Long Island, NY – 9 Statebirds, July 2015

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

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

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

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

Day 1 Evening -

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

 

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

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

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

Day 2 Morning –

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

 

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

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

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

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

Day 2 Afternoon -

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

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

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

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

Day 3 Morning –

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

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

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

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

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

Royal Terns, Guilford, CT, October 2014

Western Kingbird has been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me in New England.  I’ve tried for it in ME, VT, and at least twice in CT without success.  So hoping that the third time would be the charm for me in CT, I closely monitored the listserve when one was spotted in Bridgeport.  Although I was away when the bird was first reported, New England Western Kingbirds typically stick around for a few days, so I was hopeful it would still be in the area when I returned in 2 days.  Sure enough it was seen near dusk the day I got home, so it was time to put a plan in place to give it a try the next morning.  I contacted birding friend Laura Carberry to see if she would be interested in going along, and we came up with a plan to head to Bridgeport.

By this time you may be wondering how all this relates to the Royal Terns– it’s a convoluted story but I’ll get there.

We arrived at Seaside Park in Bridgeport mid-morning and found local CT birder Frank Mantlik already on-site.  Unfortunately he didn’t have the bird, and despite multiple birders there since dawn, no one had seen it that day.  We spent maybe an hour there scoping the distant fence line where it had been seen the last couple days, and saw a couple Phoebes that briefly got us excited, but no Kingbird.  A few Pipits and several migrant Sharp-shins came by while we were there, but it was really slow otherwise.  Although both of us really wanted the Kingbird, it seemed like a long shot.  And with so few birds around at all, we decided to move on to some better birding spots nearby.  Laura had never been to Milford Point, so we headed there for some general birding on this nice fall day.

The Connecticut Audubon center at Milford Point has always been one of my favorite birding spots, with numerous excellent habitats in quite a small area.  We found 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Harriers, and several distant Brant in the marsh.  The woods were alive with Yellow-rumps, and one late Blue-headed Vireo.  The beach had a nice flock of Dunlin and Sanderlings, along with the regular gulls, and more Brant.  And Laura picked out a nice male Hooded Merganser which was quite the surprise in salt water. 

As we pulled away from Milford Point I did a quick search of the listserve to check on the Kingbird, but the only posts were negative.  Then I noticed a post that Royal Terns were “still being seen” at Sachem’s Head in Guilford, with 18 Royals and over 20 Forster’s seen the day before.  Two weeks earlier several Royal Terns were spotted at Hammonasset State Park over a 4-day period.  Additionally, a flock had been reported at Sachem’s Head but from private property.  Since these birds don’t typically stick around, and the apparent best spot was not accessible, I hadn’t chased after them.  But now, more than a week after the last post, here comes a report of a remarkable flock still present.  And Sachem’s Head was 45 minutes east of us, just a few minutes off the route home.  We had to give it a try, though hopefully without getting arrested for trespassing.

Neither today’s post, nor the earlier posts, had given specific locations for the birds.  When I had researched these birds 2 weeks earlier I saw that the location given on the e-bird posts was just off-shore to the southeast of the peninsula – though who knows if that was accurate.  And one post had mentioned the birder walked across the road to see the birds from his neighbor’s yard.  En route Laura tried to get an address for the local birder but to no avail.  So that was all we had to go on.

We arrived on the Sachem’s Head peninsula and headed toward the southeast coastline since the e-bird location was likely our best starting point.  In our first view of the coast we spotted some rocks just off-shore, but there were no birds present.  We then drove a bit farther and made our way down to the water on Vineyard Point Road.  As we crossed a low causeway with rocky shoreline to the right and salt marsh to the left, Laura noticed some birds on some distant rocks to the southwest (in the vicinity of Hatch Rock).  We quickly scanned with binocs, picking out 2 Laughing Gulls on the rocks.  I was just about to move on when I noticed two terns flying near the rocks – maybe we had found the right spot.  We quickly pulled over and got out the scopes.  There were indeed 2 Laughing Gulls near the tip of the rocks.  But what we had overlooked with the binocs was the mixed flock of smaller, paler terns sitting nearby.  (In our own defense, the rocks were after all about 2,500 feet away.)  We spent the next several minutes scanning the rocks and picked out 7 Royal Terns, and 8 Forster’s Terns, along with several Laughing and Herring Gulls and a pair of Turnstones. 

These terns were still being reported several days later, meaning they were in the area for more than 2 weeks.  That’s amazing for Royal Terns that don’t typically stick around.  Plus, for a species that is a rarity in CT, this was a remarkable number of birds.  And this was the last week of October which is extremely late for Royal Tern.  In “Connecticut Birds” by Zeranski and Baptist published in 1990, the latest fall departure date was listed as September 25.  Though in recent years there have been a number of late fall sightings - e-bird has a number of other October sightings, and even a few in November. 

Royal Tern was #314 for me in CT, and #1,986 in New England – just 14 more to go to 2,000.  It’s been a good year for me for Terns in New England – 2 Royals in Maine, a Sandwich and Gull-billed in MA, a Royal in RI (though not a new statebird), and now 7 Royals in CT.  I’ve now seen Royal Terns in each Atlantic coastal state from Maine to Florida (except NY), all the Gulf Coast states west to TX, and in CA (see my statebird map below).  It’s quite a rarity in New England though increasing, so I’m happy to have it in 5 New England states (it’s certainly not an expected bird for VT). 

Sandwich Tern in MA, White Ibis in NH, and Royal Tern in ME – all in one July 2014 Afternoon

Hurricane Arthur passed by the New England coastline and made landfall in the Canadian Maritimes in early July.  In the days immediately following landfall numerous reports of southern terns were posted in the Maritimes.  And a few days later came reports of Royal and Caspian Terns and Skimmers from the ME coast – birds likely making their way back down the coast.  Most of these reports came from the Hills Beach section of Biddeford.  So I headed to Hills Beach, and despite spending an entire morning there, had no luck with any of the rarities.  As the reports from Hills Beach continued to come in over subsequent days I realized that most sightings were in the evening on rising tides.  I guess I was at the right place but the wrong time of day. 

So it was time to head back to Hills Beach to try again.  High tide on my planned next trip to Hills Beach was at 9 PM, so a rising tide would be at dinner time or later, meaning heading out about mid-afternoon.  But those plans changed when a report of a Sandwich Tern at Plum Island in MA came in around lunch time.  (Actually it was also seen the day before but I missed that report – ugh.)  I alerted Denny Abbott who needed Sandwich Tern for his MA list as well, and he headed right there.  Minutes later I was en route to Plum Island as well, hoping to try for that Tern first and then head to ME.  Denny called me from Plum Island saying that he had the Sandwich Tern, and it was sleeping on the beach in a flock of gulls so no need to rush.  So the pressure was off a bit – I should be able to drop into Plum Island, get the Sandwich Tern quickly, and have plenty of time to head up to Maine.  And then just before I arrived at Plum Island I got a call from Steve Mirick that a White Ibis was just reported on the NH coast.  Wow – another one to try for, through as long as the Sandwich Tern and Ibis cooperated, there still should be enough time.

When I arrived at Lot 1 at Plum Island I noticed a couple birders heading to their cars.  As I passed them en route to the beach I jokingly said something like “Don’t tell me the bird just left”, fully expecting that they would reply that it was still asleep on the beach.  Instead one birder replied that it had just flown away!  My heart sank.  I headed to the beach and the 3 other birders that were still there said that I missed it by less than 5 minutes.  The flock of gulls was still there, but there no terns at all.  They mentioned that it had flown to the south, but were otherwise not very helpful in giving any other details.  Not the friendliest of interactions I’m afraid.

Now what do I do?  Do I cut my losses here and head right up to NH (and then to ME) for the other targets?  Or should I stay here and try for the Sandwich Tern, increasing my chances for this bird but limiting my time and chances of getting the NH and ME targets?  I could see a number of small terns flying over the surf in the distance to the south which was the general area where the Sandwich was last seen.  So I optimistically hoped it could still be around feeding with the others, and decided to stay at Plum Island at least for a while.  I spent the next 10 minutes scanning through the terns but only found Commons and Leasts.  Another birder arrived and we both continued the scans.  Still with no luck searching to the south, I decided to look through the flock of sleeping gulls on the beach thinking that maybe the target bird would return to its roosting spot.  Just then I noticed a tern fly over the flock – it was the Sandwich!  I got the other birder on it, and we watched it make a couple passes before it dropped out of sight and presumably landed on the beach.  That was my first Sandwich Tern for anywhere in New England – my 426th species – and MA statebird number 403.  MA is only my 10th state for this southeastern species.

The other birder decided to walk to a different vantage point to try to see it perched on the beach.  But I had other target birds to try for, so after a brisk walk back to the car, I was headed off Plum Island to try for the White Ibis in NH. 

En route to NH I called Steve Mirick back to get an update on the Ibis.  Steve had refound it at Awcomin Marsh in Rye, NH, and with Steve’s excellent directions I mapped out a route to the spot.  After going through some challenging mid-afternoon coastal traffic, I finally arrived at the marsh and found at least another half dozen birder’s cars there.  Unfortunately the bird was no longer in sight – earlier it was perched on a tree at the marsh edge but has since disappeared from sight.  Maybe if I had gotten the Sandwich Tern quicker I could have been at the Ibis spot sooner and could have gotten that bird before it disappeared.  No one said it would be easy.

By now there were at least a dozen birders at the marsh observation deck all scanning the marsh and surrounding trees.  The tide was falling now, and there were a number of channels in the marsh that the bird could disappear into.  So Steve Mirick and Ben Griffith offered to go walking out in the marsh to try to flush it from a channel somewhere.  I and the others continued to scan the marsh in hopes that Steve or Ben might flush the bird.  After a few minutes with no success our hopes dwindled.  But just then I spotted the Ibis perched on a tree at the edge of the marsh – it had indeed been feeding down in a channel making it not visible from our vantage point.  Many thanks to Steve and Ben for volunteering to walk through the marsh to re-find it.  I got some pretty miserable phone-scoped photos of the bird looking almost directly into the sun.

White Ibis was number 353 for me in NH.  And I’ve now seen White Ibis in 6 Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states plus DC as a rarity, plus most the states in its typical southeastern range. 

I was now 2 for 2 pursuing my targets, with still plenty of time to get up to Biddeford, ME to try for the tern targets there.  After a relatively short 1-hour drive I was in Biddeford and arrived along Hills Beach by late afternoon.  Tide was quite low but rising, so I was hopeful conditions would be right to see the terns.  I parked toward the end of Hills Beach near Sky Harbor Drive where I had been earlier in the week, and started to scan.  There were a number of Common Terns and many gulls on the extensive sand flats, but no bigger terns.  Then I noticed a birder way out on the flats to the west closer to Basket Island, so I decided to head down that way and see if he was having any success – “bird the birders” as I call it.

I parked in the only area where you can legally park and gain access to the beach (opposite Bufflehead’s restaurant), and walked down to the sandflats.  I met up with the birder who told me he had a flyby Skimmer earlier, but no large terns.  There were many small terns on the flats, mostly concentrated in a few larger flocks.  So I set up my scope and started to scan through a flock of terns on one spit and almost instantly found a Royal Tern, and then another, almost side by side.  Until that day no one had seen 2 Royal Terns together during this recent tern “invasion”.  By now another birder arrived and we all got good but distant looks.  The other birders wanted to get some photos, so they headed out to get closer; I decided to keep my feet dry, so I continued to watch from a distance.  I got a couple distant phone-scoped photos that I had to crop extensively to see the Royals.

The other birders must have gotten excellent shots as the terns were not very wary.

 

I spent the rest of the evening there and continued to see both Royal Terns off and on, but there were no other sightings of Skimmers (at least I already had that one for my ME list).  And there were no sightings of Caspian Terns that day or beyond.  I guess if I could only get one tern it was better to get the Royals which were the rarer target.  That gave me 333 in ME and it was my fourth New England state as a rarity.

That capped off an amazing afternoon with 3 New England statebirds in 3 states – all seen in just a 2-hour span.  Only twice before have I been able to get new statebirds in 3 states in one day.  And that gave me 8 New England statebirds in July – an excellent month.  All three species are southeastern birds – in fact my statebird maps are quite similar for each of them.  The terns were likely blown north by Hurricane Arthur though you wouldn’t think the Ibis was affected by the storm.  And as a final thought, one could almost guarantee that I would see the Royal Terns after finding the Sandwich Tern because, as they say, “one good tern deserves another.”