South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 3 of 3

In November 2024 I started planning a mid-winter trip to south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, there were 3 mega rarities being seen – Bananaquit, Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately one of the initial triggers for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

See my previous 2 blog posts for summaries of the first two thirds of the trip.

1/13 – Central Florida

With our south FL birding complete, we started our long drive home.  Though of course we would have some birding stops along the way.  Our next set of stops would be at the Merritt Island NWR, first to look for a long-staying Eurasian Wigeon.  This bird was first discovered back in November, and had been seen nearly daily ever since.  Although it was enticing to look for it on our way south through the state, I decided to skip the search for this bird as we headed south so we could use a more inland route through FL for other targets.  Instead, we would look for the Wigeon several days later as we took a more coastal route on the way back north.  That strategy was a bit risky, but I was betting that the bird would stick around at least until we made our return.  And the bird was indeed still being seen daily when we got to the refuge so my gamble paid off.  Many of the eBird reports provided good details on the location of our bird (between stops #2 and #3 of the Black Point Wildlife Drive).  Now we just needed to find that one bird in a large American Wigeon flock.

We finally arrived at the refuge mid afternoon and headed straight for the Wildlife Drive.  There were quite a number of waders near the beginning of the Drive, but there were next to no waterfowl.  Just after we passed stop #2 we got to a lake on the left with good numbers of dabbling ducks in the eastern end, including quite a few Wigeon.  Now the pressure was on.  I started a slow scan of the closer ducks, then the ones a bit farther out, and finally the dabblers in the distance.  There were 50 or more American Wigeon but I couldn’t find the Eurasian.  There were a couple small mangrove islands in the middle of the lake that blocked my view of part of the lake, so I changed my vantage point a couple times but still couldn’t find our target.  I was getting worried.  I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t overlooking the bird; instead it was just in a different location.

We drove a short distance farther along to check the western end of the lake and came upon some more Wigeon.  Did we have the right location now?  Sure enough, within just a minute I had picked out the Eurasian Wigeon.  It was backlit a bit, but the orangey-red head and gray sides really stood out.

That was my 16th state where I’ve seen Eurasian Wigeon, mostly along both ocean coasts.

Our last targets of the day were a pair of American Flamingos wintering in the northern part of the Merritt Island refuge.  Initial eBird reports seemed to suggest that the birds were being seen in multiple locations, but that mostly turned out to be erroneous locations for the checklists.  Instead, a bit of research indicated that they were principally being seen at the south end of the Haulover Canal, most often on a small island called Bird Island.  All the photos showed the birds were quite far away, roosting with Cormorants and Pelicans.  So some distant searching might be necessary.

When we pulled up to the canoe launch area at the south end of the canal we quickly spotted Bird Island about a half mile away, along with the roosting flock of Cormorants and Pelicans.  And even with just binoculars you could see pink dots among the flock.  Scope views confirmed we had the 2 Flamingos.  Good thing they are such large and colorful birds.

Flamingo wasn’t a life bird or even a state bird for any of us, but it was great to see these beautiful birds again for our year lists.  And it sure was easier than my last FL Flamingos in the Everglades at the end of Snake Bight Trail.

1/14 – Central and Northern Florida

As we continued to head north, our first stop of the day was at Blue Spring SP for Florida Scrub-Jays.  The park is in the heart of Scrub-Jay habitat, and that part of central Florida has lots of Scrub-Jay reports in eBird.  But these birds are often in isolated spots, or move through the habitat in small family groups. So you often have to be lucky to run into one of those small wandering flocks.  In any case, it’s not a sure thing to find them on any given trip, even in good habitat. 

In doing my research I found multiple recent reports from Blue Spring, some concentrated near the campground and others from the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  We asked for advice from the ranger at the entrance booth and he said the best spot was the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  With a name like that how could you go wrong?  We started a slow walk down the trail in nice habitat but didn’t encounter any Jays.  We turned a curve in the trail and Bob spotted a bird foraging in the trail in the distance – we had our first Florida Scrub-Jay.  When we got closer we found 3 birds at this spot.  And a bit farther down the road we ran into another group of 4.  This one perched in the open affording nice, albeit backlit, views.

Later we took a short side trip to the spring and got great views of numerous manatees lounging in the relatively warm waters of the spring. 

Next we headed back to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park for another try for the Swifts and Ash-throated Fly.  The Swifts had been reported several times since our last trip there, but they continued to be seen only sporadically.  The Ash-throated had been reported a couple times too, so we tried to stay optimistic.  But despite nearly an hour of waiting near the southern impoundments the Swifts were once again a no show.  Then we walked to the northwest part of the park where the Flycatcher is typically seen but had only Phoebes.  Rather than doubling back as we did on our first visit, we continued on the loop around the northern impoundment and came back on the eastern side.  We had only walked perhaps 50 yards when we spotted some movement at the edge of the low brush – it was the Ash-throated Flycatcher, nicely captured by Anita in this picture.  (FL statebird #11) 

We were lucky we saw it when we did because it soon slipped down further into the vegetation mostly out of view.  FL was my 8th east coast state (along with KS) where I’ve seen this species as a vagrant.

Our next stop was a home in Gainesville where a female Western Tanager was coming to a feeder.  It took a bit of effort but I was finally able to obtain contact information for the homeowner.  With a quick call it turned out that he was very willing to have us come by his home and watch for his Tanager which had returned for its 3rd consecutive winter.  We watched his feeders through his kitchen window, and after a 30-minute wait, the Tanager dropped in to feed (FL statebird #12), along with several of his Baltimore Orioles.  Once again, here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tanager.

My statebird map for Western Tanager is actually quite similar to the Ash-throated map.

Many thanks to the homeowner for his hospitality!  He also told us about a pair of rare Common Goldeneyes in a nearby pond, which made for a most successful last birding stop in FL. 

1/14 – Coastal Georgia

We had just enough time before sunset for 2 quick stops in southern GA for unusual waterfowl.  The first was a male Common Goldeneye in a small lake along Queens Court just outside of Brunswick.  Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in finding it, though we had at least 150 Ruddy Ducks on the lake.  The bird was last seen a couple days earlier, with a photo showing it sitting on the shore, and the birder commented that it had a bad eye.  It sure didn’t look healthy in that picture; perhaps it passed before our visit on the 14^th.

Our last GA stop was at Blythe Island Park where a White-fronted Goose was hanging out with a small Canada Goose flock.  As we arrived at the park gate it was 5:45 and we all noticed the sign that the gate would close at 6.  But it was a small park so we hoped we would have just enough time to find our target and get out by 6.  We pulled up to the park lake and heard some geese calling in the distance.  It was starting to get pretty dark, but I was able to pick out the White-front in the distance.  We quickly drove over to the campground where we last saw the bird, re-spotted it in with the Canadas (Anita was able to snap this one picture) and got back out just 2 minutes before 6. 

 Can’t get any more efficient than that!

1/15 – Coastal Georgia

Our last full birding day of the trip was focused on several of our targets along the GA coast.  First we headed just a couple miles inland from Brunswick to Paulks Pasture WMA where Henslow’s Sparrows had been seen recently.  I had reached out to a local birder and got precise locations for the birds lurking in wet grasses along a powerline cut.  I donned my boots and rainpants and trudged through the tall grass but came up empty, finding just a Sedge Wren, despite what looked like ideal habitat.  It was nice to find this large patch of pitcher plants that measured at least 3 feet across.

Our next stop was in the Spartina marshes along the causeway to St. Simons for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  We timed our visit to be close to high tide to aid in flushing them out, but we only had one Seaside Sparrow respond to tape.  A Clapper Rail in flight was a nice bonus bird.

Once onto St. Simons we headed to Sandcastle Drive near the airport.  A ditch and small riparian area continued where the road stopped, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow had been seen there recently near a railroad tie retention wall.  This area was quite birdy, and we found birds like Painted Buntings and an Orange-crowned Warbler.  Eventually we found the retaining wall and spotted the Lincoln’s Sparrow skulking in the low brush just below the wall.  (GA statebird #1)  I now just need this species in 4 more states (the cross-hatched states in my statebird map below).

Our next targets were a pair of Western Kingbirds near the south end of the St. Simons airport, just a 5-minute walk from the Lincoln’s Sparrow spot.  They were typically seen perched in a large brush pile, and along the airport fences.  But even though they had been seen in the area for some time, they were only seen infrequently.  In fact, my local contact told me that he had recently spent 3 days looking for them with no luck.  And then the day before we arrived there was a report that they were seen perched on a relatively hidden back side of the brush pile.  Luckily I got directions to reach that portion of the pile, and we headed straight to that spot.  And within a couple minutes I was able to get distant scope views of one of the birds.  (GA statebird #2)  Western Kingbird is another of those typically “western” species that is a regular vagrant to the east coast.

Our last stop on the island was a shorebird hotspot named Gould’s Inlet.  A Snowy Plover had been spotted there recently, but not reported in the most recent couple checklists.  So I wasn’t too hopeful, though looking forward to seeing some big numbers and variety of shorebirds.  As we arrived there were already good numbers of shorebirds on the flats, and more continued to fly in as the tide dropped.  We were able to find 9 species of shorebirds including the only Piping and Wilson’s Plovers of the trip.  And wild estimates of numbers were dominated by 500 Dunlin, 100 Semi Plovers, and 75 Least Sandpipers.  An estimated 300 Black Skimmers were notable as well.  But as expected, we could not find the Snowy Plover.  A flyby flock of Black Scoters were nice as well.

We continued up the GA coast and headed for yet another try for Purple Sandpipers at the Tybee Island North Jetty.  Two had been reported and photographed there on the 13th, so we were actually more hopeful this time than on our first try.  But once again we only found Turnstones and Sanderlings.

1/16 – South Carolina

We made 2 final stops in SC on our last day on the road.  The first was at the Savannah NWR Visitor Center where Bill hoped to find Purple Finch as a new SC statebird.  I wasn’t too hopeful since the last time a Purple Finch was reported there was 12 days earlier at the feeding station.  But I liked Bill’s optimism.  We arrived at dawn and only found squirrels at the feeder.  We started talking about how wintering Purple Finches like to eat tree seeds, especially tulip, sweet gum, and sycamore seeds.  I started looking around and spotted a large gum tree nearby loaded with seed balls.  Sure enough there were 4 birds near the top of the tree that turned out to be Purple Finches.  Like I said, I like Bill’s optimism.

Our last stop was at the Orangeburg Sod Farm where we hoped for Ground Doves, especially around the maintenance buildings.  We found numerous MODOs, but alas no Ground Doves.

Summary of Trip Results

We amassed 213 species on the trip.  When the trip was over we were all briefly in eBird’s top 20 for the ABA Region for the year, and top 5 in FL.  And speaking of FL, we saw 43 of 53 south FL targets. 

Other highlights among our 213 species were:

- South FL Specialties - Short-tailed Hawk, Snail Kite, White-crowned Pigeon, "Great White" Heron, Burrowing Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Florida Scrub Jay, Vermilion Flycatcher, Whooping Crane, "Golden/Carribean" Yellow Warbler, 15 species of wintering warblers

- Exotics - Spot-breasted Oriole, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna, Indian Peafowl, Egyptian Goose, 6 species of parakeets/amazons/macaws

- Rarities - 4 Tropical Kingbirds, Ruff, Brown-crested Flycatcher, 10 Shiny Cowbirds, 2 American Flamingos, Eurasian Wigeon, 2nd record of Gray-headed Swamphen for SC, 5 Cave Swallows, 2 Ash-throated Flycatchers, 2 Western Tanagers, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and a remarkable 18 Western Kingbirds

I ended up with 2 new Lifebirds – Blue-and-yellow Macaw and Orange-winged Amazon - bringing my ABA Continental list to 776 per eBird’s countability rules.  Plus I added 20 new statebirds, much better than the 16 I hoped for:

- SC – added 6 bringing my total to 312

- GA – added 2 with a new state total of 272

- FL – added 12 raising my total to 343

The eBird Trip Report can be found at – ebird.org/tripreport/318837

It sure was a nice break from winter birding in western NC!

South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 1 of 3

I was sitting at home on a cold day in November 2024 thinking ahead to the prospects of the upcoming winter of birding in western NC.  Winter birding in the area can be pretty slow in good times.  But complicating the picture this year was that several of my favorite birding spots were still inaccessible, or completely destroyed, by Hurricane Helene. 

That’s when I started thinking about setting up a mid-winter trip to a southern (and warmer) US location.  I’ve taken several mid-winter trips recently - lower Rio Grande valley In January 2024, Tallahassee in January 2023, and the Atlantic coast of FL in February 2023.  In each case the trips were focused on pursuing 1or more life birds, and were most successful.  So I checked out the eBird ABA Rarities Alert to see if there might be potential life bird targets to pursue this winter.  There was a long-staying Bananaquit near Miami that caught my eye.  Plus, there are quite a number of newly countable exotic Parakeets, Macaws, and Amazons in south FL that would be lifers for me.  The trip was on!

I started planning a south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, I also found reports of 2 exciting South American species being seen in south FL - Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately the initial trigger for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

This blogpost summarizes the first portion of the trip.  The next two posts summarize the rest of the trip.

1/6 - South Carolina

There were an amazing number of rarities being seen in SC as our trip neared.  And even though two initial targets (Eared Grebe and White-winged Dove) were no longer being reported, we still had so many targets that we dedicated most of the first two days of the trip to chasing those SC rarities. 

Our first stop was to try for a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Harbison Pond near Columbia.  This bird had been reliable and seen by many from December 26th through 28th, but then not reported again until January 5th, just in time to put it back on our radar screen.  This western rarity was mostly seen on the eastern side of the small lake, and close to the shoreline.  In fact, most photos showed the bird right at the water’s edge.  So we were cautiously optimistic that the Warbler might actually be pretty easy to spot.

As we drove to Columbia we passed through bands of heavy rain as a strong cold front neared the area.  But luckily the rain had not yet arrived when we got to Harbison Pond, so we had a little dry window to find our target.  We started a slow walk down the eastern side of the lake but the only bird we found was a lone Phoebe.  Making matters worse, then the rain started, along with strong westerly winds.  Even though the bird was typically only seen on the east side of the lake, that area was exposed to the rain and wind.  So we decided to try the protected western side – that was a nice theory but we still couldn’t find our target. 

We went back to the east side and decided to give it one more try.  But this time we had no birds at all.  Just then Anita asked me to check out a bird she spotted high up in a tree in the distance.  Although it was pretty far away I could see the classic head pattern of our target bird – we had the Black-throated Gray Warbler!  (SC statebird #1)  No one had reported the bird foraging that high; wonder if the weather had something to do with it.

My statebird map for Black-throated Gray Warbler is inserted below.  The light blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 5 darker blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

Next we were on to Fort Moultrie on the coast near Charleston.  This spot is well known for its rarities and this January was no exception – Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and LeConte’s Sparrows were all being reported there.  When we arrived we spotted a birder in the distance so we made our way over to her.  She had just seen both flycatchers loosely associating together.  And soon we spotted the Western Kingbird on a low perch in the field – a nice rarity but I had seen one at Fort Moultrie in the past.  We spent a few minutes searching for the Ash-throated but with no luck.  Then I played a couple Ash-throated call notes for this tape-responsive species and it flew right into us (SC statebird #2).  I got these passable digi-bin shots of the two birds perched just a few feet apart.

 

We spent the next 30 minutes searching for the LeConte’s Sparrow, and found a nice flock of foraging Savannahs in about the right location, but we had no luck with our target.

Our next chaseable rarities were a male and female Western Tanager just 20 minutes away at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.  They were seen separately generally foraging in woods near a submarine memorial and nearby across the street.  We had good directions, now we needed the birds to cooperate.

We parked at the memorial and quickly checked the trees there, but had no birds at all.  Then we headed across the road and at least started to find a few birds here and there.  Soon we got to a small wooden bridge that I remembered as being one of the hotspots for the Tanagers.  This spot turned out to be quite birdy, with a number of birds coming out of the brush under the bridge.  Then I noticed a larger bird perched in a bare tree just above the bridge – it was the female Western Tanager.  (SC statebird #3).  It was likely an immature bird with very limited yellow below.  Certainly not the most colorful bird, but still a new statebird.  Here’s a shot of Bob and Bill looking at the Tanager.

Since we found the Tanager so quickly we still had time for one last stop.  There was a male Bullock’s Oriole coming to a nearby private feeder, and even though the general suggestion was to try for this bird in the early morning, we decided to give it a go since we still had time late that afternoon.  We arrived at the residence and headed to the chairs in the backyard to start our vigil.  The homeowners came out to greet us, and put additional jelly in the feeder to entice the Oriole.  And within just a couple minutes the adult male Bullock’s flew in to the feeding station.  I had seen a female in SC a couple years earlier, but it sure was nice to see this beautiful male.

1/7 – Coastal South Carolina

Our first stop of the day was on Edisto Island where up to 2 Long-tailed Ducks had been reported.  Unfortunately, they had not been reported for 4 days, and the locations of the eBird checklists were at multiple spots all along the beach.  So I was a bit worried if we were going to be successful on this search, or at least successful quickly.  But I got a tip that they might be more reliable off the Coots Bar restaurant, so that’s where we started.

When we parked at Coots Bar I looked down the coast to the southwest and was shocked to see numerous jetties jutting out from the beach.  Long-tailed Ducks like to feed along jetties so there could be a dozen or more places to check.  I scanned the first jetty but didn’t find any ducks.  Then Bill said he thought he had them at the next jetty.  Binocular views revealed two small mostly white ducks, and in the scope we confirmed we had the male and female pair of Long-tailed Ducks.  (SC statebird #4)  SC was the last Atlantic coast state where I still needed this species.  The two cross-hatched states in my statebird map (OR, OH), are the last 2 states where I still need this species in its regular range.

We then spent a little time focusing on the shorebirds feeding on the jetties and picked out 2 Knots among the flocks of Sanderlings, Turnstones, and Willets.

As we continued our trek down the coast our next stop was at Bear Island WMA.  And here we quickly picked up Tundra Swans as our key target.  We also kept our eyes open for a White-winged Dove reported there recently, but just found Mourning Doves. 

Our last stop in SC was at the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive in Savannah NWR.  The key target here was a Gray-headed Swamphen which was only the second SC state record.  The bird was first reported some 2 weeks earlier, and was seen daily within 100 yards past port-a-potties located along the drive.  An occasional Cave Swallow or 2 was also reported by some birders in the area, though that target was a pretty long shot.

We quickly found the port-a-potties less than a mile from the beginning of the drive, parked our cars, and began searching the marshes nearby.  Our initial searches yielded numerous Common Gallinules and Coots and a few dabbling ducks, but no big purple marsh birds.  We continued down the road a bit combing through more cattail marshes but still couldn’t come up with our target.  I took a break at one point to look for swallows and found quite a number of Tree Swallows passing quickly by, seemingly in migration.  None looked like possible Cave candidates though all were passing by so quickly that a Cave ID would have been difficult.

We had now come more than 100 yards from the port-a-potties, so I started heading back to recheck the marsh we had just searched.  Just then I spotted a flash of purple color at the edge of the cattails.  I saw a bit more movement and watched as the Gray-headed Swamphen stepped out of the reeds into view.  (SC statebird #5) 

Just as I was getting everyone on the bird, Bill spotted an American Bittern slowly moving through the cattails just a few feet from the Swamphen.  Even when we knew where the Bittern was it was next to impossible to see.

With the Swamphen search complete, I turned back to the swallow search.  As before there were many Trees flying quickly by, but this time I noticed a swallow flying back and forth foraging low over the impoundment.  This one had an orange rump and buffy throat – we had a Cave Swallow (SC statebird #6).  We had at least 3 Caves together at the Swamphen spot, and at least 2 others a short distance down the road.  Each of the Caves were coursing low over the vegetation apparently feeding, while the numerous Trees were flying as if migrating by.  SC was my 5th state seeing Cave Swallow as a rarity.  I’ve also seen the Caribbean group breeding in south FL, and the Mexican group breeding in TX, NM, and LA.

We birded the rest of the Wildlife Drive, finding lots of waterfowl (including a somewhat unexpected pair of Mottled Ducks) and many waders.  And although we wanted to bird there longer, it was time to move on to our next stops.

1/7 – Coastal Georgia

It was now getting late in the afternoon but we had time for 2 quick stops just over the stateline in GA.  The first was at Fort Pulaski to try for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  Although the tide wasn’t high, which is the easiest time to find these elusive birds, we still hoped to find them in the excellent salt marsh habitat at the fort.  But despite playing a lot of tape we were unsuccessful.  Lastly, we headed to the North Jetty at Tybee Island where there were old reports of Purple Sandpipers, Black Scoters, and a Long-tailed Duck.  But we could only find Turnstones and Sanderlings.  Maybe we could try for them on the way back north later in the trip.

1/8 – North Florida

Our first stop in FL was at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville for a long-staying Cinnamon Teal.  Although the bird was seen regularly in a large flock of Blue-winged Teal, there had been no reports of our target since January 2nd.  So I was a bit concerned that it had moved on.  As we walked into the park we saw a group of birders coming out.  They told us that the large flock of Blue-wings had moved on and the Cinnamon Teal likely had gone with them.  When we got to the impoundment where the Teal flock had been we found just 6 Blue-wings.  At least the whole area was very birdy, including this Snail Kite that flew in and perched cooperatively nearby.

Next we were on to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park 45 minutes to the south.  This site had 2 key targets for us: a small number of Vaux’s Swifts that were being seen sporadically, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher.  The Swifts were mostly spotted flying over impoundments at the south end of the park, and the Flycatcher was principally near the northwestern part of the park.  We pulled in and quickly headed to the southern impoundments, but our searches of the skies came up empty.  We noticed a birder in the distance and walked over to him for some local advice.  He mentioned that we just missed the Swifts, as they flew by just 20 minutes earlier.  Surely they would come back, right?  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case over the next 30 minutes. 

We decided to try to change our luck and look for the Flycatcher.  After a short walk toward the northern end of the park we watched and listened to no avail.  We played some tape hoping for a response like we had with the SC bird a couple days earlier, but again with no luck.  Though a couple Eastern Phoebes briefly got us excited. 

After about 90 minutes at the park we decided to cut our losses and head out for one more stop yet that afternoon.  The last stop of the day was about 2 hours to the south in Osceola County where a Whooping Crane had taken up residence with a pair of Sandhills in a subdivision under construction.  This bird was apparently quite reliable, so we hoped we might soon change our luck after missing several consecutive targets. 

When we arrived we first had to drive through a neighborhood of new houses to get to the construction area.  There we found the roads were completed and the subdivision was all laid out, but the houses were not yet under construction.  The Crane was most often reported right in the cul de sac at the end of the road, but there was no obvious tall white bird in site.  Then I looked to the east a bit to a neighboring farm and noticed a white bird in the distance.  With a quick binocular view we confirmed we had our Whooping Crane feeding in the short grass with 2 Sandhills.  (FL statebird #1) 

After watching it feed at the farm for a few minutes it took off and flew right by us, landing in a pond in the cul de sac, giving us great views.  What a great way to end the day!

There was a second Whooping Crane being seen less than 10 miles away.  It turns out that both birds were released in the area in 1999 and had formed a mated pair, but somehow the 2 birds had recently become separated.  You would sure hope that the authorities would try to reacquaint the birds, especially given that the habitat for the one we saw would soon be compromised once construction of the neighborhood was underway.

1/9 – Central Florida

One of the key initial targets for the trip was a Large-billed Tern discovered at the Goodwin WMA.  This South American species was first spotted in the area in the summer of 2023, but then disappeared until being re-found in November 2024.  Interestingly, it or another one spent the summer of 2024 near Naples in the southwestern portion of FL.  Goodwin WMA is only accessible by car on Thursdays, or with a very long walk on Sundays, resulting in a limited number of reports from the area.  The last positive report for the Tern was December 15th, so we weren’t too hopeful.  But with so many birders looking for the Tern, it’s not too surprising that another rarity was found there- a Ruff feeding with other shorebirds in one of the impoundments.  A nice example of the “Patagonia Picnic Table Effect”. 

Now we needed to gain access to the site and find the impoundments where the Tern and Ruff were most likely to be seen.  Not to mention find our target birds!  For this support we turned to David Simpson, one of the local expert birders, and the person who discovered the Tern.  It turns out that he has his own guiding company, and was free on Thursday the 9th, so we hired him for a half day tour.  And since Goodwin is only accessible on Thursdays, we literally planned our entire trip around birding that site the morning of the 9th.

We met David in the parking lot at 8, and birded the immediate vicinity for a while waiting for the gate to open at 9.  A male Vermilion Flycatcher and a Tropical Kingbird were being seen in the area, and we quickly found both birds perched in the same bush.  Later a female Painted Bunting was spotted there as well.  By the time the gate opened at least 20 birders had gathered anxious to get into the site.  We were hopeful that with all those eyes we would find at least one of our target birds. 

Once we got inside we started to get a feel for how immense the site was.   We first drove through several miles of dry savanna until we reached wet impoundments.  Marsh birds and waterfowl were everywhere, including numerous Swamphens and both Gallinules, all the expected waders, and flocks of dabbling and diving ducks.  We spent some time at the impoundment where the Tern would often perch, but we were all realistic that the Tern had most likely moved on.

We eventually made our way to the impoundment where the Ruff and most of the shorebirds were being seen.  There were already at least a dozen birders there by the time we set up the scopes.  Here’s a picture of the impoundment.

After a bit of scanning we eventually spotted the flock the Ruff was likely associating with, but the birds were really far away and most were sleeping.  Mixed in the roosting flock were large numbers of Skimmers, Ring-billed Gulls, and Forster’s and Caspian Terns – though no Large-billed Tern was in the group.  We tried numerous vantage points but mostly just found more sleeping shorebirds.  But after a while we started to find some birds up and about foraging on the flats, including a nice Stilt Sandpiper feeding with both Yellowlegs.  And then as we were about to run out of time, we came upon a large group of mostly Dowitchers feeding a bit closer to us.  And one birder mentioned he might have an interesting bird in the flock.  David looked in that birder’s scope and confirmed they had the Ruff.  It took me a couple anxious minutes but I was finally able to pick it out in the distance.  (FL statebird #2)  FL is the 10th state where I’ve seen Ruff – of course all as rarities.

On our way back out of Goodwin we spotted a couple Snail Kites – a nice way to end the trip to this amazing spot.  Without David’s help we doubt that we would have been able to find the Ruff, let alone find the impoundment where the Ruff was hanging out.

As we continued our drive toward southern FL our next stop was Paul Rardin Park along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee.  This small roadside park had an amazing set of wintering flycatchers, with recent reports including a Vermilion Flycatcher, 2 Western Kingbirds, a Tropical Kingbird, and occasional sightings of the only overwintering Gray Kingbird in the state that year.  Soon after we arrived I spotted a pair of flycatchers on power lines at the edge of the park which turned out to be a Western and a beautiful male Vermilion.  Then another Western joined them.  Soon we were surrounded by Kingbirds, and we counted 4 Westerns and a Tropical, eventually all flying in to perches in the same tree!  Here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tropical with the rising moon in the background. 

We spent some additional time trying to re-locate the Gray Kingbird without success.  That one will have to wait for the breeding season when they’re common in the right habitats.

It was now late afternoon and we had just enough time for a stop at the Sem-Chi Rice Mill.  This spot is well-known for its blackbirds, with large mixed flocks coming to feed on spilled rice.  Our key target here was Shiny Cowbird which was sometimes seen in those flocks.  I had birded here a few years ago, and the protocol was to park at the edge of the parking lot and bird from the edges, staying away from mill operations.  This strategy was confirmed by my more recent contacts as we prepared for this trip.

We pulled into the parking lot and quickly noted a small flock of blackbirds coming into a nearby dumpster.  Just as we started to focus on the birds several employees came out of the buildings and made it quite clear that we weren’t allowed there.  We made a hasty retreat to our cars, and found a safe spot to park just outside the mill property.  Luckily there was a spot where we could still see the dumpster and all its blackbirds.  The birds would fly into neighboring hedges and trees, stage there briefly, then either fly right into the dumpster, or rest briefly on its edge, before dropping into it out of view.  At times the whole flock would be spooked and all would fly away, only to come back to start the process all over again a couple minutes later.  At best that gave us only brief views of any one bird so we had to be quick with the binoculars.

We spent the better part of an hour there watching the almost constant movement of blackbirds dominated by about 100 Red-wings.  We eventually all got good views of at least 3 Shiny Cowbirds (at least 1 male and 2 females), and at least 3 Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  I also got one view of a Bronzed Cowbird but couldn’t get others on it before it flew off.  Wonder what was in that dumpster that the blackbirds liked so much.

The next 2 blog posts summarize the rest of the trip.

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. 

8 Georgia Statebirds Following a Trip to the Florida Panhandle, January 7-8, 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!

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.  All told I found 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 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.

This post covers the GA portion of my trip, on Days 3 and 4 of the trek.  The previous blog post summarized the FL half of the trip.

Day 3 - January 7

The first stop of the day was the last one in FL – agricultural fields in the panhandle close to where AL, GA, and FL come together.  Luckily it didn’t take long to find my target Horned Lark there since I had a full day of GA birding (and driving!) planned.  In fact, I probably had more stops planned than I could bird successfully.  So soon after seeing the Larks I was back on the road heading northeast through southern GA. 

My first GA stop was an eBird hotspot called Standard Elevator Rd. in Sumter County.  The key target here was Say’s Phoebe that had been reported there twice in late December, though the most recent report was now 10 days old.  And complicating the issue was that no details on the location of the bird were provided.  This was a 3-mile-long road, and the hotspot was apparently the entire road.  Certainly lots of territory a single flycatcher could hide in.  The only clues were that the one checklist included photos of the bird on the ground on a dirt road, on a telephone wire, and on a telephone pole.  Recent reports from the hotspot also included a Pectoral Sandpiper, though ID details were limited on this species that would typically be in South America this time of year.  Plus there were occasional reports of 3 of my other targets, Sandhill Crane, and White-crowned and Vesper Sparrows, which were also seen at a number of other sites in this part of the state.  Lots of opportunity, though with limited time and directions, I wasn’t too overly optimistic.

As I pulled into the eastern end of the road I noticed a small roadside farm pond with mudflats.  I broke out the scope and picked up 15 Least Sandpipers, both Yellowlegs, and a Snipe, but no Pectoral.  That is assuming that this was the pond where the Pectoral had been spotted in the first place. 

Then I turned my attention to my key target, the Say’s Phoebe.  My first strategy was to try to find the area where the photos had been taken.  But the road was paved instead of dirt, and it was lined with 3 miles of telephone wires and poles.  This would be next to impossible.  I drove along a short distance and briefly got excited when I found a couple Phoebes but they turned out to be Eastern.  I had basically given up on the Phoebe and turned my attention to my Sparrow targets.  There was some nice brush along the roadside and I played some White-crowned tape to see if I could get lucky.  Amazingly an immature White-crowned almost instantly popped up – it was the first sparrow I saw along the road (GA statebird #1). 

My statebird map for White-crowned Sparrow is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range, which is basically the entire US.  The one cross-hatched location, Washington, D.C., is the last jurisdiction where I have not yet seen this species.

A short distance farther ahead I left the brushy area behind and came upon a dirt agricultural field.  I noticed some movement at the muddy edge and it was a Vesper Sparrow.  And then I realized there were actually 3 Vesper Sparrows foraging together (GA statebird #2).  Remarkably the first 4 sparrows that I saw along the road were a White-crowned and 3 Vespers.  Can’t ask for anything better than that.  Well I guess unless I saw the Say’s Phoebe too. 

Like White-crowned, Vesper is seen across the Lower 48 states, though I still need this one in 5 states plus DC.  (There aren’t too many good sparrow spots in DC I guess.)

I drove along a bit farther down the road and spotted a Phoebe flying nearby.  I quickly got out but it was just another Eastern.  But before I could return to the car I heard the bugling of a Sandhill Crane.  I looked up and there was a flock of 8 birds flying low overhead (GA statebird #3).  In my statebird map for this species that tan-shaded states are those eastern states where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

The 2 Sparrows and the Crane had been reported at a number of my planned stops, so seeing them all so quickly meant I could spend less time looking for them on upcoming stops.  Plus 1 upcoming stop solely for Cranes could be eliminated altogether.  This gave me more time for my other targets.

And speaking of other targets, my thoughts came back to the Say’s Phoebe.  The place where I had parked was close to where farmer’s equipment had driven from the fields to the paved road, covering the road with large amounts of dirt.  Could this be what I thought was a dirt road in one of the pictures?  Then I started thinking about Say’s Phoebe’s preferred microhabitat – they especially like to forage and perch around farm buildings.  I could see a group of farm buildings up ahead near the western end of Standard Elevator Rd. – maybe I could re-find the bird after all.  I spent some time wandering around the buildings, seeing a number of perched birds like Mourning Doves and a Mockingbird, but not my target.

Then I remembered there were old farm buildings at the other end of the road as well.  I drove back there and just as I was getting out of the car noticed a telephone pole covered in poison ivy vines.  That reminded me that in the photo showing the Phoebe perched on a telephone pole the pole was also covered in vines.  Had I found the correct spot? 

Just when I started walking around the area near the pole a small flycatcher flew by and perched most cooperatively in a low tree – I had my Say’s Phoebe. 

GA was my 3rd eastern state finding this species as a rarity.

It’s most satisfying when my research and detective work lead to a successful chase!  And with 4 targets at my first stop I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my day.

Next I was off to the Dooly County Road Farm Pond hotspot where 2 Canvasbacks had been reported intermittently.  When I pulled up and did my first scan I didn’t see a single duck.  That wasn’t looking good.  But part of the pond was obscured by a small hill so I adjusted my viewing angle and noticed a group of 5 Hooded Mergansers actively diving.  And then 4 Cormorants swam into view.  But still no Canvasbacks though I picked out 2 rare continuing Long-billed Dowitchers.  I was now convinced that I could see the entire pond, and the Canvasbacks just weren’t there no matter how hard I tried.  But I had another spot for Canvasback on the next day so I wasn’t throwing in the towel on this species just yet. 

My next target was a Ross’s Goose reported twice in a small runoff retention pond in a suburban subdivision in Warner Robins.  Photos and a GoogleEarth view of this spot suggested the habitat was marginal, so I wasn’t too optimistic on this one.  But it was just a few miles off my route so worth the try.  When I arrived I realized that the pond was inside a gated community.  I tried driving around the outside of the community but fencing blocked my views.  I was tempted to just give up, but decided to try to talk my way into the neighborhood.  Luckily there was someone manning the gate, and they let me in to survey the waterfowl at the pond.  Just as I pulled in I spotted a couple Canadas - this was looking good.  But when I got a better view of the pond a small flock of Canadas were the only geese there.  In hindsight, with limited time available and more spots to bird yet that day, it would have been better to skip this spot altogether.

After a quick break to gas up, I was back on the road heading north to the Piedmont NWR to look for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.  This one had not been on my radar screen until the night before when a report came through on my Needs Alert.  Then with some additional historical research I found out that Red-cockaded was actually regular on the refuge, presumably with active management for this endangered species.  If it hadn’t been for the previous day’s report I would have driven right past this spot.  But “shoe-horning” this additional spot in an otherwise already full schedule meant I had maybe just 90 minutes of birding time there.

After arriving at the refuge I went right to the location of yesterday’s report at the Wildlife Drive hoping the birds were still in the vicinity.  Foraging birds are often quite vocal, so I listened and watched intently.  I walked and drove along that section of the road, finding excellent managed habitat for Red-cockaded, but didn’t find my target bird.  Though I did see several marked trees the Red-cockaded was using for feeding or nesting.

I then went to nearby Cut-through Road where they had also been reported recently.  As before, I walked along the road through excellent habitat.  Several times I heard tapping but it turned out to be Red-bellies and Sapsuckers.  Then I heard more tapping and finally heard the characteristic “seep” calls of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker in the distance (GA statebird #5).  I briefly tried to track it down but realized the bird was pretty far away and my time was limited.  Not the most satisfying observation I’m afraid. 

After I got home, I realized that I could also have searched for Bachman’s Sparrow in this same habitat.  Although they are easier to find in spring and summer while singing on territory, they are still present in the winter months.  If I go back for the sparrow hopefully I’ll get some nice views of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers as well.

My last stop of the day was the Augusta regional airport where there had been recent sightings of both LeConte’s and Henslow’s Sparrows.  But those birds would have to wait till the next morning.  Today I wasn’t arriving at the airport until sunset when my targets would be Woodcock and Short-eared Owl.  Both species were only reported there once, and it was more than 2 weeks ago, but I was hopeful that the Woodcocks were local breeders and would be calling each evening.  I was a bit less optimistic for the Owl, but still worth the try.

I arrived at the end of General Perry Smith Parkway at the edge of the airport property at 5:34, one minute before sunset.  Skies were clear and there was no wind - excellent conditions to see or hear both species.  From my vantage point I could see most of the airport property as I hoped to see a Short-ear either sitting on a low perch, or flying low over the ground.  My initial scans came up empty, though a flyover late Bald Eagle was interesting.  As it got darker, I scanned even more intently but couldn’t come up with an Owl.  There’s a rule of thumb that Woodcocks start calling 20 minutes after sunset, so at 5:55 I crossed my fingers that the “timberdoodles” would soon start their courtship.  But at 6:00 there were still no calling Woodcocks and it was almost too dark to see a Short-ear even if it was there.  My hopes were waning.  Then finally at 6:02 I heard the first of 2 Woodcocks calling a short distance away (GA statebird #6).  It’s nice to shade in GA in my statebird map, but I still need this species in a number of states especially in the western portion of its range.

At 6:10 it was now too dark to try to see a Short-eared Owl, so I gave up on my nocturnal search and called it a day. 

Day 4 - January 8

At sunrise on the 8th I was back at the airport to try for the LeConte’s and Henslow’s Sparrows.  Both species had been found in a very small grassy area with some standing water and clumps of broomsedge a short distance from the spot where I had the Woodcocks the prior evening.  Although I had excellent directions to the wet area where the sparrows were found, I wasn’t too overly optimistic since the LeConte’s was last seen nearly 2 weeks ago, and the Henslow’s was last seen 5 days earlier.  I spent a fair amount of time trudging through the area but only found Songs and Fields.  I spotted similar habitat across the road at a retention pond and gave that a try too but only found Songs and Savannahs there.  It looks like I was too late for these little skulking targets.

My next stop was the Brickyard Ponds hotspot a short distance away where Canvasback was quite reliable and Black Duck was seen occasionally.  And there was even a recent report of Neotropic Cormorant there.  I traded e-mails with local birders who shared advice how to bird this spot, and they suggested that Canvasback was most likely to be seen in the Garden Pond.  After paying the small entrance fee at the bait shop I began the drive into the large complex of lakes of various sizes and shapes.  The first couple lakes had few waterfowl, but quite a number of Double-crested Cormorants.  I checked each one but couldn’t come up with the smaller Neotropic.  There were also multiple Anhingas nicely perched around the perimeter of each of the lakes. 

Then I reached the Garden Pond and it was absolutely covered in waterbirds.  Closest to the road were large numbers of Coots, perhaps 400 of them.  Then I looked farther out on the lake and the water was covered in diving ducks – certainly critical mass to find a Canvasback.  The flock was dominated by at least 500 Ring-necked Ducks.  Some of the closest Ring-necks flew off when I drove up; I just hoped the Canvasbacks weren’t with them.  Now it was time for a closer look to see what other species might be mixed in.  With a more methodical scan I was able to pick out 15 Redheads, 10 Buffleheads, and 15 Ruddy Ducks in with the Ring-necks.  I was starting to get worried until I finally found a pair of female Canvasbacks swimming far in the distance among the other ducks (GA statebird #7).  I just need Canvasback in 1 more state in the continental US.

With the Canvasback behind me, it was time to get back to looking for Black Duck and Neotropic Cormorant.  I birded the remaining lakes but unfortunately couldn’t come up with either of those long-shot targets.  Although I only got 1 of my targets, the Brickyard Ponds hotspot sure looked like a great birding site. 

My last stop of the trip was Lake Olmstead on the northern side of Augusta where a pair of Long-tailed Ducks were first spotted 2 weeks ago and were being seen almost daily.  It’s a small lake so I was cautiously optimistic.  The reports often mentioned that they were being seen off the boat ramp, though they were diving frequently.  I pulled into the parking lot at the boat ramp and instantly noticed movement out on the lake – it was the pair of Long-tailed Ducks!  (GA statebird #8)  That was easy.  They were indeed diving frequently, but I was able to get this passable phone-scoped photo.

Long-tailed duck 2 pic

Two days earlier I also added Long-tailed Duck to my FL list – nice to get this rarity back-to-back in these 2 southeastern states.

What a great way to end the trip!  My 8 new GA statebirds were 2 more than I hoped for, and it brings my statelist to 265.  And along with 10 new statebirds in FL (including a Lifer!), it was a great start to the 2023 birding year.