I have been on many pelagic birding trips out of Westport, Washington and one out of Neah Bay.  I also took a short such trip in Maine.  All have been fun and productive giving access to many wonderful birds that are rarely if ever seen from land.  There are regular pelagic trips that are run out of the Central Coast of California, the San Diego area and Hatteras, North Carolina.  A few trips go out of other areas.  Each has its own special birds that birders seek on those trips.  In addition to the regular fare, there is always the possibility of rarities.  All trips offer this possibility but perhaps no area is more likely to find truly rare birds than the ones out of Hatteras run by Brian Patteson aboard the Stormy Petrel II.  The list of rarities including mega-rarities is astounding.  It was finally time for me to give it a go.

The Stormy Petrel II – Hatteras, North Carolina

Patteson runs some trips throughout the year but from late May through early June, it is his Spring Blitz that has the greatest appeal with an amazing record of rare birds.  The general approach is to book at least two trips to insure against weather cancellations and to increase the odds of finding good birds.  Some people book 5 or more trips and do it every year – hoping for that truly special bird.  Frank Caruso and I reserved trips on June 1 and June 2.  The day we arrived in North Carolina – May 29th, the trip had found a Tahiti Petrel, a bird of the Pacific Ocean and is the only record in the Atlantic.  Of course we wished we had been there, but it certainly reinforced our decision to take this trip and got our excitement level way up.

In my planning, I figured it was almost guaranteed that I would get four ABA Life birds on the trips: Audubon’s Shearwater, Black Capped Petrel and both Wilson’s and Band Rumped Storm Petrels.  I also expected to get a first ABA photo of a Cory’s Shearwater, a bird I had first seen without getting a photo last year in Provincetown.  Beyond them, I hoped for maybe one real rarity and if I was really, really fortunate maybe a second one.  In any event this was a chance to add a group of ABA Life birds all in one place – something that is getting harder to do.

Pelagic trips leave early.  We had to be at the boat at 5:30 a.m.  Fortunately our hotel was only a few minutes away, but remember this was 2:30 a.m. West Coast body time.  The usual case for pelagic trips is for the Captain to be knowledgeable and for him to be assisted in spotting birds by two or more spotters – who really know their stuff.  This was certainly the case with this crew.  Brian is an expert himself and his first mate, Kate Sutherland is terrific in every way including really knowing her birds and being really good at getting people on them.  There were three other spotters:  Steve Howell, a Senior Leader with WINGS Bird Tours and the author of a number of birding books including Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America, Peter Flood, a seabird expert from Cape Cod who was well known by Frank, and Ed Corey, an excellent birder from Raleigh, N.C. who among other things had been the February 2016 “eBirder of the the Month”.

In addition there were many super birders on-board, some of whom had been on numerous Hatteras pelagic trips and were experts in their own right.  It was an interesting and fun group from around the U.S.  Pelagic birding generally doesn’t “get good” until at least 10 and even as much as 20 or 30 miles out from shore – getting to the deeper water and in the North Carolina case getting out to the Gulfstream.  Our weather was great and we were treated to a great sunrise as we left Hatteras.

Sunrise

You never know what the sea conditions are going to be – a function of the tides, the winds and the ocean temperatures among other factors.  Our water was not bad – not big waves, but it was a bit rough and the spray caused us to take shelter wherever we could.  For me this meant in the cabin which was a bit close and hot and humid, but better than being exposed outside.  On the Westport trips there are often birds of interest fairly quickly including gulls, alcids and often Sooty Shearwaters sometimes in the hundreds or even thousands.  On this trip it was quiet and almost birdless for the first hour.  In Washington the trips have a far greater diversity and number of birds.  Usually the best birding is when a processing ship or a trawler is located and there may be hundreds of birds surrounding it.  No such opportunities here.

There being far fewer birds in general, the pressure was really on to be ready for any sighting as it could be “a good one”.  Early on the birds were found kind of helter-skelter – one or two would appear out of nowhere and may or may not be visible for more than a few moments.  Later, Kate would put out some kind of vegetable or fish oil to create a slick and if we were lucky birds would smell this and come in to explore.  She also used some menhaden – frozen and then dragged behind the boat in a cage to increase the chum effect.

When we finally got out to the “good water” about 30 miles out, we had our first shearwaters and not long afterwards some petrels and then storm petrels.  Birds were never in great numbers and unlike in Washington where they are often right next to the boat coming in for fish parts that are cast out to them, birds were generally further away – often very far out.  Nonetheless the spotters were excellent at identifying birds at great distance and directing our attention to them.

I am not going to try to relate the observations chronologically.  Among the early birds seen were Audubon’s, Great and Cory’s Shearwaters.  I was able to get good looks and ok photos.  There was also a single Manx Shearwater.  Just a quick look and no time for a photo before it disappeared.

Audubon’s Shearwater (ABA Life Bird)

Cory’s Shearwater – New ABA Photo

Great Shearwater

The next birds to show up were our first Black Capped Petrels.  These were the second most numerous of the species seen and were easily identified by their white rump.  It was another ABA Lifer for me.

Black Capped Petrel – ABA Life Bird

The most numerous birds were the Wilson’s Storm Petrels – another new life bird for me.  They are less than half the size of the Petrels and just under a third of the size of the the Shearwaters.  They often came in close to the boat following the slick and picking bits of food off the water.  But they are very small and active and not always easily photographed.  But I took many photos so some did come out well.

Wilson’s Storm Petrel – ABA Life Bird

The Wilson’s Storm Petrel has relatively long legs which extend behind the tail in flight – a good way to distinguish them from the larger, slower flying, longer winged and shorter legged Band Rumped Storm Petrels.  Kate was particularly good at calling out the relatively few Band Rumps and I eventually got decent looks and ok photos.

Band Rumped Storm Petrel (Note that legs do not extend behind tail) – ABA Life Bird

It was maybe about 9:00 a.m. and I had now seen all of the expected new species for the trip – four ABA Life Birds.  I had the cake and now it was time for some icing.  Frank Hawkins, one of the long time participants in these trips shouted out “Fea’s Petrel“.  Everyone raced to the stern and we were able to get quick looks and some photos of this major rarity.  Usually one or two is seen each year – usually earlier in late May.  This was the first of 2018.  There was a celebration onboard.

Fea’s Petrel  – ABA Life Bird and a Major Rarity (Note Dark Underwings)

After this excitement we continued to get more of the same birds seen earlier and then a Long Tailed Jaeger made an appearance and stayed with us for more than 30 minutes – harassing the Storm Petrels and Shearwaters.

Long Tailed Jaeger

Everywhere except in the ABA area, a somewhat smaller version of the Cory’s Shearwater is recognized as a separate species called Scopoli’s Shearwater.  On this trip we had at least two of these birds which breed in the Mediterranean.  Supposedly they will be split off and recognized as a separate species this year or next.

Scopoli’s Shearwater – Potentially an ABA Life Bird after a Split

Early in the afternoon, Frank Hawkins came through again when he spotted a Mega-rarity, a European Storm Petrel.  Smaller than the Wilson’s and much faster flying with a quicker wingbeat and white under the wing – a new ABA bird for almost everyone.  Only one was seen all last year and two the year before.  Getting this together with the Fea’s Petrel was a major coup.

European Storm Petrel – Mega Rarity and ABA Life Bird

Brian and Kate did a masterful job following and relocating this bird and everyone eventually got a view.  It meant we got back to the marina a bit later than usual but nobody was at all concerned about that.  We also had a very brief look at a single Leach’s Storm Petrel.

Species List for June 1, 2018
Fea’s Petrel  1
Black-capped Petrel  36
Cory’s Shearwater  27 / Scopoli’s Shearwater  2
Great Shearwater  9-11
Sooty Shearwater  1
Manx Shearwater  1
Audubon’s Shearwater  20
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel  130-150
European Storm-Petrel  1
Leach’s Storm-Petrel  1
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  8-10

Day 2 – June 2, 2018 – met again at the dock at 5:30.  Much of the same gang as yesterday with a few new faces.  The seas out were a little calmer and the birds seemed fewer with an occasional Audubon’s Shearwater and some Great Shearwaters the first to be seen.  Kate got the chum going and HOLY COW! Maybe the first bird in to the chum was a Fea’s Petrel – better and longer looks than yesterday,  There was some extra excitement as what appeared to be a relatively small bill had folks thinking of a possible Zino’s Petrel.  Sadly not the case but what a way to start the day.

Fea’s Petrel

The reality was that the start was the highlight of the day.  A first day that that had everything you thought you would get plus two specialties dims everything else by comparison.  If we had only gone out on this day it would have seemed spectacular with the same life birds as the previous day except for the European Storm Petrel.  There were not as many birds as the day before but all species were represented.  It did not seem spectacular to two newcomers who were quite seasick.  Not fun for them or to watch.

As with the day before we saw numerous Flying Fish but on neither day could I get my camera focused on them quick enough for a photo.  I include one from a spotter below.  Another treat was a small Portuguese Man of War – much easier to photograph.

Flying Fish (Photo by Spotter Steve Howell)

Portuguese Man of War

The only new bird added on this trip was a Skua.  There was some discussion that it could be a Great Skua but they are very rarely seen except in the Winter.  Some concluded it was a South Polar Skua – the likely Skua species and others left it as Skua sp.  I barely got a distant look and was not on it in time for a photo.  The photo below was taken by David McQuade who was on the boat both days with spouse Tammy.  More on them later.

Probable South Polar Skua – Photo by David McQuade

Here are some more photos of the same species seen on June 1st.

Audubon’s Shearwaters

Great Shearwater

Black Capped Petrel

Wilson’s Storm Petrel (Note Legs Extending beyond Tail)

Species List for June 2, 2018

Fea’s Petrel  1
Black-capped Petrel  30
Cory’s Shearwater  14
Great Shearwater  5
Audubon’s Shearwater  76
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel  58-63
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  8-10

We were back earlier than the day before.  There had been reports of Tropicbirds being seen by some of the fishing boats and we were on the lookout for them in the skies all the time but it was just not to be.  I checked all of the reports from trips that went out from May 23rd through June 9th – the 17 days of the Spring Blitz.  There were no more rarities seen after ours.  We had the only Fea’s Petrel and European Storm Petrel for the whole time.   White Tailed and Red Billed Tropicbirds had been seen on May 26th and the by now famous Tahiti Petrel was seen on the 31st.  Two Trindade Petrels were seen on May 25th.  There were a number of trips – particularly in May where there were many Leach’s Petrels.  One would have to say that we had done extremely well – especially adding in that there was no rain.

Summarizing, I had seen 11 pelagic species – not a lot compared to some Westport trips where I have seen twice that many species on a single trip, and there is no comparison between the North Carolina and Westport trips for total numbers of birds, but of those 11 species seen, six were life birds and I got another life photo.  If/when the Scopoli’s Shearwater is split, that would be another ABA Life bird and photo.  Pretty amazing.

ABA Life Birds

• Black-capped Petrel 
• Audubon’s Shearwater 
• Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 
• Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 
• Fea’s Petrel 
• European Storm-Petrel
• Scopoli’s Shearwater (Contingent)

ABA Life Photos

• All of the above plus Cory’s Shearwater

I mentioned David and Tammy McQuade above.  I spent a lot of time visiting with both of them.  They are very active, very passionate and very excellent birders.  They discovered this activity together about five years ago and have jumped in big time – birding almost entirely together and then with many others including people I have met or read about.  They have a great network.  Despite having birded only in the Lower 48 and for such a short time, they have each observed more than 720 species.  Oh yeah, neither is retired either.  Really fun to compare notes and share stories.  I envy them their shared birding life and I also envy the 500 mm lens that Tammy uses quite well to take super photos.  It was great to visit with many others as well.  People had birded all over the world with great stories and great birds seen.  Good company.

Also great to be out with Kate and Brian.  They run a first class operation.  Can’t imagine how little sleep they got during the Blitz.

The main draw to North Carolina for Frank Caruso and me was the chance to see pelagic birds – some new lifers almost guaranteed and the possibility for some really rare birds as well.  But especially for me there was also a chance to photograph some land birds that I had seen before in the ABA area but had never gotten a photograph – most of them seen more than forty years ago.  This blog post will cover birding on land – two days before and two days after our two days of pelagic birding.

We flew into Raleigh Durham airport and headed east to Plymouth, N.C.  a drive of about 135 miles.  We saw some new birds for the year along the way, but nothing of note.  On a whim after dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Plymouth, I turned onto a forested road and as soon as we got out of the car, we heard the song of a Wood Thrush, and then another and another.  This species was high on my “photo needed/wanted list”.  We vowed to come back in the morning.  When we did the thrushes were very responsive to playback but would immediately bury themselves in the thick foliage.  Many were heard and seen briefly, but I never got a photo.  A major disappointment – but there would be a happy ending later in the trip.

Our next area to visit was the Palmetto Peartree Preserve and then on to Alligator River NWR.  Along the way to Palmetto Peartree, we stopped at a good looking spot not far off the freeway – along Old Highway 64.  We quickly found lots of good eastern birds including Pine, Prairie and Hooded Warblers, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, Chimney Swift and Carolina Chickadees and Wrens.  But the real prize was a Prothonotary Warbler, which provided a new ABA Photo for me.  We would see and hear many on our trip.

Prothonotary Warbler Old Highway 64 – May 30, 2018

We were never quite sure that we found the actual Palmetto Peartree Preserve but at least nearby we had essentially the same birds and heard another Wood Thrush – one that would not come closer for us.  It was on to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge – a huge forested area.  Here we added White Eyed Vireo and Blue Gray Gnatcatcher and had at least a dozen Prothonotary Warblers.  The bird of the visit, though was a Red Headed Woodpecker – actually a pair.  While I was very pleased to get another new ABA life photo, we never got the killer view and killer photo of this beautiful bird that I had hoped for.

Red Headed Woodpecker – Sawyer Road – Alligator NWR – May 30, 2018

We checked out the hotel where we would be staying that night in Manteo on Roanoke Island and then continued across the causeway/bridge to the Outer Banks.  Along the way we stopped for some Great Black Backed Gulls and our first Boat Tailed Grackles of the trip.  Frank and I had seen them in Florida together last year and had already seen hundreds of Common Grackles in North Carolina.  I had hundreds of Great Tailed Grackles in Texas and Arizona earlier this year, so now I had all of the Grackle species for the year – lucky me.

Boat Tailed Grackle – One of Many on the Coast

A short while later our stop at the North Pond at the Pea Island Island NWR provided perhaps the biggest disappointment of the trip.  I very much wanted a photo of a Seaside Sparrow – a species I had missed in Texas.  We had two birds fly by and then disappear into thick brush.  We could never get them to show themselves – so no photo.  They are well known as real skulkers and photos are a challenge, but this was Oh so close!!!  Nearby in Rodanthe, we found a good spot for shorebirds and terns.  The numbers were few but the prize for me was a single White Rumped Sandpiper.  I had gotten a very iffy photo of one in Florida last year.  This fellow was with a few Semipalmated Sandpipers and even at a distance it seemed “different”.  I got close enough for some photos to confirm the ID and then it flew.  My flight photo caught the tell-tale white rump.

White Rumped Sandpiper – Rodanthe, N.C.

Semipalmated Sandpiper Flight Shot

Frank’s favorite bird here was the Black Skimmer.  Several put on a great aerial show right in front of us and then per their name, skimmed the water, providing a great photo opportunity.

Black Skimmer

We also had Least, Common, Caspian and Sandwich Terns.  Not a great photo for the latter and I will include photos of the others later.  We returned to Manteo and after dinner visited the Roanoke Island Festival Park where we had a surprise Brown Thrasher singing and then foraging on the ground.  No camera, thus no photo, so this is out of sequence, but I include a photo from later in the trip when we found another and it obliged for a photo.  It was only my second one of this species and far better than the one two years ago in Maine.

Brown Thrasher – Roanoke Festival Park

Our second day of birding in North Carolina included more searching for Clapper Rails and Seaside Sparrows, shorebirds, terns etc.  We also went down to Hatteras to be sure we knew what to expect for the next day’s pelagic trip.  Two unexpected additions were chasing first a Purple Gallinule and then a Roseate Spoonbill.  The first was highly successful and the latter was at most a quick distant view.  The Ebird report for the out of place Purple Gallinule gave a specific address on South Old Oregon Inlet Road in Nags Head.  Just before reaching the address we saw the head of the Gallinule poking up from some water weeds on the side of the road.  If its head had been down we would have missed it.  Instead we were treated to a great close up of a very photogenic and beautiful bird that we had seen the previously year in Florida where it belongs.  Sometimes we were so close, it was hard to focus.

Purple Gallinule – Nags Head N.C.

A great addition to our trip and state list and for my ABA year list.  After watching for many minutes we continued a bit on the road and then made a U-Turn to head south.  When we got back to the spot where we had seen the bird, it was invisible, buried in the weeds.  If the timing had been just a bit different, we may have not seen it.  Just another reminder of how luck and timing are critical factors in our birding experiences.

We heard some Clapper Rails but could not get any to show themselves.  We also continued to see shorebirds and added Black Bellied Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short Billed Dowitchers, Ruddy Turnstone and American Oystercatcher to our trip list.  As I said we had at most a very distant look at the Roseate Spoonbill at the Salt Pond in Hatteras.  The area was right and it was seen there again later that day, but it was distant and in poor light and disappeared into an area that was too far to chase.  So at best a “maybe”…

American Oystercatcher

Ruddy Turnstone

We moved to our hotel in Hatteras ready for a very early start on the pelagic trip the next morning and another one the following day.  And this is where I will go out of sequence as I cover that trip in a separate blog post.  The remainder of this one picks up after the pelagic trip first with another stop on the coast hoping for a Clapper Rail photo and then a brief visit to a large colony of Least Terns and Black Skimmers – probably more of each than I had seen previously in my whole life.

Least Tern

We returned to spend the night again at Manteo and in the morning of June 3rd got the Brown Thrasher photo included above and then later found a second one.  Our next stop before heading west was at Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve.  It looked like a great place but there were more bugs than birds and our list was disappointing.  Even the  Ruby Throated Hummingbird coming to a feeder at the closed info center would have been better if it were a colorful male instead of the drab female.  Still always fun to see hummers.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Female

We then returned to Alligator River NWR and drove around the Sawyer Lake Road area again.  As before we had Prothonotary Warblers everywhere and we added our only Black Throated Green Warbler and a nice Pileated Woodpecker but our hoped for better look at a Red Headed Woodpecker was not to be.  Some beautiful Indigo Buntings and some quick looks at Yellow Billed Cuckoos were a treat but the best was a heard only Swainson’s Warbler.  We never coaxed it into the open but hearing it sing and then listening to the song as we tried playback would produce great benefits later.

Indigo Bunting

A surprise “miss” on the trip so far had been the absence of Brown Headed Nuthatches a common bird of the Southeast.  We listened everywhere and had tried playback without success in seemingly perfect habitats.  Before continuing west towards Raleigh Durham to be ready for our return flight the next day, we stopped at Loop Road in Columbia, N.C. back near the Palmetto Peartree Reserve which we still are not sure we found at least any central portion.  At an arbitrary stop along the road we finally heard Nuthatches chattering and we had our target.

Brown Headed Nuthatch

We also had a very cooperative White Eyed Vireo and a close look at an Acadian Flycatcher.

White Eyed Vireo

Acadian Flycatcher

We headed south on Old Highway 64 towards U.S. 64 our main route west with our windows open both for fresh air and to listen for birds.  Suddenly, Frank yelled “STOP”!  This is where our early time listening to the Swainson’s Warbler songs paid off.  He thought he might have heard one.  We got out of the car and even I could recognize its song which is characterized as “whee whee whee whippoorwill with opening notes down-slurred and the last three notes clear and faster”.  I rarely relate to song descriptions but this one was right on, and our bird was close.  It took only a moment to see it buried in the foliage.  Unlike the first one we had heard, this guy was in a curious mood and responded immediately to our first and only playback.  It remained in the open sufficiently long for some nice photos.

Swainson’s Warbler

I knew that finding this species was a possibility but it has a reputation for being tough to find and even more difficult to photograph, so I had the finding odds as low and even lower for finding getting a picture.  Frank had the same assessment so we were thrilled with this find – the best land bird of our trip.  I am not sure if I had seen one before although I know I had heard one – and only one.  That was 43 years ago at Pocomoke River State Park in Maryland on a trip led by the legendary Chan Robbins as part of a Maryland Ornithological Union field trip.  It is usually a skulking bird and many of my birder friends have it as either the only or one of a few warblers that they have either not seen or never photographed.  This was a stunning moment and I celebrated with a victory whoop!!

We continued west in good spirits and returned to Rankin Road in Plymouth where we had seen Wood Thrush before but I had not been able to get a photo.  This time I did – finally adding it to my ABA photos list.

Wood Thrush – Plymouth N.C.

We spent the night in Rocky Mount, N.C. about 70 miles from the airport.  The next morning we found a great birding spot – Horton Grove Nature Preserve in Durham County.  We had 38 species here including several either new ones for the trip or better looks and/or photographs.  The previous day I had my best picture yet of a Yellow Billed Cuckoo.  This one was even better – the only one I have seen completely out in the open.

Yellow Billed Cuckoo

In one great spot we heard and saw numerous (at least 10) Ovenbirds singing – joined by Northern Parula Warblers – both new for the trip. We heard two Red Headed Woodpeckers calling continuously but could not get them to move at all.  Chimney Swifts flew over head and there were Carolina Wrens and Chickadees.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Chickadee

Ovenbird

Northern Parula Warbler

There were several Acadian Flycatchers and Eastern Wood Pewees and other warblers too including Common Yellowthroat, Prairie Warbler and a lovely Yellow Throated Warbler that we finally spied after a long hide and seek chase.

Yellow Throated Warbler

We also got to hear, see and photograph the “Eastern” White Breasted Nuthatch.  Many think this subspecies will be split from the White Breasted Nuthatch of the west and will be recognized as a separate species.  Thus I have this “tick” and a photo ready in the bank if that occurs.

Eastern White Headed Nuthatch

These were all great birds but the best for me was one of the three species of Vireo that we found here.  Two had been seen throughout the trip:  Red Eyed Vireo and White Eyed Vireo.  We heard a song that was similar to that of the Red Eyed Vireo yet different.  I was hoping it was a Yellow Throated Vireo.  I had seen one briefly in Texas earlier this year but had no picture from then or from my only other record – from Wisconsin in 1976.  Frank was pretty sure that the call was my guy – a “THREE-eight” call repeated three times, slower and more deliberate than the Red Eyed.  It came into the open only briefly and the photo was not that great – but an ABA first and it confirmed the ID.  This was another of the birds that had been on my “hoped for but really not expected list”.

Yellow Throated Vireo

I was a very happy camper as we moved on to another area in the Preserve.  We added new birds for the trip when we found several Yellow Breasted Chats and some Field Sparrows and it was here that we got our best look at a Summer Tanager.

Summer Tanager

We had spent two hours at this great spot and it was now time to end the trip, return the car and get our flight.  Even without the pelagic birds, this had been a great trip.  Excluding the pelagics, we had seen 108 species.  As I had expected, none were ABA life birds but 16 were new ABA birds for the year – a year which has had a fair amount of birding in a lot of regions.  Five were new ABA Life Photos:  Prothonotary Warbler, Wood Thrush, Red Headed Woodpecker, Swainson’s Warbler and Yellow Throated Vireo.   The latter two more than made up for failing to get photos of Clapper Rail and Seaside Sparrow which had been on the “hoped for” list.  I also got that photo of the White Rumped Sandpiper which had been a “probable” but not absolutely “certain” photo from before.

Several photos were also improvements of ones from the past – an ever continuing process.  Since I had also added many ABA Life photos on the pelagic trips, the photo of the Yellow Throated Vireo was number 680 on my ABA photo list.  Not going to get to my magical 700 this year but I have a chance of getting there next year.  Incidentally, the Ovenbird was ABA species #503 for the year.  I had not set any goal for ABA birds for the year but it was nice to get past 500 again.

This had been a very good birding trip.  It was too hot and it was way too humid and there were way way too many bugs for my liking, but the birds had been excellent and all the people we met – birders and everyone else were terrific.  I had eaten far too much food but somehow gotten enough walking in to have only gained a couple of pounds.  Not sure I will ever return but definitely glad I came.

There will be at least two blog posts later on my recently ended excellent trip to North Carolina.  One of the last birds seen on that trip was a Swainson’s Warbler.  It had been hoped for but I was not expecting to find one and certainly not expecting a photo.  Thanks in large measure to the wonderful birding ear of my travel companion, Frank Caruso, we found one and it cooperated for a fine photo.

Swainson’s Warbler

Earlier I had earlier seen my ABA first Wilson’s Storm Petrel and my ABA first Audubon’s Shearwater and the combination of the three made me wonder about the naming of these three species and maybe others that were named after people.  So I went all bird nerdy and checked the AOU Checklist (the one before Hawaii was added – I will never accept that addition).  I may well have missed some but found that there were 100 species on the list that appeared to be named after specific people – although I wasn’t sure about Anna’s Hummingbird and three warblers – Lucy’s, Grace’s and Virginia’s.  The vast majority were one-off mostly rarities like for example Stejneger’s Petrel.  Remove them and the list drops dramatically.

If thus limited to species where at least two are named after a specific person, the list has only 36 species.  Drilling down a bit further, of those 36 there are 14 named after 7 individuals – like the Bell’s Sparrow and Bell’s Vireo named after John Graham Bell who accompanied John James Audubon on one of his trips.  But it’s my blog so I get to make executive decisions and I am using Audubon’s Warbler instead of Yellow Rumped Warbler to move John James Audubon from that group of seven to the group of seven for whom at least three species are named.

Here then are the remaining 25 species where at least three are named after one individual – listed from most to fewest by their namesake.

• John Cassin:  Cassin’s Auklet, Cassin’s Sparrow, Cassin’s Finch, Cassin’s Kingbird and Cassin’s Vireo
• Alexander Wilson:  Wilson’s Warbler, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Plover and Wilson’s Phalarope.
• William Swainson:  Swainson’s Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush and Swainson’s Hawk
• John Kirk Townsend:  Townsend’s Warbler, Townsend’s Solitaire and Townsend’s Storm Petrel
• Georg Steller:  Steller’s Eider, Steller’s Jay and Steller’s Sea Eagle
• Peter Simon Pallas:  Pallas’s Rosefinch, Pallas’s Leaf Warbler, and Pallas’s Bunting
• John James Audubon: Audubon’s Shearwater, Audubon’s Oriole and Audubon’s Warbler – currently lumped with the former Myrtle’s Warbler as the single species now known as Yellow Rumped Warbler.

Including Audubon, these 7 ornithologists/naturalists/artists thus give us names for 22 ABA species.  All of the Pallas species are rarities from Eurasia found almost exclusively in remote areas of Alaska.  The same is true for the Steller’s Sea Eagle.  At first, I could not find any Ebird ABA area record for the Townsend’s Storm Petrel which generally occurs in Pacific waters off Central America but learned it has been seen on some San Diego pelagic trips.  It was a split from Leach’s Storm Petrel.  Excluding those five very rare species, after my trip to North Carolina, I have now been very fortunate to have seen and photographed all 20 remaining species – all of them in 2018.  It just turned out that way as I was chasing other targets – but a fun outcome.  The remainder of this blog shares some information about the people who gave their names to these species and includes my sighting records and photos for the year.

John Cassin (1813 – 1869)

A noted taxonomist who among other things named 198 species not previously described by Audubon and Wilson.  He served as Curator of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.  All of the birds named after him were found in the West, his major area of focus but one he never visited.

Cassin’s Auklet – Westport Pelagic, Washington March 17

Cassin’s Sparrow – King Ranch April 6

Cassin’s Finch – Texas and Washington April 13

Cassin’s Kingbird – Ramona, California, February 28

Cassin’s Vireo – Bullfrog Pond, Washington May 8

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813)

Regarded as the founder of American Ornithology due to his pioneering “American Ornithology” – a 9 Volume set published between 1808 and 1814 (the last volume posthumously).  His work encouraged John James Audubon.

Wilson’s Warbler – Scriber Lake Park, Washington May 21

Wilson’s Storm Petrel – Hatteras, N.C. Pelagic June 1

Wilson’s Snipe –  Ridgefield NWR, Washington January 7

Wilson’s Plover – Tule Lake, Corpus Christi, Texas April 2

Wilson’s Phalarope – County Line Ponds (Grant), Washington May 19

William Swainson (1789 – 1855)

An English ornithologist, entomologist, conchologist, natural historian, and a gifted illustrator of the natural world. He was a pioneer of the new lithographic technology, which enabled quicker reproduction of his work than engraving.

Swainson’s Warbler – Columbia, N.C. June 4 

Swainson’s Thrush – Whitehorse Centennial Trail, Washington June 7

Swainson’s Hawk – Kittitas, Washington April 19

John Kirk Townsend (1809- 1851)

A naturalist, ornithologist and collector who accompanied Thomas Nuttall on a Western expedition where Townsend, better known for the many mammals he found and were named after him, also collected many new bird species including Vaux’s Swift, Sage Thrasher, Mountain Plover and the Townsend’s Warbler sending many to John James Audubon.  An unfortunate note:  he died of arsenic poisoning – the secret ingredient used in his taxidermy preparations.

Townsend’s Warbler – Edmonds, Washington January 8

Townsend’s Solitaire – Camano Island, Washington January 21

Townsend’s Storm Petrel (Photo from the Internet – I have not seen one and definitely could not ID it)).  It is a recent split from Leach’s Storm Petrel.  I hope to see one in San Diego in August.

Georg Steller (1709 -1746)

A German botanist, zoologist, physician and explorer, who worked in Russia and is considered a pioneer of Alaskan natural history from his work in the North Pacific.  In addition to the three avian species, the well known Steller’s Sea Lion is named after him.

Steller’s Eider (Female) – Seaside Cove, Oregon January 28

Steller’s Jay – Bow, Washington, January 1

Steller’s Sea Eagle – (I have not seen this species – maybe someday in Alaska)

Peter Simon Pallas  (1741 – 1811)

A native German naturalist, he is remembered mostly for his  research occurred during the Siberian Expedition in 1768 arranged by Catherine the Great, ruler of the Russian Empire, where he lived thereafter.  He worked extensively in far eastern Russia. I have not seen any of the species bearing his name and all photos are from the internet.

Pallas’s Rosefinch

Pallas’s Bunting

Pallas’s Leaf Warbler

John James Audubon  (1785-1851)

The most well known and prolific of the early naturalists and illustrators.  He is best known for his paintings found in his seminal Birds of America, a collection of 435 life-size and most importantly life-like prints an American art classic.  Like most of the others mentioned in this blog, he lived in Pennsylvania where he is said to have conducted the first known bird-banding experiment in North America, tying strings around the legs of Eastern Phoebes learning that they returned to the same nesting sites each year.  He traveled extensively in the eastern and southern U.S. collecting specimens and he collaborated with many other naturalist collectors of the period.  I am including the “former” Audubon’s Warbler as his third eponymous species because it would be wrong to not have Audubon on this list (and I am still hoping they return to that name).

Audubon’s Shearwaters – Hatteras, N.C. Pelagic June 1

Audubon’s Oriole – King Ranch, Texas April 6

Audubon’s Warbler  – South Padre Island, Texas April 8

All of these birds and all of these naturalists/ornithologists were from such a very different time in history.  No cameras, so collecting meant shooting specimens and studying them feather by feather.  That is still done today, of course and there is no substitute for having a bird in hand, but in our digital world, how nice to have our apps, cameras, phones etc.  How nice too to be able to fly to – wherever – rather than the long, arduous, dangerous and sometimes even fatal adventures taken over land and sea by these pioneers.  Birding offers so many areas of interest.  I enjoyed this brief departure from sometimes blow by blow descriptions of my own trips and observations.  It was nice to have this historical framework for these experiences.

Postscript (January 2024)

On October 3, 2023, the American Ornithological Society announced “three important commitments related to English common names of birds”:

1. “The AOS commits to changing all English-language names of birds within its geographic jurisdiction that are named directly after people (eponyms), along with other names deemed offensive and exclusionary, focusing first on those species that occur primarily within the U.S. or Canada. 
2. The AOS commits to establishing a new committee to oversee the assignment of all English common names for species within the AOS’s jurisdiction; this committee will  broaden participation by including a diverse representation of individuals with expertise in the social sciences, communications, ornithology, and taxonomy. 
3. The AOS commits to actively involving the public in the process of selecting new English bird names.”

On its website answering why such action was being taken, the first response was:

“Council is making these commitments to do two equally important things: to address past wrongs and to engage far more people in the study, protection, conservation, and enjoyment of birds. The impact of bird names reaches well beyond our membership. Therefore, when it was brought to our attention that some English bird names were viewed as harmful or exclusionary, including some named after people who were perceived as symbols of racism and colonialism, the AOS worked hard to reconcile its commitment to uphold stability in taxonomy and names while also addressing concerns of historical biases and social injustices.“

For the most part, national media reported this announcement with emphasis on the highlighted portion of the answer, with the Washington Post for example publishing an article under the title Dozens of bird names honoring enslavers and racists will be changed… The AOS of course gave other reasons for the change as but as with almost everything else in our social media driven world today, this action has created much discussion, difference of opinion and controversy.

When I read “opinion pieces” (thoughtful and not), rants, explanations, arguments etc. on this subject, among other thoughts – which I will not express here – I recalled this blog post I had written and published some years ago about some of the men (it was all men) who have many species familiar to me and all birders named after them. Whatever else they may have or not have been, they were all part of the history of birding in America and I was interested to know more about them and enjoyed my minimal research and finding and enjoy having that background when I hear or see these species. I fully acknowledge that my research did not examine their personal lives, their politics, their opinions and behaviors – the part they played in “historical biases and social injustices“. Maybe that was/is an important omission. Maybe there is a blog post by someone elsewhere that delves into these details and presents these men as they “really were” – outside of ornithology. I stayed within ornithology and strictly from that perspective am republishing this blog post with this postscript.

As I wrote earlier, May is the best – lots of new birds as migration is in full swing and birders are out finding and reporting great birds.  Prompted in part by the recently reported Black Backed Woodpecker seen in a burn near Cle Elum and my ongoing desire for a photo of a Flammulated Owl, I planned a long trip into Eastern Washington to try for both and to see other birds that had come into the state.  Frank Caruso had seen the Black Backed Woodpecker with the Pilchuck Audubon Group on Tuesday.  It had been a nemesis bird for him and when found a new ABA Life bird!  Building on that success, he joined me hoping for any Flammulated Owls – a second life bird for the week.  We had a great trip!!

We started with a stop at the hummingbird feeders at Hyak on Snoqualmie Pass.  Lot of Rufous Hummingbirds and a good assortment of Warblers – Nashville, MacGillivray’s, Yellow and Townsend’s.  Then it was off to look for the Black Backed Woodpecker with a relatively quick stop at Bullfrog Pond which has become part of every trip to the area.  It was fairly quiet and there were no Sapsuckers.  Frank got his FOY Cedar Waxwing and then I had a scare as my camera seemed to be malfunctioning.  It turned out to be operator error (surprise) and Photoshop and I were even able to rescue a pretty nice photo of a Hammond’s Flycatcher.

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Then it was on to try for the Black Backed Woodpecker.  This species is generally found in burned areas where the damaged trees are susceptible to attacks by insects which provide the food for these Woodpeckers.  We parked at the gate at NF 230 just off the Middle Fork Teanaway Road and hiked in.  After maybe a quarter of a mile we reached the spot where Frank had seen the woodpeckers earlier.  Nothing… Then after going a little further up the road, we heard some tapping and located the area easily.  But we just could not find the bird.  I thought I heard a second bird tapping and then got a brief view on a snag.  I climbed up off the road into the burned trees.  The tapping was louder and I knew I must be close but could not find the Woodpecker – until of course I looked at the right snag – the one right in front of me.  And there it was – a great photo op.  Meanwhile Frank located the first woodpecker – a twofer!!

Black Backed Woodpecker

Very pleased, we headed off to Ellensburg to look for a Long Billed Curlew with a stop at the Bank Swallow colony at the intersection of Highway 10 and Reecer Road.  We had seen Bank Swallows there several weeks earlier with Deb Essman but had not found the nest cavities.  Maybe we had not looked hard enough then, but it was easy this day as there were 75+ Bank Swallows flying everywhere and easy to follow to the nests.

Bank Swallow Nests in Bank and Bank Swallow Leaving Cavity

We probably spent an hour driving road after road looking for a Long Billed Curlew – no success – one of the very few disappointments this day.  Our next specific target was to find a Lark Sparrow.  Deb had some off Recreation Road earlier in the week so we headed out Vantage Highway.  Unlike most other trips to the area, we made no stops along the way looking for Sage Shrub Steppe species.  Not too far from the Recreation Road turnoff, we had a one-two-three sequence of birding surprises and treats.  First we spotted a single Chukar right on the road.  It climbed onto some rocks and posed for a wonderful photo.

Chukar

A moment later I caught a quick look at a bird and thought it might be a Loggerhead Shrike.  Not that unusual here, but it was the one species we had missed when we visited this same area with Frank’s East Coast birding friend the previous week.  A Loggerhead it was.  Then moments later I noted what appeared to be an Osprey sitting on a rock.  Ospreys are not uncommon in the area – but we had never seen one here – more than a mile from the Columbia – or any water – no food sources and no nesting area.  A surprise.  We turned onto Recreation Road and got ready to hike up into the Canyon – where Deb (always enthusiastic) had said Lark Sparrows “were everywhere”.

As soon as we got out of the car, we heard a Lark Sparrow singing.  It turned out to be in the open on the tree right at the road.  We did not have to walk even 25 feet.  A new year bird for both of us.

Lark Sparrow

We carried on into the Canyon – a really beautiful spot.  Frank hoped to break his year long jinx and find a Canyon Wren.  I thought we might find more sparrows and hoped for a Yellow Breasted Chat in the riparian area less than 1/2 mile in.  Suddenly a bird rocketed off the path just in front of us and made a beeline for the other side of the draw.  It happened so fast, there was no time to grab the camera and our minds raced to figure out what we had seen.  The fieldmarks were clear, but it was such a surprise that it took a few moments to comprehend that we had just flushed a Common Poorwill.  It was one of the birds we hoped to see later in Liberty and the habitat was certainly good for it here, but you just do not see them in the day time and I had never seen one here.  The light was perfect and it was gorgeous – golden highlights on the top of its wings and white highlight on the outer feathers of the short tail.  No photo for us but I am including one from the Internet by James Morris that gives the wing detail as we saw it in flight – a first of the year and the first at day time for both of us.

Common Poorwill

No Canyon Wren and no Chat but after the Poorwill, we hardly cared.  We had not planned anything to fill the rest of the time before it would be “owl” time at Liberty.  Now what?  We saw that Ryan Merrill had reported a White Faced Ibis at the County Line Ponds.  That had been a good spot for us the previous week so off we went.  As soon as we arrived it was clear that we had made a good choice.  I quickly found the Ibis in grass past the northernmost pond and Frank found some Wilson’s Phalaropes in the nearer pond on the north side of the road.  There were more on the South side – at least a dozen altogether.  We had other good birds as well.

White Faced Ibis

Wilson’s Phalaropes

A Great Egret had flown off just as we arrived and other species seen included many American Avocets and Black Necked Stilts and six duck species:  Mallard, American Wigeon, Redhead, Blue Winged and Cinnamon Teal and Northern Pintail.  The Ibis was our first for the year.  This species seems to be expanding in Washington and there have been reports from a number of locations in the State already in 2018.

We continued on to Potholes hoping to find some Terns.  Instead we found lots of people and lots of boats.  Maybe that is why Terns were nowhere to be seen.  There were many Ring Billed Gulls and Western Grebes and not much else.  We had the same experience at Lind Coulee and decided it was time to head to Liberty – getting some gas and food in Ellensburg (not cause and effect) on the way back.

I have come to rely on the area above Liberty as a go to spot for Flammulated Owls.  Frank had never even heard one – anywhere.  I did not go so far as to promise him one there, but I was confident he would have a new life bird.  I was not as confident that I would finally get a photo of one – but I thought this could be the night.

We birded our way up through Liberty and about 4 or 5 miles up to an intersection of a couple of dirt roads where we would wait until dark to start looking for owls.  This had been the successful strategy twice in July last year – first on my own and then with Deb Essman and one of her birding friends.  On both of those occasions there were multiple Common Poorwills, Common Nighthawks and Flammulated Owls.  This would be almost 2 months earlier but Bruce Lagerquist had already found and recorded (excellently!!) both Poorwill and Flammulated Owl so we were eager.

Our pre-dark birding was quite good although there were some moments of concern as light rain visited us for about 15 minutes.  Fortunately there was no wind and the rain did not return until after we had finished our birding in the dark.  As I said it was a VERY excellent day – both birding and weather wise.  As we waited we heard at least two Williamson’s Sapsuckers and many Cassin’s Finches and Cassin’s Vireos.  We had a couple of very active Dusky Flycatchers and Wood Pewees, several Mountain Chickadees, Pine Siskins, Western Bluebirds and 4 species of Warbler.  There were many Hermit Thrushes and once they got going towards dusk, they continued to sing and call until almost fully dark.  The Cassin’s Finches sang until almost the same time.

Cassin’s Finch

Dusky Flycatcher

It was still too early in the year for Nighthawks and at most we heard a single distant Poorwill but…there were LOTS of Owls!!!  My go to spot for Flammulated Owl was about 1.5 miles down from where we had waited.  My owling approach is to go in segments of a quarter to a half mile – stop and listen.  Not much more than a quarter of the mile down from our waiting spot, we heard our first Flammulated Owl – then a second one.  We tried to coax one in with playback.  One never moved and the other moved several times – on both sides of the road and seemed quite close.  We spotlighted every tree and never saw an owl.  For a couple of moments we had three owls here – all calling at the same time from different spots.  Never saw one.

For the next hour plus we continued down the mountain and were almost never out of ear range of a calling Flammulated Owl during the entire 1.5 miles.  While it is possible that one or more owls may have followed us down the hill and it is certain that we could continue to hear some of the previously heard owls at our next stop, there is no question that there were many owls – since often then ones we heard were below us.  At one stop we were positive that we had 4 different Flammulated Owls.  It sounds almost crazy but we are sure we had no fewer than 8 different individuals and believe there were more than 10 and maybe even as many as 15 – and this was just in a relatively small part of the possible territory there.  We heard a variety of Flammulated calls – both the single and double hoots and a couple of alarm calls.  We scanned dozens of trees and never saw an owl – a result I am all too familiar with from many similar heard only intersections – although never at this scale.  Quite a way for Frank to get another ABA Lifer.

Oh yeah — we had other owls, too.  At one of our first stops we heard a distant hoot and then squeal.  We thought it might be a Long Eared Owl, checked and confirmed it against our recordings and then heard it a single time again.  At our next stop – again off in the distance we heard very distinct hoots and whistles from a pair of owls including a hooting pattern that we immediately thought of as that of a Spotted Owl.  Again we checked our recordings and found an almost exact match.  We tried our own playback twice and had immediate responses.  All together we had heard maybe a half dozen vocalizations.  We did not intend to draw the owl in or to disturb it – just hoped for a confirming response so once received, we stopped.  I have had Spotted Owls at a “secret spot” in the Liberty Area before.  I know they are found and are breeding here.  It was not the intent this night to try for one – but if one calls for us – you bet we are going to take notice,  Another Life Bird for Frank!!

We were now on a different slope of the mountain and continued to get Flammulated Owl calls.  Then unsolicited we got a call that bothered us.  It was a Barred Owl – the classic “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?”  It was much closer than the Long Eared or Spotted Owls we had heard – completely different sound and in a different area.  I had been told that there had been a massive effort by Fish and Wildlife to rid the area of Barred Owls – so this was not good news.  Frank and I live within 1/2 mile of Barred Owl nesting area in Edmonds and hear them often from our homes.  Those are cool – this one wasn’t.  We decided to stop our owling and be happy (make that ecstatic) with our night – and our day!!

This photo of a Flammulated Owl is from Birdpix and shows the Owl in its nest cavity.  This may be the only way to finally get a photo – find a nest.  Any ideas?

Flammulated Owl in Nest

English settlers in North America missed the beautiful song of the Eurasian Skylark from their native country and tried to introduce the species to North America.  The only success was on Vancouver Island in British Columbia in the early 1900’s with another small population on San Juan Island in Washington State.  At its peak, the population was estimated at perhaps 1000 individuals in all of North America.

I saw my first Skylarks as a new birder in 1973 on a trip to Victoria, B.C.  I later saw some at American Camp on San Juan Island a few years later.  I was not taking pictures in those days.  The San Juan population died out in 2000.  Beginning in 2015 I made several attempts to find and photograph this rapidly declining species in its remaining few locations in the Victoria area.  These attempts were adjuncts to chases for other rarities – Pink Footed Goose, Purple Sandpiper and Redwing and were not at prime times for the Skylarks – in breeding season when they are singing and displaying.  The other rarities were found – but not the Skylarks.

Pink Footed Geese – March 2017 – A Great Find but No Skylarks Later

Good friend Melissa Hafting knew of my attempts for a photo of this species and we had tried for it and failed on our successful venture for the Pink Footed Geese.  I think it was as important to her that I get my photo as it was for me.  Accordingly, she encouraged me to try again – in May when there were reports of singing and displaying Skylarks – mostly at the Vantrieght Farms Bulb fields.  On Tuesday, May 15 I left Edmonds early to meet Melissa to catch the 9:00 a.m. ferry from Tsawwassen.  A nice surprise was that we were joined by Brian Stech.  Brian had been on the Field Guides trip to Northern Peru with me in 2013.  Great guy and great birder.

We had perfect weather and when we arrived after the beautiful crossing, Melissa got word from local birder friends that they were at the bulb fields and had Skylarks singing.  We couldn’t get there fast enough.  They were still there when we arrived – the same place I had last tried for them in 2017 – and we heard the potentially great and potentially awful phrase that I have heard before on chases:  “They were here five minutes ago…”  Fortunately they did not add – “and then they flew off”.

It only took a couple of minutes until I heard one calling  in the field somewhere shortly followed by it flying up above us in a display flight with the full bodied beautiful song that is the bird’s most appealing aspect.  I snapped photos quickly not knowing if this would be the only opportunity – I finally had a photo of a Eurasian Skylark!!!

Eurasian Skylark – First ABA Photo

The Skylark flew higher and higher and never stopped singing.  We lost sight of it but could still hear its song which continued nonstop for at least 15 minutes.  Then we heard another Skylark and another flew up and landed on the road separating the fields – one grass and one dirt.  Then there was another.  My shutter was going non-stop as I took more than 100 photos – some in flight, some in the grass and some on the dirt.  Many were terrible – out of focus or with the bird appearing headless.  Some came out OK – and far better than I had expected.  A sampling:

Eurasian Skylarks in the Grass and Dirt Fields and in Flight

Melissa says that there may only be 32 individual Skylarks that remain in B.C.  Doubtful they will survive much longer – all the more reason to be thrilled with this observation and the photos.  Elated and satisfied we moved on and chased a Lazuli Bunting that was a rarity for the area.  Beautiful bird, but at least for me – a mere postscript to the day’s early success.  This is not a full on post – just important to me to finally get this photo and to share it.  The day also ended on a high note as we raced to get the 3:00 return ferry.  A signboard said that there might be a wait, so we were tense as we got in line.  These are huge (and too expensive) ferries with a large auto holding capacity.  As it turned out we were the next to next to last car to get on.  It was just that kind of day!!!

In my last post I wrote about the early stages of spring Migration into Washington.  While there is much activity in April, it really gets going in May.  It is now May 13th.  And it is going strong.  With birding friends, I have been a big time participant.  After a conversation with one of my friends about the “best” month to bird in Washington, I analyzed my sightings over the past 5 years and found that on average I saw 203 species in May.  The next closest month was June where the average was 163.  May is the best!

So far this May I have seen 164 species in Washington.  Since I have some trips out of state planned, I don’t think I will get to the average and certainly will not approach my all time high of 225 in 2013, but I hope at least to at or above my low of 178 in 2014.  Of course while numbers are fun, it really is the experiences out in the field that matter most and already May 2018 has been terrific in that regard.

My last blog covered trips through May 5th.  The following day Ann Marie Wood and I looked for and failed to find a Long Billed Curlew that had been seen in the Snoqualmie Valley but we did find a Western Kingbird the first one reported for the area which is a good spot for this species starting in May.  We had better success finding the American Avocet in Redmond that I had seen the previous day, but was a new county bird for her.  Next was Camano Island where we had a large flock of Whimbrels on Rekdal Road (more on that later). Maybe the most fun was seeing a very effective American Robin with its catch of worms – probably food for young in a nearby nest.

American Robin with Earthworms

At English Boom in addition to seeing more Whimbrels, we also had numerous noisy pairs of Purple Martins.  This is a reliable place to find this large swallow and to get photos.

Purple Martins

The next day in Yost Memorial Park – less than 1/2 mile from my home, I got a nice photo of a Black Headed Grosbeak.  I had heard one at Marymoor a few days earlier but had not seen it.

Black Headed Grosbeak

On Tuesday the  8th, Brian Pendleton and I left early to do some scouting for a trip I was going to be leading to the Cle Elum area for the Yakima River Canyon Birdfest on the 12th.  It is always a treat to bird with Brian who has great eyes and ears and really knows his birds.  We started at the two spots that I knew would be on the field trip, Bullfrog Pond and the Burlington Northern Railroad Ponds.  Birding was excellent at both places.  Highlights were Red Naped Sapsucker (plus a probable hybrid Red Naped x Red Breasted), Cassin’s and Warbling Vireos, Yellow (FOY), Nashville, MacGillivray’s, Yellow Rumped and Wilson’s Warblers, Hammond’s Flycatcher, and Western Wood Pewee (FOY).

Red Naped (or possibly a hybrid) Sapsucker

Hammond’s Flycatcher (FOY)

Cassin’s Vireo (FOY)

MacGillivray’s Warbler (FOY)

Nashville Warbler

At the RR Ponds we had an amazing sight as we watched an Osprey bring a very large stick – maybe 8 feet long to the nest platform.

Osprey with Large Stick

That was it for the scouting as the Birdfest trip was for a half day only.  Brian and I then headed east to Ellensburg and then south down Canyon Road with a first stop at the Umtanum Creek area.  We found 6 Warbler species, a constantly vocalizing Warbling Vireo, a Prairie Falcon, 2 Canyon Wrens, another Western Wood Pewee and our FOY Bullock’s Oriole and Lazuli Bunting.  We were disappointed not to find Yellow Breasted Chats (stay tuned…).

Warbling Vireo

Lazuli Bunting (FOY)

All except the Prairie Falcon and Wrens had probably arrived within the past week or 10 days.  We made another stop a little further down the river and had similar species but added Western Kingbird and had at least 8 Bullock’s Orioles.

Western Kingbird

Bullock’s Oriole

It had already been a great day but it was still relatively early so we decided to head further south and try Oak Creek and Bethel Ridge.  No Ash Throated Flycatchers at Oak Creek but we had the usual looks at the always beautiful Lewis’s Woodpecker.  Bethel Ridge was a bit slow, but we had a cooperative Red Naped Sapsucker and a flyover Williamson’s Sapsucker a First of Year for me, but seen previously by Brian.  We also had our FOY Dusky Flycatchers. a Hermit Thrush and several Townsend Solitaires.  No luck near the top for Three Toed or Black Backed Woodpeckers.

Red Naped Sapsucker

Dusky Flycatcher

The weather began to change so we called it a day and made the long trek home.  It had been very productive as the new arrivals allowed each of us to add eight or nine species for the year.

A couple of days later, I had an errand in downtown Edmonds and decided to check out the waterfront.  Not real birdy but there were three species of alcids as well as the usual Surf Scoters and some Caspian Terns and Western Grebes.  The alcids included 8 Marbled Murrelets, two Rhinoceros Auklets and a dozen or more Pigeon Guillemots.  All were in full breeding plumage.  I cannot recall seeing Marbled Murrelets except in pairs, and the pattern held this day.

Marbled Murrelets

Saturday May 12th was the Birdfest trip.  Frank Caruso had agreed to help – lending his terrific ear and knowledge of bird songs to the trip.  He was being visited by one of his birding friends from the Cape in Massachusetts who wold join us and this would be a great chance for her to add some new ABA species as she had never birded in the Northwest.

We started early enabling us to make a stop at the hummingbird feeders at Hyak near Snoqualmie Pass.  In addition to many Rufous Hummingbirds we had a good look at a MacGillivray’s Warbler which was a good thing, since they were surprisingly absent the rest of the day. Our meet-up spot for the trip was Bullfrog Pond.  It was a small but very interesting, fun and skilled group: Brandon, Jim, Martha and Jerry.  The weather the whole day was absolutely gorgeous – not too hot and almost no wind.  Our first bird was a Mountain Chickadee actually on the ground at the parking area.  We quickly ran into a group from Seattle Audubon.  I think they got there a bit early before things warmed up and we had more singing birds than they had.

Not as many warblers as usual, but lots of Yellows, some Nashville, Yellow Rumped and Common Yellowthroats.  Beautiful views of first a Western Tanager and then a Black Headed Grosbeak that took turns singing from a tall snag.  We had a brief glimpse of a Bullock’s Oriole.  We heard Northern Flicker, Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers but sadly there were no Sapsuckers.  In the conifers across the road we had a nice Western Bluebird, some Pygmy Nuthatches (my first there) and Jerry spotted first one and then a second Brown Creeper – again my first for the area.  We heard Cassin’s Finch singing but could only find a female to view.

Western Tanager (In the open but a long way off)

Our next stop was the Northern Pacific Railroad Ponds where we ran into yet another bird group – a class given by Connie Sidles.  We added some duck species and saw mostly the same as we had seen at Bullfrog.  This time we had a much better view of a Yellow Warbler.  A couple of House Wrens sang the entire time we were there and there were few if any moments when we were not seeing Tree, Northern Rough Winged or Barn Swallows.  But again no MacGillivray Warblers.

Yellow Warbler (FOY)

House Wren Singing

A nice bonus when there is more than one group in the area is the sharing of information.  I had gotten a text from one of the Audubon trip co-leaders that I had not seen.  It said that there was a Clark’s Nutcracker at the feeders across from the Cle Elum Ranger Station.  Fortunately she had notified one of the people in Connie’s group as well who told me.  We had considered a visit there anyhow, but now it was a “must”.   Closely related to jays, Clark’s Nutcrackers are usually seen at higher elevations.  We found two quickly that were very cooperative and photo friendly.  It was a life bird for some in the group.

Clark’s Nutcracker

As a bonus there were a pair of Cassin’s Finches and an Evening Grosbeak coming to the feeder which was probably the attraction for the Nutcracker as well.  This was the end of the formal trip and we had a respectable 58 species for the morning, but we were invited to bring our lunches to the home of one of the participants in the Teanaway Valley and were pleased to accept,  A beautiful place where we were greeted immediately by a fly-catching Say’s Phoebe and shortly thereafter had a Calliope Hummingbird – our first for the year – bringing us to 60 for the morning.  There had been some notable misses, but the Nutcracker more than made up for it.  Kathy, Frank and I said goodbye to the group and carried on for a full afternoon of birding – mostly looking for new life species for Kathy but looking for some new ones for Frank and me for the year as well.

At Umtanum Creek we quickly heard several Yellow Breasted Chats, our first for the year, but try as we might, we could not get them to show themselves.  A bird that was far more cooperative visually but surprisingly silent was a FOY Olive Sided Flycatcher.  Both the Chats and the Olive Sided were new arrivals and were reported widely around the state this weekend.

Olive Sided Flycatcher

We continued on to the same area down river where Brian and I had many Orioles a few days earlier and they were again readily found although hard to see well or photograph high up in the very leafy cottonwoods.  Then it was decision time.  We could retrace our steps, return via Wenas Road or carry on to a new area.  We saw that some Red Necked Phalaropes had been reported on Lateral C in the Toppenish area and decided to continue south.  It turned out to be a great decision as at various watery areas there and on Pumphouse Road we had some really nice birds.

On Lateral C, we had a very brief look at the Phalaropes until they disappeared behind some reeds – FOY’s for all of us.  A big surprise was a White Pelican that circled and then landed – again invisible behind reeds.  We heard some Yellow Headed Blackbirds as soon we pulled up and finally got some to come close for good looks and a photo.

Yellow Headed Blackbird

A big show here came from the many Wilson’s Snipe – winnowing, displaying and posing on distant posts.  There may have been many more, but we counted at least 16.  Just before departing we heard a distant Sora calling and it responded readily to playback.  We never saw it but it is always a good find.  Not surprisingly we also found a Virginia Rail – closer than the Sora but never seen.

Wilson’s Snipe

Other birds seen in the area were many Cinnamon and Green Winged Teal and two Ring Necked Pheasants.  We were not able to find some Wilson’s Phalaropes that had been reported earlier.  Now it was time to head home and we retraced our route up to Interstate 82 instead of returning to Canyon Road.  Along the way, we did an informal species count and it seemed like we were close to 100 for the day.  Since there was still some good light and it would give Kathy a chance to add some shrub steppe birds – an area we had not visited on our trip, we decided to detour to Durr Road after filling the gas tank in Ellensburg.  It was another great decision.

We readily found Mountain Bluebirds and then heard the insect-like buzzy song of a Brewer’s Sparrow.  It responded to our playback and posed for photos and good looks.  There were at least ten seen or heard.

Mountain Bluebird

Brewer’s Sparrow

We heard numerous Western Meadowlarks and then picked out the somewhat similar melodic song of a Sage Thrasher.  It too was responsive and gave us good looks and a photo op.

Sage Thrasher

Then Frank heard what he thought was a Vesper Sparrow.  It was seemingly very close and responded to playback, but we just could not locate it – until we looked in the right spot – where it was partially hidden in a  mature sage,  Another new bird and photo for the day.

Vesper Sparrow

We failed to find a Loggerhead Shrike but there was a final exclamation point for the day.  I saw what at first I thought might be a Common Nighthawk off in the distance but we quickly noted it was too large and instead we had a Short Eared Owl hunting at near dusk off in the sage.  Unfortunately our earlier count was off and we ended the day with 90+ species – but it really had been terrific whatever the tally.  I had added four new Washington species for the year and Kathy had significantly increased her ABA list.

Having no plans for the following day – after Mothers Day notes to the mother of my children and to one of those children who is now a mother herself – I headed to Eide Road where Steve Giles had reported some Pectoral Sandpipers the previous day.  When I got to the specified pond, I could see a number of shorebirds and ducks.  I was immediately drawn to first a Cinnamon Teal and then several Blue Winged Teal.  A few seconds later a Green Winged Teal came into view.  I tried in vain to get a photo capturing all three at the same time.  The one I got had the Cinnamon and the Blue Winged but depth of field and my lack of skill were wrong for focus on both.

Blue Winged and Cinnamon Teal

Having the three Teal species was cool but the reason for the trip was the Pectoral Sandpiper.  I saw some Greater Yellowlegs, some peeps and then a Long Billed Dowitcher.  Finally behind some grass, I saw a medium sized shorebird – the hoped for Pectoral Sandpiper.  I failed to find another but there may have been others further out in the pond.

Pectoral Sandpiper (FOY)

Among the peeps, there were clearly some Western Sandpipers and at least one Least Sandpiper.  A couple others were a challenge and this is where I made a poor choice.  Another birder/photographer had arrived and was excited to tell me that there was a large flock of Long Billed Curlews on a field near the airport on nearby Camano Island., an area mentioned previously that in migration can have large numbers of Whimbrels – as had been seen earlier by Ann Marie and me.  I asked him if he meant Whimbrels and he said “Oh no, these are definitely Curlews“.  Earlier in this post, I wrote that Ann Marie and I had failed to find the Long Billed Curlew in the Snoqualmie Valley and I have also been unable to find one in Ellensburg – often my go to spot, so I was VERY interested.  Instead of continuing to process the peeps to see if one or more might be Semipalmated Sandpipers and getting better photos, I decided to race off for the Curlews and check the photos I had taken later.

The field in question was at the intersection of Rekdal and Utsalady Roads.  Indeed there were MANY larger shorebirds with long decurved bills – but they were not long enough and of course were all Whimbrels.  Still spectacular as there were probably 300 or more, but not Long Billed Curlews as hoped for.  Sigh…

Whimbrel

Whimbrels in Flight

I should have returned to Eide Road but in my disappointment I forgot about the other peeps and returned home.  Those other peeps were Semipalmated Sandpipers – my first of the year.  I had noted that they were about the same size as the Western Sandpipers and had dark legs.  They seemed paler and more nondescript and  with a straighter shorter bill.  One of my pictures was good enough to confirm the ID but barely that.  The fact that Semipalmated Sandpipers were found there later by another birder supports the ID as well.

It has been a great week – hey it’s May!!  Lots of good birds and especially good times with good folks. Fifteen new Washington species for the year.  I will be heading up to Victoria B.C. tomorrow hoping finally to get a photo of a Skylark – May is a good time for them as well.  I have my fingers crossed!

Postscript – it is now July and I checked my records for May.  The total number of species seen was 199 just about average for me over the past 6 years.

Late April and into May – time for shorebirds and passerines to migrate to and through Washington.  Always a fun time.

BUT FIRST I have to mention my 5 day trip to Boston – a chance to see my first grandchild – Griffin Pascal Leung.  Maybe he is going to be like me – always early – because he arrived a month ahead of schedule.  I waited an extra month to give mother and father a chance to get on top of things without me being in the way.  All is well with parents and child although it is a busy and often sleep-deprived household.  He is definitely a cutie.  He also makes a variety of noises that are very birdlike so he qualifies for this blog.

New Grandson with Grandpa

This was not a birding trip but I was able to fit in a couple of walks with a very focused goal of finally getting a photo of a Tufted Titmouse.  I had seen them in years past before I was taking pictures and it was definitely the most common bird without one.  It took a while to get the first one – at Mt. Auburn Cemetery and I then had many more after that.

Tufted Titmouse – Cambridge, Massachusetts – New ABA Photo

On May 2nd, since I arrived back in Seattle around 2:30 P.M., I was just able to beat the traffic and make stops first at the Montlake Fill and then Magnuson Park.  At Montlake I was able to find the Solitary Sandpiper (FOY) that had been reported there the previous day and at Magnuson Park I got to see the Lewis’s Woodpecker that was first seen three days earlier and is still being seen on May 5.  This woodpecker belongs east of the Cascades and there are only a few records in King County over the past 20 years.

Lewis’s Woodpecker – Magnuson Park

My body had no idea what time zone I was in when I finally got home but I expected I would wake up early thinking it was three hours later.  I did and decided without any planning to just take off and head to the coast to see what shorebirds were around.  I was on the road by 4:30 a.m. and there was still traffic – although not too bad.  My first stop at Brady Loop was without any shorebirds in the sometimes productive fields.  It was a little better at the Hoquiam STP and Bowerman Basin.  At the former I had my first Long Billed Dowitchers of the year and a photo friendly Killdeer.  Like so many other formerly great shorebird spots, changes at this location have gotten rid of much of the “mud” so I was pleased to have anything there.

Long Billed Dowitcher (FOY)

Killdeer

The tide was very low so there was tons of mud at Bowerman Basin, but that meant that the birds – probably more than a thousand – were far out.  Gray skies did not help photography.  Most were Western Sandpipers, although there were also several hundred Semipalmated Plovers and some Least Sandpipers.  There were only two “larger” shorebirds – and both were of note for me.  One was my first Whimbrel of the year and the other was a single larger plover.  The photo is not very good, but does support the ID as a Golden Plover which was clearer through the scope even with some of the breeding plumage “golden” flecking on the back.  The Whimbrel was too far away for any kind of photo.

Golden Plover – distant Record Shot Only

I debated going on to Ocean Shores but I knew I wanted to be at Bottle Beach around 1:30 and was not sure there was time for that as well as Westport, so I retraced steps through Hoquiam and Aberdeen and hit Westport.  There were only a few but I did see my FOY Brown Pelicans in the marina and then was able to find a single Wandering Tattler at the “groins” – rocky outcroppings on the jetty near the lower observation platform near the restrooms.  This has been my most productive spot for this species at Westport over the last few years.

Brown Pelican (FOY)

Wandering Tattler (FOY)

The tide was still very low when I hit Tokeland and zero shorebirds were there.  As had been the case at Westport, there were a number of Common Loons and a single Pacific Loon as well as several Pigeon Guillemots.

I then drove the beach starting just north of Grayland.  There were thousands of shorebirds but nothing “special”.  The only species I saw were Western Sandpipers, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings and a few Least Sandpipers.  I was surprised to find no Black Bellied Plovers.  Most of the Sanderlings were still in basic plumage but the other species were more than 75% in breeding plumage.  I saw no larger shorebirds at all.

Semipalmated Plover

I arrived at Bottle Beach at 1:30 – three hours ahead of the scheduled high tide.  Several cars were already there and birders pulled in as I arrived.  I was hoping for some Yellow Warblers on the way out to the water but found only Common Yellowthroats.  That was a bit disappointing but the shorebird show more than made up for it.  Although the tide was still way out and there was lots of exposed mud, there were already hundreds of shorebirds there more than 2.5 hours before high tide.  About 10 birders as well including a surprise visit by Virginia, Kathleen and Joyce from the Pilchuck Group – great to see them.

The main target bird at Bottle Beach in Spring is the Red Knot.  I have seen hundreds there at one time before.  Probably only 30 or so this time, but they were readily seen and are always a treat for photographers.  This is often a great spot to find Ruddy Turnstones and there were at least two in their very striking breeding plumage.  As the tide came in, the birds were more concentrated and closer and as most were in breeding plumage, there were great photo opportunities.  Species seen included the Knots, Western Sandpipers in the thousands, hundreds of Semipalmated Plovers, 20 or so Greater Yellowlegs, maybe 60 Black Bellied Plovers, 100 or so Short Billed Dowitchers and although there must have been more – a few Least Sandpipers.  We looked in vain for Curlews, Godwits and Whimbrels but found none.

Red Knot

Ruddy Turnstone

Western Sandpiper

Dunlin

Least Sandpiper

Time to head back.  Thinking there might be some migrants at the Hawks Prairie Settling Ponds, I stopped there on the way home.  Nothing special so I carried on to Nisqually – again looking for a FOY Yellow Warbler.  Maybe I just missed them, but again nothing unusual there.  Several Yellow-rumped Warblers greeted me – both Audubon’s and Myrtle forms and there were some Common Yellowthroats but no other warblers at all.

Yellow Rumped (Audubon’s Form) Warbler

There was only the briefest delay around JBLM and I was home by 7:30 p.m.

Jet lag caught up with me the next day and I stayed home to catch up on day to day stuff left while I was away.  Also hit the gym for the first time in a week and worked on bird photos and lists.  A few days before I left for Boston (and before the Eastern Washington trip reported on in my previous blog post), I had gone up to Homeacres Road in Snohomish County to see the Black Necked Stilt that was found there by David Poortinga.  It is a rare species west of the Cascades and was my first in the County.  At least in Eastern Washington, they are often associated and seen with American Avocets.  An American Avocet was now being seen in Redmond in King County and this morning (Cinco de Mayo), I decided to look for it and then head on to Marymoor Park – again looking for Yellow Warblers.

I quickly found the Avocet along with a lot of other birds in the wet fields just east of Willows Road and South of 124th.  Also present were a number of duck species, lots of Savannah Sparrows, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, 6 Long Billed Dowitchers, 100 peeps (more Western than Least Sandpipers) 10 Killdeer and more than 50 American Pipits.  As best I can tell, there have been only a few Ebird records of American Avocet in King County over the past 20 years – a nice bird.

American Avocet

American Pipit

At Marymoor Park, I was able to find (heard only) my first Black Headed Grosbeaks of the year but again found no Yellow Warblers – a single Nashville Warbler, some Common Yellowthroats and some Yellow Rumps only.  At one spot I was watching a male and female Downy Woodpecker chasing each other when first a male and then a female Purple Finch flew into the same view frame.  It would have made a great photo, but it was not possible (at least for my skills) to get them all in focus at the same time.  I settled for a photo of the two Woodpeckers.

Pair of Downy Woodpeckers

And then as soon as I got home, I saw that a Long Billed Curlew was being seen in the Snoqualmie River Valley.  I f I had known it earlier, I would certainly have gone looking.  Maybe tomorrow I will go looking and who knows maybe there will be a Yellow Warbler there as well.

After Texas and before heading off to Massachusetts, I wanted to catch up on some birding in Washington – a little ahead of the busy month of May but able to watch some early migration and chase after some rarities close to home.  My first foray was back to some favored places in Kittitas County and beyond with Frank Caruso and for some of the time with Deb Essman.  Before joining Deb, Frank and I picked up Rufous Hummingbirds at the Hyak feeders on Snoqualmie Pass and then found some First of Year birds (FOY’s) at Bullfrog Pond including Red Naped Sapsucker and Cassin’s Finch.

After checking in on the Great Horned Owl that was nesting across from Deb’s House and finding two fluffy owlets, Deb joined us and we first visited a known nesting site for Bank Swallows and even though it was quite early, we found 5 Swallows flying about – no nests yet.  We doubled checked to see the dark chest bands to be sure they were not Northern Rough Winged Swallows.  Frank and I had not yet seen any Swainson’s Hawks and that was our next “find”.

Great Horned Owl with Owlets

Swainson’s Hawk

We did not find much in the Whiskey Dick area above the corrals off Vantage Road but did have a quick look at a FOY Brewer’s Sparrow and Sagebrush Sparrows as we had had there earlier this year.  Just as we were leaving two Prairie Falcons flew over.  We also heard Sandhill Cranes somewhere off in the distance.  Not much at Recreation Road either – Rock Wren only and no Canyon Wrens.  Frank and I continued on to Frenchman’s Coulee after Deb had to leave and found our FOY White Throated Swifts.  I did not even attempt a photo of these ultra-fast fliers.  We then went Southeast to the County Line Ponds on Highway 26 and picked up FOY American Avocets and Black Necked Stilts.

Black Necked Stilts

We had been looking for a Loggerhead Shrike all day without success.  Somehow even zooming along at 60 MPH, we finally saw one on a post and a quick U-turn got a photo.

Loggerhead Shrike

One last stop on the long way home resulted in a very fun time with the American Dipper nest under the Teanaway River Bridge.  We watched in fascination as first one parent and then the other would catch food in the river, pause briefly at a riverside rock near the bridge and then fly up and deliver the food to the two babies.  It was non-stop for the whole time we were there.

American Dipper with Food Ready to Go and then Delivery to the Babies at Nest

A couple of days later, I made a quick visit to Yost Park and with Frank had our FOY Black Throated Gray Warblers.  Too high up and uncooperative for photos, but I am sure I will get some later.  I tried several places looking for newly arrived migrants like Wilson’s or Yellow Warblers without success.  At Wylie Slough where I had Yellow Warblers at this time in year’s past, I did find my FOY Lesser Yellowlegs for Washington. On the way home, I stopped at Maxine Reid’s place on Tulalip Bay and got a distant view of a couple of Purple Martins coming to her gourds.  Maxine had shared that they had arrived a couple of days earlier. With the exception of the Dippers, I had seen all of these birds in Texas two weeks earlier – that’s how migration works.

On April 24th, the ABC Club in Tacoma was having a program that I wanted to attend as much to see friends there as to see the program.  As a good way to avoid traffic on the trip down, I decided to chase some of the new birds that had been reported there in the previous few days at places I had not visited before as my Pierce County birding had been very limited.  My first stop was the Puyallup Fish Hatchery.  I was hoping to see a Wilson’s Warbler as one had been seen two days earlier and also figured it a good spot for a Yellow Warbler or other migrant.  I batted only .500 as I found a Wilson’s but not a Yellow.  Still a fun place and I expect it can be very productive.

My next stop was Chambers Lake – another new spot.  I almost blew it.  My GPS took me to the location which turned out to be on the Joint Base Lewis McChord property.  I knew you need a pass to be on the property but I thought I would run into a gate that would either deny me access or would allow me to get a pass.  No gates were encountered so I kept on going and made it to the Lake where I got my FOY Chipping Sparrow.  I later learned from Bruce LaBar that I still needed a pass and might have been in trouble if patrols had come around.  I need to attend to that detail for any future visits.

One last stop was the Mountain View Cemetery where Bruce and Ed Pullen had reported a House Wren.  Even though Bruce provided excellent directions, I couldn’t match landmarks and was uncertain if I was in the right location.  Slowly it started looking familiar as I realized I had been to the same location three years earlier also looking for a House Wren.  I had found it then and finally found it again this day – another Washington FOY that I had seen earlier in Texas.

The program was Dave Slager talking mostly about Crows and the question of whether there really is such a thing as a Northwestern Crow as a separate species.  It was fascinating to learn of the work that has gone into the examination of this question and the question of speciation in general.   For the time being the two species both exist but I think the clock is ticking and a determination will be made to lump them into a single species.  Much better than the program was a very fun dinner with Bruce and Ed beforehand.  Outstanding birders and outstanding people – they make it fun to be part of the community.

The next day I made a quick visit to Homeacres Road in Snohomish County for a quite rare Black Necked Stilt that had been found by David Poortinga and was then relocated by a number of local birders.  A distant view only, but a new bird for the County.  I later stopped at Pine Ridge Park hoping to find some FOY Pacific Slope Flycatchers that Frank had seen earlier that day.  I found a couple of Pac Slopes but the real prize was the friendliest Pileated Woodpecker I have ever seen.  It flew onto a log on the ground literally five feet from me.  It paid me no attention as it drilled on that log and then on some low trees nearby.  VERY photo friendly.  I could choose any of a dozen good photos but will go with this one.

Pileated Woodpecker

I wanted to do one more long foray into Eastern Washington before heading off to Boston.  Ann Marie Wood and Steve Pink were game and we left very early – revisiting some of the territory Frank and I had covered the previous week but adding Para Ponds and a Burrowing Owl site on Lemaster Road following in part the success of an Audubon trip the previous weekend.  In beautiful weather with no wind we had a wonderful long trip to Kittitas, Grant and Adams Counties today.

 

  

Having to be back in Seattle before the Hill Country Extension to VENT’s South Texas Tour would end, after our goodbyes at the Laredo Airport, I headed north on my own.  It was 180 miles from Laredo to where I would be staying the next two nights – The Lodge at Lost Maples and another 8 miles from there to the Lost Maples State Natural Area – my ultimate destination to look for two new ABA Life Birds – the Golden Cheeked Warbler and the Black Capped Vireo.  I also hoped to photograph a Scott’s Oriole, a bird that had eluded me in Arizona.

Even on two lane country roads, the speed limits in Texas are often 65 to 70 miles per hour and on the Freeways can be as high as 75.  My kind of place for driving at least.  It was not long before I was literally the only car on the road and there were stretches of 30 miles or more where I did not see another car – in any direction.  With a few stops for lunch, provisioning and birds – the same that had been seen all through the tour but I had to be sure – I made it to my cabin a little after 4 o’clock.  After 10 nights in motel rooms this seemed like luxury and definitely peaceful and charming.  (An aside:  Once again I am beginning the process of online dating and made a few connections before I left for this trip.  Possibly a few moments of the tour would have appealed to some of the women I had communicated with, but probably not many.  I thought immediately that this place would – just a very comfortable and relaxing place.)

My Road

My Cabin

The check-in process was simple.  Open the door and walk in.  The key was waiting for me on the table.  There was zero reception of any kind.  No cell service, no phone, no cable, no TV, not internet, no Wi-Fi and nobody else around.  I put my meager food supplies in the fridge, my suitcase on a table and headed off.  I did not even bother to lock the door.

After the rather flat and boring landscapes of the past ten days, it was nice to be in the rolling hills and forest of the acclaimed Texas Hill Country.  Many people had told me that they loved this area and found it quite beautiful. Being spoiled by Puget Sound, the Olympics, the Cascades and Mount Rainier, I was less enthralled but can certainly imagine it as much lovelier with the colors of fall as the maples changed colors.  Certainly a welcome and comparatively beautiful retreat from the monotony of the south.

I headed to the Lost Maples Natural Area figuring I would at least scope it out for an all out assault the next day.  I arrived just as the visitor center was closing.  A nice quick conversation with one of the staff produced a map and a couple of ideas of where to look for my target birds.  The Golden Cheeked Warbler was not too far away, but the Black Caped Vireo was a long steep hike.  I decided to go to the parking area that began the trail system and to at least look at what was ahead.  When I got there a birder with bins and a small camera was getting into his car.  It turns out that he was a local part time guide and he was doing some scouting for trips the next week.  He was friendly and helpful – as everyone I met in Texas had been.  He was recovering from some leg/hip condition that did not enable him to make the steep climb to the best place for the Vireos but he said that just a short while ago he had the Warbler not too far down the trail.  There was definitely time for a try, so I thanked him and set off.

I have probably written before that while I have fairly good hearing, my processor is terrible.  Often even if I had just had a call or song identified a few minutes earlier, I just cannot sort out what is what.  I listened to my recordings of the calls and songs of the Golden Cheeked Warbler as I started on the trail.  The song was fairly distinct, but the chip note did not sound to me that much different than many others.  At least I knew it chipped.

The trail was easy through somewhat of a ravine with mixed woods on both sides.  Not open, not dense, not high, not low.  Less than 300 yards down the trail, the first bird sound I heard was a high pitched “chip”.  Somehow, I actually processed it immediately as the Golden Winged Warbler.  I quickly gave an imitation of the song and apparently it was good enough as there was a response and I got a quick glimpse of my first ever and quite beautiful Golden Cheeked Warbler.  This was a new ABA Life bird and now I really wanted a photo.  I called again and the warbler responded boldly singing from a number of branches not too high up and often in the open.  Snap, snap, snap – I had my photo – far better than I had ever anticipated and much easier.

Golden Cheeked Warbler Singing

There probably was nobody within a mile of me.  Just me and my new best friend the Golden Cheeked Warbler.  I gave out a victory cheer as I was very elated.  The Warbler didn’t mind and posed for another shot.

Golden Cheeked Warbler

There was no time for the climb to look for the Vireo and ending on a high note is always good so I headed back to my cabin on the lane in the woods.

I had not explored my new home area before taking off earlier.  Now I had a chance to look around a bit.  A bird was sitting on the fence line singing – an Eastern Phoebe – new for the trip and new for the year.   A couple of Cardinals whistled and a Golden Fronted Woodpecker was drumming.  I thought I heard a Woodhouse’s Scrubjay but I could not find it.

Eastern Phoebe

It was getting late and although my meal was not going to be exciting – I enjoyed the solitude and a simple salad with Lemon Pepper chicken.  In anticipation of finding my target birds I had bought a small piece of cake.  I expected it would be eaten the next evening.  Since I had found the Warbler but not yet found the Vireo, I ate only half.

It was blissfully quiet at night.  I went over some of the pictures I had taken during the tour – discarding at least 500.  I had done this most of the previous nights as well and am sure that I had deleted at least 2000 pictures.  I would need to delete many thousand more when I got back home.

As usual I woke up early.  It was so quiet that I could hear some birds from behind the cabin.  One call was the incessant two note call of the Eastern Phoebe, but there was something else far more interesting.  I opened the back door and walked out.  It was a Chuck Will’s Widow – its song repeating its name over and over.  I grabbed my phone and tried to call it in closer with playback but it did not move.  It would have been too dark for a photo anyhow but what a cool experience.

Time to head back to Lost Maples.  This time I got there just as the Visitor Center was opening.  I got a bird list (fancy with photos of the birds seen) and some more advice on getting to the Vireos.  I was also told that the camp host in the first campground had a feeder up and might have some insights and also that the Bird Host for the area was in a trailer down by the maintenance area.  He would not be leading a bird walk that day, but he was very knowledgeable about what was being seen.

As I pulled up to the Bird Host area, the hosts were out restocking peanut butter and seeds into the feeder.  Lee confirmed that the Vireos required a steep hike but he said I might as well go up the East trail as opposed to the directions I had been given at the Visitor Center which would have been an even longer and almost as steep a hike.  He also said that a Scott’s Oriole often visited his feeders and I should check back later.

My get-in-shape and lose some weight program of February/March had been severely challenged by the giant meals twice a day during the tour.  Even though I had tried to scale back, I was sure I had gained at least 5 pounds. Carrying my bins, camera and heavy lens plus the pack with water and food, I was not looking forward to what really was going to be a steep climb – and was warned about as such in the literature and on the map.  It indeed was challenging – quite steep for over a mile, but with several breaks, I handled it better than I thought I might and got “on top” and went to Primitive Camping Area B with great views and lots of habitat that looked good.  I am not sure why it is called a camping area as there are no facilities or campsites.  It did not matter – I had been alone on the trail and was definitely alone on the top.

The Bird Host had reminded me to check out every apparent Turkey Vulture because the somewhat similar appearing (in flight) Zone Tailed Hawks were present.  I must have checked two dozen vultures on the way up.  At the top one indeed turned into a Zone Tailed Hawk.

Zone Tailed Hawk

It was a BIG area and I hiked around for almost an hour looking for the Vireos.  I played songs, call notes and everything I could think of – and had nothing,  It was pretty overcast and still chilly and pretty windy so I hoped that maybe it would just have to warm up.  I then tried another area out of Area B.  A flash of blue caught my eye and then another.  I tracked one bird down and was rewarded with a beautiful singing Blue Grosbeak.  Probably my best picture of one and definitely making up for the poor view and no photo of the single bird we had seen near the end of the tour.

Blue Grosbeak

I admit I was getting a bit worried as the bird activity was pretty light, but I reasoned that I had invested a lot to get up to this area so I had to give Area B another try.  I understood that the Vireos favor a mixture of trees that included Junipers and usually foraged low in the scrub.  I saw a spot I had not checked before that looked good and as I approached I first saw two birds fly in.  I found one and it turned out to be a Field Sparrow, the first I had seen in quite a while, its pink bill an easy and immediately apparent field mark.

Field Sparrow

A few minutes later I heard what I thought was the Vireo’s song and saw two more birds in the same area.  Over the next 10 – 15 minutes I chased the birds from one tree or scrub to another getting only momentary views to confirm the ID as a Black Capped Vireo.  Just as I got my camera on one in a little opening, it was gone.  This happened repeatedly.  It looked to me like the two males were fighting over territory.  Finally one of the birds flew off and the other proclaimed its victory in the territorial dispute by perching and singing in the open – at least briefly.  I got my photos and I was a very happy birder with another ABA Life Bird and photo.

Black Capped Vireo

I don’t know if it was gravity or elation at the success, but the hike back down was sure a lot easier although great care had to be taken on loose gravel and uneven terrain.  Perseverance had paid off and there had been bonuses as well.  I heard and got a quick view of a several Golden Cheeked Warblers on the trail down, but did not even try for photos.  The ones from the day before would be tough to beat.  I got to the parking lot and drove to the feeders by the maintenance area to report back and also hoping to find a Scott’s Oriole.  Lee drove up maybe 5 minutes after I set down on the picnic table to watch the feeders.

I showed him my Vireo shots and he was very pleased as he had not been up there that week and was glad that the birds were present.  He said the Scott’s Oriole had come in a short while after I had left before.  He also said that a Woodhouse’s Scrubjay had been visiting.  Not too long afterwards, he said he was hearing the Scott’s Oriole.  It came in very briefly to the feeder – too quick for a photo and then fortunately perched in a nearby tree.  Finally I got my ABA Life photo.  I had hoped for a photo on this tour/trip but felt it was definitely not a sure thing.  This one was particularly well received because it was the seventh oriole species seen and photographed on this trip joining the Audubon’s, Hooded, Orchard, Baltimore, Altamira, and Bullock’s Orioles.  Earlier this year I had seen and photographed a Streak-Backed Oriole in Arizona and last April I had seen and on April 25th last year I had seen and photographed a Spot Breasted Oriole in Florida.  So within a year I had seen all of the “regularly” occurring orioles in the ABA area.  There is also a Code 5 Black Vented Oriole that resides in Mexico and Central America and has made a very few appearances in Texas and Arizona – maybe some day.

Scott’s Oriole

A few moments later the Woodhouse’s Scrubjay came in to get peanut butter from one of the feeders and stayed just long enough for a photo.  This species came into being when the Western Scrubjay was split into California and Woodhouse’s Scrubjay in 2016.  I had seen only a single Woodhouse’s Scrubjay before – in Colorado in 2016.

Woodhouse’s Scrubjay

Lee also told me of another place where the Black Capped Vireos should be much easier to find – South Llano River State Park – out of my way to San Antonio where I would be flying out of the next day, but I had plenty of time.  I had allocated this full day to Lost Maples if needed for the Golden Cheeked Warbler and Black Capped Vireo and maybe even the Scott’s Oriole.  The original plan was to return the following morning for a few hours if necessary in case I had not been successful earlier.  That would still have given me time to get to San Antonio for my 7 pm flight.  Now my plans would change with my great fortune already.  I would drive the area just to enjoy it, get some much needed sleep at the cabin and bird around there leisurely and then try South Llano River SP the next day.  I figured you could never have too many good birds!!

I returned to the Visitor Center and gave them an update on the birds I had seen.  They are very aware of the special appeal of the Black Capped Vireo and Golden Cheeked Warblers and like to have real time info to share with visitors.   Very near the Center I had a small flock of Carolina Chickadees.  These were the first ones for the trip.  It seemed so odd to not have had chickadees previously as they are so common where I live (Black Capped and Chestnut Backed) and elsewhere in the Country.

Carolina Chickadee

I drove quite a few roads and stopped for coffee at the Lost Maples General Store.  The first cup was free – and there was free Wi-Fi – super nice folks as well.  Later I found a couple of Eastern Bluebirds on a fence line.  At first I thought they were Lazuli Buntings but a bit too early still.  Back at the Cabin I was treated to a very up close and personal encounter with a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers.  I first noticed the drab female and then the male fluttered in and was absolutely spectacular in great light.

Vermilion Flycatcher

In the evening, I listened for owls and nighthawks  but heard none.  Same in the morning but again heard the nonstop call of an Eastern Phoebe.  I cleaned the cabin, packed my stuff and headed off to South Llano River State Park which was just over 70 miles away.  The topography at South Llano was very different from Lost Maples.  Much flatter and actually a somewhat lower elevation even without the steep climb at the latter.  There were a number of feeding areas and blinds pretty close to parking at South Llano and I was told that both the Golden Cheeked Warblers and the Black Capped Vireos might be found close to one of the blinds particularly the Agarita Blind.

The blinds were a very short distance from parking and were comfortable.  Great for viewing but not so great for photos as much of the viewing area was behind distorting glass.  Nonetheless, the birds were definitely interested in the feeders and the water drips.  Although the Golden Cheeked Warblers and the Black Capped Vireos were known to come in to the water drips, I saw neither while I was there.  But it was great for sparrows: Lark Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Clay Colored Sparrow (new for the trip), Chipping Sparrow, White Crowned Sparrow (new for the trip), Lincoln’s Sparrow and maybe my favorite sparrow – the Black Throated Sparrow.

Clay Colored Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Black Throated Sparrow

I was joined in the blind by a birder from Australia who lived part of the year in Texas and was familiar with the park.  A somewhat rare Cassin’s Finch had been reported at the park and we were both happy when I spotted it and could point it out to her – contrasting it with the many House Finches that were present.  A bird that I had seen unexpectedly at Lost Maples also came in to the feeders here – a Pine Siskin.  They can be abundant in Western Washington and I somehow incorrectly had them figured as a northern bird.

Cassin’s Finch

Pine Siskin

The lady from Australia was mostly interested in finding a Black Capped Vireo and she left the blind before I did.  I gave the blind a few more moments and then went out looking for Vireos and Warblers.  Two flocks of Cedar Waxwings flew over but just like they had on the early part of the tour, they never landed and just kept going.  At least with these I could see their crests and yellow at the tip of their tails.  Not far from the blind I heard a wren like buzz that I was pretty sure was the alarm call of the Black Capped Vireo.  Then I saw at least two males flitting about.  There may also have been another male and a female.  They darted in and out of view so quickly that it was hard to keep track.

Just as at Lost Maples, there seemed to be a territorial battle going on.  I finally got one clear shot for a photo but that was it.  I had called out to the other birder that I had some Vireos and she finally came over.  Each time a Vireo became visible she was unfortunately looking in another direction and by the time she turned to the bird, it flew off.  They were a challenge.  This continued for maybe ten minutes with some moments of silence and then the raspy alarm call again and a quick view.  I finally took off looking for warblers and I am not sure if she ever got on one of the Vireos.

Black Capped Vireo

These Vireos had been much much easier than at Lost Maples – no more than 200 yards from the parking and absolutely flat ground.  I was only able to find a single Golden Cheeked Warbler – buried in the foliage – but I did not look very hard.  I also found a couple of Yellow Rumped Warblers in full breeding plumage, a Bell’s Vireo and a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher.

To me this park was much less attractive than Lost Maples, but if someone had a primary goal of finding either the Golden Cheeked Warbler or a Black Capped Vireo, I would recommend this place as the far easier location.  It is about the same distance – less than an hour and a half – from San Antonio so easily accessible.

It had been another great birding experience but it was time to go.  I am sure I could have spent more time and found more birds probably even a couple of new species for the trip, but it had been a very full time and I was ready to head home where I had some friends coming in the next day.  I made it to the airport very early and did some more work on photos and thought back on the many fine moments.

Recap and Looking forward

All told during my trip, I had seen 251 species bringing my Texas Life List up to 291 species.  If I had noticed that earlier I would have worked at finding 9  new species to try to get to 300 – I like round numbers.

I had added 5 life birds to my ABA List – Whooping Crane, Tropical Parula, White Collared Seedeater, Golden Cheeked Warbler and Black Capped Vireo.  That list now stands at 712 species.

I had added photos of 17 species to my ABA Photo Life List and now stands at 667.

I had not been thinking about it before the trip, but as I posted my bird lists to Ebird during the trip, I noticed that I had seen quite a few ABA species during the year.  This was in large measure due to the Big Month I did in Washington in January, but there had been some good birds added in California and Arizona in February and March even though those trips were mostly chasing highly targeted rarities.  Texas added another 147 ABA species for the year so that on April 13, I had seen 449 species.

I had and have no intention of doing an ABA Big Year for 2018 or any other year but at least as of that moment, I was #2 on the Ebird list for the year.  After 4 days without any birding, I have already dropped 2 places and that will continue as there will only be limited opportunities to significantly increase the number.  I guess it would be nice to reach 500 by the end of the year, but while the brief moment at the heights was fun, that is not important to me.

There are trips ahead to Boston to see my grandson and hopefully to finally get a photo of a Tufted Titmouse – hopefully in my daughter’s neighborhood.  It is not a birding trip.  Frank Caruso and I are going to North Carolina the first week of June primarily to go on pelagic trips.  There will be new birds there but the focus will be on a few new ABA Lifers and Life Photos especially the pelagic species that are found offshore there.  I may also return to San Diego for another pelagic trip there and if so will consider braving the heat to go to the Salton Sea and hopefully find a Yellow Footed Gull. 

If all goes really well, I could hopefully end the year with maybe 720 or so ABA Life birds and 680-85 ABA photos.  I don’t “need” to hit any of those goals. However, I like setting goals and planning adventures to pursue them, but in the end it is the adventure itself that keeps me going.  There are many birds that I will always remember (aided by my photos and my blog posts) from this trip, but just as much it will be some of the places and the experiences and the people – especially the two great guides Barry Zimmer and Carlos Sanchez from VENT and of course Mr. VENT himself, Victor Emanuel.  Still some birds to see or photograph in Texas so I expect I will be back – but other places to go first.  Hope they are as rewarding.

After an amazing day 7 on the VENT South Texas tour, maybe it was inevitable that we would have an off day.  Day 8 started at Santa Ana NWR.  I had great visits there in 1975 and 2013 seeing 78 species including many ABA firsts on the 1975 trip.  On this day we had 34 species of which three were new for the tour – Cliff Swallow, Sharp Shinned Hawk and most importantly the beautiful Altamira Oriole, which was formerly called the Lichtenstein’s Oriole – named after a German ornithologist of the first half of the 19th Century.  The name was changed to Altamira – named after a city in the Tamaulipas State of northern Mexico which is just south of the Texas border.  In the U.S. this oriole is only found in extreme South Texas and is endangered here.

Altamira Oriole

Our next stop was the famous (“infamous”?) Brownsville Dump.  Up until the 1990’s and into the first decade of the 21st Century this was an easy spot to find what was then called the Mexican Crow.  I had seen some there in April 1978 but of course had no photo.  They disappeared from the area until some showed up again in 2017.  Had this not occurred we would not have made this stop, but now they were a much sought after species – now known as the Tamaulipas Crow.  Unfortunately we found none this day despite diligent looking for almost two hours.  There were many Vultures (Black and Turkey), thousands of Laughing Gulls and some other gull species including our first of the trip Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls and no crow.  (I got word from a Washington birding friend today that they were at the dump and had crows – oh well.)

Lesser Black Backed Gull

Much of the rest of the day was traveling to our next birding area in Zapata.  The weather was quite overcast and a trip along Las Palmas Road for “desert” species was essentially birdless.  For the day we barely had 70 species and only five new ones for the tour to get to 215 total.  So not much to write about.  The next day would be better.

On the morning of the 10th we had special access to the Santa Margarita Ranch bluff overlooking the Rio Grande River and looking into Mexico.  We were targeting two very important South Texas specialties the Ringed Kingfisher and the Red Billed Pigeon.  Both were high on my list of photos wanted.  The bluff itself was very cool – a pretty spot maybe a couple hundred feet above the river – and precariously perched so tour members with a problem with heights had to stand far back.  Maybe 30 minutes after we arrived Barry Zimmer announced that there were Red Billed Pigeons out over the river and flying our way.  I snapped a quick picture for the record thinking that would be it.  But we got lucky as the Pigeons perched on a relatively nearby snag just upriver from us – and fortunately on the U.S. side of the river.  Had they been on the Mexico side, they would not have been “countable” in the ABA area because it is the location of the bird and not the birder that is determinative.  The perched Pigeons were a much better photo op even in pretty low quality light.

Red Billed Pigeon

Looking at the photo, it is hard to figure out why this species is called the “Red” Billed Pigeon as the bill looks decidedly  yellow.  A very close look shows a tiny bit of red at the very base of the bill.  There must be a better name – but the only thing I cared about was the observation and the Life ABA Photo.

Shortly thereafter Barry called out our other target bird as a Ringed Kingfisher flew by.  The Ringed Kingfisher is quite local along the Rio Grande River and is the largest kingfisher in North America.  It kept going and I was pleased to get some decent flight shots.  Another new ABA Photo.

Ringed Kingfisher in Flight

Somewhat later another or the same Ringed Kingfisher flew by and this time perched below us.  The light had not gotten any better and in fact there were a few raindrops so a difficult photo but one that clearly shows the rufous underparts.

Ringed Kingfisher

An Osprey had been perched near us the whole time.  I had concentrated on the two specialties but with them now found, I gave this beautiful bird its due and took its picture.  A few seconds later his (or her) mate came by and the two flew off together.

Osprey

There had been other birds along the river including a mixed flock of various egrets and herons and a pair of Mexican Mallards, another Altamira Oriole and many Neotropic Cormorants.  Now the rain clouds were strengthening and having found our targets, it was time to hike back to the vans.  It had been an exceptionally good visit.

We drove some area roads looking for desert birds.  We had some – but not exceptional views or photo ops except for a very nice Black Tailed Gnatcatcher and killer looks of a Cactus Wren.  The biggest disappointment was that we could hear a close by Scaled Quail (or two) but could not draw it out for a visual.

Black Tailed Gnatcatcher

Cactus Wren

We continued north and west towards Laredo with an important stop at San Ygnacio where we were looking for one of the birds that was extremely high on my list of targets – the White Collared Seedeater (later in the year split into Morelet’s Seedeater which we saw and the Cinnamon Rumped Seedeater) which is found only in a very few areas right on the river.  It would be an ABA Life Bird and if photographed, a Life photo.  The San Ygnacio Bird Sanctuary was a pretty scruffy looking place – not a lot of maintenance but we were able to find the White Collared Seedeater.  Barry and Carlos had picked up its call pretty quickly but it was very difficult to get a visual.  In fact this was one of the only times during the trip when I was the one to find the bird – seen just briefly by only a couple of us and a terrible photo by me.  So I had the Life Bird and the Life Photo, but I won’t include it here since I got a much better one the next day. A photo I will include is of a Yellow Breasted Chat which responded immediately to the playback and came in for great views.

Yellow Breasted Chat

We had a flyover of another Audubon’s Oriole and our first Black Phoebe of the trip.  Oddly we had another important bird here – a House Finch – the first of the trip.  They are commonplace almost everywhere else but hard to find in South Texas.  We drove some more local roads and had a very quick flyby from a Blue Grosbeak – another new species for the trip.  We also finally got a good look at a Pyrrhuloxia – a bird we had heard but not seen the day before.  We arrived in Laredo – the final hotel stop for the trip and since the tour would end at midday the next day, this was the night for our celebration dinner.  The Blue Grosbeak was the 232nd species seen on the tour – beating last year’s record of 230.

The next morning was a late start with a visit to our last site – the area adjacent to the Rio Grand River just east of the international bridge in Laredo.  Once again we were looking for White Collared Seedeaters.  Barry was shocked to see the devastation of what had been great habitat for this difficult species.  The Border Patrol had cleared out almost all of the appropriate high grass vegetation.  Nevertheless we found a couple of Seedeaters and I was able to get a passable photo.

White Collared Seedeater

We also had flybys of both Green and Ringed Kingfishers – glad that we had much better looks earlier.  We had seen many Great Kiskadees during our tour but none gave us better views than one at this spot.

Great Kiskadee

Time to end the tour.  We headed to the airport and as we pulled in there was yet another Scissor Tailed Flycatcher.  We had seen hundreds during the tour and never got tired of this beautiful bird.  Barry requested that everyone close their eyes after seeing this last one – to be sure that it was the last bird seen on the visit.  A fitting end.

A couple of the participants carried on with Barry and Carlos to the Hill Country on a tour extension.  I had to be back in Edmonds before the tour would end so I could not join them and instead rented a car and headed off to the same area on my own.  It had been a great tour – yes a couple of misses but so many great birds including most of those targeted.  I ended the official tour with three ABA Life Birds – Whooping Crane, Tropical Parula and White Collared Seedeater.  I had photos of each of them and new ABA Life photos of 11 others.  South Texas is simply amazing!!