Thus Spohee Zarathustra

So 2020 was bad for so many reasons, mainly the pandemic and the POS in charge, but bird wise not too shabby! And 2021 is starting off well !

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 bird for fun
If Your brain’s so smart why’s your head so dumb
So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with chasing the bird tweets
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow

I was enjoined to go out birding on the first of the year, and I’m glad I did. Beginning at Mill Pond, along with the usual suspects we easily saw the continuing Common Gallinule and the female Blue-winged Teal. Next stop at Camman’s Pond where we spotted Red-shouldered Hawk and Pintail Duck; and a brief stop down the road for Monk Parakeets.

Onward to Jones beach, we spotted a flock of Red Crossbills resting at the top of a deciduous tree; we didn’t even have to get out of the car. Scored eruptive Snowy owls (4) and Red-breasted Nuthatches as well as all the Scoters and Bonaparte’s Gull. Because of the hunters present, birds we were looking for at Point Lookout were not present, but a Red Phalarope flew by so an ample consolation! 69 species to start the year off is not too shabby.


On the second, I was attending to various chores when a report of a female Spohee ( Spotted Towhee ) came though the interwebs. I finished what I was doing and headed to a park I’ve only been to once before in Baldwin; that time it was for a Harris’s Sparrow, also found by a mysterious birder named Patton Chaoui. They find a lot of rarities for some reason...
 
At the park I was greeted by teaming hordes of birders but despite our collective best efforts we could not relocate the bird. At the figurative 11th hour, dusk anyway, Isaac Brant spotted the bird and called several of us. I had literally  just gotten in my car and started the engine, but was glad I did not have to double back.  I shut off the car and informed the others still in the lot.

The bird called few times, Bob Prothonotary and some others heard the bird call, but I couldn’t and it was not seen again. Spent about 5 hrs there trying to find the bird and didn’t, so headed there the next day hoping for a potential NYS bird...

Once again, I walked this uninspiring wasteland of invasive species. The non lawn areas was dominated by Chinese Bittersweet, Japanese Honeysuckle, Briar, and Multiflora Rose. Combined it made for an impenetrable tangle both physically and visually. We had spread seeds that Dunlin  had brought for just such an occasion, and we stationed ourselves observing the very uncharacteristic behavior of the White-throated Sparrows that did not avail themselves of the bounty before them. Instead they stayed a few feet in the brush. Only a handsome Fox Sparrow ventured into the open, and nice as it was, it was not our quarry.

So we walked the trails over and over. And over again. And then there came a report at about 9am that the bird had been found in the back lot. Everybody stated heading in that direction except me. I ran. But it was no use; the bird had been flushed by passers by, and despite a long vigil did not reappear.

We walked the paths and fields yet again and again, and by noon we still had not found it. 5 hours had passed. We walked to the back of the field where Isaac had seen the bird the previous day, and joined Earic Miller who was stationed there just looking and listening.

Together with Ernst Bushtit, Bob and I were scanning the sparrows and chickadees that were in the brush hoping to spot the towhee. Earic was about 20 feet behind us, and Bob had the great idea that I should play the call to tease Earic. Well it worked too well. He came over and said I’m hearing the bird! I tried to explain that I had played the call when Bob said he was hearing it too. The bird started responding to the call!  

The bird then popped up in the bittersweet and we got fleeting looks. I played the call once more and we all got much better looks, and there was much rejoicing. Because it had been raining, neither Ernst nor I had our camera. He went back for his, but I was happy just having seen the bird.  I posted a message about our success and location, and learned that others were able to see the bird later that day as well as a whole slew of folks today.

Well we all worked very hard for this bird. It appears that with the more pleasant weather today the bird has been far more accommodating, and that’s all good. For me its another NYS bird, number 433. Yes!