers.  But even when only a portion of the bird was visible, that red plumage sure stood out among the various shades of brown of the other dabblers.  LA is a nice addition to my statebird map for this species; I still need it in a couple states in its regular range.

Our last target for the day was Say’s Phoebe.  We had 2 birds to try for, both seen by the same observer a few miles apart on one Christmas Count in Calcasieu County.  Although those posts were now quite old, the one on Old Camp Road mentioned that the bird “was in the same area as in past years”, so I hoped it would be reliable.  Plus the report mentioned it was at the bend in the road, so we had pretty specific directions.  The other sighting was “on east end of Levee Rd. loop” which I couldn’t find on the map despite lots of searching.  So the first bird would have to be our target.  Along the way we made a couple quick speculative stops to try for Yellow-headed Blackbirds in blackbird flocks, but could “only” find an adult male Vermillion Flycatcher.  As I always say – “I can never see enough male Vermillion Flycatchers.”

There were actually 2 different bends in the road along Old Camp Road, but the eastern one was in a wooded area which was not typically good habitat for Say’s.  When we arrived at the western bend we found much more open habitat ideal for a Say’s, with piles of brush that would be great perches.  But despite a lot of searching we couldn’t find our target.  The consolation prize was 4 Caracaras – I remember years ago spending quite a bit of time to eventually find this species in what was at the time its lone reliable spot in LA. 

Now what do we do?  I told Marty about the other reported location, but that I couldn’t find the road mentioned in the eBird report.  Marty looked at his book map and noticed a road in the general area that made a small loop.  I pulled up my map app, quickly found this road, and saw that it was named “Levee Loop Rd.” – not the “Levee Rd.” I had been unsuccessfully searching for till now.  Now that we had the right location, we were off to the second Say’s Phoebe spot.

The first part of Levee Loop Rd. was a small subdivision with large yards and planted trees.  Despite the manicured appearance, it was quite birdy, with a number of Yellow-rumps flitting about.  We got to the eastern end of the loop where the Say’s had been reported on the count, but to not avail.  The southeast corner of the loop included a horse pasture with lots of fenceposts to perch on.  This looked like an ideal spot, but with a quick look we couldn’t find a Phoebe.  Then I noticed more movement a bit to the west and spotted a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flitting from treetop to treetop.  Although not a new statebird, it was a nice rarity to find for the day.  I got this phonescoped photo of this cooperative bird. 

We drove over to the west, and while watching the Scissor-tail I spotted another flycatcher in the treetops – it was a female or immature Vermillion.  And a minute later I spotted a male Vermillion as well.  Then a couple Eastern Phoebes flew into the area.  All the flycatchers were actively feeding, so we were convinced we would find the Say’s among this group, but we struck out again. 

We talked about heading back to the east for a more extended search of the horse pasture, but I thought we should first bird the last stretch of the road to the west.  I drove up ahead and soon had a fleeting glimpse of what I thought was a Phoebe in a yard to the south.  I pulled over and scanned the spot but came up empty.  Then I saw more movement and quickly got out the scope – it was the Say’s Phoebe (LA statebird #6), our fourth flycatcher species for this spot.  Sure glad we didn’t head back to the east instead.  Nice to add LA to my statebird map as a rarity, though not as rare as the ones I’ve seen in MA and NH.

What a great way to end the day!  We ended up with 98 species for the day – an excellent January total.  And of course I was extremely happy to have added 6 new birds to my LA list.  Now you can see why I love birding in southwestern LA.  My statelist is now at 262 - 26 over the reportable threshold.  And it was only a couple years ago that I remember struggling to reach my “Reportable Plus 15” goal in LA.

Before parting ways, I couldn’t thank Marty Guidry enough for his great birdfinding advice.  Once again his micro-directions were key to finding many of my targets.  And now that I’m back in the “total ticking” game, I’ll hopefully be back in LA birding with Marty again in the near future.