The Adventure Begins! - Calibirdication Day 2

We were up and out very early but “Sunny California” as we discovered, was a bit of a misnomer. The marine layer, what you and I would call fog, was out and making it very grey. Dude, fog sounds way too gnarly, but marine layer is bitchin!
 
Never the less, we were excited to make our way to our first stop: Tecolote Canyon.  Before we did though, I pointed out Western Gull to the goils at our hotel because it was a lifer for the both of them, and the best of our first three California species, the other two being Americrows and the Rock Doves.

At Tecolote one of our first acquisitions was Black Phoebe, again a lifer for the goils; a refrain that would be repeated ad nauseam throughout the trip. But I got to enjoy the vicarious thrill of their getting a lot of great birds. We walked the lower sections because the park itself looked very closed. It payed off, as we quickly got Hutton’s Vireo and Anna’s Hummingbird, then joined by Cassin’s Kingbird, Mockingbird and the first of the anemic House Finches.

Hutton's Vireo

Here on the east coast the male House Finches have a good amount of color, but those present throughout the trip gave us pause as they were much less colored and quite ratty looking. In fact, many of the bird species we saw were disheveled, perhaps a function of wear post breeding, and underdeveloped young birds.

We walked some scrubby areas, and heard strange calls. We puzzled over who the calls could be from until we finally caught sight of California Towhees. A California Thrasher popped up not to be outdone, and serenaded us with a song that was thrasher like, unlike the towhee songs that threw us for a loop. 

California Towhee, looking for a fight with his reflection

Speaking of loops, we made our way back to the parking lot and investigated the chips notes. There were Lesser Goldfinches, but a small flock of other birds alighted in a tree and revealed themselves to be Scaly-breasted Munias, a lifer for me! Truly though, it was both exciting and not so much so. This after all, was an introduced species. Sure they sexied it up by changing its name from Chestnut Manakin, a bird I had uncountably seen in the Everglades, but introduced species just don’t have the same gravitas as native species. A yay, not a YAY! 

A nice as yet unidentified Ode

Now that some time had passed, folks arrived and the gates seemed to be open so we ventured up the canyon proper. Song Sparrow and then Bullock’s Orioles greeted us from the slopes, and then from the top of the ridge we found California Scrub-Jays. The latter Arlene continued to call Western Scrub-Jays, perhaps not up on the recent split, or perhaps influenced by the ‘out of date’ field guide. Remember when a field guide was correct for more than a year at a time?

Bullock's Oriole

California Scrub-jay

Up the canyon we got looks at soaring Red-shouldered Hawks, and more dicky birds. We had Spotted Towhee, Wrentit, and more Lesser Goldfinches. 

Wrentit

But the stars were the Allen’s Hummingbirds. Apparently they are a well known here, reliable at a home adjacent the trail, with an abundance of red flowering shrubs. We went back and forth a bit on the ID but the experts on the Pelagic we took the next day not only were very familiar with the place but insistent that they were Allen’s. It’s always good to have local knowledge.

Allen's Hummingbird

One of the main reasons for choosing this place was its hosting California Gnatcatchers. But despite our best efforts we never found them. We could have easily spent far more time exploring this place, but other birds and locations awaited us.  Especially since some of the research I had done in preparation listed a place where a much desired target species was supposed to be quite easy if one got there at high tide... And having looked into the tides well in advance, it was time to head to Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach.

It is said that the high tide pushes the birds up to the sidewalk, and this was no exaggeration. We could see lots of birds in the expansive wetlands; the Great Egrets and the Snegrets were obvious of course. But looking at the many Willets revealed Marwits amongst them and Whimbrels as well. 

Whimbrel

We scanned from a number of vantages before coming to small promontory with an informational sign and a large cut-out of a rail below it. 
 

Well isn't this convenient?

Within moments we had a Ridgway’s Rail within a few feet of us! Nice looks, and lifer number two for me! Of course, this was a split, so again not as exciting as a non split, but then again it was a California bird for me, never having had formerly known as Clapper Rail in CA before. Yay!

Ridgway's Rail

We also had YC Night Heron, Caspian Tern, Little Blue Heron, Brown Pelican, Brant’s Cormorants, and American Bittern. Making our way to the end of the road we scanned from the boardwalk / platform and found a perplexingly plumaged bird. We eventually ID’d it to Long-billed Dowitcher, but not in any plumage I’d ever seen. 

We walked over to the beach entrance, and I was very pleased to see a Heerman’s Gull, and to point it out to the goils. It is one of my favorite gulls. It is just a sharp looking bird, and one that can make anyone love gulls.

Heerman's Gull

These are the goils, not to be confused with the gulls, though both will try to steal your french fries.

Shortly thereafter we noticed another birder and we engaged him in conversation.  What else happens when the four of you are the only folks around with binos and scopes? He was a Brit and was scheduled to go on the San Diego pelagic the next day as well. I cannot recall his name, but he was a heck of a birder, staying steadfastly at the bow of the boat and being both sharp eyed and extremely capable with ID. It would prove a big bonus having him aboard.

And we spotted yet more birders, one of which I recognized. It was Peter Shorebirder, from Hamster county, NY and his co-conspiritor Marc{?}. They too were in town for birding and the pelagic the next day. Small world.

Together the 5 of us revisited the Dowitcher. Funny thing was as we were trying to get them on the bird they were on an adjacent one that we had apparently overlooked before and dismissed as one of the very numerous Willets. It was a Wandering Tattler! 

From here we checked out San Diego Bay, where the goils got more lifers like Long Billed Curlew, while I managed to get chiggers. Nice numbers of Skimmers and Elegant Terns were loafing, and we also saw Western and some Least Sandpoopers. 

Long Billed Curlew

Black-tailed Jack Rabbit

The Avocets were nice to pick out in the distance, and we also found some Sanderling and Black-belied Plovers. We had hoped to see Snowy Plovers here, but since we dipped we decided to walk out along the beach back by the Tijuana Slough. 

It was a lovely walk, and found them way down the beach and but a stones throw from Mexico. We also got close looks at an unhappy Brant’s Cormorant. It was ill or injured; otherwise not a bird expected to allow such close approach.

Brant's Cormorant

In the surf we had a Pacific Loon, and in the ocean there were many Brown Pelicans plunge diving for fish. A nice place to be as the sun was setting. Lisa collected shells after I told her there were none on California beaches due to the surf conditions. Doh!

We ended the day by meeting up with Jeff Critter and having a nice dinner in anticipation of the next day’s adventure on the high seas.

We’re on our way - Calibirdication Day 1

I had wanted to do a birding trip for some time, but finding co-conspirators can at times be difficult. Decisiveness is always a plus, making the making of plans that much more enjoyable. Having had the misfortune to have been coerced in to going to south east Arizona several times in the recent past, I was hungry for other locations. Sure I got a bevy of very sweet lifers on each of those sojourns, but man does not live by birding Arizona alone. Or even in groups...

You can check off birds any time you like, but you may never want to leave!

I started floating the idea of California and per usual, many were “interested” but few could or would commit. Funny thing that... but the first person with whom I got the plan to gel with is Lisa Shrimpke. Flexibility in dates was a big plus, and it turned out to be very helpful in getting in all the boat trips we wanted to do as well. Coincidentally, other QCBeasties were to be in California in roughly the same time period, but that never came to pass in a way such that we crossed paths.

I went through no less than 5 iterations of where to start and where to go next. Finally, what worked with the fixed schedule of the pelagics was starting in San Diego and doing a big loop from there. We headed east, then north, then west, and then back south.

We started in Sandy Eggo

There were a few more that we passed through, but the counties we actually birded in were San Diego, Orange, Imperial, San Bernadino, Los Angeles, Kern, Mariposa, Mono, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. Dang it’s a very big state. How lucky were we that the gas prices had fallen to levels many of us thought we would never see again, especially considering all the driving we did. 

This state is too big.

Of course a plan of this nature that entailed 2500 miles more or less over two weeks was construed by a few as “overly ambitious”. Not every place that we listed as potential sites to bird were visited of course, but a plethora of places was put in the itinerary in the event that plans had to be modified. And they always do have to be modified one way or another. Trust me...

My forte is logistics, because navigating distances and allotting ample time without forethought can waste the oh so precious birding time. That and making sure the place you want to visit is open when you will be there! Lisa’s forte was mining eburd. Together we put together an awesome itinerary. Arlene Rails found the all important brew pubs.  

As we were splitting expenses, I found an app on googull play that made doing the math unnecessary called 'Trip Expense Manager'. Also very helpful was a navigation app called 'Here' maps. Useful because googull maps only works with a live data connection, and that is something hard to find in the wilderness. Here's maps and navigation are available offline. 

In preparation, I had made an extensive map in 'googull my maps'. Great in places with data, not so useful in places without. I foresaw also listing the GPS coordinates of all the places I had mapped so that when needed we could still navigate to them, because paper maps are so passe. With a data connection its nice to see the places plotted and their proximity to the other places.

Other folks that expressed interest dropped out, but Jeff Critter eventually decided on joining up with us after revisiting Arizona {where else?} for his “warbler big year” and Arlene Rails eventually got the okay from work to get the time off and so it was the three of us for the Calibirdication, with Jeff also doing a small part of it with us at the onset.

Of course we had to fly there and back. We flew on Deltuh. What an awful company. Think of the most horrid expletives that one could utter such that you would be mortified if your mom heard them. Multiply that to the third power, and that begins to approach how much I despise that company. We were delayed 2.5 hours because they forgot to load dinners for the pilots. Nice. On the intercom they told us: “ You wouldn’t want to work without being able to eat dinner, would you?”  You cannot be responsible enough to pack dinner and I am to entrust you with the operation of an aircraft? Air travel is far worse than taking the bus. Oh yay. And this is not the fist time they screwed me over.  Lest I forget, their website wouldn't accept Lisa's membership number so we had to pay for checked bags. Fortunately on a long leg of driving I was able to call in and get it rectified. I was only on hold for 40 minutes, but it was along ride and the time was there to kill...

Need I say more?

Accordingly, we arrived later than planned and despite getting a bit lost in San Diego we eventually made it to our hotel where the staff of the Vagabond Inn was friendly and facilitated our passing out in short order in anticipation of the next day’s adventures commencing. 

I chose this place because of the proximity to the dock from where we would be taking a pelagic in two days; negating the need to find a place to park nearby as we could walk to the dock from the hotel. The cost was reasonable too, and when I told the staff we were birders and that we would be leaving much earlier than they normally set out the continental breakfast, they accommodated us! That's service!
 

Turtles and Sharks and Whales, Oh My!

Every summer for the past few years we have been taking at least one but usually more than one trips to see whales and of course sea-birds with Artie Kopelman of CRESLI. He operates his trips out of Montauk on the Viking Fleet. For those that are not so keen on doing pelagics because of a tendency towards the 'technicolor yawn', the boat we go out on is very large and thus very stable.  

In the winter Artie also does seal walks at Cupsogue county park. And no, you do not have to pick up clean up after the seals.

The QCBeasties         photo by Nancy Trogan

A nice group of us got together on what turned out to be a perfect day to be on the ocean. Steve Tanager, Kurt & Stacey Meyer's-Friarbird, Nancy & Lou Trogan, Pelican, Dunlin, yours truly, and a few guests.

The rain of the previous day gave way to a clear sky, modest temperatures, low wind, and flat seas. Stacey was particularly pleased! 

The Kraken attacks!

As usual, the birding as well as the whaling started out slowly, but who doesn’t like a leisurely cruise in the ocean? Of course we had Herring, Great Black-backed and a few immature Laughing Gulls with Common Terns curious about our boat. But it took a while of sailing south west before our first pelagic species showed up.

Wilson’s Storm Petrels were the first to be spotted. They were here and there and as long as one looked through binos, they were everywhere. As we got closer to the immense and numerous schools of Bunker, we caught sight of our first Shearwaters. Cory’s and Great were around first in ones and twos, and then in big groups. The largest was a flock of 100+ or so Greats loafing near a trawler, perhaps resting and digesting. 

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

There were also groups of Corys, and one such group also held two Sooty Shearwaters: one of our target birds! We were hoping to be graced with more rare species like a Manx Shearwater as had been seen on a trip the week before, but we were not as lucky.

Sooty & Cory's Shearwater - Photo by Nancy Trogan

We did see a loggerhead turtle, and numerous sharks. Some of the later were swimming at the surface, but most were thrashing through the schools of bunker.

The first whales we saw were Humpbacks. The ‘blow’ was spotted by Artie and his team of volunteers, and the captain of the boat brought us nearby.  It was wild to see the big tail fluke come out of the water as they began a dive. At one point we were close enough to one of them when the whale exhaled and Artie warned of the impending stench. Yech!  Or at least that’s what he claimed: the stench came from his direction. How ~convenient~ to blame it on the whale...

L > R     Cory's, ??, Cory's, Great

In the photo above I noticed that one of the birds is smaller in structure. Does this mean that one of the birds that have been split off of Cory's Shearwater can be present in our waters? Has anyone ever bothered to look for these very similar looking birds? It was only after reviewing my photos that I noticed the possibility...

" A large shearwater, in general structured like a Cory’s Shearwater with long bowed wings. However, bill, head and body thought to be slimmer than Cory’s in the field.  Photographs prove bill head and body were obviously slimmer than Cory’s. Note that Cory’s averages 46% heavier than Scopoli’s."

Some references: 
http://www.scillypelagics.com/scopolis.html
https://www.britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/V103_N12_P712%E2%80%93717_A.pdf
 
It would be nice if we could be afforded the time to study these birds that were loafing, but the goal of the cruise was alas, focused on the whales. We cruised around and eventually came across some Fin Whales. Neato! 

Overall, as compared to other trips, there were not as many whales, but the waters were calm and allowed good looks at the ones present. So far, whale wise and bird wise we have not been disappointed, though some were hoping to come across dolphins that we usually have.





At one point a young Brown-headed Cowbird inspected our boat, but due to its being littered with people, it never seemed to find a suitable place to land. Some time later, same thing but this time it was a Yellow Warbler.

As it eventually got towards that time of day, and Artie mentioned that it was time to head back. Pelican and I were scanning the ocean and remarking about the huge schools of bunker when she spotted and called out ‘whale!’ When it resurfaced, it looked quite small to me so I called out dolphin but was corrected by Artie Kopelman who called it a Minke. I thought, who does he think he is, Inspector Clouseau?

But of course he was correct, noting that it was a particularly small individual. We spent a while getting looks at it and returned later than usual to dock because of finding it late in the day.

All in all a fantastic day out on the water. Great conditions, 4 lifers each for Kurt & Stacey, year birds for the rest of us. And no one on this crowded boat got sick except for one poor slob who wretched almost continuously. We took turns trying to identify the internal organs he was expelling;  I saw a kidney for certain... 

Serendipity to the 4th Power

At times of birding doldrumnity, thoughts turn to chores and other unsavory activities. That is unless one is torn away kicking and screaming by an offer to bird. Despite a vague "Do you have any ideas" I gave in to 'peering at bird' pressure at the suggestion of Phil Jabiru since no one was around to kick or scream at.

We decided to try Smith Point to begin with. Conditions were disappointing. Low visibility due to fog and haze, lack of water in the impoundment, and a general lack of birds made the heat and mugginess more difficult to ignore.

The final straw was inability to see out into the ocean, so we packed up with thoughts that Cupsogue might bear fruit. A check of the intertubes on the way to the car enforced that decision, as Brown Pelicans had been reported earlier.

We made our way there, while Phil called Matt Bicknell to find out where he was. Turns out, he was out fishing in the bay, so we planned to touch base with him when we arrived.

In the parking lot, an update came through the intertubes from Patrick Pallas Reed Bunting. A few text exchanges with him later, and the message became "I'm in the car in front of you".  Next, Pat graciously offered to drive us out the 4wd access road to where he had located the birds. We got out at the end of the road and quickly found the four birds on the sand bar in the bay, and got scope views.

We also noted that Pat was dressed to the nines. Turns out he took a 'break' from work to come see the birds. "Your honor, I request a recess." "A recess? On what grounds?"  "Brown Pelican". "Brown Pelican?!" " No your honor, four Brown Pelicans! 

Brown Pelican

We thanked Pat, and bid him adieu, while Phil looked out on the water and noticed Matt's boat on the water. Pat took off, and we headed to the shore to meet Matt. 

Matt had not seen the Pelicans yet, so we pointed him in the right direction and we went for a closer look. As we approached the south side of the bar we noted a paler Tern with a black bill. Roseate! This was a much desired bird for us all, and another good day bird. 

Matt maneuvered his boat to get us a bit closer without getting stuck in shallow water, and I was able to get a few pics with my phone; neither Phil nor I wanted to bring our cameras on the small boat. 

We cruised around a bit more, saw a Western Willet which stood out next to the others, and stopping at the marsh edges we saw quite a few Seaside Sparrows, but not a whole lot more other than usual suspects.

What a fantastically serendipitous day!

Gargany Me With a Spoon

 So a Gargany was found this past Sunday, June 5, a mere 315 miles away at the Knox Marselles marsh section of the Montezuma NWR. A twitch Monday was out as it is a work day, and this Monday was  especially out as I had surgery scheduled to repair an  inguinal hernia. Being a powerbirder takes guts, and I am apparently bursting at the seams with guts. 

Monday was also a nail biter as birders everywhere were checking the ever proliferating and unnecessarily redundant venues for updates. Was the bird ever relocated? Where are the updates? It was not until late in the day that reports came in that yes, (phew) it had been re-found. This news came a bit too late for some that had the opportunity to bolt up there on that Monday, but had decided or needed to depart prior to its being located.

The pattern of behavior that emerged frustratingly late was that the bird becomes visible towards the end of the day. Gaaah! But having received word that the bird stuck, posse formation began in earnest. Pelican contacted me in the evening, while I was convalescing with quite the sore abdomen and an even sorer throat from the procedure I had undergone earlier in the day.

Once knocked out, they intubate you for anaesthesia purposes. But since you are already knocked out they apparently just jam the breathing tube down your throat in a brutally rough manner. How is it that my throat hurt so much more than where the surgery was? No matter, there was a bird we needed to see! The planning was underway.

Earic Miller had also previously expressed interest, and Pelican had indicated that John Gaggle-o-geese was on board as well. It was not until late that night that John responded to my text, and I found out he had already gone! Unfortunately he didn’t get the bird, and would not be joining us for another try. 

Early Tuesday morning I met Pelican at her place, and we collected Earic in Queens. She graciously agreed to drive as it was suggested that I not do so for more than short distances. Not that I was worried about overexertion, but as it turns out I had significant difficulty moving due to the residual effects of the laproscopic procedure. They inflate you with CO2 and some stays inside after they are done and it really is irritating; the result makes getting in and out of the car painful if I had to bend or twist. Or cough or sneeze.

We chose the  17 / I-86  route. No matter what time of year, it is a superbly gorgeous scenic drive. I navigated and performed my maddest DJ skills, but Earic didn’t step up to the plate with snacks and beverages - sheesh, ignorance of road-trip protocol...

After a while I put on one of my favorite albums: Spectrum by Billy Cobham. It has almost always been one of the first albums listened to on these epic journeys, but we were well on our way. I ascribe my success at finding the target birds with listening to this album. Listening to it this late in the trip though, would it still have its magical effect?

We made a pit-stop in Hancock, NY at the roadside rest, and in addition to leg stretching, we got several birds right from the lot including Cedar Waxwing, Warbling Vireo, and Chipping Sparrow. Earic also heard a Redstart that I not surprisingly, did not.

We continued on the rest of the way, and arrived at East Road where we found Zach Saw-Whet Owl amongst other birders. We hoped that the intent scoping was a positive indicator but it was just intent searching through the many birds out in the marsh.  

It was a process to pick through them.  Zach pointed out a Sandhill Crane for us, and the Trumpeter Swan and Snow Goose. We also got three Black Terns, so it was starting out well with several targets easily obtained. Boy were there a lot of Mallards, and the most Wood Ducks I have ever seen in one location. 

After some time, someone stopped by and said he had the Gargany that morning from the infamous Towpath Road. Not sure if that ever got posted anywhere, and not sure why. An ABA code 4 bird and not more than one or two posts on all the lists? WTF?? Come on upstate birders, we can do better than that... Zach also informed us that there were other goodies there, and we decided to try our luck after exchanging cell numbers.

The Towpath road was a challenge to traverse. For Pelican, it was for doing her best to pick the best path and stay out of ruts etc. For me, it was the jostling of my belly that made me wince repeatedly. Earic and Pelican did their best not to laugh too loud or too often.

At the clearing we saw Common Gallinule and heard Least Bittern, as well as Orioles, Yellow Warblers, and Catbirds. We gave it some time, but if there was a Gargany there we sure couldn’t see it.  We also saw Green winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, and Pintail. After a while as many as five Bald Eagles appeared over the marsh, and put up all of the ducks. Couldn’t pick out our target in the melee, but a sight to behold nevertheless.

We decided to try birding elsewhere and met up with Willie Diademed Sandpiper-Plover on the way out.  He and his party took up station at towpath after exchanging cell numbers, while we went to the visitor’s center.

The visitors center gave us Martins, a bird I had missed on the Doodle-ing Bash trip. Not a lot else and it appeared very dry. Add to that a creepy guy shouting out bible rantings and we departed in short order.

Much to our chagrin we discovered the wildlife drive was closed for repairs and was fenced off. We headed back instead. On the way we stopped at Armistead road where we looked for a reported Prothonotary, we found a male and female Cerulean in consolation.

Oh well, we decided to head back to East Road to give it another go. After all, it was getting near the time the bird was ~supposed~ to show up. Zach was still there, as was a group of other birders. No luck yet. And then Menachem Goldfinch and his mom showed up, as did Patrick Pallas Reed Bunting. The birders, not to mention down-state birders,  were coming out of the woodwork; would the Gargany?

We were assembled so that we could search the south west corner of the marsh. We began scanning in earnest again and then after a short while Earic said: “I think I have the bird, let me look in your scope Pat”. He looked through her superior optics, and said: “That’s it!”

I looked through his scope to find landmarks, then through mine and confirmed it was the bird. Holy excrement! The bird was sleeping with its head tucked backwards on its back. How the hell did he find it, especially with that scope of his? Its just a cardboard tube with the bottom of a coke bottle taped onto the far end.

Earic ~heard~ it of course. I overheard him say that “Its snore sounds similar to,  but different from Green-winged or Blue-winged Teal, so I knew it had to be the bird.”

After getting a good look I yelled out to the other birders that we had it, and the mad dash of excited birders gathered round. The distance, the obscuring vegetation, and the wind made observation a challenge. That’s why we had set our selves up sheltered by Pelican’s car. It became most expedient to let the others look through our scopes rather than try to describe the location. 

It was a lifer for almost all present, though for me it was only a NY State bird having seen one in 1997 in NJ. But it is NYS bird # 414 for me. Sated by our views of the bird, we went in search of food. We stopped in Auburn at Parker’s Grille & Tap House for the requisite celebratory beer and a hearty and well deserved repast.

Happy birders! A great end to another epic journey, with great weather, great scenery, and great birds. And the spotting of the bird later in the day was no doubt due to the delay in listening to Spectrum. I’ve learned my lesson: play that album ~first~ so we find good birds without delay!

I have to thank Pelican for doing all the driving. What a trooper! Earic offered to spot her a few times but she is no slouch and said 'no need'. There was a point at which he and I were asleep while she drove on in solitude. Not a birder to be trifled with, in my opinion the epitome of what is being strived for in the article about “female leadership in birding”, on the ABA's blog. On the other hand, twice she made me laugh so hard my belly hurt. Its weird to go from laughing to wincing, but she seemed to enjoy watching me do so.

Gargany Me With a Spoon? Uh, yuh, totally.

Doodle-ing Bash!

Doodle-ing Bash. If that doesn’t sound like a party I don’t know what does. I led this trip on May 21 &22 where weather reports unfortunately adversely influenced some folks. 11 of the 17 people who were supposed to go showed up not where it was not so bright, but we met good and early at the trail head. A 12th showed up late.

It seems that the weather forecasters do a good job of casting doubt into the minds of some people. Oh well, their loss; it didn’t rain! Over the course of the two days we were hit by a literally countable number of droplets.

The first goody we had was on the very steep initial section of the trail. There were Tennessee Warblers for the hearing, but none deigned show themselves. All through the day as we crossed paths with other birders where we got the same report: Tennessee heard, but not seen.

Of course Redstarts were in abundance, and it was not too long before we heard and saw our first Ceruleans and Hooded Warblers. It got better the further in we went as the trees were not so tall and the birds not so far away.

Of course we also got Olive-sided Flycatchers, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos. A surprise was a Green Heron in the reservoir. I have never had one there as far as I can remember, but to balance things out, we did not get a Spotted Sandpiper here as we usually do. Feeling remorseful, the Spotted Sandpiper ultimately revealed itself to us at Iona Island later on.

Of late, as in the past few years, Doodletown has become a reliable location for Kentucky Warbler. This Oproronid, ( or at least it ~used~ to be in the Oporornis family. ) ( Can those dam ornithologists stop messing with us birders? Jeez, go get your jollies elsewhere...) Ahem. I was saying, this Oporornid, oh hell..., this Geothlypis is a much sought after bird. And we made tracks to the location where Mike Z. and Michele Z. had seen it the day before.

We were not disappointed. As we walked to the location, we heard a Worm-eating Warbler on the hillside it has favored for years, and on the other side sang the Kentucky. We came upon some fellow birders who were pointing cameras at it, and thus we quickly were able to get everyone on it. The overcast hampered any efforts at a decent photo, but birders can’t be choosers.

We birded our way to the “lunch rock”, and planned on an enjoyable lunch. All was going well until Ian “innocently” noticed a seemingly out of place rock. What was secreted beneath it? A note. I thought it said: “Arie Gilbert is a big winner” but the raucous laughter at my expense said otherwise.

After lunch we explored a bit more then birded our way back down. We stopped at the reservoir again, and exchanged info with fellow birders. There were lots of Orioles calling all over. This year was a good one for them. And one of the calling birds was distinctly different. I called others attention to it and posited that it was a Orchard Oriole. Ian at first dismissed this, but it turned out that I was correct! I am truly not sure what crease in my brain I pulled that out of, but sometimes we know more than we know we know. I am certainly not one of those folks who recognize things I hear in the same way that most of us recognize things we see. And it pays to have had my hearing aids set to stun.

We checked Iona Island. The tide was high and as stated before we had Spotted Sandpiper, but not much else. We continued on to Sterling Forest.

The Golden-winged Warblers did not disappoint, and we got Blue-winged, Prairie, and more Chestnut-sided as well. No Field Sparrow though. Huh? We missed Broad-winged Hawk too.

With the day drawing to a close and hunger calling, we headed off to eat and we were once again very pleased by the food and selection at Mr. Sushi. When we left the restaurant, we discovered that it had rained while we were inside. At most a few drops hit us on the way to the cars, and we went the rest of the distance to the hotel.

It was suggested that we could go out in search of Whip-poor-wills and Nighthawks, but I thought the rain and overcast would preclude that. Good thing - no sooner had my head hit the pillow than I was out cold...

We set to meet the next morning at 7am. I awoke at 6am, and was so wiped out that I headed to get coffee first. There I met up with most of the group already up! Oh well, miscalculated that one.  But I was in need of a large infusion of caffeine just so I could muster a shower!

We set off at the appointed time to the bridge on Haven Road. The sign for it is now missing, and the Moose Lodge has changed ownership, but I found the correct turn off.  A shot distance down the road was our first goody. John G. spotted a Pileated working on a fallen tree. Unfortunately most of us did not see it.

At the marsh we saw lots of Wood Duck flying around, and a few other species such as Black, Mallard, and Blue-winged Teal. Other birders who were there earlier had Bittern calling, but we missed that one. We did hear and see Common Gallinules, and this visit had by far the most we have had here.

Eagle eyed Pat spotted an Eagle { what else } sitting in a tree off in the distance. It is remarkable how prevalent this bird has become.

At the road to the stop sign trail, we had Chestnut-sided Warbler. This trip was one of the best for this species, on other occasions we had but one. Redstarts on the other hand were in their usual abundance and ubiquitousness. And now they had a new trick; a lot of song variations to confuse and confound us. It’s a good thing they are a great looking bird or we might get upset or something.

The usual birds were present, but it seemed that the overcast depressed their desire to sing for us a bit. We made the usual stops, and at one point Ian said: “ this looks like a good place for a Virginia Rail”. Well he was off by 50 feet. No sooner had he said it than John G spotted one.

We all gathered around and as luck would have it a major reason it was spotted is that it was intent on getting to the other side of the road. Killer views were had by all.

On the way back we heard a strange cal that none of us could ID though we all agreed that it was most probably a frog. I recorded the calls and upon returning home my suspicion that it was an American Toad was confirmed.

We stopped for lunch at the deli fields, and then moved on to Port Orange Road. We heard a few Louisiana Waterthrush, but I never got to see one. At the power line cut we again dipped on Field Sparrow. What happened? This and Sterling used to be very reliable; perhaps it was due to clearing that looked like it may have used herbicides.

We did get BT Green and Prairie, but our streak with Bay-breasted seems to have run out. At this point Coco and Benny, as well as Mike & Michelle decided to take an early departure and forgo the rest of the trip.

The rest of us  went to Mcdonald Road for Alder Flycatcher, and to be barked at by very large dogs. At Gumear Falls Road we got Blackburnian right off the bat. But try as we might we could not connect with an Acadian Flycatcher. We did get a very nice look at Magnolia in consolation.

After a pit-stop at Stewart's, we confused Ian R. by taking a short cut to Blue Chip Farms. It was shorter and far more picturesque. Arriving at the fields, I was initially dismayed to see they had been mowed. The concern was for naught.

Within a few minutes and with bins I spotted Bobolinks, and then found an Uppie walking a few fields back. I got everyone on it before we even had scopes! And to think of all the times we spend very long times searching almost to the point of giving up.

On the way to Shawangunk we stopped when we heard a call and it was a Pileated. This time we all got to see the bird. At Shawangunk we were delighted by Kestrels and Harriers flying around. Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, and Grasshopper Sparrows delighted us by voguing. Such great views! But we were surprised that we had not gotten Savannah Sparrow. At the direction of a local birder we found them on one of the paths. Phew! Would be odd to miss that one!

We went to ‘the bridge’, our traditional last stop before acquiring dinner. It is an unassuming place but it has produced a lot of nice things over the years. I was reminiscing with Ian about the Nighthawks we had seen there and shortly thereafter he looked up and found one then a few more! We had at least 5, some very high up in the air. 

I also told the others about how I had spotted a River Otter from the bridge some years back. So it came as a surprise when Steve S noticed tracks and scat and a slide on the bank. It was evidence of Otters!

We ended the day with a fine meal and a final stop at the thruway toll plaza for Martins. This was the first time we missed them.

And that’s been the theme of the trip: a lot of some things we usually struggle for, and difficulty with things we usually expect. Mother Nature always keeps us guessing!

Tyrannus, Saw Us. Yes!

Gray Kingbird

2016 is poised to be another great year for birding. Shifting weather patterns have promoted vagrancy which is great for your life list. Whether it is good for the birds themselves remains to be seen.

Already seen was Swainson’s Warbler on April 28th; a bird of the southern states which portended the trend of southern vagrants. Followed in rapid succession was a Fork-tailed Flycatcher in New Jersey. I was actually in NJ at the time leading a trip, but the distance and other factors precluded changing our plans. I was very happy to have received a heads-up from Dunlin, even if I could not partake of the birds presence.

On May 2, birders in the Finger Lakes region spotted a Gray Kingbird near Conesus Lake, the western most of the lakes. In a pleasant wetland south of the lake is the Conesus Inlet WMA

Like many desperately sought after species, this bird is a notorious one day wonder. { Not to be confused with the rapper who was shot to death after his phenomenal debut concert performance. } There are a surprising number of records for New York State, and more surprising to me anyway, is that they have for the most part been in upstate counties. Previous sightings can be found >here<   

In the not too distant past of 2011, one was seen briefly at Jones Beach. It would not have been a life bird, having seen them before in a few locations, but it would be a NY bird. This piqued my interest, but as I could not see get to it, it was placed onto my wish list. And then the report came in this Monday, with reports of site fidelity on Tuesday and Wednesday!

Of course, there is always that anticipation one has when searching for a place previously unfamiliar with. The first question is “How far away is it?” Then “Is it still being seen?”, and “Will I have the opportunity to go for it?” follow closely behind.

This bird seemed to buck the trend of flightiness and I inquired after co-conspirators. I was a bit surprised to find a less than usual amount of interest in a rarity of this magnitude. I theorize that bright colors or the unusually plumaged engender more interest than dull things. Oh well, I’m that jaded.

Eventually the plan was hatched and Earic Miller and I got an early start on the day in hopes of not having gone all that way and getting skunked. It was a long way. My usual way of thinking about these things was to say that anything under 300 miles was a day trip. This was more than 325.

In a sense, I felt as if ‘flying blind’. Down here in what NYSARC refers to a ‘region 10', folks are decidedly more liberal with updates on rarities. Sometimes ad nauseum. This was way up in ‘region 2' where folks are apparently less chase happy and concomitantly less communicative about it as well. It’s a long way to go without knowing if the bird was still being seen...

Wednesday night having prepared for the possibility and based upon a complicated algorithm, I concluded that we should go after the bird. I did not get enough sleep, but awoke at 4am anyway. After collecting Earic we made a delightfully unencumbered drive. No traffic, and no troopers to be seen anywhere.

Of inconsequential delay, the very last leg of the journey was through small towns. Previous experience told me that those speed limit signs are not just decorations, so I headed their advice. I would advise the same for other would be chasers. We arrived at the parking lot and found another birder from Elmira who was just arriving himself.

We joined a local birder at the end of the concrete path and a third from Binghamton who had ventured off to the left.  I was hoping that the bird would be in someone's scope, or at least the dead trees in front of us as it had been for some lucky folks the day before. Nope.

We all were scanning in earnest, but there were a lot of distractions. Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a few Eastern Kingbirds, all to throw our eyes off a potential target. And then Earic spotted something, and got the fellow next to him on it with his better scope. YES! We had it!

The view from the end of the path -  The bird is next to the red arrow.

The bird was flying out in front of a few Willow trees, and the tree's coloration against the otherwise featureless area made orienting easier. We watched as the bird would feed then fly back and perch repeatedly.

Eventually we walked down the path to the right where a short distance down was a boardwalk and platform. From here we got closer views, as well as found other critters like green and leopard frogs, water snake, and a red squirrel. 

Red Squirrel

Green (l) Leopard (r) frogs

Water Snake

Leopard or Pickerel Frog?

But the trail continued and we were able to get behind the willows. From here we got the best views of the Gray Kingbird. NYS bird #413 for me of the currently listed 490 species.

Gray Kingbird

As we were leaving we spotted commotion in the stream and saw huge pickerels that were at least 18" long, and a medium sized 8-12" silvery fish with red fins. The latter were either a native fish called "Roach" or an introduced fish called "Rudd". Neat stuff.

The ride back was also essentially devoid of traffic, but the troopers seemed to be stationed every couple of miles or so. The pace was accordingly not as brisk and the  long day was a rewarding day.