Bridle and Grooving

Failure sucks. And failure after having to deal with a slew of hurdles that come one after, together with imaginative and impromptu solutions that don't give the desired result is another level of suckitude altogether.

And success is often the result of not quitting. Today I made another attempt at seeing the Bridled Term resident on Great Gull Island. Of course, part of the process is assembling a posse. Though there can be more participants than available space.

 

Bridled Tern

After a bit of machinations, I recused myself from the decision process, and things worked itself out. Ed Thrasher and Avian Resnick met me at 11am and we trailered my boat out east to meet Pat Pallas Reed Bunting an hour and a half later at the DEC 'Oyster Ponds' boat ramp in Southhold.

Arriving at the ramp, Pat was waiting for us but hopes were soon dashed when I saw the barrier across the entrance which said 'closed to the public'. WTF?! A quick inquiry at the beach next door revealed that the ramp was damaged so they closed. it. #$%^&&^

 

Now you tell me!

Undaunted I inquired further and was told about other ramps, but unlike this one they were resident only. #%^&*(.

Yet it soon occurred to me that the marina from which I had gotten a ride last week surely must have a ramp. I did not know this to be a fact, but I headed there anyway. Thankfully I was correct.

 

$ mile shortcut

A sign at the ramp instructed us to fill out a form an put it with $20 into the slot, which Ed took care of. Noting that Pat was with us, I turned to Avian and asked if he had brought the guns. He replied in the negative. Clearly not a Warren Zevon fan.

I launched the boat, we boarded, and we were on our way. My boat was no where near as fast so it took us an hour to get to Great Gull Island, arriving at the north east end of the island at 2:15. On the way we saw a few Parasitic Jaegers which was nice, but no feeding terns or Shearwaters.

I anchored the boat 150' offshore and we began to scan the reported area. Hope as we did, it was not there when we arrived. During our vigil we noticed a commotion which turned out to be an immature Bald Eagle being escorted away from the island by a flock of angry terns.

At another point a Roseate tern flew right over us and gave killer looks. And a short time later a dark and powerful bird flew at the island which was a young Peregrine.

 

This concrete structure is Bridie's crib

Then at the reported 'favorite' spot I saw a bird land with what appeared in the harsh sunlight to be brown wings. YES! It was the Bridled Tern and I got the others on it. It then moved onto the rear of the structure it liked, and we took the opportunity to move the boat closer. A short time on something put the terns up and a large bunch flew out an past us together with Bridie. We got great looks as it flew out past us then flew back past us. YES! Lifer for Ed & Pat.

 

Bridie's Here!

It then alighted on the rocks near its 'spot' and we got more killer looks. Elated, we got our fill of looks and decided to head back to shore. Just west of Great Gull Island we saw another Parasitic Jaeger, but this time it flew towards us giving us killer looks at this bird too.

Despite the initial kluge with the boat ramp, early in the week the weather forecast accurately predicted it would be the perfect window to try for this bird. And the voyage out was easy. It was also nice that the relocation saved us 4 miles of boat trip! Then again on the way back the wind picked up a bit and some sections were a bit choppier and required slower travel.

And then we passed a clump of seaweed off of Plum Island that fouled my prop. Everything was fine until we got close to Orient point, about as far out as the Orient Point Lighthouse, and the engine stalled! Yikes.

I pulled the starter cord and it started back up right away (phew) but it was running a bit off. I choked the fuel and it ran perfectly and we continued on our way to the ramp.

After we loaded the boat back on the trailer we walked over to the marina's restaurant and had the requisite celebratory beer and a nice repast. One of the things we discussed was that my boat did not as of yet have a name. A few had been suggested, and I had come up with a few but I was not enamored of any of them. I also recounted one of my favorite jokes from The Flintstones. It was a joke about how they had named their boat – “My wife wanted to call it the Sea Queen, and I wanted to call it the Nautilus. So we compromised and called it the Nausea” 

I'll send this out while I wait for my food

When our beers arrived, I gave my favorite toast: “L'tsipourim!” Its Hebrew for “To Birds!” and then it hit me – I had the perfect name: the “Seapourim”. Sure, I was cautioned by the others at the table that I might have to explain it to most people, but hey, I like it.

Unbridled Passion

I, will take the tour,
They said, and turned to go.
Can they be late for the Bridled Tern show?

A Bridled Tern, yet another heretofore southern species has returned to our area, more specifically Great Gull Island, for the third year! To add to the special visitor's appeal, this time it appears to want to hang around Great Gull Island instead of venturing off to Connecticut.

Other recent notables from this realm have been a few Roseate Spoonbill, Anhinga, Wood Stork, and even more remarkably, Great Black Hawk. The later is from central America!

With reports coming in that sightings from the Orient Point and New London ferry's “Light House Tour” of Bridie from the tour boat, it became far more feasible for those of us interested, and there are many who are interested, to make an attempt for this rare visitor.

At the suggestion of Pelican, a group of us decided to do the tour which she described as being both interesting and modestly priced. Add the opportunity to stop in Southhold for a lobster roll and it was a plan. Yay.

Ed Thrasher, Bob Prothonotary and Ardith Booby and I met Pelican, Johnny Gaggle-o-geese, and Kurt & Stacy Meyer's-Friarbird and we gormandized on our delectable repast. We then continued on to Orient Point in high spirits, possibly due to having consumed some spirits...

This quickly went south upon arrival, where the fellow at the entrance informed Pat, and the phone message I received having just restored cell service, was that the boat's mechanical issue meant the trip was off. Darn

Undeterred, we sought out our refunds and alternatives. We went to the marina a short distance back where we inquired of one of the boaters if they would be able to take us there. Willing yes, but unable at that time. Dashed hopes again.

We then approached another boat but they were preparing for an offshore trip and could not spare the time either. Darn and drat.

Undeterred we inquired w/in the bar and one woman there was the spouse of a boat captain and knew others. Yay!

Several calls and no one available. Darn yet again

Then we saw two young fellows come into the Marina to refuel... Stacy went over to charm them and not surprisingly she succeeded, and they were happy to take us. Yay.

Then upon looking they discovered that they only had enough life jackets to take 4 of the 8 of us at a time. They recently had a Coast Guard surprise inspection and were not willing to risk it if they got stopped again. Understandable. Grrrr.

Still undeterred, we again inquired at the bar. The nice woman called around but we could not find anyone that had extra life jackets that we could rent or borrow. Darn.

So then the guys on the boat offered to take us out 4 at a time. Yay! Of course this meant deciding which 4 would go first. Coin tossing, rock-paper-scissors, and fist fighting were suggested, but we finally decided that Pat, John, Kurt & Stacy would go first, as it was a potential lifer for them; the rest if us had seen this bird before except for Ed.

They set off while we sat in the air conditioned bar, and I drowned my sparrows in another beer. They finally returned after being given a generous amount of time. Happy, but not elated. Some got Parasitic Jaeger for a life bird, but the main target was not spotted. Darn.

They departed while we embarked on our attempt. Yay.

These two college students named Duncan and Sloan couldn't have been nicer to us. On the way out there was feeding frenzy activity and they asked if we minded if they tossed out a few lures to see what they could catch. They did get one small Bluefish, but that was all. We on the other hand had really close looks at Cory's and Great Shearwaters, as well as lots of Common and a few Roseate Terns.

We explained that these were good birds because they were difficult to see from shore, and the tern was a rarity here and we tried to put it into perspective. At the end of the trip they actually thanked us for teaching them about the stuff we were after. Bright, affable, genuine young folks; perhaps there is hope for the human race after all.

It didn’t take us long to get to the island, and we tried mightily to find Bridie. We couldn't approach closely because there was a lot of huge rocks in the area, and the guys kept the boat out in the 20' depth some 150-200 feet from shore. Landing is also forbidden, and I hear they have 110mm artillery on that island!

Being one of the largest Tern nesting colonies, it was no surprise there were lots coming and going. We scanned the rocky shore where the bird had often been seen, but to no avail. Then finally at around 5pm Bob called out that he had the bird. It was flying in with other terns, yet it was difficult to be able to describe where to look to the rest of us before it became obscured by the island. Well at least one of us saw it, but we wished it were Ed because, lifer – you know.

We stayed a bit longer hoping it would come to rest in view, but it did not. Then the guys asked if we minded going back because they had not eaten all day and were starving. Oh well, time to call it a day. It was an adventure with a lot of ups and downs – even if we didn't mightily succeed.

I get up, I get dow-ow own

Bridled Terns will pass you by...

As to the aforementioned Great Black Hawk which which was seen by Mike Zino's Petrel and Tim Heathhen the day before, we bandied about the thought of chasing it on the upcoming weekend.

Latest word though is that the bird flew away, (some say because of Mike's driving so fast,) for which he was rewarded with being given the opportunity to make a donation to the Maine constabulary.

And this is birding. You get some, you miss some, but you have an adventure either way.

Persistence Pays! - A Rosie NYS #424

Oh, Rosie, oh, girl, oh, Rosie, oh, yeah
Steal away now, steal away
Steal away, baby, steal away
Little Robert Proniewych wants to come and play
Why don't you come to NY for me, baby, steal away, alright, alright

Roseate Spoonbill

I first heard the term ‘persistence pays’ in 2005. I was on my way to the Rio Grande Valley to scoop up some rarities, and one of my patients who worked for the airlines asked if I was flying on her’s. I was, so she gave me one of her cards onto which she had written: “Persistence Pays! Take care of my doc.” It was the slogan they used while enduring a difficult labor dispute. For me it meant that every time they passed by they dropped off another mini bar bottle. I had to politely decline more after the third one, but it was a nice way to travel.

Flash forward, and a Roseate Spoonbill shows up sometime around July 22 in the Wallkill NWR Liberty Loop which straddles the NY/NJ border. A non birder apparently found the bird and submitted a photo to the refuge. Local patch birder Linda Scripp’s Murrelet went on a mission to find it, and after four hours effort located and reported it.

Many a birder from both and perhaps other states have visited this quite lovely refuge hoping for a sighting, and those from NY especially were hoping that they would see it within NY. Not see it ~from~ NY, see it ~in~ NY. I was among the later group.

For some of us that have been birding for a long time, adding to our state lists is important. I had the hope of seeing this bird back in 1992, and made an attempt when it was on Satan Island, but I did not succeed.

On July 24 I made my first attempt. I spend a good part of the day seeing a very nice selection of birds with Earic Miller. We did see Rosie, it was superb, but alas not in NY. So close and yet so far. In fact, one facebooker said: “Amazing to have this spectacular bird here, and it is rather amusing to have everyone fussing over the borders and rules. The spoonbill doesn’t care about any of that!”

I’m not sure that Rosie agrees. To my knowledge no one asked her, and based upon her glee in taunting and tantalizing the NY observers with flights towards the NY side only to turn back on the vast majority of sallies before getting there, I would conclude that Rosie does care, and she’s a tease!

As if Roseate Spoonbill were not enough, soon after its discovery the even more remarkable discovery of an Anhinga was made on Moningside Park in Sullivan county by John ‘The Hound of The Basherkill’. Many locals were able to see the bird in the limited time it was present that day, while the rest of us despaired.

Flash forward to July 29 and word came that the Anhinga returned to the scene of the crime! It was still early enough in the day such that an attempt was not out of the question. I picked up Tim Heathhen and we made our way there.

It was a picturesque section of NY and we saw a nice variety of birds while there. We stayed until dark, hoping that the bird would come in to roost as Great Blue Herons and Canada Geese were doing, and as had been suggested of the behavior of this bird.

The ‘greedy’ birder in me was hopeful the bird would reprise its performance and then we would be able to give another try for Rosie. Nope. We were there til dark and had to make the drive of shame.

As one can imagine, in the rabid birder circles these two birds were very much the topic of conversation. Bob Prothonotary, who had made a previous attempt for Rosie with others was contemplating another try. A plan was put in motion and we went on August 2nd.

We arrived at the Liberty Loop parking lot at 7:30am. There was one car already there, and when we walked to the platform ahead of us I spotted a wallet in the wet grass. It was Brendan Frogmouth’s, so a lucky find for him. I couldn’t reach him by phone but we caught up to him a short time later and returned it - particularly good since he was not aware he had lost it!

Bob and I continued down the west side trail and it was not long before we spotted Rosie. Present also are the most Green Herons I have ever seen at one place/time. There were a lot of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons too. On a few occasions the waders all up and flew around, but as far as we could tell there was nothing obvious which had spooked them.  Some of these times the Spoonbill seemed to want to head north but each time it settled down well within NJ.
 

Thems a lot o Herons!

By around 10:30 we got hungry and tried the C&D’s Old World Bagel place, that had been recommended by Linda. Nice selection of creative egg sandwiches, but sorry, no food porn.

Hunger satisfied, we headed further afield to Morningside Park in Hurleyville. The nice part about this place was that if the Anhinga had returned to the trees it favored, it would have been pretty easy to spot from most any shore.

We walked along the shore that boasted a nice variety of sedges and rushes and aquatic plants. But by far the most amusing part was the copious quantity of a variety of Dragonflies. They were somewhat confined to the two foot wide swath of vegetation along the shoreline, and this made for ample photographic opportunities.

 

M. Eastern Amberwing

F. Eastern Amberwing

 

Halloween Pennant

 

Calico Pennant

 

Blue Dasher

 

Slaty Skimmer

Widow Skimmer

 

Skimming Bluet

 

F. Eastern Forktail

A few hours here without a sighting meant we were Anhinga-less, and with very dark clouds above us the rain pushed us along our way. We made a stop at a likely looking lake we passed on the way there, but again, no Anhinga.

Our route took us past the Basherkill, and while we didn’t stop there we did stop at Custer’s Last Stand for ice creme - so necessary on a hot summer day. The rain did not add to any sense of urgency, and when we returned to the Wallkill lot it was pouring heavily.

In the lot was Bill Winter Wren and Ken Motmot.  We caught up with each other until the rain stopped, and remarkably the sky became quite blue and devoid of clouds except for a few wispy high ones.

Bill, Bob, and I walked out to the area where the Spoonbill had frequented, and in short order Bob spotted it and got Bill his first lifer of the day. At times Rosie was obscured, but at others she was amenable to photos and Bill was able to get a few.

Periodically, a Least Bittern would fly from here to there, and if not spotted quickly enough would not be seen as it would dart into cover. But at one point it made a very long flight and at another it landed in front of us and we were able to watch it through scopes. Interesting to us was the observation that it would flick its tail down while grasping reeds and poised for the hunt. Lifer #2 for Bill.

Rosie settled in and looked like it would be retiring for the night by tucking its bill back.  While standing there resting, a young Common Gallinule walked out behind it and we got Bill lifer #3 for the day. Bob also pointed out Giant Swallowtail butterflies flapping about.

Eventually though, it was getting late and Bob and I decided it was time to hit the road. Insert dramatic Dah Dah Duuuh...

So Bob and I headed back to the car. The path goes from adjacent to trees to a section that is under their canopy, and while in this section one cannot see the marsh through the trees. When we emerged on the other side is when I spotted a large bird fairly high up and coming at us from above the roadway. Getting my bins on it I was shocked to see that it was a Spoonbill and told Bob and exclaimed there must be a second bird!

Unbeknownst to us the bird had flown shortly after we left, and Bill tried to call us. Unfortunately cell service drops off rapidly once you get south of the road. Was it Rosie, or was it a second bird? The only way to find out was to head back in haste. But that did not stop Bob and I from being dumb-struck by our remarkably good fortune and recognizing the even more remarkably small window of opportunity that befell us. YES!  That word was to be repeated over and over the rest of the day because we were so taken by our tremendous happenstance. Did I mention YES!? This was NYS bird 424 for me.

We departed again, this time with far greater positive affect. Our next stop? Pine Island Brewery for celebratory brews, you know, because responsible birding means benefiting the local economy. The Scotch Ale and IPA were a delectable cap to the day.

In retrospect I pondered if it was possibly karma related to returning Brendan’s wallet. Who knows. I hope that Rosie sticks and starts spending time on the other side of the road in NY. That section has hosted lots of good birds in the past, so why not this bird?