Manitoba – The Final Frontier, Part 3 of 3, Churchill, June 2025

When it came time to start planning my big spring 2025 birding trip the destination was quite obvious – it had to be Manitoba.  That was my last state or province that I hadn’t birded extensively.  To paraphrase the Star Trek intro – Manitoba, the final frontier.  ((Then again I haven’t yet birded Canada’s more distant and less accessible territories – Nunavut, Northwest, and Yukon.)

With an existing province list of just 61, there were lots of potential new province birds waiting for me in MB.  And if I flew into Grand Forks, ND, I could also fill a few gaps in my MN and ND lists before or after the MB portion of the trip. 

I reached out to my good birding friends Bill and Anita Hooker who went with me on my trip to FL back in January 2025, and they agreed to come along on this trip as well.  It was all coming together.

One last big picture decision to make was whether to include a trip to Churchill in our MB itinerary.  I’ve heard so much about Churchill over the decades, starting back in the late 1900’s when Ross’s Gulls nested there.  I know Ross’s haven’t been seen there in a while, but birding continues to be great.  So we talked ourselves into making the extra round-trip flights from Winnipeg to Churchill, though it made for a pricey add-on to the trip.

I spent several months planning the trip, including searching for the best birding hotspots in MB to maximize our species total, and looking for specific one-off targets near Grand Forks in MN and ND.  I came up with a 13-day itinerary where I could add at least 140 species in MB to break 200 for the province, add perhaps only 4 in ND, and hopefully 2 in MN.

This blog post summarizes the Churchill portion of the trip, covering June 6 to 9.

6/6 – Churchill

The day had finally come for our trip to Churchill!  I had heard so much about Churchill over the years (in fact, decades), and had read “A Birder’s Guide to Churchill” cover-to-cover at least 3 times trying to prepare for and plan this leg of our trip.  The field guide was now 21 years old, so I knew it was a bit dated.  For instance, Ross’s Gulls were still being seen when the book was written (Ross’s was last reported in 2016).  And one of my hoped-for targets, Smith’s Longspur in its brilliant breeding plumage, was still a regular nester when the guide was published (only 3 reports in all of 2024).  But I still hoped it would be a valuable resource. 

Our flight to Churchill left Winnipeg right on time at 10:30.  A tour group of 11 birders was also on that flight, and Bill happened to be sitting next to one of the birding guides.  Bill made some introductions and I was able to ask the bird guide a number of questions and get his advice on several of our targets.  For instance, he told me the best spots for Spruce Grouse and where the Smith’s Longspurs formerly nested. In general, he said the field guide was still reasonably accurate, so I hoped my research would be on track.   

Our flight landed just a few minutes late at 1:15 PM.  While waiting for our bags at the airport it was tough not to see this sign regarding the risks of polar bears.  They normally aren’t seen in Churchill until July, but we were duly warned.

This was forecasted to be the best weather day of our 4 days in Churchill (spitting a bit of rain, temps in low 50s, windchill in the upper 40s) so we wanted take advantage of the “good” weather.  We picked up our rental car without a hitch – a 10-year old Nissan SUV with over 150,000 miles on it.  The Check Engine and Low Tire Pressure lights were on but the owner of the rental car company assured us not to worry about them.  And, oh by the way, the tailgate didn’t latch.  After a quick stop for staples at the grocery store, we were out birding by 2:45.

I decided to start by heading out the peninsula towards Cape Merry.  Our first stop was the Granary Ponds where we quickly added Greater Scaup and singing White-crowned and Fox  Sparrows. (MB #205-207)

Then we made it to Cape Merry where we started a seawatch at the mouth of the Churchill River where it empties into Hudson Bay.  Our best viewing spot was a former fort structure with walls that were almost too tall to look out over.  Check out the ominous skies on this “best” weather day.

The seawatch started slow but the birding soon picked up.  We quickly got the easy ones out of the way - Common Eider, Arctic Tern, and Pacific Loon.  Later I spotted a flock of Scoters sleeping at the river mouth that turned out to be mostly White-winged with a few Surf mixed in.  And while watching them a flock of Black Scoters flew by in the background.  A bit later a lone Long-tailed Duck flew by, and 2 Red-throated Loons were feeding in the river.  Later a Parasitic Jaeger flew in harassing a Tern that had apparently just caught a fish.  After about an hour we figured we had checked off all the regulars, and we headed back to the car.  We could certainly come back there for seawatches later in the trip – perhaps the bad weather might blow something in.  Along the walk back to the car an American Pipit flew into the grasses right in front of us, giving me 10 new province birds in just an hour.  (MB #208-217)

Next, we headed to Goose Creek Road to get in some birding there while the weather was still good.  Our first stop was the spruce forest along Kennedy Park Road, and here we picked up a Lesser Yellowlegs calling from the top of a spruce tree (MB #218).  I had hoped to see 3 different species seemingly out of place perched on spruce trees (Yellowlegs, Godwits, and Bonaparte’s), but interestingly this was the only one on our trip.  A bit later I heard a distant singing finch “identified” by Merlin as a Pine Grosbeak.  With a bit of tape one flew right in (MB #219).  We had no luck with Spruce Grouse though.  Here’s a shot of the nice boreal forest habitat.

We returned to Goose Creek Road and soon came to several ponds with shorebirds and waterfowl quite close to the road.  We were treated to a great show of Hudsonian Godwits counting at least 7, most being in high breeding plumage (MB #220).  There were also a dozen Short-billed Dowitchers, undoubtedly of the hendersoni race, in their brilliant orange breeding plumage (MB #221).  It’s so rare that I get to see these species in their breeding plumage.

We also had numerous Lesser Yellowlegs, Red-necked Phalaropes, and a few Stilt Sandpipers on the flats.  Plus, we spotted a Wilson’s Phalarope which is rare this far north. 

Our next stop was a feeding station we heard about at the Goose Creek Cottage area, adding numerous Redpolls (MB #222), along with multiple Pine Grosbeaks.  Plus there were  lots of sparrows - at least 1 Harris’s Sparrow (MB #223 and new for my Canada list), Fox, White-crowned, White-throated, and Junco.  It may not be much of a feeding station, but the birds (and snowshoe hares!) sure enjoyed it.

On a later stop Anita and Bill picked up a distant singing Blackpoll Warbler which I just couldn’t hear.  We’ll hopefully get another one of them later. 

We quit birding at 7 PM with only 50 species for the day.  But that tally included 19 new Manitoba species bringing my total to 223.  Not bad for just 5 hours birding.  I was now nearing my next milestone: my single highest province list is 224 in BC.  Surely that milestone will be reached the next day.

6/7 – Churchill

The 7th was rainy, cold and windy – just what the meteorologists had predicted.  It rained off and on all day.  And temperatures started in the balmy mid-40s dropping to 34 degrees by the afternoon.  The 10-20 mile per hour winds gave us a 25-degree windchill.  Not exactly the best for birding.  But we endured anyway…

We started our day back at Goose Creek/Hydro Road to bird the southern portion we didn’t get to the previous day.  But first we went back to the Goose Creek Cottage area for a quick stop at the feeders again.  There was nothing new (though we did stop for more views of the Pine Grosbeaks), so we drove to the end of the road hoping for a recently reported Spruce Grouse.  Despite a walk around a closed gate and some walking through more excellent boreal forest, we struck out on the Grouse.  Though I finally heard and saw a singing Blackpoll Warbler that I missed the day before (MB #224).  Notably we had few other boreal species despite this very nice habitat.

We continued farther down Hydro Road checking out more wetlands hoping for recently reported Black Ducks.  We finally picked out 4 Blacks with Mallards and other waterfowl in a shallow lake (MB #225).  And nearby at the Hydro Road Tower we had several singing Northern Waterthrushes.

We reached the end of the road at the pump station and I got out of the car to check out what birds may be on the river.  But the combination of wind and rain made me scurry back to the warmth of our car.  We turned around to come back toward town, and soon afterwards while driving through an area of spruce woodlands I spotted a large bird ahead in the road.  We stopped and got distant views of what we thought was going to be a female Spruce Grouse.  We were able to slowly pull up even with it for spectacular views.

Later we heard from the eBird reviewer that it was actually a Sharp-tailed Grouse.  As we were studying this bird we did consider Sharp-tailed as a possibility.  (We don’t have a lot of experience with these species, especially at distances of less than 10 ft.)  Though we noted that Sharp-tailed just shouldn’t be in Churchill - the Sibley range maps showed it was not in the area, it’s not mentioned at all in the Birder’s Guide, and eBird considered it unreported and needing details.  Plus, Sharp-tailed has only been reported in eBird in the area 2 other times this year, and 3 times in 2024.  That’s a lot fewer sightings than Spruce Grouse.  So I guess a silver lining to correcting the ID to Sharp-tailed is that we actually found a much rarer bird than the Spruce Grouse.  Of course, we saw dozens of Sharp-tailed’s in southern parts of the province a week earlier so it wasn’t a new province bird.

Our next area to explore was on to the east along Launch Rd.  But the weather was now so cold we mostly birded from the car.  The next addition was at the Below-the-Observatory Tundra.  I scanned the wet tundra below from the lee of the car and spotted 2 Tundra Swans, 1 was on a nest (MB #227 and new for my Canada list).  Later we would find 3 more in flight.  Here’s a shot of the wet tundra below. 

A stop at both the old and new landfills revealed not a single gull of any species.  That’s certainly a huge change from the way it used to be.  Quoting the 20-year-old Birder’s Guide:  “The gulls at this dump surely support the claim that after the Niagara River, the Churchill area is probably the best place in North America to see a variety of gulls.”  Though we did see this very authentic mural painted on the side of the former trash incinerator.

On a later stop while driving through the dry tundra on the Golf Balls Road we spotted a flyby American Golden-Plover in the distance (MB #228).  Here’s a typical view of the drier tundra in the area.

The last birds of the day were 4 Snow Geese right outside town, and 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds that are rare for the area.  There were actually quite a number of Cowbird sightings while we were in Churchill.  That doesn’t bode well for species that are subject to parasitism.  In fact, I wonder if Cowbirds might be successful in parasitizing ground-nesting small shorebirds (like Leasts and Semis).

We ended with 62 species for the day – not bad for such difficult weather conditions.  And I added 4 birds to my Manitoba list, bringing the total to 228 – by far my best list for any Canadian province both with respect to the percentage of the total species ever seen in that province, and the absolute number of species.

6/8 – Churchill

We looked forward to spending much of the day of the 8th in the boreal habitats along Twin Lakes Road and at Twin Lakes.  But then there was the weather.  We thought it was bad on the 7th – it was even worse on the 8th.  It rained most of the day, with temperatures in the low 30’s (the car thermometer said -1 degrees Celsius as times), with strong NE winds giving wind chills in the lower 20s at best.  As a result, most of our birding was from the car, with at most short walks into good habitat.  Though our lack of walks likely didn’t cause us to miss too many birds, as there were few (if any) birds at nearly all our stops. 

Despite the challenging conditions, we were able to eke out some good birds.  Probably our favorite was Willow Ptarmigan (MB #229 – and new for my Canada list).  Our first was right along the side of the road on Twin Lakes Road and we had 3 others at later stops including this handsome male. 

A couple times I got out for short walks and found a number of Orange-crowned Warblers.  All were foraging low to the ground which was likely the best location for the insects they searched for in these temperatures.  And speaking of insectivores, at one point we spotted a rare Eastern Kingbird hovering along the road.  That was one confused bird. 

We were now in the heart of Spruce Grouse habitat, with thick stands of spruces and large patches of reindeer moss as a ground cover. 

We drove every mile of road we could in and around the Twin Lakes area, but couldn’t find one of these prime targets.  In fact, our only boreal species for the area was one calling Canada Jay.  Pretty slim pickings…

At one point we were driving along a two-track road through the woods and Anita and I both spotted a large raptor fly up from the road ahead of us.  It appeared to be uniformly gray.  Could it have been a Great Gray Owl?  We got out to look for it but couldn’t locate any raptors or any birds at all for that matter.  And we couldn’t drive any further because of the snow drift across the road.  Here’s a selfie of our intrepid group all bundled up against the elements.

Next we were onto Ramsay Trail, though it took a bit of searching to find it as it was not mentioned in the Birder’s Guide.  Soon after starting on the trail a Solitary Sandpiper called nearby (MB #230).  And no more than a couple minutes later I heard what I thought was a singing American Tree Sparrow.  I played tape and it flew right in (MB #231).  We had 2 others in this area as well.  We also spent some time with a flock of geese that Merlin thought included a Cackling Goose, but that was just optimism on Merlin’s part.

Later in the afternoon I went out on my own along Cape Merry, but the rain and wind had picked up making it difficult to do a seawatch.  Though I was able to briefly spot several Beluga Whales feeding in the river. 

A last stop of the afternoon was at “The Flats”.  I covered only a portion of this area in the wind and rain and had a nice mix of shorebirds including a flock of Turnstones and a Dunlin.  I’ll have to go back there tomorrow when the weather was predicted to be better. 

I ended the day with 3 new province birds, bringing my MB total to 231.  Not bad given the weather conditions.

6/9 – Last Day in Churchill

We woke up on the 9th to much better weather conditions – it had finally stopped raining and the wind wasn’t howling.  Of course, this was the day we were set to leave and we could only bird till about Noon.  Go figure…  Though it was still just in the low 30s.

While standing in the hotel parking lot as we were set to head out to begin our day, I noticed a small bird in a group of stunted spruce trees at the edge of the parking lot across the road.  Initially I expected it would be a White-crowned Sparrow which was common in the town.  But when I got it in my binocs I realized it was a rare female Bay-breasted Warbler (MB #232).  Later it flew to small trees at the edge of our parking lot and we got great views.  That was a nice start to the day.

Our first stop was at the Flats – a portion of which I birded the previous day.  We drove to the end and found our only Sanderlings of Churchill, plus a flock of 12 White-rumps, a Dunlin and a Turnstone.  The tide was pretty high at the time – maybe it would have been better at a lower tide.

We decided to bird Goose Creek/Hydro Road again to see what new birds might have migrated in.  Our first stop was along Kennedy Road for yet another try for Spruce Grouse.  Again, we came up empty though we heard that one was seen there the previous day.

Then we were on to Goose Creek Cottage road.  A quick stop at the feeders gave us views of 5 Pine Grosbeaks.  While watching the feeders I heard a blackbird calling nearby.  I looked up and saw a Common Grackle fly into a tree above the feeders – another rarity for Churchill.

We drove to the end of the road where again our key target was Spruce Grouse.  As we got out of the car we heard a Catbird singing from the brush – apparently a continuing rarity heard there recently.  Though we didn’t hear it when we were there the previous day.  A walk into the woods there gave us a couple Fox Sparrows, a singing Pine Grosbeak, and our only Boreal Chickadee at Churchill.

Back on Hydro Road heading south we spotted the same Sharp-tailed Grouse we saw the previous day.  Continuing south we went by the wetlands that contained good numbers of shorebirds on previous trips, but numbers were way down today.  Though we did have one spot with 2 Black-bellied and 1 American Golden-Plover in nice breeding plumage.  And an adjacent pond had 2 Sandhill Cranes.

As we continued south I spotted a blackbird flying over the road.  I got an extended view of the bird which turned out to be a Rusty Blackbird - the last new province bird for the trip (MB #233).

Our last stop in Churchill was on a bluff along the Churchill River to try to see Belugas.  This was the same spot I saw distant Belugas the previous day so we were hopeful.  On our way along the edge of Hudson Bay we got this view of ice that had been blown on-shore by the strong northeast winds the last couple days.

After a bit of a wait at the bluff we got excellent views of several Belugas when they surfaced.  What a great way to end the Churchill portion of the trip, and for MB in general.

I added 2 birds to my MB list that day, bringing my total to 233.

 

And now a postscript on our trip to Churchill –

I was actually a bit disappointed with our trip to Churchill.  For decades I had heard so many stories about the great birding there, but I’m afraid it just didn’t quite live up to the hype.  Numbers of waterfowl seemed to be about as expected, but numbers of virtually all other species were much lower than I had anticipated.  We saw most of our expected species, but most were in low numbers.  Except for good numbers of Pine Grosbeaks and Redpolls, boreal passerines were virtually non-existent.  And I was really hoping to see Yellowlegs, Godwits, and Bonaparte’s perched on tree tops, but we saw just 1 calling Lesser Yellowlegs perched at the top of a spruce.  Needless to say, the cold and wet weather didn’t help, but with all the time we spent in good habitat I still expected more birds.  Were we too early in the year for nesting species?  For instance, tamarack trees and many shrubs were not yet leafed out.  Maybe a July trip might have been more fruitful. 

Now for some final thoughts on the Churchill rarities.  We found 7 rarities needing ID details in eBird – that’s a huge number in just 3 full days of birding.  All were species that are common in southern portions of MB, so were likely spring migrants that overshot their normal ranges.  Then again, with global warming, were these southern MB birds heading north to expand their breeding ranges?  And continuing that logic, maybe some individuals of the regular Churchill species were missing from Churchill because they are now nesting farther north as well.

 

MB Trip by the Numbers

172 – New MB ticks

233 - MB Province list total, my largest province list both by absolute number of species and the percentage of species ever reported in that province

231 - Number of species seen in MB on this trip (only Palm Warbler and Golden-crowned Kinglet were seen on previous MB trips but not on this trip)

387 – Canada list, adding 4 species on this trip (Black-backed Woodpecker, Harris’s Sparrow, Tundra Swan, Willow Ptarmigan)

20 - Number of waterfowl species seen in MB

26 - Number of shorebird species

20 - Number of sparrow species

22 - Number of warbler species

92 - Number of species seen in Churchill

7 - Number of “southern” rarities seen in Churchill (Wilson’s Phalarope, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Eastern Kingbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bay-breasted Warbler, Gray Catbird, Common Grackle)

My eBird Trip Report for all our stops in MB can be found here:  ebird.org/tripreport/ 388769

And the Trip Report for the Churchill portion of the trip can be found here:  ebird.org/tripreport/384450

Carolina Bird Club Winter Meeting, Litchfield Beach, SC and In Route to the Coast, January 2020

The winter meeting of the Carolina Bird Club (CBC) was scheduled for the upper SC coast, based in Litchfield Beach, on January 17-18, 2020.  I’ve always loved coastal birding, and really miss not being able to bird the coast regularly now that I’ve moved to the mountains of NC.  So it was a no-brainer to sign up to attend the winter meeting.  And the trips I chose especially focused on birding at or near the coast.  I had many potential new statebirds to hope for during the CBC event, 5 of which had been reported recently.  Plus of course I’d have the opportunity to bird while heading to the coast, and on my way back home, especially if I came back using a route through NC.  With a lot of research, I developed an itinerary giving me the opportunity for 4 recently reported targets in SC on my way to the coast, and 9 potential birds in NC on my way back.  Of course I wouldn’t find everything, so I realistically hoped for perhaps 5 new birds for my SC list, and 5 others for my NC list over the long weekend.

And regardless of the number of new birds I might add to my lists, I was really looking forward to an extended birding trip on the coast.

This blog post covers the SC portion of the trip; the next post summarizes the NC portion.

In Route to the Meeting, SC, January 16

My first stop on the way to the coast was the Santee NWR Bluff Unit.  For some time, numerous Sandhill Cranes had been detected in the fields at the north end of this area.  Though their numbers had dropped recently, and perhaps they were mostly being seen in the late afternoon using the spot as an evening roost.  A Short-eared Owl was also regular there for a while, but had not been reported in the last few days before my trip.  Plus there were a couple reports of Red-breasted Nuthatch at the site, though this has been a very slow winter for this species.  All things considered, I just hoped to add the Cranes at this stop.

I arrived at the Bluff Unit right on time, and after a short walk through the woods I reached the observation platform to look out over the fields.  And just then there was an explosion of birds flying over the fields – an Eagle had flown low over the area scattering all the ducks.  I tried to scan through all the birds in the air hoping to find Cranes as well, but to no avail.  But then with a quick binocular scan of the distant fields I spotted too gray dots, confirmed with a scope view as 2 Sandhill Cranes foraging in the fields (SC statebird #1).  Just 2 birds though – not the dozens reported a couple weeks earlier.  Good thing that I found them quickly because that would give me more time for future stops.

My statebird map for Sandhill Crane is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  I still need Sandhills in a few more of their regular states, but have seen in in quite a number of eastern states where it is a rarity.  Or perhaps where this expanding species used to be a rarity.

Just after I came down from the platform I ran into SC birder Paul Serridge who was also heading out to try for the Cranes.  He was able re-find that same pair of Cranes, though they flew off just a couple minutes later.  We were both very lucky.  It turned out that Paul’s later targets were the same as mine, so we agreed to stay in touch during those next stops and hoped we would run into each other again later in the day.

My next stop was in Hanahan to try for a pair of Limpkins that had been seen in a wetlands there since last summer.  They are seen either on three small islands close to shore, or foraging on the back lawns of nearby homes.  However, despite their long stay, and the fact that most observations are at a close distance, they are often very difficult to see, and many birders have missed them.  Within minutes of my arrival I did a quick scan of the islands and lawns, but found no Limpkins.  The vegetation on the islands was very thick, so it would be easy for them to hide if they were more than just a couple feet from the island edges.  Now I can see why so many birders have missed them.

An hour had passed and I had many fruitless scans of the vegetation - I was thinking that this would turn out to be an unsuccessful search.  But then an Osprey flew low overhead scattering some waders nearby.  And then I heard a single muffled call that I thought was a Limpkin.  A minute later I heard another call and this time I knew I was hearing a Limpkin.  I peered into the area where I thought the call had come from, and there were 2 Limpkins walking in the thick vegetation of the closest island (SC statebird #2).  I bet during my entire first hour there the birds were perched in a thick tree at the end of the island, seen hear in my iPhone picture, just a few feet away but completely invisible.

I called Paul and alerted him to the sighting, and stayed with the birds until he arrived 20 minutes later.  During that time the birds stayed in the open and were quite tame.  I took this shot of one bird by holding my phone up to my binocs.

Next Paul and I were both off to the Santee Coastal Reserve to try for a Cinnamon Teal that had been seen off and on there for a couple months.  Though once again this target was not easily seen, and had not been reported for about a week.  On the way to the impoundments at the Big Well Trail we made a short stop in the pines and quickly spotted a pair of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.  Not new for my list but it’s always nice to see this endangered species.  I wish we were as lucky with the Teal.  Although I spent 3 hours at the impoundments, the Cinnamon Teal was a no-show.  The bird wasn’t seen the next day on the CBC trip to the spot as well, so maybe it had moved on.

Two new statebirds on day 1 – a great start on the trip.

Upper SC Coast, CBC Meeting, January 17

For the first day of the CBC meeting I had chosen an all-day trip to the upper end of the SC coast, especially focused on seawatches from fishing piers.  Our first coastal stop was at the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier in North Myrtle Beach.  Soon after we arrived one of our birders said he had a Swan swimming on the ocean of all places.  I admit I was skeptical, and initial views of what the birder was looking at made me think it was more likely a white float of some type.  But soon it turned and in profile I could see it was indeed a Swan.  Now what type?  The bird was really far away, and the heat shimmer was difficult, but at one point I saw a hint of orange on the bill making it a Mute Swan (SC statebird #3).  An amazing bird to find on a seawatch.  I’ve now seen this species in quite a number of Midwest and eastern states as it continues to expand from what was formerly a rather restricted range in the northeast.

Other notable birds were a few Black Scoters, and several Red-throated Loons.  But all in all this was a pretty slow stop.

Luckily birding really picked up at the 2^nd Street Pier in Myrtle Beach.  Again there were more Black Scoters – perhaps 200 of them.  With 1 nearby White-winged as well.  Though no Surf’s – my only SC Scoter target.  At one point as I scanned one of the distant Scoter flocks I spotted a distant Jaeger flying right to left.  I was able to get many of the birders on it, and we concluded it was slim enough to be a Parasitic Jaeger (SC statebird #4).  Later I found 1 or perhaps 2 others chasing distant gulls in classic Jaeger fashion.  I love seawatches!  I’ve seen this species in a number of states bordering the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific, but still need it in a number of other coastal states.

We ended the day with about 80 species even though we did minimal landbirding.  All in all an excellent day.

Huntington Beach State Park, SC, CBC Meeting, January 18

Huntington Beach State Park (HBSP) is certainly the premier birding location on the upper SC coast, with a diverse set of habitats resulting in a long list of birds to search for.  I had signed up for the all-day trip to HBSP, which would include considerable time at the beach and looking over the ocean where several potential statebirds had either been seen recently, or could otherwise be possible.

For that reason I was happy to hear that our day would start on the beach.  Our plan was to make the 1.3 mile-long walk to the jetty, birding along the way of course.  And then we would spend time at the jetty where often the best birds are found.  Though the downside was the walk to the jetty that day would be facing into about a 20 knot sustained wind.  At least the temps were in the 40s so it wasn’t too cold. 

As we started our walk up the beach we could see a major movement of birds heading northeast roughly parallel to the beach flying right to left as we looked out over the ocean.  Every stop included many Gannets, gulls, and terns, and a few Loons, almost all heading in that same direction.  It was for that reason that, at one of our stops, 1 specific bird flying caught my attention – it was flying southwest (left to right) and reasonably close to shore.  And more importantly, it was flying with a classic Shearwater flight – flying in almost a “sine curve” approach first low then higher, then low again, etc.  And almost never flapping.  I had a Shearwater, but what kind?  In my roughly 20 seconds of viewing time I could see that it was a uniform dark brown/gray above, and pale below.  That would make it a Manx Shearwater (SC statebird #5).  I didn’t realize till later that Manx is the only realistic Atlantic Shearwater to be seen as a wintering bird off the southern Atlantic coast, certainly consistent with my ID.  That was a surprise not at all on my radar screen.

After nearly an hour fighting the wind, we finally reached the jetty.  And just as we were starting to set up our scopes a birder already there came over and said he had just found a Black Guillemot!  We started to set up our scopes to start to search out over the inlet but the birder said there was no need to - the bird was right below us at the edge of the jetty.  Sure enough, no more than a couple feet off the rocks, and just 20 ft down the jetty, was a winter plumaged Black Guillemot (SC statebird #6).  An extreme rarity for SC, though a bird I’ve seen many times in New England.

Next we turned our focus to the inlet and the jetty on the other side.  Soon we spotted a pair of Scoters – 1 was a female Black, and eventually we were able to tell that the other was a female Surf Scoter (SC statebird #7).  I’ve seen this species in nearly every state where it’s regular and a number of inland states where it is a rarity (in fact it can be seen in every inland state as a rarity).  And SC is now my 20th state where I’ve swept the 3 Scoter species.  

Unfortunately, the Common Eider and Harlequin Duck seen here earlier in the winter had moved on.  And only 1 person noted a fly-by Long-tailed Duck.  I’ll have to wait for future trips to try to add those 3 to my SC list.

We made it back to the cars, and pulled out our sandwiches for a quick lunch break.  We strategized about the afternoon’s activities, and I mentioned that White Pelican was one of my targets, 1 of which was routinely being seen in wetlands at the park.  Not 10 minutes later I heard a young birder in our group call out my name – he had spotted a White Pelican flying overhead.  I got a brief view as it soared overhead, and then it was soon out of sight (SC statebird #8).  Sure enough when we birded the wetlands the Pelican was no longer there – that was most likely the bird we saw overhead at lunchtime.  Boy were we lucky.

Afternoon walks through woodlands yielded a number of species but nothing of note.  That is until I spotted a perched Buteo at a distance.  It was warm chocolate brown below, with just a bit of white streaking in the upper chest, and a dark tail.  We initially thought it was a first year Bald Eagle, but it was way too small.  And upon closer look the tail was somewhat lighter than the chest, with darker bands, and a white terminal tail band.  I took these pretty miserable phonescoped photos.

We decided that it was an immature “Western” Red-tailed Hawk.  Certainly not a new species but an extreme rarity for SC.

We finished our trip with an amazing 86 species – what a day!

In Route From the Meeting in SC, January 19

My birding plan heading back from the CBC meeting was to focus on NC targets – with a first day on the coast and the next day at inland sites.  So I developed an extensive NC itinerary to either chase after recently reported rarities, or to bird good birding locations with the potential for other targets. 

But all that was pending any rarities that might be spotted at the CBC or nearby in SC that could be chaseable.  The only CBC rarity to chase was the Guillemot which I already saw.  So what about others in nearby SC?  It turned out that earlier in the week news got out that a Bullock’s Oriole was being seen at a feeder in Pineville (actually not too far from the Limpkins – if only it had been spotted earlier).  And then there was a somewhat cryptic report of an Ash-throated Flycatcher near Charleston.  With no follow-up reports of the Flycatcher, and few details, I decided to pass on that one.  But the Oriole continued, and a quick call to the homeowners revealed that it was quite regular.  So I decided to try for the Bullock’s Oriole as my first stop before embarking on the NC part of the trip.  It would mean a fair amount of back-tracking, meaning I wouldn’t get to NC till late morning, but I didn’t want to pass up on a chance at the extremely rare Bullock’s.

I was out of the hotel pre-dawn, and at 8 AM pulled into the driveway of the homeowners hosting the Oriole.  Actually, they not only had the Bullock’s but 4 Baltimore Orioles as well.  The homeowners couldn’t have been friendlier – hosting me on their back porch to watch the small jelly feeder hanging from the roof.  The Bullock’s was there just 10 minutes before I arrived so I was optimistic.  But 40 minutes later we still had no Orioles of any type.  Finally, a couple Baltimore’s stopped in to feed.  And then I spotted the Bullock’s just a couple feet from the feeder – an adult male in beautiful plumage (SC statebird #9).  It fed on the jelly for a minute or so, and then was off again.  SC was my fifth state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity, along with all its regular states out west.

What a great way to end the SC portion of the trip – 9 new statebirds among 136 total species.  That gives me 262 species for my SC list.

See my next blog post for the NC portion of the January 2020 trip. 

A First State Record and Three Pelagic Species in One Day in CT, August 2018

It all started with an absolutely amazing set of sightings in Long Island Sound off the CT coast.  First there were reports of a large number of Shearwaters at the eastern end of the Sound, with Great, Cory’s and Sooty Shearwaters seen in record numbers from the New London-Orient Point ferry.  Unfortunately I couldn’t break free to get out on the ferry during that time.  And when I finally could get out, the Shearwaters had mostly moved on.  The best I could do was add Great Shearwater to my NY list on one leg of one of these ferry trips. 

Then came CT reports of multiple Parasitic Jaegers seen from land, principally from Hammonasset Beach State Park.  And several of these reports included an occasional Shearwater.  All sightings were apparently associated with feeding frenzies including hundreds, if not thousands, of Terns.  I didn’t try chasing after these birds since the sightings were a bit hit or miss, apparently depending on whether there were schools of fish nearby to attract these pelagic species. 

All in all, this was perhaps an unprecedented set of pelagic sightings in Long Island Sound.  Unfortunately one that I hadn’t been able to experience.

That is until a report of a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck in Essex, CT came across the listserve.  Photos confirmed the ID of this first state record, and many birders were able to see this most cooperative bird later that same day.  When the bird continued to cooperate the next morning, though seen in multiple spots in the immediate vicinity, I cleared my schedule to be able to make the trip to Essex on Day 3.  And since Hammonasset was within 30 minutes of Essex, I could combine the 2 locations into one trip with lots of statebird potential. 

But as I was piecing together the directions to the spots where the Whistling-Duck had been seen, I noticed a post that a birder watched it fly north around Noon and he did not refind it.  I posted to the listserve asking for other updates and unfortunately only received negative reports.  I tried to remain positive that it would return since vagrant BBWDs will often stay in one spot for quite a while, and decided to keep with my plans.  And just before closing the computer that night a post came across that the bird returned at 6:30 PM.  The chase was on!

I was out of the house before 6, arriving in downtown Essex by 7:45.  The Whistling-Duck seemed to prefer a small tidal pool in a suburban backyard at the corner of Ferry and Pratt Streets, so that was my first destination.  As I drove down Ferry Street nearing the intersection I looked to the left toward the pool and there was a lone duck standing in the lawn at the edge of the pool – it was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck.  I parked on Pratt Street and got crippling views of this extreme rarity, including these phonescoped shots as it fed in the mud.

 

CT was my 9th state for this species, most of which as a vagrant.

I was happy that my first target was so cooperative because I needed to move on to Hammonasset to try for my next objectives – pelagics on the Sound.  Within a half hour I was at the park gate and realized this was the first time I had ever been there “in season” requiring an entrance fee.  The $15 day pass seemed steep, but I hoped it would be worthwhile.

Minutes later I was at Meig’s Point and walked up to the observation platform.  Two birders were already there, and they mentioned they had just had a couple Jaegers.  And one birder had a Cory’s Shearwater.  That made me hopeful for what might lie ahead, though I wished I could have been there a bit earlier.  With a first scope scan I could see a large flock of Terns flying low over the water – we had a feeding frenzy with critical mass for the pelagics.  And sure enough within a couple minutes I picked out a slim Jaeger which was very most likely a Parasitic.  Then I spotted another, and another, and soon had a group of 6 Jaegers all in one scope field!  Over the next 45 minutes the feeding frenzy continued nearly directly off the point, and we had at least one Jaeger in sight nearly the entire time.  And we all agreed that at least a few we could positively ID as Parasitics, with all the others most likely Parasitics as well.  CT was my 12th state for this species – I only need it in VT to complete the sweep of all 6 New England states.

Over the next couple hours the feeding frenzy would die down, and sometimes completely stop.  And then a few minutes later we would find the big flock of Terns a short distance to the east or west, again accompanied by multiple Jaegers.  I conservatively reported 6 Parasitics in my eBird checklist, since I had 6 in view at once, but the total could well have been more.  Then there was one that got away - at one point I spotted a Jaeger to the west of us, and watched it fly by eventually out of sight to the east.  It was not associating with any of the Terns as all the other Jaegers were, and was apparently just migrating through the area.  Most interestingly, I could not see any white in the primaries.  Could it have been a Long-tailed?  Unfortunately it was too far away for a definitive ID of these very tricky species.

By 11 the activity had slowed dramatically and the other two birders left the point.  I thought about calling it quits myself, very content to have found my second CT statebird for the day.  But then another couple birders arrived, and I decided to stay a bit longer to compare notes.  A little later one of those birders spotted a Shearwater flying west.  Although it was distant we could ID it as a Great.  Finally had my first Shearwater for CT after many unsuccessful trips on the Ferry.  And then a bit later while searching through another Tern flock I spotted another Shearwater gliding by – this one was a Cory’s.  A few minutes later I spotted another Great actively feeding in the Tern flock.  Amazing!  Good thing I didn’t leave earlier!

My statebird maps for Great and Cory’s Shearwaters are very similar – all the coastal states from NY north, plus a few mid-Atlantic states.  I’ve also seen both species in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

On a comparatively minor note, I also had excellent results with Black Terns during my seawatch.  In my last hour there twice I had a single flyby of a Black Tern heading west, once had a pair heading west, and twice I spotted a group of 4 birds feeding in with the Common Terns.  I initially reported 8 Black Terns for the morning, only counting the group of 4 once.  But later I was notified that 8 would be a new record for a single location in CT, so I decided to be overly conservative and revised the total to just 4.  Those were only my second Black Terns for the state.

I guess the $15 entrance fee to Hammonasset was a worthwhile investment after all.

A first CT state record, then not 1 but 3 pelagic species all from land.  That brings my CT statelist to 331.  What a day!

Two Pelagic Species in Long Island Sound, NY – but not CT, August 2017

Each of the last few summers there have been scattered reports of pelagic species seen from the Cross Sound Ferry that passes between New London, CT and Orient Point, NY.  Any pelagic species is a good find in Long Island Sound, which is certainly the only locale to try to add these species to one’s CT list.  Back in August 2015 while on the ferry to NY to drop my daughter off at school I spotted 3 Cory’s Shearwaters in NY waters.  Or at least I think I was in NY waters since at the time I didn’t have an app on my cellphone that showed the location of the NY/CT stateline.  They were new for my NY list, but I sure wish I could have seen them in CT, and still wonder if they could have been in CT waters after all. 

I’ve taken two ferry trips since that time solely as a birding passenger.  In September 2015 I spotted a Pomarine Jaeger flying along with the boat, and luckily I was able to see it fly from CT to NY, adding it as a statebird in both states.  And then I went again in summer in 2016 though I didn’t see any pelagic species on that trip. 

So with Cory’s Shearwater still haunting me in CT, I was excited to see a post from Dan Rottino in August 2017 that he had Cory’s on a ferry ride - both in CT and NY.  And he had Wilson’s Storm-Petrels in both states too.  Although I have Wilson’s in CT, it would be new for my NY list.  So with two possible statebirds to aim for, I made plans to head out on the ferry the next day.

As I boarded the 2 PM “Mary Ellen” ferry out of New London, joined by CT birder Alex Delehanty, I was optimistic that we would get some pelagic birds.  A birder on an earlier boat that day had Cory’s and Storm-Petrels in CT, but not NY.  And a birder on a later trip only had the Cory’s in NY, though Storm-Petrels in both states.  So certainly not a slam dunk.  As we got to the mid-Sound area where most of the sightings were concentrated, we picked up the first Wilson’s Storm-Petrels “fluttering” along in CT waters.  Soon we picked up a couple more single birds, along with a flock of 5 others, giving us 8 total.  I occasionally glanced at my app, and was sad to see us reach the NY stateline without seeing any Shearwaters.  But as we crossed into NY we picked up the first of 9 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels in NY waters, though no other pelagics.

Wilson’s Storm-Petrel is a regular species for NY, but much more often seen looking south from Long Island onto the Atlantic rather than in Long Island Sound.  Wilson’s was #280 for my NY statelist, and my 8th northeast state for this common pelagic species (see my statebird map below).

Though we struck out on Cory’s in CT on the trip south, we of course still hoped for one on the way back to CT.  Not too long after we left the Orient Point, NY harbor I spotted an adult Parasitic Jaeger flying right across the bow.  I quickly checked my app and we were well within NY waters.  But would it fly north into CT?  We continued to watch the Jaeger in flight but it unfortunately flew almost directly east and disappeared in the distance.  Despite our best efforts we couldn’t will it into CT waters.  Certainly a good bird for the Sound (the first to be reported from the ferry this summer), but in the “wrong” state if you’re trying to concentrate on your New England lists.  But could that be my first Parasitic Jaeger for NY?  I’d have to check my lists after I got back to my car.

We continued to search the waters around the boat on our way back, and spotted 5 Storm-Petrels in NY and 1 more in CT.  But there were no Shearwaters in sight in either state.

Once we got back to land I checked my lists and the Parasitic Jaeger was indeed new for my NY list - #281.  NY was my 11th state for this species – 7 from the Atlantic and 4 from the Pacific.  Plus I have a “Jaeger, sp.” in VT.

So although I wasn’t able to add anything to my CT list, it was certainly nice to add 2 new ticks in NY.

And now a postscript –

After the ferry ride I got a hotel nearby, and went out on a boat the next morning for my second try for a Bridled Tern that had spent a couple weeks on Falkner Island off the CT coast.  Unfortunately, though the Bridled Tern was seen the evening before, it and 90% of the colony left the island by the time we arrived the next morning.  An extremely frustrating missed opportunity at a life bird, let alone dipping on another possible CT statebird.

Fourteen Statebirds in Southwestern Oregon, September, 2016

Oregon is one of the last 4 Lower 48 states where my state list is still below the old ABA reporting threshold.  (SD, IA, and MT are the other 3.)  With my OR state list at 235, I was 24 below the threshold of 259.  But my real goal these days is to be at least 15 over that threshold, or “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  So that meant my target was to add 39 species to my OR list.  The biggest gaps in my OR state list are associated with species principally found in eastern OR.  I’ve never birded in that drier part of the state, and one year I hope to do some extensive birding there as part of an early summer trip.  Although I should add quite a number of species to my OR state list on that trip, I’ve been concerned that I might not be able to add enough on that trip to reach my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  Looking through my possible eastern OR targets I anticipated that I might only get 32 new birds on that trip, meaning I might indeed come up a bit short of my goal. 

So I needed to make at least one more trip to OR, especially to focus on species not likely to be seen on my eastern OR summer trip.  Back in February 2016 I took a 2-day trip in southwestern OR as an extension to a work trip to the Bay Area, picking up 17 new birds for my statelist.  With another business trip to the Bay Area planned in September, I started to do some research regarding potential statebirds for another western OR trip.  Not surprisingly there were quite a number of possibilities, and the vast majority were most likely along the coast – either shorebirds or ocean birds.

Now it was time to start my research.  I made a list of potential targets, and researched recent sightings in eBird.  Plus I reached out to a couple local contacts from my February trip for their input.  It turned out that although my list of possible targets was quite long, very few were likely.  Many of the possible shorebirds didn’t stay long so it would be difficult to chase after stakeouts.  And most of my ocean targets were only realistically possible on a pelagic trip.  So although I had already made my plane reservations to be able to add in the extra birding time in OR, I was now second guessing my plans.  But I couldn’t revise my flights without incurring hefty charges, so I decided to make the best of it.

My planned itinerary for Day 1 was to start at the southwestern corner of OR pre-dawn to try for Barred Owl, and then generally work my way north along the coast toward Coos Bay throughout the day.  My plans for Day 2 were not nearly as clear, since I had more locations to bird than I had time for – by at least 3 hours.  But some of my Day 2 targets were also possible on Day 1.  So if I could be successful for at least a few targets on the first day, or even early on Day 2, I could cut out certain stops and maybe squeeze everything in.  Certainly meant I would need to be flexible in developing my Day 2 itinerary.  Regardless of my route I needed to make my way back to my hotel in Medford that night.  Plus I didn’t need to leave until mid-morning on Day 3 so I would have at least a couple early morning hours available that day as well.  With that itinerary I hoped for 5 new birds for my OR list.  And even if statebirding wasn’t as successful as I would like, at least I would get a chance to do some nice birding in parts of the country that I don’t get to often.

Day 1

My first planned stop was to try for Barred Owl pre-dawn just southeast of Brookings along the coast just north of the CA line.  With a 2 ½ hour drive ahead of me, that meant an early 3:30 AM departure from my Medford hotel.  I arrived right on schedule an hour before sunrise and headed to Peavine Ridge Road, a spot recommended by local birders.  I had tried for the Owl here during my 2/16 trip with no luck.  But that was a late afternoon, so I hoped I’d have better success pre-dawn.  On a more positive note, since that first attempt was in daylight hours that gave me a better idea as to where I might want to stop and play tape on this trip.  Winds were calm, making it ideal for the owls to hear my tape, and for me to hear them respond if they were so inclined.  As I prepared for my first stop I realized it had been quite a while since I had tried to attract Barred Owl using tape, and wondered what the best strategy might be - would they call right away if they were nearby, would I need to play an extended amount of tape before they would reply, or maybe they wouldn’t call at all and just fly in undetected to check me out.  My first couple stops were unsuccessful, playing tape off and on for a couple minutes at each spot.  Then on my third stop I played one call and a Barred Owl responded instantly with a two-note hoot (OR statebird #1).  In my statebird map below I’ve seen or heard Barred Owl throughout much of the eastern part of its range, and now 2 states in the expanding northwestern part of its range.

I was now ahead of schedule and had to wait for the sun to come up for my next stop at the mouth of the Winchuck River.  Targets here were Elegant Terns that had been spotted there just a couple days earlier.  But a quick scan of the river mouth revealed a nice flock of gulls, but no terns.  So next I was off to the south jetty of the Chetco River and Brookings Harbor again looking for terns as well as any other pelagic species that might be nearby.  But it was pretty slow, with just a few gulls and cormorants milling about the river mouth.

Next I headed to Chetco Point a short distance to the north in Brookings where I planned to do an extended seawatch to try for various pelagic species.  I had birded from this spot on my 2/16 trip, and had good success with Kittiwakes, Gulls, and Alcids flying by that day.  But this time birding was pretty slow, hampered by limited visibility with a low fog in the area.  Then on one of my scans I looked far to the south at the Chetco River mouth and spotted a flock of terns at the jetties.  I first thought I saw a couple larger paler terns, followed by a larger number of smaller terns.  I’d like to think that I was seeing 2 targets – a few Elegant Terns and a larger number of Common Terns.  But that was almost exactly a mile away.  And even at 50 power that was just too far to feel good about my IDs.  It would only be a 10 minute drive to get back to the south jetty, in addition to the 5 minute walk back to my car.  Could I hurry back to the jetty in time to see these birds?  Since I wasn’t seeing anything else from the point, I decided to give it a try.

Fifteen minutes later I pulled into the jetty parking lot and before I had even gotten out of the car a tern flew right by – even looking through the windshield I could see the orange bill of an Elegant Tern (#2).  I got out of the car and counted at least a dozen more Elegants milling about, but no Common Terns.  Within a few minutes the Terns began to fly over the tip of the north jetty and settled down onto the rocks.  I got this passable phonescoped photo of at least 28 Elegant Terns on the jetty in the distance.

I then scanned the rest of the jetty tip and picked out one dark-billed tern – a Common Tern (#3).  There had only been a couple recent sightings of this species along the coast so I was happy to have picked this one out.  And of course it was a good thing I had come over to the jetty to correct my initial distant tern IDs from Chetco Point. 

Next I turned my attention to the river mouth and spotted another flock of Elegant Terns flying into the river.  I had 62 birds in site at one time – not clear how many were actually present in total.  That’s a lot more than any of the totals reported from the OR coast so far this fall.  A bit later while panning through the flock I spotted a larger, darker bird chasing one of the terns – it was a Jaeger.  It passed by quite closely and I could confirm it as an adult Parasitic Jaeger complete with the slim body and pointed central tail feathers (#4).  That was one I had hoped for during a seawatch but was not really expecting.  OR is now my 9^th coastal state where I’ve seen this species, along with seeing it as a nester in AK.

Then not a minute later I picked up a second Jaeger – this one was an immature sitting on the water.  Initially the “gizz” of this bird was that it was larger and heavier-bodied.  I watched it fly around a couple times before it re-landed on the water.  Again I felt like this one had a heavier body, so I concluded it was a Pomarine Jaeger – a pelagic species I had not expected at all to see from shore (#5). 

I spent a little more time looking out over the ocean but continued to see the same birds.  Just then I heard what sounded like an Evening Grosbeak calling from behind me.  I turned and heard the bird again, this time I realized it was calling from planted conifers in the jetty campground.  That would be another target, but since it would be quite a rarity especially for the coast, I decided to track it down.  Within a minute I knew which spruce it was calling from, and found a flock of Starlings in the tree, but could not find a Grosbeak.  Although the bird kept calling, and sounded like an Evening Grosbeak, I concluded that it was just a Starling giving an excellent imitation.

As I left the jetty I was only a couple hours into my 3-day trip and I had already added 5 new birds – the total I had expected for the entire trip.  Good thing I had such an excellent start, because I didn’t find any new species on my next 7 stops.  First there was a stop at Gold Beach where I hoped for potential new “rock-pipers”, but came up empty (hampered by very thick fog).  Then I headed to the China Creek portion of the Bandon State Natural Area where Snowy Plovers were to be reliable.  Although I spent a couple hours there, including walking a mile into a very strong wind, I couldn’t find any Plovers, or any other target shorebird for that matter.  (Later I found out that the local Snowy Plovers had not even been using that part of the beach recently.)  Though the wind did create some very interesting formations in the sand.

Wind was blowing from left to right in the photo

Then it was on to the south jetty in Bandon where an old boat ramp behind the Coast Guard station was a favorite spot for roosting Turnstones at high tide.  I timed my arrival to be right at high tide, and amazingly the boat ramp was indeed full of Turnstones – I made an exact count of 50 Blacks.  But alas I could not spot my target Ruddy Turnstone.

The next target was my nemesis bird – White-tailed Kite.  I spent several hours looking for this species during my 2/16 trip both inland and on the coast with no luck.  This time I spent about 2 hours driving and stopping along the 42N and 42S loop east of Bandon through great habitat but again without any success.

My next stop was at Pigeon Point in the Empire portion of Coos Bay, specifically looking for Marbled Godwits seen there a couple days earlier.  I arrived at mid-tide as was recommended, but the only shorebirds I could locate were a Least Sandpiper and a few Killdeer.  Since there weren’t many shorebirds to look at, I turned my attention to the flocks of Canada Geese in the area to see if an odd goose might be mixed in.  And sure enough in one of the first flocks I looked at I spotted a smaller dark immature goose walking on the mudflats.  At first I thought it was a “Blue” Snow Goose, but the ID just didn’t seem quite right.  Then it wagged its tail and it was all white - I couldn’t remember immature Blue Geese having white tails.  And the body and mantle feathers had a bit of a scalloped look which seemed odd as well.  I didn’t have a field guide with me, so I took a few phonescoped photos of the bird to look at that evening to confirm an ID. 

That night I compared my photos to drawings in the Sibley guide and thought that they were a good match for an immature Emperor Goose.  But that would be quite a rarity – not only with respect to the southern location, but also the very early date in the year.  So I concluded it must just be a Blue Goose, though sent the photos to a local birder to confirm the ID.  He in turn forwarded the photos to others and everyone said it was indeed an Emperor Goose.  The bird was seen again in the area the next several days, including by many at the local Oregon Shorebird Festival.  Although this was a super rare bird, it wasn’t new for my OR statelist – I had seen a long-staying adult bird on 4/12/98 in the Sandy River in northwestern OR.  Certainly a nice consolation for dipping on the Godwits.

My next stop was along the Coos Bay waterfront by the Motel 6 that was recommended as a good spot for Willets.  I arrived at mid-tide and found a few peeps and yellowlegs, but no Willets. 

Then I headed back down south to the Riverside Road access at Bandon NWR.  I got there about an hour below low tide (lower tides were recommended for shorebirds), but there were none in sight.  Then with a bit of scoping I noticed a very distant flock of maybe 200 peeps feeding in one part of the marsh.  But they were too far away to ID and too far to walk to, so I passed on checking them out.  But I did take this picture of a sign at the overlook to remind me of what might have been - Long-billed Curlew, Whimbrel, and Ruddy Turnstone drawn on the sign were all targets. 

It was now late in the day and I was heading back to my motel in Coos Bay when I realized I would go right past the Willet spot along the way.  So I made another quick stop and sure enough there was a Willet! (#6)  Wonder what makes this specific part of the waterfront so interesting to migrant Willets.  I’ve now seen “Western” Willet in most of its inland breeding and coastal wintering range, plus a couple inland states as a migrant.  And I’ve seen “Eastern” Willet in all the states in its regular coastal range.  I’ve also seen “Western” Willet in a few eastern states – I need to keep track of those in case they get split into separate species someday.

Since my first stop at the Motel 6 was too early for the Willet, I thought maybe my first stop at Pigeon Point was too early for the Godwits there as well.  So I doubled back to Pigeon Point to give it another try, but to no avail.  (I didn’t see the Emperor Goose on that second trip either.)

I was very happy to have ended the day with 6 new birds for my OR list – 4 of which would not be likely in eastern OR (Elegant and Common Terns, and Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers).  Not to mention finding the Emperor Goose!

Day 2

Now it was time to fine-tune my Day 2 itinerary given the results of my first day of birding.  First I didn’t need to start pre-dawn to try for Barred Owl, meaning I could start my first daylight stop at least an hour earlier, not to mention I could sleep in a bit.  But since I missed both Snowy Plover and White-tailed Kite I still needed to try for both on Day 2.  And then I needed to decide whether to head to Fern Ridge near Eugene.  Recent reports at this wetlands included 3 targets with varying potential - Common Tern  -reported several times recently; American Bittern – several reports but with no specific locations; and Baird’s Sandpiper – none reported in the last several days.  Given that I found a Common Tern on Day 1, and that was the most likely bird at Fern Ridge, I was leaning toward not making a stop there.  But time would tell.  Although I still needed to be flexible, I planned to start along the coast and head north to Newport, then head inland with a stop for the Kite, maybe an additional stop at Fern Ridge, and end the day at the Merlin rest stop to try for Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

My first stop was at Siltcoos Beach where Snowy Plovers were reported recently.  I arrived there a bit before sunrise, and as I crested the dune to the beach I captured this beautiful view looking to the East.  Little did I know that I would need to heed the old warning – “red sky in morning, sailors take warning”. 

I came down the dune and started walking south down the rack line in hopes of finding a Plover.  And almost instantly a Snowy Plover fluttered away from me and landed a short distance away (#7).  I looked over to the spot where it landed and picked up another bird, and then another, and eventually counted a group of 10 birds roosting together in the rough sand.  If only I had known how easy these birds would be here I wouldn’t have walked 2 hours on the beach yesterday in those strong winds.  The very tame birds afforded numerous “Kodak moments” including this phonescoped shot – I didn’t realize one bird was banded until I looked at the photo on my computer screen.

I’ve now seen Snowy Plover in 12 states – a nice mix of inland nesting locations and coastal nesting or wintering sites.

It wasn’t even sunrise yet and I already had my target from this location.  Given that my itinerary for the rest of the day had more stops than I had time for, I wondered if I should take advantage of being ahead of schedule and quickly go on to my next stop.  Or should I spend more time at the beach, looking for other shorebirds perhaps.  Plus despite overcast skies visibility was quite good so maybe I could do a seawatch.  I decided to spend at least a little more time at the beach and continued to head south a short distance toward the river inlet.  Along the way I found a roosting flock of Sanderlings that I guessed numbered at least 300, but despite several checks all were just Sanderlings. 

I had almost reached the inlet when I heard an odd call overhead – it was a Plover, a bit similar to Black-bellied, but certainly not a Black-bellied.  I finally found the bird as it flew north up the beach – it was a Golden-Plover, but what species was it?  I got pretty good binocular views of the bird as it flew by and noticed legs sticking out beyond the tail – by itself not a definitive field mark but more likely making it a Pacific.  I then listened to call notes on my BirdTunes app and the call was more like Pacific than American.  Along with the fact the Pacific is more likely, I concluded it was a Pacific Golden-Plover (#8).  Although that one was on my target list, it was not one I had expected given the few coastal sightings on eBird, and no sightings at all in OR for more than a month. 

I had now reached the inlet, and turned west to get closer to the water’s edge.  Here I encountered another flock of Snowy Plovers – 9 birds this time.  And found a few more Sanderlings roosting in the dry sand.  Then I heard a shorebird flock calling in flight seemingly circling nearby, perhaps looking for a place to land.  Calls were mostly Leasts, but there was another call mixed in.  My first thought was Baird’s which I’m reasonably familiar with.  Luckily the flock continued to circle, and I eventually found them as they flew by.  I spotted one larger peep in with the smaller Leasts – a Baird’s Sandpiper (#9).  Although not a rarity, it wasn’t one that had been reported many times recently since I was near the tail end of their fall migration.  OR was my 38^th state for this species – I especially still need this species as a fall migrant in a number of southeast states.

Next I turned my attention to a seawatch – skies were overcast and visibility was good, so I was hopeful I could see a number of birds passing by.  Within just a couple moments I started to see a number of scoter flocks going by, and then I picked out the first of many small groups of shearwaters, along with the occasional alcid.  Interestingly virtually all the birds were flying north.  I needed any shearwater except Sooty and Cassin’s Auklet for my OR list so the morning flight made me hopeful.  But despite lots of birds moving by I could only pick out the more expected Sooty Shearwaters and Common Murres.  With all the activity I would have loved to continue the seawatch, but after an hour the fog was starting to roll in reducing visibility, so I decided to call it quits here and move on to my next location.

A recent listserve post included a sighting of an American Bittern just a short distance to the north in the Ocean Dune National Recreation Area.  Bitterns aren’t generally very reliable at any given location during non-breeding season, and especially during migration, so I initially didn’t get too excited about this report even though it was of one of my targets.  But the post included this short comment about the Bittern – “as usual”.  With a bit of research I found this spot on eBird and there had indeed been a few Bittern sightings here over the years.  So maybe this could be a reliable spot, and decided to give it a try.  I pulled into the small parking area for the pond and took a short walk into the wetlands.  It was a small pond with mudflats around the perimeter where I picked up a couple Snipe, Long-billed Dowitchers, and a Greater Yellowlegs.  They were quite cooperative, and I even got this passable photo holding my phone up to my binocs.

But this sure didn’t look like habitat appropriate for a Bittern.  I must be at the wrong spot.  I looked over to the east and noticed a few cattails sticking up among the grasses – maybe that would be a better area.  I walked over to this new spot and as I approached I could see another even smaller pond ahead with some promising wetland vegetation.  And just as I got to the edge I flushed an American Bittern (#10).  It’s usually helpful to look for your targets in the correct habitat.  The OR American Bittern was also somewhat of a milestone for me – it was US total tick number #13,000.

My next stop as I worked my way north was along the north jetty of the Suislaw River where there had been a couple recent sightings of Marbled Godwits.  When I arrived at the mud flats near the base of the jetty the tide was quite low, and there was too much mud – I needed a higher tide to concentrate any migrant Godwits that might be passing through.  So I headed to the end of the jetty to do a bit of a seawatch while waiting for the tide to increase.  It was still pretty early in the morning so I was surprised to see so many people in the area.  It turns out that a fishing boat had washed ashore during last night’s high tide and it was still high up on the beach - quite an attraction for the locals.  I got this distant shot of the boat along with a Coast Guard helicopter overhead evaluating the situation.

The seawatch was a bit slow with few birds flying by.  But I did notice quite a number of alcids on the water a short distance off-shore.  Though with the swells and foggy conditions, not to mention the distance, it was next to impossible to confirm any IDs.  So I decided to try to take some phonescoped photos of the birds in hopes of enlarging them on the computer screen to make more definitive IDs.  The vast majority of the photos were worthless, but a couple provided barely passable images that could be turned into Marbled Murrelets with a bit of imagination.  And alas I couldn’t turn any into my target Cassin’s Auklet.

I returned to the mudflats and still the tide was too low for any concentration of shorebirds.  But given my full itinerary I decided to not wait any longer and headed to my next stop, which was Eckman Slough and Eckman Lake.  A Snowy Egret had been reported at this wetlands almost daily for quite a while, with several photos posted of the bird very close to the viewing spot along the road.  However, there had been no reports (positive or negative) from this location for 10 days.  As I pulled up to the location I could see a wide expanse of wetlands off to the north and the lake to the south, with the road conveniently cutting between the two.  As soon as I pulled over I saw a couple egrets in the marsh adjacent to the road – but they were just the expected Great Egrets.  I then did a quick scan across the marsh and noticed a Great Egret dropping out of sight into the far side of the marsh on the other side of the Alsea River.  And then right behind the Great Egret I briefly saw another Egret that also dropped out of sight into the marsh – this one looked smaller.  Plus it gave the smaller Snowy-like look as it tucked its wings in just before it landed.  I was pretty sure it was the Snowy Egret, but sure wished I had had a better view.  I spent the next 30 minutes scanning the marsh hoping to get additional views, and spotted a few more Great Egrets drop into that same section of the marsh, but never saw any fly out.  It was just starting to rain, and with conditions deteriorating, I decided to count the bird as my 11^th new OR statebird, and move on to my next stops before the rain got too bad.  Later that day there was a report that another birder spotted the Snowy Egret in that same portion of the marsh – so I felt better about my conclusion.  OR was my 36^th state for Snowy Egret; I’ve now seen these species in most all the states where it is regular and a few others as a rarity.

My next two planned stops were in Newport where there had been a couple recent Ruddy Turnstone and Whimbrel sightings.  But by the time I arrived it was raining quite hard, and the strong winds at the coast meant the rain was almost horizontal.  I waited in my car for a few minutes for the rain to abate, and at one point got out at the jetty just in time to spot a flock of 22 Elegant Terns fly in off the ocean.  But conditions continued to be pretty awful, so I decided to leave the coast and head inland for my next couple stops where the weather would likely be quite a bit better.

After about an hour’s drive east I had arrived in the Hoskins/Kings Valley area where there was a report of a White-tailed Kite about a week earlier.  Although I wouldn’t normally chase after a single Kite sighting, the observer of this sighting said it made “me think that WTKIs nested in the area this year”.  So I thought this one might have potential.  But I spent about an hour slowly driving the roads in good habitat within a couple miles of the earlier sighting, and yet again came up empty on a search for White-tailed Kite in OR.  Ugh…  At least the rain had stopped.

In my original itinerary I planned to try to squeeze in a stop at the Fern Ridge wetlands just west of Eugene, especially since it would require only a short side-trip off my route.  But I had already seen all three of my targets that had been reported there recently (Common Tern, American Bittern, and Baird’s Sandpiper).  So luckily I could drive right past Eugene and head south to the Merlin Rest Stop on I-5 in search of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. 

The Merlin Rest Stop is well-known not only for the Gnatcatcher, but also for Oak Titmouse and California Towhee.  The latter 2 birds are both year-round residents in the area, and I had added them to my OR list on my 2/16 trip.  But that had been too early in the year for Gnatcatcher.  So now that I was back in southwestern OR in the warmer months, I was hoping to add the Gnatcatcher to my list of possible targets.  But the problem on this trip was that it might now be too late in the year – perhaps the Gnatcatchers had already migrated south.  The last eBird Gnatcatcher report from Ashland, another reliable spot for Gnatcatcher, was 10 days earlier, and the last report from the rest stop was 16 days earlier.  But there were several October eBird records in earlier years, so I tried to remain optimistic. 

There are rest stops on both sides of the I-5 highway at Merlin, but the better habitat is at the one on the northbound lanes.  Luckily reversing directions meant only about a 5 minute trek south past the rest stops to the next interchange, then a short ride back north to the one on the other side of the road.  I got out of the car and was greeted by some Chickadee calls and then a few Spotted Towhees.  A short walk through the rest stop proper later yielded a small flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows, but none of my target birds.  Then I made my way to the back of the rest stop to a small paved road that paralleled the highway.  Habitat here looked to be excellent, and I started to walk north down this road.  Here I began to pick up several very cooperative Oak Titmice and more Spotted Towhees.  Then I stopped to watch Acorn Woodpeckers that were gathering acorns from the oaks in the rest stop, and then transporting them to cache trees to the east.  As I was I trying to estimate the number of Woodpeckers involved (I guessed 7), I heard 2 diagnostic mew-like calls of the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (#12).  I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get a visual on the bird, but couldn’t even get it to call again.  Not the best observation, but good enough to check it off.  OR was my 46^th state for this species – it’s certainly not very likely in the remaining 3 northwestern states.

It was now just a few minutes before sunset, and as I made my way to my hotel in Medford, I reflected on yet another successful day of birding.  Despite a lot of rain, and missing a few targets, I was very happy to have added 6 new birds for my OR list.

Day 3

I had to leave Medford mid-morning on Day 3, meaning I could squeeze in a few early morning hours of birding in the Medford/Ashland area.  I had no remaining additional targets in the area, so instead decided to first try for better Gnatcatcher sightings at Emigrant Lake just southeast of Ashland.  Then if time allowed I might make a quick stop at Agate Lake where several shorebirds had been reported recently – none were targets but maybe other species had dropped in recently.  Plus the entire area has had Kite sightings, though none recently.  So I had one more chance for my nemesis bird.

I arrived at the south shore of Emigrant Lake a bit before dawn, and began to walk down the old roadway that now ends in the lake.  This had been a good spot for Gnatcatchers earlier in the year, and also had good riparian habitat where I hoped I might pick up some migrant passerines.  I spent a bit over an hour here and didn’t find any Gnatcatchers, but did have quite a number of migrant warblers.  Interestingly they were almost all Yellow Warblers (I estimated 12), along with 1 Orange-crowned.  The habitat was also quite birdy in general, and it was fun to do some low-key birding without having to search for specific targets.  On the down side, the lake water level was many feet lower than when I was there back in February – was this due to a drought or was that a typical level at this time of year now near the end of the summer dry season?

I still had a little time remaining, so I headed to Agate Lake for a quick search for shorebirds.  As I arrived I noticed a number of sparrows flying around the parking lot.  I hopped out to take a look and they were Lark Sparrows, including one in full song (#13).  Although that was one I needed for my OR list, I hadn’t put it on my target list since it had only been reported occasionally in western OR of late, and in fact not at all at Agate Lake for more than 2 months.  Plus Lark Sparrow is a common breeder in eastern OR and I expected to find it on my eastern OR trip.  So a nice addition to the list, but not a very strategic one so to speak.  I've now seen this species in much of its regular breeding range in the west, and in several northeastern states where it is a rarity. 

Then I turned my attention to shorebirds, and began to scope the edges of the small lake.  I picked out a few on the far side but they were really distant, and not likely to be anything unusual.  So I continued to scan toward the upper reaches of the lake when I came upon a group of 4 White Pelicans (#14).  Just like the Lark Sparrows, I hadn’t planned to search for this one since it is a common eastern OR breeder.  Though I had overlooked the fact that a small flock of Pelicans had been reported here regularly – if I had known that I would have made it a target.  I’ve now seen White Pelican in all the states in its regular range, along with several eastern states where it is a rarity.

The Trip by the Numbers –

I finished the short trip with 101 species, 14 of which were new for my OR statelist.  Needless to say that’s way more than the 5 I expected.  Plus of course I can’t forget finding the Emperor Goose, even though it was not a new statebird.  My OR statelist is now at 249, which is just 10 short of the old ABA threshold and therefore 25 short of my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  Perhaps most importantly many of the new statebirds I added on this trip are not likely on my future eastern OR summer trip.  And with my new statelist I now estimate that I can add at least 27 new birds on that eastern OR trip, which should put me over my goal in OR, albeit by just a narrow margin.  That is if I ever get around to scheduling that trip…