One Expected, and One Unexpected, Statebird, Carver’s Gap, Carter County TN, September 28, 2021

Red Crossbills are regular in eastern TN along the TN/NC stateline.  But as is always the case with Crossbills, their distribution and abundance is highly dependent on the quality of the local cone crop.  Back in August 2021 I made my first attempt to find them in TN in Unicoi County but couldn’t reach the location where they were being reported at the time due to poor road conditions.  Then in September I started seeing numerous reports from Carver’s Gap, some mentioning how great the local cone crop was.  It was sounding like I had another location with chaseable Red Crossbills worth a trip into the mountains.

But before I made my final plans I needed to see if I might have other targets nearby.  I need quite a number of regular passerine migrants for my TN list, and several were being seen at scattered locations in eastern TN.  There were a couple hotspots in the general area of Carver’s Gap with multiple reports of my migrant targets, but because the route through the mountains was on very slow twisty turny roads, driving times to bird both Carver’s Gap and migrant hotspots in the same day were excessive.  So the migrant spots would have to wait for a future trip.

The next issue I needed to tackle while planning my trip was to make sure I could tell which state the Crossbills would be in if I was lucky enough to find them.  It turns out that the Appalachian Trail, the key trail in the area, weaves back and forth from TN to NC.  And even the parking lot at Carver’s Gap was part in TN and part in NC.  I downloaded a couple maps that nicely overlayed the stateline, the AT, and the roads in the area which would be a good tool to tell me which state the birds might be in.  I was all set for my trip.

I left home early in the morning of the 28th to make the roughly 2-hour drive to Carver’s Gap.  As I climbed in elevation nearing the stateline it became increasingly windy.  And as I reached the clearing at Carver’s Gap the winds were howling. 

And just as I was beginning to worry if the strong winds would keep birds from flying around I spotted a Merlin flying low over the site.  That’s one I need in TN, so this was my first test to see if I could tell what state it was in.  I watched if for about 10 seconds, first to my west and then flying out of view to the east.  I happened to be parked almost right on the stateline at the time, so that put the bird first in TN and then in NC.  That was most unexpected!  And I hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet! 

Now it was time to focus on the Crossbills.  I got out of the car and walked toward the west end of the parking lot, putting me firmly into TN.  It was extremely windy in the open, so I took a small trail off the parking lot leading into the protected woods to get out of the wind a bit.  I found a couple migrant warblers though nothing new.  Then just a few minutes after leaving my car I heard the characteristic “kip kip” calls of a Red Crossbill overhead.  That was easy!  Within 10 minutes I had already added 2 new birds to my TN list. 

I joked with myself that maybe I should just quit right then and go home.  But there were a couple migrants moving through the trees so I decided to stay and see what might show up.  Unfortunately, most just passed low overhead without stopping, so I couldn’t come up with any migrants of interest. 

But the Red Crossbill show continued.  I had a flock of 4 birds fly in from NC and land nearby in TN, including one male that perched nicely in the top of a conifer.  Here are 2 shots I took holding my phone up to my binoculars.  What a cone crop!

And just when I thought the Crossbill show was over, a male landed near me on the road shoulder to do some gritting.

 Which allowed me to walk right up to it.

And then a female flew in to join him.

What an amazing Crossbill event!

After about an hour at Carver’s Gap I decided it could be worthwhile to go downhill out of the mountains to try to get out of the wind and look for some migrants.  The winds dropped soon after I left the Gap, and a few stops along the road in good woodland habitat yielded a few warblers but no additional target birds.  The passerine migrants would have to wait for future trips. 

With the addition of Merlin and Red Crossbill my TN statelist is now at 248.  My statebird maps for these two species are inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen those species in their regular range, the cross-hatched states are those in the regular range where I still need them, and the tan states are those where I’ve seen them as a rarity.  After two years birding in the area I’ve now seen both species in all the nearby southeastern states.

 

Merlin, Hendersonville Yard, April 3, 2020

When I moved to the mountains of North Carolina I needed both Peregrine Falcon and Merlin for my NC state list.  And that was also the case in SC.  But over time I slowly started to run into these Falcons.  In NC I found Peregrine twice, and in SC I’ve been successful in finding Merlin 3 different times.  Hmm… - multiple Peregrines in NC but no Merlin, and multiple Merlins in SC but no Peregrine.  I guess it would be too much to ask to get at least 1 of each species in each state. 

Since neither species is a rarity in the region, I wasn’t too worried that I’d eventually get all 4 “ticks” for my lists.  In fact, I would often receive eBird Needs Alerts for Merlin in NC and Peregrine in SC, reminding me that they are regular in the area.  Some of the NC Merlins were close to home, and I ended up chasing after birds in no less than 4 different reports, unfortunately all unsuccessfully.  And that’s despite the fact that 2 of my searches were within a couple hours of the birds first being spotted.  Perhaps Merlin had become somewhat of a nemesis bird for me in NC.  Since they don’t often hang around for long, I figured I’d just have to find one on my own somewhere along the line.  I even half-heartedly thought I’d find one in my yard.  After all I had a Kestrel stop by once last Fall.

Speaking of my yard – birding continues to be spectacular here!  Though my lot is just 0.8 acres, it is nicely situated on an isolated mountain (Lewis Mountain) covered in deciduous woodlands.  And adjacent to me is a small farm, including a nice mix of field, orchard, and hedgerow habitat.  That provides quite a diverse set of habitats for birds to call their home within earshot of my backyard deck.  Additionally, Lewis Mountain is surrounded by agricultural areas, making it an oasis of woodlands that could concentrate migrant passerines searching for natural habitats as they pass through.  As a result, as of the end of March my yard list was up to 101 species, even though I’ve only lived here for 7 months. 

During these days of isolation due to the corona virus I’ve been spending quite a bit of time birding from my deck.  Most days I’ll spend 3-4 hours doing what amounts to a “Big Sit”, getting 30 to 35 species most days in late March and early April.  And then mid-afternoon on April 3rd I looked up at just the right time to spot a small raptor flying overhead at treetop level.  I quickly got the bird in my binocs and realized I had my NC-first Merlin.  Yard bird #102, and NC statebird #289.  And it was the 8th species where I spotted my state-first bird in my yard.

My statebird map for Merlin is inserted below.  States highlighted in blue are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular though I've yet to see it.  This is a wide-ranging species, though uncommon to rare in many areas.  As a result, I still need Merlin in quite a number of states especially in the center of the country.  

And now an update on my yard list:  As of April 16th my yard list is up to 111, including 26 warbler species.  It’s been a good spring migration so far.  Since the Merlin, I’ve added the following species –

4/5/20 - Rough-winged Swallow, Black Vulture

4/6/20 - Great Blue Heron

4/8/20 - Common Loon (a nice flyover bird in breeding plumage), and Prairie Warbler

4/14/20 - Worm-eating Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Red-shouldered Hawk

4/16/20 - Orange-crowned Warbler

A silver lining to these times of self-isolation – there’s more time to spend on back yard birding.  And it sure helps when birding in your yard can be so productive!

8 Statebirds in South Carolina Low Country, September 2019

While researching birding opportunities near my new home in the North Carolina mountains I found the website for the Carolina Bird Club (CBC).  It seemed like a good organization to join to obtain information on the local birding community and birding sites.  And then I noticed that they have multi-day birding meetings in various sites in the Carolinas.  The next one was in the South Carolina Low Country, centered in Charleston.  The meeting would include multiple birding trips to hotspots in the vicinity, and was scheduled for the end of September to coincide with fall migration.  I had birded that region before, but it was during my college days nearly 40 years ago (yikes!).  Needless to say I could use some birding updates to the region, and could hopefully make some connections with the local birders as well. 

And then there was the possibility of adding some new SC statebirds.  With a bit of research on eBird I realized there would be many statebird possibilities, particularly given that migration should be in full swing at the time.  I had a number of marsh and shorebird targets as well as passerine migrants to hope for.  But I actually have better chances at the passerines in western SC not too far from home, and the marsh and shorebirds are realistically only possible near the coast.  So where I had the option I signed up for walks that especially targeted waterbird opportunities.  Though I’ll take the landbirds too if I can get them.  I hoped for perhaps 5 to 10 new additions to my SC list - which would be my first new birds in SC since 2003.

As the weekend neared, I started to watch the weather.  Unfortunately the region was experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures running up to 20 degrees above normal and very dry conditions.  And that weather would continue throughout the weekend.  Not only did that mean hot and humid weather while birding, but it also meant that passerine migration would be limited, at best.  Though I wasn’t too worried since I was especially hoping for the waterbirds.

The first organized walk was on Friday morning, 9/27, so I needed to get to my hotel by Thursday night.  So why not make a couple birding stops on Thursday along the way to my hotel?  My route would take me right by the Orangeburg Sod Farms.  So although I had signed up for a walk at this “grasspiper” hotspot on Saturday, I decided to stop here along the way on Thursday as well, thinking that there could be different birds moving through on those two days.  I need all the grasspipers for SC so I was hopeful.  When I arrived at the spot mid-afternoon the car thermometer said it was 100 degrees, though the dewpoint wasn’t too bad.  As I scanned the sod I quickly found a few Killdeer here and there, and then spotted a lone Snipe oddly in a dry grassy area.  Later I found a lone Least Sandpiper with some Killdeer, and a flock of about 15 local Horned Larks.  But nothing else of interest.  I didn’t think it would be possible to find 3 species of shorebirds at the sod farm without finding a statebird.  Notably it was so hot that many of the Killdeer were lined up in the shade of the center pivot irrigation devices.

Next I thought I’d head to the coast at Folly Island, hoping for birds along the beach, as well as some passerine migrants.  Even though I was going to be on the Folly Island walk on Saturday, the birds could be very different on Thursday.  And after my Thursday visit I especially hoped that would be true - the only birds on the beach at the east end of the island at the Lighthouse Inlet were a small group of Laughing Gulls, and the only migrants were a pair of Prairie Warblers.  I then went to the western end of the island at the County Park and only had a few Pelicans.  At least a quick look at a couple perched birds on a dock revealed a Willet of the western race.  One to bank for a potential future split.  And then on my drive inland to my hotel I passed by some nice wetlands along the James Island causeway and spotted a Roseate Spoonbill passing overhead (new SC statebird #1).  Good thing they are easy to identify overhead even when driving.  Spoonbills have expanded up the east coast since my last trips to SC, and are now regular year-round in the state.  SC was my 5th state for this species (see my statebird map below) – it’s time to try to add them to the other southeast coastal states.

Friday was the first day for the official walks, and my morning trip was to Kiawah Island.  A bird-banding station at the western end of the island had only had a few migrants.  But the beach on the eastern end had regular reports of 2 targets - Reddish Egret and Lesser Black-backed Gull.  We ran into huge traffic delays getting to the island, so we missed out on time for landbirding near the banding station.  So we headed right out to Kiawah East Beach for the waterbirds.  The vast majority of this island is private with no access, but we were allowed on the island since we were part of the CBC group.  Access was through the very fancy Ocean Golf Course, where I was told one round of golf would cost you $500!  After a short walk we were on the beach and had good sized flocks of terns and gulls.  And with a quick scan I spotted a larger dark-backed gull, though it was just an adult Great Black-backed Gull.  But not to worry, with a bit more scanning I found another dark-backed gull – this one was an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (statebird #2).  SC was my 31st state for this expanding species.

A bit later we found several Piping Plovers on the beach, including one that had a leg tag as well as a transmitter and an antenna sticking out behind the bird.  Interesting to imagine this little bird carrying that transmitter all the way to its wintering grounds (and back?).  Unfortunately I missed the Peregrine as it buzzed the beach scattering the terns and gulls.

A short distance inland from the beach was a large freshwater pond where the Reddish Egret had been frequenting.  But our initial searches came up negative – just a Great Blue Heron, two Great Egrets, and a Snowy Egret, though 9 species of shorebirds were nice.  A bit farther along the beach one of the birders took a side trip to get a different view of the pond.  And seconds later he was waving us over – he had the Reddish Egret.  We all got great views of the bird as it fed in the pond (statebird #3). 

As with the Spoonbill, now that I’m in the southeast, I can search for the Egret in a number of my new “local” states.

As we headed back to the parking lot, I realized that the Egret was now in view from the driving range.  It was an odd juxtaposition of birding and a very different lifestyle.

The afternoon walk was inland at the Pine Island Unit of the Santee National Wildlife Refuge.  As we arrived at the parking lot to meet the leaders they said we had just missed a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  And then as we started down the trail a birder in front of our group flushed what he identified as a Whip-poor-will – unfortunately I was farther back with our group.  Two statebird targets missed in just a couple minutes.  I spent a few minutes trying for the Whip without success, but did find a nice Woodcock – a species not often found in fall.

We continued down the trail and flushed 4 Sedge Wrens along wet trailside ditches.  And later we flushed a Sora from the edge of the trail.  As we neared the wetlands along the edge of Lake Marion a small flock of Dowitchers flew low overhead which turned out to be nice foreshadowing of what lied ahead.  When we got to the wetlands there was a small exposed mudflat and I picked out several less-than-cooperative Snipe.  And then I heard calling shorebirds overhead – Pectorals I thought.  A couple seconds later they dropped in and they were indeed Pectorals (statebird #4).  I was able to put both species in the scope for life views for several birders.  Nice to get the Pectorals here at the mudflat since I missed them at the sod farm.  That fills a big gap in my statebird map – just a couple more states to go for this widespread species.

The trail then took us back in the woods where we quickly found a small flock of passerines.  Most were difficult to view with backlit conditions and thick vegetation.  But I was finally able to get passable views of a Tennessee Warbler (statebird #5) – certainly not a rarity but a nice addition to my SC list, and one of my last states for this species. 

Perhaps I can eventually add it to my VA list too now that I’m in the southeast.

Later along the trail we came to another passerine flock though they were mostly local breeders.  But then someone spotted an Empidonax nearby.  I was finally able to get on the bird and it had no appreciable eye-ring, making it either a Willow or Alder.  I need both species for SC – both would be rare for the area though Willow would be more likely.  So without a firm ID I added it as a “Traill’s” Flycatcher (statebird #6). 

Later a group of birders that went ahead of us ran into a large migrant flock.  Unfortunately the flock had mostly dispersed by the time we got there.  Ugh…  Although it was a fun afternoon, it was a frustrating one where I missed a number of birds that others reported. 

The morning walk on Saturday, 9/28, was back to Folly Island once again in hopes of birds on the beach and passerine migrants.  Just after the trip started I spotted a Merlin passing down the beach (statebird #7), and was able to get most of the birders on the bird.  I still need this species in a couple of the nearby southeast states.

The walk started off well enough.  But the hot conditions were continuing, with persistent southern winds limiting migration.  As a result, little did we know the Merlin was the sole highlight of the walk.  There were next to no birds on the beach, and few migrants in the woods.  The “lowlight” was a group of hunters in a boat in the marsh nearby apparently hunting Clapper Rails.  Is that legal?

With so few birds on the walk, the leader suggested we next head to Fort Lamar Heritage Preserve to try for passerine migrants.  That turned out to be an excellent idea with quite a number of migrant flocks in the woods at this site.  I ended up with 9 warbler species, though nothing new.  And late in the walk I spotted a thrush which eventually revealed itself to be a Swainson’s (statebird #8).  I just need this species in AZ and NV to fill out my statebird map.

Later we came upon a commotion where a number of small passerines were mobbing a small area of leaves in a tree.  We counted no less than 8 Yellow Warblers involved in the melee.  And then on close inspection we also spotted a Tennessee.  Although we suspected they were mobbing a Screech Owl, we never saw it, or any other reason, for all their activity.

Saturday afternoon’s trip was back to the Orangeburg sod farm hoping for better results than on Thursday.  When we arrived we met the leader who had already scoped out the farm and alas found no grasspipers except for Killdeer.  A most cooperative Ground Dove was nice, as was a singing Painted Bunting and a large family of Blue Grosbeaks.  But once again it was intolerably hot and sticky, and with the lack of good birds, not a very pleasant trip.

There was only one trip scheduled for Sunday morning (9/29) – which was to chase rarities seen the previous 2 days.  But Saturday evening it was announced that the trip was cancelled because no chaseable rarities had been found.  So since I was free I joined a group of birders out of the Durham area to bird the Bluff Unit of Santee NWR which had been good Saturday afternoon for passerines.  Plus it was roughly on the way home making for a shorter drive when the day was over.  Unfortunately we only had a few migrants Sunday morning.  And I was looking in the wrong direction when the Cape May Warbler was seen by a couple other birders. 

It was nearly noon when I was getting ready to leave, and I decided to check the Carolinas listserve to see if there was anything to chase.  I found this message posted at 9 AM, just a couple hours earlier –

“One of the two Limpkins present most of the summer in Hanahan, South Carolina, was observed at 10 AM this morning at 44 N. Basilica Dr. by the homeowner. Birders are welcome.” [Note that likely meant the bird was seen on Saturday, the day before the post]

Limpkin would be a great bird for SC – any chance Hanahan was nearby?  With a quick search I realized Hanahan was a suburb of Charleston just over an hour to the south.  Definitely chaseable, but it was the opposite direction from home, and even a short visit there would delay my return home by at least 3 hours.  And I was already hot and feely icky.  In any case, I decided to call it quits and head home.  If the post had come out the day before I would have tried for it instead of heading to Santee. 

I ended the trip with about 120 species, 8 of which were new for my SC statelist, which now stands at 240.  Plus I can add the Western Willet if (when?) it is split in the future.  Pretty nice for my first meeting with the Carolina Bird Club.  Plus I made some connections with a few local birders and other local bird clubs.  The next CBC meeting is on the upper SC coast in January 2020 – chances are I’ll probably attend.

Five Statebirds in the Mid-Altantic – and “Reportable Plus 15” in Virginia, January 2018

A trip to visit relatives in MD in January gave me an opportunity to fill a few gaps in my Mid-Atlantic statelists, not to mention pursue a few rarities.  With the help of eBird Needs Alerts in MD, DC, and VA I found several targets in the area, though they were pretty spread out.  In DC potential statebirds were Turkeys and Lesser Black-Backed Gull both seen occasionally in Anacostia River Park.  Plus there were several sightings of Common Goldeneye and older reports of Tundra Swan in the Potomac seen from the Alexandria waterfront (the whole river is in DC).  The VA targets were more numerous, including a long-staying Clay-colored Sparrow at the Laurel Hill Equestrian Center, seemingly reliable Iceland and Glaucous Gulls at the Occoquan Regional Park and sites downriver, and a Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared Owls at Dulles Airport.  And in MD there was one key target – an overwintering Harris’s Sparrow at Bladensburg Waterfront Park.

That gave me a lot to search for.  Luckily I had a full day and an early morning of another day to chase after my targets, and I’d likely need all of that time.  Of all those targets the most important ones were in VA since my state total was 14 over the old reportable threshold, putting me just 1 short of my somewhat arbitrary “Reportable Plus 15” goal.  So my plan was to make a couple quick stops in DC and then spend the rest of the first day in northern VA.  Then early the next morning I would try for the Harris’s in MD. 

Anacostia River Park is a nice urban park running more than 2 miles along the southeastern side of the river.  This stretch can have some nice waterfowl (I had Cackling Goose here before), and wintering gulls including Lessers and Iceland.  And then there is the potential for Turkeys – this is basically the only spot for them in DC, though they are often elusive.  (I’ve tried for them unsuccessfully quite a number of times.)  I arrived in the park at dawn and drove slowly along the road looking for Turkeys to the inland side and gulls on the river.  But I was coming up empty on both targets.  Finally I got to the southern end of the park and noticed a few gulls on the ice.  A quick binocular scan yielded one darker-backed bird in the distance.  With the scope I confirmed it as an adult Lesser Black-Backed, and I was able to get this distant phonescoped photo. 

DC was my 29th jurisdiction for this rare but increasing Larid (see my statebird map below), and it was #184 for my DC list.

I spent a few more minutes touring the park without finding any Turkeys (again!), so with the key VA targets still ahead of me, I quickly headed to Alexandria to try for the waterfowl.  My first stop was at the Washington Sailing Marina and it was absolutely loaded with ducks – I guessed 3,000 to 4,000 birds total.  But despite lots of scanning I couldn’t find a lone Goldeneye that had been seen there recently.  And a local birder I ran into there said the Tundra Swan hadn’t been seen for several days.  So rather than further stops for the Swan, it was on to VA.

My first stop was at the Laurel Hill Equestrian Center where a Clay-colored Sparrow had been seen daily for some time feeding with White-crowned Sparrows along the grassy edges of the parking lot.  Seemed like a slam dunk.  As I pulled into the lot I spotted a couple birders a short distance away and asked if they had seen the bird.  One birder mentioned she had spished it in earlier in some brambles, but it hadn’t been since recently.  Another birder said to find the White-crown flock and you would find the Clay-colored.  But there were no sparrows at all feeding at the edges of the parking lot.  And although I found a number of sparrows including a few White-crowns in the brambles throughout the area, I never found a pure flock of White-crowns.

After about an hour I spotted a mid-sized raptor fly into a tree almost directly overhead.  It was a Merlin that stayed for at least 10 minutes.  Needless to say it scattered the sparrows down below.  While I waited for it to fly away so the sparrows would come back out, I mentally reviewed by VA state list and I realized that I actually needed Merlin for VA – that was number 247 for VA – 15 over the old ABA reportable threshold!  I now have 40 states plus DC meeting my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  My Merlin statebird map is pretty spotty for a species which is reasonably common country-wide.

But now it was time to get back to the sparrow search.  I spent another hour scouring the area, finding more sparrows including more White-crowns, but no Clay-colored.  Since Occoquan Regional Park was only about 15 minutes away, I decided to head there to try for the white-winged gulls, and then come back to try for the Clay-colored again.  Both Iceland and Glaucous had been reported at the park several times recently on eBird, as well at sites farther down the river, so I figured both would be somewhat reliable.  As I pulled up to the park I could see a couple birders already there with their scopes trained on the river and the flock of about 150 gulls out there on the ice.  I hurried up to them only to find out that not only did they not have the target birds, but one birder had been there for a while without success.  And worse yet - he had looked for the gulls there several times without any luck.  I asked about the spots down river and the birders suggested they would be even longer shots.  Though one birder did give me a new tip for finding the Clay-colored.

The target gulls certainly weren’t in the park, so I decided to head downriver to try for the gulls there.  I found good numbers of gulls on the water and shorelines, but couldn’t tease out any of my targets.  I had struck out on the white-winged gulls.

So I made my way back to the Equestrian Center to try for the Clay-colored again.  I figured I could give it about an hour before having to make my way to the Dulles Airport to try for the Rough-leg and Short-ears there.  First I checked on the grass around the parking lot and again found no sparrows at all.  Then I headed to the spot suggested by the birder at the Occoquan Park.  It had lots of sparrows, but no Clay-colored.  After my allotted hour I gave up and chalked it up as yet another missed target.

I wasn’t being too successful in VA – things had to pick up at Dulles, right?  The key location for the recent Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared Owl reports was a hotspot called “Dulles Airport- Snowy Owl Observation Point”.  After some research it looked like this spot was actually a parking garage, which I confirmed by asking a few birders I had met earlier in the day.  They also confirmed that security wouldn’t arrest a birder using a scope there to peer out over the runways.  (It’s never good to be arrested while birding.)  I think I had it figured out.

I needed to get there early enough to try for the Rough-leg but stay late enough for Short-ears to appear.  So I arrived at 3:45 to give me maybe an hour to look for the Rough-leg before dusk.  I started my scans of the areas around the runways, and soon spotted several Red-tails perched in trees around the perimeter of the airport, but no apparent Rough-legs.  Then in the distance I spotted 3 Harriers dive bombing what appeared to be a large dark raptor perched on a low post.  After some time I could eventually pick out some field marks on the perched bird and it appeared to be a Rough-leg.  But it wasn’t until I watched the hawk fly a short distance down to ground apparently to capture prey that I could confirm it was a Rough-leg.  Not bad for a bird more than a mile away!  VA was my 30th state for Rough-legged Hawk – I still need it in a number of states especially in the upper Midwest.

Harriers will often roost in the exact same areas as Short-ears.  In fact, Harriers head to these roosts in the evening at about the same time that Short-ears come out to start their “day” – a changing of the guard kind of thing.  So since there were 3 Harriers harassing the Rough-leg late in the day, I was hopeful that I might find Short-ears in the same area as dusk approached.  While I was waiting for it to get darker (dusk was still an hour away) a couple other birders arrived, and I got them on the distant Rough-leg.  And sure enough the Harriers were still harassing it.  And then as I was pointing out the raptors to one birder I noticed a different bird harassing the Rough-leg – it was a Short-eared Owl!  I was able to watch the owl on an off for the next 10 minutes as it flew around the area.  Nice to not have to wait for dusk.  My statebird map for this species is really spotty – I still need it in many different states across the country. 

That gave me 249 on my VA statelist – now 17 over the old ABA threshold.

The next day I planned to head down to Bladensburg Waterfront Park in MD to try for the Harris’s Sparrow that had been at the park for some time.  The bird was most often seen feeding in one stretch of one of the trails with other sparrows, eating seed that had been placed there by helpful local birders.  Although that all seemed easy enough, actually the bird wasn’t being seen on every trip there.  My guess was that if a group of birders was at the site they might end up scaring away the sparrows along with the Harris’s, keeping them from feeding out in the open.  So to maximize my chances I decided to get to the park as early as possible and be the first birder to the site.

Right on schedule I arrived at the park about 20 minutes before sunrise, and quickly took the 15 minute walk to the area where the sparrow was being seen.  I was the only person there – so far so good.  As I neared the bird’s preferred part of the trail I could see a number of sparrows up ahead feeding out in the open.  I stopped for a while optimistically searching through them but there was no Harris’s.  Then I happened to look farther down the trail and there was another flock of sparrows feeding there as well.  I got a few steps closer to that second area, though still keeping my distance, and scanned through that second group.  And within seconds the Harris’s popped out into the open and fed right out in the trail, providing distant but excellent looks at this continuing rarity.  Isn’t it nice when your plans come together so well.  That was #331 for my MD statelist.  MD was my 6th eastern state, along with 1 western state (WA) where I’ve seen Harris’s Sparrow as a vagrant, along with most of the central states where it is a common migrant and wintering species. 

A nice couple days of birding with 5 new statebirds, especially for states where I already had pretty good lists.

West Virginia Statelist Over 200 with Five New Statebirds, October 2014

I’ve been to Pittsburgh for business trips several times this year, and have taken short extensions on a number of those trips to work on my WV statelist.  I’ve successfully added 20 new statebirds, putting me 20 over the old ABA threshold.  That puts me over my rather arbitrary “Reportable Plus 15” goal for WV, and at 198 for the state.  Though sure would be nice to get to 200.  So when another business trip to Pittsburgh was being scheduled in October, I naturally turned to my WV target list to see what statebird potential there might be, and to see if I could get at least 2 more to reach 200.  But I was a victim of my own success.  The list of possible new statebirds was getting pretty short, and what was left wasn’t very likely.  So I was leaning toward not doing any birding on this trip at all.  But then several of my meetings fell through and it turned out I would end up with almost an entire day of spare time during the trip.  So I turned to my local birding friend Terry Bronson to get his advice to find for some of my targets.  Terry came up with suggestions for a number of targets, but none would be easy.  In fact, there was a good chance that I might not get any new birds for my list at all.  But even with limited statebird potential, at least the weather forecast was a good one and it would still be a nice day to be out birding. 

My first stop was the Pleasant Creek Wildlife Management Area about an hour’s drive southeast of Morgantown.  This spot is one of Terry’s favorite places, with a large wetland and numerous sparrow fields.  And a review of the recent e-bird reports yielded two of my targets – Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Marsh Wren.  And the wetland edges could always harbor a Wilson’s Snipe – another of my targets.  Plus a Nelson’s Sparrow was spotted there back in October 2013.  So there was some pretty good potential here.  I arrived there at dawn and started by birding along Upper Pleasant Creek Road.  There were numerous sparrows feeding right along the roadside, but no Lincoln’s were mixed in.  Notable birds included several flyover Siskins and Purple Finches which are not too common this far south, though perhaps not so unusual in this good flight year.  And a bit later an immature Bald Eagle flew over startling the Canada Geese in the adjacent wetlands. 

I then drove a bit farther down the road to get to the wetlands where I thought the Nelson’s Sparrow had been seen a year ago.  I walked down to a nice area of cattails and started to play some Marsh Wren tape.  Within seconds sparrows started to respond, with 8 to 10 perched just a few feet away.  With quick looks they all appeared to be Swamps, but I wanted to look at each bird closely to be sure there wasn’t a Lincoln’s in the group.  As I bounced from one bird to the next all of a sudden a sparrow with an orange face pattern appeared.  I watched it for at least a minute at close range and checked off all the field marks of a Nelson’s Sparrow (including eliminating LeConte’s Sparrow with no white central crown stripe).  Statebird #1.  That was a real long shot and one I wasn’t really planning on.  And quite a good bird for WV too.  Not to mention a remarkable response to a Marsh Wren tape! 

WV is only my seventh state for Nelson’s Sparrow (see my statebird map below).  Previously I had seen the coastal race as a breeder in ME and NH; coastal and/or inland races as migrants in MA, RI, and CT; and as a wintering bird in LA and AL.  I’ve yet to see the inland race on its breeding grounds.

I then walked another 100 feet down the edge of the wetlands and played some more Marsh Wren tape.  This time a Marsh Wren responded instead of sparrows, staying in the open for quite a while.  Statebird #2, and WV statebird #200!  Marsh Wren is not a typical nester in WV, and apparently a not so common migrant as well.  So another good tick for WV.  I’ve now seen Marsh Wren throughout the Lower 48 except for IA, KY, and TN.

It was still early, so I decided to bird a couple other parts of the WMA before heading to my next stop.  In a few minutes I was at another part of the wetlands and noticed some birders in hip-waders sloshing through the marsh looking for rails.  I watched them for a while hoping they would flush a Snipe, but it turned out they struck out both on their target and mine.  As they reached the shore and I was about to tell them about my finds they told me they had 2 other Nelson’s and several other Marsh Wrens.  Took the wind out of my sails a bit.  They also told me about a Lincoln’s Sparrow they had seen just a few minutes earlier.  I went right to that spot but didn’t see a single sparrow.  Ugh…

My next stop was Silver Lake which was about an hour to the east and just a stone’s throw from the MD line.  A Snow Goose had been reported there for several days about a week earlier in with a flock of Canadas.  Although there had been no reports (positive or negative) from this spot since then, I hoped it would still be around, and all the local birders who wanted to see it had already been by the spot earlier.  I arrived at the small lake and counted 310 Canadas either on the water or on adjacent grassy shores.  But no white goose was visible.  I had a slim hope that more geese might be just out of view in some hidden part of the lake so I decided to drive around to a different vantage point.  As I passed over a small bridge I flushed 3 sparrows which landed just off the road side.  Although they looked like Songs, on a whim, I picked up my binocs and the very first one I looked at was a Lincoln’s.  Statebird #3.  Amazing that I probably looked at a couple hundred sparrows at Pleasant Creek with no luck, but the very first one here was a Lincoln’s.  And I didn’t even need to leave my car.  WV was my 39th state for Lincoln’s - I still need it in a few Midwest and several Southeast states.

Despite a couple more angles on the lake I never did find the Snow Goose.  But the Lincoln’s Sparrow was a great consolation prize.

My next stop was the WV University Reedsville Farm to try for Wilson’s Snipe.  It was another hour plus drive but through some very pretty WV countryside so it was a very pleasant ride.  Along the way I passed through a couple rural towns, and at one point slowed to under 25 mph to pass through “downtown” Kingwood.  Just then I noticed a rather large falcon passing overhead.  Luckily I was able to instantly pull over and get the binocs on it.  Although my initial reaction was Peregrine, I watched it for a while and decided it was a large female Merlin.  Statebird #4.  I was really lucky not only to have noticed it but also to be able to pull over right away to see it with my binocs.  My statebird map for Merlin is very spotty – I’ve seen it in only 34 states.

 

I eventually made it to Reedsville Farm and headed to a grass-lined creek that Terry had suggested for Snipe.  I spent some time walking along what seemed to be good Snipe habitat but with no success.  As I pulled out of the area I remembered seeing a wet grassy field at the edge of the farm and decided to give it a try.  I put on my wellies and started to splash through the wet grass.  I had just gotten done saying to myself what nice Snipe habitat this was when one flushed right in front of me.  Statebird #5.  And as I walked back to the car I flushed another Snipe.  It was amazing how easy it was after having looked for Snipe so many times in WV.  I now just need Snipe in SD and MI to sweep the mainland states.

 

That gave me 5 new statebirds on a day that I thought I’d be lucky to get any at all.  Pretty amazing. 

That puts my WV list at 203 – my 48th state with more than 200 statebirds.  Only IA, DC, and HI are below 200.  Plus since WV’s old ABA threshold of 178 is the second lowest (only DC is lower), my 203 is a very respectable 114% of threshold.  That is my 15th best percentage of all my statelists.  At the beginning of 2014 my WV list was my 43rd best based on percentage of threshold.  That’s quite an improvement over just one year.  Couldn’t have done it without the help of Terry Bronson who knows the birds of the area so well.