Rustic Bunting Lifebird (but no Falcated Duck again!), San Francisco, CA, January 2015

The last time I was in the San Francisco Bay area on a business trip I added a vacation day for my 3rd try for the Falcated Duck.  Not only did I not see the Duck on that December trip, but I also missed a chance to try for a Rustic Bunting that was first spotted in San Francisco the day before.  In fact, late in the afternoon that day, a couple birders joined me at Colusa NWR having just seeing the Bunting.  Way to throw salt in my wounds. 

Luckily both the Rustic Bunting and the Falcated Duck continued to be seen – the Bunting was seen quite reliably, though the Duck was reported only intermittently.  So with work trips to the Bay Area about every month, I could try for both birds on a future trip.  As my January trip started to come together, I planned to add another vacation day, starting at Golden Gate Park at dawn for the Bunting, and then heading to Colusa NWR to try for the Duck for the 4th time.  And speaking of planning – RI birder Scott Tsagarakis was heading to the area the week before my trip.  I gave him advice on the Duck though originally he wasn’t planning to try for it because it wasn’t reliable.  He was successful with both birds, and gave me great advice on the Bunting.  I was hoping to be just as successful.  

I arrived at the corner of Nancy Pelosi Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Golden Gate Park about 30 minutes before dawn.  Although past advice suggested looking for the Bunting in and around a brush pile near this intersection, Scott suggested I look for the bird beneath a large tree about 50 feet to the south.  In the pre-dawn light I quickly found the tree and was in place to look for the bird before activity began.  Scott also said the target bird was with Juncos when he saw it.  So although it was still quite dark, I was excited when I started to hear Junco calls nearby.  The calls got closer and eventually were coming from the vicinity of the tree in question.  I scanned the ground beneath the tree and started to see “Oregon” Juncos drop in from above.  I continued to scan and only saw Juncos.  But after about 30 seconds they started to fly away, so my scanning was beginning to become a bit more frantic.  With just a couple birds remaining on the ground I picked up a different bird with some striping beneath.  Lighting was bad, so I wasn’t sure if this was the bird.  It took me a while, but I eventually picked up the characteristic head pattern and slight crest of the Rustic Bunting – Lifebird! 

The Rustic Bunting was ABA Lifebird #742, Lower 48 #721, and #372 for me in CA.  Two of my first 11 new statebirds of 2015 have been lifers!

Because lighting wasn’t very good (it was still 15 minutes before dawn), I decided to wait a while to try to see the bird again.  In the next 45 minutes I saw more Juncos, but did not see the Bunting again.  Though it was interesting to see both a “Sooty” Fox Sparrow and either a “Slate-Colored” or “Thick-Billed” Fox Sparrow while I waited.  So with another possible lifer still about a 2 ½ hour drive away, I decided to head out of the park at about 8.

En route to Colusa NWR skies were partly cloudy with an occasional patch of thick fog.  A few miles from the refuge skies were clear so I was very hopeful the weather would be cooperative.  But within a mile of the site I hit fog as thick as pea soup.  At 10:30 I arrived at the nearly infamous “green gate” along Route 20 where the bird had been seen of late, and couldn’t see 50 feet in front of me.  Amazing.  There was another birder there who had been waiting since dawn for the fog to lift.  But even though the fog finally lifted, the sun came out which meant we were looking almost directly into the sun.  Long story short – I left at about 4 PM after my 4th failed attempt at my nemesis – the Falcated Duck.

2014 Birding Year in Review

2014 was another exciting birding year, featuring a very strong year of statebirding, 2 new ABA reportable states, an excellent year of statebirding in New England putting me just shy of my goal of 2,000, and 3 new ABA lifers. 

My big statebirding trip in 2014 was to ND and MT (my last 2 states with small lists) and SD to inch closer to the old ABA reportable threshold.  Another key objective was to clean-up a species I had on my life list, Baird’s Sparrow, which was based solely from a winter sighting in AZ in 1994 which I now question.  The good news is that I saw numerous Baird’s in all 3 states, so I definitely cleaned that one up.  See my phonescoped photo below of a most cooperative bird in Montana.

But I added another bird to my life list that will require some clean-up down the road – Spotted Redshank.  I got a fleeting glimpse of a breeding plumaged bird in the northern edge of ND during a big shorebird fallout.  The bird was with 2 yellowlegs, was similar sized, all black below, long dark bill and long pointed wings, and seen at a distance of less than 20 feet.  That description alone might sound pretty good for a Spotted Redshank.  But the problem is that I only saw it in flight and I was driving at the time.  Like I said, I’ll need to clean that one up in the future.  Sure didn’t expect a life bird on this trip!

My statebirding highlights included -

•  North Dakota.  In 3 full days and 2 partial days of birding in central and western parts of the state I saw 201 species, adding 126 to my statelist - much better than I ever expected.  That gives me 205 for my ND statelist – 6 over reportable.  ND is now my 44^th reportable state, and the 46th state with at least 200 species.  Included in my totals were several rarities – a female MacGillivray’s Warbler during a major passerine fallout at Willow Lake, a male Black-throated Gray Warbler at Lostwood NWR, not to mention the Redshank. 
• Montana.  I birded eastern MT in 2 full days and 2 partial days, tallying 161 species, adding 106 to my statelist giving me 175 on my MT list.  I was lucky enough to find 2 rarities on this part of the trip, both at the same spot – a Broad-winged Hawk and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the Wildwood Park migrant trap in Plentywood.
• South Dakota.  I spent 2 half-days birding in northwestern SD in the ponderosas and grasslands.  My best birding highlight was seeing Saw-whet Owls nesting in boxes built by local birder Charley Miller.  I saw 111 species, adding 22 to my statelist.  My new total is now 203, just 13 shy of reportable, and my 45th state over 200.

Perhaps the part of my trip I enjoyed the most was my visit to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in ND.  Not only were there great birds, but the scenery was amazing –

And the herds of buffalo, along with numerous cowbirds, made me wonder what the area might have been like a couple hundred years ago.
 

And while birding along the northern edge of ND I realized I was very close to Manitoba one day and Saskatchewan on another day.  Since I had never birded in either province, I decided to make brief 1-hour stops in both locations, getting 40 species in MB and 48 in SK.  Later in the year I made a 1-day foray into Quebec seeing my first 63 species for that province.  Maybe this will be the beginning of an interest in growing my province lists.  I still have only 415 ticks in 6 provinces and just 237 total species throughout Canada.  Now that I have significant lists in all US states (except HI), I'll have to do more statebirding in the Canadian provinces if I want to significantly increase my total ticks tally.

Another focus in 2014 was to work on my WV list, with several trips to eastern WV near Morgantown.  When the year started I had just 178 birds on my WV list, which was exactly at the ABA reportable total.  With help from local birder Terry Bronson, I added 25 birds to my list giving me 202 for the state.  This was my 47^th state over 200 (only DC, IA, MT, and HI are below 200).  And of course that will put me over the threshold to stay.  Several of my new birds were rarities for WV like Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls, Marsh Wren, and Nelson’s Sparrow – all 4 of which I found myself.  See my phonescoped photo of the Lesser Black-backed Gull below.

In August I added a day to a San Francisco business trip for some statebirding in the Reno/Carson City, NV area.  My first key focus area was the thin sliver of NV in the Sierras, where I was successful in adding birds like Pileated Woodpecker, Willamson’s Sapsucker and Pacific Wren which are very difficult in NV.  I filled a number of other gaps in my statelist, and ended the day at Pyramid Lake salt flats searching for migrant shorebirds.  With a severe thunderstorm on the way, I was able to stay just long enough to get 3 more species for my list.  Check out the ominous clouds at this desert location.

That gave me 242 which is the old ABA threshold – my 45^th state.  However, with a bit of research I found that the official NV list as of 12/27/13 was at 492.  So if the ABA was still publishing thresholds at half the state total, the present threshold would be 246.  So somewhat of a hollow victory, and the reason I want to be at least 15 over the old ABA threshold in each state.

And speaking of the “reportable plus 15 goal”, that was my target on a September trip to southwestern LA.  I was 11 over threshold at the beginning of the year, so I added a day to a Houston trip to try to get at least 4 more.  Although I had lots of possibilities, I only added 4 new statebirds – but that met my target of reportable plus 15.

Another state where I had considerable success in 2014 was CA.  I travel to CA regularly for business, and got 7 of 8 targets on 3 different trips.  Unfortunately target #8 was a stakeout Falcated Duck which I tried for twice with no luck.  My nemesis bird! 

On all my trips I have received tremendous help from local birders.  Many thanks to all who gave me great advice! 

And of course there’s my New England birding, where I had a great year adding 39 new statebirds.  One of my more successful New England birding trips this year was to the boreal forests of ME and NH where I got all 4 of my targets – Three-toed Woodpecker, Spruce Grouse, and Bicknell’s Thrush in ME, and Spruce Grouse in NH.  I’m now at 1,993, hopefully just a few months away from my 20-year goal of reaching 2,000 in New England.

Here’s the year by the numbers -

Lifebirds -

• 3 new ABA lifebirds –
• Spotted Redshank – Bottineau, ND
• Yellow-Green Vireo – Corpus Christi, TX
• Ridgeway’s Rail – split from Clapper Rail
• But I removed Tropical Mockingbird from my lifelist which I saw in 2012 but was not accepted by the Texas review committee.
•  Plus I “sanitized” Baird’s Sparrow on my lifelist

• ABA total now at 741, US at 743, and Lower 48 at 719

Statebirding (my statebird map below with totals for each state) -

• Newly reportable in ND and NV
• ABA reportable now in 44 states plus DC 
• “Reportable plus 15” in 33 states
• 496 new statebirds – my highest annual total since 1994.  New statebirds in 17 states and 3 provinces.
• 39 new statebirds in New England – 1,993 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 13,197, with 12,789 of those in the U.S. 

 

Looking ahead, I think I may be only about 3 big trips away from reaching most all of my statebirding goals –

• Northern NV, eastern OR, and eastern WA;
• Western MT and the panhandle of ID; and
• Eastern NE, eastern SD, eastern ND, western MN, and western IA.

So although I likely won’t take a big statebirding trip in 2015 due to home commitments this coming spring, maybe I’m just a few more years away from the reportable plus 15 goal in all the lower 48 states.

And with no spring trip to plan for, I’m hoping to be able to really concentrate on New England statebirding in 2015.  With 1,993 total ticks, I can almost taste that long-term goal of 2,000.  Finally, with a lot of business travel across the country, I’ll likely continue to do some chasing of lifers when I can go after them with an extra vacation day here or there.  I’m just 9 short of 750 in the ABA region – a nice goal to pursue. 

Common Crane – Life Bird – Bitter Lake NWR, NM, January 2014

On an upcoming business trip to west Texas I made sure I had some free time so I could take an afternoon off to do some local birding.  As the trip neared I started my research with a scan of the eBird ABA Rarities list and found numerous posts about Common Cranes in the area – 1 near Bitter Lake NWR, NM and likely 2 near Lubbock, TX.  The NM site was closer, but still a good 3+ hour drive from work.  That would be quite the round-trip drive, but if the bird was reasonably reliable, I figured I’d give it a try.  I contacted several birders I know in southeast NM (I’ve birded there a few times in the last couple years) to try to get more information about the bird.  They reported that the bird was somewhat reliable, but not a guarantee.  It was typically seen in the early morning and evening as it roosted with Sandhills at the refuge, and during the day foraging with other Cranes in some nearby agriculture fields.  So it seemed to be worth a try.

I then started to gather more details on the bird’s habits and preferred locations.  During the day it was being seen in ag fields generally centered around East Ground Plains Rd. which was a few miles to the southwest of the refuge.  But it was in different fields on different days.  I was told to just wander around the area and check all the Crane flocks.  And early evening it would come into a roost at Bitter Lake visible from a spot aptly named as the Sandhill Crane Overlook.  Since I would get into the area midday. I figured I would start at the ag fields, and if I didn’t see it there, would head to Bitter Lake in the late afternoon.  A couple days before the trip another post came across saying the water at Bitter Lake was frozen, and although the Cranes were still roosting at the refuge, they were in an accessible location.  That meant my only chances to find the bird would be at the ag fields. 

And finally my last bit of research was to gather information on possible NM statebirds in the area.  I was only 19 over the old ABA threshold, so there were several possible statebirds to look for as well.  But the Common Crane was the key target, so I would only go for other statebirds after I found the Crane – if I find it of course.

I got out of work a bit later than expected, but was still able to get to the area by 1 PM (taking advantage of a 1 hour time change).  I headed right to East Grand Plains Rd. and drove around the area quickly to get a lay of the land.  Unfortunately I didn’t see any Cranes at all.  Then I noticed a very large flock of Cranes flying up out of a field to the east, with many circling overhead.  A few started to land in a field west of School Street, so I drove there to check them out.  In the next 30 minutes Cranes continued to drop into the field right in front of me.  At first I was optimistic that I would soon find the bird.  But as more and more Sandhills came in without their larger Asian cousin, my optimism waned.  Finally I guessed there were 1,000 birds feeding in the field.  Then at 1:30 something spooked the flock and they all took off at once– quite a scene.  This group circled over the field for a while affording good views, but I still could not pick out the target bird.  Eventually they circled higher and higher and headed off to the Northeast roughly in the direction of Bitter Lake.

Over the next hour and a half I drove around the area but found no more Cranes in the fields.  I even started to widen my search, going a couple miles from the areas where the flocks had been reported, but to no avail.  And although there were almost always flocks overhead, none landed, and instead they were quite high and heading northeast.  The only bird of interest was a Merlin I found sitting in one of the fields.  So by 3:00 I was pretty well convinved that I would miss the Common Crane. 

Then on a whim, I wondered if it would be worthwhile to head to Bitter Lake and try there.  It certainly didn’t seem like spending any more time in the fields would fruitful.  So even though the recent advice was the Cranes were no longer visible at the refuge, I decided I might as well give it a try.  What did I have to lose? 

I got to the refuge at about 3:30 and headed for the headquarters to get some advice.  As I pulled in I noticed that all the water in the refuge was open – maybe there was some hope afterall.  I found a refuge employee still there, and he said that the Common Crane had indeed been seen on the refuge that morning.  He directed me to a spot where the Cranes were roosting roughly opposite the Sandhill Crane Overlook.  Although this spot would be looking west into the setting sun (instead of the sun being at my back at the Overlook), I took his suggestion and headed right there.

As soon as I opened my door I heard calling Cranes and quickly spotted the roosting flock – maybe 500 birds mostly centered on a vegetated island in the impoundment.  I scanned the flock several times but did not see the Common Crane.  However, lighting wasn’t the best, and I realized that I couldn’t see the birds on the other side of the island very well.  So once I was convinced that the bird wasn’t in view from this spot, I drove around to the other side of the impoundment to the Sandhill Crane Overlook to try it from that side.

Lighting was much better from the Overlook, so I decided to set up my scope and hopefully wait for the bird to fly in to the roost.  Earlier posts had said the bird arrived at 4:30 or later, so I had some time to wait.  No Cranes were coming in at the time, so I scanned the flock a couple times mostly to just pass the time.  The first scan came up empty.  As I scanned back through the group I spotted a bird that seemed to have a darker neck.  It only took a couple seconds to be sure - it was indeed the Common Crane!  It had been on the part of the island which was not visible from the other side of the impoundment, and was likely there when I arrived. 

I spent at least 30 minutes watching the bird as it walked along the water’s edge among the Sandhills.  Not only was the darker neck and head obvious, but it was noticeably larger than the Sandhills, had a much larger “bustle”, was paler on the back, and had a larger and paler bill.  The bird was pretty distant, but I got these cropped phonescoped photos –

I made sure to post the details of my sighting since the recent guidance had been inaccurate - not only were the Cranes once again roosting at the Sandhill Crane Overlook at Bitter Lake NWR, but the Common Crane was there a lot earlier than in previous days.  Good thing I didn’t give up on the bird when all the Cranes left the ag fields that afternoon.

I left the bird at 4:15 and thought about looking for some other new birds for my NM statelist – several had been reported recently at the refuge.  But it was getting late, and I still had a long ride ahead of me to get back to my hotel.  I made one brief stop back at the headquarters to see what might be at the feeders (an Eastern Towhee had been reported there earlier).  But the only birds at the feeder were a flock of at least a dozen Scaled Quail.  Interestingly I had only seen that species once before in NM and remember having to work very hard to find a single bird in the Albuquerque area last year.  So I left the state with just 1 new statebird – but it was a lifer.

Common Crane was #742 for my ABA list, and #720 for my Lower 48 list.  Plus it was #284 for NM – 20 over the old ABA reporting threshold.

Black-backed Woodpecker, Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, MA, January, 2015

A report of a Black-backed Woodpecker at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston came across the listserve late one January afternoon.  This species has become exceptionally rare in MA, with just one sighting that I can remember in my 20+ years in New England.  This species was formerly more regular, even having invasion years especially tied to major die-offs in its boreal woodlands (based on information from Viet and Peterson’s Birds of Massachusetts).  So this species was not even on my target list of possible rarities to hope to see in MA.  Another birder tried for it near dusk that day without success.  But given how rare it is, and the relatively short ride from home, I decided to try for it at dawn the next morning.  Denny Abbott needed this species for MA as well (that’s how rare it is!), so we planned to try for this one together.

Denny and I arrived at the cemetery at about 7:30 the next morning and went right to the location where it was spotted the previous day.  We quickly found the conifers it was reported to be feeding in (both pines and hemlocks were in the area).  We mostly searched up on the tree trunks and larger branches, but didn’t find any woodpeckers in the area.  We spent at least an hour and a half at this location with no luck, so decided to search other parts of the cemetery.  We found a few of the regular woodpeckers, but no sign of the Black-backed.  At least 50 other birders there that morning only had negative results as well.  So after 3 hours of searching in some pretty cold temperatures, we called it quits.

Two days later came a post that the Black-backed was refound at the same location.  And this time quite a number of birders got to see it posting several photos of the bird.  They also provided more details of how and where it was feeding - on the trunks of hemlocks, and especially quite low on those trunks.  All the photos showed the bird at eye level or lower, and there were a number of photos that showed that many hemlock trunks were missing patches of bark where the bird had been feeding.  Interestingly, neither Denny nor I noticed any bark missing on the trees – we had been looking too high.  And I spent a lot of time looking in the pine trees in the area which wasn’t even the trees it was feeding in.

So Denny and I were back the next morning, arriving with 8 other car loads of birders just before the gate opened at 7 AM.  Within a couple minutes we were back to the original spot and everyone started to fan out.  Now that I knew where the bird preferred to feed, I headed directly to that grove of hemlocks, and began searching low on the trunks.  Not 30 seconds later I noticed a birder a few feet away point ahead into the grove.  In a couple seconds I was looking in the same direction and there was the Black-backed Woodpecker at eye level no more than 30 feet away! 

Over the next half hour the bird stayed on just one tree and moved no more than 10 feet.  Luckily the bird was on the side of the tree in full view of the birders – otherwise we might not have seen the bird.  And although it was tapping and flaking off little bits of bark almost the whole time, it was tapping so quietly we could not have noticed it if we hadn’t seen it first.  In fact, I wonder if the bird might have been present during our previous trip but we overlooked it, maybe even looking at the right tree but too high off the ground.  Lighting wasn’t the best, but I got these OK phonescoped photos of the bird.

 And here is photo of the bird in action tapping away.

MA was only my 7^th state for this bird of the boreal forest – joining ME, NH, VT, and NY in the northeast, and CA and ID in the west.  And this was #405 for me in MA, and #1,994 in New England.  (closing in on 2,000!)