301. Common Merganser

Date         November 21, 2019

Location    Quemahoning Reservoir, Hollsopple, PA

Like the Golden Eagle, this was another "target bird" that I hoped to get while living in Pennsylvania. It was actually pretty annoying that many years ago in 2003 I got both Hooded and Red-breasted (and had seen Hoodies almost every year since, *in abundance*) but still didn't have the "common" version of the merganser.

In this case, I used the Audubon field guide app. You can tell it to alert you when certain species are spotted and recorded by someone within a certain radius of your location. So I get the alert from the app, and coupled with other sightings reported on the PA Birders Facebook page, decided to try for it again.

My first try was on Nov. 19, two days before, and I may have seen them, but they were too far away. I did get to hear a loon yodeling for the first time, so it was worth the trip.

Anyway, on the 21st I went back to try again. While I was out, I realized that it was hunting season and that I might be in danger of getting shot. There were even signs in the parking areas that said everyone should be wearing hunter orange. Well, I didn't have any such clothing on me, but my emergency blanket was orange, so I draped it over me like a shawl. It wasn't the proper fluorescent orange, but I figured it was better than nothing.

I spotted a large number of ducks and geese about an hour into the trip as I circled around the reservoir. There were Canada Geese and Hooded Mergansers (naturally), and a group of birds that all looked the same was off to my right, closer to the shore. They looked like a good possibility, but they were too far away still. So I stalked up the shoreline, bit by bit, taking looks at them and carefully reading my guidebook. There were no males in the group, so I had to be sure they weren't female red-breasted.

I eventually got close enough and was able to get all the necessary field marks. There were eight of them, swimming about but staying together. I was very grateful that they didn't just up and fly away as a few Gadwalls had earlier.


Cornell: Common Merganser

300. Golden Eagle

Date         November 2, 2019

Location    Allegheny Front Hawk Watch, near Central City, PA

Along the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania, there are a series of sites that make up the Hawk Watch. At these lookout points it's possible to see dozens or even hundreds of raptors in a given day. Volunteers go to these sites every day during spring and fall migration and make official counts of migrant raptors, with a detailed report appearing on their web site. I looked over the statistics from prior years and tried to pick a day in which I could get a Golden Eagle. They are fairly common in late fall; a good day can produce 10-20 of them.

So I came on November 2. The weather was sunny and calm, but still pretty chilly -- about 40 degrees. I arrived at about 10:00 AM. By 2:00 PM, no eagles had appeared.

Trying to stay warm, I walked over to the north edge of the outlook away from the scopes and people. When I wandered back, they were all looking at a Golden Eagle. The problem was, it was quite a ways in the distance and it was right by the sun. In order to see anything, you had to cover the sun with your hand and look with the naked eye. So yes, that was the first one, but it wasn't much more than a black line in the sky.

I pondered whether I should count it, and I think I decided I would, but it was quite unsatisfying. I wouldn't have known it was a Golden Eagle on my own, not by a long shot. But the experts there were sure it was, and I saw it. Sigh.

I was about to give up and go home a few minutes later when another was spotted. This time it was still north of us and fairly close, so I was able to observe it for a couple of minutes as it soared southward. It was a juvenile, like the picture above, so the white patches were a good field mark.


Cornell: Golden Eagle

299. Glossy Ibis

Date         April 12, 2019

Location    Big Cypress National Preserver, Carnestown, FL

Long curved beak and somewhat hunched appearance were diagnostic.

Cornell: Glossy Ibis

298. Reddish Egret

Date         April 12, 2019

Location    Big Cypress National Preserver, Carnestown, FL

I didn't have much luck at the visitor center or the trail nearby (except for some great views of alligators!), so I simply stopped at various spots along the road.

I was wondering what these grayish egret birds were until it finally dawned on me what they were.


Cornell: Reddish Egret

297. Burrowing Owl

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    empty lot in neighborhood, Marco Island, FL

We were driving through a neighborhood on the way to dinner when we noticed a mailbox that had a manatee with pup statue as the post on a side street to our right. So we turned around to take a picture. As I drove back towards the road we were on, I spied an owl on a T-perch on a vacant lot. I could hardly believe my luck. This was the first owl I had ever seen in the wild without help (like a nest report or someone with a spotting scope set up).

The next evening we drove through the same neighborhood and saw several of these T-perches with owls on them (often another owl was perched nearby on the ground). They are actually pretty common. There is even a conservation program in place.

Marco Island Growth Management: Burrowing Owls


Cornell: Burrowing Owl

296. Least Tern

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    Sand Dollar Island, Marco Island, FL

I had heard from both boat guides that the Least Terns were just coming back and that there were reports of them being sighted in recent days. We stopped at the very place where there was a spot reserved for their nesting, so I was hopeful.

I saw and heard some terns right away, flying all about and diving in the shallow part of the surf. I eventually saw them enough to make a positive id. It was kind of like trying to identify swallows. Their calls were also diagnostic; I went to my phone and loaded up the correct track on Birding by Ear to confirm. It was actually kind of fun to listen to the real live birds and the calls on my phone at the same time; there was no difference. The repeated "Ki-deeeeeee ki-dic" was the clincher.

I was somewhat inland, watching some near the beach dive into the water. They were apparently very near some people because they were obviously expressing surprise and laughing as the birds swooped down very close to them.

Before we left for the trip, I was somewhat regretful that we weren't going in the dead of winter, when people usually go to escape the awful eastern winter weather. My tax guy even chided me for it a little! But now I'm very glad I went when I did. This bird and the kite would not have been there.


Cornell: Least Tern

295. Wilson's Plover

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    Sand Dollar Island, Marco Island, FL

Like with our private tour, our boat stopped at a beach for some shelling time. I spent most of it birding. I'm not sure if I have the right location for this, but it's pretty close.

The island we stopped at had a roped off area. There were signs designating it  as a sensitive wildlife area or some such language; Kent told us it was for the Least Terns, which were just now arriving from South America (he had heard reports of them being spotted). More on them in the next entry.

As I trudged toward a green area inland, where I thought I heard a Prairie Warbler of all things, I heard some cheeping behind me, and I saw this bird very near; I almost walked into it.


Cornell: Wilson's Plover

294. Magnificent Frigatebird

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    East Marco Bay, Marco Island, FL

This time we were on a dolphin eco-tour in the Marco Island tour. The naturalist (Kent) and pilot (Mike) were both quite familiar with the wildlife. I saw one of these soaring high above us, and I asked what it was. I suspected frigatebird, but I wasn't sure if it was wishful thinking. Mike confirmed it for me.

Later, Kent showed everyone a picture of a frigatebird and talked about them for a bit. By this time, there were about half a dozen soaring above us.


Cornell: Magnificent Frigatebird

293. Cattle Egret

Date         April 10, 2019

Location    Dollar Bay, Naples, FL

The guide knew a place where a bunch of these would often hang out, and sure enough they were there, about two dozen. As far as I could tell, they all had the buffy-orange cap. They were a bit shier than the Snowy Egrets; some of them started flying to different perches as if they were about to fly away.

I wasn't expecting to see these in the mangroves because they generally feed in fields (with, you know, cattle), but I guess sometimes they act like "regular" egrets. So this was a nice bonus.

All in all a very productive outing, with four new birds!

Cornell: Cattle Egret

292. Ruddy Turnstone

Date         April 10, 2019

Location    On the beach near Reb's Cove, Naples, FL

The location is approximate; I looked at a map later to try to determine where we were at the time, and this was best I could do. Close enough!

About halfway through the boat ride, the guide grounded the boat near a little trail that went about 100 yards through the mangroves and out onto the beach facing the Gulf of Mexico. Here we collected shells and waded a bit.

I spotted a lonely bird foraging among the many shells that littered the sand. He caught a live one at one point; I saw him jabbing at the animal inside.

He was in non-breeding plumage, but the behavior and the bib (among other  marks) indicated this species.


Cornell: Ruddy Turnstone

291. Swallow-tailed Kite

Date         April 10, 2019

Location    Naples Bay, Naples, FL

I completely owe this one to our guide as well. I caught only a quick view as it swooped over the water ahead of us and flew into the mangroves. Fortunately, it was pretty unmistakable.

He characterized this bird as a harbinger of spring for them in southwestern Florida. Indeed, the dolphin guide (Kent) the next day would mention to me that a kite had been sighted recently, as though that were a notable event -- notable presumably because of the aforementioned signaling of spring.

Cornell: Swallow-tailed Kite

290. Tricolored Heron

Date         April 10, 2019

Location    Naples Bay, Naples, FL

On the first day of our vacation in the Naples/Marco Island area, we took an eco-tour by boat in Naples. It was just me and Mieka with a guy on his boat. He proved very adept at pointing out birds and other wildlife as well as the ecological aspects of the area.

The first bird he found for me was a tricolored heron. We were "chasing" after some dolphins in a very quiet cove, and there were several Snowy Egrets on the shore. They were quite common, so I wasn't really looking carefully. He announced the Tricolored Heron and I was able to spot it immediately.

I was surprised at how small it was. It was basically the same size as the egrets. For some reason, I had it in my mind that they were the same size as Great Blue Herons, probably because when I first learned about the bird, I thought of it as the great blue but just a little different.


Cornell: Tricolored Heron

289. Loggerhead Shrike

Date         October 19, 2018

Location    Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, UT

My streak of at least one bird per year was in serious jeopardy in 2018, so it was fitting that a bird that I used to have on my list, but was later removed because of too much doubt, would save the day.

I was headed toward the one-way dirt road that goes through the refuge, and I decided to park first at the trail head and try out the little watch tower there. I roamed about the area and saw some pipits and what I thought was a shrike. There was a chain link fence that he was fond of perching on after sallying forth.


Cornell: Loggerhead Shrike

288. Cinammon Teal

Date         June 14, 2017

Location    Wapati Lane wildlife viewing area, WY

Continuing my free-styling trip, I found a little refuge park thing on the side of the road in Alpine, WY, which by the way is in a beautiful location near the Tetons.

A small parking area and boardwalk overlooked an extensive wetland area where I saw several males and females.

Cornell: Cinnamon Teal

287. Yellow-headed Blackbird

Date         June 14, 2017

Location    Swan Valley, ID

I knew that these guys were all over because Logan had seen one on the way in. I was kind of concentrating on driving the truck that was towing his car, so I couldn't bird by car very much.

But on the way back, as I drove through town, I did spot one in some random field. I was able to study these a lot better in Utah the next day at Bear River. I sampled a lot of their crazy singing, which is actually quite varied. I grew to like these guys and actually enjoy their "singing."

Cornell: Yellow-headed Blackbird

286. Mountain Bluebird

Date         June 14, 2017

Location    Clark Hill rest area, Ririe, ID

After spending quite a while at the rest area, I moved on. I was totally free-styling it, and I was loving it.

As I drove down the other side of a mountain pass, I spied a dirt road that just spiraled up the mountain a ways. I pulled off the side of the highway, turned my virtually empty U-Haul around, drove back up the hill and up the dirt road to a landing of the switchback. I was really hoping to find a Mountain Bluebird. I was in the mountains, right?

Such tactics are rarely rewarded so quickly, but almost right away I saw one. He was fairly close to the ground, perching in low branches.

Cornell: Mountain Bluebird

285. Cassin's Finch

Date         June 14, 2017

Location    Clark Hill rest area, Ririe, ID

After dropping off Logan at college, I had a drive from Idaho to Utah with no one with me.

Time to do some birding.

I found this really nice rest stop that overlooked a river, had lots of trees, cliffs, etc. It featured a Bald Eagle nest and Peregrine Falcons (probably also nesting somewhere in the cliff face).

I was on the sidewalk just down from the parking lot when he flew up into the trees I was looking at, singing. I was so used to seeing plain old House Finches out west that it took a second for me to realize that this guy was different. Song definitely helped.

Cornell: Cassin's Finch

284. Dunlin

Date         May 12, 2017

Location    Magee Marsh (road to boardwalk), Carroll, OH

Several cars were parked along the side of the road, so Logan and I decided to check out what was going on. There was a large flock of them in some mudflats near the road. Many were in their breeding plumage, making it quite easy to identify them. As far as we could tell, it was not a mixed flock. They were all Dunlins.

Cornell: Dunlin

283. Black Vulture

Date         January 4, 2017

Location    Renaissance at Sea World (hotel), Orlando, FL

I was doing a little birding in the parking lot, which had lots of trees and landscaping. I saw them overhead and noted the white tips on the wings. Slam dunk, not a Turkey Vulture.

Cornell: Black Vulture

282. Northern Fulmar

Date         June 24, 2016

Location    on the ocean near Graham Island, British Columbia, Canada

This was in the group of birds mentioned in the previous post. Like the picture in that one, the bird matches up nicely with the illustration marked by the red arrow.

This was the last bird of the trip. I was very happy with the results. Some of these birds are once-in-a-lifetime shots (although hopefully they don't turn out to be), and it was cool to see some truly arctic birds -- it was thematic with the trip.

My only regret is that I didn't see any alcids. I still don't have any on my life list from that family. (We actually did see a flock of alcids of some kind in Glacier Bay, but I couldn't identify the specific species as they flew past at a decent distance.)


Cornell: Northern Fulmar

281. Black-footed Albatross

Date         June 24, 2016

Location    on the ocean near Graham Island, British Columbia, Canada

I didn't do such a good job cropping this enough, but if you zoom in you can see that it matches the picture from Sibley's, especially the one with the red arrow that I drew in.

We were making our way back to Seattle when suddenly there was a whole group of birds at the stern, fading rapidly. Mieka took a bunch of pictures so I could have a something to study later while I looked through my binoculars (to not much effect).

I managed to identify two -- there may have been more. This albatross and the next entry (fulmar) are very common pelagic birds (like finding a sparrow and a House Finch in your backyard), but I don't mind at all. I may never have the chance to get them again.


Cornell: Black-footed Albatross

280. Black-legged Kittiwake

Date         June 22, 2016

Location    Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

For this bird and the next two, I will be posting the actual pictures of the bird I saw rather than a model picture from the internet.

The bird on the left is the kittiwake, on the right a glaucous-winged. There were many of both species flying around the ship as we slowly sailed into the bay to look at the glaciers. We were also buzzed by Bald Eagles only a few dozen feet from our balcony, like this picture shows:

The kittiwake is also an arctic bird, like the Arctic Tern, and we were also at the extreme southern end of its range.


Cornell: Black-legged Kittiwake

279. Varied Thrush

Date         June 21, 2016

Location    Chilcoot Trail, Skagway, Alaska

We went horseback riding in Skagway. I had already mounted and was waiting for the others to get mounted when I heard his song. I said to one of the tour guides, "hey, that's a Varied Thrush." She was like, yeah, it is, seeming a bit surprised that I picked it out. I was a little surprised she knew too, but I was hoping she did so I could show off.

Only identified by sound, unfortunately, but this one is unmistakable.

Cornell: Varied Thrush

 

278. Arctic Tern

Date         June 21, 2016

Location    Cruise ship dock in Skagway, Skagway, Alaska

I didn't realize until later what a cool find this was -- I mean, other than getting a bird with the word "arctic" in it. This bird is famous for its long migration from far to the south to far to the north. And I got it in its breeding area in the north, not during migration. Skagway is basically at the extreme southern end of its summer range.

Birding from the balcony was proving to be very productive.

Cornell: Arctic Tern

277. Mew Gull

Date         June 20, 2016

Location    Cruise ship dock in Juneau, Juneau, Alaska

While this was certainly not a birding trip (it was more of a second honeymoon), I did take every opportunity to look and listen for birds. As we waited to disembark in Juneau, I saw these gulls around the ship.

The gulls on this trip were in general easy to identify because there were full adults and one species at a time. No sitting on the beach with dozens of plumages trying to sort them all out.


Cornell: Mew Gull

276. Leach's Storm-Petrel

Date         June 19, 2016

Location    on the ocean near Graham Island, British Columbia, Canada

I spent a fair amount of time on our balcony looking for pelagic birds. The first one I saw was a relatively small blackish bird that was basically following the ship. We were at the rear, so I could watch it continually. It was off the starboard stern.

As far as I could tell, it never got any closer or farther away from the ship for about 15 minutes. I couldn't see any detailed field marks on the bird itself, but its flying style and behavior were good clues.

I looked carefully at a map to determine that we were technically in Canadian waters.

Wikipedia: Leach's storm petrel

275. Glaucous-winged Gull

Date         June 18, 2016

Location    Seattle Cruise Ship Terminal 91, Seattle, WA

As we sat on the ship, on our balcony to be specific, there were a number of these gulls on the dock and flying over the water.

Cornell: Glaucous-winged Gull

old 275. Northwestern Crow (deleted)

Date         June 17, 2016

Location    Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle, WA

Mieka and I decided to take a cruise to Alaska. We spent the night in Seattle the night before in a nice hotel that was surrounded by trees.

Right outside our window, I could hear and see the crows probably because there were some dumpsters nearby. They sounded slightly different than the American species, but I went mostly by range.

Update: this bird has been removed from my life list because it has been lumped in with American Crow. Recent DNA studies have shown that they have hybridized to the point that they are no longer distinct species. I'll leave it here in case it gets split again some time in the future.

Cornell: Northwestern Crow

274. Lesser Goldfinch

Date         June 8, 2016

Location    Ogden Nature Center, Ogden, UT

This bird was being very irritating. I heard and recognized her call note, but I had to search for about 15 minutes before finally finding her, and the look was very brief.

Cornell: Lesser Goldfinch

273. Black-headed Grosbeak

Date         June 8, 2016

Location    Ogden Nature Center, Ogden, UT

I had made it all the way down the trail, up the observation tower in the swampy area, and had just started back when I saw him up in a tree.


Cornell: Black-headed Grosbeak

272. Black-chinned Hummingbird

Date         June 8, 2016

Location    Jeremy Ranch Road, Morgan, UT

This one took a long time and lots of observation to figure out. He kept coming back to the same section of flowers, probably about ten times before Logan and I decided to move on.

While that sounds like a lot of opportunity for observation, hummingbirds are just so hard because they move around so much, and the colors usually don't materialize. The light has to be just right. But we were eventually confident in the identification as we studied our field guides. All in all, a very fun puzzle.

And I guess I can't really complain about how hard he was; at least he did come back over and over. He gave us a chance, unlike other hummers I've stumbled across.

Cornell: Black-chinned Hummingbird

271. Green-tailed Towhee

Date         June 8, 2016

Location    Jeremy Ranch Road, Morgan, UT

In researching where to go on this trip, I kept coming across this "Jeremy Ranch Road," and I figured there must be more to it, but it was literally just a road up in the canyon. So we eventually just parked on the side of the road and walked around.

We heard him at first and then spotted him, continuing to sing. It took me a little while to recognize the song. The sun was quite bright, so his colors were washed out a bit, not as nice as you see in a field guide.

Cornell: Green-tailed Towhee

270. American White Pelican

Date         June 8, 2016

Location    East Canyon Reservoir, Morgan, UT

The reservoir was quite a ways down to the right from our vantage point, so it was a decent distance away, but it was still fairly obvious what it was because these are such large birds.


Cornell: American White Pelican