Connecticut Hoary Redpoll and Bullock's Oriole - January 2013

Back in December I made 2 unsuccessful attempts for a Bullock's Oriole that had been sporadically visiting a feeder in Ellington, CT.  But the oriole kept coming to the feeder, and with each post about the bird on the CT listserve, my interest in going after it kept increasing.  And then a couple Hoary Redpolls were reported in a big redpoll flock in Winchester, CT.  So that was more than enough to justify a trip to Connecticut to go after my first New England statebirds for 2013.  The oriole had apparently become a bit more reliable (though just barely) in the mid-late afternoon, so I decided to go for the redpolls in the morning, and then the oriole in the afteroon.

At mid-morning I arrived at the address for the redpolls - a birder's house who invited everyone to his backyard for close views.   But there were no birds of any type at the feeders.  I waited a few minutes and still no birds.  But in the distance I started to hear some redpoll call notes, and tracked them down in the general direction of a farm house across the road.  Soon I could tell that I had found the flock - there was a virtual cloud of redpolls flying around the backyard of the farmhouse, apparently visiting a feeder behind the house out of view - maybe 150 birds total.  The flock would occasionally fly into a tree behind the house, offering distant scope views.  At one point I picked out a very pale bird, and with all white undertail coverts, but my view wasn't the best.  A few minutes later they all took off and were milling around the area.  So I returned to the backyard of the first house in hopes that they would come there and provide close views.  But still no birds at all at the feeder (was there a Cooper's nearby?).  Again I heard the birds in the distance and watched them return to the farm house across the road.  A couple minutes later they took off and all landed at the top of a bare deciduous tree.  I scanned through the flock with binoculars and quickly picked out a very pale bird.  Then after putting the scope on it I was able to see most all the fieldmarks - white undertail coverts, pale back including broad white wingbars, white rump, and limited barring on the sides.  Even though it was too far away to see the shorter bill, I concluded this was a female Hoary. 

CT was my 5th New England state for Hoary Redpoll - I only need it in Maine.  Plus I have it in MD, WI, and NY as a rarity and on its breeding grounds in the tundra of AK.  Then again, recent studies published on the internet suggest that there is only one redpoll species afterall.  See - blog.aba.org/2013/01/open-mic-redpolls.html   But for now ABA counts 2 redpolls, so I will too.

With one down and one to go, I headed to Ellington to try for the oriole.  I arrived at 12:30 to start my vigil.  There were a fair number of sparrows and other feeder birds around, but no oriole.  All along I had been thinking that the oriole must be coming to one or more other feeders in the area - it couldn't just be living on food from an occasional visit at this one feeder.  But where were those other feeders?  The homeowner came out and mentioned that it had sometimes been associating with House Sparrows.  There had been quite a number of them coming to the feeder in each of my 3 visits there, but I had never seen an oriole with them.  At about 2:30, with no birds at all at the feeder, I was beginning to think I was going to get skunked again.  Then in the distance I heard some House Sparrow call notes, and since nothing was at this feeder, I decided to track them down.  It only took a couple minutes but I found another feeding station a short distance to the north in the backyard of a house.  In addition to the House Sparrows there must have been 50 other birds at the feeder.  Did I find that other feeder where the oriole was spending much of its time?  I really wanted to stay and watch for the oriole, but directly behind the feeders was the back of a house.  So not wanting to get arrested because someone thought I was peering into their windows, I reluctantly left and returned to the original feeding station.

When I returned there were a few sparrows at the feeder but not much else.  Then a few minutes later I got a brief glimpse of a bird drop in from above the house - it seemed bigger that a sparrow and reasonably pale - could it have been the oriole?  A minute later I got a glimpse of a larger bird on the ground a bit obscured by arborvitae bushes next to the feeder.  I got a 1-second view of the bird in my binocs and it was likely the oriole.  A bit later it was back on the ground and my 3-second view confirmed it was the target bird!  I only had one more view of the bird, and although this one was still brief, I got to see the bird well.  So after 9 hours of waiting over 3 trips, I finally saw the Bullock's Oriole, though only for 3 brief views that maybe totalled 10 seconds.  Good thing it wasn't a lifer.

I now have Bullock's in MA and CT in New England, plus as a winter feeder bird in PA.  And of course in a lot of western states in its normal range.

Arizona Weekend - Nutting's Flycatcher and Rosy-Faced Lovebirds, January 2013

With work trips on consecutive weeks to Denver and California, I decided to stay out west over the intervening weekend and chase after some potential lifebirds.  As of early December there were 3 possible targets – a White-tailed Wagtail near Los Angeles, the returning Falcated Duck in central CA (the same one I tried for but missed in Feb. 2012), and the returning Nutting’s Flycatcher in western AZ.  As the trip neared the Wagtail disappeared, and then the Falcated Duck did too.  Argh…  But then the new ABA checklist came out and the Rosy-faced Lovebird was added based on an established population in Phoenix.  So that meant there were still 2 potential lifebirds to try for.  I contacted my good birding friend Denny Abbott, invited him to come along, and we planned our trip to try for the 2 lifebirds in AZ.  And since the CA targets had disappeared, we had time to work on our AZ statelists.  I contacted a number of local AZ birders, and got great advice not only to look for the Lovebirds, but also to get updates on some of my statebird targets.  Many thanks to all those local AZ birders!  Along with excellent eBird data, we were ready for our trip. 

Day 1 -  Arizona’s “West Coast” along the Colorado River

The key target for this part of the trip was the Nutting’s Flycatcher.  We arrived at Mile Marker 2 on Planet Ranch Road at the Bill Williams River NWR at 7:15 (30 minutes before dawn) to start our search.  It was a nippy 28 degrees so we were concerned that the bird might not start its day very early.  Soon after we got there two birders from PA arrived and joined in the hunt.  At 7:50 we heard the first “weep” call of the Nutting’s – about 150 yards east of mile marker 2 and off to the north in the riparian habitat.  There were few other birds calling in the area, so this one really stood out.  In the next 10 minutes we heard it call 2-3 more times.  And then at 8 AM we observed the bird flying over the road to the south, and it disappeared in the small amount of brush between the road and the cliff.  Over the next 60 minutes the bird called occasionally and was in view frequently though intermittently.  It was generally no more than 5 feet off the ground.  During this time it worked its way west toward mile marker 2.  At about 9 AM we saw the bird fly back to the north across the road and out of site toward the northwest.  A life bird for all of us and my first statebird!  There were few other birds in the area, though we did have Canyon and Rock Wrens, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, and a Phainopepla.

Our next stop was the Bill Williams River delta at the NWR headquarters building.  Virtually the first birds we saw were a large flock of Common Goldeneye (statebird #2) with a small number of Barrow’s Goldeneyes (statebird #3) mixed in.  On my Barrow’s map below I have now seen this species in many of its typical western and northeastern locations, not to mention WI. 

 I then started scanning for some of the other unusual waterfowl that had been reported from the area.  Other common waterfowl were Clark’s and Western Grebes, and Greater Scaup, with a few Eared Grebes and Canvasbacks mixed in.  After quite a bit of scanning a flock of 200 Common Mergansers flew in, including 1 Red-breasted Merganser (statebird #4).  A little later I was able to pick out a Horned Grebe quite a distance away (statebird #5).  But no luck with the scoters and Long-tailed Duck reported earlier.

So we headed north toward Lake Havasu City to search for some of the rarer waterfowl reported there.  First stop was Rotary Park where both white geese had been reported.  But we could not find any white geese at all.  Did we look in the right places?  There was a pond in the adjacent golf course that we couldn’t figure out how to get to – wonder if they could have been there.  We then scoped Thompson Bay and found 3 loons swimming together – all three were similar in body shape but the one was only 2/3 the size of the others – they were 2 Commons and 1 Pacific Loon.  Not a statebird for me, but a good bird nonetheless.

Next we made several stops along the south, west, and north edges of the peninsula.  Only the water to the north had significant numbers of waterfowl, but almost all were really far away.  Best birds were a flock of 7 Common Loons.

We then headed back south and made another stop at the Bill Williams River delta to try for the scoters.  After a little scanning I was able to pick out 2 immature-plumaged White-winged Scoters at some distance (statebird #6).  Wonder where they were in the morning?  My statebird map for White-winged Scoter has an interesting pattern of virtually all the east and west coast states along with a scattering of inland states.

On a whim we decided to make one last stop before heading back to Phoenix - in the agricultural fields south of Parker to try for Sandhill Cranes.  A number of them had been reported in mid-December on eBird, but there were no recent posts.  We slowly drove south of Parker on Mohave Rd. hoping to see cranes standing in the fields.  About 11 miles south of town I noticed 3 Sandhills flying over the road.  We pulled over and watched them land and join 2 others in an adjacent field – statebird #7.  I wouldn’t have known to look for these birds there if it hadn’t been for eBird. 

Day 2 - Phoenix

The key target of the day was the Rosy-faced Lovebird – recently countable per the ABA.  A number of birders had given me advice as to where to look for them, with 3 suggesting Encanto Park as the number one location.  So we decided to make that the spot to start our day.  We arrived a bit before dawn and parked between the playground and boat house as suggested.  A couple minutes after we arrived we heard the first call notes of the Lovebirds a short distance away.  We walked toward a group of tall palm trees and heard more call notes.  Then I spotted one sitting in the open on a nearby bare deciduous tree.  It was soon joined by several others, and within 30 minutes there were 15 sitting together in the tree.  We could also see 10 birds sitting in another bare deciduous tree – 25 in view at once.  And there were several others calling in nearby trees.  Over the next hour we were almost constantly hearing and seeing Lovebirds.  Interestingly, we saw 2 that had different plumages – one had bright yellow instead of green wings, and one lacked the rosy-red face coloration.  Lifebird #2 and statebird #8.  As we walked around the park I noticed a large goose overhead – it was a White-fronted – statebird #9.  We later saw it in the park’s manmade lake.  An excellent start to the day!

Next stop was Greenwood Cemetery where 2 White-throated Sparrows had been reported with White-crowns in Area 7.  With the help of a map from the cemetery office we quickly drove to Area 7, and within a minute of leaving the car I started to hear White-crown call notes.  We tracked the calls down to a thick oak tree which was full of White-crowns.  After a couple minutes of looking through the tree we could only find White-crowns.  But then another sparrow flew in and it was one of the White-throats – statebird #10.  In addition to their normal range, I’ve now seen White-throats in a couple western states.

Next stop was the Gilbert Water Ranch where several rarities had been reported.  This park was loaded with birds – both landbirds and waterbirds.  The trails were full of Curve-billed Thrashers, Abert’s Towhees, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Notable birds at the ponds were 3 Hooded Mergs and a Common Merg, a number of Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sands and a Snipe.  The first rarity we went after was a Parula Warbler which we found as soon as we got to the correct spot (my 2^nd for AZ).  The stakeout Winter Wren didn’t cooperate though.  Then we went to a spot where a Rufous-backed Robin had been sporadically seen.  Although we had no luck with the robin, we got brief glimpses of a Swamp Sparrow (state bird #11), and a Sora at the same location. 

The next rarity we were off to chase after was a Red-breasted Sapsucker, which apparently is quite a rarity for AZ.  (En route to the sapsucker spot we had a number of Lovebirds flying around the parking lot of a pharmacy in Mesa.)  We had pretty good details for the location of the bird at the Pebble Beach Recreation site within the Tonto National Forest.  But when we arrived I noticed there were quite a number of mature trees that a sapsucker could be visiting, so I wasn’t too optimistic.  However when we stepped up to the first tree at the edge of the recreational area a small woodpecker flew out – it was the Sapsucker! (statebird #12).  We got good looks at the bird over the next 5 minutes as it perched and flew between trees.

The last stop of the day was Camelback Lake in Scottsdale where Ross’ Geese had been reported.  We heard from other local birders that this can be a good spot for Cackling Geese too.  When we pulled up to the edge of the lake the flock of white geese was right below us – 3 Snows and 5 Ross’ (statebird #13).  My statebird map for Ross’ Goose is a pretty good representation of their typical US range.

 The lake had several hundred Canadas, and with quite a bit of searching we eventually found 1 or maybe 2 Cackling Geese mixed in (statebird #14).  While we were looking over the geese we heard frequent Lovebird calls from across the road and saw 1-3 birds in flight several times.

Day 3 - Phoenix

We started pre-dawn at Tres Rios Wetlands which is a remarkable spot at the edge of the Phoenix wastewater treatment plant.  At dawn the sky was filled with Neotropical Cormorants, White-faced Ibis and other waders, dabbling ducks, and yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, all coming out of evening roosts.  Our targets were principally a number or rarities that had been reported there, but I only got one – a calling Red-shouldered Hawk (statebird #15).  I also finally saw a Greater Yellowlegs in AZ (statebird #16) – my shorebird list for AZ is pretty awful.  Adding AZ on my statebird map puts me one step closer to filling in the entire country.  And although there were no other statebirds for me, we had a great time at this site which was just loaded with birds. 

Last stop of the trip was the Glendale Recharge Ponds to try to fill a few more gaps in my shorebird list.  This site has quite a reputation for rarities, though none had been reported recently.  We found shorebirds in 3 different impoundments, including over 500 Least Sandpipers and 300 Long-billed Dowitchers.  We were able to pick out about 6 Westerns and 2 Dunlin (statebird #17) in with the Leasts, and had a Peregrine Falcon come in to grab lunch.  A nice end to the trip.

By the Numbers…

I tallied 125 species on the trip.  The two key targets were the Nutting’s Flycatcher and Rosy-Faced Lovebirds which were Life Birds #733 and 734.  And my 17 statebirds puts my AZ state list up to 292, finally putting me safely above the ABA threshold.

2012 Birding Year in Review

My 2012 birding year was once again pretty exciting, featuring 9 new ABA lifers, great results in New England, and 2 new ABA reportable states. 

By far the highlight of the birding year was a 2-week trip to Alaska, featuring extended stops in Anchorage, and my first ever trips to Nome and Barrow.  This tremendous trip featured seeing all 5 of my target life birds (Arctic Loon, Yellow Wagtail, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Bluethroat, and Spectacled Eider), and a number of rarities like Ivory Gull, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Slaty-backed Gull, and an amazing breeding plumaged white Ruff.  I was also able to get 42 new statebirds that gave me 209 for my Alaska statelist.  That’s nowhere near the ABA threshold of 253, but enough to let me join the Alaska 200 club.

My other successful trip to try for a lifer was to the Rio Grande Valley for the Golden-Crowned Warbler that was being seen at the Frontera Audubon Sanctuary.  I got the warbler within 10 minutes of arriving at Frontera, and spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the local specialties, including seeing what was likely the same Black-vented Oriole that I saw last year.  It was at a Bentsen SP feeding station which was loaded with birds like Green Jays and Altamira Orioles – I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say that I’ve seen enough Green Jays. 

On the downside, not all my trips were successful.  I went on 2 different 1-day trips specifically targeting reasonably reliable lifebirds which unfortunately decided to not cooperate for me.  The first was a Chaffinch coming to a feeder in NJ in January.  The second was the Falcated Duck in CA in February which was seen every day for 3 months except the day I was there and the day before.

My big statebirding trip in 2012 was a May trip to southern NV and southwest UT with my good birding friend David Donsker.  The southwest corner of UT has many desert species that you cannot get anywhere else in UT, so this is a must location for a UT statelister.  I added 31 new UT statebirds which put me safely over the ABA reportable threshold – my 40^th reportable state.  In NV I added 22 new statebirds, to give me 215.  That’s still pretty far from the 242 threshold, but that was only my 4^th trip to the state.  Our last day in NV featured an absolutely amazing fallout at the Corn Creek oasis north of Las Vegas.  In addition to huge numbers of many regular migrants we had several rarities including 1-2 Indigo Buntings, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Black-and-White Warbler, and a Hepatic Tanager.  We finished with 183 species for the entire trip.

Distant male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Cooperative Bendire's Thrasher - framed by Joshua Tree

I also had a number of shorter statebirding trips, typically a day or 2 added to a pre-planned business trip.  These included –

• Southeastern IA in March – I had only been to Iowa once before, and with a paltry statelist of 135 I had lots of potential.  I ended up with 109 species, 43 were new for my list.  Highlights included only my second ever Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Gray Partridges, and several rarities including a flock of White-winged Crossbills, and Thayer’s, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls on the Mississippi River.  The Great Black-back even flew into IL air space so I added it to both statelists.

• Reno, NV area in June – this was a part of the state that I’ve only barely birded, so again lots of target birds.  Although I only had a short day of birding in the area, I added 16 species to my list, including several that you can only get in this part of NV such as close-up looks (my best ever!) at Mountain Quail, White-headed Woodpecker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, and the colony of NV Tricolored Blackbirds.  Also had a visual on a Pygmy Owl (only my second seen bird).  With a statelist at 231, I’m only 11 away from reportable – maybe just 1 more NV trip to go?

• Southeastern Ontario in July – With a family trip to Buffalo, NY I decided to add a day of birding in Ontario.  My ON list was just 102, so adding 45 new species was not too surprising, though 13 species of shorebirds along the rocky shorelines of Lake Erie weren’t expected.

• Southeastern ID in September – I was just 19 short of reportable before my trip, even though I had birded ID for just 5 days.  My shorebird list was limited, so I spent a lot of time at mudflats though admittedly my trip was past the peak of shorebird migration.  I added 21 statebirds (8 of them shorebirds), making it my 41^st reportable state.  My 124 species included the South Hills race of the Red Crossbill – an endemic that may someday be determined to be a separate species.

• Southeastern NM in October – NM had been another state where I had done quite limited birding in the past with a statelist of only 162 before my trip.  I ended up with 109 species, including 35 new statebirds.  That’s still a long way from the ABA reportable threshold of 264, but getting closer.  Several of my statebirds were eastern species near the western limits of their ranges, including White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and Brown Thrasher.  At one location I had Eastern Phoebes interacting with a Black Phoebe – not too many places where that can happen.

On all my trips I received tremendous help from local birders.  Many thanks to all you out there you gave me great advice!  And I’ve really gotten into using eBird to help me find my targets – it’s a great resource.

And of course there’s my New England birding, where I continue on my long-term quest to reach 2,000 statebirds.  2012 was a good year for me with 37 ticks, giving me a total of 1,931.  Four of my New England statebird totals reached magic thresholds during the year –

• MA – reached exactly 400 – my 2^nd state of at least 400
• CT and RI – both reached 300 – 8^th and 9^th states with at least 300
• VT – reached 250

Perhaps my most satisfying new statebird was also a lifer – Red-billed Tropicbird off the coast of Maine.  That was my 4th try for this bird that had been coming to off-shore islands each year since 2006.  This trip required a ferry from the mainland and then a 12-mile trip in a lobster boat to reach Seal Island where we got excellent looks at this wayward bird. 

Another key highlight of the New England year was Superstorm Sandy and all the birds potentially blown off-course by the massive windfield of this storm.  Birds I added to my local statelists possibly brought in by Sandy included Lapwings and a Little Egret in MA, and White Pelican in CT.  

Im. Little Egret

Here’s the year by the numbers -

Lifebirds -

• 9 new ABA and 4 Lower 48 lifebirds –
• Golden-crowned Warbler – Frontera Audubon, TX
• Tropical Mockingbird at Sabine Woods in TX (hopefully the experts will conclude it is a countable bird)
• Arctic Loon, Yellow Wagtail, Bristle-thighed Curlew, and Bluethroat in Nome and Spectacled Eider in Barrow, AK
• Red-billed Tropicbird in ME
• Nanday Parakeet – seen in Tampa in June 2010 and recently added to the ABA list.
• ABA total now at 732, US at 724, and Lower 48 at 709

Statebirding (my statebird maps with totals for each state is inserted below) -

• Newly reportable in UT and ID
• ABA reportable now in 40 states plus DC  
• 260 statebirds added in 17 states, plus 45 more in Ontario
• 37 new statebirds in New England – 1931 total ticks now in New England
• Total Ticks – now at 12,413, with 12,183 of those in the U.S.
• Added state birds in DC (including finding a rarity – White Ibis) to put a bit more room between my total and the threshold

Statebirding will continue to be my priority in 2013.  I’ll be pursuing my lifelong goal of being reportable in all 50 states plus DC – 10 more to go!  I also need to continue to add statebirds in states where I’m just a bit over the ABA threshold since those thresholds continue to inch up over the years.  I have 12 states where although reportable, my total is less than 10 over the threshold, so not very safe.  Chasing after New England statebirds will continue, though they get harder and require more chasing each year.  My goal is to get to 2,000 – with just 69 to go I’m hoping to be just 3 years away from my reaching my target.  Of course I’ll still chase after lifebirds where feasible. 

As for potential 2013 trips - I have a trip planned for AZ in January where my lifebird targets are the returning Nutting’s Flycatcher and the newly ABA-reportable Rosy-faced Lovebirds.  For my big statebirding trip I’m tentatively planning a June trip to southwest ID, northeast NV, eastern OR, and eastern WA.  If all goes well after the trip I could be reportable in NV and OR, and have a lot of room between my totals and the ABA thresholds for WA and ID.  Then there are my regular business trips to various spots around the country, with hoped-for trips into NM, KS, and OK.  Hopefully 2013 will be just as exciting as 2012!

Little Egret, 400th Statebird for Massachusetts, December 2012

Like many birders, working on the statelist in my home state has been one of my key birding objectives for a number of years.  Ever since I moved to MA in the summer of 1993, I’ve been chasing most every MA rarity that I could.  And there have been many rarities to chase.  For such a small state, the Massachusetts statelist of 488 (or more) is remarkable, complete with many megararities, first North American records, firsts for the US Atlantic coast, etc.  And the small size makes it relatively easy to get to most parts of the state.  That is except for some locations that unfortunately happen to be some of the best birding spots in the state, including –

·    Distant islands like Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket requiring a ferry or plane ride to reach and then a bike/taxi/rental car once you get there;

·    Monomoy Island requiring a boat ride and wading to get to the island, and then considerable walking on the island; and

·    Of course those necessary but evil pelagic trips where the best birds are at the edge of the Continental Shelf due east of New Jersey (but in still in MA waters!). 

The difficulty in getting to some of these spots has certainly hampered my quest to grow my MA statelist.

But finally after 19 ½ years of MA birding, I was within reach of the magic 400 threshold in MA.  Number 399 was a great bird – Northern Lapwing.  What would 400 turn out to be?  Just a few days after I got to see the Lapwing came reports about two different sightings of a very late Snowy Egret in Hyannis, though both observers wondered whether it could be a Little Egret.  After several experts reviewed excellent point-blank photos, it was concluded that the bird was indeed an immature Little Egret.  I had chased Little Egret once before in MA without luck, so I definitely wanted to see this one.  And what a great bird for #400 if I could be successful.

It took me two days to free up enough time to make the 2-hour trip to Hyannis, but since the bird had been around for at least a couple weeks I wasn’t too worried.  When I arrived at the location where the bird had been most reliable there were two birders already there and the bird was right in front of us feeding in a tidal channel.  The bird gave us some great views while it actively fed in the shallows.  The photos below show the heavy, sword-like bill which was much heavier than a Snowy, and the bluish-gray lores.  A couple photo show 2 short plumes coming out of the back of the head.  The greenish-yellow coloration of the feet and legs was also atypical for a Snowy.

 

The third picture shows one of its feeding techniques of shuffling its foot in the muddy bottoms to stir up food.

MA is my third state for Little Egret – a species which is becoming a bit more regular in the northeast.  I wonder if this bird was blown into North America by Superstorm Sandy the way the Lapwings were

MA is now my second state with at least 400 species - my TX list is at 412.  But as a percentage of the ABA reporting threshold, my MA list is much better at 164% - my second best list behind NH.

Calliope and Broad-Billed Hummingbirds, Houston, Texas, November 2012

In preparing for a business trip I typically check the local listserves to see if any rarities are being seen nearby.  In advance of my November trip to Houston I noticed that both a Calliope and a Broad-Billed Hummingbird were being seen in Russ Pitman Park right in Houston – both would be new for my TX list.  After a little internet searching I found that the park was only 10 minutes from my hotel, and was quite tiny.  And with good local information from the listserve it seemed like a no-brainer to give it a try before work one morning.

I arrived at the park at 6:40 AM – about 20 minutes before dawn but definitely bright enough to see if any hummingbirds were around.  A cold front had come through the day before and it was in the mid 40’s which was quite cold for Houston.  I only had until about 8:00 before heading off to work, so I was a bit worried that the hummers wouldn’t start their visits in the cold morning temperatures before I had to leave.  Nonetheless, I situated myself close to a bed of shrimp plants near the entrance of the park where the Calliope was apparently most reliable, and waited.  As the time passed I picked up a few good birds like a flyover Pine Siskin, a calling Bobwhite, a Wilson’s Warbler, and a calling Monk Parakeet, but no hummingbirds.  Finally at 7:40 I heard sharp chip notes of a hummingbird coming from a short distance away.  [Many of the wintering hummers I’ve seen have been quite vocal.]  It took me a couple minutes to finally find the Calliope perched in a small tree just a few feet from the flowers - a stunning adult male!  Over the next several minutes it visited the flowers a couple times, always returning to the same perch.  Since it was being so cooperative, I spent a couple minutes trying to take some photos of the bird holding my iPhone up against my binocs.  The best of my miserable pictures is pasted in below – probably would have turned out better if it had perched in the sun. 

A short time later another birder arrived and I was able to get him on the Calliope.  He mentioned that the Broad-billed was most reliable at other patches of shrimp plants in the tiny park, and he gave me directions to those spots.  I decided to head to one patch that was likely in the warm early morning sun, and as soon as I arrived I heard an unfamiliar double-note chattering sound – it was the Broad-Billed!  The bird looked gigantic compared to the tiny Calliope.  It was a young male bird – grayish below with a little blue color in the throat, broad white eye stripe, and only restricted red at the base of the bill.  A long way from adult plumage, but still an attractive bird.  I watched it feed there for a couple minutes, at which point it flew low directly over my head in the general direction of a second patch of shrimp plants.  So I walked over to that garden and I instantly found the bird chipping away there too.  I looked at my watch – it was exactly 8:00.  Perfect timing to add 2 statebirds to my TX list and still be at my first work meeting on time.

My statebird maps for these hummingbirds are starting to show the pattern of vagrancy that these and most of the other hummers exhibit.  I’ve seen Calliope in 10 states – 7 are in its normal range in the west and now 3 are in Gulf Coast or Eastern states.   

And I now have Broad-billed in 6 states –only 1 is in its normal range (AZ).

That gives me 12 species of hummingbirds in Texas – 1 more than for my Arizona list.  And my total Texas statelist is 412 which is my largest single state total.  However, a better way to rank the statelists is to compare them by their relative percentages of the ABA reporting thresholds.  In that regard, I have 8 statelists that are a higher percentage of the ABA reportable limits, led by NH at 175% of reportable compared to TX at 131% of reportable.

Great Cormorant and Hoary Redpoll, Vermont, November 2012

Much of the best birding in Vermont is in the northwestern part of the state at or close to Lake Champlain, which is a long drive from home.  Only occasionally does a possible new statebird show up much closer in southern or eastern VT.  So of course I had to chase after a Great Cormorant when it was found in eastern VT in Windsor in a small freshwater lake named Lake Runnymede.  The Cormorant was quite reliable, preferring to perch on a branch near a gazebo in the adjacent park.  Making things even more interesting was that several birders mentioned seeing a large flock of redpolls in a pumpkin field right next to the lake.  I need Hoary Redpoll for my VT list so certainly worthwhile to scan through the flock if I have time after searching for the Cormorant.

Armed with excellent micro-directions to the Cormorant I took the 2-hour drive to Windsor.  As soon as I arrived at the lake I could see the gazebo in the distance, and right next to it was a bird perched on a low snag.  With the scope I could tell it was a cormorant, and of course most likely the Great Cormorant, but since I was looking into the sun I couldn’t eliminate Double-Crested.  So I took the short walk to the gazebo to get a closer look.  En route I passed along the edge of the pumpkin field and kept my eyes and ears open for redpolls, but with no luck.  When I arrived at the gazebo I took one step inside and instantly saw the Great Cormorant sitting no more than 20 feet away.  Great views of an exceptionally rare bird in Vermont!

Great Cormorant was the 216^th species that I’ve seen in all 6 New England states.  I’ve also seen this species in each Atlantic Coast state except Georgia. 

I had very limited time but thought that since I got the Cormorant so quickly I had at least a few minutes to look for redpolls.  So I went back to the pumpkin patch and quickly noticed a small flock of redpolls as they flew into some weeds in the middle of the field.  I walked out toward the birds but saw they were all Commons.  But a few seconds later a few more flew into those weeds, and then some more.  Soon there were at least 70 birds in a small patch of weeds just about 30 feet away.  A few were quite pale, so I set up the scope and had great closeup views.  The first 3 pale birds I checked all had varying amounts of dark feathers in the undertail coverts so I didn’t jump to any conclusions on them.  But then I looked up and noticed a fourth bird that was even paler.  I put that one in the scope, and with at least 3 minutes of viewing time I saw that it was paler both below and on the scapulars and wings, had pure white undertail coverts, was a bit bigger than the others, and a bit fluffier too.  The only thing that kept me from calling it a Hoary was that I couldn’t tell that it had a shorter bill.  I took a couple phone-scoped photos of the bird which unfortunately were so miserable that they were of no use for the ID.  The next day I spent some time looking at Hoary photos on line and on many their bills were not visibly shorter than the Commons.  So with that last hesitation removed, I concluded that my bird was indeed a Hoary Redpoll.  The next day I contacted Denny Abbott, my NH birding buddy, and he was able to find 2 Hoaries in the flock.

Vermont is my 8^th state for Hoary Redpoll – 4 of which are in New England.  This is shaping up to be a big year for redpolls in New England, so maybe I’ll be able see them in ME and CT and sweep the region. 

Say’s Phoebe, Penacook, NH – November 2012 – First State Record

The theme of this post is – flexibility. 

As the weekend neared my birding plans first focused on getting to Nantucket to look for the Lapwings present for several weeks.  Those plans changed when I was able to see one much more easily that was refound on the mainland in Bridgewater, MA.  So then my plans changed to travel into southern Maine to try for a Western Kingbird that had been present for some time, though the most recent post was now several days old.  I contacted Denny Abbott and made plans to meet him at his house and travel together to Biddeford, ME. 

En route to Denny’s house my phone rang and it was Denny – a Say’s Phoebe had just been found in central NH in the small town of Penacook.  A first NH state record!  No one was sure of precise directions, but I figured that I should change my route to get to Penacook and by the time I arrived directions would be available.  I got off 495, charted a route with my GPS, and soon was heading north instead of northeast to central NH.  A few minutes later I got directions to the bird’s location and was good to go.

I arrived at the Penacook sewage treatment plant within an hour of the news, and found about a half dozen birders there but no one had seen the bird for a few minutes.  It was great habitat for a flycatcher – open fields, lots of low posts to perch on, and a cattle farm and sewage treatment plant with presumably lots of insects even for mid-November.  So the bird was likely still in the area.  A few minutes later came word that the bird was respotted and I joined a group of now nearly 20 birders watching the bird cooperatively perched in the open. 

Other birds in the area included a cooperative flock of at least 30 Common Redpolls and a flyover Lapland Longspur in a flock of Horned Larks.

That was my second Say’s Phoebe for New England – my first was a MA bird in May 2003.  That gives me 348 in NH, out of a total statelist of 402.  At 87% of the total, NH is by far my best statelist.