Variegated Flycatcher in FL ~ October 28-30, 2015

On Wednesday, Jason Horn and I left his house around 10:30 AM and headed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After driving through rain for two-thirds of the way, we arrived at Evergreen Cemetery a couple hours before sunrise on Thursday morning. We got a quick snooze in before walking into the cemetery where several birders had already found the Variegated Flycatcher. We spent several hours checking out and photographing this rarity from South America.

We birded the rest of the cemetery, which was full of migrants. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, an Anhinga, and this immature White Ibis were along tiny Cliff Lake, which borders the cemetery.

An Ovenbird walked along its edge.

The trees along the border of the cemetery produced warblers that included Magnolia, Black-and-white, Yellow-throated, Bay-breasted, Northern Parula, and American Redstart. A White-eyed Vireo was also present.

At least a hundred Palm Warblers worked the grassy areas among the tombstones. Other birds seen there were Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Summer Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Cardinal, and a flock of parakeets, which were probably Mitreds.

Jason suggested that we head for nearby Royal Palm Park where I had the opportunity to get another "countable" bird. There, we found one Egyptian Goose on the strip between the two pools.

Common Gallinules were walking along the shore.

An adult White Ibis was also there. Was its missing foot the result of an encounter with an Alligator?

Other birds seen at the park included Mallard, Tricolored Heron, Limpkin, and Boat-tailed Grackle.

We left there around noon and began the long, 19-hour drive back home. Birds seen along the way included Cattle Egret, Wood Stork, Osprey, Bald Eagle, and Red-shouldered Hawk. I backed into the garage at around 1:30 on Friday afternoon with the trip odometer reading 2,528 miles.

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Anhinga at John Heinz N.W.R. ~ September 25, 2015

Jason Horn and I discussed the recent Anhinga sightings in Philadelphia and decided to give it a try. I planned on meeting him at his house at around 5 AM, but that plan was squashed when I discovered I had a flat tire. Jason told me he'd pick me up at my house instead. We got to the refuge at around 7:30 and parked ourselves in the middle of the boardwalk since it was the best vantage point away from the taller trees. At around 9:45, Adrian Binns spotted the bird over the pond by the oil refinery tanks. It slowly circled over us as it gained altitude and drifted off to the south. It was a new state bird for both of us.

I lost the bird out over the vicinity of I-95 about 10 minutes later. We walked over to the dike and were watching some warblers when, around 10:15, I spotted the bird coming back towards us. We watched it glide directly over us and back into the same pond it took off from a half hour before.

Other birds seen there included Wood Duck, Wild Turkey, Double-crested Cormorant, Green Heron, Snowy and Great Egret, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Common Gallinule, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Caspian Tern, Chimney Swift, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat, and American Redstart.

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Glossy Ibis at Green Pond, Northampton County ~ May 2, 2015

While walking the Plainfield Recreation Trail, I ran into Kathy Sieminski, who mentioned that she had some Eastern Meadowlarks just up the road from the trail. I followed her up to the spot along Benders Church Road and saw them flying over the field when we pulled up. Kathy left while I slowly drove around the area. At one point, a Grasshopper Sparrow sang from a perch along the road.

On the way back home, I decided to stop at the flooded field by Green Pond to see what the water level was and what was there. The area had really shrunk in size since the last time I was there and was quickly drying up. A quick scan with binoculars revealed a bunch of yellowlegs and what appeared to be Least Sandpipers with them. So, I got out my scope and starting checking them out. I came up with 15 Lesser and 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, and 45 Least Sandpipers. I decided to do a second sweep to see if I'd missed anything amongst the stubble and surprisingly found a Glossy Ibis, which must have dropped in while I was scanning. I made sure that it wasn't a White-faced Ibis and then started to call another birder about it when the bird took off and headed due west. I quicked grabbed my camera and managed to get a few silhouetted shots as it left the area.

So, the bird was there no more than five minutes! It was definitely a case of "right place, right time."

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California - Vancouver, BC Trip ~ April 25-26, 2015

Doing pelagic trips on rocking and rolling boats is a real struggle in my case. Bending over the side and staring at the water rather than watching the birds is not my idea of fun. So when I heard that huge cruise ships made trips up the entire Pacific and were steady enough that I could use a scope on the deck, I was extremely interested. The Holland America cruise that I had booked would leave San Diego and travel non-stop all the way up to Vancouver, British Columbia---creating what would be the equivalent of a 3-day pelagic. The plan was to fly out two days before the ship's departure. That way, if there happened to be a 'lifer' somewhere within driving distance, I would try for it. If not, I would spend the time birding in the mountains and the desert east of there.

In the early morning of the 25th, I made the drive to the Philadelphia Airport and flew on United Airlines to San Diego with one stop in Chicago. I picked up my rental car in the mid-afternoon and headed for the Laguna Mountains, about an hour east of San Diego. The weather steadily got worse as rain driven by gusts to 40 mph became the 'norm' when I reached the Back Country Inn Motel near the town of Manzanita, where I would stay the next two nights.

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Early on the 26th, I drove down through the pass on I-8 and headed north on Highway 'S2' towards Agua Caliente Regional Park, a desert oasis nestled against the foothills.

Along the way, a young Coyote crossed the road with its parent and paused just long enough for me to get a photo.

Along the park's entrance road, I found Cactus Wren, Blue Grosbeak, and this Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.

Just inside the park, a White-winged Dove perched for a photo.

There was a good number of warblers in the mesquite. I managed to get fairly good photos of Yellow Warbler, the "Audubon's" form of Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a very cooperative Wilson's Warbler.

One bird I hadn't seen in years and was hoping to get a photo of was Costa's Hummingbird. I ended up seeing several with their "Yosemite Sam" gorgets.

A Verdin posed on branch and, later, one was seen feeding a young one.

Just uphill from the camping area, I found a Yellow-breasted Chat and a MacGillvray's Warbler.

Back down in the camping area, a Greater Roadrunner was trotting from site to site.

A Nashville Warbler was feeding among a few Orange-crowneds.

A female Phainopepla and its young were back out near the entrance sign, and just outside the park was a male.

On the way back out to 'S2', I spotted a California Quail right beside the road.

Other notable birds seen at the park were Say's Phoebe, Bell's Vireo, Common Raven, Canyon Wren, California Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Townsend's Warbler, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Brewer's Blackbird, and Scott's, Hooded, and Bullock's Orioles.

I left the park and headed for Jacumba Hot Springs to see if I could get upgraded photos of Tricolored Blackbird, which I definitely did.

While doing that, I met another birder who gave me directions to a spot in town with a couple mulberry trees that held about a dozen Western Tanagers.

I was really surprised to also find an Evening Grosbeak there, too!

I got back on I-8 and headed west, getting off at the Kitchen Creek Road exit. About three miles up Kitchen Creek Road, I stopped and birded the area around the bridge over the creek. A first-year Lazuli Bunting was there as was an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

I also found another bird that I had never been able to get photos of before----Lawrence's Goldfinch. One bird was pretty much oblivious to my presence.

Also found there were Western Bluebird, Western Scrub-Jay, and California Towhee.

Additional birds found by the bridge included Black Phoebe, Cliff Swallow, Warbling Vireo, Bushtit, Wilson's, Townsend's, and Orange-crowned Warblers, Black-chinned Sparrow, and Lesser Goldfinch.

A Black-headed Grosbeak was seen farther up the road at the Cibbets Flat Campground.

Other birds seen at the campground included Acorn and Nutall's Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Oak Titmouse, and Spotted Towhee.

Up near the gated end of the road, a Black-throated Gray Warbler posed for me.

As daylight waned, I headed back to Manzanita for some food and the motel.

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