Loggerhead Shrike in West Virginia, ABA Reportable State #39 (at least for now)

For a number of years I’ve taken trips into the panhandle of WV to work on that state list while visiting relatives in the Mid-Atlantic.  At one point I was a seemingly safe 7 birds over the ABA threshold, only to have the threshold go up a whopping 8 birds in the last few years.  So the last couple years my total has been one short of reportable in WV.

We planned a trip to the area over Christmas this year, so I started to review the WV listserve for possible target birds.  Although I have a number of possibilities, few are likely in the panhandle.  The one exception is Loggerhead Shrike, which is being seen in a couple locations this winter in eastern WV.  With the help of excellent advice from some local birders, I planned a trip to a field just outside Charles Town.  Though I tried not to get my hopes up too high since all the WV birders mentioned that the shrikes are not necessarily very reliable at this location.  I arrived at 7:30 and there were no shrikes to be seen.  But at about 8 AM I started to hear a Loggerhead calling in the distance.  It continued to call for a couple minutes which enabled me to key in on its location.  Eventually I spotted it perched near the top of a 10 ft tall brushy tree.  I’ve attached a couple phone-scoped pictures I took of the bird (you need to enlarge them to get better views of this distant bird).  At one point the bird dropped down into the brush out of sight, and then came back to the same perch with a small rodent in its bill.  A little later it dropped back down to the ground with the rodent.  It reappeared a couple minutes later without the rodent – maybe it was breakfast or it was cached for a later meal.  The bird was still in that same tree at 9 AM when I left.  Other birds in the fields were a female Kestrel and a female Harrier.  A flyover Raven was also nice to hear. 

That gives me 178 for WV, exactly at the ABA threshold.  Needless to say I won’t remain reportable for long, unless I can add some additional birds in WV. 

My statebird map for Loggerhead Shrike is inserted below.  Although I’ve seen it in a number of eastern states, all those sightings are a number of years ago.  It’s been many years since I’ve seen on in the East (outside of FL that is).

ABA Reportable in Ohio! November 2011

With a brief business trip to Cleveland I was able to squeeze in a couple hours of birding time along the Lake Erie waterfront.  Being just 1 short of the ABA reportable threshold for Ohio, I was optimistic I could find at least a couple new birds to put me over that magic number.  With the birdfinding help of my Cleveland birding friends, my first stop was Sims Park on Lake Erie that featured a stakeout flock of all 3 scoters - White-winged and Surf were new for my list.  Reportable in Ohio!  But not one to rest on my laurels, there were other places along the lakefront to check.  My next stop was Headlands Beach State Park which can be an excellent spot, but that day it was pretty slow.  Including no luck with the Eared Grebe that had been reported there earlier in the day.

Next I decided to take a short trek to Ashtabula where a Black-tailed Gull had been seen for the last several days.  It was apparently best seen at dawn or dusk, so my arrival a bit before sunset was theoretically right on time.  There were easily 50 birders in the area looking for the bird, though with no success since the early morning.  A few minutes after I arrived a birder spotted a dark mantled gull sleeping on a very distant warehouse – the gull was identified as the Black-tailed.  Everyone hopped in their cars and got to a much closer viewing spot for a better view.  When I arrived (I was the last one there – my directions weren’t the best), all the birders were claiming victory with such great views of this mega-rarity.  I put my scope on the bird and realized it was “just” an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull – very streaky head, size of a Herring Gull, and pure white tail.  When I broke the news to the birding throng, there were some very unhappy faces.  So everyone piled back in the cars to go to the original viewing location and continued to scan for the bird.  A few minutes later another dark mantled gull was found – but this one had a relatively unmarked neck and head, and was smaller than the Herrings it was with.  Although very distant, this one was indeed the Black-tailed – I’m just glad I didn’t need it as a life bird (it was already on my RI and VT lists).

The next morning I had just a couple free hours at dawn, so I headed back to Headlands Beach State Park.  The first bird I had when getting out of my car was a flyover calling Pipit – my 4^th new one for OH.  After such a great start, I was hoping for a good early morning seabird flight which can be spectacular there.  Unfortunately, it was not to be that day.  Though there was a good flight of Bonaparte’s Gulls, a fair number of Common Loons migrating by, and 4 dark-winged scoters in a flock of Red-breasted Mergs.  It’s always amazing to see thousands of Red-breasted Mergansers passing by in their tight flocks.

My Ohio list is now at 214, ABA reportable but just by 3.  Of course those thresholds keep inching up over the years, so I need to get back to OH to put some more distance between my total and the threshold. 

I’ve inserted below my statebird map for Surf Scoter (shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species).  I’ve seen it along most Atlantic and Pacific coast states, and a couple along the Gulf.  And now Ohio is my 6^th inland state for Surf Scoter.

Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coast, November 2011

An impromptu business trip to the Mississippi Gulf coast gave me a little opportunity to add some statebirds for both my MS and AL lists.  Luckily I’ve birded both coasts before so I know the areas fairly well.  Plus I got excellent directions and advice from several very helpful local birders.  Although I have quite a number of possible new statebirds in both states, they are scattered in a number of different habitats.  So with limited birding time, I needed to prioritize the locations target just a couple key spots.  I was already reportable in both states, though I was less over the ABA threshold in AL than in MS.  So although my work location was in MS, I chose to do most of my birding in AL.

In Alabama I first headed to Dauphin Island in hopes of several shorebirds.  There I was successful in adding 3 new statebirds -

#1 – Snowy Plover – several at Pelican Island and 1 at West End of Dauphin Island

#2 – Marbled Godwit – 1 way out on Pelican Island (4 mile round trip walk!)

#3 – Nelson’s Sparrow – just 1 at the Dauphin Island airport

I also found and photographed a 1^st year Lesser Black-backed Gull there – though it wasn’t new for my AL list.

The next day I had a brief couple hours available at dawn and headed to the Mud Lakes Blakely Island impoundments again for shorebirds.  There I found another new statebird - Long-Billed Dowitcher – 20+ in one impoundment.  I had hopes for several others, but no luck.  Though I did find another rarity that wasn’t new to my AL statelist – an adult Vermillion Flycatcher (see photo below).  I was told that this was the first one in AL for a number of years.

Then over to work on the MS coast.  Had no real time for birding, but I needed White-winged Dove for MS, so I decided to drive around the local town a bit to try for one sitting on an exposed perch somewhere.  Within a couple minutes I found one on some telephone wires.

Then back to the Mobile, AL airport to fly home.  But first I had an hour to try for a Green-tailed Towhee that was spotted the day before at a feeder just a short distance from the airport.  (A Black-chinned Hummingbird was there too, but I already had that one for my AL list.)  The Towhee showed up at the feeder just a few minutes before I needed to go to the airport.  Statebird #5!

That gave me 238 for my AL list and 229 for my MS list.  I’ve copied in below my statebird maps for White-winged Dove and Green-tailed Towhee – 2 birds that I’ve seen in a number of states in their regular western ranges, and a few other atypical states for these species that show up as regular vagrants in the east.

Curlew Sandpiper, New Hampshire, September 2011

Another call from Len Medlock means another rarity – and this one is a real rarity – Curlew Sandpiper in NH!  Once again I dropped everything and drove to Plaice Cove to try for the bird.  When I arrived a veritable Who’s Who of NH birding was present – at least 15 birders staring at the bird feeding in the rack line among Sanderlings, white-rumps and others.  Amazingly excellent views!

A couple phone-scoped photos are below – one showing the bill profile while preening its chest, and the other showing the body in profile with a White-rumped.  My statebird map is at the bottom.  NH is now my 5^th state for Curlew Sandpiper. 

Wilson’s Phalarope, Exeter Wastewater Treatment Plant, NH, September 2011

When the cellphone rang, I looked at the screen and saw it was Len Medlock.  It must mean he’s got a good bird.  Sure enough a Wilson’s Phalarope had been found at the Exeter Wastewater Treatment Plant the day before, and was still present.  I dropped everything and headed out.  I keep a pair of good but small binoculars in the glovebox of the car for exactly these situations.  But as I headed up to Exeter I realized that a scope would likely be helpful if not necessary.  I called Len back to see if he might still be in Exeter looking at the bird, but he had already left the plant.  But Len graciously offered for me to pick up his scope en route to Exeter. 

With Len’s scope in hand, I arrived at the plant and went to the northeast lagoon per Len’s directions.  A quick scan with the binocs didn’t reveal any shorebirds at all.  So I started scanning with the scope more slowly right to left.  I got to the far left (NW) corner and there was the Phalarope – swimming close to the water’s edge.  (If I had started scanning from the left I would have seen the bird right away.)  I got a bit closer for a better look and very nice views.

My Wilson’s Phalarope map is inserted below.  In addition to the more typical western states, I’ve seen it now in a fair number of eastern states too.

Black Tern, New Hampshire Pelagic Trip, September 2011

Black Tern has been a real nemesis bird for me in NH.  Many years ago I saw a flock of 6 feeding in Herrick’s Cove in VT, no more than 50 feet from NH, but they wouldn’t cross the state line.  And then there was the report of 300 on the coast the day Irene passed (though my MA sightings that day were certainly a worthwhile tradeoff).  And there was even a belated post this fall of one in Hudson, NH (just 40 minutes away) that I looked for without luck.  Most NH sightings are of low numbers passing down the coast (seen from shore or on a pelagic trip), or on the Connecticut River, but they usually don’t stick around so not generally chaseable. 

I signed up for this year’s Fall NH Audubon pelagic trip with Black Tern as one of a pretty short list of realistically possible statebirds to hope for – Puffin would be the other key target in NH.  The initial part of the ride had a few good birds on the Isles of Shoals (Whimbrel, Lesser Black-black), but not much was being seen on the open ocean.  Most birds were found following fishing traulers, with fair numbers of shearwaters mixed in with the gulls.  Then a distant group of Common Terns caught everyone’s attention.  As we got closer the call went out that 3 Black Terns were in the flock.  We got great views of the birds, so no doubt on the ID of course.  The only question was which state they were in – a quick review of the GPS showed they were indeed in NH waters!  Finally!  As the day progressed I ended up seeing 4 other Black Terns – quite a number after missing them for so long in NH.

By far the best bird on the trip was an immature Long-tailed Jaeger – right next to the boat for several minutes.  And seeing nearly a dozen Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the Herring/GBB flocks was excellent too.  Puffin will have to wait for a future trip.

My statebird map for Black Tern is inserted below.  I’ve got it now in 5 of 6 New England states.  And it’s quite a common bird in much of the rest of the country – NH was my 38th state.

Black Skimmer and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Maine, Sept 2011 (Irene Post #4)

After last year’s northeast hurricane, there were a number of Black Skimmers noted on the NH and southern ME coasts as much as a week or more after the hurricane.  I was able to get Skimmer on the NH coast during that time, but never went up to ME to pursue any of the ones spotted up there since they seemed to be just one day wonders (or even “one tide wonders”).  I was kicking myself that I didn’t go after them, not knowing when my next opportunity might be for Skimmer in ME.  So when several Skimmers were spotted after Irene’s passage, it really got my attention.  Then there were posts of at least one at Pine Point several days in a row – finally one that might stick around.  And just when I started to put plans together to head to Pine Point, a birder posted a group of 3 Buff-breasted Sandpipers nearby in South Portland at a playing field complex.  Two statebirds to go after!

On Labor Day, David Deifik and I headed up to Maine to try both for the Skimmer and the Buff-breasteds.  Since the Buffies were at a soccer field, we thought we should hit that spot first before the first group of the day’s soccer players flushed them off.  Then we could go to Pine Point, where a high tide at dawn would be falling by early morning, and just starting to reveal some mudflats for the Skimmer to roost on.  And we could hopefully still get away before I-95 was backed up with all the vacationers coming home.

We arrived at the field complex, and had perfect directions where the Buffies were yesterday.  We hopped out of the car, and within seconds we could see at least 2 in the distance walking in the grass field among some Ring-billed Gulls.  We walked a bit closer, and got great scope views of all 3 Buff-breasted Sandpipers.  They aren’t usually that easy.

Then after a short drive we arrived at Pine Point.  The tide was falling but still very high, and there was just a bit of exposed mudflat.  I scoped the mud and found many gulls – Great Black-backed, Herring, and Bonaparte’s, a few Black-bellied Plovers, but not much else.  On my second scan of the same flat I found the immature Black Skimmer.  Another easy one!  Two Maine statebirds in just an hour.  Over the next 20 minutes or so, the Skimmer mostly just slept on the flats, but it did fly a couple times and even skimmed the surface once.  Several other birders arrived in this time and we were able to get them on it.  Now 8 days after Irene had passed and still there were birds on the coast displaced by the storm.

A Marbled Godwit had also been at Pine Point for the last couple weeks.  Although I didn’t need that one for Maine, David did.  We went over to the end of the pier to view the ever growing flats from there.  And after a little scanning I was able to pick out the godwit.  We stayed at Pine Point a little longer, picking out a broad array of the expected shorebirds along with 4 Red Knots – these are always special birds.  Interestingly there were no terns of any species.  Pine Point is one of my favorite Maine birding locations – and once again it lived up to its reputation.

By late morning we were heading south to beat the rush of tourists on the highway.  But on a whim we decided to make a quick stop at Seabrook Harbor in NH to try for Black Tern (both of us needed it for NH).  We had 80 Sterna terns including 10 Forster’s (a high number for NH), but alas no Black Tern.

Skimmer was my last Irene-related statebird.  Over 8 days I added at least 6 statebirds in 4 states that were associated with Irene – Tropicbird and Sooty Tern in MA, Sanderling in VT, Brown Pelican and Sooty Tern in RI, and now Skimmer in ME.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Black Skimmer give me 315 now in Maine.  My statebird maps for these two species are quite different.  Most of my states with Buff-breasteds are in the northeast instead of the central part of the country where they are more typically found.  But in the northeast they are reasonably easy to chase even though they are in very low numbers.  The states where I’ve seen Skimmer are much more similar to the Skimmer range map, though northern New England is certainly not in their typical range.

Brown Pelican, Sooty Tern and More, Coastal Rhode Island, Sep 11 (Irene Post #3)

After 2 days of birding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and 3 new statebirds, it was tough to go back to work.  Especially with all the sightings of storm-blown birds still occurring, primarily from the CT and RI coastlines.  Numerous southern terns (Gull-billed and Sandwich) and tropical terns (a few Sootys) were seen daily, along with a few immature pelicans.  Then 1 more post of great birds on the RI coast (red-necked phalarope, pelican and sandwich tern) pushed me over the edge.  So I called Denny Abbott and we planned a day on the RI coast on Thursday, 4 days after the storm.  But did we wait too long?

I targeted starting at Moonstone Beach, because seemingly reliable red-necked phalaropes were nearby at Mud Pond, and many of the terns were being sighted on the coast there.  We arrived mid-morning and started scanning Mud Pond for the phalaropes.  Although they had been reliable for several days, we had no luck.  Rather disappointing – I was counting on that one.  Maybe they were tucked away in a portion of the Card's Pond wetlands that wasn’t visible. 

We then walked to Moonstone Beach and began to scan the water.  Within a minute of our arrival I saw an adult Brown Pelican quite close flying to the west paralleling the beach.  I think all the other pelicans reported after Irene had been immatures.  That was not only a statebird for me, but a key target of Denny’s, since he needed it for all the New England states.  Amazingly, birders to the west undoubtedly saw this same bird about 10 minutes later.  Reinvigorated, I kept scanning the waters to the south.  Numerous Common Terns were flying by, but nothing better.  Then I picked up a distant dark phase Jaeger.  Although very far out, you could see the characteristic flight and shape of a Jaeger.  I put it down as a Parastic because that is by far the most likely jaeger, but realistically I could not eliminate Pomarine.  Unfortunately it was too far away to get Denny on this bird.  Two statebirds for me! 

After some local scanning of the beach and nearby marsh at Card's Pond, I went back to scanning the ocean.  After a while I picked up a tern that wasn’t nearly as far out as the Jaeger, though distant.  All I could see was dark – no pale feathering anywhere.  I got Denny on this bird, and we watched it for several minutes.  It had a strong flight, and based on when it passed by a Herring Gull, was a mid-sized tern.  Denny and I spent a lot of time thinking about this bird afterwards, and came to the conclusion that it was an immature Sooty Tern.  Although an immature Sooty does have pale feathering on the belly, we felt that it was not feasible to see the light feathers at that distance.  And although most of the Sootys that were seen after Irene were adults, there were a few other immatures reported.  Statebird #3 for me and #2 for Denny!

After another hour or so, we left the beach and tried Mud Pond one more time for the phalaropes.  No luck again, though an adult Little Blue Heron had arrived.  We decided to drive over to Camp Cronin to check out the jetties there.  On a whim I decided to head east on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road instead of heading north on Moonstone Beach Road.  Wasn’t sure exactly how to get to Camp Cronin, so I was watching my map app on my I-Phone as we headed east on Matunuck.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something white through the hedgerow in the field next to the road.  I pulled over, and through the brush I saw a herd of cows and a Cattle Egret.  Boy was I lucky – an extra second looking at the map and I would have missed it.  Plus, we almost took Moonstone Beach Road instead.  Statebird #4!  Not likely related to Irene though.  The Cattle Egret stuck around at this site for several days, with several birders spotting it.  Cattle Egrets are rather regular in RI in the Spring, with a number of posts coming from the Jamestown area most years.  But this is the first one I can remember in the fall.

Camp Cronin had lots of birds on the jetties, but they were way too distant.  At one point I went down to the beach to get a different angle, while Denny remained at the parking lot.  When I returned Denny said he thought he had a Gill-billed Tern fly right overhead.  Unfortunately I missed it.

Our last stop was at Watch Hill Point in Westerly.  After a brisk 30-minute walk I made it to the point where there was a nice collection of shorebirds including 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 26 Knots, and 12 Oystercatchers, but no terns at all.  So no new statebirds there, but some good RI birds anyway.

An amazing day with 4 new RI statebirds, at least 2 of which were associated with Irene!

My statebird maps for Brown Pelican, Sooty Tern, and Cattle Egret are inserted below.  I’ve seen Brown Pelican in all the Pacific and Gulf states (plus inland at AZ), and on the Atlantic up to New Jersey.  And now of course RI.  The Sooty Tern map is now complete for post-Irene sightings – RI and MA this year plus the older FL and TN sightings.  And as for Cattle Egret, I’ve seen it throughout the southeast and much of the east, with a scattering of states in the interior west and midwest.  And now all the New England states – the 206^th species I’ve seen in all 6 New England states.

Sanderling in Vermont, August 2011 (Irene Post #2)

While traveling back from the the Quabbin Reservoir after seeing the Tropicbird and Sooty Tern, David Deifik and I strategized where the best birds might appear the next day.  Although we considered First Encounter Beach, we eventually focused on going back to central New England hoping for additional birds that had been blown inland by Hurricane Irene.  We thought the Connecticut River could be a great corridor storm birds might use to try to get back to the ocrean.  We chose the river at Hinsdale, NH, just above the Vernon Dam.  This spot provides an excellent view of nearly a mile of the river, which would give us lots of time to see all those great birds that might fly by.

We got to the dam at about 6:30 AM on the 29th and began to scan the river.  Several notable local birds were present, including an adult and immature Bald Eagle, which initially kept us on our toes.  But as the day progressed, we realized that we weren't likely to get many storm birds.  Our attention frequently moved to the river, where we watched an amazing stream of trees and brush filing past us.  As we looked closer at the floating debris, we began to notice refrigerators, propane tanks, coolers, kid's toys, and most anything else that could float.  We were hearing stories of horrendous flooding in the watershed upriver, and we were witnessing the results of the powerful flood waters that had rushed through peoples' yards. 

Several times we had small flocks of shorebirds fly south generally over our heads.  Interestly, these shorebirds weren't flying down river, intead they were riding the debris down the river.  Then as the debris neared the dam, they would take off, circle a bit, then gain altitude and make their way off to the south.  One of those flocks consisted of 4 Sanderlings - spending some time in NH airspace and some time in VT airspace - a new one for my VT list.  These are certainly good birds for the Connecticut River valley, and perhaps affected by Irene.  We also had one semi sandpiper, one yellowlegs, and several unidentified small and mid-sized peeps.

My statebird map for Sanderling is inserted below.  Most birders probably think of Sanderling as a coastal bird, and of course it is common on the coasts.  But it is also a rather regular migrant through the middle of the country; I've seen it in 13 inland states.  Interestingly, even when they are away from the coast, they are more likely to be on sandy or rocky beaches than on mudflats.

White-tailed Tropicbird and Sooty Tern, Quabbin Reservoir, MA August 2011 (Irene Post #1)

As Hurricane Irene approached with a likely landfall somewhere in New England on August 28th, I had made plans to go birding with David Deifik the day after the storm passed on the 29^th.  Perhaps heading to First Encounter Beach on the Cape as that is typically one of the best places to head the day after a hurricane.  But as the morning of the 28^th arrived, it was obvious that the hurricane was taking a more inland track through western CT, with less than expected wind and rain near the east-facing New England coastline.  So now maybe western MA would be the best place to try for storm-driven birds.  And in western MA the large reservoirs might be the places to try.  Watching the morning radars it was obvious that much of the rain east of the storm in MA would be winding down by noon – much earlier than expected.  So instead of First Encounter Beach on the 29^th, I called David to talk him into heading to Quabbin Reservoir on the afternoon of the 28^th.

On our 90-minute ride through central MA we encountered a few small branches in the road, and many leaves (carpeting the roads in places), but no downed trees or flooding.  By the time we reached the Quabbin, winds were rather light from the south with only intermittent drizzle.  We arrived at about 2 PM at the dam to see 6 or 8 birders already there – some had been there since the early morning and had had a couple jaegers and some migrant shorebirds including Hudsonian Godwits, but no megararities.  Over the next couple hours we continuously scanned the reservoir typically seeing nothing at all.  Key locations on the far side of the reservoir were an island which was 2.9 miles away, and a boat ramp which was 3.5 miles away.  Needless to say, anything flying around on the far side would be little more than a speck.  On one of my scans I picked out 3 distant black terns, and was able to get most of the other birders on them.  Later we had a brief look at a flock of mid-sized shorebirds – but too brief for an ID.

Then around 4 PM several of us saw 2 very distant all dark birds which went down as Jaeger, sp.  Then just a minute later one birder yelled – “I’ve got something good” (or something like that).  A couple seconds later another birder yelled – “White-tailed Tropicbird!”.  It took me a few seconds to get on the bird (which seemed like hours), but I eventually saw the bird fly by, and even at a distance of about 3 miles I could see the very white bird with the long tail feathers.  Then the bird turned and starting flying directly towards us.  Eventually it landed on the water much closer – relatively speaking that is – about a mile away.  With high magnification you could pick out the tail feathers sticking straight up, and the mostly white bird.  As I stretched the limits of my scope (and my eyesight) to try to pick out further field marks, another birder yelled – “Sooty Tern!”  Again it took me an agonizingly long several seconds to find the bird, but then got excellent looks at the adult tern as it made its way closer and closer to us.  Eventually it was just a few hundred yards away, and I watched it continuously for 5+ minutes as it flew and even fed on the water surface at times, seeing all the salient field marks.  Then it soared and circled up over the reservoir, and flew south over the trees, hopefully making its way back to salt water somewhere.  The jaegers, tropicbird, and tern all appeared in a space of 5 minutes or less.  We went back to looking at the tropicbird, and realized that the wind was causing it to slowly drift away.  About an hour later it was little more than a white speck on the water, barely recognizable among the whitecaps.  A small flock of Turnstones flew by a bit later, but that was all the storm-related birds to be had.  So in 4 hours of scanning the reservoir, I saw storm-related birds for about 10 minutes, but they sure were good ones.

I’ve only seen White-tailed Tropicbird once before – on the Dry Tortugas in Florida.  I’ve seen Sooty Tern on my several trips to the Dry Tortugas, and also in Tennessee on the day that Hurricane Katrina passed through the central part of the state.  (I also had Band-rumped Storm-Petrel that day – but that’s another story.)  Needless to say, they are great birds for New England!  Numbers 393 and 394 for MA.  And this would be just the beginning of my Irene birding experience…

Baird's Sandpiper, Connecticut, August 2011

For some time Baird's Sandpiper has been one of the most common birds I still need for my Connecticut list; a nemesis bird of sorts for me in CT.  For instance, last summer I chased after one at Rocky Meadows just south of Hartford without success, even though it had been quite reliable.  So this year I had planned to track the listserve posts closely to watch for any reliable Baird's that I could chase after.  A few weeks ago a Baird's showed up at Rocky Meadows – definitely close enough to chase but just a one-day wonder.  But then 2 were reported in East Hartford at a runoff retention pond at a Cabela’s outfitter store – a bit less than 2 hours away so definitely feasible to chase.  Although I had read a number of posts regarding birds at Cabela’s over the years, I had never been there before.  So after getting excellent directions from a CT birder, I headed down there to give it a go. 

When I arrived, I was shocked to see how small the pond was – just an acre or two.  And since you could walk right up to the pond, it should be relatively easy to find the Baird’s and see every bird at the pond.  Another birder was already there, but had not yet found any Baird’s.  Undeterred, I made a quick survey around the pond and found several Least’s, but no other peeps.  Then a slower search revealed 8 Leasts, 3 Spotteds, 1 Solitary, and many Killdeer, but still no Baird’s.  Another scan came up with the same birds.  It was easy to see every square inch of mud around the pond, so we couldn’t have missed the Baird’s.  Was I going to be skunked again?  Decided to give it one more scan before heading out, and amazingly, there was a Baird’s right at the edge of the mudflats!  Where was it on my prior scans?  Maybe it just flew in or was walking in the surrounding grassy field and had just made its way to the mud.  In any case, a new CT statebird - #293.  I was able to get a couple phone-scoped photos inserted below – one from the back and one from the front.

My statebird map for Baird's is below.  Baird's is my 205th species that I've seen in all 6 New England states.

Avocet in New Hampshire, August 2011

I'm sitting at my desk and my cell rings - it's from Len Medlock who is out birding in NH virtually every day.  An Avocet has been found on the NH coast!  Within 2 minutes I'm out the door for the quick 45-minute ride to Meadow Pond (making calls to alert a couple other birders along the way).  When I get there, Len and Steve Mirick are on the Avocet just a short distance away.  And the pond is alive with birds - peeps, yellowlegs, short-billed dowitchers, stilt sands, semi plovers, great and snowy egrets, shovelers, teal, and several Forster's Terns.  During my short visit both a Merlin and a Peregrine also pass though the peeps.  Although I could only stay a few minutes, it was an amazing quick stop not only with a new statebird (the Avocet), but also good NH birds like shoveler and Forster's terns.  And this is a new spot that I've never birded.

My statebird map for American Avocet is below (shaded states are those where I've seen this species).  NH is my 4th New England state for Avocet, not only indicative of how often it strays from it's normal range, but also that it can generally be chaseable when a vagrant. 

Brant and Long-billed Dowitcher – Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area, VT – August 2011

The greatest possibility for new statebirds for me in Vermont is generally in the northwest part of the state.  Between Lake Champlain’s waterbirds more typically seen on the coastal, a wide assortment of shorebirds at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area, and the grassland birds of the Champlain Valley, there is a lot of potential.  Unfortunately, northwestern Vermont is more than a 3-hour drive for me, so I don’t get up there very often.  So when a rarity shows up there, although it is very tempting to make the trek to give it a try, I don’t often go. 

This summer there have been frequent posts of a Brant hanging out at Dead Creek, along with a Snow Goose, mixed in with the local families of Canada Geese.  Brant is certainly a good bird for Vermont, especially in summer, and it would be a new statebird.  Plus this is the first long-staying, reliable Brant I can remember for VT.  So with all these factors coming together, I decided to make the drive and give it a go.  With the company of my good birding friend Denny Abbott of NH, we headed to Brilyea Access at Dead Creek to look for the Brant.  When we arrived, several other birders were there looking at some shorebirds at the edge of the marsh.  We asked if anyone had seen the Brant, and one birder mentioned it had just flown to the west with a flock of Canadas.  Remembering that our goal was to find the Brant, we quickly got back in the car and took a short drive west to look for the geese.  There is a large farm pond just a couple hundred yards west of the Brilyea Access, so we expected to find the geese there.  However, there were no geese there of any species.  We continued to drive a bit farther west and noticed a small flock of Canadas “grazing” in some tall grasses along the road – it has to be in this flock, right?  But Denny and I easily searched through the geese and only saw Canadas, even though the birds were somewhat obscured by the grass.  Then I wondered if we weren’t seeing the smaller Brant because it was completely hidden by the grass.  Sure enough, with some closer scanning, I saw a small black head (but only the head) stick up above the grass.  And it was only visible for a few seconds at a time.  Not the best of views, but still a definitive Brant.  We would have never seen the Brant if we hadn’t gotten the tip from the other birders at Dead Creek!

Denny and I then went back to Brilyea Access to join the other birders and thank them for their information on the Brant.  When we returned, they were looking at the shorebirds on the nearby mudflats.  There were only a few, but with considerable diversity – both yellowlegs, a Dowitcher, several Least Sands, a couple Semi Sands, a couple Baird’s Sandpipers, and of course a couple Killdeer.  We spent a lot of time on the peeps, and eventually felt good about the IDs.  Then one birder started asking if the Dowitcher could be a Long-billed.  (Amazing that during all that time we didn’t pay much attention to the Dowitcher!)  Then with a little scrutiny, we saw that the bird was an adult, and rather uniformly orangy below, which would mean if it was a Short-Billed it would have to be one of the Henderson’s race.  Then we noted how dark the back was – no pale edges to the scapulars.  Could that be a reasonably definitive field mark for Long-billed?  There was some limited barring over much of the flanks. 

I took a couple phone-scoped photos of the bird shown below – the first shot shows the very dark back. 

I can't figure out how to turn this picture!

Then I took the following picture and was lucky enough that the bird had its entire bill exposed from the mud.  Wow – it’s really long!  I showed the photo to the other birders and none of us realized how long the bill was until then since it was actively feeding and at least a portion of the bill was always in the mud. 

Another sideways photo - ugh!

After I got home I reviewed a really good article from the Sep/Oct 06 Birding issue on dowitcher identification.  Here's a link to the article -   http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ctlee/LeeBirchDowitcher.pdf

A few salient features that I didn't know about until reading this article -

·         Loral Angle - the angle between the bill line and a line going through the eye (my poor description).  Basically, the Short-billed eye averages being higher on the head than the Long-billed.  The photo I took with the bird facing us shows a very low loral angle indicating Long-billed.

·         Bill Shape - Short-billed more likely to be a bit downcurved and Long-billed is very straight.  This bird had a very straight bill as shown in the picture with the entire bill exposed

·         Scapulars and Greater Coverts in Worn Alternate Plumage.  Wear of these feathers on Short-billed results in deeply pointed appearance to the feathers - on Long-billed the appearance is square or blunt-tipped.  Again a vote for Long-billed based on the photo showing the exposed bill.  "Because Short-billed shows more extensive white edges than Long-billed, this feature is often still preserved in worn alternate plumage, such that late-summer Long-billeds appear very dark-backed while Short-billeds appear lighter-backed from a distance."  I had not noticed this in the past, but other birders there seemed to key in on this very quickly.

·         Molt Timing - "Long-billeds molt their primaries during migration whereas Short-billeds wait until they arrive at their wintering grounds to molt their primaries."  The molted primaries are visible in my photo showing the exposed bill.  Another Long-billed vote.

·         I really think that the color of the undersides, and the patterns on the side, are inconclusive except that it's either Long-billed or Short-billed hendersoni. 

So along with the really long bill, I've got to believe it was a Long-billed.

I didn't realize that all the North American dowitchers were considered to be 1 species until the 50's - I can certainly understand why.

That gives me 3 new statebirds for VT this year – 246 now.  My statebird maps for Long-billed Dowitcher and Brant are below.  My sightings of the dowitcher are especially spotty in the eastern US.  While for Brant, VT is my first inland state - otherwise my sightings are in all the typically Pacific and Northeast states.



Statebird maps - colored blue in states where I've seen it



White Ibis in Rhode Island, August 2011

There have been quite a number of extralimital White Ibis sightings up the east coast this summer, so I was not too surprised to see a post about one in New England - a juvenile in a marsh in the southwestern corner of Rhode Island surrounding Winnapaug Pond west of Weekapaug.  Over the next several days there were several posts from birders chasing after it, but with as many negative posts as positive ones.  So despite not being very reliable, I decided to give it a try.  One birder suggested trying for it at high tide minimizing the chance that it could be hidden in a channel off in the marsh, so I targeted an afternoon high tide.  I arrived at the key spot where it had been most often spotted (see location link below) and saw two birders with a scope trained on the nearby marsh.  Sure enough - they had the bird in sight feeding in a salt panne right next to the road with 3 Glossies.  If only they were all that easy!  We watched it for the next 20 minutes and was able to get the phone-scoped picture at the bottom of this blog. 

The flock took off at one point when we were looking away, so I started to try to refind it.  Over the next 30 minutes I drove around the edge of the marsh only to realize that it is almost completed surrounded by houses, with only a very small portion of the marsh visible from public property.  Now I see why so many posts were negative.  I never did find it again, though it was likely very close.  Boy was I lucky to see this one.  It was #282 for for me in RI and the third time I've seen it as a vagrant outside its typical southeastern range (see my statebird map below).

Statebird Map

Phonescoped photo

Block Island Ferry, RI - 3 Shearwaters and 2 Storm-Petrels! July 2011

Seeing most pelagic species in Rhode Island has been a challenge for me.  The local RI birders do organize some pelagic trips into RI waters, but I've never gone on one (yet!).  I have been lucky enough to see Razorbill and Common Murre from shore, but the real pelagic species likely require a boat trip.  So it was with great interest that I read a post a couple years ago about local RI birders having some pretty good success seeing pelagic birds from the Block Island ferry out of Point Judith.  Sort of a poor-man's pelagic trip.  The trip is only about an hour each way, moves pretty quickly (even on the slower traditional ferry), and of course won't chase after anything you see.  So you've got to be lucky to have the pelagic birds pass pretty close to the ship as you go by.  A positive is that the ship is very large, so you generally don't have to worry about rough seas.  Over the last couple years I've taken one ferry in summer and one in early spring, and with the exception of a flyby pair of Whimbrels, and the ubiquitous Wilson's Storm-Petrel, I haven't really seen too much.  That was before this trip! 

I took an early morning trip out of Point Judith to beat the heat.  The first Wilson’s Storm-Petrel was just barely outside the Point Judith breakwater, and the birds just kept coming from there.  Soon thereafter a Cory’s Shearwater passed right by the bow the boat, then another, then 4 more.  My first RI shearwater!   A short time later a Manx flew by with its classic fast, fluttering wingbeats.  A couple more Cory’s later, I saw a pair of shearwaters on the water up ahead.  The boat got close enough to see that 1 was a Cory’s and 1 was a Great.  On the way back there were more storm-petrels and less shearwaters in the air.  One of the storm-petrels caught my attention as soon as I saw it – noticeably longer wings than the Wilson’s.  And it was doing a fair amount of soaring with wings on a dihedral, then deep flaps – a Leach’s Storm-Petrel!  I watched it for over 30 seconds until we passed it by.  At one point we passed by a flock of 22 shearwaters sitting on the water that were just a bit too far away to ID.  Likely most were Cory’s, but who knows what else may have been mixed in.  The final tally was 3 species of Shearwaters and 2 species of Storm-Petrels with just 2 hours on the water.  And interesting that there were as many shearwaters as storm-petrels.  To round out the experience, we passed closely by a Mola mola which I pointed out to others on the ferry.

I've had worse whale watches and pelagics! 

Here are the details -

Trip to Block Island - 9:30-10:30 - winds S 5-10, Seas <2 ft

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 14

Cory's Shearwater - 9 (including 4 together, all flying except 1 on the water)

Manx Shearwater - 1

Great Shearwater - 1 - sitting on the water with a Cory's

Shearwater sp. - 4 (distant flybys, most likely either Cory's or Greats)

Trip Back to Point Judith - 11:30-12:30 - winds S <5, Seas almost calm

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 25

Leach's Storm-Petrel - 1

Cory's Shearwater - 2

Shearwater sp. - 23 - including a distant flock of 22 on the water (likely Cory's and/or Greats)

Short-billed Dowitcher - 8

Mola mola – 1

My statebird map for Cory’s Shearwater is inserted below (the shaded states are the ones where I’ve seen this species).  As you can see, haven’t done much pelagic birding outside the northeast.

Vermont Whip-Poor-Will, July 2011

For years I've been collecting posts on the locations of Whip-poor-wills in Vermont so that I could someday try to add it to my VT statelist.  But since all the posted locations are quite distant from my house, it would require an overnight stay in VT, and I just I haven't had the opportunity.  This July I had a business trip to eastern NY that would include an evening trek through VT, so of course I wanted to give it a try.  But is mid-July too late to still hear Whips? 

With the help of information from several local VT birders, I headed to Long Swamp Road in Brandon near sunset to try for Whips.  Skies were cloudy and threatening with occasional light rain falling, but winds were light so I was hopeful that I'd be able to hear even distant birds.  At 8:50 1 bird started to call in the distance off to the north - success!  Now I have Whips in each New England state - my 202nd species that I have in all 6 New England states.  My statebird map for Whip-poor-will is inserted below - shaded states are those where I've heard/seen Whips.  The Brandon location is also provided in the link at the end of this post.

While in VT I also tried for 3 other possible statebirds but without success.  Each one was a real long shot - Sedge Wren seen in the Spring but no posts since late June, Ruddy Duck reported on a lake in early June, and Clay-colored Sparrows nesting at a South Burlington site for a couple years but without any posts this year.  I guess I need to get to VT more often if I'm going to get a better statelist. 

The next day while driving to the client's facility an American Bittern flew over the road - a new statebird for my NY list - #263.  A consolation for missing those VT longshots.

Rhode Island Trip Yields 2 of 3 Target Statebirds

An early summer day in Rhode Island with good birding friend Denny Abbott yielded 2 new statebirds for me.  First was a pair of Common Moorhens at Sisson Pond in Portsmouth, which had been reported earlier in the week.  That was my first trip to this location, so thankfully Denny knew the spot well.  The moorhens were swimming in the open at the edge of the cattails, making the spotting pretty easy. 

Next we headed down to Trustom Pond in South Kingstown in search of recently reported Least Bitterns.  I've tried for them there in the past but with no luck.  When Denny and I arrived at the end of Otter Point trail 2 other birders were there with just negative reports.  Undaunted, we camped out at the observation platform and waited.  A few minutes later one of the other birders saw one fly by, but unfortunately no one else saw it.  Luckily a few minutes later another bird flew in, and even perched in the open for all to see.  It appeared that there was a pair of birds possibly coming to/from a nesting site, and likely flying off to feeding spots nearby.  Great views of such a secretive bird!  The location of the likely nest is shown on the attached map.

Then Denny and I headed up to East Greenwich, RI to give a try for Mississippi Kites.  For the last several years a pair has nested in that town, but the location has not been divulged to protect the birds and to avoid bothering the local residents.  We drove around East Greenwich for 3 hours but with no luck at all.  There were plenty of neighborhoods that looked very similar to the New England Kite nesting locations in CT and NH and those I've seen elsewhere in places like VA, IL, and NE.  The only raptors we found were 2 Red-tails and an Osprey.  Needless to say we neither bothered the birds nor the local residents during our little trip to the town.

Inserted below are my statebird maps for both Least Bittern and Common Moorhen with those states where I've seen the birds highlighted in blue.  I've got each species now in 5 of 6 New England states.  (You might want to click on the maps to get expanded views of the small New England states.)