I returned to the Borrego Springs WTP early in the morning on Sunday hoping to maximize my chances for sparrows which I had totally missed the afternoon before and hoping that somehow a LeConte’s Thrasher might show up.  Before that, I drove some of the back roads in the near dark hoping for some wildlife on the road.  Lots of rabbits and a skunk but the prize was a Bobcat in a thinly populated residential area.  At the WTP, it was mostly the same birds as the previous visit.  In the better light I was able to confirm that my “Sage Thrasher” was indeed a Northern Mockingbird and no other thrashers were seen but there were some sparrows.

Clearly a Mockingbird

Again the Phainopeplas were the most noticeable birds as they would sit out in the open and called to each other and to recognize me in the area.  How different the plain brown female from the bright black male.  But the bright red eye is there on both – glistening in the sun.

Phainopepla Female

In this area the closely related Bell’s Sparrow and Sagebrush Sparrow both exist requiring very good looks and a photo to make a positive ID.  Unfortunately my looks were distant and whenever I approached, the two birds flew off and further away.  After repeating this exercise for three flights, I gave up and just listed the sparrows as either of the two species.  More cooperative were some Black Throated Sparrows, one of my favorites.  I would later see quite a few at the Anza Borrego Park Visitor Center but these were the first for this trip.

Black Throated Sparrow

Absent the past two years, this sparrow was found off Recreation Road near Vantage, WA in the summer.  I miss them and hope some will return.  I spent over 90 minutes working the WTP area and probably hiked around for more than 2 miles before opting to go to the Visitor Center.  Anza Borrego Park includes more than 600.000 acres and is the second largest state park in the U.S. behind Adirondack State Park in New York.  Much of it is back country accessible only with off road vehicles.  It is ruggedly beautiful.  I did not add anything new at the Visitor Center but I did learn that the Verdin’s nest that Lynette and I saw just a couple feet off the ground and along a main path back in late January had not survived – expected news but disappointing.  I talked with one of the naturalists at the Center about LeConte’s Thrashers.  She confirmed that they were around but very difficult to find especially at this time of year when they are not singing.  My only new bird was a Ladder Backed Woodpecker.

The naturalist suggested trying a dried up sandy lake bed off Rockhouse Trail Road.  Off I went and spent the next two hours there both on foot and driving looking for my nemesis thrasher.  The habitat looked perfect but no thrashers were found – only some of the same birds seen earlier and not very many at that.  Time to head west for San Diego.  I would be able to get in some late afternoon birding and have the entire next day there plus the morning of the following day when I would fly back to Seattle.  It would have been about 75 miles to my first stop near San Diego – Lake Hodges near Escondido – but I had my first location mishap of the trip and lost a birding opportunity and a lot of time.

LeConte’s Thrasher – Maybe Someday…

A big disappointment on my Arizona trip in August was that we did not pursue a Black Chinned Sparrow.  There were some not far from one of our stops but apparently, it just did not fit our schedule.  I had seen this sparrow previously but did not have a photo.  So when I saw one reported on Ebird somewhat along my route to San Diego, I plugged in the coordinates and went on the chase.  Everything went well until the last turn off about 2 miles from the designated spot where the observer had written “Adult male noted on east slope of preserve near water tank”.  My GPS took me to a locked gate on a primitive road where I could see a blue water tank far up the mountain but there was no way to get there.  I googled the Preserve name and came up with nothing and drove around for 30 minutes looking for another way up – nothing but a lot of wasted time and effort and my first real unhappiness of the trip.

Black Chinned Sparrow – Audubon Photo

With two hours wasted, I retraced some steps and headed off to Lake Hodges which was one of the spots where I was likely to find a California Gnatcatcher – an ABA Life photo bird.  I worked the trail around Lake Hodges pretty hard and was able to located both Blue Gray and California Gnatcatchers.  I got a decent photo of the latter and don’t include it here but (hint, hint) I got a much better one later at a different location.

After and compared to the adrenaline rushes of the previous days, this had been pretty boring.  The photo of the California Gnatcatcher was a new one and I added 7 species for the trip but that was all.  Maybe tomorrow.

Growing up on the East Coast I always had trouble distinguishing between Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys.  I was more into Soul Music but there was a definite appeal to their Surf Music sound and genre.  Visions of blue skies and breaking waves, blondes and warm sand sounded pretty great especially when we had snow on the ground.  Pasadena, California is probably most famous as the home of the Rose Bowl but to me it will always be part of the lyric of The Little Old Lady from Pasadena released by Jan and Dean in 1964 and also recorded by the Beach Boys.  Now 53 years later instead of “Go granny, go granny, go granny go…”, on the morning of my fourth day on my California Birding Adventure, it was “Go birder, go birder, go birder go” as I left my hotel room in Pasadena early to get to the mega roost for Red Crowned Parrots before they dispersed.

Somehow despite seeing a dozen parrot or parakeet species in Florida earlier this year, we had missed the Red Crowned Parrots which are also found there.  This was important because the only species from this group recognized and countable by the ABA (at least as of yet) are White Winged Parakeet, Green Parakeet, Monk Parakeet, Nanday Parakeet, Rosy Faced Lovebird and the Red Crowned Parrot.  The Lovebird is found only in the Phoenix Arizona area and I had not yet looked for one there.  I had seen all of the others in or around Miami.  Today was to be Red Crowned Parrot Day!!

Rosy Faced Lovebird – Someday…

I got to the roost spot at E. Washington Blvd and Fair Oaks Avenue before 6:30 a.m.  It was still mostly dark and as soon as I opened my car door I could hear the raucous cacophony of the parrots.  Entering the park (fortunately there were no drug deals being done and I was alone) even in the grayness of the as yet sunless morning, I could see parrots flying all about.  For the next 30 minutes as the light increased, I watched in amazement as every tree was full of parrots all squawking.  I don’t know what the official count is but I guesstimated over 500 birds.  I took photos in low light and continued as sunlight filtered into the park.

Red Crowned Parrots

At the time I thought that the Red Crowned Parrot was ABA species #700 and thought how much better it would have been for example if the Thayer’s Gull/Iceland Gull split had not occurred and yesterday’s Island Scrub-Jay had claimed that honor.  But at that moment I was just happy to reach the unexpected benchmark this year and at least rationalized that the extraordinary spectacle of seeing so many flying about including right overhead and right by me within three feet made the experience sufficiently special for the occasion.  Some single branches had over a dozen Red Crowned Parrots.  It really was an awesome experience.  As I have now clarified in a postscript to my previous blog post, the Island Scrub-Jay actually was #700.  I had erred in subtracting some non-countable ABA birds from my Ebird list – glad now to have the extra bird – and taking nothing away from the experience with the parrots – to have the endemic Island Scrub-Jay hold that honored position.  And I found another error – in my excitement to see the Red Crowned Parrots I had not realized that some of the parrots there were actually Lilac Crowned Parrots.  You can see the difference (if are looking and at the time I was not) in the ring around the eye and much more extensive red in the Red Crowned ones.  I had seen some Lilac Crowneds in Florida and they are not yet recognized by the ABA – maybe someday.

Lilac Crowned Parrot

Almost as soon as there was light some of the parrots started flying off for their day time haunts.  They just kept coming and coming out of the trees.  As I returned to my car and then headed off for what was to be another long day, I saw parrots individually and in small groups flying off in every direction.  Throughout the whole time, the noise had been overwhelming.  This was not a neighborhood I would have chosen for my residence – as much as I love birds.

One of the rarities that had shown up after my initial planning was a Rufous Backed Robin that had been seen daily for about a week on the campus of Barstow Community College.  I had never been to Barstow and in my mind, I pictured it as what used to be called a “one horse town” – an insignificant spot in the remote California desert.  Although not a thriving metropolis, Barstow was hardly insignificant, an attractive transportation center for California’s Inland Empire situated in San Bernadino County.  It was much closer to Pasadena than I had expected – only 110 miles away – north and east.  After a brief stop for breakfast on the run, I arrived at the Community College around 9:00 a.m.

I had expected the campus to be bustling and I would look much out of place standing by the Student Union Building where the Rufous Backed Robin was generally seen.  Then I remembered that it was a Saturday.  I guess there are not many classes on Saturday.  One of the very best things about intense birding trips like the one I was on is that the outside world disappears and so does time.  I had not thought about the calendar at all.

As I approached the target zone I saw a number of birders with binoculars, cameras and scopes looking at birds on the ground between me and them – maybe 80 feet in front of me.  A first quick glance told me they were robin-like so I immediately pointed my camera and took some photos.  Was it going to be this easy?  Not quite.  Had I looked more closely through my binoculars I would have seen that the two birds were just a regular old American Robin and a closely related Varied Thrush.  As it turns out the Varied Thrush was quite a rare bird for the area in its own right, but it is a common bird for me in the Northwest – and what did this mean for my real quest the Rufous Backed Robin.

Varied Thrush

Varied Thrush and Robin

After the two birds flew back into the bushes, I went over to the other birders and found that most of them were on a San Bernadino Audubon Society field trip being led by Gene Cardiff – a legendary birder, leader and educator.  I was told that I had missed the Rufous Backed Robin by 10 minutes.  They had all had good looks on the grassy area just in front of the building but it had flown back into the Cypress trees.  Apparently this was its modus operandi and it would return to feed some more on the ground — soon.  Soon turned out to be longer than 15 minutes and with other places to go, the group headed off.  One birder remained, Mel Senac.  I wrote about Mel in my first blog about this trip.  Great guy and excellent birder.  We traded stories and waited.  He had seen it also but wanted a better photo.  In about 10 minutes we both got that photo opportunity as the Rufous Backed Robin flew down onto the grass less than 50 feet from us.  The light was good and our cameras were ready.

Rufous Backed Robin

Looking very much like our American Robin, except – are you ready for this? – it has a rufous back – the Rufous Backed Robin is a fairly common bird of western and central Mexico.  The first ABA record was in 1960 and it is now generally seen every year somewhere in the Southwestern U.S.  In fact during the same week I saw this guy in California, Rufous Backed Robins were seen in Nevada and Arizona.  But mine was right in front of me in Barstow – my second ABA Life Bird of the day – and it was not yet 10 a.m.  That was the good news – the very good news.  The bad news was that there were no more ABA Lifers to be seen.  But there were still a number of  new ABA photo possibilities on my list and with three days remaining – maybe something else would show up.

I took more photos of the Rufous Backed Robin, the American Robin and the Varied Thrush.  A Hermit Thrush was also there and I took his photo as well.  Mel and I both dreamed of a shot with the Rufous Backed Robin, American Robin and Varied Thrush all together in the same field of vision.  It did not happen so I headed off.  Four thrushes together in the same small area was pretty cool though.  I also saw Mountain Bluebirds and Western Bluebirds on this trip – a pretty good six thrush tally.  Then I thought about one of my trips in Washington – no Rufous Backed Robin but in addition to those other five thrush species, I had had Townsend’s Solitaire, Veery, and Swainson’s Thrush – an eight thrush trip.

Hermit Thrush

When I had first started planning this trip, a much sought after new Life Bird was a Yellow Footed Gull.  Another Mexican resident, each year a small group makes it to the Salton Sea and they are readily found there in late summer.  In each of the last five years, a few have over wintered and were seen in November/December.  Unlucky me, the last one seen at Salton Sea this year was on October 18th.  It was very unlikely that I would find one there, but there were two other new ABA Year birds that were possible – Ross’s Goose and Lesser Black Backed Gull (although there were no Ebird reports for this year). It was either give that a try or forego both species and head to Borrego Springs where I could try again for a photo of a Bell’s Sparrow and also look for LeConte’s Thrasher.  Even though it was a long drive (180 miles)  and a bit out of the way to get back to Borrego Springs, it was early and I decided to head off to Salton Sea and bird Borrego Springs late that day and again the following day.

Yellow Footed Gull (Audubon Photo)

The gulls were not cooperative but I found a half dozen Ross’s Geese mixed in with the Snow Geese and also added a lot of other new trip birds.  Probably my favorites there were the Sandhill Cranes – first heard and then seen on a distant field – and a nice flock of White Faced Ibis.

Ross’s Goose

White Faced Ibis

It was less than an hour to Borrego Springs – so I made a room reservation – and headed off arriving at the Borrego Springs Water Treatment Plant around 3:45 p.m.  Light was already starting to go, but I used the 30 minutes or so of decent light as best I could.  I found what at first I thought might be a rare for the area Sage Thrasher but later changed my identification to a Northern Mockingbird appearing too brown in that low light.  I also had an acceptable photo of a Costa’s Hummingbird and a good one of a Black Tailed Gnatcatcher. I also had a few Verdin and many Phainopepla – striking, bold and rather noisy birds.  I had seen them all on my visit to the area with Lynette Bruett in better days together earlier in the year.  But no Bell’s Sparrow.

Black Tailed Gnatcatcher

Verdin

Phainopepla

It had been a wonderful day covering lots of territory and quite a mix of birds.  The two ABA Life Birds were of course the highlights – bolstered by meeting Gene Cardiff and visiting with Mel Senac.  The disappointment of not finding the Yellow Footed Gull was more than made up for by the Rufous Backed Robin.

New ABA Life Birds:  #701 Red Crowned Parrot and #702 Rufous Backed Robin

New ABA Photos:  Same

NEW ABA Year Birds:   Same plus Ross’s Goose

The  trip list total was now at 122

There is only one place in the world to see an Island Scrub-Jay and that is on Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands off the Santa Barbara/Ventura Coast.  Unless you have your own boat or the wherewithal to pay for a helicopter or seaplane, the best way to get there is on the high speed catamaran ferry cruise with Island Packers Cruises.  I wanted to see the Scrub-Jay so I signed on with Island Packers for their December 1st trip to Scorpion Harbor on Santa Cruz Island.

As stated in my initial blog post on the California trip, the Island Packers operation was first class – efficient and fun.  The crossing is about 30 miles and depending on stops for marine mammals etc it takes something around 90 minutes.  On this day, the weather was beautiful – no wind and calm seas.  In addition to the birds on the Island, the crossing provides opportunities to see pelagic birds and in addition to the Scrub-Jay I had high hopes of seeing a Black Vented Shearwater – an ABA Lifer.  While I had been told that the shearwater was almost guaranteed, I had not seen any included in Ebird reports for this time of year so I was of course a bit apprehensive.

Our High Speed Catamaran

Island Packers offers daily service to Santa Cruz and less regular service to some of the other islands.  There are plenty of campers, kayakers and casual tourists.  At least on this day, I was the only birder. Our Captain, Dave Corey, was excellent and knew quite a bit about birds.  I had great visits with him on both legs of our trip.  There were also three volunteers on board who led hikes and provided background on the Island’s history, flora and fauna.  The Santa Barbara Channel is renowned for an abundance of marine mammals and in addition to general crossings, Island Packers offers whale watching trips and even an occasional birding trip.  Birder or not, I would highly recommend a visit to all.

We started seeing birds immediately as there were gulls, cormorants and Brown Pelicans on the rocks and flying about as we departed.  Not too much later, my fears about seeing Black Vented Shearwaters were proven unfounded as several flew by at first in the distance and then much closer to the boat.  Not the same as the up close and personal experience I am used to with Westport Seabirds where Captain Phil stops for the birds or chums them in and get us real close, but definitely good looks.  Our first marine mammal was a California Sea Lion basking in the sun on a buoy not far from shore.

California Sea Lion

I don’t know how many shearwaters are usually seen on these trips, especially in late November or early December but my best guess is that there were more than 500 seen on the round trip.  It was really nice to be able to take photos on calm seas and on good light, even if no effort was made to get close.

Black Vented Shearwater

While the diversity of species was not as high as on the Westport trips, and it is probably higher at other times of the year, there were more species than I expected.  In addition to the many Brown Pelicans, other species seen were Cassin’s and Rhinoceros Auklets, Pacific and Common Loons, Horned and Western Grebes, one Pomarine and at least one Parasitic Jaeger, Bonaparte’s, Western, Heerman’s and Glaucous Winged Gulls and some Royal Terns – the latter as we began our return from the Island.

Brown Pelican

Cassin’s Auklet

Parasitic Jaeger

I am also about 90% sure I saw another alcid – most likely a Scripp’s Murrelet but it was too distant to get a photo.

We had other marine mammals as well – many Common Dolphins often bow riding on the boat as well as several Humpback Whales.  Yes, whales are amazing animals but they have never really had great appeal to me.  After seeing a couple of humps and maybe a fluke or tail, I am ready to move on.  However, that opinion was not the general one and we spent a lot of time chasing whales.  They were a nice add on for me but I wanted to get to the Island.

Humpback Hump

Common Dolphin

Humpback Spout

Humpback Tail

There has been off shore oil drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel for over 100 years.  It continues today despite the near complete disaster of the Union Oil spill in 1969.  This halted new leases and imposed restrictions but it was shocking to me to see the many oil rigs/platforms in the channel.

Oil Rig

After the pleasant crossing we made it to Scorpion’s Harbor on the Southeast side of the Island.  There is another point of disembarkation on the west side called Prisoner’s Harbor.  Visitors have to bring all of their own food and gear but there is potable water available at numerous camp areas, a small visitors center and rest rooms.  The Island is hilly and quite dry with varied native vegetation.  It is part of the Channel Islands National Park and you are not allowed to leave anything on the Island nor to remove anything.  They try hard to prevent the introduction of any non-native flora or fauna.

There are many trails leading up into the hills and back away from the shore.  I spent my time within a couple miles of our landing point but I can see how the hiking would be very good.

The Island Terrain

My objective of course was to find an Island Scrub-Jay.  There are estimated to be about 2300 Scrub-Jays scattered over the almost 100 square miles of the Island.  I just needed one.  Birders I know had seen them in the picnic area near our landing spot.  One of the naturalist volunteers suggested hiking through the campgrounds and up into Scorpion Canyon.  I found my first one in the first campground and all told on my various hikes I counted at least 10 some seen flying up the hillsides, some closer and some heard only.

Island Scrub-Jay

Although very similar to the California Scrub-Jays found throughout the West, this species appeared a much deeper and brighter blue with a longer tail.  A very handsome bird.  There are Steller’s Jays on the Island but no other Scrub-Jays.  I was very pleased to see and photograph this bird for many reasons.  Foremost of course was that it was an ABA Life Bird but after adding the Florida Scrub-Jay this spring, it had been the only one of the 11 ABA jay species that I had not seen.  Now it joins the California, Florida and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays, Gray Jay, Steller’s Jay, Brown Jay, Mexican Jay, Blue Jay, Pinyon Jay and Green Jay on my “Jay” list.  I have photos of all except the Brown Jay which I saw at Falcon Dam State Park in Texas in 1975.  My photos of all for comparison are below.

Blue Jay – Florida                    

Mexican Jay – Arizona

Gray Jay – Washington

Florida Scrub-Jay -Florida

 Pinyon Jay – Colorado                          

Wodehouse’s Scrub-Jay – Colorado

Green Jay – Texas

Brown Jay – Texas (Not My Photo)

Steller’s Jay – Washington 

California Scrub-Jay – Washington

Another good birding reason to visit Santa Cruz Island is that there is a resident population of Allen’s Hummingbirds.  No Rufous Hummingbirds are ever on the Island which is a good thing since the two can be very difficult to tell apart.  Any hummingbird found on Santa Cruz Island with any rufous coloring is always an Allen’s.  I had a photo of what I believed to be an Allen’s Hummingbird from Southern California that I took earlier this year but with this photo I was now sure that I had one.

Allen’s Hummingbird

There are also several endemic subspecies on the Island.  Maybe someday they will be recognized as species of their own just like the Island Scrub-Jay.  These include Spotted Towhees, Dusky Orange Crowned Warblers, Loggerhead Shrike, Channel Island Song Sparrow, Island Horned Lark and Santa Cruz Rufous Crowned Sparrow.  I saw all but the Rufous Crowned Sparrow and Horned Lark.  If either becomes a species on its own I guess I will have to go back.

There is one other endemic on the Island that was hard to miss, the Santa Cruz Island Fox.  I saw at least 5 while I was there.  They are not in the least people shy.  One looked for food in a small tree right over my head as I sat and rested.  It was often just a couple feet away.

Santa Cruz Island Fox

The boat loaded for the journey back at 3:00 p.m.  The seas remained calm and we had a following tide making for a very smooth journey.  We had more of the same birds as on the way out except there were a few Royal Terns at Prisoner’s Harbor.  I would have much preferred an Elegant Tern as they did not make an appearance in Washington this year, but it is too late and they are now further south.

Royal Tern

Back in Ventura we had a beautiful sunset and then not too much later a good view of the near “Mega-Moon” the phenomenon when the moon is closest to the earth and thus appears quite large.  The next day was the mega-event itself.

Sunset

The “Mega-Moon”

It had been another memorable, enjoyable and successful day.  I had my two target species and added an unequivocal photo of an Allen’s Hummingbird.  I also added another dozen plus trip birds.  I now headed off to Pasadena where I hoped to find my next targeted bird at a roost site the next morning.  Traffic was horrendous and although I was only going 65 miles. almost all on freeways, it took over two hours.  And I thought Seattle traffic was bad…

(Postscript December 20, 2017)

Due to some user error separating Countable and Non-Countable species on my Ebird ABA lists, when I found one, I thought that the Island Scrub-Jay was ABA species #699.  Correcting the error, it turns out that the Island Scrub-Jay was actually #700.  I was thrilled to see it without knowing that it gained me membership in the ABA 700 Club.  I wish I had been aware of it at the time – I am sure I would have come up with an appropriate celebration of sorts.  And I will be making a change to my next blog post as well as the Red Crowned Parrot that I saw the next morning was actually #701.  Somehow the endemic Island Scrub-jay seems more appropriate than the introduced but now established Red Crowned Parrot – as special as that next morning was.

New ABA Life Birds:  #699 Black Vented Shearwater and #700 Island Scrub-Jay

New ABA Photos:  Same

NEW ABA Year Birds:   Same

My trip list was now at 94.

With a wingspan of almost 10 feet, the California Condor is the largest land bird in North America being surpassed only slightly by the Andean Condor for that distinction worldwide by less than 12 inches.  Habitat destruction and lead poisoning and some poaching led to the near extinction of this magnificent bird which was described in the annals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  All of the remaining 27 Condors in the wild were captured in 1987 and were placed in a breeding and conservation program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.  Bringing back the California Condor to the wild is one of the great success stories of bird conservation.  Reintroduction into the wild began in 1991 and the first fledgling in the wild was seen in 2003.  Condors have been introduced into Arizona, California and Utah and today the population is around 450 individuals with more than 275 in the wild.  There are historical records from my home state of Washington.  Maybe someday they will be seen here again.

Andean Condor – Peru 2013

I had seen an Andean Condor in Peru in 2013 (poor photo above) but had never even looked for a California Condor.  I doubt I will still be capable of even looking for one by the time they make it back to Washington, so my options were Arizona or California.  California was my choice and that decision prompted this trip.  My original plan to look first at Pinnacles National Park was changed when the opportunity came to see the Red Footed Booby at Pillar Point in San Mateo County (see my previous blog post) which although successful threw off my schedule.  So I opted instead to visit the Big Sur area at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park down the coast from Monterey.  Melissa Hafting had recommended the Nepenthe area just south of the Park Visitor Center on Highway 1 as the “go to spot” something confirmed by Ebird reports.  I left Monterey early and headed south – Nepenthe being about 55 miles away.

Maybe a third of the way into the trip, a road sign notified travelers that Highway 1 was closed at Milepost (?).  I was not able to determine exactly where that was – before or after my destination.  I was worried. Very worried.  With my very early start I arrived at the Park visitor center before 7:30 a.m.  It was closed but fortunately a restroom was open.  There had been more signs about the road closure a few miles earlier.  I thought there might be some information posted about the road closure but I could find none.  As I was walking around, a large bird came into view being chased by a smaller bird – what appeared to be a Raven.  Was this my Condor?  No…only a Turkey Vulture.  Not a small bird – unless compared to a Condor.

A road crew was preparing to head out.  I caught the eye of a woman as she prepared to move out on a road grader and approached figuring she could give me information about the road closure.  She was great – personable, sharp and funny.  She gave me the bad news that I would not be able to continue all the way south on Highway 1 – my original plan to get to my next spot.  I would have to backtrack to Monterey.  But the good news was that the road closure was south of Nepenthe.  Even better was this lady was a local who knew a lot about Condors and gave me very specific information about where the best spot to see a Condor was – just a couple of miles south and just above where the road was closed.  It was the same general area Melissa had recommended.  Off I went.

There was a brief stop where some roadwork was already underway, then a few minutes later, I got to “the spot” and pulled off the road and parked.  Within no more than 2 minutes three GIANT birds flew right overhead.  The light was not great but oh my god, here were three California Condors not even 70 feet away.  My camera went crazy.  With the sun behind and above I could not get the clear detail I would have liked – but who cared.  These were spectacular, awesome, phenomenal birds!  I was actually shaking with excitement.

California Condors

All of the Condors that have been released have tags visible under their wings.  You can see that these two birds have yellow tags numbered 2 and 4.  Condor number 4 is “Amigo” and was hatched in 1999.  I was not able to get a clear photo of the third bird and I have not found information on Number 2.  Since California Condors can live up to 60 years, Amigo will hopefully have a long life ahead and will be seen by many.  He and his cohorts certainly gave me a thrill!

It did not take long for these giants to soar out of sight.  It was barely after 8:00 a.m.  There was a lot of birding still ahead and I had to backtrack through Monterey adding a couple of hours to my traveling.  I decided to count my blessings and move on.  Frankly everything else that would happen on this trip would now be icing on the cake.

One of the rarities that had shown up after my initial planning was a Garganey – a small Eurasian teal-like duck.  It was being seen regularly at a pond in a public park in Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County.  If I had been able to continue south on Highway 1, the park was 139 miles away – about 3 hours on that road.  Having to backtrack added over 70 miles but because of  the faster roads only about another 40 minutes.  I had no choice so I headed north before heading south.  I made a few brief stops along the way just seeing some of the local birds and then arrived in Waller Park just before 1:00 p.m.

I had seen a Garganey twice before but never in the ABA area where it is quite rare.  My first one was seen in Pecs, Hungary in July 2002.  Relatively common there but no photos in those days.  I saw one again in Kenya in November 2007.  Garganeys breed in Europe and Asia but then migrate to Africa, South Asia and Australia. No photos in Kenya either.

It took a little while to actually find the pond in the large park. But once I did I quickly found the Garganey as it was by far the smallest duck there.  As I said, anything after the Condors would be icing but this was really, really good icing.

Garganey – Waller Park – Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County

Garganeys are often confused in migration and occasionally show up in North America.  With a bird like this, there is always a question if it might be an escapee from a collection.  The consensus has been that especially as a juvenile, this bird is probably for real.  I am certainly treating that way until there is some official determination to the contrary – if any.

I had to be in Ventura for my next pursuit – taking the high speed passenger ferry to Santa Cruz Island.  That was another 100 miles away.  No other specific targets in the area so I did some general birding and made it to Ventura as the sun was setting.

What a great day.  A California Condor and a Garganey with photos of both.

New ABA Life Birds:  #697 California Condor and #698 Garganey 

New ABA Photos:  Same

NEW ABA Year Birds:   Same

I had not been trying to add species per se – only the targets but just by being in good and different habitats, my trip list was now over 80 species.

When I first thought about a November birding trip to California my main objective was to finally see a California Condor in the wild.  Shame on me for not having done so earlier.  It was about time.  I started putting together some details and figured that with luck and perseverance there was a reasonable chance of adding five new ABA Life birds.  I would still fall short of my goal to reach 700 but I would be a lot closer and that would then be an easy goal for 2018.  Then some very rare and special birds started showing up and if they somehow remained, maybe 700 was a possibility.

Two of the rarities that appeared were boobies – a rare Red Footed Booby at Pillar Point in San Mateo County and an even rarer Nazca Booby at Dana Point in Orange County.   I had seen 55 Red Footed Boobies at Kilauea Point in Kauai but never in what I consider the “true” ABA area which for me does not include the Hawaiian Islands.  Maybe it would have been possible to see a Nazca Booby on my trip to Peru, but I had not done so.  It has been seen only a handful of times in California – definitely not on my ABA list.  I did not know of either observation when I made my flight reservations.  I planned to go first to San Jose and then head south – get a photo of a Yellow Billed Magpie and then continue to Pinnacles National Monument to look for the Condor.  The Nazca Booby was seen on November 27, two days before my scheduled departure.  When I saw the record I looked into changing my departure date and arrival spot but it was prohibitively expensive.  If somehow it remained until I arrived on the 29th maybe I could consider a Plan B.  It did not – being only a one day wonder so just as well I had not made the change.

Nazca Booby – Dana Point – November 27, 2017 – Photo by Shirley Reynolds (See my previous post)

But the Red Footed Booby had been seen regularly at Pillar Point since November 12th.  No guaranty it would remain until I got there but the odds were good enough for me to change plans and divert first to Pillar Point when I first arrived.  Hawaii is now within the ABA Area but as I said I don’t count those birds.  This would be a great addition and if seen and if I could get some of the other rarities that had shown up since my first planning, 700 was a possibility.

Red Footed Booby (Adult) – Kilauea Point 2011

My flight left Seattle at 6:00 a.m. which meant getting up at 3:00 a.m. and thus not much sleep – a recurring theme during my California trip.  No way to know if the Booby would remain but the best odds were to get to Pillar Point as soon as I could and hope – especially hope to see another birder with a scope on the bird.  The plane got to the gate in San Jose at 8:00 a.m. and since I had not checked any bags, the San Jose airport is pretty manageable and the process at Fox Car Rentals was very efficient, I was miraculously on the road by 8:20.  Although Pillar Point was only about 50 miles away, it was now rush hour and traffic was pretty bad for a good part of the trip.  Somehow I made it to the marina around 9:45 a.m. – and my heart sank.  The area was much larger than I had expected and it was not at all clear where to look for the bird.  There had been a reference in one report to Johnson Pier.  I located it – drove to a viewing point and began scanning.  Nothing.  For the next hour I moved to various points to check the many breakwaters.  I saw no other birders and definitely no Red Footed Booby.  I considered admitting defeat and returning to my original plan and decided to try one more spot – going to the boat launch area to scan yet another breakwater from yet another perspective.

I missed it on my first two scans because its head was tucked down, but on my third pass I saw the distinctive bill shape of a booby and knew I had my bird.  At first it was flanked by a Brown Pelican and a Western Gull – giving a good size comparison.  The Pelican flew off and my photo – very distant – at least could show the bill, the size compared to the gull and some of the coloration of a juvenile Red Footed Booby. It was not yet 5 hours after I had left Seattle and I had my first prize.  ABA Bird #694.  An excellent start.  Interestingly no other observations for this rare bird were posted to Ebird for the day I was there although it has been reported almost every day since.

Red Footed Booby

It was now back to the originally planned itinerary but with a much delayed start.  I headed back towards San Jose and then continued on to Coyote, CA on Highway 101 about 60 miles away.  This was an agricultural area that my research said was very good for Yellow Billed Magpies.  I had seen my only Yellow Billed Magpie 46 years earlier not long after I started birding.  It is found only in the Central Valleys of California.  I wanted/needed a photo.  It took a little longer to find one than expected but soon after finding my first one, I found several more.  Especially in flight and even moreso than its Black Billed Magpie cousin which is very common in Eastern Washington, it is a very striking bird.

Yellow Billed Magpie with Black Billed Magpie for Comparison

A bonus was that I also found a White Tailed Kite in the same area.  I have seen many in California before and also several in Washington, but this was my first one for the year – so a new ABA Year bird.

White Tailed Kite

The original plan was that I would have been in this area and seen the Magpie by not later than 10:00 a.m. and then gone to Pinnacles to look for a Condor.  No complaints, but because of the pursuit of the Red Footed Booby, it was now almost 1:30 p.m.   I could get to Pinnacles before 3:00 but I wasn’t sure exactly where I might find a Condor once I got to the area or how long that might take and when the light would make sightings and especially photos more difficult.  Another option I had considered was going to the Gloria Road area where two of my other target birds were possible – Bell’s Sparrow and Lawrence’s Goldfinch.  I decided to go that route and then to try for Condors at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park the next day – arriving early both to give myself more time and hopefully to catch the birds as they were leaving their roosts and beginning their scavenging forays.

It was almost 70 miles to my next area, but one of the best parts of this trip was that at least out of the cities, travel was fast.  I made good time and began my search around 2:30 and spent the next hour plus on pretty remote roads through varying habitat.  Around 3:30. I found a pair of Bell’s Sparrows in sage/chaparral on a hillside on Gloria Road.  It was not on the sunny side of the road and the light was not great.  I had been trying playback off and on for more than 5 miles of seemingly appropriate habitat.  These two birds flew in in response but immediately buried themselves in the dense vegetation and would not come out.  My only views were impeded by the thick branches. Nonetheless in a series of views, I could make out the dark head, white throat, white eye ring, dark malar stripe and little if any streaking on the back, sufficient in this habitat and location to give good confidence to identification as the Bell’s Sparrow as opposed to the Sagebrush Sparrow.  I counted it as a new ABA Life bird but was very frustrated to not get a photo.  The one below is from the internet.

Bell’s Sparrow

Time to call it a day.  I headed to Monterey to spend the night at a good spot to get an early start for the Condor search the next day.  I was high from the successes of the day but very tired from the early start and lack of sleep the night before.  It had been an excellent day in excellent weather.

New ABA Life Birds:  #695 Red Footed Booby and #696 Bell’s Sparrow 

New ABA Photos:  Red Footed Booby and Yellow Billed Magpie

NEW ABA Year Birds:   Red Footed Booby, Bell’s Sparrow, Yellow Billed Magpie and White Tailed Kite

A recurring theme in my posts has been how birding rewards us with visits to great places, meeting terrific people and seeing wonderful birds.  My adventures always provide at least one of those three rewards and on the best days, I am fortunate to get all three.  I recently returned from a hardcore visit to California and there were rewards a plenty.  Six days, 1500 miles and 150 bird species including 8 ABA Life Birds and  11 ABA Life photos.  With so much great material, there will be a number of posts, but I want to start with visits with some truly marvelous people that I met along the way.  Sure there were birds involved as well, and each of those brought smiles, but the people really made this trip special. First an overview for perspective and then the people stories.

Overview

This trip was prompted by three factors:  Credit on Alaska Airlines from my earlier visit to San Diego; the opportunity to add new ABA life birds, life photos and year birds continuing towards birding goals I had set earlier in the year; and a need for a change of scenery to get away from some changes in my personal life that had me a bit down.  Intense birding and Southern California seemed the perfect distraction from the latter and would provide an opportunity for those other factors as well.  The basic plan was put in place the first week of November and as reports of some very special rare birds came in, I wished I had planned to leave earlier – but unable to change flight plans without a great expense – I kept fingers crossed that these special birds would stay until I could visit.

The basic plan was to start in San Jose and work my way south (with a lot of east and west as well) and end up in San Diego to return to Seattle 6 days later. Without giving away all the birds that were seen where, the basic route is shown on the map below.  Arrive at 8:00 a.m. on November 29 and depart at 5:00 p.m. on December 4 – with each night in a different place and definitely not enough sleep.

Itinerary

Since this initial focus is on people, this will necessarily not be in strict chronological order.  But there is a beginning and this person’s presence remained throughout the trip.  That is Melissa Hafting – “BC Birdergirl”.  She has made it into many blog posts before – great person, great birder, great resource and a great supporter.  She provided lots of help in identifying places to go for some of my target species that helped in my planning effort before I left and then continued to provide specifics and encouragement along the way.  Ebird and Listservs are great help but there is nothing better than personal advice from someone who has been there.  Thank you as always Melissa.

Melissa Hafting (with Ilya Polyaev – another great birder)

My first notable interpersonal interaction on the ground in California was with a gal who was a heavy equipment operator at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park – in the Big Sur area (No. 5 on the map).  I was on a quest to see my first ever California Condor.  Advice from Ebird and details from Melissa said a great place was at Nepenthe on Highway 1 in the Big Sur area within the park.  The problem was that due to landslides and fires, Highway 1 was closed seemingly just at or perhaps just south of the Nepenthe “hot spot”.  I pulled into the Park Visitor Center hoping for some information and dreading that the closure would preclude me from finding a Condor, I found it too was closed and a crew was preparing to go out to work on that closed road. I was worried.

A lot of adrenaline had built as I neared what I was hoping was the place where I would finally find this important bird – symbolic with the Whooping Crane as great conservation success stories, bringing back species from near extinction.  Finding a California Condor was the original major motivation for taking this trip.  The sign of the road closure and then the Visitor Center closure were real downers.  Would this all be for naught?  The only folks around were that road crew – about to go to work.

“Val” (not her real name), was about to climb up on a grader, but she gave me a big smile as I approached her figuring I might get better info on the road closure.  She wasn’t a birder, but she knew her Condors and gave me very specific suggestions about where to go – which was just about where Melissa had recommended and was only a mile or so away, and yes just before where the road was closed.  We had a really fun 5 minute visit talking about Condors, the Park, roadwork and the best place to get breakfast.  And she confirmed that yes I would not be able to continue south (my original plan) and would have to retrace my steps 35 miles north back to Monterey.  Not great news – but who cared so long as I found my Condor. This interaction reversed my ebbing spirits and that elated sense of anticipation that had been building before the road closure sign, returned and grew.

A few minutes later I went to “Val’s Spot” and not more than 2 minutes after parking, three California Condors flew right overhead.  WOW!!!  They are huge. They are iconic and now they were on my Life List.  The light wasn’t perfect but I got nice photos as I watched them glide effortlessly less than 100 feet above me.  It was one of those sublime and perfect moments – one of my best in birding.  I had had excellent birding the day before (remember this is not chronological) and now day 2 instead of being a failure was off to a fabulous start.  The birds were gone within a few minutes and I decided not to stay and hope for more.  As I turned and headed back north, I passed the road crew and gave Val a big thumbs up.  Her smile was almost as big as mine.

California Condor

Skipping some stops, some great birds and many miles, my next wonderful interactions all relate to my visit to Santa Cruz Island.  Part of the Channel Islands National National Park, Santa Cruz is the largest of the Islands across the Santa Barbara Channel about 30 miles from Ventura.  Island Packers Cruises runs a passenger only high speed boat service to two landing spots on the Island – taking campers, kayakers, and day visitors like me.  The crossing provides opportunities to see both avian and mammalian sea life and on this day was smooth and very comfortable with many sightings of whales, dolphins and seabirds – details to be provided in a later post.

Everything about the Island Packers operation was terrific including helpful staff and our bird savvy boat captain, Dave Corey.  Although the main bird target for the trip was the Island Scrubjay that is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, my planning had also included the hope for a Black Vented Shearwater on the passage over.  Melissa had almost guaranteed that I would see this ABA Lifer from the boat but I had not found it reported on the trip on Ebird for early December.  Before embarking I asked some of the Island Packers staff about it and they said – just tell the Captain of your interest.

Once on board I stationed myself next to the Captain’s wheelhouse and when I had a chance told Captain Dave of my interest.  He was busy with many details before leaving but said we would most likely see the Shearwaters and other good birds and he would call one out if need be.  Need be never arose as there were many Shearwaters beginning not long after departure, but his confidence and openness to help were a great help and relief and often on the trip over and during the return, I visited with him, shared stories and pictures and greatly enjoyed his company and expertise.  He also did a superb job navigating the admittedly calm seas and getting us great views of dolphins and whales.  He made a great trip even greater.

Captain Dave Corey – Island Packers Cruises

Black Vented Shearwater

Volunteer naturalists accompany each group to Santa Cruz Island.  Once again – very positive personal interactions.  One naturalist had great suggestions on how best to find the targeted Island Scrubjay.  I followed her advice and was successful.  I bumped into her midday and she was seemingly almost as happy as I was about my success, had lots of stories and was just a very positive, good person.  I had a fun talk with another of the volunteers waiting for the boat to take us back to Ventura.  He was about my same age (old!!) and although not a bird person was knowledgeable from his training program.  I learned a lot about the interesting history of the Island and its flora and fauna but more interesting was our shared reminiscences of our youths and especially the impact of the horrible Vietnam War on our generation.  I learned of his much earlier near hippie life, how he “medicated” himself to flunk his draft physical etc.  Simple person to person contact that added depth and texture to the trip. Of course if I had not seen the Island Scrubjay, that depth may not have counted for as much.

Island Scrubjay

Among other places the next day I ventured to Barstow where a very rare Rufous Backed Robin had been hanging out for the past week.  This was one of those much sought after ABA Lifer opportunities that had not been on my radar during the initial trip planning but sure was once I learned of its presence and fingers were crossed it would remain.  As I have often  written, when chasing a rarity it is a good rule to look for the other birders already in the area and see if they were on the bird.  This was brought home very quickly at the Barstow Community College when I walked towards the grassy area where the bird had been most often seen.  There were several birders there with cameras and binoculars trained on two robin like birds that were on the ground between me and them.  I grabbed my camera and began taking pictures without first identifying the birds.  Was it really going to be this easy?  Well, no.  When I finally looked at the birds, I discovered that they were only cousins of the targeted Rufous Back Robin.  One was an American Robin and the other was a Varied Thrush.

Once I could do so without disturbing the birds I walked over to the birders and learned that I had missed the Rufous Backed Robin by ten minutes, that it had a pattern of coming down to feed every so often and then returning to the trees.  It would surely return but in the meantime this Varied Thrush, while very common in my hometown Seattle, was quite rare here and was a treasured find.  I recalled an Ebird report that said it took the observer more than an hour before he finally found the Rufous Backed Robin down on the grassy spot I was looking at with this group so I figured I would just have to wait.

American Robin and Varied Thrush Share a Shrub

This gave me a chance to talk with the group and I learned it was a San Bernadino Valley Audubon Society trip led by Gene Cardiff who was obviously much admired and revered by his group.  They were very helpful in providing information about other birds in the area and I learned that a couple were transplants from the Pacific NW.  And we waited for the Rufous Backed Robin – and waited some more.  Since they had all already seen it, the Audubon group departed for the next stop on their trip maybe 15 minutes later.  One birder remained.  He had the largest camera set up and seemed very intent on getting a good photo.  He had driven up from San Diego to see this bird this morning – had already seen it but the light had not been good so he was waiting for more and better.  Especially since we now shared the same goal, we engaged easily and quickly.

My new friend was Mel Senac a fairly recent but very dedicated and enthusiastic convert to birding.  Now retired he had taken on this avocational pursuit with what I am sure is the same passion, intensity, skill and intelligence that made him a successful Pediatric Radiologist.  Very personable and likable, we began trading birding stories including his observations on the behavior of the Rufous Backed Robin and his certainty it would return.  I have to acknowledge that his complimenting my daughter when I told him she was a Pediatric Neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital made it impossible not to like him.  (Yes I am very proud of her and yes she is amazing!!)

Mel Senac (Not in Birding Mode)

While our talk was intense, it was not too intense to miss the Rufous Backed Robin when it returned to the ground after everyone but he and I remained.  We had it all to ourselves for 20 minutes and were able to get great photos.  I most likely would have found the Rufous Backed Robin alone but it was definitely a plus to have the help of Mel and others.  Moreso it was great just to spend quality time together and to share a special bird with a special person.

Rufous Backed Robin

Time to skip some stops again to get to two more terrific folks whose company and spirit were greatly enjoyed on this trip.  I was in the San Diego area.  No more Life birds to pursue but I was looking for some new ABA Photos and some ABA year birds.  A key spot was the Tijuana Slough NWR.  One target was a Ridgway’s Rail which I had first seen in my earliest days as a birder in Palo Alto more than 40 years ago when I played hooky from Stanford Law School and visited Baylands Park.  Back then it was called a Clapper Rail but by the next time I saw one – at this same Tijuana NWR location earlier this year – it had been split off as a separate species from the Clapper Rail of the East Coast – but no photo.  This was also a good spot for Nelson’s Sparrow a new ABA Bird for the year.  The rails are easy to find at least to hear, but visuals and especially photos can be hard. The sparrows require both luck and some expertise.  Timing the tide is important and the best time is on an incoming high tide.

I got to the NWR just about at the peak of a good high tide.  I had a general sense of where to look but planned to stop at the Visitor’s Center to get some specific help.   Unfortunately it was closed that day.  That was the bad news.  What turned out to be very good news and probably the most special of the intersections on the trip was that I could see a birder with a scope about a quarter mile down one of the trails.  The plan quickly became to make contact with him or her as quickly as I could and hope for some local expertise and help.  As I approached I waved and got an acknowledgement back.  And it was definitely a “her” (more on that later).  My first words to her were “Can you guess what I am looking for?”  She quickly established her knowing expertise with the response “How about Nelson’s Sparrow and Ridgway’s Rail“.  But way beyond expertise, she established immediate rapport and my gratitude when she added, “Come on I will show you.”  Now understand she had finished her birding and had been heading back to the parking lot when I intruded.  So this was a significant act of kindness.

We walked out towards where she had just been and not more than two minutes later she continued to rise on my gratitude and respect scales when she said, “There’s a rail on the path!” She had spied one just ahead of us – in the open and quickly got me on it for a distant but “good enough for the record” photo.

Ridgway’s Rail

She added, “The Sparrows should be in that bush across from the rail.”  Right again.  We got closer to the shrub and could see movement as small birds scurried about – usually buried in the dense bush.  She had a scope and I had left mine in the car.  She got her scope on what turned out to be one of at least two Nelson’s Sparrows in that bush and the others nearby and gave me a view.  I moved ahead and got my photo as she worked to get her digiscoped photo.  We continued to watch and photograph the sparrows for the next 10 minutes as the tide receded and eventually the sparrows flew off to other favored spots in the estuary/marsh.

Nelson’s Sparrow

OK – this had been about as good as it could be – quick success finding and photographing my two target birds – with the help of a generous local expert.  But it got better.  A small group of school kids joined us with a ranger from the NWR and they asked questions about what we were doing, birds, birding etc.  It turns out that my new best birding friend, Shirley Reynolds, was a recently retired teacher and it was great fun as each of us answered the kids’ questions.  Great kids – alive, energetic and enthusiastic.  The experience reminded me of what I most enjoy about birding – the interaction with nature and with others especially combining the two.  When the kids left, Shirley and I had a wonderful wide ranging talk about birds, each other’s experiences and activities.  I was with an expert indeed as Shirley is doing a California Big Year and similar to my own first Big Year in Washington in 2013, it had not started as a planned goal but had evolved from just being in the field and noticing that a lot of birds had already been seen so why not go for more.  The Nelson’s Sparrow that day had been her California species number 450 for the year – an astounding number that has her second on the Ebird California list.

We visited for almost an hour and it really was a highlight of my trip as her tremendous spirit and passion raised my spirits as well and gave me the energy to try some more birding spots later that day.  A photo I took of her at the Slough is below. Yes a very striking lady (very very) but who would have guessed that there was so much more below the surface and I was very fortunate and appreciative personally and birding-wise to have had this intersection.

Shirley Reynolds

One more special intersection – another great person and this one with a definite small world aspect.  A Hooded Warbler had been seen in the Ruette Le Parc development in Del Mar north of San Diego.  I had seen this species in Washington and had a photo but had not seen it this year so it would be a good ABA Year Bird – and, a male in breeding plumage, it would be gorgeous.  I got to the area, parked and began looking around.  The directions were fairly good but it was a large area and the Ebird reports had described different specific spots to look.  After just a few moments I saw another birder down the street.  After the great success at the Tijuana Slough with local help, I headed his way.  This began another great intersection with yet another terrific person. Dave Trissel lived pretty close and had seen the Hooded Warbler the previous day.  We hit it off immediately and in a repeat of my experience with Shirley, he said “I’ll show you where I had it yesterday.”  Not as lucky this time as the Warbler was not found – and in fact we never did find it although odds were good that it was somewhere around as it was refound the next day.  But that took nothing away from the enjoyment of the visit as we traded story after story for an hour or so.

Dave is bright, high energy and engaging.  And just to be gender fair, just as striking a guy as Shirley is a gal.  Not doing a big year like she was, but a passionate birder and lister with an ABA Life List similar to my own and with some of the same foreign travel that I have been fortunate to take.  And one of his stories was especially amazing.  In September this year my home town of Edmonds, Washington was the place to go to see what may be the ABA Bird of the Year – a Swallow Tailed Gull (See my blog post    ).  I had seen the Gull the first day it was found by Ryan Merrill at Carkeek Park.  Later, when it moved up to Edmonds, my buddy Deb Essman and a friend came over from Ellensburg to look for it and I took them to the Edmonds Pier from which it could be seen.  We found however, that it could be seen better from a different spot in the marina and we headed off to look.  On the way we met a birder from San Diego who had come up that day specifically to see this incredible rarity.  He was headed out to the pier, but I said – come along this way as it can be seen better from another spot.  Yep, that was Dave Trissel.  A small world indeed.  I guess what goes around comes around.

Dave Trissel

Hooded Warbler (Yes in Washington/No in California)

Swallow Tailed Gull

There were lots of other good folks on this trip.  A naturalist at Anza Borrego State Park (the largest in the U.S.) who helped with hummingbird identification clues and suggestions for finding a Le Conte’s Thrasher.  A birder at the San Elijo Lagoon who was just fun to talk to and who pointed me towards a California Thrasher. Two guys at a car wash who were as enthusiastic at their jobs and as friendly as you could ever want.  Staff at some of the hotels (6 in 6 nights) and at Fox Rental Car both checking it out and bringing it back in.  Others I am sure I am forgetting.  Each of these people added to my enjoyment and to the success of the trip just as Melissa Hafting, “Val”, Dave Corey, Mel Senac, Shirley Reynolds and Dave Trissel had.  I know my path will intersect with Melissa again.  I hope there will be intersections with each of the others as well.  Somehow I expect that will be the case.  Great special folks.  Many thanks to all.

Last Sunday I attended a wonderful birding event – a surprise 80th birthday party for Dennis Paulson.  There is nobody in Washington who has done more good for the birding community than Dennis – his Master Birder Classes, his scholarly work, his curatorial work, his other teaching roles.  There is probably nobody in Washington who knows more about birds than Dennis either.  It would be great to do a blog (or two or three) about Dennis – but I am not sufficiently talented to do it right and as he would deserve so I will pass.  At the party, turning the tables on the Master, Dennis was shown a number of photos of just parts of birds and challenged to identify them from the limited data.  Not surprisingly Dennis got most of them right – an amazing performance.  Since the birds were not limited to birds of Washington, Dennis asked “where was this taken” to aid his deliberations.

Dennis Paulson

With Dennis’s question in mind, on the long drive home from a fun trip to Neah Bay, I pondered a variation on the photo I.D. challenge:  wondering if anyone could answer “where are we” when showed a combination of photos – adding that they were all from the same state and would have to be within some limited specified time – rather than just pick photos from a lifetime of possible surprising finds in an area.  The original plan was to sort through my Ebird reports and come up with some possible challenging combinations.  However, when I was later editing some recent photos on Flick’r, the task became easier.  I could take the most recent 15 photos I have posted there, show them to a good well traveled birder – say from Missouri, tell him/her the photos were all from the same state and ask, “Where are we?”

Here is the list from the most recent photos backwards in time:  Northern Pygmy Owl, Clay Colored Sparrow, Painted Bunting, Snowy Egret, Snowy Owl, Black Phoebe, White Winged Crossbill, Zone Tailed Hawk, Sharp Tailed Sandpiper, Northern Shrike, Barn Owl, Harlan’s Red Tailed Hawk, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker,  and Bar Tailed Godwit.   (I have omitted Western Meadowlark as it would immediately bring focus to the Western states).

So where are we?  To even an intermediate level birder, a couple of the species jump out as probably geographic limiters.  But in every state there are inexplicable anomalies, a first ever record of some species that just does not belong there.  And there are some states – birding meccas like Texas, Arizona and California for example – which seem to have more than their share of such oddities.  Black Phoebe, Northern Pygmy Owl and Zone Tailed Hawk all point to Western states – but just how far west?  And what about those anomalies?  I found for example that a Zone Tailed Hawk showed up in Massachusetts within the 10 year time frame.

I did some research on Ebird and examined species lists for a number of “likely” states over the past ten years to see where such a list might be possible.  I concentrated on California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, New York, Colorado (which always surprises me with its species diversity and records) and Massachusetts.

Since they are my photos, we already know that all of these species have been found in Washington, but I would not have presented the material to that representative Missouri Birder that way, so he/she would have to piece it together species by species.  I would have given him/her the 8 “possible” states and with that the analysis may have gone this way.

All of the states would have had Red Tailed Hawks (although I am not sure about the Harlan’s form), Northern Shrikes, Barn Owls and probably Clay Colored Sparrows.

Red Tailed Hawk (Dark Phase Harlan’s) – Skagit County, Washington – October 24, 2017

Northern Shrike – Wiley Slough, Skagit County Washington – October 31, 2017

Barn Owl – Three Crabs, Clallam County, Washington – October 24, 2017

Clay Colored Sparrow – Neah Bay, Clallam County, Washington – November 20, 2017 

Massachusetts – yes there was that Zone Tailed Hawk, but the other western species – Northern Pygmy Owl and Black Phoebe have not made it to the Bay State.  The same holds for New York.  Interestingly both had Bar Tailed Godwits – missing as we will see for some of the others.

Black Phoebe – Wiley Slough, Skagit County Washington – October 31, 2017

Northern Pygmy Owl – Chinook Bend, King County Washington – November 21, 2017

So Massachusetts and New York are out.  How about Colorado?  It too has a record of a Zone Tailed Hawk and it has both the Black Phoebe and the Northern Pygmy Owl, but despite having more shorebird records than I would have expected, neither a Bar Tailed Godwit nor a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper have shown up there in the past 10 years.

Bar Tailed Godwit – Westport Marina – Grays Harbor County Washington – September 21, 2017

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper – Hayton Reserve – Skagit County Washington – October 31, 2017

So Colorado is out as well.  Next up for consideration is Texas.  Yes for everything – except once again the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper.  Close but no cigar.  Since shorebirds are not its specialty, I expected that Arizona would fail also.  And it did – no Sharp Tailed Sandpiper and also no Snowy Owl (which had been seen in all of the other states above.)

Snowy Owl – Sandy Point – Whatcom County Washington – November 8, 2017

Running out of options, our Missouri birder would now have to consider the three West Coast states.  California seemed the most likely bet.  In fact with its 636 species seen in the past 10 years – more than any other state, it was the best guess even from the start.  Again close but no cigar as just like Texas, one species was missing.  And this was a surprise.  Unless Ebird was in error (or there was user error), no White Winged Crossbills were reported in California from 2007 through 2017.

White Winged Crossbill – Neah Bay, Clallam County, Washington – November 6, 2017 

California was out.  How about Oregon?  Once again, off by one.  No Zone Tailed Hawk has made it to Oregon in the past ten years.  All the others yes but one miss.

Zone Tailed Hawk – Neah Bay, Clallam County, Washington – November 6, 2017

So that left only Washington – but how could that be?  Not only did it seem impossible that there would have been a Zone Tailed Hawk, but some of the other species were also not likely there.  A Snowy Egret? – well maybe.  A Painted Bunting? – not so likely.  And even the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker should not be found there.   Yet as it turned out, as we know, all were.

Snowy Egret – Lower River Road, Clark County, Washington – November 18, 2017

Painted Bunting – LaConner, Skagit County, Washington – November 19, 2017

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker – Juanita Bay Park, King County Washington – September 22, 2017

Indeed Washington is the only state to have had all of these species in the past ten years – but way more impressive and rare than that is that all of these species have been seen (and obviously photographed) in Washington – indeed Western Washington in the past two months.  Our Missouri birder would have been very surprised.  I wonder how Dennis Paulson would have done…

This chart shows the birds seen (and not) over the past ten years in our option states.  It also gives the total number of species seen in each state over that period. (Source Ebird)

“Bunting” – What an interesting word.

To a baseball fan it is the act of laying down a bunt where the batter squares up to the pitched ball and if he can make contact either “drags” it along the first base line or perhaps pushes it towards the third base line.  The former is generally an attempt for the batter to get a hit and reach base safely himself.  The latter is more often a sacrifice bunt where the batter will be thrown out at first base, but in the process other base runners will advance – either from first to second or from second to third and will thus be in “scoring position”.  An extreme form is the “suicide squeeze” where the batter tries to bunt home the runner who is on third base.  Bunting has become a dying art in the home run happy world of modern baseball, but bunting is still an exciting part of the game.

Mickey Mantle – my All-Time Favorite – Drag Bunting

To a patriotic celebrant, bunting is a kind of decoration often made of cloth – particularly including for example the stars and stripes of the American flag used as decoration.  This kind of bunting is particularly popular at Fourth of July picnics and political conventions.

Patriotic Bunting

Much more importantly to me (now that Mickey Mantle is long gone at least) as a birder I now think of Buntings in taxonomic terms as any of various stout-billed passerine birds (families Cardinalidae and Emberizidae) of which some are grouped with the cardinal and some with the New World sparrows.  This blog post is prompted by the recent appearance of the aptly named Painted Bunting that obligingly continues to visit a feeder in LaConner, Washington.  It does not belong here and is very rare in our state.  Dozens of birders have made the journey to the feeder and have left very happy.  Accompanied by Steve Pink and Jon Houghton, we were able to see and photograph this “chased” bird approximately one minute after arriving on site.  It was THAT cooperative!

Painted Bunting – LaConner, Washington November 18, 2017

My last blog post was a response to the appearance of a Snowy Owl at Sandy Point in Whatcom County.  On Tuesday I joined 5 others from Pilchuck Audubon on a trip to Reifel Refuge in British Columbia.  It was a very windy and often rainy day and the birding was just OK but the company was excellent.  After Reifel Refuge, we went to a VERY windy and wet Boundary Bay hoping to see Snowy Owls.  As I wrote in that earlier blog, Boundary Bay was home to as many as 20 Snowy Owls in the last irruption year.  This year two have been reported.  In a driving wet wind, our group was fortunate to find one – hunkered down and distant.

Boundary Bay Snowy Owl – November 14, 2017

And if you think that owl was hunkered down, look at the next photo.  We decided to go for a Snowy Owl two-fer and stop at Sandy Point on our return trip to see if we could find Snowy Owls in two countries on the same day,  It was there – but in the heavy wind, it was almost impossible to find.  Look closely.

Sandy Point Snowy Owl – November 14, 2017

We did not find any Snow Buntings on this visit – probably just too windy.  But the two Snowy Owls  were not the only “Snow Birds” we saw in both countries as Snow Geese were observed in both countries as well.  Earlier today I was thinking about trips still ahead for 2017 and wondered about snow levels in the Okanogan as that trip is best when there is lots of snow.  That coupled with doing checklists for the visits to B.C. and Sandy Point led me to this blog post about more Snow Birds.

In the ABA Area, there are 5 species with “snow” in their names:  Snowy Owls, Snowy Plovers, Snow Buntings, Snowy Egrets and Himalayan Snowcocks.  Native to the Himalayan region of southern Asia, the latter was introduced as a game bird in the Ruby Mountains of northern Nevada beginning in 1963.  I do not expect to ever see one (or look for one) even though they are quite striking.   I guess they are as valid a countable species as other non-native introduced game birds like Ring Necked Pheasants, Gray Partridge and Chukars, but they seem even more exotic.  The other Snow Birds are very countable and appealing.  While all of these birds are “snow colored”, only Snowy Owls and Snow Buntings are very much associated with snow itself.  Snow Geese are generally seen in “the Lower 48” in the winter but not necessarily with any snow.  The “snow” in Snowy Plovers and Snowy Egrets is from their very snow white color.

Himalayan Snowcock – Picture from Internet

I saw my first Snow Bunting at Magnuson Park in Seattle in January 1974.  No photos from those days but I have seen many more in Washington since them including single birds at many spots and flocks of over 100 birds in the Okanogan (in snow fields).  The first photo is of one from a flock of 120 birds seen on Cameron Lake Road in the Okanogan in March 2012.

Snow Bunting

That bird is in winter non-breeding plumage.  My photo of one in Nome Alaska in June 2016, shows a much more contrasted Snow Bunting in full breeding plumage – very snowy looking indeed.

Snow Bunting – Breeding Plumage – Alaska June 2016

I saw my first Snow Goose in 1972 at the San Luis NWR in California in January 1972.  Since then I have seen thousands and thousands of them – mostly in the Skagit area but also in huge flocks  elsewhere in the State – sometimes in flocks of between 5000-10,000.  Feeding in the fields or in the familiar skeins in flight, they are a welcome sign that winter is on the way or already present.

Snow Goose

Snow Goose Landing

Snow Goose Flock

Snow Geese usually first appear in October and are usually gone by April.  In the Skagit area they may share fields with Trumpeter and Tundra Swans – turning fields white in their great numbers.  In the Midwestern United States, they are often in the Blue Form but it is the same species.  This form is very rare in Washington.

Snow Goose – Blue Form

Especially when it is from non-birders, what I most often hear when I show Snowy Plover photos is “They are so cute!!”  Pretty hard to disagree.  They are found on sandy beaches along the coast and on salt flats – often in protected areas as they are declining.  I have seen them in California and Colorado in addition to many times in Washington.  Often I see just one but have seen as many as 12 scampering on the sand near Midway Beach.

Snowy Plover

Banded Snowy Plover

A close relative of the Snowy Plover is the Piping Plover.  I have seen this cousin in Maryland and Maine.  There is a single record for Washington – Medicine Lake near Spokane in 1990.  Miraculously one was seen in Boundary Bay (yes that same Boundary Bay with the Snowy Owls) in August this year.  Who knows – maybe someday in Washington again!!

Piping Plover Maine 2015

I have seen Snowy Egrets in eight states.  My first observation was in California in 1973 where they are very common.  They are not common in Washington although observations seem to be increasing.  I finally found my first one in the state on Lower River Road in Clark County in December 2015.   A distant terrible photo then.  A much better look was on July 30 last year of the one originally found by Bruce Labar in Fife.

Snowy Egret – Fife Pond – July 30, 2017

The picture below was taken in California and shows the incredible feathers – plumes that were once popular additions to women’s hats – and which threatened the species.

Snowy Egret – Bolsa Chica, California

That’s it for the Snow Birds in the ABA area.  I have one more Snow Bird on my world list, however.  But it is about as different from these Snow Birds as you can imagine.  It is the Snowy Crowned Robin Chat which I saw at the Kakamega Forest NR in Kenya where it is resident almost exactly 10 years ago.  I doubt that there has been any snow in the Kakamega forest in hundreds or maybe even thousands of years.  I did not get a photo of that species but do have ones of two closely related cousins from a trip to South Africa in 2014.

Snowy Capped Robin Chat

White Browed Robin Chat

White Throated Robin Chat

I think I should have stayed with the true Snow Birds instead of straying – but they are nice looking birds.  Just to close properly, however, a final photo of a Snowy Owl – after all this guy started it all.  It is appropriately on the snow – a small patch surrounded by clear fields in the Waterville Plateau.

Snowy Owl

In 2016 no Snowy Owls were reported on Ebird for Western Washington.  In 2015 there was a single report of two owls on Sandy Point in Whatcom County on December 1st.  There was no photo and I do not know if the record was accepted.  In 2014 a Snowy Owl was seen in Edmonds and was reported 19 times (including once by me).  2011 through 2013 were so-called irruptions year and Snowy Owls were seen in many locations in Western Washington but particularly at Damon Point in Ocean Shores where there were more than a dozen in 2011.  At that same time, there were 20 or more at Boundary Bay in British Columbia.   I saw Snowy Owls in both locations and those are among my favorite birding memories.

Snowy Owl Damon Point – Ocean Shores

On November 1st, Philip Calise reported a Rock Sandpiper at Sandy Point in Whatcom County.  I had already seen a Rock Sandpiper this year on January 16 at Rosario Beach – the same incredible day when we had a Falcated Duck at Padilla Bay.  The former is more regularly found at the jetties on the Coast but is still uncommon and a good bird.  The Falcated Duck is a mega-rarity and was a life bird for most of us who saw it.  Oh yeah on November 1st,  Phil Calise also reported a Snowy Owl…

The Mega-Rarity Falcated Duck – Padilla Bay January 16, 2017

Frank Caruso, lured more by the Rock Sandpiper, joined me visiting Sandy Point on Friday November 3rd with my target being the Snowy Owl – which would be new for Washington and the ABA area for 2017.  The weather was MISERABLE!!  It had snowed the night before “up north” and while there was no snow on most of I-5 itself, as we neared Bellingham, there was a beautiful dusting on some fields and trees and some not so beautiful icy patches on the Freeway.  It was not beautiful at all as we exited and headed off on Slater Road with lots of ice.  Suddenly a car maybe 100 yards ahead of us did a very scary skid and slide – first to the left and then to the right and then back to the left before being stopped by one of those divider wires put there for just that purpose.  I was able to slow and keep control of our car without hitting the brakes – steering through the problem.  Adrenalin levels did rise.

Further along we saw a car completely turned over on the side of the road – an obvious turn turtle from earlier that morning.  We continued on – maybe just the right conditions of snow and ice for a Snowy Owl.  When we arrived at Sandy Point, there was snow and ice on the road and the parking area and the beach.  Worse though was the wind.  Probably the cause of the ice on the road earlier, here it was howling – gusting over 40 mph and a pretty constant 20 mph plus.  The ambient temperature was below 30 degrees – who knows what the wind chill was – but it was COLD!!  We put on every piece of clothing we had (and we had brought a lot expecting the cold) and went out exploring.

The wind made it difficult to bird, impossible to use a scope and definitely suppressed the birds.  We found some Black Turnstones and not much else.  Another birder was there – he had seen the Snowy Owl the day before and had already been there for 30 minutes plus without a hint.  We braved the conditions for an hour and seeing no let-up and no Snowy Owl, we gave up and headed home.  There were lots of nooks and crannies among the rocks, logs, docks and homes.  The Owl was probably hunkered down out of sight.  Rats!! If the owl was relocated, maybe we would come back and try again.  On the way out, we saw an even worse scene of a car off the road completely on its top.

As it turns out the Snowy Owl was relocated at Sandy Point the next day, but per my preceding blog post: A Bazillion to One!!   (https://wordpress.com/post/blairbirding. wordpress.com/19347), events at Neah Bay took priority and thoughts of Snowy Owls were placed in the “Future File”.  Today the Future arrived.  The Snowy was reported again yesterday (Wednesday) and there was also a report of two Snow Buntings at Sandy Point.  The weather was good and projected to get worse later in the week.  There was no snow, no ice and light wind.  The temperature was projected to be around 40.  I would give it a try.

As I have often written, when chasing a rarity, it is often best to first look for the birders before the bird.  Often someone else is already there and already on the bird.  Such was the case today.  As I arrived at the tip of Sandy Point I could see two birders off in the distance looking at the spot where I expected the Owl to be.  Two more birders were returning to the parking area.  They confirmed that the Snowy Owl was there, hunkered down in the logs just across the narrow entrance to the Bay.

I went to the point – got a quick view and then worked to get a photo.  The Snowy was indeed hunkered down – partially hidden from our angle and with its back towards us.  I got a few “record” photos and was very glad that conditions had changed.  I asked the other birders if they had seen any Snow Buntings.  Two had been seen on the grass above the beach and along the path maybe 45 minutes earlier.  I turned my attention elsewhere hoping the Owl would move to a more photogenic position.

Snowy Owl – First View

The area was quite birdy – with birds on the grass, on the rocks and in the Bay.  First noted were two pairs of Black Scoters – uncommon but not rare.  Keeping the “Black is Beautiful Theme”, a small flock of Black Turnstones also flew in.  A search for an accompanying Rock Sandpiper yielded only a Dunlin.

Black Scoters

Black Turnstones

Suddenly another flock appeared – but not shorebirds – 30+ by estimation – what were they?  They teased us with flyovers and near landings but our only views were from below – a wonderful group of Snow Buntings – their striking black and white wing patterns clearly evident.  Not the hoped for close-up photo but a real treat and new State and ABA birds for 2017.

Snow Buntings

So both of the “Snow Bird” targets had been found – not great photos – but great birds and Snow Birds without the snow and ice and wind made for a wonderful morning.  Maybe the Owl would change position and provide a photo op.  But first another bird appeared – another flyover and one of the other birders called out that it was a Lapland Longspur.  This was a good spot to find one and it would have been another new year bird.  My interest turned to it and away from the Snowy Owl.  I was the only one to follow the bird as it finally landed and I was able to get on it and get a photo – confirming that it was – only an American Pipit.  Another nice but far more common bird – and also very habitat appropriate here.  Too bad it did not have a red throat.

American Pipit

My attention returned to the Snowy.  Four Western Meadowlarks flew onto logs just across from the Owl – a nice photo.  Some other birders had a arrived.  I showed one the Snowy through my scope – a life bird for her.  It was still mostly hidden though – an occasional head swivel at least showing the bright yellow eyes.

Western Meadowlark

Snowy Owl – a Better Look

I decided to give it another 15 minutes hoping for a better photo.  Other birds seen included some Common Goldeneyes, Surf Scoters, Red Breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, Common Loons, Double Crested Cormorants, Glaucous, Mew and Ring Billed Gulls and Horned Grebes.  The Snow Buntings did not return.

Common Loon

Finally the Snowy Owl moved a bit but while more in the open, still not a full on facial shot.  I grabbed a last photo as it fluffed out its feathers – showing the insulation that keeps it alive in its normal harsh arctic environment.

Snowy Owl – Last Photo

Now it was time to head home.  It had been another great day birding – so much better than the earlier visit.  I will take Snow Birds over snow itself any day!!