Reddish Egret and Hooded Warbler, Southern CA, June 2015

With an upcoming trip to the Los Angeles area in late June I set up a CA Needs Alert in e-Bird to see if there might be some possible target birds in the area.  My CA statelist was pretty good at 376, so most likely any bird I needed would have to be pretty unusual if not a real rarity.  The first bird I noticed on the Needs Alert was Reddish Egret, which seems to be regular but seen in small numbers at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County south of LA.  I’ve seen posts about this bird at Bolsa Chica for a number of years, but have never been to this spot to give it a try.  So with a couple hours available for late afternoon birding on the day I would arrive, this one seemed like a possibility.  Unfortunately there were no other targets being reported south of LA, so Reddish Egret looked to be my only possible CA statebird for this trip.  But then just a couple days before my trip both a Hooded Warbler and a Red-eyed Vireo were reported at Huntington Central Park which is just a 10-minute drive from Bolsa Chica.  So if I was successful quickly at Bolsa Chica, I could also get to the Park and maybe have a shot at 3 new CA statebirds.

My flight landed at LAX a few minutes early (yeah!), and I quickly checked e-Bird for updates.  Alas neither the Warbler nor the Vireo were found that morning despite lots of searching.  And the last post of the Egret was now 2 days before.  I was less worried about that one since I would imagine they are around most every day.  But I worried that the Warbler and Vireo had moved on.  Even so, 1 new CA statebird would be nice.  And if I had the time I would still head to the Park anyway.

Most of the Reddish Egret sightings were from waterways at the southern end of Bolsa Chica, so I headed right to that part of the Reserve as soon as I arrived in the area.  Since Reddish Egrets are typically easy to spot given their very active feeding style, I was cautiously optimistic that I could find one quickly, and then head right to Huntington Central Park.  But so much for my optimism.  My first stop was the “Walk Bridge”, with suitable habitat in all directions.  But there were no Reddish Egrets.  A silver lining though was hearing and seeing numerous “Belding’s” Savannah Sparrows in the marsh nearby – only my second time seeing this race.  (One day it will be a new species, right?)  Then I walked over to the “Full Tidal Area”, with more great habitat, but again no target bird.  Next stop was a walk over to the outer channel north of the Walk Bridge, but still no Egret.  Though here I heard and saw several Ridgway’s Rails – a very nice consolation.  But after lots of scanning, and a couple miles of walking, I found no Reddish Egrets in the area where they were most often recently reported on e-Bird.

The day before my trip I had called the Reserve to get their advice and the person on the line said he typically saw them in the northern end of Bolsa Chica.  But because there were few e-Bird posts of the bird from this area, I thought this this area would be a lower priority.  Though now that I had struck out in the area with most of the recent e-Bird sightings, it was time to head to the northern portion of the Reserve.  This part of the wetlands is visible from the Pacific Coast Highway, though there are no options for parking along the road.  So I would need to drive north past the wetlands, park at the headquarters, then walk back south to check out this area.  I had driven no more than a half mile when up ahead I noticed a wading bird “dancing” in the wetlands.  I slowed a bit when I got even with it and sure enough it was a Reddish Egret.  Wasn’t the best of views, but at least I didn’t need it for a lifebird. 

I’ve now seen Reddish Egret in 4 southeastern states (how come I’ve missed it in MS?), and now CA as a rare but regular species (see my statebird map below).

If I had only taken the advice of the Reserve employee I may well have gotten it right away.  Though if I did I might have missed the Belding’s Sparrows and Ridgway’s Rails.  I thought about stopping and walking back to get a better look, but I still wanted to head to Huntington Central Park to try for the other targets, even if they were long shots.  So I continued on to the Park, content with a good enough look at the Egret.

Both the Hooded Warbler and Red-Eyed Vireo had been mostly reported from the eastern side of the “Island” at Huntington Central Park.  Though the Warbler was also sometimes seen on the western side.  And in most cases the bird was in full song.   Of course I first thought the “Island” would be land in the middle of a lake or pond, so I wondered how I would get to it.  But based on the descriptions in some posts I wondered if it was an “island” of trees and brush.  With some Googlemaps research it looked like there was a wetlands in the middle of the park, which was indeed heavily forested.  So maybe both guesses were right.  But it was a pretty large park, and with no positive posts from that day, I wasn’t too optimistic.  Instead I figured I would just bird the park in general and enjoy seeing some western species I don’t see too often.  And if I do see one of the rarities then that would an unexpected bonus.

I arrived at the parking lot on the western side of the park and soon noticed a photographer with a long lens.  As I always say “bird the birders”, so I went up to him to see if he had any updates on the rarities.  Instead he was just a photographer, not familiar with the Warbler and Vireo, and he told me he was there “to photograph the Whydah”.  Just then a male Pin-tailed Whydah flew into the tree right above us.  Although my first thought was Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, I realized that it was my first ever Whydah.  Not a countable bird, but maybe someday…

I then started birding around the perimeter of what I guessed to be the “Island”, starting from the west side and working my way clockwise to the east.  I eventually got to the east side but didn’t have any sightings of the rarities.  Though I did run into a pair of Scaly-breasted Munias (formerly called Nutmeg Mannikins) – only the second time I’ve seen them.  I decided to call it quits, and had walked only a short way back toward the car when I heard some harsh chips coming from a wet area in the underbrush.  I quickly went to my iPhone and played the call notes of the Hooded Warbler and they were a perfect match.  I continued to play the calls and the bird seemed to respond.  Although I never saw the bird, it kept calling from a short distance into woods, again seemingly in response to my tape.  Although I felt good that this could be the Hooded Warbler, it had not been seen that morning, and it was never reported as giving call notes.  So I guessed it was just some regular western bird I wasn’t familiar with.  But two days later I noticed an e-Bird report that the Hooded Warbler was re-found, just giving its chip notes, and from the same area where I had my observation.  So I decided to go with my initial impressions and added Hooded Warbler to my CA statelist. 

I’ve now seen Hooded Warbler in 30 states – several on the periphery of its normal range like OK and MN, and several as a rarity like ME, NH, VT, and now CA.  Though I still need it in a few states in the southeast in the regular part of its range. 

 

I was just about back to my car when I noticed several sparrow-sized birds fly into some reeds at the edge of the wetlands – more Munias.  I stopped to watch the birds feeding on seeds at the top of the reeds and more and more birds continued to join them.  Eventually I counted 35 Munias in the flock.  And at one point I noticed a different bird at the edge of the flock that reminded me of a female Bobolink – it was a female Orange Bishop.  Another first for me.  So along with the Whydah, that gave me 3 established exotics for the Park – though only 1 is countable at this point.

All in all it was a most successful couple of stops.  Not only did I add 2 birds to my CA statelist (now at 378), but I also saw my first Pin-tailed Whydah and Orange Bishop, and got good looks at both the Belding’s Sparrow and Ridgway’s Rail. 

Western Meadowlark, Charlotte, VT, June 2015

Western Meadowlark – first record for VT!  Yet another amazing find in a string of exceptionally rare birds found in VT over the last couple years that have included species like Prairie Falcon, Garganey, Pink-footed Goose, Black-tailed Godwit, etc.  I haven’t chased after any of those recent birds because they were all in northwestern VT, much farther than my self-imposed chasing limit of a 2-hour drive from home.  But for some reason I decided to chase after this one.

The Meadowlark was first discovered on a Wednesday singing as if on territory in a field in Charlotte.  I was out of town at the time, and wouldn’t be able to give it a try until Saturday.  But I was hopeful that although not discovered until mid-June, it might well have been present since Spring looking for a mate.  And if that was the case, it would likely stick around for at least a couple more days.  Sure enough it was heard and seen by many both Thursday and Friday, so I was quite optimistic.  I called Denny Abbott and we made plans to make the long drive to northwestern VT early Saturday.

That morning while on our 3 ½ hour trek Denny and I spent a fair amount of time listening to the songs of the 2 Meadowlarks, to make sure we could tell the 2 species apart when we got to Charlotte.  We were very well prepared when we approached the field in question, and we could see a small group of birders already there.  Although the small parking area was full, one car appeared to be ready to back out when we arrived.  I lowered the window to ask the driver if he was leaving, and before my car had even stopped I heard the Western Meadowlark’s song.  That was easy!  Over the next hour we had almost continuous scope views of the bird as it sang from a pole in the middle of the field.  I tried to get phonescoped pictures of the Meadowlark, but it was far enough away that this was the best I could do.

Western Meadowlark was number 270 for my VT list, which is by far my smallest of all my New England lists.  Though undoubtedly I’d have a lot more in VT if I had chased after all those great birds that have been seen there lately. 

Western Meadowlark was also the 430th species I’ve seen anywhere in New England.  VT is the first state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity after seeing it throughout its normal range (see my statebird map below).

Black Vulture, Hinsdale, NH, June 2015

Black Vultures have been coming to a Vulture roost in Brattleboro, VT off and on for the last several years.  The roost has been a bit north of downtown Brattleboro, right on the edge of the Connecticut River, putting it just a few feet west of the VT/NH stateline.  I first saw the Black Vultures on the evening of 10/30/07 – that day there were 4 Blacks with quite a number of Turkeys.  They flew in from the west, circled a bit, and then came in to the roost.  They were new for my VT list at the time, but never passed into NH airspace (even though they settled into the roost less than 100 ft from NH!) so I couldn’t add them to my NH list.  A few days later I was back in the morning to watch the vultures leave the roost.  Again I saw the 4 Blacks fly out of the trees, circle overhead, and fly off to the west.  And again they never crossed over into NH.

Occasional Black Vulture sightings have continued in the area during the warmer months most every year since.  Most sightings were right in Brattleboro, or nearby along the Connecticut River.  And although most were in VT, several were in NH either right along the river or in southwestern Hinsdale.  Each time another NH sighting was posted it was if they were taunting me.  Since Brattleboro was just 90 minutes away, and one of my favorite VT birding locations, I would go there a couple times each year and always keep my eyes open for Black Vultures.  But I was never lucky enough to find them.  And despite a few unsuccessful searches closer to the coast (they are sometimes seen at a roost in Newmarket), Black Vulture continued to one of the most common birds in NH that I still needed for my statelist.

Fast forward to June 2015 - There were two Black Vulture sightings on consecutive days in NH along the Connecticut River – one just south of Brattleboro and one a few miles to the north.  At least 1 bird was back!  There were no other sightings for the next week so I didn’t give it much more thought.  But then there was a report of a possible Little Blue Heron in the Brattleboro Retreat Meadows.  Although there was a pretty good chance that the sighting might be incorrect, I thought it could be worthwhile to check it out, especially by incorporating it into a Black Vulture search.  So I decided to head there the next afternoon, bird the Brattleboro marshes in the late afternoon looking for the heron, and then spend the evening watching for vultures to come into the roost.  Not only was I hoping that a Black would be in the group, but of course I hoped that I would see it in NH airspace.

The next afternoon I took a route to Brattleboro through southwestern Hinsdale, NH to maximize my time looking for vultures.  I didn’t see any vultures along the way though I always kept an eye to the sky as I was driving along.  I was now just a few miles south of Brattleboro on NH 119 when I passed by a convenience store and thought about stopping to grab a soda.  For some reason I decided not to stop, and kept driving toward my destination instead.  Less than a mile further up the road I saw 3 vultures a short distance up ahead of me and a bit to the west of the road.  I assumed they were just going to be Turkeys, but of course I needed to check them out.  Then I noticed one was smaller than the other two – could it be a Black?  They were still a little distance away, so I drove a bit farther along until they were even with me to the west.  Luckily there was a bit of a shoulder and I pulled off and quickly jumped out of the car.  One was indeed a Black Vulture!  I watched them for about a minute as the 3 birds circled a bit to the west, then headed north and soon disappeared behind some trees.

Of course it was easy to identify the Black Vulture.  The more difficult issue was determining which state these birds were in.  The stretch of NH 119 I was on at the time is immediately east of the Connecticut River, with very little land in NH between the road and the river.  The other key factor is the river itself is all in NH.  So that means there is at least a little NH airspace west of NH 119.  Thinking back to when I first spotted all 3 birds, they were just a bit west of the road, which most likely put them in NH airspace, though just barely.  Then as I watched them after I stopped, although they were to the west of me, I think they were close enough to still be in NH, likely over the river.  And then eventually they circled farther west into VT.  When they disappeared to the north I’m not sure which state they were in.  But in any case, I can definitely say I saw the Black Vulture in NH airspace at least for a little while.

Since the birds were only in view for a couple minutes it’s a good thing I didn’t stop to buy a soda.  Or for that matter, I’m lucky that I didn’t leave the house a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later.  Usually luck doesn’t play too much of a factor in finding new statebirds – but this time I was really lucky to find this bird.  Though my luck didn’t carry over to my search for the Little Blue Heron – I came up empty on that one.

Black Vulture was #356 for my NH list.  Although I’ve seen more species in a few other states, my NH statelist is definitely my best at 89 percent of the total ever seen in that state.  I’ve now seen Black Vulture in 30 states – virtually its entire range (see my statebird map below).  Though it is seen as a vagrant in a number of other states including Maine – the last New England state in which I still need this southeastern bird.

And one postscript – just a couple weeks earlier I finally added American Oystercatcher to my NH list.  At the time I remarked that the two most common birds I still needed for my NH list were the Oystercatcher and Black Vulture.  Nice to get both in the same month especially after so many attempts.  The next most common birds I still need for NH are Long-eared Owl and Atlantic Puffin.  Both are in NH most every year (Long-eareds undoubtedly nest somewhere), but are only rarely reported. 

American Oystercatcher, Seabrook Harbor, NH, June 2015

Oystercatcher has been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me in NH.  Although they do not nest in NH, they are regular but rare in NH especially as they pass by in route to their nearest nesting site a short distance up the coast at Stratton Island, ME.  Most NH birds are seen either as fly-bys along the coast, or on-shore especially at the mussel beds in Seabrook Harbor.  And even when they do land in NH their locations are very tide dependent, so they are typically not very chaseable.  The closest I’ve been to seeing them in NH was one I missed by a few minutes as a fly by on the coast (though I did see the Sabine’s Gull that day!), and a pair I missed by less than an hour that amazingly showed up inland at the Rochester sewage treatment plant.  The bottom line is that American Oystercatcher is the most common bird I still need for my NH statelist.  Then again maybe it’s tied with Black Vulture for that auspicious title.

So needless to say I was very excited when a post came across the NH listserve one early June morning that a pair of Oystercatchers were spotted in Seabrook Harbor from the Yankee Co-op.  The birder posted the sighting nearly real-time from the field, and since I noticed the e-mail just a couple minutes after it was was posted, this was all within 10 minutes of his sighting.  Five minutes later I was out of the house and heading to Seabrook, which would put me at the harbor within 90 minutes of the sighting.  That was pretty fast, but would it be fast enough?  The mudflats could change significantly in an hour and a half, so I could only hope that the birds might still be around when I arrived.

As I neared the coast I drove over the Blackwater River in Seabrook and saw that the tide was pretty low but rising.  Hopefully the mussel beds were still exposed.  Five minutes later I pulled into the co-op parking lot and the mussels were still above the rising waters, so I was optimistic.  I quickly scanned the mussel beds with my binoculars but there were no Oystercatchers.  I then pulled out my scope to check more closely but again I came up empty.  Suddenly my optimism was waning.  I then expanded my search to the mudflats to the south, and then the mudflats to the north, but still no Oystercatchers.  Then I looked even farther to the north and saw two distant dark dots on the flats.  I zoomed in and there were the pair of Oystercatchers – perhaps a ½ mile off.  Good thing they are big showy birds. 

I kept an eye on them because I knew other birders were on their way.  At times they would disappear behind a small rise in the mudflats and I got a bit worried, but they would soon reappear a short distance away.  Within a few minutes 8 or 9 other birders arrived and all got good looks at the birds.  At one point they flew in a bit closer, and I got this still very distant phone-scoped picture.

This is when they flew in "closer" - imagine how far away they were when I first spotted them

About 40 minutes after I arrived the Oystercatchers started to fly around the flats a bit, likely due to the rising tide.  And a couple minutes later they were gone, about 2 hours after the initial observation.  Sure was great that the initial sighting was posted so quickly.  Interestingly, they never landed in the mussel beds while I was there.

American Oystercatcher was # 355 for me in NH.  I’ve now seen this species in each Atlantic Coast state and each Gulf Coast state except for MS (see my statebird map below).