9th Time’s the Charm for Brown Booby – Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, LA – November, 2017

Brown Boobies have been spotted on the Lake Pontchartrain causeway north of New Orleans going back to 2015, with up to 35 reported on eBird.  That all makes it sound like they would be easy to find.  But - these birds roost under the bridge, and principally only under one short stretch of the bridge.  So when looking for them by car, you have to hope that one or more happens to be flying by along the bridge close enough to ID while you’re driving by at 60+ mph.  And by the way, there is no stopping on the bridge either.  As a result, not surprisingly the 35 birds were reported from a boat.  I’ve had several business trips to the greater New Orleans area the last couple years, and have tried for the Boobies four different times – making 3 round-trip attempts last year and another round-trip earlier this year.  Each time I’ve come up empty.  So that’s 8 individual passes by their known roosting spot.  It’s frustrating to think that the Boobies are likely no more than 20 feet below you but invisible each and every time as you pass by overhead. 

Then in November 2017 I had another business trip to New Orleans, including a day of meetings in Covington requiring another trip on the Lake Pontchartrain causeway.  Although I had no time for birding on this trip, of course my mind went to the Brown Boobies under the causeway.  I did a quick eBird search and they were still being seen.  My north-bound trip up the causeway would be after dark, but I would be able to return the next day in the late afternoon affording me a 9th opportunity to look for my nemesis bird.  I certainly wasn’t very optimistic, but of course I would keep my eyes open just in case.

It was a gray overcast day, so there would be no sun glare which had hampered my viewing on most of my other trips across the causeway.  After I paid my toll I began the drive south, sticking to the slow lane and going about 60 mph.  That was 5 mph below the speed limit, which I had found was about as slow as I could go and not feel like I was presenting a safety hazard to the rest of the traffic on the bridge.  As I went I made numerous quick scans of the air and water to the west, while of course still watching traffic.  Luckily the bridge is very straight.

The “sweet spot” for most of the Booby sightings is generally between mile markers 16 and 18.  That’s just a 2-mile stretch, and at 60 mph that means you are in the prime viewing area for just 2 minutes.  By the time I neared mile marker 18 I realized I hadn’t seen any birds at all.  Usually I see gulls, terns, and pelicans on my trips, so I was starting to think this one would be pretty boring.  But just as my window of opportunity was nearing an end, at mile marker 16.2 I spotted a bird flying about 50 feet over the highway flying east to west.  As it passed nearly directly over my car I could see it had the telltale shape of a Sulid – it was a Brown Booby!!!  And then just seconds later I spotted a second bird flying northbound at eye-level – it passed right by my car no more than 20 feet away – another Brown Booby! 

You know the old saying – “ninth time’s the charm” – well something like that.  That’s certainly the most attempts I’ve ever made for any given species in my birding career.

Brown Booby was #275 for my LA list, which was my fifth state for this ABA rarity.

South Polar Skua, Point Judith, Narragansett, RI, September, 2017

Over the years I’ve added some really nice statebirds in every New England state except CT following close calls with hurricanes.  It all started when Hurricane Earl passed by the New England coast in September 2010 and I was lucky enough to see a Sabine’s Gull and a South Polar Skua fly by at First Encounter Beach in MA.  And then in August 2011 I guessed right and traveled to Quabbin Reservoir in MA immediately after the eye of Hurricane Irene passed right overhead and had an amazing White-tailed Tropicbird and several Sooty Terns.  Plus over the next several days I added Sanderling in VT, Brown Pelican and Sooty Tern in RI, and Black Skimmer in ME - all attributed to the passage of Irene.  But a couple other times I’ve guessed wrong and missed multiple hurricane-blown rarities, and other times I’ve headed to the coast following a storm and saw nothing.  It’s important to be in the right place at the right time.

So it was with great anticipation that I watched forecasts of the projected path of Hurricane Jose in September 2017.  The storm was predicted to travel northeast a short distance off the coast as far as the Mid-Atlantic States.  Then Jose was forecasted to take a sharp turn to the east sparing a direct hit on New England.  That track would result in strong easterly winds on the south coast of New England as the storm passed by to the south.  And if all that came together, a seawatch from the RI coast could be quite productive, hopefully yielding open ocean birds that had been blown to the west.  I need both Red-necked and Red Phalaropes in RI, so maybe I’d get lucky and the winds would divert a few Phalaropes to the west as they passed by on their regular migration routes down the coast.  Given these conditions, Point Judith was likely the best spot from which to do a seawatch.  So my plans were set to be at Point Judith early the next morning. 

But when I work up the next day I saw that the actual track of Jose had been a bit farther east than predicted.  That meant that the forecasted east winds were now out the north instead.  That would blow birds away from the RI coast instead of closer to shore.  I was tempted to cancel my plans altogether, but since I had already cleared my calendar, and I love doing seawatches regardless of the weather, I stuck with my plans and headed out for my 2-hour drive to the RI coast. 

When I arrived at the lighthouse at Point Judith there were quite a number of sightseers already there watching the angry seas.  But the wind was blowing hard out of Narragansett Bay making viewing conditions difficult.  So I quickly decided to relocate to nearby south-facing Camp Cronin, where I could be a bit protected from the wind.  As I arrived I found a flock of about 60 Laughing Gulls (mostly immatures) feeding in the churned up waters just off shore.  Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find anything better in the flock.  Then I turned my attention to the west and watched the waves overtopping the jetty that protects Galilee harbor – pretty amazing.  Here is a picture I took through my windshield of the jetty in the distance.

But now it was time to get down to doing the seawatch.  Winds were out of the north-northeast, at maybe 15-25 mph, and it was only raining occasionally.  Visibility was quite good – Block Island was visible.  All in all – surprisingly good conditions for a seawatch.  Now I just needed the birds to cooperate.

I started to scan the open waters and quickly picked out my first Shearwater flying east to west – it was a Cory’s.  Additional scans yielded more Cory’s Shearwaters – most were single birds with an occasional group of up to 4.  I would end up with 40 Cory’s plus 2 Greats, and another 4 others that were too far out to ID, all flying east to west.  But despite the good early passage of Shearwaters, I didn’t spot any more in the afternoon. 

Throughout the morning there was also a steady stream of Common Terns flying by.  Interestingly, virtually all were flying west to east - opposite of the direction of the Shearwaters.  But I couldn’t find any other tern species mixed in.  There were also quite a number of Herring Gulls passing by, mostly first year birds.  And with the exception of one 3rd-year Lesser Black-back, there no unusual gulls either.

By noon the movement of birds had slowed down quite a bit, and successive scans picked up few birds at all.  But then on one of my scans I briefly spotted a bird low to the water far to the east that was all dark, very heavy-bodied, and broad-winged.  Although I only saw the bird for a couple seconds before it disappeared behind a swell, I instantly thought it could be a Skua.  Luckily a few seconds later it reappeared as it rose a bit above the waves, and I got an extended view as it continued to fly west.  It had white patches at the base of the primaries typical of Skuas and Jaegers.  And it was really big!  Now that the bird was closer (as close as the closest Cory’s that flew by) I could see it was much heavier bodied than a Jaeger.  For a while the bird chased after a Great Black-backed Gull and the bird was only a little smaller.  It was definitely a Skua – but which species?  I continued to follow the bird for at least a full minute and saw no pale mantle or body feathers, this eliminating Great Skua.  It was a South Polar Skua – quite a rarity for RI.  Eventually the bird disappeared off to the southwest out of sight.  And to think I was just hoping for maybe a Phalarope to pass by – I never expected something as rare as a Skua!  

South Polar Skua was #326 for my RI list.  I’ve now seen this pelagic species in ME, MA, RI and Nova Scotia.

And it was a nice addition to my list of hurricane-assisted birds in New England! Speaking of hurricane-assisted birds, my Skua was the only bird reported from anywhere in New England associated with the hurricane that would have been a new statebird for me.  That is except for a state-first Blue-footed Booby that was picked up on Cape Cod and taken to a rehabilitator.  So it looks like I guessed right at least for this hurricane!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, ME, 9/17

While taking a break from chores around the house I opened my e-mails to see what might be around.  Needless to say my attention was instantly drawn to one that had just been posted with this subject line – “FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth”.  I’ve seen this South American vagrant in New England in MA, NH, and CT, but still needed it in ME, so of course I wanted to run right out and chase after it.  However as is often the case, I had commitments that day and could not go twitching.  And worse yet, I couldn’t go out the next day either.  Would the bird still be around on Day 3?  Vagrant Fork-tails will often stick around for a while, so I tried to be optimistic that I might still have the chance to see it in a couple days.

The e-mails and eBird Alerts continued throughout Day 1, and then luckily continued through most of Day 2 as well.  The bird was being reasonably reliable, though it was more difficult to find when a cooler fog bank engulfed the farm.  Under those conditions the flycatcher’s food was likely less active, so the bird was not surprisingly less visible feeding from lower perches.  All sightings were around the North Meadow, and since I’ve birded Gilsland Farm before, I had a general idea of the habitat and trails in this area.  With a bit of research I compiled a pretty good list of areas where the bird had been seen over those 2 days – basically any perch around the perimeter or in the middle of North Meadow.  It would be a large area to cover, but I was hopeful that there would be lots of eyes looking for it when I finally had a chance to give it a try. 

I left the house pre-dawn on Day 3 to make the 2-hour drive to Falmouth.  Just after dawn I saw a post that the Fork-tail was refound that morning, but the weather was once again cool and foggy at Gilsland Farm, so the bird was not being very cooperative.  But at least it was still around!

I arrived at 8 AM and quickly noticed 3 birders out in the middle of North Meadow.  I made my way down to them and one of the birders was the person who had spotted the target bird earlier that morning.  Unfortunately it had not been seen for at least an hour.  Soon thereafter I came upon a birding tour group who had decided to stop at a spot with a nice overlook of virtually the entire North Meadow in hopes of spotting the bird on an exposed perch.  And then minutes later the leader of that group got a phone call from another birder on site saying he had refound the bird.  After a few anxious seconds of searching, I spotted the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in the distance hunkered down in an apple tree.  The pressure was off, but I wanted to get much better views of this most attractive adult bird and its long tail feathers.

After a short walk I made my way down much closer to the apple tree where the Flycatcher had been spotted earlier.  The bird was still there, but mostly obscured by foliage.  Eventually I got some better views of the bird, and was able to get this passable phonescoped shot of it in the fog.

A couple minutes later it flew down to some shrubs in front of me and began to eat berries, providing this “Kodak moment”.

Satisfied with these great looks, I began my short walk out of the park, only to realize that the bird had flown into trees right in front of me.  So of course I had to stop to get a few more phonescoped shots of this amazing bird.  Unfortunately the thick fog limited picture quality quite a bit (not that phonescoped pictures are ever very good quality).

I headed back to my car very satisfied with my great views of this spectacular Fork-tailed Flycatcher, which was #341 for my ME list.  

Third Time is the Charm for Common Ringed Plover – Lifebird, Westport, MA, September, 2017

My track record trying to pursue Common Ringed Plover has been a frustrating one, with two close calls in the past.  The first came in May 2013 when one was spotted on Plum Island, MA, just over an hour away from home.  I was monitoring the MASSBIRD listserve when the post came across that day just after the sighting was confirmed, meaning I could have dropped everything to chase after it.  Unfortunately I was in Ohio at the time, though on a birding trip to Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario.  In fact I was at birding hotspot Magee Marsh in Ohio when I spotted the post.  Ordinarily being at Magee Marsh in May would be a good thing.  But the 2 days I was there were extremely slow (one local birder called them “dead”), which was why I was spending more time checking my e-mails than I was birding.  The Plover was seen by many birders over its 4-day stay in MA, but was long gone by the time I got home.

My next close encounter came in September 2016 in Baie Missisquoi in southern Quebec just across the border from VT.  I birded Baie Missisquoi on my first day in the area finding some locally rare shorebirds including Long-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, and Baird’s Sandpiper.  Plus there were many Semipalmated Plovers.  I spent the next day birding in northern VT unfortunately seeing few birds of interest.  That night after returning home I checked the Quebec listserve to see which of my finds might be still around.  There were a flurry of posts, which after some French-English translation, revealed that a Common Ringed Plover had been found at the same spot I birded the day before.  The bird was seen all day long while I was less than 25 miles to the south in VT.  Could it have been in with all the Semi Plovers I saw the day before?  Needless to say, a very frustrating turn of events.

Then fast forward to September 2017 – a post came across MASSBIRD saying that an immature Common Ringed Plover was discovered at Gooseberry Neck in Westport.  And although the bird was re-spotted several times during the day, I couldn’t break free – hate it when work gets in the way of birding.  But the next day was a definite possibility.  Although I had to fly out on a business trip that day, I had an early afternoon flight which would give me a couple hours to try for the bird in the early morning.  Of course I’d have to hope that the bird would continue and not be a one-day wonder.

The next morning I was out of the house early and arrived at Gooseberry Neck at about 8.  I figured I could stay until about 10:30 before I had to head to the airport, so I was optimistic that would give me enough time assuming the Plover had stuck around.  But there were no sightings of the bird yet when I arrived.  I could see a fair number of birders up ahead on the eastern side of the peninsula looking for the bird.  Another birder at the northern end of the peninsula suggested I bird down the western shoreline to search additional habitat.  Although that would be a logical option, I worried that if I headed down that way on my own I wouldn’t find out if the bird was spotted elsewhere.  What to do?  And then just a minute later that same birder got a text that the Ringed Plover had been spotted at the southern tip of the peninsula.  Good thing I didn’t head off on my own!

It seemed to take forever to make my way the 3/4 mile to the southern tip of Gooseberry Neck.  Especially the last several hundred yards which required walking on large round rocks along the shore – good way to break an ankle especially if you’re rushing to see a lifebird.  Finally I reached the tip and saw several birders together with scopes pointed south.  Within seconds they had me on the Common Ringed Plover – success.  I was able to get several phonescoped shots of this quite cooperative bird.

I also heard it give its distinctive and unique call.  Although I would have never been able to identify it by call on my own, I’m pretty sure I would have realized that the call was something I had never heard before.  

Common Ringed Plover was #414 for me in MA, and either #749 or #750 for my ABA list.  The indecision on my part is whether to count the recently split Cassia (aka South Hills) Crossbills which I most likely saw and heard in Idaho a couple years back.

“Pelagic” Birding in VT (and NY) on Lake Champlain, September 2017

Pelagic – adjective; of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea.

That is the definition of the word “pelagic” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.  There’s certainly no “open sea” in VT.  But one of the key birding attractions in VT in fall is to hope to see pelagic birds on Lake Champlain.  Although landlocked, Lake Champlain attracts quite a nice collection of typically “open sea” birds like Jaegers, Kittiwakes, Sabine’s Gulls, and even rarer species.  Many think the pelagic birds seen on Lake Champlain have passed down the St. Lawrence seaway and eventually make their way to the lake on their southbound migration routes.  Or perhaps these birds are just taking an overland route south and are at least momentarily attracted to pelagic-like, almost normal, habitat at this large body of water.  In any case, these are exciting rarities to try for especially in this landlocked state.

Passage of the pelagics is especially associated with certain weather conditions.  Typically they are seen following a frontal passage on northwest winds.  They are often spotted from shore, with a preferred location being the Charlotte Town Beach.  I have done a few lake-watches from this spot in the past but have not had any success, mostly because my trips haven’t coincided with the passage of the fronts. 

Plus in the last few years, Allan Strong has set up boat trips on Lake Champlain to look for pelagics.  The first of these trips occurred in October 2013 a day after a front, with remarkable success.  I added 3 statebirds to my VT list that day – Little Gull, Red Phalarope, and “Jaeger, sp.” (an unidentified bird at considerable distance).  Plus there was a tremendous passage of geese, ducks, loons, and grebes that day.  The next trip was in September 2015, when summer-like weather resulted in next to no migration and no pelagics.  That’s the nature of pelagic birding in general, and more specifically pelagic birding in VT.

The next boat trip was planned for early September of 2017, timed to be at the peak of Jaeger migration.  Luckily I would be able to squeeze it in between business trips, so I signed up to go.  My plan was to arrive in the area the evening before, get a hotel in Burlington, and be ready to go on the boat the next day.  And since the boat didn’t leave the dock until 9:30, I could spend a couple hours at the Charlotte Town Beach doing an early morning lake watch before heading to the boat.  Plus as the trip neared it appeared that I could arrive early enough to do a bit of land birding the evening before, with the key target being Orange-crowned Warbler which continues to elude me in VT. 

My plans were set – now I just needed to hope for the right weather conditions.  As the pelagic neared, the weather forecasts were looking promising.  The day before the trip would be showery, preceding the passage of a cold front overnight, followed by northwesterly breezes the day of the pelagic.  I would have preferred the winds to be a bit stronger after the front, but I would take it.

I arrived in northern VT the evening before the pelagic, with just enough time to bird the Whitney Creek area in Addison.  This spot has nice brushy undergrowth that has featured quite a number of Orange-crowned Warblers over the years.  Luckily the rain had stopped just before I arrived.  But despite lots of spishing and playing a bit of tape, there were few migrants of any type, and certainly no Orange-crown.  It was a long shot, but still worth the try since I don’t often get to this Orange-crown hot spot in northwestern VT.

The next morning I arrived at the Charlotte Town Beach on Lake Rd. just as it was getting light.  Skies were partly cloudy, and there were light breezes out of the northwest.  Visibility was quite good, though there was a bit of heat shimmer coming off the water.  All things considered, pretty nice viewing conditions.

I sat on a bench at the park and started my scans.  Unfortunately it was quite slow.  I spotted occasional flocks of Cormorants heading south, and the ever-resent Ring-billed Gulls milling about, but little else.  Three continuing Sanderlings on the beach were nice.  But certainly not my targets.  A little later my VT birding friend Hank Kaestner arrived to join in the scans, but we continued to come up empty.

But just then I spotted a medium-sized dark bird rise up off the water a short distance out.  It was flying much more tern-like than an immature Herring Gull – the only other option for an all dark Larid – it was a Jaeger!  But what species?  Both of us followed the bird for a couple minutes, and during most of this time the bird lazily flew around the lake, sometimes even rising quite high and soaring out over the water.  At one point it chased a Ring-bill and it was a bit smaller than the Gull.  All the while we could hardly see any white in the base of the primaries, and the bird was very sleek-bodied.  I was now starting to think that this could be a Long-tailed Jaeger.  After the bird flew north out of site, we started to compare notes.  In addition to my observations, Hank also commented that this bird was more gray than brown and rufous seen on Parastics and Pomarines.  We both agreed that this was indeed a Long-tailed Jaeger.  Not bad for the only pelagic bird I saw on the lakewatch.

I’ve now seen Long-tailed Jaeger in only 5 states – in AK as a breeder; in CA, NH, and MA on pelagic trips, and now from shore in VT (see my statebird map below).  And although new for my VT list, it replaces my earlier “Jaeger, sp.” sighting, so no net addition on my list.

Then it was off to the boat trip, where I was joined by about 10 other birders all keenly hoping for more pelagic species.  The trip started pretty slowly, with a few migrant flocks of Cormorants and Canada Geese, but no other obvious migrants.  We passed by a few feeding flocks of gulls, in each case hoping to find a Jaeger in their midst, but to no avail.  Although there was a breeze out of the northwest, it must have been too light to usher in our pelagic targets.

A bit later the boat made its way toward the middle of Lake Champlain just a bit east of the VT/NY stateline.  We continued to come by a few feeding flocks of gulls, with some of those gulls coming over to the boat to feed on the chum Allan was throwing.  And then in one of the gull flocks I spotted a gull with large white triangular wing patches – Sabine’s Gull!!!  I soon got the rest of the boat on this immature bird, and we successfully chased it a bit farther west where we got close looks as it fed.  And then the bird became attracted to the chum and came over right next to the boat.  Birders with nice cameras and lenses got amazing photos of the Sabine’s – I got these miserable shots just holding up my cell phone.

We continued to watch the bird as it flew a bit farther west eventually getting into NY waters.  One of the rare times where one single bird has passed over a stateline giving me ticks in two different states - #280 for me in VT and #282 for NY.  I’ve seen Sabine’s Gull only twice before in the in East (in MA and NH), plus once in AK.  And my personal Sabine’s jackpot was seeing flocks of hundreds of birds while on my sole CA pelagic trip years ago.

Later on in the trip I spotted a distant immature Jaeger flying by to the west.  Although we tried to chase after it, we couldn’t refind the bird, which would unfortunately have to stay as another “Jaeger, Sp.” – and likely in NY waters.  Though while trying to refind the Jaeger we did come up with a late Black Tern, which would turn out to be the last bird of interest for the trip. 

Although we didn’t have many pelagics on the trip, the Sabine’s was quite amazing.  And of course the Long-tailed Jaeger from shore was special too.  The other Jaegers will have to wait till another time.

Two Southeastern Rarities in Ocean County NJ, September 2017

I used to bird in NJ quite a bit while growing up in Maryland - when I moved away from the Mid-Atlantic region for good in 1993 I had a respectable 240 on my NJ statelist.  And then over the next several years I would have frequent business trips to the Garden State, allowing me to add a few birds here and there, increasing my list to 277 by 2009.  But then my work responsibilities changed and I had no more NJ trips for quite a while. 

Then in September 2017 an impromptu trip to Princeton came up.  These meetings were actually supposed to be in Houston, but the location was changed due to all the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.  I would likely have a free morning during the trip, plus I would be coming in the evening before, so I would have a little free birding time in the area.  As soon as my trip was confirmed my thoughts went to pursuit of the most common NJ bird that I still needed for my statelist – Barred Owl.  In fact, missing Barred Owl in NJ may well be the most glaring gap in any of my statelists.  Per my statebird map below, I’ve seen or heard Barred Owl throughout almost all of its eastern range, plus in WA and OR in its expanding western range.  But I still needed it in NJ!

I planned to arrive in northern NJ in the evening, and with some eBird research for likely Barred Owl locations, decided to try for it at dusk at the Great Swamp NWR.  I’ve birded Great Swamp in the past, even trying for Barred Owl there, but this time I hoped for a more successful visit.  After all, it is a quite common bird in the proper habitat.

As for my free morning, I first thought about trying for passerine migrants at spots near Princeton.  But my eBird Needs Alerts didn’t come up with too many realistic possibilities.  Then I noticed multiple records of Mississippi Kite at a “stakeout” hotspot in Ocean County.  I was hoping to stay closer to Princeton, but this location was only about an hour and 15 minutes away, and this likely represented the most reliable possible statebird for me.  That is assuming the Kites hadn’t migrated south yet.  And just before my trip a pair of Wood Storks were reported at a wetlands just 10 minutes from the Kite location.  Despite the longer drive time, I would still have plenty of time to try for both the Kite and Storks and still get back to Princeton before my meetings started.  That gave me 3 targets to pursue – my plan was set.

The day of my drive to NJ was hot and muggy, with the possibility of evening thunderstorms.  As I got close to the New York City area the skies were looking ominous, though the storms seemed to be mostly north of the city.  But then as I got into NJ storms were now just to the west – I crossed my fingers they would hold off until after dusk.  When I arrived at Great Swamp right around sunset the good news was it hadn’t started to rain yet; the bad news was it was extremely windy – miserable conditions to try to hear an Owl.  I got out of my car and with the noise of the wind blowing through the trees I didn’t even give owling a try.  And then it started to rain, so I just cut my losses and headed to my hotel, once again unable to fill the biggest gap in my NJ (or any) statelist.  Hopefully the next day would be more successful.

My first target that morning was a stakeout location in Waretown where Mississippi Kites had bred at least since 2015.  Up to 3 birds had been reported at this spot up through the day before my trip, so I was hopeful that I could find them quickly.  The problem was finding the correct location.  Not surprisingly these birds were “old news” by the end of their third breeding season there, and few eBird reports gave detailed locations for the birds.  I also read about a preferred roost tree, which photos showed to be a tall dead deciduous tree, but I couldn’t be sure of the location of the tree.  Plus the Kites were reported from literally dozens of different locations in the general vicinity.  So my plan was to head to the GPS coordinates of the eBird stakeout hotspot, and then keep my eyes open as I arrived in the area. 

Morning traffic was a bit tough that morning, but I eventually got to the general area and slowly drove through the suburban neighborhood that the Kites had called home – it looked a lot like the neighborhood where Kites have nested in NH for the last several years.  I got to the location of the hotspot (at the corner of Walker Lane and Elizabeth Avenue), and prepared to pull over to park.  Just then I looked up and saw a tall dead tree, and spotted a small raptor flying from the tree and heading down the road in front of me – it was the Mississippi Kite.  I had apparently pulled in right beneath its preferred roost tree and unfortunately flushed it from its roost.  That certainly wasn’t my plan. 

NJ was my 23rd state for Mississippi Kite.  Although I still need it AL and VA within its regular southeastern range, I’ve seen it in a number of states in the Midwest and Northeast as part of this species’ apparent attempt at range expansion.

Given my fleeting looks at the bird, I was hoping that it would soon come back to its roost tree.  So I stepped a short distance away to wait its return.  Unfortunately a couple minutes later several cars arrived dropping kids off to a school bus stop at that same intersection.  Finally, fifteen minutes later the bus arrived and the moms headed out of the area.  And now that it had quieted down, I was once again hopeful the Kite would return.  As I waited a pair of local birders arrived, but despite 3 pairs of eyes, we had no other sightings of the Kite in its tree or overhead. 

I was beginning to run short of time, and started to think that I should head out to try for the Wood Storks.  I mentioned the Storks to the other birders, and they were planning to look for them as well.  So with no additional Kite sightings, we decided to give the Storks a try, and we could then come back to try for the Kites again if there was time. 

I followed the local birders to the Bayshore Drive Impoundments section of Forsythe NWR.  We first went to an observation deck on the north side of the impoundments, and found quite a number of waders, but no Storks.  I then mentioned that one sighting the day before mentioned seeing the birds “from the north end of the public beach deck”, and if the eBird location was correct, that would be just a mile or so around the bend on the east side of the impoundments.  So we decided to try to find that spot.

As we got to the public beach we could see a long deck paralleling the beach that was 4 or 5 feet above the parking lot.  We walked up on the deck and looked toward the impoundments to the west, and although the extra elevation was helpful, we still only had limited line of sight into the wetlands.  But since the post mentioned the north end of the deck, we walked to the far north end and looked from there.  Sure enough we had a much better view of the impoundments, and we all simultaneously spotted a pair of large white waders in the far distance.  I got them in the scope and sure enough they were the Wood Storks.  Despite being roughly a half mile away, I got this barely passable phonescoped photo of one of the Storks with a much smaller Egret in the foreground.

NJ was my 10th state for Wood Stork, and my second as a rarity along with MA.

With that one checked off pretty quickly, I still had time to give the Kites one last try.  I headed back to the roost tree, and waited around for a few minutes, but with no luck.  It turns out that my sighting was the last one at this site on eBird for the year before.  Luckily that last bird decided to wait to begin its southbound migration until I was able to see it.    

Adding the Kite and Stork brings my NJ statelist up to 279.  And although I sure would have loved to finally get a Barred Owl in NJ, all things considered, I’d rather add the rarities to my list.  The Barred Owl will have to wait until another trip.

MacGillivray’s Warbler, Odiorne Point State Park, First NH Record, September 2017

“Probably MacGillivray’s Warbler at Odiorne along east side of Boy Scout Trail” – that was the text that came across on Steve Mirick’s rare bird text chain.  Then a few minutes later I received this text – “DEFINITELY a MacGillivray’s Warbler”.  A first NH state record!  It was early Labor Day morning and I wanted to run right out of the house to give it a try.  But I had all day commitments at home and couldn’t break free. 

But what about tomorrow?  If it stuck around I could head out pre-dawn, and maybe even get back home before anyone was awake.  But that would be a big if.  Sometimes fall migrants stick around for a few days, but often they are one-day wonders.  The bird continued to be seen off and on into the early afternoon so that was good news.  And with southerly winds predicted overnight, perhaps the bird wouldn’t want to continue to migrate south.  That is if this western rarity even wanted to migrate south at all.  So I planned for an early trip to Odiorne Point State Park the next morning, optimistically hoping for the bird to continue at least into that next day.  Not surprisingly the MacGillivray’s had spent much of its time skulking in low vegetation, especially patches of goldenrod, right along the trail.  And most importantly, it was often quite vocal, giving series of sharp chip notes reminiscent of a Cardinal.  So I had a good idea where to look and what to listen for.

I arrived at Odiorne at about 7 AM and quickly headed to the beginning of the Boy Scout Trail as it’s called just off the southern tip of the parking lot.  As I arrived at the first patch of goldenrod I could see 3 other birds up ahead – they hadn’t had the bird but had just arrived.  It was a pretty chilly morning and likely this insect-eater’s food wouldn’t be active yet, so perhaps the target bird wouldn’t be moving around yet either.

I started to head back to the car to get a light jacket, and just as I neared the beginning of the trail I heard several sharp chip notes coming from the brush.  I stopped in my tracks, and listened intently – there it was again.  I got another birder on these chip notes, which soon became louder.  We both peered into the vegetation where they were coming from, but saw no movement.  Then it was silent.  I turned to the other birder and remarked that I thought that was the MacGillivray’s.  The birder I was with happened to have heard and seen the bird yesterday, and she agreed that those call notes sounded like what she had heard yesterday. 

So the bird was still around, but now I wanted a visual.  Unfortunately I had no other activity from the thicket for quite some time – no visuals or other chip notes.  It was now 8 AM and there were at least a dozen birders there with me searching for the bird.  But no one had any sightings.  Then I heard the sharp chip notes again, and got another birder on the calls.  We listened as the MacGillivray’s gave a series of 12-15 call notes from low in the goldenrod thicket.  Then it was quiet again.  The calls were coming from just 15 feet away but we saw no movement at all.  Very frustrating…  I stayed until about 8:45 when I had to head home, confident in the fact that I had heard the bird, but disappointed that I didn’t have a visual.

Later in the day there was one brief visual sighting of the MacGillivray’s from this area, and another sighting the next day as well.  And then amazingly the bird was re-sighted about a week later elsewhere in the park, a good half mile away!  Maybe it will stick around well into the fall.

MacGillivray’s Warbler was #364 for my NH list, joining MA as my only New England state for this rare western vagrant.  I’ve also seen this species throughout much of its regular western range in the US and Canada, though I still need it in AZ and MT as a regular breeder.  Not to mention I found one years ago as a rare spring migrant in ND.  (see my state and province maps below)