Red-flanked Bluetail in New Jersey! ~ December 16, 2023

On December 5th, Harry Riker noticed a small bird in his New Jersey backyard and thankfully got some photos of it. He couldn't figure out what it was, so he posted the photos on a Facebook page called "Backyard Bird-Watching & Feeders" with the caption "Need help. Merlin doesn't know. Whiting, NJ." Eventually, it was determined to be a Red-flanked Bluetail, a Siberian bird that engages in a distant migration to places like Japan and southeast Asia! Rarely, a bird will migrate off course and end up in the United States. Most of those U.S. records are from Alaska and the West Coast states. The most eastern record prior to this bird was from southeastern Wyoming, so this bird was the first record for the eastern two-thirds of the United States!

When the word got out that the bird was a Red-flanked Bluetail, birders descended on the small community the next morning. When it was successfully refound that morning, the numbers of birders exponentially grew over the next few days with birders arriving from as far away as Nova Scotia and Georgia, to name a few. A fairly strong coastal storm moved in on the 10th. There were no reports of the bird on the 10th or 11th. Due to other obligations, I wasn't able to try for the bird until Tuesday, the 12th. Many assumed it had moved on before the storm. I spent about five hours there with about a dozen birders, but none of us saw it. Again, there were no sightings from the 13th. Then on the 14th, there was one report without a photo of the bird being seen late in the day, which was promising but was met with some skepticism. I decided to try a second and last time on Saturday to see if I could refind it.

I left around 6:00 AM and got there around 8:00. I was the only birder there. I parked outside the development and walked in to Harry's house. Harry came out and told me that the bird had not been seen all week except for the aforementioned report on late Thursday. I walked around to the Juniper Street side of the woods since the sun was hitting that side. A Cooper's Hawk was perched in a tree farther up the street. Hopefully, it hadn't captured a small bird with a blue tail.

An adult Cooper's Hawk

A Hermit Thrush was feeding along the edge of the woods and in one of the holly trees.

Hermit Thrush

After a careful check of the Juniper Street side, I walked back around to the Spring Street side, parked myself alongside 26B Spring Street, and began looking. At around 10:10, I noticed a bird fly up from the back of the woods and land on a branch at about mid-level. At the same time, the resident from 2B Juniper Street walked up along the side of his house and said, "The bird's right in front of you!" Later, I found out that he had seen the bird on a low branch and on the ground about 10 feet from his back window where it flew up into the woods just before he tried to get a cell phone photo of it. That's when I first noticed it. It flew a little to the right and perched on another branch just long enough for me to see its field marks and pumping blue tail. Just as I was ready to snap a photo, it took off, flew over my head, and went into the holly behind Harry Riker's house at 2A Spring Street. I saw it fly around there once and then lost it behind the holly. It was my first one for the United States. I sent out a text alert to let others know that the bird was indeed still present. Several birders began filing in over the next few hours. I stayed until around 2:00, hoping to see it again and maybe get a photo, but that didn't happen. When I left, there were eleven cars parked along the road.

I had previously seen one in almost the same plumage near Vancouver, Canada back on February 18, 2013. Since I didn't get a photo of the New Jersey bird, here are some of the photos of the Vancouver bird.

Red-flanked Bluetail

Red-flanked Bluetail with a worm.

It was fun talking with Harry Riker about his "life-changing experience" with the bird and the hundreds of birders that came to see his incredible find. I want to thank him and his neighbors' fantastic cooperation allowing birders around and, in some cases, on their properties.

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Texas Trip ~ November 29, 2023

I had been reading reports of many "hot" birds that were being seen in Texas. The story I heard was that they were having a drought in Mexico, which was pushing birds up into Texas. When the count rose to five "life birds", a rare thing for one area when your life list is over 860 species, I called Jason Horn to see if he wanted to join me. When he said he was "in", I set up a non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Houston for the early morning of the 29th.

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Wednesday, November 29th

I picked up Jason around 4:45 AM and we headed for the Philadelphia Airport. It was good that I chose not to book the connecting flight on to San Antonio because we took off an hour late due to a technical issue with our plane and would probably have missed the connection in the process.

We got our rental car in short order, worked our way through Houston, and drove the 3.5 hours to Corpus Christi, where our first target bird was being seen. We parked at the corner Schatzell and Chaparral Streets and started looking for the Cattle Tyrant, a 1st North American record that somehow got here from South America! We were checking the area for it when two birders told us that it was about a block to the south. We thanked them, walked over there, and spotted the bird catching flies around a dumpster. The bird was pretty much oblivious to us. At one point, it grabbed a fly less than a foot away from my hip! It spent some time flycatching from a tinted window. I wondered if it was checking its reflection, hoping that it was another bird of its species to join up with. Here are some of the photos I got of my first "lifer" for the trip.

Cattle Tyrant

Cattle Tyrant with its orange crown stripe exposed.

It was ironic that the bird was hopping around the base of a "Wrong Way" sign since it had definitely gone in the wrong direction.

Cattle Tyrant at the base of the "Wrong Way" sign.

Jason wanted to look for the American Flamingos that were being seen near Port Aransas, so we went to "Charlie's Pasture" and walked the boardwalk out to the observation tower. Three Whooping Cranes, two adults and one young bird, were feeding in the distance to the north of the tower.

Whooping Cranes

Soon after, Jason spotted the three American Flamingos flying in from the bay side. They flew back and forth, allowing me to get some half-decent flight shots of them before landing.

American Flamingos

On the way back out, we saw both the white morph and dark morph of the Reddish Egret.

The white morph of Reddish Egret.

The dark or normal morph of Reddish Egret.

Other birds seen there included Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, American Avocet, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed and Laughing Gull, Black Skimmer, Double-crested Cormorant, American White and Brown Pelican, Little Blue and Tricolored Heron, Snowy and Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Belted Kingfisher, Loggerhead Shrike, and Savannah Sparrow.

We left the Corpus Christi area and started the 2.5 hour drive to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Along the way, we saw Greater White-fronted Goose, Pied-billed Grebe, White-winged Dove, American Coot, Wilson's Snipe, White-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, and Eastern Meadowlark. We spent the night at a motel in Harlingen, north of Brownsville.

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Texas Trip ~ November 30, 2023

We drove to Resaca de la Palma State Park near Brownsville where two life birds were being seen, getting there at first light. We walked out the tram road just past the visitor center looking for the Gray-collared Becard. Right away, the bird was heard calling a few times, so it seemed like we were going to find it pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it remained too far back in the trees and brush to get a look at it.

After not hearing the bird for a long while after that, Jason suggested that we go out the tram road to the dry resaca and look for my other possible 'lifer', which was a Roadside Hawk, a species that has only been seen about a dozen times in the United States, all in Texas. As we approached the area where it was often seen, another birder motioned to us that he had the bird. There, on a large tree stump between the two viewing platforms at the end of the Ebony Trail was the Roadside Hawk, my second 'life bird' for the trip! The lighting and distance were not good for photos, but I took a few for documentation purposes.

Distant photos of the Roadside Hawk.

Thanks to Jason's "injured rabbit squeaking", the hawk flew in and landed directly behind us, revealing its vertical barring on the throat and horizontal barring on the chest!

A frontal view of the Roadside Hawk.

It made a short flight to the other side of the road where I got these nice photos of it.

Roadside Hawk

We walked back to the area around the visitor center. An Altamira Oriole perched at the top of a tree in the parking area.

Altamira Oriole

A report was floating around that two birders had seen the Gray-collared Becard near the bus parking area around 8:00. By now, the winds were around 25 miles per hour with higher gusts. We methodically searched the area around there and the rest of the parking lot but couldn't find it. We did come across a warbler flock that contained Nashville, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, and Black-throated Green, plus Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a nearby Least Flycatcher.

Nashville Warbler

Least Flycatcher

A Harris's Hawk flew low over the lot and landed in a tree. It was interesting that it had a band on its left leg.

A Harris's Hawk with a band on its left leg.

Jason spotted a bird flying overhead. The cinnamon-colored wings and long bill that had some mud on it identified it as a Long-billed Curlew.

Long-billed Curlew

Two days before, the Gray-collared Becard had spent a good part of the afternoon at the bird blind area located behind the visitor center. We occasionally checked that area out, too, but were not having any luck. The birds coming to the water feature at the blind provided some nice photo possibilities while I was there. I couldn't resist taking photos of the brilliantly-colored Green Jays. Also there were Plain Chachalacas, an Olive Sparrow, and an Orange-crowned and a Wilson's Warbler.

Green Jays

Plain Chachalacas

Olive Sparrow

Orange-crowned Warbler

We stayed until dusk without seeing the other target bird. Other birds noted there included White-tipped and Inca Dove, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Black-crested Titmouse, and 'flyovers' of Sandhill Crane, American White Pelican, White-tailed Hawk, and Crested Caracara. We went to a Golden Corral and made up for the lack of food during the day. We once again spent the night at the same motel in Harlingen.

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Texas Trip ~ December 1, 2023

We returned just before dawn to Resaca de la Palma State Park near Brownsville to again try and find the target bird. When we arrived, a Common Pauraque was calling nearby. At dawn, we began searching all the spots along the tram road and around the parking area with no luck. Out near the entrance to the park, two Crested Caracaras were perched on a telelphone pole.

Crested Caracara.

At around 8:30, someone spotted the Rose-throated Becard that was also being sporadically seen there near the entrance to the Ebony Trail. I managed to get one fairly good photo of the bird, which is either a female or a first-year male.

Rose-throated Becard

A pair of Bronzed Cowbirds were seen in one of the trees in the center of the parking area.

A young male Bronzed Cowbird.

Around 9:50, someone spotted the Gray-collared Becard near the maintenance area. Several birders had gathered by the time I got there. It was tough to find the bird through the leaves and branches. That's when the bird flew out of the tree in the direction of the parking lot and disppeared into the thicker vegetation. All I saw was a glimpse of it in flight. Everyone headed back out to the parking lot and started searching the area. After about 10 minutes of looking, I decided to go back to the spot where it was found. There were three other birders checking near there. They happened to spot it, but in the five seconds it took me to get to where they were, I once again saw it fly out of the tree and drop into an area out of view. I ended up getting two teasing and frustrating glimpses of the bird. We continued to check all the spots where it had been seen in previous days, but it was not seen the rest of the day. A very tiny consolation prize was getting this photo of a White-tipped Dove at the bird blind.

White-tipped Dove

We left the state park and drove the short distance to Oliveira Park in Brownsville, getting there around dusk. This park has a large parrot roost. I saw and got some mediocre photos of White-fronted Parrots and saw some Red-lored Parrots fly by. Both birds have been established there for a while now and may be accepted by the American Birding Association in the near future.

White-fronted Parrot

At dark, we started the 1.5 hour drive to our motel in Rio Grande City since we were scheduled to join a walk into the Santa Margarita Ranch early the next morning.

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Texas Trip ~ December 2, 2023

We left the motel, drove the 45 minutes west to the Santa Margarita Ranch, and parked at the border wall where we met Simon Kiacz and Zach Johnson, who were our two guides for the day.

The border wall on the Santa Margarita Ranch.

The only way to get into the ranch is through them and a few other guides that have been granted authorized access by the ranch owners. The ranch held two possible 'lifers' rarely seen in the United States, plus both birds were tough to get a look at. Eleven of us walked out to the bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande River.

Jason at the bluff overlooking the Rio Grande River.

Soon after we set up on the bluff, Red-billed Pigeons flew by. I got some underexposed photos of them.

Red-billed Pigeons

There was a nice view of the river towards Salineno with Falcon Dam visible in the distance. There was an island in the river that had a good number of birds on and around it. Two Muscovy Ducks were on that island.

Muscovy Ducks

A Limpkin, which was only one of two records for the Lower Rio Grande, was present near the American shore. A very distant, crappy photo was taken of it.

A very distant photo of a Limpkin.

Other birds around the island included Great Blue Heron, Great and Snowy Egret, White Ibis, and Roseate Spoonbill.

A Great Blue Heron (upper left), a Snowy Egret (bottom left), three White Ibis (bottom center), and two Roseate Spoonbills (bottom right).

Three Roseate Spoonbills (left), a Snowy Egret (center), and a Great Egret (right).

One of the Roseate Spoonbills flew in and landed right below us.

Roseate Spoonbill

Other 'fly-by' birds included American White Pelican, both Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorant, and Caspian Tern.

American White Pelican

The larger Double-crested Cormorant (left) and the smaller Neotropic Cormorant (right).

There were some very distant Brown Jays perched in a tree west of the bluff. Other birds seen from there included Greater White-fronted Goose, Wood Duck, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Sora, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Anhinga, Green Heron, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered and Gray Hawk, Ringed, Belted, and Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Eastern and Black Phoebe, and Altamira Oriole.

We walked back out to our cars and drove over to another section of the ranch. We birded the area around the ranch houses and corrals and found Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-throated Sparrow, and Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Zach Johnson, our other guide, turned over a sheet of corrugated metal and found a scorpion that we all got to see up close.

A scorpion

We walked down to the Rio Grande River and continued east on a road paralleling the river. We walked down a wash and worked our way to a cove along the American side. Simon, the one guide, saw one of our target birds fly down this cove. After some searching, the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron was found perched on a branch along the edge of the cove! It was tough to get a clear view of the bird through all of the branches, but I was happy to get some fairly good photos of this 3rd United States record! It was my third life bird of the trip.

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

A Dusky-capped Flycatcher and a Hammond's Flycatcher were two other notable birds found in that area. I only got one terrible photo of the Dusky-capped, but I got two fairly good ones of the Hammond's.

Hammond's Flycatcher

Other birds seen on this walk included White-winged Dove, Osprey, Harris's Hawk, Crested Caracara, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Green Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Black-crested Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Olive Sparrow, and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warbler. On the way back out, a Blue Spiny Lizard clung to the trunk of a tree.

Blue Spiny Lizard

We left the ranch in the mid-afternoon and made the short drive to the Salineno Wildlife Preserve. The feeders were pretty quiet. I took a photo of a Great-tailed Grackle showing off its irridescent colors.

Great-tailed Grackle

Down at the river, a Least Grebe was diving nearby. We walked the trail west along the river and came to a spot where an island was in view, which held Black Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Great Kiskadee. Right next to the vantage point, I spotted a Morelet's Seedeater and got some backlit photos of it.

Morelet's Seedeater

We drove into the town of Roma, grabbed something to eat at the Dairy Queen, and then drove back out to the ranch to hopefully see the 2nd United States record of Mottled Owl. The only other United States record of Mottled Owl was one that was found dead near Bentsen Rio Grande State Park back in 1983. We walked all the way back in to the wash near where we had earlier seen the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and stood silently in the dark. A few calls of smaller owls were played and I saw the silhouette of an owl fly into a nearby tree. I was waiting for the guides to put a spotlight on it, but when the light came on, there was no owl there. It flew off a short distance and called a couple times. Eventually, it came back in. Jason saw where it went and put his light on it. Almost immediately, it took off again. I saw it fly off in his light, never getting to see its face. There was no doubt that it was the Mottled Owl! I just wish I would have gotten a better look at it. We walked backed out, slightly disappointed with the quick, poor look we got at it, but that's the way it goes with birding sometimes.

We did the 1.5 hour drive back to the same Harlingen motel we had stayed at the first two nights of the trip.

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