Iowa Statebirding Trip, Part 2 of 2 – Eastern IA, and a Brief Stop in WI, July 2016

I had just completed a most successful day of birding in north-central IA, the second of a 3-day statebirding trip, adding 22 statebirds to my IA list.  (See my earlier post for a summary of the north-central IA stops.)  Now I had a 4-hour drive east across northern IA to my hotel at the WI/IA border.  The plan was to start birding at dawn the next morning at Pikes Peak State Park – IA that is, not CO!  My iPhone app said I would get to my hotel at about 7 PM, roughly 45 minutes before sunset.  That would give me just enough time to do a little bit of birding that evening.  That meant in theory it was feasible to try to add at least 1 bird to my WI list to get to Reportable Plus 15 – the old ABA reportable threshold plus 15 more to stay above the threshold as it slowly creeps up.  Wyalusing State Park, with recent reports of 8 possible WI statebirds, was just a few minutes from my hotel.  But with very limited time, and a large park to cover, I’d have to be very efficient in my searches.  There were very specific locations given for recent Chat sightings, so I keyed in on Chat as my prime target to reach my WI objective.  And as I continued across the northern tier of IA anxious to get into WI, I was able to find a Gray Partridge along the road – though I already had it for my IA list. 

I reached Wyalusing SP just after 7, and while paying the entrance fee at the guard shack, I took a couple minutes to look through the huge flock of hummingbirds coming to the feeders.  I guessed there were at least 25 – I’ve never seen so many Ruby-throats at one feeding station.  Just a quarter mile down the road was the field where the Chats had been reported.  And this site looked good for another target, Orchard Oriole, so I was optimistic.  But after 20 minutes birding around the field I found neither target, though a female Baltimore Oriole got me excited for a few seconds.  I then spent a few minutes at the field across the street but again came up empty.  I guess it was too late in the year for them to still be singing. 

What to do…  I was tempted to just call it quits – afterall it had been a long day.  But I needed just 1 bird for my WI list.  So I decided to head briefly to the woodlands up ahead to try for another recently reported target – Acadian Flycatcher.  One quick stop in good habitat yielded a singing Wood Thrush, which was a good sign since I needed that one the next morning in IA.  But I already had it in WI; and I didn’t hear any Acadians.  As I drove up ahead in the next patch of woods I heard a snippet of song that sounded like Kentucky Warbler.  I stopped the car and listened – it was indeed a Kentucky, which eventually came out in the open for some good views.  A rarity in eBird, and a new one for my WI list.  I’ve now seen Kentucky Warbler in most all of the states in its regular range, along with a few as a rarity in the northeast (see my statebird map below).

WI was now my 37th state where I had reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

Day 3 – Eastern IA

My first planned stop of the day was at Pikes Peak State Park, right along the Mississippi River.  Quite a number of my target birds had been reported from the park going back to early summer, but there had only been a couple eBird reports from the park since mid-June, with few targets reported recently.  To maximize the potential to hear any song that might still continue this late in the year, I planned to arrive at the park pre-dawn, starting first at the trail to the Bridal Veil Falls where Yellow-throated Warbler had been reported, followed by a walk along the Point Ann Trail where several other targets had been reported. 

My route toward the park first took me along the Mississippi River in the quaint little town of McGregor, and then up a steep hill on County Road 56 along the western side of the park.  As I started to climb the hill I realized I was in excellent woodland habitat, and decided to roll down the windows and drive slowly to see what I might hear.  Instantly I heard a Wood Thrush singing (IA statebird #23).  IA was likely my last state to find this eastern species. 

And then seconds later I heard a song I couldn’t place that sounded a bit like slow Indigo Bunting notes.  I pulled over to try to check out this unusual song, and while I played a few options on my BirdTunes app, a pair of Barred Owls started to call back and forth to each other.  Eventually I played Yellow-throated Warbler and it was a match (IA #24).  Then I heard the “chip-burr” of a Scarlet Tanager (IA #25).  As I continued to listen to what was becoming a nice dawn chorus, a Red-shouldered Hawk started to call from trees on the hillside above me (IA #26).  That gave me 4 new statebirds and I hadn’t even gotten to the park yet!  And since I got the Yellow-throated Warbler here, I no longer needed to bird the Bridal Veil Trail, and could head right to the Point Ann Trail. 

The trail map for the park showed the Point Ann Trail passing through some nice woodlands where I hoped to get remaining targets like Acadian Flycatcher and Ovenbird.  Plus the park had been a reliable spot for Blue-winged Warbler earlier in the summer though no locations had been given.  I picked out a side-trail called the Bluebird Trail which passed through a more open area as a possible area for the Blue-wings.  I started walking through the woodlands and heard more Tanagers and Wood Thrushes, along with good numbers of Pewees and woodpeckers, but couldn’t scare up an Acadian or Ovenbird.  I reached the beginning of the Bluebird Trail, and this area did indeed look excellent for Blue-wings with many acres of low brushy trees in an old overgrown field.  The trail was very birdy, with many Bluebirds, along with a couple families of Redstarts, but no Blue-wings.  Finally after slowly walking through quite a bit of nice habitat I heard a short song of a Blue-winged Warbler (IA #27) – I guess they aren’t one to sing later in the summer.  I’ve now seen this species in most of its breeding range, but still need it as a migrant in a couple southeastern states.

With that target finally under my belt, I headed back into the woodlands toward the point.  Within a short distance I reached a powerline cut providing an opening through some really nice mature deciduous trees.  One of my low-potential targets for the woodlands in the park was Cerulean Warbler, which typically stop singing quite early in the summer.  And since they prefer high elevation canopies, they can be next to impossible to find after the early summer – hence the reason why I gave myself only a 10% chance of finding this target even though they had been reliably reported in the park earlier in the summer.  But at the powerline cut I had great views of the canopy, so I spent quite a bit of time searching for foraging, albeit quiet, Ceruleans near the tops of the trees.  This spot turned out to be quite birdy, including families of Yellow-throated Vireos and Redstarts.  But despite my optimism, there were no Ceruleans.  At one point I noticed a bird perched in the open near a tree top, and as I put it in my binocs (it turned out to be a Tanager), a Peregrine Falcon passed through my field of view in the background (IA #28).  Peregrines had nested n a grain silo in McGregor earlier in the year, so this was undoubtedly one of those local birds.  I had planned to spend some time looking for the falcons in McGregor after leaving the park, so that meant one less stop for later in the day.

I returned to the trail and continued through some excellent Acadian and Ovenbird habitat.  Although both were reported regularly in the park earlier in the summer, they were certainly being quiet that day, even though there was quite a bit of song otherwise.  Then as I neared the point I thought I heard a distant “che-bek” call of an Acadian.  I stopped and cupped my hands around my ears – a few seconds later I heard another really distant call, and then another (IA #29).  Would have been easier if it had been right along the trail, but I’ll take it.  Now I just needed Ovenbird, and I continued to listen intently for a “teacher, teacher” song as I continued down the trail, but with no luck.

Eventually I reached Point Ann, and emerged from the trees into a clearing finding myself on a bluff high above the Mississippi River.  The views of the river and adjacent floodplain below were amazing- this iPhone shot doesn’t do it justice.

But despite the nice scenery, I needed to get back to the birds.  There was quite a bit of activity along the edge of the woods, and I soon picked out more Redstarts and Chickadees as they actively foraged.  Then I got a glimpse of a small bird that was mostly white below with a bit of streaking on the sides – could it have been a Cerulean?  A few seconds later I noticed more movement among the leaves and this time got a good view – it was indeed a Cerulean Warbler (IA #30).  I kept watching these trees and found another Cerulean just a few feet away, and then 2 more – it was probably a family group.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Ceruleans on their breeding grounds without first hearing their song.  And like the powerline cut, the point provided a nice opportunity to view the woodland edge for these canopy dwellers.  My statebird map is still very spotty for this species, especially in states where it is an elusive migrant.

I birded the point a bit longer, and continued to see the Ceruleans which were now quite cooperative.  Other notable birds here were another Acadian which I heard in the distance, and a couple Tufted Titmice near the northern edge of their range.  I need this one in MN, and even though the point is less than 35 miles from the MN line, I would be unsuccessful in finding this target to the north.

I retraced my route back through the woodlands for one more chance to hear (or see) an Ovenbird, but struck out.  As I walked along I started to think about my Ovenbirds back home which are very common breeders in the woods around my yard.  Though I hear them daily early in the summer, I actually hadn’t heard one at home for some time.  So perhaps this may be another species that stops singing early in the summer.  And as I neared my car I realized I had added all of my reasonably likely eastern IA targets except for the Ovenbird.  I had initially planned to make stops at a couple more IA locations to the north, but figured the possibility of finding an Ovenbird, or a less likely target, was quite low.  Plus leaving IA earlier than planned meant I had more time for MN stops later in the day.  So I decided to call it quits for the IA portion of my trip, and head to MN.  (As it turns out I probably made the right decision on not trying for Ovenbirds elsewhere in IA since I did not have any that afternoon in MN as well, even though a couple stops were in good habitat.) 

See my earlier post for the MN portion of Day 3 of my trip.

I ended the trip with 119 species in IA, 30 of which were new for my statelist - obviously way over my expected 19 new species.  My only reasonably likely targets that I missed were King Rail, Solitary Sandpiper, and Ovenbird.  I can’t thank Joe Jungers and Lee Schoenewe enough for all their great help in showing me around north-central IA!  Plus I added one in WI giving me 231 in that state – exactly Reportable Plus 15.

My IA statelist is now at 208, just 3 short of the old ABA threshold.  Not bad given that I’ve only birded in IA 3 times for a total of 6 days!  With a little web research I found that the current overall IA statelist stands at 427, resulting in a new threshold of 213.5.  Again a reason to aim for the Reportable Plus 15 goal, which for IA would be 226.  One year I plan to do a spring migration trip to include western IA, eastern SD and eastern ND, where I hope to be able to get to Reportable Plus 15 in all 3 of those states.  And perhaps I can bird with Joe and Lee again on that trip too.

Minnesota Statebirding Trip – “Reportable Plus 15”, July 2016

I don’t get to the upper Midwest very often, so when a business trip to Minneapolis came up in July I naturally started to think about statebirding possibilities.  My MN list was at 226, which was 8 over the old ABA reportable threshold of 218.  One of my original statebirding goals was to be over the ABA threshold in each state.  Those thresholds, last published by the ABA in 2011, were one half of the total list for each state.  And since the overall state lists slowly inch up as new species are added, the thresholds slowly rise as well.  For instance the most recently published MN list (as of 12/31/13) is 441, so the new threshold would be 220.5.  That also means I’m only 5 ½ over the latest threshold using 2013 data.  As a result of this slow rise in the state thresholds, I revised my goal to be 15 over the old 2011 ABA threshold in each state – I call it “Reportable Plus 15”.  Although somewhat arbitrary, my hope is that by reaching that goal I would stay above the state threshold for many years to come.  And all that means that I wanted to add at least 7 more birds to my MN list.

Now it was time to do some research.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert for MN which revealed that there were quite a number of possible new statebirds within a couple hours’ drive of Minneapolis, though the targets were scattered southeast, southwest, and northwest of the Twin Cities area.  I figured that with a couple early morning stops before work and evening stops after work I could have a shot at several of these targets.  But then I realized that a few of these potential targets southeast of Minneapolis were actually not too far from IA.  I’ve only birded in IA twice before, and with a statelist of just 178, my statebirding potential was of course even greater there than in MN.  Now I started to consider coming into Minneapolis a couple days early to be able to bird in IA as well as MN.  Like I said – I don’t get to this part of the country often so I may as well take advantage of these trips when I get them.

I did a quick search through the range maps in the field guides and made a long list of possible IA statebirds by season.  Not surprisingly I had gaps throughout my list that could potentially be filled on a summer trip.  However, July is frequently thought of as a slow month for birding - landbird targets can be tough to find since it is late in the season for breeders to still be singing, and it is early for most shorebirds that might be passing through.  Then again the optimist might find this as a great time – breeding birds are still around plus the early shorebirds are just arriving – a nice confluence of both breeding and migration seasons.  Ever the optimist, especially when it comes to statebirding, I was hopeful that I could find quite a number of new birds for my IA list, as well as for my MN list.

After digesting all that research I came up with this itinerary making a large loop down to IA and back –

• Day 1 – land in Minneapolis midday, bird in MN toward the southwest in the afternoon and evening
• Day 2 – bird in north-central IA for prairie birds, drive to the eastern end of the state that evening
• Day 3 – start in northeastern IA for woodland birds, then try for targets in southeastern MN on the way back toward Minneapolis

Plus I would still have early mornings and late evenings available while working the next couple days to try for some local targets in the greater Twin Cities area if I missed them earlier.

Then again you need to be flexible when planning a trip such as this one.  As I was sitting in the Boston airport waiting to leave I checked my eBird MN Needs Alert and noticed new posts of 3 needed shorebird species– Baird’s Sandpiper, Willet, and the very rare Black-necked Stilt.  The birds were in a couple spots in southwestern MN which would require a bit of a diversion from my planned route and more driving time, but likely worthwhile if I could squeeze it all in. 

With that revised itinerary I expected to get 6 new birds in MN.  Though I sure hoped to be able to stretch that total just a bit to get 7 and reach the Reportable Plus 15 goal. 

This post details the MN portion of that trip; the next post details the IA (and WI) part of the trip.

Day 1 – Southern MN

My first stop was just a half hour drive southeast of the MSP airport at a landfill east of the 140^th Street Marsh where up to 2 Blue Grosbeaks were reported on eBird as recently as a week earlier.  Dickcissels were reported here as well, though they were reported at most every one of my future stops too so certainly not a rarity.  Directions were quite detailed, so I was hopeful that I might add 2 species at this stop.  When I arrived along 140^th Street I ran into a couple other birders also looking for the Grosbeaks.  But not only had they not seen the birds, but one birder mentioned he had been there each of the last 7 days without seeing them.  Plus he said the Dickcissels had moved out of the area too.  Unfortunately an example where eBird can paint a picture than is rosier than reality.  I allocated a full hour at this spot, but given the negative news, I gave up after 45 minutes without seeing the Grosbeaks.  Though I did see and hear a couple Dickcissels (MN statebird #1).

Next I was on to the 180^th Street Marsh area just 15 minutes to the south where Loggerhead Shrikes have been seen all summer, including two family groups seen just the day before my visit.  All the sightings were along just a few miles of roadway, and all the posted pictures had Shrikes perched along powerlines and fencelines right along the roads.  So again I was optimistic.  But once again I came up empty despite spending the better part of an hour slowly searching the roadsides and adjacent land for perched Shrikes.  I finally threw in the towel on the Shrikes, and stopped to plug in the GPS coordinates of the location of my next target birds.  I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, having missed 2 of my first targets, as I headed out of the area and toward the highway.  Just then I happened to look up and there was a Loggerhead Shrike above me on the wires – at least a mile west of all the recent sightings (MN #2).  Goes to show you that you’ve got to keep your eyes open!  I’ve now seen Loggerhead Shrike throughout most of its present range, as well as in a couple northeast states where it was a former breeder (see my statebird map below).

My next targets were Swainson’s Hawks, which were a bit of a long shot.  Even though there were a few sightings in a reasonably small area, and sightings occurred both this summer and last summer, the sightings were very sporadic and no specific location(s) were offered.  But since this spot was on my route, it was worth at least a quick try.  In route to this spot I had a flyover Osprey (MN #3), which I was most happy about since I had no pinned-down locations for them now that they were no longer on their nests.  A few minutes later I arrived at the area of the Swainson’s sightings - the area was mostly cropland with an occasional small patch of trees.  I checked the trees that seemed to be suitable as raptor perches and scanned the skies, but no raptors were in sight.  I was thinking of running through the area again, but wondered if it was better to shorten this stop and use the extra time to look for those shorebirds in the southern part of the state.  Given that my first stops were lengthy ones, I decided to call it quits here and crossed my fingers that things would pick up in southern MN, though I hated to give up on yet another target.

The Black-necked Stilts were first reported the day before I arrived in MN in wetlands between the towns of Jackson and Windom.  And the morning I arrived they were reported again, this time giving a distraction display, suggesting that they were breeding at the site.  So along with explicit directions in that morning’s post, I was hopeful that I would find this rarity.  As I neared the site I spotted a Mockingbird along a hedgerow – not a new one for my MN list but a nice rarity for the day.  As I pulled up to the suggested viewing location I looked to the wetlands to the west.  And despite the miserable sun angle, I quickly spotted a large shorebird.  With the scope I confirmed it as a Stilt (MN #4) - quite the rarity in MN, and likely nesting too.  My statebird map is indicative of both this species’ expanding range as well as its tendency toward vagrancy.

Sure glad that one came quickly given the long stops earlier in the day.  Although I wanted to bird this spot longer, it was already past 7 PM and I still had a couple more MN targets to search for.  So it was off to the next spots.

There were several eBird reports in the area from the previous day where one birder reported some nice concentrations of shorebirds in what appeared to be flooded fields.  One spot about 20 minutes from the Stilt location had a Willet in with a few more common shorebirds, and another location a short distance farther away had a pair of Baird’s.  On my way to the Willet spot I came upon another flooded field with quite a number of shorebirds.  I made an unscheduled stop here and found good numbers of Yellowlegs and Pectorals, along with a nice flock of Franklin’s Gulls, but nothing unusual.  Next I went to the Willet spot and found the flooded field was teeming with shorebirds – many times the number reported from the day before.  I scanned through the many Lesser Yellowlegs, and picked out a couple Greaters, but couldn’t come up with the even larger Willet.  While making that scan I noticed quite a number of peeps in another part of the field, so I returned to scrutinize that area, counting 30 Pectorals.  And then I noticed 3 slightly smaller peeps which were Baird’s Sandpipers (MN #5).  Sure seemed like there was a lot of turnover in these fields – my numbers were quite a bit higher than the day before, the Willet had moved on, and Baird’s had dropped in.  Although I was tempted to head to the spot where the Baird’s was reported the day before, I decided to call it a day since I still had an hour drive to get to my hotel in IA.  Although I missed a couple MN targets, I was happy that the shorebirds came through for me, and I hoped I was on my way to getting the 7 new birds I needed to reach Reportable Plus 15 in MN.

Day 2 and Early Morning of Day 3 – IA and WI

See my next post for the details of the IA and WI portion of the trip.

Day 3 – Southeastern and Central MN

I finished my most successful eastern IA birding by mid-morning, and was now on my way into southeastern MN in search of 3 specific targets – Acadian Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Yellow-throated Warbler.  I had heard all 3 species singing at dawn that morning in eastern IA, so there was room to be optimistic that they might cooperate in MN as well.  The Flycatcher and Waterthrush were regular nesters at Beaver Creek Valley State Park.  I was lucky that both are mentioned on the park’s website since I didn’t realize that the Waterthrush was at this spot until I went onto that website looking for a trail map for my Acadian search.  Based on eBird reports both had been heard and seen regularly in the park this summer through 6/27.  But there were no reports from the park since that time.  So now nearly a month later, and in the late morning on this warm summer day in the doldrums of mid-summer, I wondered how cooperative these birds might be.  So I put my chances at 50% to find each bird.

I pulled into the parking lot of the park headquarters to pay the day-use fee, and within seconds of getting out of my car I heard an Acadian calling (MN #6).  That was amazingly easy!  I also had a couple potential locations for Acadian closer to Minneapolis, so no longer any need to try to try to squeeze in those stops before or after work later in the week.  The park ranger was also helpful in suggesting spots for the Waterthrush so this was definitely a worthwhile stop.

I took the ranger’s advice and headed to the Beaver Creek Valley Trail.  The beginning of this trail crosses over Beaver Creek which was an amazingly clear stream that ran through some excellent riparian habitat.  Not a surprise that Louisiana Waterthrushes would like this spot.

After crossing the creek the trail paralleled the creek but first a distance away through some nice upland habitat.  Not good for Waterthrushes but I did hear 2 more calling Acadians here.  Then the trail returned to the creek valley, and now that I was back in good Waterthrush habitat, I stopped to listen.  Within seconds I heard a bird giving sharp chip notes a short distance downstream – was it the Louisiana?  Then not 30 seconds later it started to sing – bingo – a Louisiana Waterthrush (MN #7).  I’ve now seen this species in 33 states virtually throughout its regular range.

I had added two nice MN birds in less than 30 minutes.  And with my 7th new bird for MN I had reached the Reportable Plus 15 goal.  But there were more targets to pursue…

The next potential MN statebird was a Yellow-throated Warbler that had been reported since May at Whitewater State Park east of Rochester.  The bird was being seen in the vicinity of the Nature Store, with earlier reports mentioning the bird right at the store, though the most recent 2 reports said it was seen in white pines in the picnic area just north of the store.  I wondered if that meant the bird was now more likely at the picnic area rather than at the store, especially since I’m used to seeing this species in the southeast in pine woodlands.  Then again, the last report was from more than 2 weeks ago, so who knows what the bird’s preferences may be now, assuming it was still around of course.  As an afterthought I reminded myself that even if I missed the Yellow-throated here, there was another one being seen in downtown Minneapolis that I could try for later in the week.

I pulled into the parking lot for the Nature Store to get my bearings.  The trees around the parking lot were mostly mature deciduous trees with a few white pines sprinkled in, and I could see the picnic area adjacent to the lot to the north.  Giving more credence to the most recent reports I headed to the picnic area first to give that spot a try.  The woods there were more open, and there were at least a couple dozen mature white pines shading the picnic tables.  So I started slowly walking through the picnic ground spending a minute or two staring up into each individual pine tree looking for movement.  Some 45 minutes later I had taken two laps through the picnic area, finding quite a number of birds foraging in the pines (including pewees, bluebirds, orioles, and sapsuckers), but no Yellow-throated Warbler.  At one point I came upon a pine of a different species looking more like the pines of the southeast.  But despite spending some extra time at this tree, still no target bird.  Then I decided to walk back to the nature center parking lot and made a lap through that area, but again came up empty. 

I figured it was time to call it quits on this bird, and as I started to walk back to the car parked in the picnic area I was already thinking about which early morning before work would be best to try for the Minneapolis bird.  Just then I heard a sharp chip note in the trees above me at the edge of the lot.  I looked up and heard it again, but despite 30 seconds of searching saw no birds at all.  Just like the Waterthrush earlier at Beaver Creek, I was pretty sure I had the target bird, but was reluctant to check it off just based on chip notes.  Then a few seconds later I spotted movement and there was the Yellow-throated Warbler (MN #8), sparring with a Pewee of all things.  Interestingly the bird stayed in deciduous trees and was never even close to a pine.  MN was my 33rd state for Yellow-throated Warbler – my statebird map is very similar to the one for the Waterthrush.  But one difference is that Yellow-throated Warbler is more prone to vagrancy – the bird was a rarity in 8 of the states where I’ve seen it in the midwest and northeast. 

When I was initially planning my trip I had included Tufted Titmouse as a possible target bird in southeastern MN based on the field guide range maps.  But there were few recent eBird reports, and I traded e-mails with a homeowner of one of the more reliable series of reports only to find out that his family group had moved on after nesting was complete.  So although I saw several Titmice a short distance to the south in IA, this one was no longer a realistic target for MN.  And that meant that the Yellow-throated Warbler was my last target for the southeastern part of the state.

My 2 remaining target birds were Least Bittern about an hour northwest of Minneapolis and Western Grebe another 90 minutes farther to the northwest.  Initially I was planning to try for both.  But it was a long drive just to get into Minneapolis, and then I hit some nasty traffic around the Twin Cities.  And since I had already reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal, I decided to just try for the nearer Bittern.  Several had been reported recently, but likely the most reliable location was at Sherburne NWR.  And although none of the recent reports included details on locations, a couple reports from a month earlier mentioned birds near mile marker 3 on the wildlife drive.  It was a good thing that I found those notes because there were many locations along the wildlife drive with large beds of cattails that could have harbored Bitterns.  And in fact maybe there were Bitterns all along the drive.  But I keyed in on the area near mile marker 3, first scanning the marsh and edges of the open water for quite a while with no luck.  Then I found a slightly elevated spot and watched the marsh for a while hoping for a Bittern to fly by, again coming up empty.  Then a few seconds later I thought I heard a Bittern calling a short distance up ahead.  I drove a bit farther along to get closer to the bird - and this time I heard the Least Bittern giving its 3-note call right next to the car (MN #9).  Unlike a couple of my earlier statebird maps where I had seen the species in most all its regular states, I still need Least Bittern in a number of states in its regular range.

As I continued on the wildlife drive I counted 25 Trumpeter Swans, including this one quite close to the road.  A great way to end the trip.

MN Trip Summary

I finished the MN portion of my trip with 84 species, including of course 9 new statebirds.  Especially given my slow start, that was much better than expected.  My MN list is now at 235, 17 over the old ABA reportable threshold.  That makes MN my 38th state reaching my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  I have 7 other states where I’m over the threshold but not Reportable Plus 15, so I’m not far from my goal in those states as well.

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.