a little luck is better than none

So On thursday I got a brief glimpse of the Northern Hawk Owl in NH - I saw it just as I was arriving as it flew across the road and landed on a utility pole... I hung around for 3 hours but it wasn't until 4 hours that it was found again -- no photos but hey at least I saw it!  Perhaps I will chase it down again soon.

Best Birding Day Ever for Me - Including a Red Phalarope

OK so its been over a month and hopefully that NEVER happens again!  But I will make it up to you by my impressive one day total (a lifetime high for me but hopefully I will out-do myself soon!).  

It was Bioblitz day at Odiorne State Park on the Seacoast of NH so I spent most of my day IDing birds with all of the birders.  I even had a few that I called first (a good feeling indeed).  

Then in the evening a few of us headed over to Exeter to check out a Red Phalarope that was reported and we sure enough saw it!  It was in the waste water treatment plant with a bunch of Green and Blue Winged Teal, Mallards, and a Ruddy Duck.

Some of the other highlights of the day including releasing a bird (A Northern Waterthrush) from a mist-net after the banders measured it (they also had a Magnolia Warbler when I was there which was very neat to examine so closely).  This was right after we called out a Virginia Rail from the marsh AND saw my first ever Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow.  

I had a great time with friends and also ID'ed plants and shared some of my botanical knowledge around.  

The Overall list for me for the day was:

1. American Black Duck
2. American Crow
3. American Goldfinch
4. American Redstart
5. American Robin
6. Barn Swallow
7. Belted Kingfisher
8. Black-and-white Warbler
9. Black-bellied Plover
10. Black-capped Chickadee
11. Black-crowned Night Heron
12. Blackpoll Warbler
13. Blue Jay
14. Blue-headed Vireo
15. Blue-winged Teal
16. Bonaparte’s Gull
17. Canada Goose
18. Carolina Wren
19. Cedar Waxwing
20. Common Eider
21. Common Yellowthroat
22. Double-crested Cormorant
23. Downy Woodpecker
24. Dunlin
25. Eastern Bluebird
26. Eastern Phoebe
27. European Starling
28. Golden-crowned Kinglet
29. Gray Catbird
30. Great Black-backed Gull
31. Great Blue Heron
32. Great Cormorant
33. Great Egret
34. Greater Yellowlegs
35. Green-winged Teal
36. Herring Gull
37. Horned Grebe
38. House Finch
39. Laughing Gull
40. Magnolia Warbler
41. Mallard
42. Marsh Wren
43. Merlin
44. Mourning Dove
45. Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow
46. Northern Cardinal
47. Northern Flicker
48. Northern Gannet
49. Northern Mockingbird
50. Northern Pintail
51. Northern Waterthrush
52. Peregrine Falcon
53. Prairie Warbler
54. Red Phalarope
55. Red-eyed Vireo
56. Red-necked Grebe
57. Red-tailed Hawk
58. Red-winged Blackbird
59. Ring-billed Gull
60. Rock Pigeon
61. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
62. Ruddy Duck
63. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
64. Sanderling
65. Savannah Sparrow
66. Semipalmated Plover
67. Semipalmated Sandpiper
68. Snowy Egret
69. Song Sparrow
70. Spotted Sandpiper
71. Surf Scoter
72. Swamp Sparrow
73. Tree Swallow
74. Turkey Vulture
75. Virginia Rail
76. Yellow Warbler
77. Yellow-rumped Warbler
78. Tern sp.

Seacoast birding

Saturday list:

Spotted Sandpiper


Semipalmated Sandpiper (Front Below)
Least Sandpiper (Back Below)


White Rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover


Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Short Billed Dowitcher
Willet (Eastern Subspecies)
Sanderling


Ruddy Turnstone


Great Black Backed Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Common Eider
Double-Crested Cormorant
Horned Grebe
E. Starlings
M. Dove
R. Pigeon
House Sparrows
(POSSIBLE) Wilsons Phalarope
Fish Crow
Mallard
Grackle

woot a 30 bird day!

No Such Thing as Yellow Headed Blackbirds

So after a Sun-Thurs trip that looked something like this:

Sun am - leave Boston, fly to Detroit
Sun midday - leave Detroit, fly to Chicago, leave Chicago en route via car to MN
Sun late PM - arrive Twin Cities area
Mon-Wed midday - work
Wed midday - Begin trip to Chicago
Wed pm - arrive Chicago, promptly hit the hay
Thurs AM - train ride to see Jamie, then roam around until time for lunch
Thurs midday - leave Chicago, Fly to Detroit
Thurs PM - Leave Detroit, fly to Boston, have dinner, arrive UNH late.

So as I was saying... I have determined Yellow-Headed Blackbirds don't exist - or at least that I am never going to see one.

OK that makes no sense to anyone but me but thats alright. I'll get to the point - all in all the trip was good, we got a lot done, I didn't see any new birds, but did have a nice spot of Mourning Warbler in the greater St. Paul area. St. Paul itself is a lovely city. Good coffee shops, nice ice cream stores, beautiful buildings, and the traffic at night was easy.

I don't really have much else to say other than I have tons of typing work to do and plenty of migration to catch up on... so thats my update for now.

Wasping, Birding, Baseballing

One thing I've noticed is that you can take any word and make it a verb by adding "ing" in the science world: Botany - botanizing, birds - birding, and even wasps to wasping apparently.

I learned this by helping one of the research students carefully identify wasps for her project last week and actually had a pretty good time.

my idea of "helping"

Then after much more hard work on the beach sitting out under the sun after finishing my management plans I took off for a saturday-sunday trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes. While 4/6 of us went down the Platte on tubes, Adam and I took off down the beach to find Piping Plovers: a bird that I saw once long ago and didn't even recognize its importance due to being bird-illiterate at the time.

In front of the piping plover nesting area

They are a very rare bird because they have very little breeding habitat left because they prefer beaches with some cobbley areas for nesting. When a nest is discovered its such a big deal that they mark the area off to prevent people from intruding so that the bird can nest. The beach in those areas is also kept free of dogs and animals during the year.

Young Piping plover and white rumped sandpiper (we think)

We had extrodinary luck and saw 7 fabulous individuals - 6 juvies and 1 adult. We found them in the area of their nesting site off of a good tip from a park ranger. Luck was on our side as migration has already started and no one had seen the plovers in a few days and suspected that they had taken off.

The next day, after camping in a back country site 1 mile in, Adam, Micah, and I took off for the scenic drive leaving 3 others behind. We had a great time and visited my favorite place to watch a sunset (despite not getting to see the sunset) in Michigan. The overlook is a dune drop off of 450 feet which some people roll or run down. Adam carried Micah the entire way (not really).

Adam and Micah "climbing" part of the dune

On our way to the dune we of course stopped randomly on the side of the road to pick up a good look at some Sandhill cranes, including one juvy. Here we also heard grasshopper sparrow, saw vespers sparrow, and saw eastern meadowlark.

Stopping on the side of the road to look at birds

Finally we trecked back to AuSable and made it in time for lunch without stopping for either of the hawks we saw - redtail and northern goshawk. It was my last "Messiah" weekend for a long long time... But certianly not the last time we'd hang out - as even yesterday we drove into town to watch the Sox beat the Yanks 9-2 when Jon Lester pitched.

Only a few more days remain. It makes me sad - I'll miss these people but new fun awaits.

Catching Up

OK so a lot has happened since my last post due to some computer breakage (more on that in a later post I'm sure). For now I'll just try to relive a lot of the excitement and play catch up on everything that's happened - well not EVERYTHING - more of just the highlights.

Highlight 1: The UP

On Saturday the 14th Micah, Will, Dave M. and I got up at 4am (not the best part of the day!) to take off to look for Yellow Rails. I am dissapointed to say that we did not find any - though it was a crapshoot to begin with, it is still sad that we failed. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try again and get up earlier! The day did start out with a spotting of a roadside Sandhill Crane... While it was no "sandhill crane crossing" as in FL, it was a fun spot none-the-less

We did however find Mourning Warblers nearby the "Rusty Zipper Camp".

The birdlist for our day was rather shorter than expected and we did not see any of the 4 or 5 species we were hoping for, we did hear some and still had some great looks at birds and even better stories shared.

We did make it to Whitefish Point - though no birds were migrating really, we did get some nice looks at the Evening Grosbeaks on the feeders. These guys seem to just love feeders - thats where I always seem to spot them!

The final spotting of the UP was a Ruffed Grouse which was a first sighting for members on the trip despite the numerous times heard.

Highlight #2: Pyatt Lake

Last Thursday we checked out Pyatt Lake preserve and found some interesting things including this Squaw Root:

Highlight #3: The Wedding

This past weekend I did the craziest thing ever - I took a total of 4 flights to go see my old roomate get married. The plane broke, I ended up going to cities I wasn't supposed to en route to VA but eventually made it, and after a morning of birding (where I spotted tons of Red Eyed Vireos, a Great Crested Flycatcher, Pee-wees, Pheobes, Robins, Titmice, a Cardinal, and an American Goldfinch) I prepared for the wedding.

It was great to catch up with old friends, and even greater to be there for such a happy moment. Very different to see someone THAT close to me in age and in spirit getting married. But great. The wedding was beautiful, the church was nice, the food was great, and the glass clinking thing was sort of odd when it is someone you used to live with and had never witnessed a kiss between the two before... but still fun. I still remember the day she wasn't ever going to get married and the day she found him, and the day they first went out on a date... and the day they got engaged... and then now I can add the day they got married.

Everyone who was there also got a new memory - the day that Lowie wore a skirt and had her hair down:

And now I can say that I own 2 skirts and a dress... Maybe I'll wear one day 1 of grad school so people don't think its such a rarity. That will trick them!

Watch out for spiders

Yesterday was a great day working out in the field for Field Botany (funny how that works). We sampled 2 forests and visited a third. It is humbling to go out and not remember plants and then be reminde of how little I do know. However, simultaneously it is awesome to get out there and see how much I do actually remember.

One of the coolest things I saw (besides the plants) was this white spider hiding in this flower only to grab a bee attempting to pollenate it and then proceed to kill it and suck its insides out:

This is one of many shots I took. I sort of like that you can see the water drops in the flower on this one.

Other highlighs included a look at the male (below) and female Evening Grosbeak at Hartwick Pines. Also spotted was a Purple Finch (male and female), Rose Breasted Grosbeak (males and females, and a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (female).

Today I had a real treat bird-wise that even topped the dimorphism show of yesterday. I saw my 9th ever Kirtland's Warbler. This rare bird requires forest rejuvination via fire within Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) stands. Its range is basically the local area though a few have been found in the UP of Michigan recently. Most of the KW that are seen are found in Grayling, Michigan - home of the Kirtland's Warbler Festival.

Today we (three students, 2 faculty/profs, and myself) popped into the forest while on a quick tour of locations for tomorrow's integrative day. It was raining and the warblers were singing but none were being cooperative and singing high in the trees. Just as we turned to leave one darted infront of us in the first-second row Jack Pines. I quickly found it and pointed it out. To our fortune it climbed up the second back Jack Pine and perched quite nicely for us. If it weren't for the rain I would have had the shot of a lifetime of a Kirtland's. Oh well! It was awesome to see the little bird once again.

300+ ABA

Saturday was a milestone that I am quite proud to have achieved: 300 life birds for the USA. I probably have seen more but that is what I have kept track of.

My life world list is somewhere around 400.

The whole thing is sort of crazy; in 2006 no one probably would have thought I would have ever really gotten into birding - yet here I am 2 years later with over 300 "lifers".

Yesterday I picked up a Grasshopper Sparrow and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Sure these two are "common" species - the thing is you have to look and be out there at the right time to see them and care enough to tell the difference between them and other similar stuff.

Particularly with the sparrows. The Grasshopper Sparrow marks my 16th species of Sparrow. I hope to pick up all of the sparrows one day. They are little goofballs that just entertain me and pose a bit of a challenge in terms of keeping the species all straight in my head.

Some people in the AuSable world weren't all that impressed with a Grasshopper Sparrow. But the Audubon's society around here was pretty stoked that we all saw so many yesterday because locally they have been in significant decline including a 98% drop in New York State.

Others think that being a "lister" takes away from birding. It can but it also can add to it. I like knowing that something is new, I like being able to keep track of everything I've seen, know where I've seen it, where I haven't seen it. I like keeping location data and all of that. It helps me understand the world better and it can be a testament to devotion and the desire to never give up learning. Anyone who looks for something "new" and isn't content with the same 8 species in their backyard is a "lister" they just don't have an actual number. People keep track of what they see and don't see to an extent no mater what. Listing and not listing shouldn't be such a big deal. Its not like I do it to be better than anyone else - because I'm not better than a lot to most of the birders I know. I will never come close to someone like C.R. who has seen almost 600 species even if my species count ends up being the same (which it won't).

Its about getting out there and enjoying it. Its about spending time outside, knowing whats around you, enjoying everything this world has to offer.

If I hadn't turned back around...

Today most of my day was spent among the Populus snow at the Bauer Preserve. I say snow because the seeds are attatched to a white fluff and have been dropping like flurries. If I was a weather-woman I'd say that today we had temperatures in the low 80's with a 100% chance of Populus snow - 1 to 3 inches expected to coat the ground.

The "snow" covered ground.

Meanwhile very little bird activity was occuring. A Yellow Warbler or two down by the water and a stupid browin-ish bird that was unidentifyable. The highlight might have been the Wood Thrush that hopped right on a branch in front of me, but took off before I could reach for my camera.

I was disappointed not to get a second look at the Ruffed Grouse with chicks - last week it chased after two of us as we accidentialy came upon them which sent the group into a tizzy as the chicks were seperated from mom. Mom wasn't too happy and came at us feathers spread and beak wide open ready to attempt to take a chunk out of my ankle. "I'm glad you were behind me so you would have gotten attacked first" stated the company. And these are the people I'm working for!

Actually - it would sort of be awesome to say "Yeah - that there scar is from a Ruffed Grouse that attacked me".

Anyway - of course that all happened when I had forgotten my camera in the car... And today, camera in hand - no Grouse or Grouslings.

Dissapointed I headed back to the car to grab some keys to identify a few shrubs. I hoped to perhaps glimpse something by the water or stream on my way to the car but sure enough nothing popped up. Things were calling but nothing was responding. Discouraged, I continued and then within sight of the car popped up a Male Indigo Bunting. He flittered between a few trees and was light up perfectly by the sun. What a brilliantly colored bird!

The Indigo Bunting posing nicely

He dove into the bushes finally and then came that weird bird again - grrr it's throwing me for a loop but I'm pretty sure it is a Warbling Vireo.

In this location I also had a Black-Capped Chickadee - big surprise eh? Anyway he sat there nicely for me - so I was happy. And got an OK shot:

Black-capped Chickadee being very cooperative - food in mouth!

The final highlight of the day occured about a half hour later. I went back in search of my "Warbling Vireo" and found a female American Redstart. She entertained me for a while but was a little too high up for anything but a picture of her underside. I turned to check the water one more time in case a Yellow Warbler or Common Yellowthroat was by chance close enough for a stunning shot - but nothing was moving. I heard the Redstart calling again so I turned to look for her, chirped a bit, and tried to pshhh her out - then suddenly a Broad-winged Hawk swooped about 8 feet from my face. It landed on a tree and (of course) then realized how close it was to me, and took off. But wow! What a look at the hawk! Up close and personal right there! Anyway it was pretty awesome.

Warbling Vireo? Note the Dusky eyeline.

On a final note - the more I look at my poor shot - the more I think its a warbling vireo. The dusky eyeline is perfect and it definitely had yellow in it (not too visible in this picture because of the leaves) - the only question is if it was too much yellow. Seemed more than most I've seen and than most of the availiable pictures and drawings.

Bird"ing"

"Birding" as compared to "Birdwatching" is a more active and extreme version of "Birdwatching" states my Kauffman field guide.

Somewhere in the midst of the sudden desire to drive an hour and a half to see Hudsonian Godwits I realized I must be in the "Birding" category.

Or maybe I realized it when I pulled my car over in a McDonald's parking lot to see Chipping Sparrows just to push my "Birding from the car on the trip to Michigan list" one higher.

White Throated Sparrow: much cooler than a Chipping Sparrow

Or perhaps it was when I was eaten alive for a Blackburnian Warbler by mesquitos, or chased down by a pissed off Female Ruffed Grouse.

While I still maintain birding should be about more than just a number - it's hard not to get excited about a number when I'm just 3 away from achieving the 300 life birds in North America that I never thought I'd get. Last summer I was thrilled to get 200 ABA birds. This year I feel like I could "easily" get to 400 at the rate I'm going.

I should sit down and add in my Trinidad Birds - I can't imagine my number once I throw those in too.

While I know that the word "easy" is a streatch, I can't help but see how much my birding skills have improved. I can spot birds, hear the call, sometimes even recognize what it is by call when I've never seen or heard it on anything but the Thayer Birding Software and my ipod.

Either way - it's something I'm loving more and more... and I just can't seem to get away from it. I still love slowing down and watching one bird for a while ("birdwatching"). I love "getting to know" a particular bird. Simultaneously though, I am getting thrills out of seeing new things and lots of things like i never thought possible.