2018 Birding Year in Review

2018 was once again filled with lots of exciting birding, featuring stops in 17 states and 2 provinces over the year.  My longest birding trip was a 11-day trek through Newfoundland, punctuated by finding quite a number of rarities.  Yes my focus in total ticks has evolved to include a lot more birding in Canada.  Back in the states, I continued to make progress toward reaching my “Reportable Plus 15” goal throughout the Lower 48, facilitated by a number of short trips to focus on individual state lists.  And speaking of rarities, I continued to chase after new birds for my New England lists, which are nearly all rarities these days.  That includes 2 days in August which were my best ever 2 consecutive days of birding.  On all my trips I received tremendous help from local birders.  Many thanks to all who gave me great advice!  

First the year by the numbers -

Total Ticks

With 143 ticks in Canada and another 69 ticks in the US in 2018, that increased my total ticks to 14,712.  I’m well on my way to my goal of 15,000 with a manageable 288 to go.  As of January 1st my list continues to be the highest reported on the ABA website – a lead of more than 1,100.

ABA Area Totals

• A total of 8 new ABA lifebirds.  
• Nazca Booby - San Diego Bay, WA
• Blue Bunting - finally on my 5th try over the years - Quinta Mazatlán, TX
• Gray-headed Swamphen - Green Cay Wetlands, FL
• Egyptian Goose - Snook Island Natural Area, FL
• Great Black Hawk - Biddeford, ME
• Bridled Tern - Great Gull Island, NY
• Northwestern Crow - seen in Seattle, WA in 1992 but for some reason I had left it off my Lower 48 list
• Common Shelduck - seen in 2017 and accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee in 2018
• ABA Continental (not including Hawaii) - now at 757
• ABA (including Hawaii) - 760 (my Hawaii list is tiny)
• Lower 48 - 737 (the list I'm proudest of)
• US (including Hawaii) - 758
• Canada - 376

State and Province Birding Totals (see my statebird and province maps below with totals for each state and province) -

• ABA reportable in 46 states plus DC (no additional states in 2018)
• “Reportable Plus 15” in 42 states plus DC (adding NV, WY, and VA in 2018)
• 212 new state birds and province birds.  New ticks in 17 states and 2 provinces.
• 17 new statebirds in New England – 2,072 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 14,712, with 13,222 of those in the U.S.

Now on to some of the key highlights of 2018 -

Newfoundland Total Ticks Trip – June/July

This was the third year in a row where my big “Total Ticks Trip” was to Canada, making an 11-day trip through Newfoundland in June and July – my first ever trip to that province.  As I was putting my plans together to visit this beautiful province, I made two key observations that were somewhat surprising -

• Many of the birds that are regular here in New England don't typically make it as far north as Newfoundland.  And even birds I think of as northern species like Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers are rare in Newfoundland.  But many of these “southern” species will overshoot their regular ranges and are rarities to hope for in Newfoundland - especially in spring and early summer.
• There are few species in general in the area.  While a "Big Day", or even just a full day of birding in New England, will often far exceed 100 species, breaking 100 in Newfoundland in a day is quite unlikely.

After several months of preparations, I planned an 8-day itinerary covering a large portion of Newfoundland (but not Labrador).  And despite all this birding, I expected perhaps just 96 species, though of course I hoped to run into several rarities.  A silver lining to encountering lower number of species was that it would be relatively easy to keep accurate totals of the exact numbers of each species I saw and heard at each location – all to be entered into eBird.

But wait a second – I planned an 8-day trip but ended up with 11 days in Newfoundland.  The difference was an aborted planned side trip to the French islands of St. Pierre et Miguelon.  The plan was to take a ferry to the islands from Newfoundland, giving me 2 days on St. Pierre, plus a short side trip to the island of Langlade.  But there is precious little information about birding in the French territory, few eBird posts (none just prior to my trip), and I was unable to connect with any birders there even to just suggest the best locations to bird while on the island.  So my hope was that I might get 50 species there by just wandering around St. Pierre on my own looking for nice habitat.  Not exactly the best situation.  As a result, I wasn’t too disappointed when my ferry to St. Pierre ended up being canceled.  Though on the negative side it meant passing up on what was likely my only ever opportunity to get any “ticks” in this tiny ABA jurisdiction.  On the positive side, it also meant a couple extra days in Newfoundland.

My initial itinerary included –

• Multiple stops throughout the Avalon Peninsula which is the easternmost portion of the province and the best part of Newfoundland for seabirds. 
• Several days in the southwestern corner of Newfoundland which is the key area for most of the southern species which barely get as far north as Newfoundland as breeders.  Not to mention the best area for hope for those southern rarities.
• Gros Morne National Park with excellent boreal habitat.

And then with additional time with the cancellation of the St. Pierre leg of my trip, I added stops in and around the Terra Nova National Park for additional time in boreal habitat, the seabird nesting colony at Cape St. Mary’s, and additional stops on the Avalon Peninsula.

Before getting to the results of the trip, I want to thank local birders Alvan Buckley and Jared Clarke who provided a lot of general advice, as well as tips to bird a number of my key sites.  Many thanks Alvan and Jared!

My results were absolutely spectacular, literally from my first day to the last few minutes of my time in Newfoundland.  For instance boreal species were key targets, and I was successful with Red Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, Boreal Chickadees, Canada Jays, Spruce Grouse, and Olive-sided Flycatchers.  Though I never found a Black-backed Woodpecker or White-winged Crossbill.

Another key highlight was the amazing seabird nesting colony at Cape St. Mary’s with large numbers of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Thick-billed and Common Murres, and Razorbills.  This spot was not on my original itinerary since it is a bit far to get to, and each species would be feasible elsewhere, but with my extra time resulting from the canceled St. Pierre trip, I was able to spend much of an afternoon there.  I’m sure glad I decided to make a stop here.  Here are some of the many photos I took of the nesting colony.

Elsewhere I also made stops at nesting colonies of Fulmar and Atlantic Puffins to round out the list of nesting pelagic species.

Then there were the rare but regular species in the southwest part of the province.  I was able to catch up with all my targets there, like Great Blue Heron, Veery, Least Flycatcher, Willet, and Blackburnian Warbler.  And I can’t forget seeing multiple Black-headed Gulls at Stephenville Crossing which is likely the only known place in North America where they breed.

Even rarer were a number of unexpected but staked-out rarities including – Northern Parula, Eastern Kingbird, Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Sora, Great Cormorant, Killdeer, and Tufted Duck.  Though several of these hadn’t been reported for a week or two.  I guess there hadn’t been too many birders around since they were found earlier in the spring.

Here are pictures of the Kingbird, Great Cormorant, and Killdeer, the last one by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

And finally there was an amazing total of rarities I found on my own –

• Seabirds – Cory’s Shearwater (though locals wanted me to call it a “Shearwater, sp.”), King Eider, and a Sandwich Tern
• Marshbirds – Virginia Rail and Bobolinks (surprisingly in a cattail marsh instead of a field)
• Landbirds – Black-throated Blue Warbler (2 singing males), another Parula, and a Black-billed Cuckoo

Here are some very distant photos of the Sandwich Tern taken in a driving rain storm.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t include some scenery shots from this beautiful province.  Like these pictures from Gros Morne NP.

And one from atop the Starlite Trail in the Codroy Valley in the southwestern corner of the province.  This is the spot in the province for Least Flycatcher and Veery, both of which I found there.  This is taken from the “Veery overlook” - that's my car in the parking lot far below.

And one of my favorite sightings was my first ever iceberg, visible (but just barely) on the horizon in this picture taken from the northern Newfoundland coast at Anchor Brook.  

Then there are weather-related pictures – first one from the south coast in the fog when visibility was just a few feet.  That day I had hoped to do some seawatches – needless to say, the fog changed my plans that day.

And one day when it snowed quite heavily, requiring plowing of the roads in late June!

The Trip by the Numbers

• 141 total species in Newfoundland, including finding a bunch of rarities, plus multiple stakeouts.  To think I only expected about 96 species.
• Found 95 of the 96 species that I thought were “likely” – amazing!
• 19 warbler species, with the most common being 58 Yellows, 56 Black-and-whites, 44 Northern Waterthrushes, 40 Magnolias, and 40 Black-throated Greens.
• 96 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers – likely more than I’ve ever seen in all my 51 years of birding combined!
• 0 species on St. Pierre as that part of my trip was canceled
• 7 new Canada species – total now at 376
• 4 days with precipitation – often heavy rain, strong winds, very dense fog, and even one day when it snowed heavily.  Often requiring me to change my itinerary to do landbirding when it wasn’t raining (or at least not raining very hard), and birding from the car (often as seawatches) when the conditions were the worst.
• 61.2 miles and 144,600 steps walked (assuming you believe my Fitbit)
• 4,000 kilometers driven (2,500 miles) – at least my rental car was a hybrid getting 5.7 L/100 km (or 41.5 mpg if I did the math right)

Smaller Statebirding Trips

In addition to my big total ticks trip I added birds in 11 states outside of New England and one province, most with short additions to work trips across the country.  That included adding 3 new states to my “Reportable Plus 15” list, while on other trips I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelists, frequently using eBird Needs Alerts as an invaluable tool.  Highlights included –

19 NV Statebirds, Plus 1 in AZ, and a Lifer in CA, February – A rare alignment of work trips in southern CA on consecutive weeks provided me an opportunity for a free birding weekend in the “area”.  I use “area” in quotes since I spent most of the weekend birding in the greater Las Vegas area to fill gaps in my NV statelist.  Though my first stop was in San Diego to successfully tick off Nazca Booby as a lifebird, finding 2 of the long-staying birds in San Diego Bay.  What was most gratifying was finding the first bird at a distance of 1.25 miles in the pre-dawn light.

In NV, I planned a detailed itinerary chasing 24 possible targets, expecting to add perhaps 10 or 11 new birds to my statelist.  Prior to the trip I was 8 over the old ABA threshold, so I hoped this trip would safely get me to Reportable Plus 15.  I ended up with an amazing 19 new birds for my list, and 142 species on the trip.  And quite a number were rarities with 11 of the eBird NV “Rarity” sightings at the time being my birds.  

One of the highlights was seeing three rarities all sitting within a few feet of each other on a jetty in Lake Mead – I found a first-year Thayer’s (Iceland) Gull, and re-found a long-staying Neotropic Cormorant and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  

Here are a few photos some of my other new NV statebirds - 

Eurasian Wigeon in flock of Americans

Ferruginous Hawk

Curve-billed Thrasher in the distance

And for good measure, I was able to add these Surf Scoters above the Davis Dam on Lake Mead just barely in AZ waters.  

My NV statelist now stands at 269 which is obviously way above the old ABA reportable threshold of 242.  So no need to come back to bird in NV, that is unless I’m searching for a Himalayan Snowcock…

Two Lifebirds and Three Other Statebirds in South Florida, April.  It’s been quite a number of years since the ABA added Gray-headed Swamphen and Egyptian Goose to the ABA list.  And although I had seen both species in south FL about 10 years ago, that was before they were deemed to be countable by the ABA with viable populations, so I had never added them to my list.  Needless to say when a vacation to visit FL relatives came up in April, I added a couple extra days in the southeast portion of the state to try for these two lifebird targets.  It turned out that both were relatively easy.  For the Swamphen I chose Green Cay Wetlands and Nature Center southwest of West Palm Beach as my best option.  I ended up with 5 Swamphens there, and although they were outnumbered by 30 Common and 3 Purple Gallinules, they really stood out.  Here’s a photo of a most cooperative bird.

As for Egyptian Goose, research on eBird suggested there was a pair in most every park or golf course in the area that included a freshwater pond.  But most locations had just a few sightings, and never more than a couple birds.  The key exception was Snook Island Natural Area and the adjacent golf course where there were several eBird reports including a family group with multiple goslings, so this seemed to be my best opportunity.  It took a little while, but I eventually found these 2 Egyptian Geese preening right in front of me. 

At other stops on the trip I added Yellow-headed Blackbird, Nelson’s Sparrow, and found a rare Cerulean Warbler as additions to my FL statelist, which now stands at 319.

Six Statebirds in Colorado and Two in Wyoming to Reach “Reportable Plus 15”, July.  A summer family vacation to the greater Denver area provided me a nice opportunity to fill some gaps in my CO statelist.  I came up with a realistic list of 7 possible targets, and interestingly all were birds primarily from the east, most barely reaching CO.  I was lucky enough to find 6 of these targets, including a stakeout but difficult-to-locate Common Gallinule.  I got this distant phonescoped shot barely showing the orangey red bill and a bit of its dark body as it was tucked into the reeds.  You can probably see why it was so tough to locate this rarity.

Interestingly, the day I saw this bird was the last day it was reported.  I ended the trip with a CO statelist of 280.

In WY I was 2 species shy of Reportable Plus 15, so I was happy to come up with 3 possible targets in the southeastern part of the state just across the line from CO.  Luckily I added exactly 2 birds – Dickcissel and Lesser Goldfinch – making WY my 43rd state reaching Reportable Plus 15.  

Six Statebird Additions in Texas, Multiple Short Trips – Work took me to Houston most every month of the year, providing multiple opportunities for short side-trips to try to add a target or two nearby.  I was able to squeeze in stops to add 6 new birds to my statelist, bringing my TX list to 445.

• Glaucous Gull, Gannet, and Yellow Rail on Galveston Island in March
• Blue Bunting (lifebird) and Allen’s Hummingbird in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in February.  The Bunting was perhaps my greatest nemesis bird anywhere in the US, after 4 unsuccessful searches for this species, going back to literally my first trip to the Valley in 1985 (33 years ago – yikes!)
• Ferruginous Hawk at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR in February
• Plus a non-countable Red-vented Bulbul in Houston in September

Best Ever 2 Days of Birding, August – An amazing number of extreme rarities were found across New England in mid August.  Despite a large carbon footprint, I found all four first state records (2 in NH, 1 in ME, and 1 in RI) over a 2-day period.  And for good measure, I was able to get a boat out to Great Gull Island, NY in Long Island Sound to finally see the Bridled Tern as a lifebird, after 2 unsuccessful boat trips to look for this bird in CT waters in 2017.  A few details on these “Best Ever 2 Days of Birding” - 

Day 1 -

• Great Black Hawk, Biddeford ME.  2nd ABA record, 1st record for New England,1st record for ME
• Neotropic Cormorant, Gorham, NH.  1st record for New England, 1st record for NH
• Wood Stork, Rochester, NH.  1st accepted record for NH

Day 2 -

• Little Egret, Westerly, RI.  1st record for RI
• Bridled Tern (life bird), Great Gull Island, NY.

Here are photos of the Hawk, Cormorant, Stork, and Tern.  Unfortunately the Egret wasn't as cooperative.

  

New England Birding

Even though I reached my goal of 2,000 total ticks in New England 3 years ago, I continue to spend a lot of time chasing after rarities in the 6 New England states.  In 2018 I was successful in seeing 16 new birds, including the Great Black Hawk in Biddeford, ME as a lifebird.  I also added Common Shelduck to my NH and life lists, seen in NH in 2017 and accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee in 2018. 

Key highlights in addition to those during my “Best Ever 2 Days of Birding” (summarized above) were –

• Blue Grosbeak found on my own in Brattleboro, VT – only the 8th state record
• Roseate Spoonbill at Milford Point, CT – first state record (I didn’t chase after this same individual in Maine when it was a 5-hour drive northeast of me)
• Evening Grosbeak in Exeter, RI – a bit of a milestone as the 250th species I’ve seen in each of the 6 New England states

That’s 2 years in a row when I saw just 16 new species in New England.  This continues my downward trend starting in 2017 - from 1999 to 2016 I averaged 31 new ticks per year.  I guess I’m a victim of my own success. 

2019 and Beyond

I’m continuing to work on my 2 big goals – 15,000 Total Ticks, and Reportable Plus 15 throughout the Lower 48 states.  Reaching the latter goal would include being reportable in my last 2 remaining Lower 48 states (MT and OR).  Here’s a possible path to reach all these goals-

• Lower 48 Reportable Plus 15 - I only have 6 states left in the Lower 48 where I haven’t reached Reportable Plus 15.  Reaching that goal in each of those states would add 109 ticks (I only need an average of 18 birds per state). 
• Hawaii – now that Hawaii is part of the ABA, even a short tourist-related trip could add 33 ticks to increase my state total to 40.
• New England – I think I can realistically get at least 12 new ticks per year.
• Canada – with a bit of work I could get to 125 each in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

If I could reach all these milestones, likely over the next 3 or 4 years, that would give me 340 new ticks, or 15,052 total ticks.  Not to mention I’ll undoubtedly add a few additional ticks here and there.  All in all quite feasible with a little travel.

That would require only about 4 or 5 trips to reach most all of these goals –

• Eastern OR and southern ID,
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID,
• Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba along with North Dakota (or is that 2 trips?)
• Hawaii – even with just a bit of birding during a trip focused on tourism.

And for 2019?  As of now I have no specific plans for trips in the new year.  Having recently become unemployed (or is it retired?), I no longer have business trips around which to plan statebirding adventures.  But if this truly is retirement, that gives me more time to chase rarities, whether locally or in some distant state or province.  And maybe retiring to a different part of the country could be in the cards – perhaps to the mountains of western NC or maybe CO.  I would dearly miss my New England friends, not to mention New England birding.  But I would look forward to having an opportunity to beef up my statelists in another part of the country.  And then there’s my interest in starting my own bird guiding company which I’ve contemplated for years.

Lots of options.  An exciting time ahead…

2017 Birding Year Celebrating 2 Milestones – 750 in the ABA Continental Area and 50 Years of Birding

By far the biggest highlight of my birding year was reaching a big milestone – #750 in the ABA Continental area (not including Hawaii).  And it happened as I celebrated my 50th year of birding.  I also made excellent progress toward my goal of 15,000 Total Ticks in the US and Canada, and reached the old ABA reportable threshold in my 46th and 47th states.  But before summarizing my 2017 sightings, a few reflections on reaching my big life-long milestones.

 

50 Years of Birding

 

In August 1967 my parents bought me my first pair of binoculars when I was just 8 years old.  I can still remember the very first time I used them in my grandmother’s urban backyard in Baltimore, MD.  The first bird I looked at through those binoculars was probably nothing more exciting than a House Sparrow or a Starling, but my early interest in birding was sparked that day.  Soon thereafter I remember my parents buying me my first Golden Guide written by Chan Robbins which I began to study even before I left the store.  I even got it photographed by the author!  And I can also remember earning merit badges in Cub Scouts by identifying 10 species of birds. 

 

But most of what I learned in those early days I did on my own.  I grew up in a household that appreciated the outdoors, but I was the only birder in the family.  It wasn’t until I got to college that my birding skills truly blossomed, thanks to birding time with several grad students that were excellent birders.  Two memorable watershed moments were trips with one of my mentors, Jim Stasz - a summer day to coastal DE when I got 10 lifebirds; and a cold, windy winter day when we hunkered down amongst the rocks on the jetty at Ocean City, MD when Jim said something like I had just become a hardcore birder. 

 

With 50 years of birding I’ve been able to log many hours in many locations – I’ve birded in all 50 states and 9 Canadian provinces.  My statebirding interests have taken me to a lot of unique birding locations that few tourists, let alone birders, can say they’ve been to.  Some of my favorite less well-known birding locations have included –

• Fall migration in the suburban “oases” of western KS with numerous western rarities;
• Summer dawn chorus in the northern tip of NH;
• Berrien County in the southwestern corner of MI with numerous “southern” breeders and migrant rarities;
• East Point on Prince Edward Island with amazing seawatches;
• Memphis, TN sewage lagoons birding often with the “Ol’ Coot” himself Jeff Wilson – the best field birder I’ve ever birded with;
• The prairies of the upper Midwest with their native Sparrows and Longspurs;
• Fall in Neah Bay, WA with a dizzying number of rarities; and
• Winter in southwestern LA with an outstanding list of birds seemingly from any season and any geography.

 

And although I haven’t done too much international birding, I’ve birded in Brazil, England, Italy, Czech Republic, and Hong Kong over the years.  Plus Puerto Rico and Guam. 

 

And finally one of the key facets of my birding these days is to “pay forward” all that great support and advice I’ve received over the years.  I really enjoy helping other birders find that rarity that everyone is chasing after.  And I especially enjoy helping younger birders learn some of the finer points in birding.

 

Fifty years down, and fifty more to go.

 

750 in the ABA Continental Area

On 9/12/17 I saw a staked-out Common Ringed Plover at Gooseberry Neck in Westport, MA.  Not only was it a lifebird, but it was ABA #750.

 

I’d like to say that reaching 750 in the ABA Continental Area has been a long-term goal of mine.  However in reality, throughout most of my birding years, I’ve been much more focused on total ticks and state and province birding than chasing after life birds.  Only 3 times have I taken trips just to pursue potential new lifebirds –

• 2009 trip to AZ for Sinaloa Wren, Rufous-capped Warbler, and Black-capped Gnatcatcher(Jacana was also a target for that trip but it had moved on before I could get there); 
• 2012 AK trip adding Arctic Loon, Yellow Wagtail, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bluethroat, and Spectacled Eider; and
• 2013 trip to AZ for Nutting’s Flycatcher and Rosy-faced Lovebird. 

 

I’ve reached 750 without having been to Attu or Gambell to look for those tantalizing Asian vagrants.  As a result my Lower 48 list is a very respectable 729 - I’ve only seen 19 species in AK and 2 species in Canada that I haven’t seen in the Lower 48.  In a lot of ways I’m more proud of my Lower 48 total than in my ABA total.  For instance the ABA Listing Central has me in 73rd place in the Lower 48 but only 158th in ABA Continental area.  (Of course I realize that there are many birders who don’t publish their lists on the ABA site.)

 

And I’ve almost never used paid guides.  The notable exceptions being a couple AZ trips and the 2012 AK trip where guides were indeed most helpful.  I typically do my own research and often obtain micro-directions from local birders.  That intelligence has almost always proven to be invaluable.

 

The key sources of most of my new lifebirds these days have been short extensions to business trips to search for staked-out rarities.  On most of these trips I only get one new bird at a time.  For instance in 2015 I added one lifebird in each of 4 different business trips –

• Common Crane in Roswell, NM after a business trip to Midland, TX;
• Rustic Bunting in San Francisco prior to a business trip to the Bay Area;
• Aplomado Falcon in Cameron County, TX before a business trip to Houston; and
• Collared Plover in Hargill, TX following another Houston trip (though that was my second try for that bird).

 

Then there are the local extreme rarities that have not only been new ticks for one of my New England lists, but lifebirds as well.  Recent New England lifebirds include –

• 2012 – Red-billed Tropicbird – Seal Island, ME
• 2013 – Fieldfare – Carlisle, MA
• 2016 – Redwing – Hollis, NH (15 minutes from my home!)
• 2016 – Graylag Goose – East Providence, RI
• 2017 – Common Ringed Plover – Westport, MA

And perhaps the 2017 NH Shelduck will be added to that list as well.

 

A graph of my ABA total over time, starting with my first lifelist total I recorded (140 as of June 1972), is inserted below.

 

 

750 birds over 50 years – that’s an average of 15 per year.  If only I could expect 15 more in 2018.

 

Now onto some of the highlights of 2017 -

 

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island Total Ticks Trip

 

This was the second year in a row where my big “Total Ticks Trip” was to Canada, making a big 11-day, 10-night loop through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia before returning to the States on the Yarmouth- to-Portland ferry.  But before I go through any of results of this most successful trip, I have to recognize the tremendous help I received from local birders in all 3 provinces –Gilles Belliveau in New Brunswick, Dan McAskill in PEI, and Keith Lowe in Nova Scotia.  Many thanks to Gilles, Dan and Keith, without whom my trip would not have been nearly so successful!

 

The itinerary for this May/June trip was very similar to the one I took in September 2015, though of course this time it was focused on breeding birds throughout the region.  And with more time in the field in 2017, I added numerous stops, some for just 1 or 2 local specialties.  Of note, that included successful searches for several species that are near the northeastern limits of their ranges, like Black Tern, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Oriole, and Purple Martin.

 

With all that birding time, it was not too surprising to find several rarities, including -

• New Brunswick – Common Gallinule, Iceland Gull, Least Bittern
• PEI – Wilson’s Phalarope, Little Gull, Glaucous Gull, Thick-billed Murre in a flock of Razorbills, Kittiwake
• Nova Scotia –Glaucous Gull, Common Gallinule, South Polar Skua from the ferry

 

Perhaps at the other end of the spectrum were the species associated with urban areas or human activity in general that are common in the States but difficult to find in the Maritimes.  For instance I was able to add Killdeer (NB and NS), Nighthawk (NB and NS), Chimney Swift (NB, NS), Cowbird (NB, PEI), House Finch (NB and NS), and House Sparrow (all 3 provinces).  Maybe that’s the only time I actually got excited about finding House Sparrows!

 

I took a few pictures along the way.  Here is a phonescoped photo of the distant Wilson’s Phalarope in PEI.

And just a little while later Dan spotted this Harlequin Duck at one of my favorite birding spots, East Point in PEI.

And although not rarities, these New Brunswick birds were most cooperative.

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t throw in a couple scenery shots, like these from the Liscomb River and the West River in Nova Scotia.

Then there was spot in Jolicure, New Brunswick which is a local stronghold for House Sparrows – a spot where only House Sparrows would be at home. 

Leaving the best for last - my favorite picture was this one at the Sackville waterfowl park in New Brunswick.

The trip by the numbers -

• 193 new ticks, greatly exceeding my goals of 133 for the 3 provinces, and a remarkable 70% of my targets. 
• 175 species including 21 warblers and 20 waterfowl.
• Excellent boreal species including Gray Jays in 2 provinces, Boreal Chickadees in 2 provinces, Philadelphia Vireos, Red Crossbills in 2 provinces, and multiple White-winged Crossbills.  Though I couldn’t find Spruce Grouse or Black-backed Woodpeckers.
• 13 new species for Canada
• 60 miles walked (according to my Fitbit)
• Ticks in 3 provinces in 1 day (started the day birding in NS, then added my last tick in NB, then birded the evening in PEI).  Only twice before have I added ticks in 3 jurisdictions in 1 day – TN, AR, and MS; and MA, NH, and ME.

 

Smaller Statebirding Trips

 

In addition to my big total ticks trip I added birds in 12 states outside of New England, most with short additions to work trips across the country.  That included adding 2 new ABA reportable states in 2017, while on other trips I was just trying to fill in gaps in my statelists, frequently using eBird Needs Alerts as an invaluable tool.  Highlights included –

 

Iowa and South Dakota, May – A rare business trip to Minneapolis provided an opportunity to bird in both IA and SD near the height of spring migration.  I was 3 below the old ABA reportable threshold in IA, and 13 below the SD threshold, both of which seemed to be within reach with a bit of effort.  My “Reportable Plus 15” goal (my somewhat arbitrary goal of at least 15 over the old ABA threshold) would be a bigger stretch, but I also hoped to reach those higher goals in both states.

 

In IA I contacted local birders Lee Schoenewe and Joe Jungers who had been so instrumental in helping me find my targets in northwestern IA during my July 2016 trip.  I teamed up with Lee and Joe on an amazing day and a half of birding resulting in 24 new IA statebirds (compared to a goal of 18) and a total of 143 species.  Some of my favorite sightings were a migrant flock of about 50 Golden Plovers flying over a farmfield, and seeing nearly 1,000 migrant Black Terns throughout the 2 days.  My new IA statelist is now at 232 – 21 over the old reportable threshold and 18 over a newly calculated threshold based on the present IA state list. 

 

Our IA results were so good that I shortened the IA portion of the trip to be able to spend more time in eastern SD.  That additional time would prove to be most helpful given the weather forecast – rain, strong north winds, and cold temperatures, for the entire next 3 days!  Certainly not conducive for finding many migrant passerines.  While doing my SD research I connected up with SD birder David Swanson who was in the process of publishing a guide to birding in SD.  David forwarded me site guides for many of the sites I planned to visit which proved to be most valuable supplementing eBird reports.  Despite extremely challenging weather (wind chills as low as the 20’s at times) I ended up with 150 species in SD, 36 of which were new for my statelist – most of which I had to work hard for.  Some of the highlights included –

• Least Terns and Piping Plovers on sandbars on the Missouri River;
• A migrant flock of 4 species of Terns – Forster’s, Common, Black, and Caspian;
• A flock of 15 Hudsonian Godwits in a wet field (interestingly finding migrant shorebirds was tough because they were too spread out among the many flooded fields) ; and
• A Lazuli Bunting rare in eastern SD but not new to my SD statelist.

 

That makes IA and SD my 46th and 47th states over the old ABA threshold, and my 39th and 40th states over my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  Combining my IA and NE results, I added 61 new statebirds on the trip, and had an amazing 178 species total.  That includes 20 species of shorebirds, and 21 warbler species.  Excellent results for a short 5-day trip under difficult weather conditions.

 

Louisiana, Multiple Short Trips – I had several work trips to the New Orleans area in 2017, plus birded in southwestern LA as extensions to a couple Houston trips.  These trips netted 20 new birds for my LA list, featuring quite a number of stakeout rarities, though several were just regular species that filled key gaps in my statelist.  Highlights included -

• 7 Flycatcher species over 2 trips in January and February – Eastern Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Scissor-tailed, Vermillion, Couch’s Kingbird, Brown-crested, and Ash-throated (I missed the Western Kingbird)
• 5 hummingbird species in February at Donna Dittmann’s and Steve Cardiff’s property outside Baton Rouge - Ruby-throated, Black-chinned, Rufous, Buff-bellied, and my first Calliope
• Yellow Rail near Thornwell in November – flushed from a tractor cutting a grassy field (I couldn’t find any rice fields being harvested)
• Finding a rare Wood Thrush in January (but not a new statebird)
• Brown Booby along the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in November – on my 9th try!

 

Here is a phonescoped photo of the Couch’s Kingbird, and a miserable shot of the Brown-crested Flycatcher, though it provided a definitive view of the under-tail pattern.

California Bay Area Rarities – With the help of eBird Needs Alerts, short extensions to business trips to the Bay Area netted 5 new ticks –

• Glaucous Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Red-naped Sapsucker in March
• Baird’s Sandpiper and a Gannet (on my second try) in August

Here is a phonescoped photo of 1 of my 2 Glaucous Gulls.

 

Plus a trip to the LA area which didn’t net any new birds, but did include a very cooperative Ridgeway’s Rail.

Texas Targets near Houston – I have nearly monthly business trips to Houston, and for most trips in the cooler months I try to add at least a little time to fill some gaps in my statelist.  Trips in 2017 featured Pacific Loon, Black Rail, and Nelson’s Sparrow in Galveston; Bachman’s Sparrow in Boykin Springs; and a rare Swainson’s Warbler close to Houston.  Plus somehow I had overlooked a reliable colony of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers close to the Bush Airport in Houston, which I saw in February.  Just goes to show that even though I have over 430 birds on my TX list, there are still some pretty easy targets to pursue.

 

Mississippi Coastal Low-hanging Fruit – A quick business trip to the MS coast in May gave me a short window of free time one late afternoon and evening.  I had a pretty good list in MS, but somehow I lacked a fair number of pretty easy birds at or close to the coast.  I came up with 8 feasible target birds - 3 on the coast (American Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, and Seaside Sparrow); 2 generally a bit inland (Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, and Anhinga) and 3 even farther inland (Chuck-will’s-Widow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and Bachman’s Sparrow) luckily all in the same general location at DeSoto National Forest.  Amazingly, this turned out to be one of my most successful birding trips ever, finding 7 of my 8 targets (only missing the Oystercatcher).  In fact, given my limited time, I wasn’t even sure that I’d have time to try for all 8 of the targets.  Here are photos of some of the birds in the Red-cockaded Woodpecker colony – one bird foraging high in the pines and another at an active nest illuminated by the setting sun.

 

Mid-Atlantic Opportunistic Birding – Several trips to visit relatives in MD yielded chances to chase after a few new statebirds nearby.  Most were species that are now regular but were less likely when I was growing up in the region, or were otherwise just gaps in my statelists, like –

• Cackling Goose, Ross’s Goose, and Trumpeter Swan in MD;
• Cackling Goose, Common Merganser, Sandhill Crane, Black-capped Chickadee, and Raven in DE; and
• Redhead in PA

Then there were 2 rarities that just happened to be around when I got to MD which I was lucky enough to be able to chase after successfully – Black-throated Gray Warbler and Shiny Cowbird.

 

All in all some nice additions to my already pretty good lists in the region.

 

New England Birding

 

Even though I reached my goal of 2,000 total ticks in New England 2 years ago, I continue to spend a lot of time chasing after rarities in the 6 New England states.  In 2017 I was successful in finding 15 of the 21 the birds I chased after (71%), including a lifebird – Common Ringed Plover in Westport, MA.  Then there was the long-staying Shelduck in NH which I haven’t counted, but could become a lifebird if accepted by the NH Rare Bird Committee. 

 

Plus I found 2 pretty significant rarities on my own – Sabine’s Gull in VT (and NY), and South Polar Skua in RI.  On the negative side, I had to subtract Thayer’s Gull from 5 of my New England statelists.  Even without subtracting the Gull, my 16 new birds was by far my lowest total in any year since I moved to MA in 1993.  This continues the downward trend started in 2016.  I guess I’m a victim of my own success. 

 

Total Ticks

 

With 193 ticks in Canada and another 125 ticks in the US in 2017, and adding my whopping total of 7 in Hawaii (now in the ABA), that increased my total ticks to an even 14,500.  I’m well on my way to my goal of 15,000 with a manageable 500 to go.  As of January 1st my list continues to be the highest reported on the ABA website – a lead of more than 900.

 

ABA Area Totals

 

• A net of 1 new ABA lifebird –
• Common Ringed Plover – Westport, MA
• Cassia Crossbill - an ABA split from Red Crossbill, based on birds I saw and heard in the South Hills of ID in 2012
• Removal of Thayer’s Gull as a result of an ABA lump with Iceland Gull
• ABA Continental (not including Hawaii) total at 750
• ABA (including Hawaii) total of 753
• Lower 48 at 729
• US (including Hawaii) at 754
• Canada at 369

 

State and Province Birding Totals (see my statebird and province maps below with totals for each state and province) -

• ABA reportable in 46 states plus DC (adding 2 in 2017)
• “Reportable Plus 15” in 39 states plus DC (adding 2 in 2017)
• 325 new state birds and province birds.  New ticks in 17 states and 3 provinces.
• 11 new statebirds in New England (16 new birds added less 5 for the Thayer’s Gull lump) – 2,055 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 14,500, with 13,153 of those in the U.S.

2018 and Beyond

 

I’m continuing to work on 2 big goals – 15,000 Total Ticks, and Reportable Plus 15 throughout the Lower 48 states.  The latter goal includes being reportable in my last 2 remaining Lower 48 states (MT and OR).  Here’s a possible path to reach all these goals -

• Lower 48 Reportable Plus 15 - I only have 9 states left in the Lower 48 where I haven’t reached Reportable Plus 15.  Reaching that goal in each of those states would add 119 ticks (I only need an average of 13 birds per state). 
• Hawaii – now that Hawaii is part of the ABA, even a short tourist-related trip could add 33 ticks to increase my state total to 40.
• New England – I think I can realistically get at least 12 new ticks per year.
• Canada – If I got to 125 each in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland, plus 50 in Saint Pierre et Miguelon; that would give me 337 more ticks. 

If I could reach all these goals, likely over the next 4 years, that would give me 537 new ticks, or 15,037 total ticks.  Not to mention I’ll undoubtedly add a few additional ticks here and there.  All in all quite feasible with a little travel.

 

That would require only about 4 or 5 big trips to reach most all of these goals –

• Eastern OR and southern ID,
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID,
• Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba along with North Dakota (or is that 2 trips?), and
• Maritimes of Newfoundland and Saint Pierre et Miguelon.

 

Finally, with a lot of business travel across the country, I’ll likely continue to do some opportunistic chasing of statebirds and lifers with an extra vacation day or two.  And this year I might finally head to south FL to pursue Purple Swamphen and Egyptian Goose, both not-so-new additions to the ABA list.  (I’ve seen both in FL but before the ABA deemed they were countable.)   And speaking of new ABA additions, we will all have to watch pending lumps and splits in the New Year to see how they affect our lists, crossing our fingers for more splits than lumps.