Anhinga is an easy bird to see especially in Florida.
Back in 1996 a group of us saw one way up high while birding at Garrett Mountain in NJ. Apparently sightings in New York have also been of birds flying rather high up.
Then in 2018 one stopped for a while in Sullivan County. I tried to see it but it had flown off by the time I had arrived, seemingly never to be seen again. And then it was relocated, and again, I missed it.
So when one showed up in Monroe county, and especially since it was being reliable I had to try. Churchville is far away from downstate. Seven hours far away. So securing Bob Prothonotary as a co-conspirator, and with other bird goodies to be had up that way, I hatched a plan.
It was a good plan. Drive up after work Monday, check into a hotel, and be on location nice and early. Traffic cooperated, and check-in was a breeze.
After breakfast, it was a short drive to Churchville Park where we found three other birders and the bird stationed on its favored perch. Yes, it may have felt too easy, but not when the previous attempts are added to the equation, it felt oh so good.
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| Anhinga |
Satisfied with our look at the cooperative Anhinga, we moved on to Braddock Bay where a bunch of Redpolls was being reliable. Once out by the end of the spit, we spotted the restless flock feeding on weed seeds. Among them, Bob spotted a clearly brighter bird and alerted me to it - Hoary Redpoll! As the flock moved about, it was kinda easy to spot as it was so much whiter and really stood out from the dull, dirty plumed Common Redpolls.
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| Common & Hoary Redpoll (lower left) |
Satisfied, and conscious of limited daylight and the ensuing ride home, we made haste for the Weber Campground. The trip along the shore of Lake Ontario was so picturesque. It warrants more time to spend exploring in the future.
Three targets under our belt, our final quarry was more elusive. We explored the park where Bob had been in the past for the same species, and it looked bleak. We ran into another birder named Joe Wing (what a name for a birder!) and we joined forces. Kyle Rock Dove also joined us, and finally Joe spotted a Pine Grosbeak atop a tree calling. Not the best look, but them's the breaks. Interestingly, in the same general locale that Bob said he had seen them years before.
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| (Poorly lit) Pine Grosbeak |
The Anhinga is NYS bird 433 for me, I achieved my goal for getting at least 300 birds in NY for the year, and what I thought would be the end of birds I might get this horrible year. We celebrated our success at Prison City Brewery with good burgers and then headed home.
Sadly, I later heard that this bird, like the Great Black Hawk in Maine, succumbed to the cold.
Earlier in September I ventured to Batavia NY for a Neotropic Cormorant. There had been a few prior records for this bird in that part of the state and with this one being reliable, I went for it. It was a great road trip, capped off with a stop at Copper City Brewery. NYS 431.
The Cormorant was bitter sweet however because I was chastised for going for that bird, but not going up to Rochester for the Swallow-tailed Kite. Yeah, there was a cooperative Kite way upstate and I didn’t motivate myself to go for it. The competitive listers keep track of the birds others get, and they gave me grief for what I went for, and for what I didn’t.
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| Neotropic Cormorant (L) |
October held Tropical Kingbird, NYS 432 and I had the most fortunate window in my schedule that allowed me to run up to Westchester and actually get the bird with just enough time to squeak by and get back to the office on time. What was really neat was that the bird was found by a birder who defaulted to the ‘expected’ Western Kingbird, but 15 year old Julian investigated and hearing the call identified it as New York’s first TK! I particularly enjoyed how jazzed he was at how many people showed up to see the bird he ID’ed.
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| Tropical Kingbird |
November continued with the unexpected. I was birding at the beach when a friend got a call alerting him to a Common Cuckoo that had been found that morning in Rhode Island. I got the info, and called Arlene Rails to see if she wanted to join me. She did, I picked her up on the way, and we drove up to join other birders who beckoned us over to their scopes for views w/in moments of arrival. She lamented ‘Oh that was too easy’.
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| Common Cuckoo |
Lest you think its been all wine and roses for me this year, as with the Swallow-tailed Kite, I passed up a chance at a very cooperative Sabine's Gull at Onandaga lake, and then dipped on one in Buffalo, replete with the ‘drive of shame’ home. Of course there was the Fork-tailed Flycatcher that we arrived too late for at the Ashokan reservoir, and on the same day a Painted Redstart in Brooklyn that we found out about so late that we could not get to see it before dark, and it was gone the next day.
But 2020 has had more surprises. December had a Tundra Bean Goose visiting the suburbs of Philadelphia. Probably, it was the same bird that was earlier in Ottowa Canada. Once again I asked if Arlene would like to join me on the twitch and we made our way to the Crum Reservoir. Upon Arrival none other than Jeffrey Gordon, the President of the ABA ( not the race car driver ) beckoned us over for an immediate look at the goose. And once again she said: “Oh that was too easy”. Really? But she always finds really good breweries so I guess I can let it go... ABA bird 725!
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| The Prez |
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| Tundra Bean Goose |
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