350. Spruce Grouse

Date         July 9, 2024

Location    Katmai National Park, AK

We took the bus tour to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. The park ranger that came along asked us to be on the lookout for Snowshoe Hares and Spruce Grouse, which were often found on the dirt road. A count was made on every bus tour for scientific research purposes -- basically monitoring the populations. I was very excited to hear this, of course, because I didn't have any species of grouse on my life list, and I was certainly keen on getting one on my Alaska trip. This would be like shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak.

While we saw dozens of hares during the entire ride up, we didn't see any grouse for quite some time. I was starting to wonder if I was going to be very unlucky. But finally towards the end of the trip out was saw a mama grouse with a few chicks, scrambling off the road as the bus approached. We got very good looks at the chicks, which had managed to fly up into trees about even with the bus windows.

Cornell: Spruce Grouse

349. Canada Jay

Date         July 5, 2024

Location    Denali National Park, AK

Denali National Park and Preserve was officially closed down during our brief visit there due to wildfires. Our hotel was located right next to the trailhead for the Triple Lakes Trail, and even though the trail was officially closed (a sign with three traffic cones), we proceeded up the trail anyway. There were no fires in that area, well south of the Riley fire causing the shutdown. By the end of the hike there were numerous people on the trail.

About a mile in we started seeing and hearing some very gregarious birds in the pine trees surrounding the trail. I thought at first that I was seeing a Clark's Nutcracker -- for some reason this species did not enter my mind as a possibility. I got some better looks and also realized that their behavior fit Canada Jays much better.

The above photo is not that great and out of focus, but it's much more fun to post the actual bird vs. a photo from the internet!

Cornell: Canada Jay

348. Short-billed Gull

Date         July 3, 2024

Location    Anchorage, AK

We walked from our hotel to a restaurant in the northern part of Anchorage (6th St.) and saw numerous gulls on buildings, on the street, etc. Many were of this type and the others were Glaucous-winged.

They frequently called, confirming the identification.

Cornell: Short-billed Gull

347. Juniper Titmouse

Date         June 21, 2024

Location    Torrey, UT

Hiking back to the car on the Grand Wash trail in Capitol Reef National Park, we came across a gregarious group of birds in the juniper trees to our right, with a cliff side to our left. I thought at first that I was hearing something in one of the many crevices and small caves to the left, but it turned out to be echoing from the right. We passed by them fairly closely; they were pretty tolerant of our presence. Everything was textbook about them. Plain gray appearance, behavior, habitat, etc.

Cornell: Juniper Titmouse

346. Vesper Sparrow

Date         May 27, 2024

Location    Medora, ND

On the hike that day, I strongly suspected that I was hearing it. I finally got a visual confirmation when we got back to the parking lot, just before the two horses showed up.

Cornell: Vesper Sparrow

345. Common Poorwill

Date         May 26, 2024

Location    Medora, ND

Soon after the sun set on May 26, while I was cleaning up in our camp site at Cottonwood camp site in the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I heard two or three brief calls. The next night, while lying in my tent well after sunset but before midnight, I heard several series of calls. While I was reasonably certain the first evening, it was nice to get a good confirmation the next.

Cornell: Common Poorwill

344. Rough-legged Hawk

Date         January 19, 2024

Location    Garden Prairie, IL

This bird was seen while driving on US highway 20 between Garden Prairie and Marengo, IL. Here is how I came to this conclusion.

First, Rough-legged Hawks are often sighted in this area of northern Illinois in the winter. I had even chased one the prior winter that was reported on eBird in a park preserve in nearby Crystal Lake. In other words, the range is correct.

Second, the habitat was right. A corn field in a rural area.

Third, the behavior was typical. It was hovering over the field. The Cornell entry reads: "Winter is the time to see this large, open-country hawk in southern Canada and the U.S., where it may be perched on a pole or hovering over a marsh or pasture on the hunt for small rodents." The Audubon app has similar language: "Spends the winter in open country . . . Often hunts by hovering over fields, watching for movement below."

Fourth: I noted the dark leading edge and white trailing edge of the wings. Obviously, I did not have a lot of time for observation while driving, but I had sufficient time to lock in this observation.

Fifth: Northern Harrier was a possibility, but it was ruled out. The wing coloration and the behavior don't fit harrier. While it's certainly possible that a harrier could be flying this high, I almost always see them gliding over the field within 20 feet or so of the ground. This bird was higher up.

Sixth: There is dashcam footage of this bird. Below is screen shot which is obviously very blurry because, well, it's from a dash cam in fairly low light, late afternoon, cloudy day, going 50 mph. But it does confirm some details if in a vague fashion. Compare this image to the image above:

The dark trail on the trailing edge is distorted/amplified by the poor quality, but otherwise the wings are consistent. There is a very small impression of the white portion of the under tail as well. Also note the posture: that of hovering, not gliding or soaring. Here is a screen shot of bird in context, with no cropping:

Cornell: Rough-legged Hawk