Tripods and Tuftulations

I am prone to wanderlust and enjoy birding in new and varied places. Earlier this year two waterfowl that escaped my purview showed up in close proximity to one another, if not in close proximity to me. Thus was the genesis of my journey.

Foolishl... er, eagerly hornswoggled into doing a NYS big year again due in large part because it started off so well, I found a window of opportunity to venture up to the Plattsburgh region. I also had an accomplice so that made the trip easier.

Capt'n Bob and I easily made our way up there on a beautiful if cold day, and arrived at Ausable Marsh Wildlife Management Area where A Tufted Duck was supposed to be. I scanned the huge flocks of waterfowl for a few hours but to no avail. I came across only one other birder, and though the report that the bird was typically seen a bit later in the day was encouraging, we decided to move on.

That would have been fine, but Bob had been listening to the radio with the car off, and unbeknownst to him, several internal lights were on as well. The cold and duration had weakened the battery enough to prevent its starting.

He was possessed of jumper cables though, so all was not lost. He cleared stuff out of the back of the car and I placed my scope on the ground so it wouldn't fall over in the strong breeze. The birder we had met before came back our way and obliged our jump request. With the car back among the living, Bob packed the trunk and we drove off to check some other locations.

With the wind and temp being what they were we did some car birding along the west shore, but a good vantage required scoping. Problem was, it wasn't in the trunk. Slight panic ensued, and we made haste getting back to where we had been. Seems he hadn't noticed it so didn't put it in the car with the other stuff.

We arrived and saw that the scope was still there, but upon closer inspection found out that the tripod had been run over when he backed up. My heart sank. Miraculously the scope was okay, but the graphite legs of the tripod splintered. Word to the wise: should you crush anything of graphite, pick it up with gloves and very carefully as well because the sprinters will get into all of your fingers!

No Tufted Duck, smashed tripod, and lots of splinters. The day was shaping up nicely...

We headed further afield and in search of Pink-footed Goose, also missed earlier home on Long Island. We took up station at a flooded farm field that was full of Canada Geese, and assorted other waterfowl. We spent about an hour in vain, and hunger pulled us away for lunch at a nearby eatery. Afterward we went back for another view. The hope that the goose would come in to join the others was not to be.

Somewhat dejected, we made one final attempt at the TUDU location and my luck changed for the better. Yes! Well at least it was not a total dip and loss.

I had gotten the graphite tripod because the original one I had was aluminum and heavy. The fluid head was okay so I salvaged it and re-attached it to the old tripod. I thought: “Okay, not so bad, at least I'm back in business...”

Not so fast. The plate with the screw that holds the quick-release plate to attach the scope to the tripod was disturbingly loose in the scope.

Bogen Quick Release Plate

Upon closer inspection the threads in the scope were stripped, and even closer inspection revealed they were all gone. Great.

Threads shot :(

Scopeless, I pondered if it was repairable, and if so how.

Spending a lot of time in the field, I come across a lot of 'parts' that fall off such as lens caps etc. One such part was a tripod hook; usually found at the bottom of the center post.

Random birder's detritus

I thought of getting a thread repair kit and brought the quick-release plate with me to the store. I had the aforementioned hook in the car and began fiddling with the two. They connected. Go figure - the threads were the same!!

What are the chances?

The wheels began to turn and I came up with a new plan: 

1. Cut off just enough of the female threads

This will do

Hey hey...

 2. Drill out and expand the hole in the tripod

Its now holier than thou

 3. Press in the threads and voila! 

I love it when a plan comes together

I'm back in business!  Now where be that blasted Goose?

New 'Year' Birding Rocks!

Well the birds start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Doesn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

It is accepted that many ( most?) people look forward to spring migration. On the other hand I have discovered that new year’s birding can be just as if not more challenging and exciting!

Now some of you out there are not to keen on chasing, but I insist that its all a matter of degree, and is influenced by available free time, finances, and access to co-conspirators willing to be enablers.

This year has started off with some really special birds, and the result has been it has sucked me back into the game of year birding.

This time of the year is the best time to see owls and rare waterfowl, and it has not disappointed. The second week of January delivered Saw-whet Owl, Barrows Goldeneye ( a few scattered in the Kingbird Region 10 area! ) Black-headed Gull, Iceland Gull, Eurasian Wigeon, Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose and by sneaking out on a work day getting Common Murre.

Razorbill

Common Murre

The third week began with White Pelican and Barnacle Goose, then a mid-week trip upstate yielded Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, Common Redpoll and Pine Siskin. We dipped on the Tufted Duck (or is it "Tuff"  Duck), but had a fantastic day nonetheless.  

Am. White Pelican

The week ended with no less than Varied Thrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Bittern on Satan Island. $17 toll! WTF!  No wonder so few outsiders want to bird there.  As hoped, there were numerous other birders assembled looking for these birds, and being able to spread out proved a successful method for birds that has been hard to connect with.

The fourth week I was able to get a decent look at a Black-legged Kittiwake out at Montauk Point; a bird I try very hard for every time I go there but for whom I have had disappointing results over many many years. Anthony Collared-dove said in response to my lament echoed my suspicion that there may be a degree of uncertainty in the credibility of more numerous reports. Who knows... For me, finally another sighting!

Week five began an unusual trend: dipping on targets but getting impromptu birds. My first stop was local, to pick up Monk Parakeet in a location I had not been aware they were present. I dipped, but saw a nice accumulation of birds in the local parks nevertheless.

Next I went further afield to try for Glaucous Gull. Again, a dip, and despite a valiant attempt at the location and others nearby, I remained un-gullible. Fortune looked up for more birds when a report came in that Clay-colored and Field Sparrows reported the previous day had stuck, and it was nearby!I had not given much thought to them as I thought they more probably would move on.

I made my way there and due to the location car birded so as to present as little threat to the birds as possible. I checked numerous locations nearby and then returned, and staked out the location from across the street. After some time another birder showed up and asked if I was there looking for these birds. Shortly thereafter, he spotted the birds sitting in some vines hanging from a tree. I had to pull my car up to see them, but they were sitting essentially right in front of me, though obscured at my chosen location. Doh! But I got them and that was a nice cap to the day.

Field Sparrow (L. Top)           Clay-colored Sparrow (R. Bottom)

The week ended and began a new month too. I made another attempt for Monk Parakeet and birded the south shore. While approaching an area where they had been reported previously, I spotted their large nests on some poles, embarrassingly close to where I had searched before. Doh! ...and I’m the one who usually admonishes others to look everywhere and bird every bird.

February’s first full week started off rather nicely. It was Superb Owl Sunday, so why not catch up on a cooperative Barred Owl in Da Bronx? In previous years, the Barred Owl present there had been exceedingly wary and easy to disturb, often flying out of a roost was the way it was spotted so stealth walking and no talking was they way to go.This year there have been many of them around.

The current resident is more amenable to people and has thus delighted many. I arrived with my posse, Dunlin and Avian, and we got this bird straight away.  The day was delightful so we enjoyed doing the Hunter’s Island loop and birding it. Another year score was Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Pleased with our success, we made tracks for Dutchess County. As I noted to them, Route 22 is a great place to see Red-shouldered Hawk along the road. That still holds true as I spotted one in Pawling while driving and stopped to let the others get a look too.

Dover Plains has a mountain ridge and farm fields that Golden Eagle has wintered in for some years. There are plenty of Bald Eagles there too, as well as numerous Red-tailed Hawks, Harriers, Sharp-shinned, and Cooper’s Hawks. We heard ravens and crows calling, but while enjoying the unseasonably warm and calm weather, we saw few eagles of any sort, and there are usually plenty flying about.There were a LOT of Ring-necked Pheasants though...

I inspected one and then another location I have had success at in the past, then settled on a location which gave a wide vantage. Zip-o. This place was along a field marked as private property for the hunting club, but the members and workers are very friendly and helpful. They are welcoming to birders, but it is my understanding that in the past some thoughtless birders may have trespassed and garnered the ire of the club and other birders. It bears repeating DON’T TRESPASS!  

For what its worth, there is the ability to get great looks from many places, so there is NO need to trespass at all. The hunters also all are carrying guns, so how stupid would that be...

We had lunch, then returned to try some more. We conversed with a worker there who kindly offered info on trees that the Golden liked to perch in, but it wasn’t happening. It was at this point that we learned that a Pacific Loon had been located back on Long Island and giving great looks!  This after earlier admonishing Avian that he’d better make sure that the one in NJ was present on his NJ trip.

What to do, what to do... I told the others that we were not leaving until we had the eagle. I left this area and cruised a bit, and we saw lots of other nice birds like Bluebirds. I then decided to try my first spot again. We were not there too long when I saw a dark large raptor cruising the ridge and headed our way. I got a scope on it and YES! We got great looks and Dunlin and I took many photos.

Golden Eagle

Sated, I instructed the others to strap in as I was hell bent on making it back to the Island to get to see the Loon. Traffic cooperated, and we got there with a cooperatively close bird on flat calm water and with enough remaining light to get some photos. Yes! 

Pacific Loon

In addition to the loon report, Ross’ Geese had been reported out at Montauk that same day. When Tuesday came, Captain Bob inquired if I was doing any birding, and while my though had been to possibly try for those geese, additional reports came in about some birds that were on my radar.

These birds were Blue-winged Teal and Vesper Sparrow. We unsuccessfully tried for the teal, an then moved on to the sparrow location. A short time after we left Bob Prothonotary called to say that he found the teal, but it was hard to see at times going in and out of covering vegetation. 

Having found the sparrows, I waited for Bob P. to get there and though there had been a report of 3, we had at least 5 and thought there might even be more. Captain Bob has difficulty walking, so we  spent more time there in an effort to get him the sparrows too, and then headed back to the nearby teal location. We found the other Bob there who had the duck queued up in his cope. I got a nice look, and then passed the scope to Bob who couldn’t find it!  The little bugger was frustratingly good at hiding at times, but we eventually all saw it.

Happy with our success, we headed out to Montauk. The ranch had some geese but they were all Canada's as expected, and other locations checked seemed to be pretty un-birdy. South Lake Drive once again had a collection of gulls on the near shore, and amongst the Bonaparte’s was a Black-headed Gull! I ran back for my camera and got one shot showing it’s red bill. Chimping to make sure the photos were adequate, I was relieved to see one was.

Black-headed Gull

Our next stop was the west jetty which had an immature Iceland Gull, but not much else. With remaining light becoming an issue, we made an unsuccessful stop at Hook Pond for Tundra Swan, then a quick stop at Shinnecock for Snowy Owl for Bob.  We located it partly due to others looking at it, and were disturbed to find two people on the dune encroaching on the owl. Ah, never underestimate the ability of people to disappoint you.

And that sums up how birding has gone so far this year, with 137 species to date. Fun fun fun!

I Say's 2019 Is Starting Out Golden!

December 30^th and 31^st were no fun. I awoke with a nose that started running so much that by new years eve it had been entered into the NYC marathon. I applied the requisite natural remedies and pleasantly on new years day I awoke and felt back to normal.

I made some calls and joined Arlene Rails for a trip to Shinnecock inlet and the reported Thick-billed Murre. The sea was roiling with huge waves pounding the shore. The wind was ripping the wave tops off into a spray, and ineffectively getting them to stop. We joined others at the jetty and in short order found the Murre, then a Razorbill close in in the surf, and then the two of them close in and together in the inlet. Of course, my camera malfunctioned, so the shots that begged to be taken went unexposed.

There was also a frustratingly difficult view of a Red-necked Grebe that was obscured by the waves and by diving, though at times visible. New for this area was very numerous Scoters and Common Eiders; each year they seem to be present in increasing numbers.

That was the extent of the exciting new years birds; all other targets for the day eluded us, those being King Eider, Snowy Owl, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Glaucous Gull – all present days before.

Elsewhere that past Sunday no less than a Golden-crowned Sparrow was discovered in Delaware county by Lance Verdin while scouting for their local Christmas count. The report had adrenaline squirting out of my ears, and like a few others my eyes conveniently averted the line that said the bird was on private property and not being disclosed. Nevertheless I remained hopeful... ( or 'wishful' Arlene? )

I made some calls, and posted a missive on how birders ~should~ behave. The last time a rarity showed up at a private home someplace upstate it was unjustifiably squelched. A small select group of birders were let in on the secret, but no one else because...? 

I wanted to prevent a repeat of that selfish, unnecessary, and unwarranted event; the home owner was ~fine~ with having visiting birders.

This is the sort of happenstance that occurs 

if you reveal birds at private homes!

Then word came that the bird was sticking, access had been deftly negotiated by Lance, and the wheels started turning. So many people wanted to go, I had to decide which posse to join. 1^st world birder's problems!

Pelican, Arlene Rails, Johnny Gaggle-o-geese, and I met at 5am for the trip up. Its always best to blast past the morning traffic on the Island and NYC. Traffic as hoped for was minimal, though the forecast was kinda accurate with snow coating the roads in Sullivan county. As sunrise arrived the snow abated.

We arrived just after 8, and were joined shortly thereafter by Ed Thrasher, Bob Prothonotary, Harry Woodpecker, and Doug Fulvetta. Avian Resnick, Dunlin, Earic, and Shrimpke showed up a bit later as well.

There certainly was a nice variety of birds availing themselves of the offerings on Doris' porch, which we observed from the street. While waiting for the star to make an appearance, we saw White-throats, Tree, Junco, Song, BC Chickadee, Purple Finch, Bluejay, Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied on the porch and at the feeders across the street.  Ravens were croaking on the ridge and a Bald Eagle flew over us.

Some of us wandered about, scanning birds in other areas. Bob noticed some White-throats under the rhododendron behind the house, and called us over – he had the bird! We were able to get a quick look at it when it flew into a bare tree, but it had its back to us, and though it turned its head back and forth a few times it was not a satisfying look. Nor enough of a diagnostic look to satisfy Doug. 

Goldie flew off and we lost sight of it. Apparently it landed in the tree with the feeders, and Ed and Harry saw it but thought it was a White-crowned. Low light and brief glimpses will do that. And then it was absent for a while longer. Pelican felt the call of nature and Arlene and John also wanted a rest room and some vittles. I declined imploring them to give it some more time...

I was glad I did!  The bird came into its usual spot just after they left, so I alerted them and they hastily returned and we all enjoyed far better and quite enjoyable looks.

For my part I reminded several people present that we had been requested to park by the covered bridge; one person who is known for pointing fingers at others apparently thought the rules didn't apply to them. I was more than happy to remind him. I was also gratified that a number of persons had brought seed or made donations to Doris.

Now that we had properly seen the bird, we went to the diner in town for breakfast sandwiches. We spoke with Doris who was sitting there enjoying her celebrity. I showed just about everyone present some photos of the bird, answered their questions and explained how rare it was. The townsfolk were a bit incredulous of the distance we had traveled and pleased with the novelty.

Our next birding was fraught with bad directions and we did not connect with Siskins as hoped. We then went to a nearly perennially reliable home for Evening Grosbeaks in Sullivan County. It is located at the corner of Cooley Mountain Road and Smith Road. The owner of the home is quite birder friendly; in the past he has had a sign in his window saying: “Welcome Birders”. Unfortunately there is a 'for sale' sign up on the property now.

We cruised the roads briefly and returned to look at his platform feeders. The Grosbeaks were not present, so I suggested that we wait. Pelican, who can be an impatient one, wanted to move on but I suggested that we wait some more. Ed and Avian drove up in turn, and continued on to cruise the roads while we continued to wait.

As I predicted, and from experience, I saw the Grosbeaks fly into the trees in the yard. I sent texts to the others while we enjoyed the beautiful birds. The others were able to return in time to get to see them too.

Our next stop was at the Wallkill NWR where a Say's Phoebe of all things had been found earlier in the day. The GPS guided us through some beautiful bucolic back roads and we arrived to a parking lot filled with the cars of other birders.

On the way up the trail we were told that the bird was being seen so we made haste to join the hoard and look for this unexpected bonus. Despite it previously having been perched, it was currently flying back and forth along a creek. I ran into Orange county birder Linda Skua, who generously offered to leave her scope with me, but I declined because I knew that I would be offered a look through someone's scope, or at least be able to beg or shove them out of the way long enough to get a look. ;)

At first we got glimpses, and then I was able to locate it on top of a stalk pumping its tail. A tall fellow standing next to us got in his scope, and I had to tip toe to look through it, but at this point in the day I was kinda floating.

And the hits kept coming!!

We then headed to Indiana Road where we got Rough-legged Hawks, Harriers, Short-eared Owl, and Kestrel. What a day!

We ended the days activity at the Goshen Plaza Diner with a hearty repast and a celebratory beer. Lifers for some of us and NYS bird #426 for me. Thanks Lance!