Bird of the week 40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M51sfSl5Y8U&feature=youtu.be

Greetings from Florida.  Many of you requested that I continue to post a Bird of the Week ID challenge so I will continue with the Amazing Race blog but it may not be quite weekly so keep checking for new posts.  This bird ranges from very southern Florida, Bahamas, Central America, and parts of northern South America.  Quite hard to find in Florida, this is only the third time I have seen one.  I apologize for the noise on the video, it was near a campground and there were motor homes coming and going and then a guy started up a lawn mower.  Most of the calling is background from blackbirds and mockingbirds, but if you watch and listen closely, you will hear him call.  Good luck with this cool bird and happy birding. 

More on Bird of the week 39

Basic non-breading plumage Sanderling

I was impressed by what you all came up with as answers to this ID challenge.  I wanted to comment on Kelsey, Shilah and Davied's guess.  Bird of the Week 39 is in basic non breading plumage which it will retain until it starts migrating in the spring.  By the time it reaches the Arctic Tundra it will be in it's brighter breading plumage and  many shorebirds only keep that plumage for six to eight weeks before molting and changing back to winter plumage.  So many of the birds do look a lot alike.  Review the points I listed again.  look at the bill length, leg color and with this bird the length of the primary feathers in relation to the tail help to separate it.

Having said that, I wanted to share a challenge I had yesterday.  Sanderlings are in Oregon but not nearly as common as they are on the east coast.  I was at Merritt Island National Seashore yesterday and found this Sanderling, almost completely molted into basic winter, non-breading plumage.  It has been a while since I had seen a Sanderling and it took some time with the bird books before I figured it out.  I should have know this, I have seen thousands of Sanderlings over the years.  i have never seen a Sanderling in breeding plumage, they are very red in tht plumage.  I can see why Kelsey, Shilah and Davied, chose this one it does look a lot like Bird of the Week 39, particularly the primary feather projection.  

Have one more go at it and I will reveal the answer when I see the new attempts.  Good Luck

The rest of the list for the Amazing Bird Race Wraparound Big Year

Final post to update the species list for the big year starting Sept 1, 2014.  It has been quite a ride.  Over 30,000 miles, 40 states and 2 Provinces.  This final list addition includes the birds from Alaska and some I had not gotten yet in Oregon.  Some of the best birds of the year are on this list since I had never been to Alaska and some were life birds. 

I love spring when the birds sing

493 Olive Sided Flycatcher, Black Butte Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
494 Dusky Flycatcher, Black Butte Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
495 Tri-color Blackbird, Crook County, Oregon
496 Northern Waterthrush, Scout island, Williams Lake, British Columbia
497 Trumpeter Swan, Bend Oregon
498 Marbled Murrelet, Alaska Inter-coastal Waterway
499 Northwest Crow, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
500 Rhinoceros Auklet, Alaska Inter-coastal Waterway
501 Arctic Tern, Petersburg, Alaska
502 Gray-cheeked Thrush, Chilkat Pass, British Columbia, Canada
503 Alder Flycatcher, Dezadeash River, British Columbia, Canada
504, White-winged Crossbill, Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Alaska

White-winged Crossbill

505, Great Gray Owl, Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Alaska
506, Hudsonian Godwit, Anchorage, Alaska
507 Thick-billed Murre, Resurrection Bay, Alaska

Thick-billed Murre

508 Common Murre, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
509 Ancient Murrelet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
510 Kittlitz's Murrelet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
511 Parakeet Auklet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska

Parakeet Auklet

512 Tufted Puffin, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
513 Horned Puffin, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
514 Boreal Chickadee, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
515 Glaucous Gull, Mud Bay, Homer Harbor, Alaska
516 Aleutian Tern, Mud Bay, Homer Harbor, Alaska

Aleutian Tern

517 Willow Ptarmagan, Denali National Park, Alaska
518 Gyrfalcon, Denali National Park, Alaska
519 American Tree Sparrow, Denali National Park, Alaska
520 Arctic Warbler, Denali Hwy, Alaska

Arctic Warbler

521 Northern Goshawk, Denali Hwy, Alaska
522 Rock Ptarmagan, Steese Hwy, Alaska
523 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Steese Hwy, Alaska
524 Long-tailed Jeager, Denali Hwy, Alaska
525 Hoary Red Pole, Denali Hwy, Alaska
526 Least Flycatcher, Yukon Wildlife Preserve, Yukon, Canada
527 Solitary Sandpiper, Toad River Lodge, British Columbia, Canada
528 Philadelphia Vireo, Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
529 Veery, Vaseux Bird Sanctuary, British Columbia, Canada
530 Thayer's Gull, Astoria, Oregon
531 Common Nighthawk, Rt 20 near, Sisters, Oregon
532 Western Screech Owl, Trout Creek Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
533 Flamulated Owl, Trout Creek Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
534 Willow Flycatcher, Wood River Wetlands, Klamath County, Oregon.
535 Chukar, Wheeler County, Oregon

Chukar

536 Little Stint, Wickiup Reservoir, Deschutes County, Oregon
537 Hermit Warbler, Sparks Lake, Deschutes County, Oregon
538 Bobolink, Crook County, Oregon
539 Yellow Rail, Klamath Marsh, Klamath County, Oregon
540 Common Poorwill, Pine Mountain, Deschutes County, Oregon
541 Surfbird, Depoe Bay, Oregon

Surfbird the final bird of the Amazing Bird Race, Sept 1, 2014 to Aug 31, 2015

Bird of the Week 39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_XWH4krBe0

To the Students of Three Sisters Adventist Christian School, thank you so much for the Surprise party and especially for the journal of your favorite bird of the week. I will cherish this and place it on the shelf with all of my bird books. The consensus is that you want to continue the challenge of identifying birds via Bird of the Week so I thought I would ramp it up a bit this week. I purposely stayed away from shore birds last year because they generally require a lot more scrutiny and skill to identify. Throughout the year they go through at least two and sometimes three plumage changes. They have a springtime breading plumage which is usually much fresher and more colorful. They they molt and change to winter plumage which is usually much duller than their breeding plumage. Many of them we refer to as peeps because they are small and have very similar plumage.


So lets review the ID principles because they are very important for separating these little birds:


Things to look for when identifying a shore bird.


1 Size. When they are by themselves, it is usually a bit hard to determine the exact size but when they are with other shorebirds it can be a factor in separating them

2 Shape, is it round, is it more elongated things like that

3 How does it hold itself, ie does it stand up tall or does it hold itself more flat

4 Bill, shape, color, and size. Is it straight, curved up or down, is it thin or thick

5 overall pattern and color. This can be very subjective but you are looking for streaking, large shapes or small patterns, is there a cap on the head, is there any streaks through the eyes or above or below the eye.

6 Wing length. When the bird folds its wings, the wing tips of the primary feathers lie near the tail. Some stop at the base of the tail and this would be called short primary projection. Some extend to the middle of the tail and this would be called medium primary projection. Then some extend beyond the tip of the tail and this is call long primary projection.

7 Legs. Are they short, medium, or long. What color are they.  The feet are usually hard to see and most shorebirds have similar shaped feet but some have webbed feet so that can enter in occasionally

8 Tail, is it long or short, does it have barring or bands or is it just plain.

9 Call. If you are lucky, you might hear it call and like other birds the call can be distinctive and in many cases give you an identity by itself.


These are many of the points you will need to observe to get the identity of a shore bird.


This week's bird shows up in spring and fall in Oregon as it migrates to and from it's breeding ground in the northern Arctic. I should note that this video and photos were taken at Redmond Sewage Ponds last week on Sept 6.  Most of these birds migrate further east through the plains so they are uncommon in Oregon but some show up every year.  Western and Least Sandpipers are common peeps found in Oregon and there will often be from one to a half dozen of this bird of the week in with them during peak migration. In the video you hear some Killdeer and blackbirds chirping in the background but this bird is silent. Most of the time, shorebirds are silent on the ground and call in flight. In the first part of the video, there is a Least Sandpiper feeding with this bird. As you can see, our bird of the week is somewhat larger and this will help with ID. Also, primary projection will help separate this bird.   Good luck, I will be interested in hearing what you come up with and see if all your hard work this past year will lead you to the correct ID. Don't be discouraged if it is tough and you don't get it, Ornithologist find shorebirds among their greatest challenges and they don't always get it right. I think you might get this one.
Happy birding,

I will include some good stills along with the video.

In this picture the bird of the week is in the center with three Least Sandpipers and one Western Sandpiper on the far right. 

Bird of the Week eating some sort of red bug

Another view

At The Finish Line

Surfbird, final bird of Mr Sutherland's Amazing Bird Race, final total 541

Today marks the end of a great birding year. Over 30,000 miles traveled, in parts of 40 states. I saw 25 life birds and a total of 541 species. The most fun however was sharing the adventure with you students and feeding off of your enthusiasm. It was sometimes challenging to find and video a bird of the week but it kept me on my toes and was so much fun to watch you use the tools that you learned to identify what bird it was. I loved your journals and the fun stuff you wrote about the birds and the sermons that you shared with the area churches were great. I hope that some of you will continue to be inspired by nature and a few might even become birders as well. It is a great reason to get out in the woods. Thank you so much for being a part of my big year.


So now that you have an bit of an understanding of how a birder thinks, you will appreciate this next challenge. Having started a big year in the middle of the 2014 calendar, it overlapped the calendar year of 2015. Since January 1 I have recorded 498 species, only 43 less than the wraparound big year I shared with you. I just can't resist letting that momentum go, it took a lot of work and expenses to get that far, so I am going to continue the big year pursuit four more months. We are heading to the east to visit our children in Tennessee so we must go to Florida where I believe I can get a minimum of sixty more birds. I have my eye on something over 600 for the Calendar year so it will be interesting to see if I can make it. I have two questions. Are any of you interested in following the rest of the adventure if I were to continue blog posts? Also, would you like me to put up an occasional “Bird of the Week” challenge or have you had enough of that?


Again, thank you for sharing my adventure and have a great school year.

I couldn't resist so here is Bird of the Week 38.  This was filmed just north of Sisters and should be an easy one.  Good luck and happy birding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2RkOnnudY

Bird of the Week 37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLUb5TAmr90&feature=youtu.be


I hope everyone is having a great summer.  I also hope some of you are still watching the blog.  Considering how vast Alaska is and how remote it can feel, it surprises me that we can get internet at all but much of the time the signal is too weak to upload a video.  We are about 130 miles south of Denali National Park tonight at a very nice park that has good internet so I want to share this very cool bird with you.  This might be the longest one I have doon but I can't resist the majesty of this bird.

   They are found in Deschutes County but very hard to find.  I was lucky to camp at a park about ten days ago that has had a nesting pair for many years and these birds had three chicks. I managed to find one of the chicks so there is a clip of him too.  Listen carefully the adult does make some sounds.  You should not have difficulty IDing this, the largest Owl in North America.  Happy birding. 

Bird of the Week 36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EfEcu4AIYY&feature=youtu.be

I trust all my bird student friends are off for the summer and coming down off of bird overload but for those who might be still tuned in to this blog, here is another bird of the week.  Happy birding and have a great summer. 

Bird of the Week 35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhHD7XpOQQI 

So is this really the last Bird of the Week for the school year? I am now in Canada but I leave you with this lovely sub tropical bird. It is similar to a couple others of its group but check the range because this is a Central American Bird that barely ranges into North America in south Texas. It is common along the Rio Grand River and we saw lots of them in the three weeks we were down there. The first bird in the clip is an immature bird and the second one is an adult

I am sure you will agree this has been a fun school year, I have enjoyed sharing my travels and especially the wonderful birds I have found along the way. If I get the word from Mrs Crew that there are those that would like to continue following the blog and try to ID some more birds, I can keep posting Bird of the Week. It might be a bit sporadic for the next six weeks because We might not have as much access to the internet. Have a great summer and happy birding.

Bird of the Week 34

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPWdex1MnK4&feature=youtu.be


A little birdie told me (I am in communication with all little birdies :=) that you all had a wonderful time at Malheur last week. This week's bird could easily be found there and I wonder if you saw any? They range throughout all of North America and spend the winter in the extreme southern states and Central America however, they can be found year around on the Pacific coast all the way from British Columbia, through Oregon and south. I went out Sunday morning to continue my quest for Big Year birds in Crook County and ran into this fellow.  The one I recorded for the big year was seen at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge October 20,  in Texas.   You can see by his markings and his ability to stand up straight in the marsh that he can be easily overlooked when he is not moving. They are usually deep in the marsh and I have often heard them call but it is not often that you get to watch their comical contortions as they do their “congested water-pump” call. It is always a treat when I go out  not knowing what the next bird of the week will be and get such and obliging customer. Extra points if you can identify the birds calling loudly in the background. You should have seen some of them at Malheur and I bet they were calling. Have a good week and happy birding.

Big Year Takes on a Life of Its Own

Back on my home turf this week I found a Mountain Quail, very secretive bird and hard to see let along photograph.  Very happy with this encounter. 

This is a video that I took near San Francisco in a marsh where Black Rails have been located.  Occasionally you encounter birds that just will not allow you to see them.  Rails live in thick reeds and marsh vegetation and rarely come out in the open.  Black Rails are especially secretive and there are very few photos of a Black Rail.  They go on the list as heard only.  
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucch5QXlHgY

Hello students. I have been a bit lax of late with updates for the big year. It has sort of taken on a life of its own and we have had sketchy internet at times as well as busy travel schedules so I just haven't done it. This week I double checked the list I have posted on the blog with my master list and discovered three birds that were on twice and two birds that were not on so that has been corrected. I believe it is up to date now so I am posting the rest of the list as it stands right now.


So how does a big year take on a life of its own you ask? I may be repeating facts I have already mentioned but here goes. The American Birding Association is a non-profit organization, founded in 1969, dedicated to recreational birding in Canada and the United States. It has been called "the standard-bearer for serious birding in North America.” They actually have a list of rules that define recording birds better know in the birding world as listing. This is all based on the honor system and you can actually register your bird lists with them and they keep track of numbers such as the most birds seen in North America and by who. They also set guidelines for standards & ethics to help protect sensitive birds and all birds in general. They have accepted 914 species of wild birds that have been found naturally occurring in North America, north of the Mexican border. Basically this is all birds that have been recorded in North America that have arrived here on their own power. The number of birds that breed in North America is somewhere around 716.


Somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, folks set out to create a list of the most species they could find in North America in twelve months. This usually starts at the beginning of the calendar year but sometimes birders have started at a different month such as I am doing, having started September first to correspond with your school year. As you might imagine, this can quickly become a competitive venture and numbers started popping up as “The Record” In 1953 Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher, two very prominent ornithologists who wrote some of the first bird field guides, set out on a 30,000 mile road trip around North America to just see all the wild places and they recorded 572 bird species. This sort of became the first big year. They filmed their adventure and also wrote a book, both called “Wild America” Great reading by the way. Three years later, a 25 year old Englishman named Stuart Kieth followed their route and came up with 598 species and the big year record pursuit was born. Many folks set out to break these records over the years and by 1987, a fellow named Sandy Komito found 721 species and this was the record for several years. In 1998, Mr Komito and two other fellows set out to break the 721 record and it took about two months before they knew that an actual competition was afoot. This was all recorded in a book and a Movie both called “The Big Year” and I would highly recommend both the book and the Movie, which stars Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson as the three birders. As an aside, I am acquainted with two of the three real birders, Sandy Komito and I shared a very small birth on a boat to the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida in 2013 and Greg Miller and I were members of “The Avid Birders”, a subgroup of the Columbus Ohio Audubon Society, in 2006 and we birded together several times. So that year, 1998, Mr Komito managed the most birds and the record now is 748.


So if you compare the 748 to the maximum North American breeding species of 716, you can see that in order to break this record, you would have to chase every vagrant bird that shows up in all of North America. This is a very expensive endeavor. Two of the three gentlemen that were competing in 1998 were very successful businessmen with somewhat unlimited funds and they probably each spent at least $100,000! My fiend Greg Miller, a computer programer, used up his savings, borrowed money from relatives and friends and maxed out a couple of credit cards. So I am here to tell you that I will not be breaking any big year record. However, even my modest goal of 500+ species has so far Generated about 28,000 miles of travel and whatever the costs of Gas, Motels, and Camping fees turn out to be so you can see why most folks stick to birding their patch.


Does this give you and idea of why I say the big year takes on a life of its own? This year, I can no longer go birding for enjoyment, it is now a goal, sort a job. I have to get new species. If my friends say lets go birding, I have to say where and if that involves an area that cannot produce new species, I have to bow out. My wife, who loves to travel to new places, is stuck going to places she has either been several times before or plain does not want to go. I am very blessed with a loving spouse who is putting up with this but she has let me know that this should be my last big year.


For some time we have talked of a trip to Alaska, the last state we have yet to visit. The distance away and the vastness of the state most likely involve a trip of a lifetime. I would like to go to Alaska without the pressure of producing birds. Florida is a state that at this point I do not have as a place I will visit during this big year. Florida has a minimum of 40 species that I probably can't get anywhere else. Alaska also has at least 40 new species but the large area of the state puts many of these species out of my reach mostly due to the expense of having to fly, because there are no roads. I have given this lots of thought. If I go to Florida I can probably find more species. But Alaska beacons and I am not getting any younger and the momentum is there so I have decided to go to Alaska, try to figure out what birds will be at the places we want to see and just relax and find what I can find. My original stated goals was to break 500 and I am now nine species away, so I know I can do that.


By the time your school year ends, we should be in the middle of out Alaska trip. I have so enjoyed the enthusiasm and hard work you all have done to learn about the birds and I trust that some if not all of you are now official birders. I hope that you will continue to be intrigued but our bird friends and continue to enjoy the wonders of God's nature. He gave us the birds for our enjoyment and I am so glad I have had the opportunity to share them with you. I would be curious to know, would some of you like to continue to follow the blog after the school year ends? If so I will continue to put up the Bird of the Week. Let me know either through Mrs. Crew or respond to the blog. So, happy birding and here is the updated list.

This is a seabird known as the Pomarine Jaeger.  A gull like bird they are aggressive predictors and will attack Gulls for food

434 Hammond's Flycatcher, Bend, Oregon
435 Sooty Grouse, Trout Creek, Deschutes County, Oregon
436 Williamson's Sapsucker, Harney County, Oregon
437 White-headed Woodpecker, Harney County, Oregon
438 American Three-toed Woodpecker, Big Lake, Oregon
439 California Condor, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
440 Western Kingbird, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
441 Oak Titmouse, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
442 Ash-throated Flycatcher, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
443 Bullock's Oriole, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
444 Lawerence's Goldfinch, The Pinnacles National Monument, California
445 Brandt, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
446 Red-throated, Loon, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
447 Pacific Loon, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
448 Black-footed Albatross, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
449 Northern Fulmar, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
450 Pink-footed Shearwater, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
451 Black-vented Shearwater, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
452 Black Storm-Petrel, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
453 Sooty Shearwater, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
454 Red-necked Phalarope, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
455 Pomarine Jaeger, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
456 Scripp's Murrelet, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
457 Sabine's Gull, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
458 Heermann's Gull, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
459 Elegant Tern, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
460 Least Tern, Pelagic Trip, San Diego, California
461 Lucy's Warbler, Palo Verde Ecological Preserve, San Bernardino County, California
462 Blue Grosbeak, Palo Verde Ecological Preserve, San Bernardino County, California
463 Allen's Hummingbird, Murray Lake Community Park, San Diego, California
464 California Thrasher, Murray Lake Community Park, San Diego, California
465 Scaly Breasted Munia, Murray Lake Community Park, San Diego, California
466 Black-chinned Sparrow, Kitchen Creek, San Diego County, California
467 Gray Vireo, Kitchen Creek, San Diego County, California
468 Bell's Vireo, Tijuana National Wildlife Refuge, San Diego, California
469 Yellow-breasted Chat, Tijuana National Wildlife Refuge, San Diego, California
470 Ridgway's Rail, Tijuana National Wildlife Refuge, San Diego, California
471 Western Sandpiper, Bulivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, Texas coast
472 Pied-billed Grebe, White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas
473 Wilson's Phalarope, Salton Sea, California
474 Black Tern, Salton Sea, California
475 Bell's Sparrow, Salton Sea, California
476 Yellow-footed Gull, Salton Sea, California
477 Long-billed Dowitcher, Salton Sea, California
478 Cassin's Kingbird, Los Angeles Arboretum, Arcadia, California
479 Red-whiskered Bulbul, Los Angeles Arboretum, Arcadia, California
480 Ross's Goose, Burns, Oregon
481 Greater Sage Grouse, Deschutes County, Oregon
482 California Gnatcatcher, Wildwood Regional Park, Thousand Oaks, California
483 Wandering Tattler, Pigeon Point, California coast
484 Bank Swallow, Pigeon Point, California coast
485 Huton's Vireo, Humbolt National Wildlife Refuge, Northern California
486 Brewer's Sparrow, Near Post, Oregon, in Crook County
487 Gray Flycatcher, Bend, Oregon
488 Northern Pygmy Owl, FR 42, Crook County, Oregon
489 Mountain Quail, North Shore Road, Prineville Reservoir, Crook County, Oregon
490 Black Rail, Alvisio Marine County Park, Santa Rosa, California
491 Gray Catbird, Kootenia National Wildlife Refuge, northern Idaho (out of sequence)
492 Calliope Hummingbird, Calliope Crossing, north of Sisters, Oregon

It pays to watch your step when birding.  We tend to look up all the time and that could get us into trouble.  I was actually somewhat aware there might be snakes in this area so had my eye out.  I do not see snakes that often so I can get complacent. 

Bird of the Week 33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0eoiKz5ujQ&feature=youtu.be

Someone, I shall not name names, was trying to pry the bird of the week out of me this weekend, however I had to admit that at that point I did not know myself. I decided on this guy because he is rather lovely and fun. He belongs to a rather large family of songbirds that for the most part migrate south of the border for the winter. This bird winters in South America and is found widely throughout the lower 48 states and Mexico in the summer. I love his loud gregarious song and he has the habit of singing all night especially during breeding season. We were camped near Cave Junction Thursday night and I awoke at 2 AM and could hear one calling nearby.


Now that we have DNA technology, there is talk of splitting him out of his current family classification and I am unclear as to what family they are considering putting him in, maybe one all by himself. This split would make sense because he is much larger than all the birds in his current family and his song is quite different than a majority of them as well. I consider the number 33 my lucky number so maybe he will bring you luck this week. The first part of the clip was from Lower Bridge near Redmond last year and the second short clip was filmed in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. Have fun and happy birding.

Bird of the Week # 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DUuEiK2ABs&feature=youtu.be 

Time for another bird of the week. This little guy was fun. He belongs to a family of birds that has four members ranging somewhere in North America. Only one of the family is widespread and can be found on a limited basis in Oregon. This one is only found in Southern California. Now if I tell you that they are named for what they eat I will have about given it away. They all look similar so if their range overlaps in an area, it takes care to tell them apart. I was lucky to get a short video of this guy singing and this gave me the positive ID even though I was pretty sure before I heard him. Good luck and happy birding.

Bird of the Week #31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPPsEbjSG-Y

As we were nearing San Diego last week, I discovered that a boat trip to observe sea birds was scheduled to go out from there this weekend so I signed up. One of the birds that we found, thirty miles out in the ocean was this cool bird of the week. This bird has one of the longest wing spans in the bird world at about six and a half feet. As you can see by the video, they know how to use those wings. They nest on islands in the South Pacific and spend most of their non-breeding time flying thousands of miles all over the Pacific Ocean. They are rarely seen from land and this is the most common one seen in the northern hemisphere. Enjoy this marvelous bird and happy birding. 

Bird of the Week, 30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jasvgrOEHFY

We'll start with a big hint, this group of birds belong in the sparrow family. This particular one can be found in a small part of South Western Oregon but not anywhere else in the state. I filmed this guy last year in So California and I chose him because he is displaying a common behavior you often see in the springtime. He sees his reflection in the chrome on my rental car trunk lid which is up in the video. He views the reflection as a rival and keeps attacking his own image. There is probably a life lesson here :) I have seen many different species of male bird doing this in hubcaps, windows, and mirrors of all kinds. It can get pretty funny. I am now in Southern California once again chasing new birds for the year list. It is getting much harder to find the elusive ones. Wish me luck and look forward to some more great birds of the week. Happy birding.

Bird of the Week #29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhgN8g0inR8

From late February to sometime in April, this weeks' bird can be found in the vicinity of leks where the males show off to the females and try to impress them in preparation for spring breeding. The males stage their "dances" at flat clear areas in the desert and plains and the females are attracted to all the action. There are usually a few dominant males that are the ones who breed with the females and when breeding is completed, the females retreat to their nesting grounds. They lay six to eight eggs and it takes about a month for the chicks to hatch. We are fortunate to have a lek about twenty miles east of Bend and I was able to get video of the males “dancing”. I used the video I took last year because it was a little clearer and there are females present. I did not see any females on my visit this year. Most of the display takes place at night so one has to arrive early, just at sunrise to see them before they disperse soon after the sunrise. This is why the pictures are a bit hazy.


These birds range in the northern Great Basin and Great Plains from Canada to Colorado. They are heavily dependent on Sage Brush as a large component of their diet. They are considered threatened and may be placed on the endangered species list due to habitat destruction. If you don't know the definition of lek, you may want to look that up and see what else you can find out about these interesting birds. Good luck with this great bird and happy birding.

Birding and Technology

Rare Old World Shrike visiting the California Coast at Manchester State Park.  The jury is still out on the ID of this bird that appears to be a first year bird in the beginning stages of molt to adult plumage.  If the bird stays long enough there hopefully will be a definitive Identification.  It is definitely  not a Brown Shrike which is what it was first being reported as.

 In the past couple of weeks, the Northwest and for that matter, North America has been in the grip of a small epidemic of bird fever. An Old World Shrike, possibly a Red-backed Shrike, has shown up on the northern coast of California and it may turn out to be the first record of this bird in North America. So, how did all these birders become infected with the fever, for which there is no cure by the way?


Thirty years ago, if a bird watcher found a rare bird, they would call all their local friends on the phone and let them know about it and some of them would actually get in a car and maybe even drive to the next county or maybe even farther to try to relocate it. The word might spread over time but by the time most birders heard about it, especially birders who lived more that say a hundred miles away, the bird would be long gone. Then someone came up with a tape recording machine that you could attach to your home phone and record a message if the person were not home. Some bright birder came up with the idea of getting a dedicated phone number and using one of these machines to do two things. You could dial the number and either leave a rare bird report as a message after the beep, or you could wait for the second beep and then the messages would play back so you could listen to all the recent rare bird reports. It was a little cumbersome but it worked. Of course if you were from out of state, you had to call long distance and pay the long distance fees. This system worked well from the late 70's till about the turn of the century.

The old phone answering machine

The internet of course changed all that. List serves were set up so people could sign up and view daily even minute by minute reports of bird sightings and suddenly the whole world would know about any rare bird anywhere and keep up with it's presence and plan trips to view it. Most countries and states have bird list serves usually operated by volunteers who monitor the postings and manage the server so that the word can get out in seconds. Most states have more than one list serve. Here is an example of a couple of list serves that I use for Oregon bird sightings.


This one for Central Oregon, http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OR02


and this one for the whole state. http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OR01


Several other areas in the state operate list serves but these are the primary two I look at.


Of course the smart phone has cranked this up even more because now you can view all these sites on your phone wherever you are. You can also post to the list from where you are which is almost instant notification.  A few months ago there was a Snowy Owl over in the town of Dallas in the Willamette Valley. According to the report on line, it was sitting on a roof in a neighborhood. Of course I had to go chase it. We drove the neighborhood for several hours and could not locate it. It was getting late and we had no plans to stay the night so we started slowly heading out of town and back to Central Oregon. I got the bright idea to check the Oregon Birders On Line forum one more time and sure enough, about an hour previously, someone had reported the Owl in a field about half a mile from the neighborhood where it had been seen the day before.

We now have GPS available. First they were stand alone devices but soon, GPS was added to our phones so now if we know the coordinates, Elsie Molly will direct us right to the bird via google maps. Pretty cool. If you have enough time and gas/travel money you can chase rare birds all over the world and have a pretty good success rate. I have friends that do this. You can sign up for the North American Rare Bird Alert and pay a yearly fee and you will get emails to your phone whenever a rare bird is reported

Another example of ebirding, in September we were driving east across the top of Ohio on I-80 I checked the Ohio listserve and discovered there was a rare bird at a state park on Lake Erie only 8 miles off the interstate.  About an hour after we left the freeway, I had this bird in my sights.  a Northern Wheatear, that breeds in northern North America including Alaska, all of Europe, and wingers in Africa.

Then of course there are the Apps. Most birders have at least one bird book App. These apps have all the info on the birds, their life history, range, field marks, and everything you need to identify the bird and appreciate it as well. There are also photographs for most birds as well as recorded songs that you can listen to so you can recognize the bird even if you can't see it. Birding buy ear is very helpful because you will often hear the bird well before you see it and in some cases you may never see it. Most birders count birds they hear only,  as long as they have had a prior good look at the bird at some point.


I have Ibird Pro and Audubon Birds as two Apps on my phone.


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatbird.pro&hl=en


As you can see, many companies such as Audubon have apps for other wildlife and natural history as well as bird apps for foreign countries.


http://www.audubonguides.com/field-guides/mobile-apps.html


I just learned of a new app this week developed by Columbia University and Smithsonian Institute. You take a photo of the bird with your phone and the app uses facial recognition software to give you possibilities of its ID. There's another App being developed that will analyze bird songs and identify the bird that is singing. There are endless possibilities, new technologies are showing up every day.


One of the newer technologies comes from Cornell University. I believe you students are aware of their web site and are using it as one of you many tools to enjoy birds and learn more about them.
They developed Ebird, a real-time, online checklist and database launched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. It allows people to note their sightings from around the world, sightings which are tallied into an interactive map. The geo-tagging function allows users to then see hot spots of bird sightings, like a birder’s version of Google Maps The purpose of the site is to get all birders to start listing the birds they see in a given location and this will create a very useful database for research and conservation efforts.


You sign up for an account and then you can fill out a report with the location and the bird you saw there. It is made easy because you pick a location that pops up a list of the most likely birds you would see at that location and you check off which ones you saw and how many and it is entered in a data base that you have access to any time. It monitors your bird lists for your Patch, County, State, Country and how many birds you have seen in these locations for the year as well as for as long as you have been using the site so your life list can be here as well. It's a huge project and it will be interesting to see where this technology takes us. To answer the question I posed in the first paragraph as to how did I catch the bird fever, I have ebird's north American rare bird alert come to my email once a day.

a screen capture of my current bird lists on Ebird.

I have been using this site for two years and here is an example of my current data. I would encourage you to use this reporting method if you pursue the birding hobby. And I know some of you are already birders. :=) Oh, and there is an App called Birdlog that has the reporting lists exactly like the web page and the GPS of your phone will find the hotspot on the map based on your location and if you have service you can create the list on the fly and submit it before you leave the location. It is fully editable at any time.


http://ebird.org/


I guess some of the first Technology involving birding would have to do with optics. If you don't have good binoculars and scopes, your enjoyment and success at the hobby of birding will be limited. I sometimes challenge myself and leave my binoculars home on my morning walks but not often because inevitably I will see a bird that I can't identify because it is too far away and I could miss a real rarity if I don't have any optics.


Like everything else, binoculars have made technical advancements in the past decades that allow birders to have very clear views of birds a long ways away. This technology doesn't come without a price and many birders spend several thousand dollars to assure they have a clear view of the birds they want to see. You can buy a pair of binoculars for $25 but I assure you your eyes will not like you if you use them for long periods of birding and the image will be somewhat limited. The rule of thumb is get the best binoculars you can afford.


Another technology that could be overlooked is biotechnology. Scientists have made great strides in the last fifty years when in comes to identifying individual species. Many groups of plants and animals have species that are so similar it is difficult to tell them apart. This is a complex subject but suffice it to say that in the bird world, the use of DNA technology has allowed the ornithologists to further separate some species and this has resulted in new species being added to the number of birds in a region or the world. In 1980 there were about 9,975 species of bird in the world. Today the number of species has grown to close to 10, 300 due to these splits. A recent example is in the bird that was known as the Sage Sparrow. This bird is now divided into two species, the Sagebrush Sparrow and the Bell's Sparrow. The range of the Bell's sparrow is primarily southern California and tiny parts of SW Nevada and W Arizona. The Sagebrush Sparrow ranges in the great basin as well as Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and south into Mexico. Two years ago these were both considered the same sparrow but DNA has proven them to be different. They do have subtle color differences and their calls are different but with the same characteristics.

I was lucky to be included in a study that some local Arizona Ornithologists were doing to monitor the winter range of the "New" Bells Sparrow, which was split from the Sage Sparrow.  I and found both species and took these pictures before they started their study and they were very appreciative of my discovery because it cut way down on the time they would have needed to find them.  You can see how subtle the differences are.

Yet another technology that is being used by birders is the same tracking device that meteorologists use to follow tornadoes and thunderstorms. Migrating birds show up in blue circles sort of like rain does on the Doppler radar map and by coordinating models of wind, you can plot what days and where a good migration will be taking place.


Check out this web site for monitoring active migration:


http://www.aos.wisc.edu/weather/wx_obs/Nexrad.html


You don't have to be a geekhead to enjoy the hobby of birding and I have birding friends who don't have smart phones and in some cases computers but for me, it is one of many tools to increase my enjoyment of the hobby. Happy birding.


The big year list is slowly getting longer.  Here is an update.

423 Rufus Hummingbird, Rt 26 at the spring, Oregon
424 Pigeon Guillemott, Oregon Rt 101 overlook
425 Mew Gull, Astoria, Oregon
426 Red-necked Grebe, the mouth of Birgen Creek, Ft Bragg, California
427 Black Oystercatcher, the mouth of Birgen Creek, Ft Bragg, California
428 Black Turnstone, the mouth of Birgen Creek, Ft Bragg, California
429 Harlequin Duck, the mouth of Birgen Creek, Ft Bragg, California
430 Old World Shrike, possibly Red-backed, Manchester State Park, California
431 Wrentit, Manchester State Park, California
432 Band-tailed Pigeon, Rt 1, Northern California
433 Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Rt 1 Northern California

Bird of the Week, 28

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxk2mhvPCSs

Good morning Students, this weeks' bird might be the easiest one yet. I think the whole world knows this family of birds but this one does not range too far east so it is our special one. Blue is my favorite color and this particular shade of blue is my all time favorite shade of blue so I love it when these guys return from their short winter visit south. Happy birding.

Male

Female

Bird of the week 27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HTQ46hXFa4


Hello again, This Week's bird is one that can be found in Central Washington and Oregon and south through most of the southwest and into Mexico.  The video is from southern Arizona but we had one singing at Fort Rock last week and I almost always hear them at Smith Rock.  I have also had one on the Deschutes River Trail downtown Bend.  A very distinctive coloration and call should make this an easy bird to Identify.  Good Luck and Happy Birding. 

Bird of the Week, 26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nmom51HIiE


Primarily a mountain bird, this weeks bird of the week is a prize for most birders. Mostly found north of the US/Canadian border, they will move farther down the mountain and farther south in winter so this is often the time of year when they are sought. Many years in Deschutes County, you have to snowshoe to find them, they rarely go below 4500 feet but this year it is much easier to find them because there is very little show on the roads and trails. Tuesday, I went up to Santiam Pass and after getting a brief glimpse of them fly by, I went across the road over near Big Lake and found about six birds high in the trees where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses FR 811 also known as the The Old Santiam Wagon Rd. Unfortunately they were in the trees between me and the sun so Photos were almost impossible. I returned on Thursday morning and located about 20 birds next to the Summit Lake Trail where it branches off the PCT.


These lovely birds have a name that would lead you to believe they were more in the family of Cardinals and Tanagers but they are not. Good luck with this challenge. In the first half of the video of this male, you can hear the rest of the flock calling in the background. Happy birding.

To 500 and Beyond.......

Stripped Sparrow, this is probably the rarest bird on my year list.  It is the first time one has been recorded north of the Mexico border he was found about 75 miles east of Austin, Texas.  The American Birding Association will probably not count it on their official list because there is no way to prove that this sedentary bird did not receive help getting here.  It is a life bird for me

Most people have hobbies the allow them to pursue some sort of challenge, exercise their minds or their bodies, meet new people or just plain relax doing something they enjoy. But from time to time they find themselves in a position to crank it up a notch and create a challenge beyond the normal activities of the pursuit. In the late seventies, I started to jog for exercise. I remember when I thought I had accomplished big things by running a mile. Then jogging became running and suddenly the whole world was donning trainers and hitting the roads. Races cropped up and everyone increased their millage. Soon I was participating in 10ks and then a half marathon, 13.1 miles. What had been a relaxing morning exercise routine suddenly became an obsession.


I must be pron to this type of challenge. I have always enjoyed a nice relaxing hike in the mountains or along a stream. Even started weekend backpacking excursions where I would put on a fifty pound pack and hike two to five miles into the woods or up to the top of a mountain and camp for the weekend. Very relaxing and enjoyable pastime. Then my wife suggested she wanted to hike all the way from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail in one summer. I wasn't sure I could even do that but we started out one late March morning in 1991 and six months later we had hiked 2,200 miles. This however changed the face of hiking completely. It becomes almost a job, I likened it to working in the factory of the trail where you had to get up every morning and manufacture miles or your goal would not be reached. In fact you have to hike 11.7 miles every day without a day off to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in six months. It is no longer a nice relaxing stroll and in many ways it takes the fun out of hiking. But it is after all a whole new type of hiking.


Any time a hobby is pushed to the extreme, certain aspects of the hobby are lost. This is true of birding as well. I enjoy birding immensely, I like the challenge of identification, I like associating with the people who share the hobby, I like getting out in the fresh air, I just plain like watching birds and seeing what they do. I often just find a bird I like and sit and watch it for a long time to study its behavior. But in the past six months I have set a new bar and it has taken a certain toll on my enjoyment of the hobby.

Rufus-capped Warbler.  This is my favorite North American Warbler.  It is barely a North American Species.  There are only about a dozen records of these birds nesting north of Mexico and that is only in the past fifteen or twenty years.  I have seen them on three other occasions but never like this magical five minutes. 

If I am going to try to see as many species as possible in a year, I am pressured on several levels. I can't just stop and go home if I haven't found all the possible species. Once all the common birds are found, I have to zero in on ones I have not seen and I have to keep searching till I find them. If there is a rare bird reported within a reasonable distance, I have to chase it no matter what the weather is or how it might conflict with what else I might want to do. I am not saying that I am sorry for this new birding challenge but it has taken some of the fun out at times.


There have been positive aspects of the super birding challenge. It has pushed me to explore new places in North America that I have not seen. I have met dozens of really interesting people and have a new network of contacts all over the US My birding skills get better every time I spend more time in the field. An most of all I am really enjoying the enthusiasm and hard work of the Students at Three Sisters Adventist School as they learn about birds and teach me things I didn't know about them. I do not regret this challenge and look forward to see what avian friends await me on the second half of the Big Year.

Northern Wheatear, this is another life bird.  As far as vagrant chases go, this was easy.  We were headed east on I-90 in northern Ohio and I was aware that one had been seen at Headland Dunes State Park on Lake Erie.  Eight miles off the freeway and a short walk to the beach where many local birders were already looking produced the bird fairly quickly.

This now catches me up and there are 82 more species to be found to bring my total over 500, my original stated goal. Happy Birding.


373 Neotropic Cormorant, San Ygnacio, Texas
374 Gray Hawk, San Ygnacio, Texas
375 Cactus Wren, Laredo, Texas
376 White-collared Seedeater, Father McNaboe Park, Laredo, Texas
377 Audubon's Oriole, Salnienio, Texas
378 White-throated Swift, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
379 Say's Phoebe, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
380 Rock Wren, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
381 Canyon Wren, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
382 Canyon Towhee, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
383 Cassin's Sparrow, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
384 Black-throated Sparrow, Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
385 Gambel's Quail, Deming, New Mexico
386 Black Rosy Finch, Sandia Crest, New Mexico
387 Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Sandia Crest, New Mexico
388 Louisiana Water Thrush, San Pedro Preserve, Arizona
389 Magnificent Hummingbird, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
390 Acorn Woodpecker, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
391 Bridled Titmouse, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
392 Rufus-crowned Sparrow, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
393 Scott's Oriole, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
394 Arizona Woodpecker, Hauchuca Canyon, Arizona
395 Sinaloa Wren, Hauchuca Canyon, Arizona
396 Townsend's Warbler, Hauchuca Canyon, Arizona
397 Hepatic Tanager, Hauchuca Canyon, Arizona
398 Broad-billed Hummingbird, Paton's Center for Hummingbirds, Patagonia, Arizona
399 Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Paton's Center for Hummingbirds, Patagonia, Arizona
400 Elegant Trogan, Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona
401 Plumbeous Vireo, Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona
402 Cassin's Vireo, Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona
403 Rufous-winged Sparrow, Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona
404 Botteri's Sparrow, Patagonia Road, Arizona, near Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona
405 Mexican Jay, Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Herford, Arizona
406 Yellow-eyed Junco, Madera Canyon, Arizona
407 Costa's Hummingbird, Florida Canyon, Arizona
408 Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Florida Canyon, Arizona
409 Rufous-capped Warbler, Florida Canyon, Arizona
410 Guilded Flicker, Buckeye, Arizona
411 Bendire's Thrasher, Buckeye, Arizona
412 Le Conte's Thrasher, Buckeye, Arizona
413 Cliff Swallow, Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona
414 Rosy-faced Lovebird, Granada Park, Phoenix, Arizona
415 Baltimore, Oriole, Sweet Water Wetlands, Tuscon, Arizona
416 Phainopepla, Colorado River Nature Center, Bullhead City, Airzona
417 Pine Grosbeak, Santiam Pass, PCT, Cascade mountains of Oregon
418 Mountain Bluebird, Santiam Pass, PCT, Cascade mountains of Oregon
419 Black-backed Woodpecker, Santiam Pass, PCT, Cascade mountains of Oregon

Another Neo-tropical Warbler from south of the border, I have seen this guy once before in south Texas and I had to make five visits to this park before I got this view. 

The larger bird is a Hook-billed Kite, one of the rarest North American raptors.  They are seen extensively in Central and South America but only make it across the Rio Grande River into South Texas in a couple of places and are really hard to find.  I staked out this spot four times before I got this flyover.  The smaller bird is a Sharp-shinned Hawk who was not happy with the kite.

Probably the rarest North American Oriole, the Audubon's Oriole has a fairly small range that involves mostly central and north east Mexico.  But it does stray across the Rio Grande River in a couple spots and is reliable at feeders that are manned during the winter in Salineno, Texas. 

Bird of the Week 25

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBd41hRPSg

I may have said that I was going to go easy on sparrows because so many of them look similar and are pretty hard to tell apart even for experienced birders.  However this is a pretty easy one and again, I thing a very beautiful bird.  Not only is it a sharp looker, they fill the spring air with their songs.  We were camped at Seminole Canyon State Park that borders the Rio Grande River in South Texas.  This clip shows a bird in the late evening as he quietly preens and softly sings and then the next morning as we walked out of our trailer to watch the sun come up there were several of these little guys filling the desert morning with their song.  If you listen carefully in the first half of the video, you can hear a recent Bird of the Week calling, can you remember what he is by his call?  This species can be found in parts of south east Oregon, the range map shows them ranging in most of eastern Oregon during the summer.  Enjoy this weeks bird and happy birding. 

The Anatomy of a Chase Day

Targets for today


Montezuma Quail
Whiskered Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Cassin's Kingbird
Hutton;s Vireo
Baltimore Oriole
Rosy-faced Lovebirds


It has now been six months since I started the quest to find a minimum of 500 bird species in twelve months. At the half way mark, I am at 415 species. I am not sure if that is really good or just average. Only 86 to go to break 500. That doesn't seem like very many however you have to consider that most of the easy, most common birds have been found. But there are still many fairly common North Western birds I don't have so it will be interesting to see how much past 500 I can go.


As you know, we have been in the deserts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona and I have seen most of the common birds in this region and many rare ones as well. It is now down to chasing specific species. These are birds that are either hard to find or have eluded me. They often don't share habitats so I can't go to the same place to find them all. Thursday the 26th was our last day in Southeast Arizona so I needed to do some mop-up and hopefully get lucky. I thought it might be interesting to chronicle a chase day so here goes...


Western Screech Owl
Whiskered Screech Owl


I arose at 4:00 AM, showered, grabbed a bite of breakfast and was in the car by 4:45. WHISKERED SCREECH OWL is a neo-tropical Owl found mainly in Mexico and Central America but strays into the canyons of Arizona and New Mexico near the border. They nest in some cavities near the San Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, one of the most birded places in North America visited by well over a million birders every year. They are not nesting this time of year so my only hope was to hear one calling in the early morning which is often the case. After stopping briefly for the WESTERN SCREECH OWL on the roads leading to the canyon, without luck, I drove to the top of the canyon and worked my way down listening for the Owl's call. By daylight I reached the bottom of the canyon and struck out on hearing any owls.


It was now 7:00 AM and I started to hike the trail up the stream for the next target, the MONTEZUMA QUAIL. Again we are talking about a neo-tropical species that ranges mostly in Mexico but can be found in Southern Arizona and New Mexico if one is lucky. They are very beautiful and a desired bird for anybody's list. They are often seen in the early morning along this creek and I have seen them once here years ago. After about a mile hike and then back to the car, I again had no luck. I stopped over at the nearby Florida Canyon because someone had heard them there two days ago but again, I struck out.


It was time to head back to the RV park and hitch the trailer because we were on the move again and had to be out by noon. On the way back to the park, I stopped behind the Medical center to search for LAWERENCE'S GOLD FINCH, eight were seen here yesterday. This would be a life bird for me. Struck out again. The entire morning I have been keeping my eye out for HUTTON'S VIREO, and CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, both birds I should have seen by now but they continue to elude me. It's probably a little early for the Kingbird, they are mostly south for the winter but some have been reported. The vireo will have to wait till I get to the Oregon/California coast where they are found year around.


I have now spent the morning with no new birds for the list. So we packed up and hit the road. Tuscon was not that far and we were going right by their Sewage Treatment Reclamation Ponds and these are particularly great for attracting large numbers of birds. Known as Sweetwater Wetlands, it is another favorite haunt of birders and this winter, a BALTIMORE ORIOLE, whose range is not usually much past the Mississippi River,  has be foraging in the trees above the ponds so why not stop in, it's just off the freeway.


I had no idea where the pond was that has been harboring the oriole, and the marque map did not name the ponds, so knowing the name of the pond was not going to help me. I headed down the first trail I saw and after two tenths of a mile or so I encountered two very intent birders who informed me they were on a BALTIMORE ORIOLE! Finally some luck. I got some great looks and mediocre pictures and was back in the car in less than half an hour.


Our destination for this evening is an RV park west of Phoenix so I can't resist stopping at a park in the middle of the city that is purported to have a large flock of ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRDS a tropical escapee from Africa. Since they have now established a breeding population in Phoenix, the American Birding Association this year put them on the countable list so this is a life bird and another year bird. We found the park easily and after making the mistake of hauling the trailer into a very small parking lot that was a dead end, I finally got turned around and parked on the street. By the time I got my camera vest and binoculars on, I could hear them singing and within twenty minutes I had some decent photos and we were on our way. Some days you can bird all day and not find any target species so I was pretty satisfied in spite of the no shows from the morning. Some birds are just not going to make it on the list.

Baltimore Oriole

Rosy-faced Lovebird

The list is over 400 now so it is time to catch you up. I will be talking more about the impact of a big year on the birding experience so stay tuned.This is half the remaining birds to get the list up to date and I will post the rest in my post next week.....


332 White-tailed Hawk, Hwy 77, south Texas
333 Harris's Hawk, Hwy 77, south Texas
334 Clapper Rail, Goose Island State Park, Texas
335 American Oystercatcher, Goose Island State Park, Texas
336 Piping Plover, Goose Island State Park, Texas
337 Red-crowned Parrot, Brownsville, Texas
338 Great Kiskadee, Falfarrious Rest Area, Hwy 77, Texas
339 Green Jay, Falfarrious Rest Area, Hwy 281, Texas
340 Painted Redstart, Falfarrious Rest Area, Hwy 281, Texas
342 Yellow-throated Warbler, Falfarrious Rest Area, Hwy 281, Texas
343 Grasshopper Sparrow, Kingsville, Texas
344 Phrrhuloxia, Kingsville, Texas
345 Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Cameron County, Texas
346 Eastern Screech Owl, Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
347 Nashville Warbler,  Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
348 Olive Sparrow, Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
349 Altamira Oriole,  Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
350 Common Pauraque,  Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
351 Lark Sparrow, Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
352 Tropical Parula,  Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
353 Black-headed Grosbeak,  Resca de la Palma Stat Park, Texas
354 Painted Bunting, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Texas
355 Greater Roadrunner, Kleberg County, Texas
356 Long-tailed Duck, Cameron County, Texas
357 Gull-billed Tern, Cameron County, Texas
358 Aplomado Falcon, Cameron County, Texas
359 Green Parakeet, Mission, Texas
360 Ringed Kingfisher, Bentsen State Park, Texas
361 Cave Swallow, Bentsen State Park, Texas
362 Hook-billed Kite, Bentsen State Park, Texas
363 Clay-colored Thrush, Quinta Mazatlan Park, McAllen, Texas
364 Prairie Warbler, Hildalgo, Texas
365 Burrowing Owl, Granjeno, Texas
366 Bronzed Cowbird, Hildlgo County, Texas
367 Black-chinned Hummingbird, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas
368 Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas
369 White-throated Thrush, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas
370 Summer Tanager, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas
371 Orchard Oriole, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas
372 Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Anzalduasz Park, Hildalgo County, Texas