Rare Ohio Business Trip Yields Two Statebirds, June 2017

The last time I birded in OH was May 2013 when I added 12 birds to my statelist bringing my total to 226.  That put me 15 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 211 (defined as half of the total state list) – exactly meeting my goal to be at least 15 over the threshold.  However, since that time, an amazing 12 new birds have been added to the OH list, meaning the new threshold has increased by 6 to 217.  Although you wouldn’t think the OH statelist would continue to grow at that pace, if it did, I would drop below the new threshold in just a few years.  So when a short business trip to Cleveland came up, I certainly looked forward to a rare opportunity to do some statebirding in OH. 

As always my first step was to set up an OH Needs Alert in eBird.  And since my OH list wasn’t too large, quite a number of possible statebirds popped up statewide.  But my spare time would be limited to just one early morning, so I would need to restrict my search to the immediate counties around Cleveland.  Luckily 3 targets were still possible – Broad-winged Hawk, Virginia Rail, and Hooded Warbler.  And all 3 were being reported reasonably reliably at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park which was just 25 minutes from my hotel.  Although not surprisingly there was no specific site for the Broad-wing, the Rail was reported from one marsh in the park, and Hoodeds were reported from multiple sites throughout the park.  So it seemed like I could make a quick stop for the Rail, ride through the park a bit keeping my eyes and ears open for the Broad-wing and Hooded, and still get back in time for the start of my meetings. 

Unfortunately that plan began to unravel when I woke up that morning and checked the forecast - heavy thunderstorms most of the day starting in the early morning.  The radar showed that the leading edge of the rain was just a few miles west of the city, so I had at most a small window of good birding weather.  I first considered just cancelling my birding altogether, but I figured I could still squeeze in quick stops for at least a couple species before the rain hit.  So I stuck with my plans, and was out of the hotel an hour before dawn, reaching the park at first light.

The first area I targeted was Chippewa Creek Drive which appeared to be in the center of the area where multiple Hooded Warblers had been reported this year.  My plan was to drive along slowly, with my windows down listening for my target birds.  There was quite a lot of early morning song in the woodlands, especially featuring good numbers of singing flycatchers – including Pewee, Acadian, Phoebe, Great Crested, and Kingbird.  Then I reached an area that looked really nice for Hooded Warbler - a heavily wooded area with thick undergrowth where the road paralleled a stream.  I stopped the car and almost instantly heard the clear whistled song of a Hooded Warbler.  Then I heard another, and another – there were 3 Hoodeds singing in the same spot.  I thought it looked like a nice spot!

Adding Hooded Warbler in OH fills in one of my last gaps in my statebird map (see below); I still need it in AR and NY within its regular range.  I’ve also seen it in CA and throughout northern New England as a rarity.

Next I was off to try for the Virginia Rail at the nearby eBird hotspot called Station Road Railroad.  There had been just one report of the Rail here this year but it was in the last week.  Plus there were several reports of one bird at this spot last year.  So although I would have preferred to see more reports of the Rail here in 2017, I was still optimistic the bird could be reliable at this spot.  (Besides – why wouldn’t you find a Rail at a railroad?)  With the help of comments included in a few posts, and some GoogleMaps satellite searches, I was able to figure out that the bird was in a wetlands about a third of a mile south of the Station Road parking lot along a set of railroad tracks.  Within a few minutes I arrived at the parking lot, and with umbrella in hand, began my walk down the tracks.  (By the way the tracks were active so I would have to be mindful of oncoming trains.)  Within a few minutes I had reached the wetlands and almost instantly heard a Virginia Rail giving it’s kid-dik calls from the reeds at the back of the marsh.  Good thing I heard it when I arrived because that was the only time it called during the 20 minutes I was at the marsh.

I just need this species in 4 more states in the Lower 48 to fill in my statebird map for this common wetlands species.

Later I would hear and see a most attractive Prothonotary Warbler at the marsh.  And on my way back to the car I also heard a singing Cerulean Warbler – it’s always great to encounter this declining species. 

As I returned to my car it had just started to rain, but I thought I’d be able to make one more stop to try for the Broad-winged Hawk.  There had been sporadic reports at the nearby Oak Grove picnic area, perhaps of birds nesting in the area, or birds that might be visible passing overhead at this clearing in the woodlands.  But soon after I arrived it started to rain heavily, and I called it quits.  Though I was surprised to find a Junco here in June, and another singing Hooded Warbler was a nice find as well.

That gives me 228 for my OH statelist, now 11 over the newly calculated threshold.  OH birders would have to find 23 new birds for the total statelist before I’d fall below the threshold – hopefully that holds me at least for a while.  

Four Migrant Passerine Statebirds, Galveston, TX, April 2016

My typical routine of late in preparing for my monthly business trips to Houston is to set up a Needs Alert in eBird to see if there might be a statebird or two I could try for locally.  And with my next trip coinciding with migration season in late April, the Needs Alert listed quite a number of passerines seen near Houston that I still needed for my TX list.  Usually I can squeeze in a little birding time in the early morning or evening to check out a local hotspot or two, so I was optimistic that I might add at least one or two new birds to my list on this upcoming trip. 

But then as this trip neared several of my meetings were cancelled, freeing up an entire morning.  That would give me enough time to head a bit farther afield.  So now I started thinking about whether I had time to head to the coast to visit some of the key TX migrant traps – something I’ve never done before.  With some eBird research I found a couple places on Galveston Island where quite a number of my targets were being seen on an almost daily basis.  Perhaps the best spot was Lafitte’s Cove, which was just over an hour’s drive from Houston.  I could take the morning off, leave Houston pre-dawn to arrive at Lafitte’s Cove at first light, bird the island throughout the morning, and still get back to Houston by just after lunch.  And although migration is always variable, I thought that even an average day could net a few new statebirds. 

Lafitte’s Cove is a veritable oasis of thick natural vegetation surrounded by a suburban neighborhood of upscale homes.  Thankfully a local preservation group had protected this area, built some trails running through the park, and maintained two water drips.  I arrived at the park about 15 minutes before dawn on a cloudy morning, and began the short walk into the park.  Along the way I first came to wetlands with calling Marsh Wrens, Yellowthroats, and Gallinules, but quickly passed through the area - I headed right to the woods to start my search for my target migrant passerines.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the woodlands was the total lack of sound – no songs and not even any call notes.  This didn’t bode well when searching for migrants.  It was still pretty dark in the dense vegetation, and since I wouldn’t be able to identify much yet anyway I decided to wander around the park a bit to get my bearings before the lighting, and hopefully the birding, improved.  I found the two drips, and walked about half the trails, but still didn’t see or hear any birds.  This was not starting well.

As I neared the intersection of two trails I finally spotted some movement – an Ovenbird – not a target but finally a bird.  Then I noticed some movement on the trail up ahead.  Although light was limited, I got brief views of the bird which I thought was a Hooded Warbler.  That’s one I needed for my TX list, so I moved in a bit closer and eventually got good views of the female warbler foraging low in the brush – the yellow face and white in the tail clinched it as a Hooded.  I’ve tried for this species several times in Houston where it is near the western edge of its breeding range, so I was happy to finally fill this gap in my TX list, which was the 31st state where I’ve seen this species.

Then a few seconds later I noticed another bird right on the trail near the Hooded.  It was a dark Catharus thrush, but lighting was still very limimted.  I finally got a good look at its face and it was a Gray-cheeked – another target bird.  My statebird map for this skulking migrant is very spotty, so I was happy to be able to tick it off in TX.

I walked a bit further ahead and was now nearing the edge of the park.  A Cardinal flew by, and then I heard the song of a White-eyed Vireo.  And then I noticed a bit of movement high in a tree - it was one of those confusing female warblers.  Although I recognized the plumage I struggled a bit to remember what species it was until I finally realized it was a Cerulean Warbler – a plumage I haven’t seen in many years.  And another bird I needed for my TX list.  My statebird map for this species is somewhat like my Gray-cheeked map – very spotty although this is a widespread eastern breeder and migrant, though a declining species throughout its range.

So although I had seen or heard just 6 individual birds, 3 of them were new statebirds.  Amazing!

I continued to walk slowly through the park and birding was very slow, though I would occasionally spot a bird either on the trail or low in the brush.  I would eventually end up seeing another Gray-cheeked, a couple Swainson’s, a Veery, and a Wood Thrush.  And at one point I spotted a skulking warbler that finally popped into the open – a Worm-eating Warbler – another target bird, and my third new "southeastern" warbler for my TX list.  

I spent about 3 hours in the park and only heard two singing warblers - a Blackpoll and a Canada.  During that time I saw a female Hooded Warbler five different times feeding low in the brush – was this just the 1 bird or multiple individuals?  I ended up with 11 species of warblers and 4 Catharus thrushes – nice diversity in a morning with very few birds.  I ran into several other birders in the park who saw almost nothing by comparison, so I felt very lucky to have been so successful.

With my available time rapidly coming to an end, I decided to try another migrant spot to see if there might be more birds.  I headed toward the eastern end of the island to a spot called Corps Woods that had had some pretty good sightings of late.  But I was most disappointed in this spot – despite a large patch of natural woodlands there were almost no trails, and I found almost nothing.  Though I was able to get this picture of a most cooperative Yellow-crowned Night-Heron by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

I ended my Galveston Island birding by making a quick stop near the eastern end of the island and found an amazing congregation of terns and shorebirds roosting in a flooded parking lot.  I counted 19 species of shorebirds and 5 species of terns plus Skimmers.  With such a diverse set of habitats I had a feeling that I had racked up a pretty good list for the morning.  After entering everything into eBird I tallied an even 100 species – not bad for just a morning, and for pretty limited passerine migration.

With 4 new statebirds that gives me 433 for TX.  Although that’s my largest statelist, there are still quite a number of relatively easy species to try for on future trips to the state, especially if those trips occur during spring migration.

Reddish Egret and Hooded Warbler, Southern CA, June 2015

With an upcoming trip to the Los Angeles area in late June I set up a CA Needs Alert in e-Bird to see if there might be some possible target birds in the area.  My CA statelist was pretty good at 376, so most likely any bird I needed would have to be pretty unusual if not a real rarity.  The first bird I noticed on the Needs Alert was Reddish Egret, which seems to be regular but seen in small numbers at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County south of LA.  I’ve seen posts about this bird at Bolsa Chica for a number of years, but have never been to this spot to give it a try.  So with a couple hours available for late afternoon birding on the day I would arrive, this one seemed like a possibility.  Unfortunately there were no other targets being reported south of LA, so Reddish Egret looked to be my only possible CA statebird for this trip.  But then just a couple days before my trip both a Hooded Warbler and a Red-eyed Vireo were reported at Huntington Central Park which is just a 10-minute drive from Bolsa Chica.  So if I was successful quickly at Bolsa Chica, I could also get to the Park and maybe have a shot at 3 new CA statebirds.

My flight landed at LAX a few minutes early (yeah!), and I quickly checked e-Bird for updates.  Alas neither the Warbler nor the Vireo were found that morning despite lots of searching.  And the last post of the Egret was now 2 days before.  I was less worried about that one since I would imagine they are around most every day.  But I worried that the Warbler and Vireo had moved on.  Even so, 1 new CA statebird would be nice.  And if I had the time I would still head to the Park anyway.

Most of the Reddish Egret sightings were from waterways at the southern end of Bolsa Chica, so I headed right to that part of the Reserve as soon as I arrived in the area.  Since Reddish Egrets are typically easy to spot given their very active feeding style, I was cautiously optimistic that I could find one quickly, and then head right to Huntington Central Park.  But so much for my optimism.  My first stop was the “Walk Bridge”, with suitable habitat in all directions.  But there were no Reddish Egrets.  A silver lining though was hearing and seeing numerous “Belding’s” Savannah Sparrows in the marsh nearby – only my second time seeing this race.  (One day it will be a new species, right?)  Then I walked over to the “Full Tidal Area”, with more great habitat, but again no target bird.  Next stop was a walk over to the outer channel north of the Walk Bridge, but still no Egret.  Though here I heard and saw several Ridgway’s Rails – a very nice consolation.  But after lots of scanning, and a couple miles of walking, I found no Reddish Egrets in the area where they were most often recently reported on e-Bird.

The day before my trip I had called the Reserve to get their advice and the person on the line said he typically saw them in the northern end of Bolsa Chica.  But because there were few e-Bird posts of the bird from this area, I thought this this area would be a lower priority.  Though now that I had struck out in the area with most of the recent e-Bird sightings, it was time to head to the northern portion of the Reserve.  This part of the wetlands is visible from the Pacific Coast Highway, though there are no options for parking along the road.  So I would need to drive north past the wetlands, park at the headquarters, then walk back south to check out this area.  I had driven no more than a half mile when up ahead I noticed a wading bird “dancing” in the wetlands.  I slowed a bit when I got even with it and sure enough it was a Reddish Egret.  Wasn’t the best of views, but at least I didn’t need it for a lifebird. 

I’ve now seen Reddish Egret in 4 southeastern states (how come I’ve missed it in MS?), and now CA as a rare but regular species (see my statebird map below).

If I had only taken the advice of the Reserve employee I may well have gotten it right away.  Though if I did I might have missed the Belding’s Sparrows and Ridgway’s Rails.  I thought about stopping and walking back to get a better look, but I still wanted to head to Huntington Central Park to try for the other targets, even if they were long shots.  So I continued on to the Park, content with a good enough look at the Egret.

Both the Hooded Warbler and Red-Eyed Vireo had been mostly reported from the eastern side of the “Island” at Huntington Central Park.  Though the Warbler was also sometimes seen on the western side.  And in most cases the bird was in full song.   Of course I first thought the “Island” would be land in the middle of a lake or pond, so I wondered how I would get to it.  But based on the descriptions in some posts I wondered if it was an “island” of trees and brush.  With some Googlemaps research it looked like there was a wetlands in the middle of the park, which was indeed heavily forested.  So maybe both guesses were right.  But it was a pretty large park, and with no positive posts from that day, I wasn’t too optimistic.  Instead I figured I would just bird the park in general and enjoy seeing some western species I don’t see too often.  And if I do see one of the rarities then that would an unexpected bonus.

I arrived at the parking lot on the western side of the park and soon noticed a photographer with a long lens.  As I always say “bird the birders”, so I went up to him to see if he had any updates on the rarities.  Instead he was just a photographer, not familiar with the Warbler and Vireo, and he told me he was there “to photograph the Whydah”.  Just then a male Pin-tailed Whydah flew into the tree right above us.  Although my first thought was Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, I realized that it was my first ever Whydah.  Not a countable bird, but maybe someday…

I then started birding around the perimeter of what I guessed to be the “Island”, starting from the west side and working my way clockwise to the east.  I eventually got to the east side but didn’t have any sightings of the rarities.  Though I did run into a pair of Scaly-breasted Munias (formerly called Nutmeg Mannikins) – only the second time I’ve seen them.  I decided to call it quits, and had walked only a short way back toward the car when I heard some harsh chips coming from a wet area in the underbrush.  I quickly went to my iPhone and played the call notes of the Hooded Warbler and they were a perfect match.  I continued to play the calls and the bird seemed to respond.  Although I never saw the bird, it kept calling from a short distance into woods, again seemingly in response to my tape.  Although I felt good that this could be the Hooded Warbler, it had not been seen that morning, and it was never reported as giving call notes.  So I guessed it was just some regular western bird I wasn’t familiar with.  But two days later I noticed an e-Bird report that the Hooded Warbler was re-found, just giving its chip notes, and from the same area where I had my observation.  So I decided to go with my initial impressions and added Hooded Warbler to my CA statelist. 

I’ve now seen Hooded Warbler in 30 states – several on the periphery of its normal range like OK and MN, and several as a rarity like ME, NH, VT, and now CA.  Though I still need it in a few states in the southeast in the regular part of its range. 

 

I was just about back to my car when I noticed several sparrow-sized birds fly into some reeds at the edge of the wetlands – more Munias.  I stopped to watch the birds feeding on seeds at the top of the reeds and more and more birds continued to join them.  Eventually I counted 35 Munias in the flock.  And at one point I noticed a different bird at the edge of the flock that reminded me of a female Bobolink – it was a female Orange Bishop.  Another first for me.  So along with the Whydah, that gave me 3 established exotics for the Park – though only 1 is countable at this point.

All in all it was a most successful couple of stops.  Not only did I add 2 birds to my CA statelist (now at 378), but I also saw my first Pin-tailed Whydah and Orange Bishop, and got good looks at both the Belding’s Sparrow and Ridgway’s Rail. 

Hooded Warbler in Bennington, VT, July 2014

With only a 3-4 previous VT records, a post of a Hooded Warbler found in Bennington sure got my attention.  The observer, Eric Seyferth, mentioned that he had heard the bird in the same spot in Whipstock Hill WMA for several days, so it was likely a chaseable bird.  I contacted Eric and he agreed to meet me at the beginning of the trail and hike with me to the spot where he was hearing and seeing the bird.

I met Eric early the next morning and we began the hike into the WMA.  The park had extensive areas of lush deciduous woods with some nice undergrowth.  As soon as I saw it I told Eric that this seemed like classic habitat for southern species like Hooded Warblers.  We were well along the trail when I heard a bird singing in the distance to the left that sounded a lot like a Hooded, though it wasn’t a perfect match.  I pointed it out to Eric who thought it was just a Redstart.  And besides, it wasn’t at the location where he had been hearing his bird anyway.  So we just assumed it was one of those highly variable Redstart songs, and we continued along the trail.  After another quarter mile or so, and as we neared “the” spot, I heard a perfect Hooded song off to the right.  We walked off the trail and Eric took me to the specific area where the bird was most often heard.  And within a few seconds it popped into the open giving us great views.  It continued to sing for the next several minutes right in front of us, before eventually flying off deeper in the woods.  Likely this bird was trying to set up a territory and looking for a mate, though no one ever saw a female.

A week later not only was this bird continuing to be seen, but amazingly a second male Hooded was spotted a short distance away from the first bird.  Eric investigated this second bird and realized it was giving a somewhat aberrant song – the same song we heard the day I was there.  It turned out the bird we heard that we passed off as a Redstart actually was this second Hooded Warbler.

I’ve now seen Hooded Warbler in each New England state – the 226th species I’ve seen in all 6 states.  I’ve also seen it in a number of other states either at the very edge of its normal range like OK and MN, or as a vagrant outside that range as in the northern New England states (see my statebird map below).