Blue Grosbeak, Brattleboro, VT, October 2018

Each year I make a trip to southeast VT in the early fall to look for sparrows and late warblers.  I almost made the trip to VT a week earlier, but literally at the last moment I changed my plans and headed to Maine instead, where I had a successful search for Prothonotary Warbler.  I made the right choice, right?  Then again, who knows what I may have found if I had stuck with my original plans to go to VT. 

So when my schedule opened up a week later I found myself once again thinking about possible statebirds in VT.  It wasn’t too late to give it another try, so I made my plans to make my regular annual trip to southeast VT.  I have 4 key targets on these trips – Orange-crowned Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Blue Grosbeak, and Lark Sparrow.  None of these are very likely, and certainly the last two are real long shots.  And only one of the 4 had been spotted recently – there was an Orange-crowned reported in the area a week earlier.  As a result these are almost always truly speculative trips.  But my stops are designed to be in good habitat for one or more of these species, and I was successful on my 2016 trip in finding a Connecticut Warbler which was another of my targets at the time.  So I was always optimistic that I might find one of my targets.  And if not, I’d still have fun birding in good habitat.

I was out of the house by 6:30 and arrived at my first stop at the Brattleboro marina on this crisp clear morning just before 8.  There is a large cornfield next to the marina, and the perimeter can be good for sparrows and dicky birds in the brush.  This site did not disappoint, with an estimated 230 sparrows of 8 species, 4 warbler species, and a late Indigo Bunting.  And overhead I watched as a Merlin and Peregrine passed by.  But despite spending more than 2 hours in great habitat, I couldn’t scare up any of my target birds. 

Next I was on to the Brattleboro Retreat Meadows, where a goldenrod/aster field has always looked like a great spot for Orange-crowned.  But this year the field had been cut, and habitat was limited to say the least.  The best birds were 3 early Wigeon in the flock of Canada Geese in the backwaters of the river. 

The Harris Hill ski jump area was my next stop.  There is a large open field at the base of the ski jump, and the perimeter has yielded good numbers of sparrows and warblers in the past, including my Connecticut 2 years earlier.  My routine here is to walk the perimeter “clockwise”, starting at the southern edge.  But this time I found almost no birds at all.  As I reached the southwest corner I found a few sparrows, and these birds were joined by a few others along the western wooded edge.  At one point I caught a glimpse of yellowish color in the brush, but it only turned out to be a late Magnolia instead of my hoped-for Orange-crowned.

By the time I reached the base of the ski jump most of the flock had moved up the hill along the edge.  I was tempted to follow them up the hill but I figured I had already seen most of them.  Just then a bird flew out from the edge directly overhead.  I got it in my binocs and as I watched it head to the north my initial thought was it was a large sparrow.  But the color wasn’t quite right – it seemed to have some chestnut shades below.  Luckily I was able to track it to the distant treeline and it landed in the open.  It was a chunky bird, uniformly chestnut brown.  Could it be a Blue Grosbeak?  Although it was very distant, I thought I could see a large bill.  Then I started to hear the characteristic loud “chink” calls.  I watched it perched in the tree for at least a minute, and tried to temper my excitement.  Was it big enough to be my target?  Was the bill large enough?  I was starting to second guess myself and lean toward just another Indigo when the bird flew from the northern edge of the clearing, and I watched it disappear into the brush near the southwest corner.  It took me just a couple minutes to get back there, but there were no birds in sight.  On a lark, I decided to play some tape of Blue Grosbeak call notes – no response.  Then a minute later I looked up and there was a female-plumaged Blue Grosbeak right in front of me!

Finally with close views I could see all the field marks – uniformly chestnut brown, rusty wing bar, massive grayish bill.  And it was calling again – giving those distinctive “chink” call notes.  I watched it for several minutes before it flew back toward the base of the ski jump.  This was an extreme rarity for VT, so I quickly went to my phone to call local birders – unfortunately I just got Hector Galbraith’s voice mail but was able to talk to Dave Johnston.  Dave said he’d be over in 15 minutes. 

While waiting for Dave to arrive I tried to re-find the Grosbeak so I could hopefully show it to him.  I headed back toward the base of the ski jump where I last saw it and found a few sparrows but little else.  Then I spotted a couple sparrows pop up from the grasses to the right to perch on top of a fence that surrounds the base of the ski jump.  I scanned the fence and saw a Song Sparrow, then another Song, then – there was the Blue Grosbeak!  As it continued to sit in the open all I could think of was that I wish I had brought my camera.  Lately I’ve taken a few photos holding my phone up to my binocs, and they’ve come out pretty well when the bird has perched still for a while.  So I gave it a try this time, and got these 3 pretty nice shots -

Shortly after taking these photos the bird dropped back down into the grass.  Luckily after Dave arrived we re-found the Grosbeak, including once seeing it perched back up on the fence.  Always nice to share a rarity.

Not surprisingly my later stops were uneventful by comparison.  It’s interesting to note that my last stop was at the Stebbins Road stump dump, which has always been on my itinerary because it has hosted Blue Grosbeak in the past.  Needless to say that’s now one less target to hope for in my future fall trips to southeast VT.

In my Blue Grosbeak statebird map below, the dark blue states are those where I’ve seen this species.  The cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I still need it as a statebird – just a few more to go. 

On the other hand, VT and all the other New England states are outside its normal range.  And most notably, this was only the 8th Blue Grosbeak record for VT (per eBird), 5 accepted historical records and now 3 from this decade  –

• 5/84 - Norwich - noted in eBird as "1st accepted" state record
• 8/84 - Winhall - "2nd accepted
• 5/85 - Newbury - "hypothetical - 3rd accepted"
• 5/96 - Shaftsbury - "3rd accepted"
• 5/96 - Danby - same bird apparently entered into eBird at 2 locations - "4th accepted"
• 6/97 - West Arlington - "5th accepted"
• 10/10 - Vernon - 2 birds found by Dave Johnston at the Stebbins Road stump dump
• 10/11 - Vernon - same bird perhaps returning from the previous year?

And now -

• 10/18 - Brattleboro

This was #282 for my VT list, and the 248th species I’ve seen in each of the 6 New England states.  

I really like my fall trips to southeast VT!

Long Island, NY – 9 Statebirds, July 2015

With an upcoming July vacation on Long Island of course I wanted to squeeze in some birding time.  My NY list was pretty good at 267, with many of those birds coming from upstate while I was at grad school at Cornell.  By comparison my downstate birding has been somewhat limited, featuring a couple trips to Jamaica Bay NWR, and some incidental birding through multiple work trips to New York City.  But since there are quite a number of NY species only seen near the coast, or at least much more likely downstate, I figured I would have some significant statebird potential. 

So now it was time for a bunch of research.  My first step was to set up my new favorite tool – the e-Bird Needs Alert.  Of course NY is a big state, but by focusing in on reports from Suffolk and Nassau Counties I was able to find quite a number of likely statebird possibilities.  They generally fell into 4 categories –

• Regular birds that should be relatively easy to find, though nothing is guaranteed – Whip-poor-will, Pine Warbler, Orchard Oriole (filling in some gaps in my NY statelist);
• Less common local breeders – Roseate Tern and White-eyed Vireo;
• Stakeout rarities – White-faced Ibis, Yellow-throated Warbler; and
• Rarer possibilities but not necessarily likely at any stakeout site – Any pelagic, Royal and Arctic Terns, Chuck-will’s-widow, and Blue Grosbeak.

I would have a couple early mornings available, generally before the family was awake, and at least 1 evening, so I developed itineraries for each day and hoped to get at least 4 or 5 new NY statebirds.

Day 1 Evening -

Whip-poor-wills had been reported from a number of sites in central Long Island, and there were also a couple Chuck-will’s-widows reported.  Though the Whips were reported into early July, the last Chuck report was from early June so I was less optimistic about finding that one.  I picked out Rocky Point Natural Resources Management Area as the best spot – with many Whip reports, one older Chuck report (though without a specific location), and many Pine Warbler reports, and only about 30 minutes from the hotel.  I arrived at Rocky Point about an hour before sunset hoping to hear the Pine Warblers before dusk, and with overcast skies hoping that I could hear the Whips a bit earlier than normal.  My first 2 stops didn’t yield any Warblers despite good habitat, but on my third stop I heard a Pine Warbler singing as soon as I stepped out of my car (statebird #1).  I heard another one at the next stop, but those were the only 2 I heard despite over an hour in good pine habitat.  NY was an obvious gap in my statebird map (how did I miss it during my time birding upstate?) – I’ve now seen it throughout all of its regular eastern range except MN, and as a rarity in CA and CO. 

 

I was driving around the area to look for likely places to listen for Caprimulgids at dusk, when I came upon a large field that seemed like good habitat for Blue Grosbeaks.  So I decided to get out of the car to see what I might find.  Within a few seconds I heard what I thought was a singing Blue Grosbeak in the distance.  I’m not too familiar with their song, so I pulled up my bird song app and it seemed like a pretty good match, though not perfect.  Since I wasn’t 100 percent sure I played a little tape to see if I could elicit a response.  Within a couple seconds I heard the sharp “chink” calls that I am familiar with – it was indeed a Blue Grosbeak (statebird #2).  The bird had flown right in to some trees near me, and although it was getting quite dark, I was able to see all the features of an adult male.  Although there were a few recent Blue Grosbeak reports from Long Island, none seemed like reliable stakeouts, and it appeared like this species was not a regular local breeder at least in significant numbers.  So I was very happy to find this bird listed as a rarity in e-Bird.  Although I still need it in a few of its regular states out west, I’ve seen this species in 37 states, including 5 New England states and now NY as a rarity or accidental.

It was now almost dark so I drove to a small parking area I had found earlier and started my efforts to listen for Whips.  Although I didn’t hear anything right away, I’ve had good success over the years in getting them to respond to tape a bit earlier than when they might start on their own.  So I played some tape and almost instantly one called back in the distance (statebird #3).  Within a couple minutes 4 birds calling simultaneously.  My statebird map for Eastern Whip-poor-will is very spotty as I still need it for a number of states especially in the southern portion of its range.

Then I switched to tape of the Chuck but got no response.  It was a similar story at a second stop – 3 calling Whips but no Chuck.  Though a third stop had no Caprimulgids at all.  Although I had hoped to hear a Chuck-will’s-widow, since the most recent report was almost a month old, and with no specific location provided, I decided to call it quits.  Despite missing this long shot, getting 2 of my expected targets and a bonus bird was a great start to the trip.

Day 2 Morning –

The first of four stops the next morning was at Connetquot State Park where a pair of Yellow-throated Warblers had been singing most of the summer.  This is a rarity for NY, since breeding birds typically get no farther north than central NJ.  The birds had been reported close to the entrance, so I was able to hear and then see one male very quickly (statebird #4).  NY was my 6th state (in addition to 5 New England states) where I’ve seen Yellow-throated Warbler as a rarity.

 

My next stop was a short distance away at Captree State Park where a White-faced Ibis had been reported since spring with a flock of Glossy’s.  I got to the spot where most of the sightings had been posted on e-Bird only to find a very large expanse of suitable saltmarsh habitat.  I would likely need to get real lucky and have the Ibis flock close to me in order to pick out the target bird.  But there were no waders in sight at all.  Finally after some scanning with my scope I noticed a very distant flock of Egrets feeding in the marsh, and then began to pick out some Ibis.  The smaller Ibis were only occasionally visible as they fed, though sometimes a single bird would fly out of the marsh, circle around and then drop back into the flock.  At more than 200 yards, even with a scope, my chances of picking out the White-faced were really slim.  But this bird was a nice breeding plumaged adult with a broad white ring around the face.  I spent the next 10 minutes staring at the flock hoping to see that distinctive face pattern with no luck.  Was I just too far away to see the white pattern?  But finally as I watched one bird drop into the marsh I thought I saw a flash of white on the face.  Over the next couple of minutes this bird briefly raised its head above the grasses several times and again showed the white face pattern.  Success!  (statebird #5).  Never thought I’d be able to pick it out at that distance.  NY was my 22nd state for White-faced Ibis, including the 5th as a rarity.

The next stop was Robert Moses State Park where some recent seawatches had included small number of various pelagic species – multiple shearwaters and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel.  But that morning a nice cold front had just come through, turning the winds around from the south to the northwest.  Although it made for very pleasant weather, it certainly was not the best conditions for pelagic birds to come close to shore.  And not surprisingly, all my scoping across the ocean yielded nothing of interest except a few Common Terns.  So I called it quits after about an hour and headed to the next stop.

The last stop of the morning was at nearby Gardiner’s County Park.  There were a few recent e-Bird reports from the park that included White-eyed Vireos, and an occasional one with an Orchard Oriole.  So even though neither was regular, nor were specific locations mentioned, I thought it was worthwhile to spend at least a little time trying for these 2 targets.  I walked the length of the central trail that goes to the beach, going through a number of wetter areas with thick undergrowth that looked to be good Vireo habitat, but had no luck.  Then on my way back I thought I heard a bit of song that could have been the Vireo.  I walked back into the brush a bit and sure enough heard a White-eyed Vireo singing several times (statebird #6).  NY fills in a big gap in my statebird map for this species.

I was happy to have gotten the Vireo, but none of the habitat I had been in so far seemed good for Orchard Oriole.  When I got back toward the car I noticed more open habitat in the northeast part of the park that could be good for the Oriole.  I got to the area and started to play some songs.  Within just a couple minutes I heard an Oriole give its “chit-chit” call.  The problem though was I couldn’t say for sure it wasn’t a Baltimore Oriole.  And even though I searched the area for the next 15 minutes, I couldn’t find the bird.  One that got away I’m afraid.

Day 2 Afternoon -

The family outing for the afternoon was a trip to Greenport near the northeast fork of Long Island for some shopping.  As we headed east along SR 25A we soon got into rural habitat with farms and the occasional home surrounded by a few planted deciduous trees.  I had just remarked to myself that this could be good Orchard Oriole habitat when I thought I saw one fly from one tree to another surrounding one of the farmsteads.  Maybe I just wanted to see an Orchard Oriole.  But just in case I made a mental note of the location and wondered about maybe stopping at this spot on the way back at the end of the day.

We eventually made it to Greenport, and I dropped the family off for shopping as I headed to Orient Point for a bit of birding.  My key target there was Roseate Tern - there were a number of e-Bird posts of the Tern apparently nesting on Plumb Island off the point, and sometimes they were seen in small numbers with larger numbers of Commons from the point.  I made it to Orient Point County Park and took the half mile walk to the point.  As the water came into view I could see a number of Terns feeding off the point in the rips – I guessed maybe 60 birds.  It took a while, but eventually I picked out a paler tern in the distance.  As it came closer it was easy to identify this very pale tern as a Roseate with the longer tail and mostly dark bill (statebird #7).  With a little more time I found 3 other Roseates that eventually came quite close to the point.  I’ve now seen this species in all of its regular nesting states (both in the northeast and FL) and in DE as a migrant.

Other notable birds at the point were a pair of Oystercatchers and a Piping Plover, along with 2 out-of-season Great Cormorants.

After rejoining the family for a bit of shopping, we headed back west to the hotel.  Along the way I kept my eyes open for the location where I may have seen an Orchard Oriole earlier in the day.  Amazingly I found the same group of trees where I had seen the bird, and got out of the car to try to re-find it.  My first thought was to play some Oriole tape, but with excessive road noise I quickly gave up on that idea.  So instead I started to walk over to the tree where I had seen the bird.  Just then a bird flew out of the tree and right over my head – it was a juvenile oriole.  And a then a second bird followed it.  I had found a family of Orchard Orioles (statebird #8).  Seeing it in NY fills a big hole in my statebird map – WI is the last state in its regular range where I still need this species.

Day 3 Morning –

My plan for the last morning was to bird two adjacent locations on the coast - Cupsogue Beach County Park and Moriches Bay Inlet.  Good numbers of terns had recently been reported at both sites, with occasional sightings of Royals, Arctics, and Roseates mixed in with the Commons.  I arrived shortly after dawn, parked in the large parking lot for the County Park, and then started my hike west toward the inlet.  There was a strong northerly wind that morning which made it almost chilly, and which also meant that I would be looking into the wind to scope the flats to the north. 

When I got to the inlet the tide was very high but dropping, with few flats exposed for roosting birds.  There was a distant island with many nesting gulls and a few Oystercatchers, but there were few terns to be seen.  And a small flock of Dowitchers with a couple Willets were the only other shorebirds in sight.  Not the best of starts.  But as the tide dropped the exposed flats attracted more birds - the Dowitcher flock grew to over 100, 5 Piping Plovers were running about, and at least a few Common Terns were now roosting on the sand.  I continued to scan the expanding flats and suddenly I came upon a roosting Royal Tern in full breeding plumage (statebird #9).  I certainly hadn’t seen it on my many earlier scans so it must have just flown in.  And less than a minute later it took off and disappeared up the bay to the east.  I was able to get this phone-scoped photo as it took off.

 I’ve now seen Royal Tern in every Atlantic and Gulf coastal state as well as CA.

I spent a little more time at the inlet but didn’t see much of anything else of interest.  So I headed over to the beach for a bit of a seawatch, but again saw nothing notable.  Even a passing fishing trawler had only attracted gulls and a few terns.  So I headed back to the County Park and scoped the newly exposed mudflats from the parking lot.  There were quite a number of roosting Common Terns along with 1 Roseate.  And the mudflats had at least 100 Dowitchers, along with a few Semi and Least Sands and both Yellowlegs, but nothing spectacular.  But after having seen 3 Tern species including the Royal I was very pleased with my morning’s results, and I decided to call it a day.

All in all this was a most successful trip, adding 9 NY statebirds including just about every reasonably likely possibility.  Not only did I fill in some glaring gaps in my NY list (now at 276), and holes in my statebird maps, but also found a few rarities.  Plus I was able to squeeze in the birding time without taking too much time away from the family.