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?