Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Texas Trip ~ January 10, 2022

Since I didn't have to be at the airport until 2:30 PM, I decided to go to Hermann Park in Houston where another Tropical Parula had been seen pretty regularly. I got there at 8:40 and started walking around the outside of the "Urban Forest". It was pretty cold and windy, not very favorable for a warbler, so I figured it might be feeding in the more sheltered areas. As I was walking south on the eastern loop of the trail inside the forest, I came across a small group of birds that included a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, an Eastern Phoebe, two Pine Warblers, one Orange-crowned and a Wilson's Warbler, and finally the Tropical Parula! At one point, it was pretty close to me, allowing me to get some pretty nice photos.
The bird did show a hint of eye-arcs depending on how the light hit its face. The Sibley guide shows a portrait of a "rare variant" with pale eye-arcs and I wondered if this bird fit that. With everything else pointing to Tropical, I don't think that this bird reaches the Tropical x Northern Parula hybrid classification.

As per my plan determined the night before, I left the park in the late morning and headed to the Sheldon Lake State Park fishing access area where a Limpkin had been reported. Almost immediately, I spotted the Limpkin feeding in among the trees. A little later, I saw it again perched in some brush.

There were large numbers of Neotropic Cormorants flying around, feeding, and roosting. I conservatively counted around 150 birds just in that area.

A small group of Common Galliules fed along the edges and a young Tricolored Heron was seen through the brush.

A few White Ibis were present, including this young bird that was with some Snowy Egrets.
Other birds seen here included American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, among a group of 67 Great Egrets.

From there, it was off to lunch at a Cracker Barrel for some chicken and dumplings before heading to the airport. I drove 1,114 miles over 4-1/2 days and saw exactly 100 species. Many more photos can be found in my Texas Photo Album.

Texas ~ January 6-10, 2022

1) Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2) Mottled Duck
3) Gadwall
4) Green-winged Teal
5) Northern Pintail
6) Northern Shoveler
7) Blue-winged Teal
8) Cinnamon Teal
9) Redhead
10) Lesser Scaup
11) Common Loon
12) Least Grebe
13) Pied-billed Grebe
14) American White Pelican
15) Brown Pelican
16) Anhinga
17) Neotropic Cormorant
18) Double-crested Cormorant
19) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
20) Black-crowned Night-Heron
21) Green Heron
22) Tricolored Heron
23) Little Blue Heron
24) Snowy Egret
25) Great Egret
26) Great Blue Heron
27) White-faced Ibis
28) White Ibis
29) Roseate Spoonbill
30) Turkey Vulture
31) Black Vulture
32) Osprey
33) White-tailed Kite
34) Northern Harrier
35) Cooper's Hawk
36) Harris's Hawk
37) Gray Hawk
38) Red-tailed Hawk
39) White-tailed Hawk
40) Crested Caracara
41) Bat Falcon ***
42) American Kestrel
43) Merlin
44) Peregrine Falcon
45) Limpkin
46) Common Gallinule
47) American Coot
48) Sandhill Crane
49) Whooping Crane
50) Black-necked Stilt
51) Greater Yellowlegs
52) Least Sandpiper
53) Long-billed Dowitcher
54) Laughing Gull
55) Ring-billed Gull
56) Herring Gull
57) Rock Pigeon
58) Mourning Dove
59) Eurasian Collared-Dove
60) White-winged Dove
61) White-tipped Dove
62) Common Pauraque
63) Belted Kingfisher
64) Golden-fronted Woodpecker
65) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
66) Ladder-backed Woodpecker
67) Eastern Phoebe
68) Vermilion Flycatcher
68) Tropical Kingbird
69) Great Kiskadee
70) Loggerhead Shrike
71) Blue Jay
72) Green Jay
73) American Crow
74) Black-crested Titmouse
75) Verdin
76) Carolina Wren
77) Ruby-crowned Kinglet
78) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
79) American Robin
80) Clay-colored Thrush
81) Northern Mockingbird
82) Long-billed Thrasher
83) Red-vented Bulbul *
84) European Starling
85) Orange-crowned Warbler
86) Tropical Parula
87) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler
88) Pine Warbler
89) Wilson's Warbler
90) Savannah Sparrow
91) Lincoln's Sparrow
92) Song Sparrow
93) Northern Cardinal
94) Eastern Meadowlark
95) Red-winged Blackbird
96) Great-tailed Grackle
97) Brewer's Blackbird
98) Bronzed Cowbird
99) House Finch
100) House Sparrow

*** denotes life bird.
* denotes 'Lower 48' bird.

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Steller's Sea-Eagle in Maine! ~ January 1, 2022

Way back on August 30, 2020, a Steller's Sea-Eagle was photographed near Denali National Park in Alaska. Local birders looked for it, but it was never refound. Then, in March of 2021, what had to be the same bird was photographed at Coleto Creek Reservoir in southeastern Texas. Again, the bird was never refound. In late June, the bird was discovered along the Restigouche River on the border between New Brunswick and Quebec. Over the next six weeks, the bird was sporadically seen on the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec. On November 3rd, it was rediscovered along the Avon River in Nova Scotia where it stayed for only two days. On December 19th, word leaked out that the bird had been seen on December 12th along the Taunton River in Massachusetts.

Early the next day, December 20th, it was spotted by birders. I joined Jason Horn and Rick Wiltraut and we drove the roughly 4-1/2 hours to where it was being seen. Even though we left soon after its finding, we found out that the bird had flown off about a half-hour before we got there. We stayed overnight and spent the entire next day looking for the bird, but it had once again flown off to parts unknown.

That was until Friday afternoon when a property owner on the coast of Maine took a photo of it from her porch! The photo was posted late in the afternoon, but the few "locals" that were able to reach the site before dark couldn't find it. Then early on Saturday, birders refound the bird in the same general area. I met Mike and Corinne Schall and Jon Mularczyk at the Route 33 'Park and Ride' around 11 PM on New Year's Eve and drove the seven hours to Maine.

We got there about a half-hour before daylight on New Year's Day, set up on the dock at Five Islands, and started looking for the bird at dawn. While looking, some of the notable birds we saw included Common Eider, Surf Scoter, Purple Sandpiper, Black Guillemot, Red-throated and Common Loon, and Bald Eagle. I got photos of some of them.
Rain was expected to move in soon. Somewhere around 9 AM in light drizzle, I was scoping to the north and spotted a dark blob on the shore of a rocky island. I had my scope at its 45-power limit when the blob flew a very short distance away from me and landed on top of the rocky island. As it flew, I noticed a mostly dark bird with a white tail. My initial thought was Bald Eagle, but now the bird was standing in a profile position and I was pretty sure I was seeing a white shoulder patch! Jon was right next to me with his 60-power Swarovski scope, so I asked if I could take a look through his scope. When I cranked it all the way up to the max, the white shoulder patch was pretty obvious and when the bird turned its head, I could see a large beak. I was 99% positive that I was looking at the Steller's Sea-Eagle! I told Jon to take a look and see what he thought, and he looked at me with a big grin on his face. He called over Mike and Corinne to take a look before we announced that we had the bird in the scope. We directed others on it, but I figured it was at least a half-mile away. I was really hoping that this wasn't going to be the only look I had of it. Soon afterwards, it took off and luckily flew towards us but disappeared behind the trees on the near shoreline. Seconds later, Jon spotted it as it reappeared from behind the trees and glided along the west side of Crow Island where it landed in the top of a tree just to the north of our location! I quickly snapped photos, not sure how long it was going to be in sight.

The excitement combined with the clicking of camera shutters took over the dock. I was too enthralled to look at the time, but I believe it was around 9:30 when the bird took off and flew right by us!

It then landed atop another tree on Malden Island, the island just to the south of the dock.

Eventually, it flew farther away, landing on a snag for a while before flying off to the south. The twenty or so birders that were present at first light had now turned into at least a hundred enjoying the show. We left soon after with huge smiles on our faces that, as Clark Griswold said in the "Vacation" movie, we were going to have to get surgically removed. I was back home by 6:30 PM and, even though I had driven the whole 884 miles without sleep, I was still wired enough to spend the next several hours processing my photos, which turned out fairly well given the drizzly, overcast conditions. It was a very Happy New Year.

This bird represents the first ever record for Canada and the first ever record for the Lower 48 states! If interested, more photos of the bird can be found in my Maine Adventures Album.

Monday, December 27, 2021

Wild Creek/Little Gap Christmas Bird Count ~ December 26, 2021

Following are some of the highlights from the Wild Creek/Little Gap Christmas Bird Count that I was able to get photos of. I was joined by Jason Horn and Adam and Owen Smith. We ended up finding 56 species on what turned out to be a pretty nice day.

In mid-morning, I took this long-distant documentation photo of two adult Bald Eagles that were perched on one of the tall powerline towers near Church Road.
Along nearby Rabbit Road, an adult Peregrine Falcon was perched on another tower and had an unlucky bird in its talons.

A stop along S. Oaks Road on Graver's Hill produced a small group of 18 Horned Larks.

In the afternoon, along West End Road, four more Bald Eagles were seen flying around and feeding on something in the corn-stubbled field.

In State Game Lands 168, a lingering Gray Catbird was spotted through the thick brush.
An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk perched in a tree directly over Kern Road, allowing us to slowly drive underneath it.

Also on Kern Road, the good-sized pond held a Great Blue Heron.
Along S. Summit Road, a Winter Wren put on a show, providing some of the best looks I've had of this species in a while.

Along Trach Road, a male American Kestrel posed as I took his photo through the sunroof.

Friday, December 17, 2021

TWO Ross's Geese at Seiple's farm pond! ~ December 17, 2021

In the mid-afternoon, I checked out the Silver Crest Road retention pond to see if the Greater White-fronted Goose had returned. I didn't find it, but I did see a Cackling Goose that posed for me right in front of two Canada Geese. The smaller size, silvery coloration, shorter neck, block-shaped head, steep forehead, and stubbier bill is real obvious when compared with the other two.
From there, I drove over to Seiple's farm pond in East Allen Township. Bill Etter was there when I arrived and had just found a Ross's Goose among the many Snow Geese. We were scanning over the other birds when I refound the Ross's Goose and realized that there was another one right next to it! I got Bill on them and we watched as both of them swam around the pond together. It was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to photograph two Ross's Geese in one frame in our area. Note the much smaller size, much shorter neck, and stubby bill with no 'grin patch' compared to the surrounding Snow Geese.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

An afternoon with Northern Shrike and Greater White-fronted Goose ~ December 15, 2021

I stopped at Ballas Park in the early afternoon and, surprisingly within a half-hour, spotted the Northern Shrike, which continued in the brushy area on the east side of the trail loop.

Later in the afternoon, I checked out the Silver Crest Road retention pond. As I walked up to the fence, I noticed a smaller goose among the many Canadas. The silvery coloration, short neck, steep forehead, and fairly stubby bill confirmed it to be a Cackling Goose.
While continuing to search through the Canadas, I then found a Greater White-fronted Goose where I got much better photos than I previously had of this species.

Also present there among the group were a Great Blue Heron and a single Snow Goose.
As dusk approached, a couple thousand Snow Geese appeared in the eastern sky and flew overhead. I assumed that these birds were coming from the Nazareth Quarry where tens of thousands have been almost filling it.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Five Iceland Gulls at the Nazareth Quarry! ~ December 1, 2021

Once again, I made a late afternoon stop at the Nazareth Quarry. As I got there, a large group of gulls started circling down into the quarry among the thousands of Snow Geese. I had just picked out one adult Iceland Gull among good numbers of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls when Adam Miller showed up. Between the two of us, we were able to find a total of FIVE Iceland Gulls! The adult that I found showed dark gray bars on the primaries and the adult Adam found had very faint (almost non-existent) markings there. There were also THREE first-winter birds found in the same general grouping. I was only able to get a documentation photo of one of the two adults through the trees and brush.