https://sabo.org/ash-canyon-bird-sanctuary/
Mary Jo passed away over Memorial Day weekend in 2019. I didn't know Mary Jo well, but we have been lucky enough to have visited her on several occasions since the fall of 2015. What I do know about Mary Jo is that she was a gracious and knowledgeable host. She opened her yard up to anyone who to enjoy the many birds that visited her property. On almost every visit, she came out to talk to us. In addition to enjoying her company, I always walked away having learned something new about the birds that visited her yard. I can only imagine the thousands of people from all over the world who visited her home over the years and the countless lifers that they saw there. She didn't write books and she wasn't a guide, but she was just as well known. It didn't take long for her name to be mentioned in just about any conversation about hummingbirds. And it's no wonder, her yard is the best place in the United States to see a Lucifer's hummingbird, and that is no exaggeration. As if that wasn't enough, you could also see a number of other hummingbird species, Scott's Orioles, Arizona Woodpeckers, Bridled Titmice, and more recently Montezuma Quail. Both her and her feathered visitors are special. She will be missed. I didn't take many pictures at Mary Jo's; it wasn't the focus of our visits. Until the past year, there were two areas of her yard where visitors could sit and enjoy. One was in front of the large tree in the top picture. She had hummingbird feeders hung all over it, each one numbered, so that excited visitors could indicate to others where to look among the flurry of activity. The Lucifer Hummingbirds are usually quick to feed and leave, but if you pay attention while watching the feeders you will notice that when they fly in, their wings make a different noise than the other hummingbirds. The second area is along her back patio with brush piles, squirrel feeders, bird feeders, a water feature, and of course, more hummingbird feeders. The orioles, sparrows, and other songbirds prefer this area. It's also where an occasional Violet-crowned hummingbird would show up, which is where I first saw my first one. On more than one occasion, she had a trusting family of turkeys that would show up for dinner and wait as she went inside to get their seed. She told us that the parents started bringing them by as hatchlings (poults). Recently, she had opened up a third area behind the chairs that face the large tree laden with hummingbird feeders. She had created paths, a photo blind, put in plants, and added more brush piles. I think this was to accommodate the Montezuma Quail that had recently returned to her yard. She told us that Lucifer Hummingbirds used to nest near her yard and Montezuma Quail were regulars before the fire in June 2011, which destroyed much of the lower habitat in Ash Canyon. Since the fire, Lucifer hummingbirds visited less regularly, if at all, during the nesting season. She surmised that changes caused by the fire forced them to build their nests too far up canyon, which put them out of range to visit her feeders during the periods of nesting to fledging young. They could still be seen regularly before and after the nesting season as they came up from and before returning to Mexico for the winter. They still weren't nesting nearby, but the Montezuma Quail had finally returned! While we watched two adults pick at the seed she had thrown out for them, she told me to try to get a look at their large feet. She said that an important part of their diet included roots that they dug out of the ground. I had no idea! I figured quail mainly ate bugs, berries, and seeds. I was unable to get a picture of the quail during our visit last fall, so I am going to break one of my rules and include a picture that we took in late October 2011 of the lookout of a covey in the Davis Mountains in Texas. Besides Mary Jo's, this is the only other time that we have seen Montezuma Quail. There was always something to see and even if the birds weren't particularly abundant, it was a relaxing and pleasant place to just be. On one of these occasions, when a Sharp-shinned Hawk was perched in front of her house (that I initially ID'd as a Cooper's Hawk), she taught me to look at the position of the eye in relation to the bill. It's a lesson that to this day has served me well in distinguishing the two similar species. Update: In November 2019, the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO) purchased Mary Jo's property. It remains open to the public except on Thursday mornings. More information can be found here:
https://sabo.org/ash-canyon-bird-sanctuary/
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The Melrose "Woods" are a small stand of cottonwoods and poplars surrounded by grasslands in eastern NM. These woods are known as a migrant trap because during spring and fall migration, unusual birds tend to turn up here, most likely because this small stand of trees stands out among the grasslands. There is a cattle tank on the front of the property that has water and in the woods hummingbird feeders and two bird baths (made of steel drums) are kept filled with some water. There are no bathrooms or potable water sources. Come prepared. Aside from gas stations in the smaller towns, food can be found in Clovis and Fort Sumner. The property appears to be an old homestead with one remaining small structure and the remnants of a stone wall. From what I could gather, the land is owned by the state of New Mexico and it appears to be open to the public. There are not any "No Trespassing" signs, purple paint, or any other indication that this is private land. I was apprehensive about visiting, and even more so when I got there and saw the place, but it turned out to be an enjoyable afternoon of birding. The woods are located about 11 miles west of the town of Melrose. There are no signs or markers, just a small drive and metal gate. There was very little information online and I had hesitated to go because I didn't want to get there and find out that it was private property or that I couldn't get in. Since it was an eBird hotspot and people were reporting from there regularly, I decided to give it a whirl. I pulled up and my heart sank. A locked gate. I turned to my phone to try one more search of how to get in but the signal was not strong enough. When I walked up to the gate, I saw that the chain on the left side could be opened. Be sure to resecure the gate behind you. The first time, I walked through and left my car parked off to the side in the little driveway. After walking the road and stopping to take pics of all the great wildflowers, I got to the trees to find a small parking area and habitat that looked like snake heaven. Shoot. I would need go back to the car and get the jeans and hiking boots that I had brought. This time, I drove through and parked under the cottonwoods. The large cottonwoods were alive with Western Kingbirds, a few Bullock's Orioles, and Kestrels. Everything else, the warblers, flycatchers, and sparrows, were in the poplars. From where I parked, there did not appear to be an easy way into the woods. The area between me and the woods was low to tall brush and lots of wooden and other debris. I decided to pick my way east to the grassland and figured that I could at least bird the perimeter. After I got out into the open and birded most of the eastern edge, I found an easy way into the woods at the back of the property. When I got back to the car after working my way around the western edge of the woods, I looked to the north (in the direction of the small structure) and suddenly a number of small paths leading directly into the woods became obvious. I had walked around looking for an easier way in for quite a while earlier, but somehow I had missed them. Despite my earlier misgivings about snakes, and I'm sure that there are plenty here, I only startled one as I passed by this trail on my way back to the car. I hadn't found the Grace's or Virginia's Warblers that I had come looking for yet, so I decided to take the path back in to the woods. Once you get inside, the woods are fairly open and easy to maneuver. Despite a few hiccups along the way, it was a pleasant area to bird. I didn't get the warblers that I had come looking for, but I was delighted to find a Gray Flycatcher, a Hooded Warbler, a few Wilson's Warblers, a Yellow-breasted Chat, a Nashville Warbler, a Yellow Warbler, a hybrid Yellow-rumped Warbler, and several MacGillivray's Warblers (ahhh my old nemesis bird :), at least one Lincoln's Sparrow, several other flycatchers, and more. When I came out of the woods around sunset, two pairs of Kestrels were calling from the Cottonwoods. The land owner behind the woods had spooked a Great Horned Owl earlier and I came across a feather as well. For those who are also interested in insects and plants, there were plenty to enjoy.
Red-tailed hawks have an amazing array of plumage variations and Harlan's hawks are an excellent example of this variation. Typical light morph western Red-tails (there are also intermediate and dark morph western, light and dark morph Harlan's, eastern, southwestern, and Krider's Red-tails) are buffy underneath with brown accents, but Harlan's hawks lack the buffy tones and their browns are darker than a typical light morph Red-tail. This "black and white" plumage gives them a striking appearance as they are soaring overhead. In addition to this, they have white eye arcs, mostly white or gray tails with a smudgy dark terminal band, and generally have white throats. Harlan's only breed in central Alaska and western Canada. This hawk has heavily feathered legs and appears to have a smaller bill than the "normal" Red-tail. I am going to bet that these are adaptations to breeding so far north. Their winter range is a fairly small area in the central US. Dark morph Harlan's make up at least 85% of the Harlan's population with light morph individuals making up 10% or less of the population (intermediates make up the rest). None of the morphs are common and they are rarely found in the eastern US. Fortunately, this one decided to spend the winter in west Texas! It is very skittish, apparently this is one of the traits of a Harlan's, so views are generally quick and it took seeing it at least three times to be certain that it was a Harlan's. My friend Lena and I first noticed it in mid-November. Jim was able to get a couple of good, but quick pictures through the scope and a photographer that I met while watching the local Red-tails, Craig Curry, has taken some very nice pictures! Watching the Harlan's hawk over the winter has been quite a treat and while doing so I have met new people and made new friends. It quickly became one of my favorite hawks and we will all miss it when it heads north again.
Well, you can't find out about everything. Somehow, I had not heard about the Great Black Hawk. It turns out that it was even seen in Texas in late April. Looking back, there were two emails sent out to the listserv, but we were in Florida and I completely missed them. The same individual would be respotted in Biddeford Pool, Maine for a few days in August. Then, at the end of November it turned up again in the middle of Portland, Maine. Where was it in between these sighings? With a range extending south from Northern Mexico, what made it choose to continue up to Portland and stay there? No one knows and we never will. Looking at the excellent pictures of it in flight that a few people got when it was spotted in Texas, I can't help but wonder how many people saw the rectangular translucent wing patches and wrote it off as an immature Red-tailed Hawk. If they did, you can't blame them. I've had to ask myself what I would have done if I had seen it briefly passing overhead. A wild individual of this species has never been spotted in the United States before (there is a small group that was brought to south Florida back in the 1970's). You read that right, it's looking like this is the FIRST Great Black Hawk to ever arrive in the United States on its own! Fortunately, I did find out about it during the second week of January and it was even still around! We were already in Tennessee for the holidays when I found out about it. Instead of heading back south, we went north. What's a two day drive to see a really cool hawk?!? Yes, we're nuts, but it's better than a four day drive from Texas! Long ago, Jim taught me a phrase that has come back to haunt him many times since "We're closer now than we will be later!" (Don't worry, he loves it, too!) Throw in all the new water birds that we might find and it was a done deal! We arrived in Portland late on the 15th and I couldn't wait to look the next day. It was cold, so we started out mid morning. We arrived at Deering Oaks Park, where it had reliably been seen, and my heart sunk. There were so many trees! The hawk could be perched anywhere among the dense branches. It had looked fairly small on the map, but the park covered a decent area. On top of that, there was a thin layer of snow on the ground but it turned out that the snow, sidewalks, and side of the roads were all covered in ice. As we slid our way across the park, I started by searching a group of spruces that it frequented. Jim got a phone call and hung back on the sidewalk. Thank goodness he did. Another birder who had joined me suddenly turned and asked "Is that person walking towards us with you?" I couldn't see anyone. It turned out that Jim had been trying to get my attention, but every time either one of us moved, the other was hidden behind another tree. I finally saw him and he was excitedly yelling as he quickly moved across the ice towards me. The hawk was on the ground, eating, only a short distance away. Just like Jim, the hawk, and the crown gathering around it, had been blocked from my view by trees. I was getting ready to head in completely the opposite direction to look for it in another favorite spot! My pride got the better of me and I was irked that I had not found it first, but I am so glad that Jim was with me and that I didn't miss a wonderful opportunity to watch it! It was within feet of two intersecting sidewalks and stayed on the ground, eating a frozen squirrel, for at least 40 minutes. As if the whole situation wasn't strange enough, eBird's species description says that the Great Black Hawk is typically wary of people, unlike the similar Common Black Hawk. Well, this bird was going to defy that, too. While taking pictures through my scope from a decent distance, I was shocked by how calm it stayed despite all of the nearby activity. Not only were birders and photographers closing in from two sides but people walked by with their dogs, school children ran by playing, a arguing couple stood feet away having it out, and sirens blared from down the street. Doofy squirrels were even running by it less than a foot away! It was a surreal and incredible experience. Finally, as my fingers were losing all feeling, it flew into a nearby tree. After hopping around from branch to branch, it finally took off for the patch of spruces that I had originally been searching. We looked down for just a second and when we looked back up, it looked like another hawk flew into the spruces and went after the Great Black Hawk. I imagine it was the Red-tailed Hawk that people had been seeing scuffle with it. The Great Black Hawk crashed through branches and worked its way deeper into the spruce until we couldn't see it anymore. Later that day, we found out that a winter storm, Harper, was working its way across the country and likely to unload a couple feet of snow and ice on the northeast. We decided to stay through Friday, when we really should have been leaving, and visit the hawk one more time. As soon as we drove down Park Ave, I spotted it flying up into a tree. What luck! It was very close to where we had seen it a couple of days ago. I hopped out of the car and it stayed comfortably perched in the same tree for at least 30 minutes. A couple of people joined me and as we chatted, it flew in spectacular fashion across the street and out of sight between two houses. eBird reports showing it in flight on South Padre Island:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44917797 https://ebird.org/tx/view/checklist/S44917721 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45023633 Audubon article about this hawk: https://www.audubon.org/news/a-mexican-hawk-maine-has-somehow-survived-two-snowstorms More info about Great Black Hawks: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/grbhaw1/overview Drive to Portland, Maine in the middle of January? Why not! Especially when there is a Great Black Hawk there (believed to be the first wild individual to ever be seen in the United States)! Just try and stop me! The hawk is the main reason that we went, but we had also never been to Maine before and there were a number of water birds up there that we had never seen before. I got to add three new states to my list on this trip! Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine :) We would have gotten to add Vermont if winter storm Harvey hadn't chased us out early. Even though the wind was surprisingly calm for being a coastal town, it was cold. Even when the high was in the 40's, it was cold. When it dropped to a high of 20 the second day, it didn't feel that much colder. Thank goodness it wasn't windy because there was lots to see and do. Portland was a pretty area with lots of lighthouses and picturesque views of their bays and oceans. The lobster roll was good, too :) We went to Deering Oaks Park first to try to find the Great Black Hawk. We got lucky and watched it for at least 40 minutes while it enjoyed its breakfast of a frozen squirrel. We visited this park twice over the three days we spent in Portland. On the second visit, while watching the Great Black Hawk again, a very nice woman agreed to show me the Barred Owl that she had found earlier that day. Apparently, it had ducked down into its hole earlier in the morning because a Red-tailed Hawk had been banging on the tree above its head. Fortunately, by the time we walked over, it was back out again looking sleepy and relaxed. Adorable. I have seen a few Barred Owls before, but they have all been sitting out on branches. I have never seen one in a hole and was amazed at how well its colors and patterns blended into the tree that it was sleeping in. When we weren't at Deering Oaks Park, we were eating or scoping the water. Birds were a little light in quantity, but they made up for it in quality! We got to see Common Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, Harlequin Ducks, lots of Common Loons, a couple of Red-throated Loons, Red-breasted Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, gulls including Iceland and Glaucous, a Thick-billed Murre, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, a Red-necked Grebe, White-winged Scoters, Black Scoters, and Great Cormorants. My best view of Razorbills was at a quick stop in Connecticut on the way back down, but they were up in Portland, too. We stopped at the Portland Fishing Pier and Bug Light Park on the first day. On the second day, we worked our way along Cape Elizabeth stopping at Dyer Point, Two Lights State Park, and then up to Portland Head Lighthouse. We had a great time exploring the beaches. We loved the ice frozen among the rocks and fluorescent sea plants at Dyer Point. On the third day, we went to go see the ice ring that had formed in the Presumpscot River in Westbrook. After a delightful lunch, we headed back to Dyer Point to explore the beaches some more. Just as night began to fall, it started lightly snowing and the snowflakes were beautifully landing on the ice among the rocks. I was all excited to try out my new macro lens for my phone, but the pictures didn't come out as crisp as I had expected. It didn't dawn on me until the next morning that I had forgotten to take the wide angle lens off the combo. Oh well. The snowflakes were pretty anyway!
2018 was a good year. On Dec 31, 2018, as I scrolled through my year's list in eBird and reminisced about each of my sightings, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed looking back through all of them. It gave me a chance to remember all of the places we have been and everything we have seen this year. I was also surprised by both the number of lifers that I had seen and how long it took me to see some species that I don't consider unusual. Here's a look back at some of my favorite birds in 2018... Snowy OwlThe year started off well, very well, with a surprise Snowy Owl showing up in West Texas. It may not have been hanging out in the most picturesque of settings (it was in the parking lot of a tire center), but it was a beautiful owl, easy to get to, and cooperative. This is the closest I have ever been able to get to a Snowy Owl and the most comfortable I have ever been while doing so! Not having to cross thick ice along an open walk way to a jetty in Lake Michigan with the daily high in the teens?!? Yes, please! Best.Look.Ever. Long-eared OwlSo you might be thinking, "how could it get any better than a Snowy Owl in Texas?!?" but for me, it did! An eBird alert went out for a long sought after Long-eared Owl. I was in town and minutes away. I still can't believe that I found it. It was so much smaller and even more adorable than I expected! AnhingasI love their smooth, ink black and bright silver feathers. Pictures just don't do their silky appearance justice. They suck me in every time, whether they are perched or in flight. I even saw them in breeding plumage this year (with the blue skin around their eyes) at Orlando Wetlands Park and found my first nestling and immature Anhingas at Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Petersburg (pictured) and Lake Apopka, FL this year. New FriendsMeeting Henry was a really special experience. I hope to see him next year. This male Hooded Warbler was at Laffite's Cove in Galveston for a couple of days during spring migration. He tended to stay in the same area and was very comfortable around people. When the place cleared out in the evenings and I stood still he would hop all around me, occasionally jumping up to touch my jeans. My best guess is that he was picking bugs off of my jeans, but who knows! No matter what he was really doing, it was very endearing. Of course, I had to name him :) Steve!!! Steve turned out to be a Carolina Jumping Spider (Phidippus carolinensis). I found him on our kitchen cabinets and fortunately chose to take him outside. He triggered my fascination with jumping spiders. He had quite a personality and seemed down right inquisitive. While walking around and exploring the leaves I had set him on, he kept coming back to watch me and eventually jumped back onto my hand. Of course, I had to name him, too. Andy the Alligator. I was fortunate enough to get to hatch two baby alligators in Louisiana this year (all legal, of course). We named one Andy and one Chompy. I love alligators, and they were adorable. It was a fun and educational experience. The owner said that they would be born with their teeth showing but being bit wouldn't hurt. He added that if anyone wanted to be bit by one, to let him know. Well, you know what I had to do! Neither Andy nor Chompy felt like biting me, so I had to get the owner of the farm to get a more aggressive one to bite me. It felt like a light pinch and they weren't able to puncture skin yet, but I can still say that I've been bit by an alligator! :) Let's hope that it's the only time that one does bite me! This little guy was so busy gobbling up the fallen bird seed, that he just about walked over my foot! He was very confiding, a dangerous trait to have with migrating hawks passing over by the thousands. I'm sure all the people around were doing a good job of keeping a sharp-eyed hawk from swooping down! Smart little fellow. Maybe we will name him Charlie :) Unexpected VisitorsImagine my surprise when I looked out into the backyard and saw two Gray Foxes! They didn't spend long before hoping the fence, thanks to the garbage truck coming through, but it was quite an experience! Such beautiful animals! I got another surprise when I looked out the back window and saw an opossum one night! Not the opossum in this picture, but a bigger one. Several months later, I heard a noise, opened the back door, and one shot off like a rocket towards our shed. I didn't know it at the time, but I bet it was the mother and she had her babies with her that night. It wasn't another couple of weeks before I went to take the trash out one evening and spotted two shining eyes looking back at me in the dark. Normally, it would be one of the stray cats, but not tonight. Tonight it was a baby opossum. I jumped back in the house, afraid that I had stepped between it and its mother. After watching for a few minutes, it was still frozen in place and appeared to be alone. Poor little thing. It couldn't have been any bigger than my hand. I did some research and this is the very minimum size that they can be on their own and away from their mothers. All I could do was leave it be and hope for the best. We named it Nibbles (we had already named the adult Bitey after the one in the Simpsons). I hope its warm, full, and happily dreaming of whatever it likes to eat best :) Surprise Sightings!When spring migration is on, just about anything can show up along the Texas coast. While a Yellow-billed Cuckoo may not be unusual, one landing outside of your hotel's window while you are having breakfast won't happen every day! In fact, it's not likely to happen ever again. I couldn't believe it! I think it turned out to be my best bird of the day. Now for a Black-billed Cuckoo to show up during lunch! I was too busy being immersed in the fallout to take pictures, but this was a special week. While I have had many great experiences during April and May in Galveston, this was the first time I have been there during migration when a cold, rainy front came through. The result was a mini fallout! For two days I wandered around the island cold and wet, but it was worth it! Blue-winged Warblers seemed to be everywhere; I had side by side comparisons of Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes; Swamp Sparrows were out in the open; Tanagers, Orioles; warblers, warblers, and more warblers including a Blackburnian and Canada Warbler; and then my first Swainson's Warblers! And of course, I was privileged enough to get to spend time with Henry the Hooded Warbler! A couple of weeks later, the magic of spring migration struck again! We were driving by Dauphin Island, AL and were able stop for a few hours. I was so excited. I have heard wonderful things about birding during migration. A storm was coming through and I was sure there would be a fallout. I was wrong. Most of our time was spent waiting out the rain before giving up and just getting wet. We didn't have much time left when the clouds finally parted. I had started walking the trails again at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary and I saw something white up in the tree. Raising my binoculars, I expected to see a broken branch, but it was a Swallow-tailed Kite! The picture does not do this bird justice. They take your breath away if you are lucky enough to spot one, especially when they are soaring overhead. I snapped a few photos, showed it others that were passing by, and then it flew off. It was spectacular! Early spring is also when Red-cockaded Woodpeckers raise their young. Personally, you won't have much luck finding them any other time of year. I have tried repeatedly in various states, but have only been successful seeing them while they are nesting and faithfully returning to their holes. Their habitat requirements are specific and not much of their habitat remains. The places that are left are generally coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico and susceptible to being devastated by hurricanes. Because of this, their populations are dwindling. We got lucky while driving through an area that was new to us and found a nesting cavity. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers use family groups to take care of their young. If you look closely at the picture, you an even see that she is carrying food in her mouth! I am not certain how many females were taking care of this nest, but the visits were surprisingly far apart. While waiting for glimpses of them, we began to look at the flowers and trees around us and lo and behold! Another rare sighting (for me)! An Eastern Screech-Owl sleepily poking its head out of a tree! It's camouflage was perfect...almost! Eventually, one of the woodpeckers even checked out the sleepy owl! I really enjoy birding in central Florida. Some of my favorite places to visit are there. While exploring a new area this year, I was at the Mead Botanical Garden in Winter Park and a Pileated Woodpecker landed right in front of me! It was so close that I took the picture with just my phone. They are such striking birds! He seemed as surprised as I was and flew to a nearby tree to continue to forage. Speaking of Florida and alligators, they get big. Really big. As we walked the boardwalk at Paynes Prairie near Gainesville, we noticed that there were two in the first pond this time. All of the sudden, one got too close to the other and they started thrashing and fighting right underneath us! I almost had a heart attack. I love seeing alligators, but you rarely see them move fast or experience their power. The noise was so sudden and loud that it very quickly felt like the boardwalk wasn't even there... The alligator above was the smaller of the two. After the scuffle, the larger one slowly swam away... The picture is poor, but the experience was incredible! As we meandered through one of our favorite places, the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, a roadrunner hopped onto a bench in front of us and began singing! I have never heard a roadrunner sing before. He bent his head down and then raised it all the way up before repeating the motion over and over while letting out a drawn out "cooo cooo cooo", which kind of sounded like a Mourning Dove's song. When he was done, he hopped down and ran off, seemingly suddenly aware of our presence. When we returned to Texas, late spring and summer brought more surprises. Days old Killdeer and American Avocets! Speaking of babies, this is the first nesting hummingbird that I have ever found on my own :) I was shown my first one at Agua Caliente Park in Tucson a few years before and Jim spotted one last year at Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Tucson, but it took to until 2018 for me to spot one on my own. I believe that this is a Black-chinned Hummingbird. I found her in The Nature Conservancy's Ramsey Canyon Preserve in Sierra Vista, AZ. I got lucky because she had been flying around and I saw her land. When I took a closer look with my binoculars, it turned out that she was working on a nest! For about a month, I was on a roll. First, I went out to one of my favorite playas to find shorebirds on Sept 9 to celebrate World Shorebirds Day. As the sun was setting, I noticed a shorebird on the far bank. I got a couple of decent looks before it disappeared, but I was puzzled. Thinking about it later that evening, I couldn't come up an ID other than a Red Knot. Problem is, I was in West Texas. What were the odds? I went back the next day and after spending an hour or so looking for it, I was about to give up. Of course, that's when I spotted it. It was even more distant and the heat shimmer was not helping. I watched it for a couple of hours (getting good and sun burnt) before I came to the same conclusion...it had to be a Red Knot. I tentatively emailed the sighting to the local community and before I knew it others had confirmed the ID. It was indeed an immature Red Knot! A local expert raised a good point. Although this playa was far from the usual coastal areas that Red Knots inhabit during migration, the area mimicked their nesting grounds in the Arctic. It was last seen on Sept 13th. Hopefully it is gorging itself on its wintering grounds in South America. This was definitely the biggest surprise of the year. Although it turned out that there had been one previous sighting on eBird in the area on Aug 22, 2000, I never expected to see a Red Knot in Lubbock, TX! Before I knew it, I had found another rare bird in Lubbock! What was going on?! This is a theme that would repeat itself again in the late fall, but more on that later. On Sept 13, I was meeting a friend to help her learn a new scope and saw a tern as soon as I parked. The orange legs and bill told me that it had to be a Common or Forster's Tern. I have seen Forster's Terns in the area before and expected it to be one as well, but after checking the field marks it turned out to be a Common Tern! This was the 7th or 8th recorded sighting in Lubbock (based on eBird data) and a fun find! Then on a cold and drizzly Oct 18, Jim told me that he had seen something other than a Pied-billed Grebe while getting the tires rotated. We drove back out to the playa and lo and behold there was a Horned Grebe swimming among the more common Pied-billed and Eared Grebes. According to eBird data, this is about the 12th recorded sighting of a Horned Grebe in the area. Oh, You Crazy Owls...How could anyone not love owls, they are so comically adorable! Especially the little ones like Elf, Burrowing, and Screech Owls. I am fortunate enough to have Burrowing Owls that live close to me and get to see them more often than other species of owls. I try to find them when we travel, too, and saw my first ones in Arizona this year. First Tucson, then Phoenix. Due to the rampant growth in these areas, there aren't many left to see. The two groups I saw (one only 3 owls) appear to be the only ones in their respective cities, which is a shame because they eat bugs and are lots of fun to watch! I have no idea what the Burrowing Owls in the next pictures saw, but I had a great time watching them and I'm really glad that I got the series of shots! During the same trip to Ramsey Canyon as when I found the hummingbird nest, I ran into a couple who had found a Whiskered Screech-Owl and were happy to show me where it was! Fortunately, it had its head poked out of the hole and stayed that way. It looked pretty sleepy most of the time, but a group of Acorn Woodpeckers flew overhead squawking away and they woke it up in a hurry! And, even though it's not an owl, this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was comical enough to qualify! I have no idea what it was doing but it stayed in this position, staring at the underside of its wing, for at least 5 minutes. It was not preening its feathers. It just kept staring at them. I have heard of herons in Africa using their wings to create shade that can attract fish and make them easier to see, and Reddish Egrets do the same thing, but this one doesn't really have its wing in the water. I would love to know what it was thinking (and doing)! Really Lucky FindsThere are those birds that you just don't often get the chance to see. Sometimes they are super rare because there aren't many left, they are subspecies that make up a very small percentage of the main population, have a very restricted range, or don't usually show up in the United States. The Lesser Prairie Chicken. There just aren't many left. Their ranges used to extend across the prairies of the United States, but those are far and few between now and if there are any tall structures, fences, trees, or shrubs that have been put up or found their way onto a prairie, the Prairie Chickens will leave. After looking for one for years, I reached out and was helped by a few birders in New Mexico and the Bureau of Land Management. Seeing them boom on their lek was incredible! We also went to Attwater's Prairie Chicken Festival in April in Texas and got to see a Greater Prairie Chicken. Unfortunately, Hurricane Harvey and a few other floods recently wiped out most of the Attwater's population, but the hard working staff their are doing everything they can to bring their numbers back up again. I just happened to be in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas when this bird was there. Everyone kept talking about it and I didn't understand why. I thought "I've seen a Blue Bunting before, what's the big deal?" Hahaha! Well, I was wrong. I guess I was thinking of an Indigo Bunting or Blue Grosbeak. All these birds with similar names. Bah. Indigo, blue, come on people! ;) It took multiple visits to see it, but it was a neat bird and, in the process, I discovered a new favorite place, Quinta Mazatlan! As with many rare birds, I only saw Short-tailed Hawks because of help from some really nice people. They have very restricted ranges in the United States. After searching on my own a few times, I finally reached out to the local community and they came through. A very nice man who had found a nesting pair agreed to meet me show me where they were. I am so glad that he did! He knew exactly where to set up his scope and when I finally figured out where they were I couldn't believe that he had found them at all! We were looking through a very small opening in trees that were at least 3-4 layers deep. The nest was so far away! Nonetheless, I got to see an adult tending the nest and another adult bring back food before one or two fluffy, white chick heads popped up :) Common Paraques have a very restricted range in the United States and are extremely well camouflaged during the day (they aren't easy to see at night, either!). These two were sleeping at Quinta Mazatlan while we were looking for the Blue Bunting. They were shown to me the first day and were fairly loyal to their daytime roost, so we were able to find them again the next couple of times we visited. They can be gray or brown and we were lucky enough to have both sleeping side by side! The last few weeks of 2018 were incredible! Remember the crazy streak in Sept and part of Oct with the Red Knot, Common Tern, and Horned Grebe? Well, it happened again. This time, the birds weren't particularly unusual for the region, but the diversity and, for me, unusual location within city limits, was exhilarating. In a small, local park some crazy cool hawks came through within the span of a couple of weeks. It all began on Nov 19. We went for a quick drive through the park to see if the Burrowing Owls were still there. We spotted two Burrowing Owls and then looked towards the playa. High above, a Cooper's Hawk was gaining altitude with a Rough-legged Hawk circling below it! The Rough-legged Hawk went into a stoop and disappeared behind a small bush. All of the sudden, a Red-tailed Hawk flushed up from the ground and then another, larger hawk flushed up, too! I muttered, "Is that a Ferruginous Hawk?!?", but didn't get good enough looks to be certain. I scanned the field again and a Rough-legged Hawk was calmly sitting on the ground. I don't know if it was the one that originally flushed the other two hawks or a different individual. While we were watching it, I happened to look up and a light morph Ferruginous Hawk was soaring right over our heads! It all happened in the span of less than 20 minutes. I couldn't believe it. I have seen Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks at this park in the winter, but a Rough-legged and Ferruginous?!! You usually have to go out into the county and drive the fields to find them. Over the next couple of days I saw American Kestrels, a Merlin, Northern Harriers, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Peregrine Falcon come through the same park. Some other birders even had a Prairie Falcon. A friend and I went out again to see what we could find and saw an unusual looking hawk. We only got a couple of quick glimpses but wrote down what we saw and then I was off to research the possibilities. By process of elimination, I tentatively ID'd it as a light morph Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk. I couldn't believe it. I have been hoping to see a Harlan's or Krider's for years. We kept returning and finally saw all of the field marks to verify that it was a light morph Harlan's! It is such a beautiful bird and unlike any Red-tailed Hawk that I have ever seen before (and I've seen a lot of Red-tailed Hawks!). What a way to end the year! Ok, ok, 2018 was a GREAT year!!! :)
Red Knots. They are special little birds. They fly thousands of miles each year (20,000 actually!) to breed in the Arctic and then return to South America for the winter. One Red Knot called B95 (based on its band number) was banded in 1995 and repeatedly resighted until May 2014. Since then it has not been refound, but during its 20 years it has cumulatively travelled the distance that it would take to fly to the moon and back, and then halfway back to the moon again! This incredible feat has earned it the nickname "Moonbird". During these long distance migrations, they need to stop and refuel in order to continue their journey. Typically, they are found along the coast during migration, but occasionally, they end up in unusual places. The juvenile pictured above was found at a playa in Lubbock, TX on Sept. 9, 2018 while participating in World Shorebirds Day. We have no way of knowing how long it was here before it was found, but it stayed until Sept. 13 before departing. During its time in Lubbock, it delighted several birders as it went about its business of preparing to head further south. We can only hope that it made it safely to its wintering grounds. The Red Knot's populations are declining rapidly and every individual counts.
I have an earlier post about seeing Red Knots in Cape May, NJ called So. Many. Birds! Cape May, NJ in the Spring To learn more about Red Knots, please visit: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red_Knot/lifehistory Audubon: www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-knot https://www.audubon.org/news/the-10-best-places-see-migrating-red-knot-or-thousands https://www.audubon.org/news/watch-birds-may-new-documentary-about-red-knots The Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/new-jersey/stories-in-new-jersey/top-must-see-migrations-in-new-jersey-the-red-knot/ American Bird Conservancy: https://abcbirds.org/bird/red-knot/ For more information on World Shorebirds Day and how to participate: https://worldshorebirdsday.wordpress.com/globalshorebirdcounting/ I saw the rare bird alert and couldn't believe it. A Long-eared Owl had been spotted less than an hour ago and only 15 minutes away. I know they can winter in this area, but they like to roost in dense vegetation and are difficult to spot. A few weeks ago, I had missed the one in Edinburg, TX by only one day. I grabbed my binoculars and I was out the door! When I arrived at Clapp Park, my heart sank. They were mowing. Worse yet, they were mowing under the stand of trees where the owl had been reported. It has not rained here since October 2017 and not even weeds have managed to grow. I decided to progress towards the trees anyway. I did my best to search, but I had never seen a Long-eared Owl before. The last owl I saw roosting in a tree was perched at eye height right in front of me, surrounded by people, and I still had to ask where it was! I walked through the stand, searching, but couldn't find it. I was circling the perimeter, getting ready to call it quits, when I glanced up and froze. Could those be ear tufts? I couldn't even be certain that it was the owl without raising my binoculars...and there it was. I couldn't believe it! It was beautiful! I didn't want to move but it was on high alert and I felt like I was too close. I slowly backed up as far as I could, and then I stayed still and quiet. It continued to watch me, but it finally started to blink. I figured it was relaxing a little. It swung its head around to look behind it, I looked down for a second, heard wings, and it was gone. Sigh. I had really tried NOT to flush it, but given that the mower had clearly just been in the area where I was standing, I'm sure the owl was unhappy already. I saw it fly to the left, so I turned to the right and walked quietly back towards the road. Something made me look up and I couldn't believe it! There was the owl again! A grackle called nearby and it jumped. Ok, I thought, how can I back away without flushing it? Trick question! I looked to my right to find my way out and heard wings again. Double sigh. I cannot express just how slowly I had been moving. This time I saw more than the general direction in which it flew, I saw where it landed. I could drop to my knee and still get a good view even though it was now on the other side of the trees, at least 30-40 feet away. I watched it for few seconds and looked away again (you would think I would have learned by now). Ready to guess what happened next? It was too far for me to hear its wings, but I looked back again and surprise! It was gone. I had no idea which way it had flown this time, I just knew it hadn't flown by me. I felt crazy guilty. Still do, really. I hope it was finally able to get some rest, although it was so skittish, I doubt it. On the up side, it was reported in the same area the next afternoon, so it must not have felt too threatened. If it had, I would hope that it would have found a new roost the next day.
I'm excited about spring migration! Shorebirds are my favorite and they are getting ready to start moving north. There are lots of places that I enjoy visiting to see shorebirds, but one of my favorites is Cape May, NJ. Cape May has several species of shorebirds that use the area for nesting or as an important stopover for refueling along their long migratory journeys. The area is particularly well known for the high concentrations of Red Knots that depend on the Horseshoe Crabs that come to shore during the spring to lay their eggs. The greatest numbers of Horseshoe Crabs, and Red Knots, arrive in May. The Horseshoe Crab eggs will sustain the Red Knots during the remainder of their 9,300 mile journey to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Yes, they fly 9,300 miles twice a year! In order to complete this journey, they need to gain a substantial amount of weight. To store as much fat as possible, their leg muscles and stomachs even shrink! They can travel 1,500 miles, or more, non-stop and by the time they arrive at a stopover site, they have lost most, if not all, of their fat reserves. When they arrive, they need a readily available food source that is easy to digest and can rebuild their fat reserves for the next part of the journey. It can take several days for them to build up the reserves they need to continue. Their migration needs to be timed with the Horseshoe Crabs laying their eggs in order for them to survive. Horseshoe Crabs used to be abundant, but a combination of loss of shoreline and over harvesting has put substantial pressure on their population. While coastal development and erosion has reduced the shoreline where they can lay their eggs, they are also used as bait for fishing and they are harvested for their blood, which is used to check the sterility of medical equipment. At one time, they were even harvested and used as fertilizer. Due to these pressures, their populations are decreasing rapidly and with them the populations of species that depend on them, like Red Knots and other shorebirds. The Red Knot population decreased by 50% between 1985 and 2003 and continues to decline. To learn more about Red Knots and Horseshoe Crabs, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, New Jersey Audubon, and Cornell All About Birds are good places to start. Sevenseas has a good article, too. Since this is such an important time for both the shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs, the beaches are roped off and people are not allowed on them from May 7 to June 7 in order to minimize disturbance. The Horseshoe Crabs and shorebirds concentrate around Delaware Bay, but its anyone's guess which beaches will hold the largest numbers at any given time. The best beaches to see the Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots are Reed's Beach, Cook's Beach, Kimbles Beach, Pierce's Point, Norbury's Landing, and Villas. Audubon has a nice article and maps showing the beaches in New Jersey and along the eastern coast where you can see migrating Red Knots. New Jersey Audubon hosts two festivals each year, one during spring migration (known for shorebirds) and one during fall migration (known for hawks). They are both held in Cape May and name of both is "So. Many. Birds." (which I love!). There are many great places to bird in Cape May and the festivals are a good way to get to know the area. In addition to the great birds there are a number of well-known birders who live in the area or arrive for the festivals and migrations. New Jersey Audubon does a great job of offering a number of walks and tours led by these experienced birders. Even if you are not participating in the festival, there are usually walks taking place that you can participate in for a small fee. Their calendar is the best resource, but there are flyers and posts about these events at the birding hotspots, too. While this post is not about the spring festival itself, it is about good places to see birds in the spring and the types of birds that you will see. The weather was highly variable while we were there in mid-May of 2016. It quickly changed from warm and very pleasant the afternoon we arrived to rainy and cold the rest of the weekend, but the shorebirds were still there and that's what we had come to see. The first set of pictures were taken at various locations along Reed's Beach over a couple of days. While you are watching the birds, be sure to keep an eye out for any bands or flags. Resightings are how researchers track the migratory paths of birds as well as population success and longevity. While we were watching this group of birds, we found at least 15-20 of them with bands and had a lot of fun writing down and reporting the information. Be sure to record which leg(s) the bands or flags are on (some birds will have multiple bands or a combination of flags and bands), the color of the flags and bands, and the numbers and letters on them. More information about recording and reporting banded birds can be found here. You never know what other birds you will find in and amongst all of the activity. I was shocked to see a Black Scoter hanging out on the beach! I also really enjoyed Heislerville Wildlife Management Area. Heislerville WMA is a big place and has a lot to offer including shorebird flats for both small and large birds, a rookery, beach, and grasslands with ponds. During my first trip here, I joined a tour led by Pete Dunne and its a good thing, too! I never would have gotten around to seeing all of the highlights here otherwise. The search for a Curlew Sandpiper is what brought me here, but talk about So. Many. Birds! There may only be two in this picture, but Semipalmated Plovers were everywhere, too. The birds are too small to show up well in the next picture, but this is to show you just a portion of the shorebird flats at Matt's Landing within Heislerville WMA. It was shorebird heaven! I could have spent the entire day scanning them. And then, thanks to a fellow birder (Jeff Bouton, actually. Remember what I was saying about well known birders being around?), the Curlew Sandpiper was respotted! Not an easy task with the large area and all of the shorebirds. It was a fast moving bird and I only had my spotting scope to take pictures through, so they are a little blurry. We got really lucky and got to see both of the Curlew Sandpipers reported that spring in the United States. One outside of Toledo, OH and one in Cape May, NJ. Walking down the road from Matt's Landing, there was also a rookery with cormorants, night-herons, and egrets in beautiful breeding plumage. The beach had lots of birds, great scenery, and a lighthouse. The eastern side of the Cape May peninsula can offer rockier beaches and different shorebirds. This is also where the Cape May Seawatch takes place in the fall. A few Purple Sandpipers may still be lingering in the spring and can be found on the rockier beaches with jetties, like in Avalon on Seven Mile Island. Seven Mile Island also has sandy beaches. This is where I found Red Knots on their return to their winter grounds in South America during the fall of 2016. If all of that isn't enough, there are also songbirds and warblers moving through and establishing breeding territories at Belleplain State Forest. It was a whirlwind trip to Belleplain and apparently I didn't take any pictures! That post will just have to wait for the next trip!
And who could resist finishing with a bunny surrounded by flowers in spring? Not me! When we were there in late October of 2016 for the 40th Anniversary of the Cape May Hawkwatch, the weather was variable with decent temperature swings and frequent rain, but generally cold. Nonetheless, the hawks were moving through and we had a good time. Cape May is known for its hawk watch in the fall. Hawks do not like to cross open water while migrating. There are a few exceptions, like falcons or young hawks without experience, but generally the rule holds. During migration, they use thermals to rise into the air and glide long distances. Since thermals are created by heat rising off of the ground they disappear over open water, which instead serve as heat "sinks". When hawks lose the thermals, it requires an increased expenditure in energy since they have to power their own flight rather than ride the warm air currents. Peninsulas concentrate hawks since their choices are to either follow the shore and fly around the water barrier or cross the water at the end of the peninsula and fly the shortest distance possible over the water. Cape May's Hawkwatch tower is located within Cape May Point State Park. The official fall hawk watching season takes place from September 1 - November 30. The species of hawks that come through any given hawk watch generally vary throughout the hawk watching season and there are a number of species that come through here. When we were there, the species that I remember best were the number of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks that offered nice comparisons, "gray ghost" male Northern Harriers, and Merlins darting through. One of the Merlins flew so close to my ear that I heard it and felt the wind off of its wings! While on the platform we also saw American Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons, Broad-winged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and Bald Eagles. The official hawk counters were great and happy to answer any questions and point out differences between the similar species between the flurries of activity. Below is the tally of birds that is kept updated throughout the season. More information about the this hawk watch can be found here. Hawkwatch International also has lots of good information and can help you find a hawk watch close to you. If you can't participate in one, you can also follow the daily counts of any of their hawk watches. There are trails and good bird watching all around the hawk watch platform. There are ponds to the left and in front of the platform. The ocean is a short walk to the right. With all of the different habitats, warblers, sparrows, shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, herons, egrets, gulls, and more can be found. There is even a harbor defense battery, called Battery 223, within the park's grounds. The weather can change very quickly, so be prepared! The Cape May Lighthouse also has a very nice museum that highlights the environment and history of the area. My favorite displays were of the beautiful hand carved and painted birds. Some showed the shorebirds that can be found on the beaches and others showed breeding birds with their nests and eggs. Some of the specimens in the museum can even be found nearby on the beach. The area around Cape May Point State Park is also known for its good birding locations and includes South Cape May Meadows and Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area. Although I have highlighted shorebird and hawk migrations in these two posts about Cape May, they are also known for migrating warblers, owls, sea birds, and butterflies, including the Monarch Butterfly. Monarch Butterfly was seen along a beach path on Seven Mile Island, but we also saw them at the Cape May Hawkwatch and they can be found throughout Cape May during their migration. Below is the view from the Avalon Swatch, located on Seven Mile Island, which takes place from September 22 - December 22 each year. More information can be found here.
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September 2022
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