Back in New Jersey the 80 degree temperatures of Florida were a distant memory as I thought about my next shot at my 500th ABA area bird. (Well, my 500th total as I have never birded outside of the ABA Area, but it sounds cooler if I reference the later :)) There was a Swainson’s Hawk in Cape May that I had missed on all my trips out west so wouldn’t that be an ironic twist? So, as soon as Thanksgiving passed I had planned to head down to Cape May and try my luck. Speaking of which, as luck would have it, an Ivory Gull was found in Cape May on Friday November 27th by Jim Dowdell. This would be an amazing number 500 and only the 4th or 5th occurrence of the bird in NJ since recording started and the last was back in the 80s! Could I get down there in time to see it? Would my luck allow for such a thing after missing the Mangrove Cuckoo in FL for 500? Was it possible, I was “supposed” to get this bird in New Jersey?

You never know how these things turn out. For me, it is one of the most exhilarating parts of birding and also one of the most frustrating. A chase of a bird, although wonderful when it works out, can make for some long drives home when you miss one. As I pulled into the parking lot of the Breezy Lee Marina (wonderful directions to the bird provided by many with a big thanks to the Director of Birding Programs for CMBO Don Freiday with some excellent instruction listed on the RBA) I saw many New Jersey birders with scopes, bins and heavy clothing. The wind was pretty strong but if the bird was there I wouldn’t even notice. I got out and saw some familiar faces all looking content but not very “active.” This usually means 1 of a few things. 1. Everyone got the bird and he left. 2. The bird isn’t around and bird watching as turned into bird talking to make the time go by as everyone waits or 3. (and this is the best and rarest of the bunch) Everyone got the bird, he is still around and close, and they have just gotten SO much of him that the often described “twitch” has passed. Well, today my luck rolled a 3 and sure enough the gull flew closely overhead and seemed to enjoy the onlookers and attention. I took hundreds of pictures and came back a second time just for another look of this amazingly beautiful bird before heading home happy and in possession of number 500. Freaking Great Day!

Snail Kite:

So it was the middle of November and I was itching to get 500 Life Birds by the end of 2009 (I started my first life list in May of 2007). I had 490 at that point and was trying to find a relativley easy (and inexpensive) way to pick of the last 10 birds. I have never been on a Pelagic trip so that was an option, but 10 new birds is a lot to ask from a single trip for offshore birds. So, with some vacation time to burn and nice weather as an added bonus, I decided to give South Florida a shot. I had been to the central/west coast in Florida in April of 2008 (To see more on that trip click HERE) but never got down to the Everglades or the Miami area.

My first day out was Friday Nov 20th. I decided to drive through the Everglades to take in the natural beauty of the area and to stop off at some of the “birdier” spots. My first lifebird of the trip was a beautiful Purple Gallinule at Royal Palm on the Anhinga trail. Just feet away from floating gators this guy quickly brightened an overcast morning. I drove the rest of the way to Flamingo at the end of the Everglades and also came across a flock of White-crowned Pigeons at Mahogany Hammock. Not a bad start to the trip. On the way back to the hotel I picked up a third LB in, off all places, a McDonald’s parking lot. The Common Myna (just recently added as a countable ABA bird) apparently loves fast food like the rest of us.

White-crowned Pigeon:

Day 2 was to start by meeting up with one of Florida’s best birders Larry Manfredi (check out his website at http://southfloridabirding.com/) to track down some Miami area specialties. Larry has been birding in Florida for many years and has contributed to many of it’s birding knowledge, guides, and documentation. Larry quickly got us on some wonderful Yellow-chevroned Parakeet hanging out with a few Monk Parakeet in a tree. Although not “countable” yet, the Yellow-chevroned could some day be added to the ABA list so this one would have to remain as “one in the bank” for now. (which later became 2 when we saw a plumply perfect Purple Swamphen) Next, Larry put us on the spectacularly curious and energetic Red-whiskered Bulbuls! What great birds. I could have spent the whole day watching these guys work their way gregariously around the neighborhood. But, new birds beckoned and we soon saw two bright Spot-breasted Orioles and even got to hear one sing! Another White-crowned Pigeon posed for pictures and a flock of Mitred Parrots squawked their presence into our wonderful Miami birding morning! We next looked for Smooth-billed Ani in vain (a Spring trip for breeding birds would be more productive for birds like the Ani and Mangrove Cuckoo which I missed) but quickly rebounded with two talkative Limpkin and a great comparative look at Purple Gallinule to Purple Swamphen. A quick stop also picked up a distant Snail Kite (2 actually) but much more was to come with the Snail Kite on the next day. We wound up the day back at Larry’s feeders for Shiny Cowbird wrapping up a successful day of birding with 5 new birds for me that day bringing my trip total to 8 (498).

Red-whiskered Bulbul:

I decided I would do 2 things with the rest of my time in Florida. One, I would try to get a better look at Snail Kite (my most wanted bird of the trip) and two I would search for Mangrove Cuckoo. I knew I could get a Wilson’s Plover, a relativley easy to find Florida resident, as a life bird so how cool would it be to get Mangrove Cuckoo for number 500!? So the next morning I headed out to the spot that Larry and I had seen the Snail Kite. On the way there is a super busy gas station as the only one and a last stop for miles around. I stopped in for coffee and gas. As I was getting back in my car, across the street I saw a Snail Kite sitting on a stick (one of the 2X2s they tie a ribbon two and stick in the ground as a marker of some sort). Awesome. Could I get across and off to the side to get pictures? As I pulled over the Kite took to the air and I thought I had scared him away. I should have known better based on his (I am not sure if it is male or female so I am just ignorantly using “his”) location next to a busy (for Everglades FL anyways) road as instead he stopped, “Kited” and then dropped onto a Snail! How cool was this? I got to see a Snail Kite catch his name sake and got some pretty cool pictures of him sitting and eating the snail using that perfectly curved bill before discarding the shell. 1 Down 1 to go!

Along the way I had picked up the Wilson’s Plover so it was 499 with a day and a half to find the Mangrove Cuckoo. Larry had told me about a spot that had a recent sighting but 3 trips there didn’t pan out. I also tried some Everglades spots along Snake Bite trail and even a quick trip to Key Largo to look around some of their Mangrove. As birding sometimes goes I ended up not seeing a Cuckoo and headed home with 499 Life Birds. Jeanette had booked a Pelagic trip for my birthday, Dec 6th, so I knew I would get to 500 before years end. Florida was a nice trip with some great birds and a return must be had for the Cuckoo that got away.

Spot-breasted Oriole:

Vesper Sparrow:

I finally tracked the Vesper Sparrow down today. After two straight Falls where I would just miss seeing a relativley easy to find but uncommon NJ Visitor I finally got to see this guy (probably saw 2 different ones actually). After being pointed in the right direction by fellow NJ Birder (and amazing photographer) Jim Gilbert, I promptly scared the bird off trying to say hello as he was attempting to take its picture. (It was an accident true, but it’s a horrible feeling none the less. Sorry Jim :)) I was able to out wait some parked cars that were blocking the prime viewing area (back right corner of the lot near a seed path) and was rewarded with some great views of the Vesper along with many Savanna, Song, and White-crowned sparrows (1 Adult and at least 4 juveniles) sparrows. Glenhurst Meadows is a great sparrows location in Central Jersey!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher:

Jeanette and I found the draw of this ridiculous bird (meant in a ridiculously good way) too much to ignore and we used it as an excuse to take our first trip to the Cape Cod area Sat night. We planned to be up first thing on Sunday and on location for the previously reported bird. A few tenuous hours of waiting in awful light and with moderate fog (100 yard visibility at times) finally paid off and we got stunning views of this amazing bird. We got to meet some great MASS birders along with Edna and Ray who are fellow NJ Birders and although the photos weren’t great, the twists and turns of the bug chasing flycatcher “doing it’s thing” made up for it. All in all, the 5 states in 5 hours was well worth it to experience our first slice of New England with the Fork-tailed Flycatcher being the icing on the proverbial cake.

Northern Wheatear:

Finally tracked this guy down. Missed two last year, both one day wonders. This one was unbelievably cooperative and a joy to watch. Also, this was my first trip to Dekorte. Really nice place.

Rufous-capped Warbler:

“Well, we haven’t been there in Spring…” An easy excuse to go back to a place Jeanette and I love, it didn’t take much arm bending to convince Jeanette we “needed” to be back in South Eastern Arizona.
We had some target birds and some target activities and targeted late May as our time of arrival. We landed in a seasonably cool Phoenix after a bit of rain and made our way to the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. Our second trip to Arizona was as much about going back to this hotel as it was about the birds. Seriously, Jeanette really likes the place. And what’s not to like? The views are amazing, the amenities are spectacular and the birding on property is simply wonderful.

View from our Hotel:

We met up with Keith Kamper (of AZ Birding - http://az-birding.com/guides/keith-kamper/) to do some night birding and to track down some of the birds we missed on our September trip. While we only had two days with Keith we made the most of it and he provided us with some top notch guiding and some exceptional birds. On the first day we birded Florida Wash and Madera Canyon with a crisp and early wake-up time of 3:30am. While this day didn’t produce my most wanted bird, the Rufous-capped Warbler, it laid the foundation for my subsequent attempts on Monday and Tuesday that eventually did produce a pair of exciting birds. The Kubo B&B started us off with the highly sought Flame-colored Tanager and some wonderful looks at Arizona Woodpecker and Bridled Titmouse.

Flame-colored Tanager:

Madera Canyon produced stunning looks at Elegant Trogon, Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, and Red-faced Warblers along with a host of other Arizona specialties. Although this was our second time seeing the Trogon I don’t think there will ever be a time in my life were an “additional encounter” isn’t met with enthusiasm and heart-pounding joy. What a truly beautiful creature!

Elegant Trogon:

We ended our first day with an remarkable rendezvous with Five-striped Sparrow. We drove and hiked down a remarkably tame California Gulch (anyone who has driven the road into Cal Gulch knows that tame is usually not a word associated with its winding, rocky entry) and were paid off with some close time with one of the coolest sparrows I have ever seen. The hike out was much sweeter with the bird ticked off our list.

Five-striped Sparrow:

On Sunday we hit the altitude and splendor of Mt. Lemmon. A personal favorite, Jeanette and I were happy to be rising up into it’s cooler grasp and out of the 100 degree heat of the desert floor. We saw Band-tailed Pigeon (sadly only a fleeting glimpse but a glimpse non-the-less! :)), Zone-tailed Hawk, Olive Warbler and Jeanette’s “bird of the trip” the Red-faced Warbler. We ended the day with some Owling and nailed Elf, Western Screech, Whiskered Screech and Flammulated Owl along with the AZ version of Whip-poor-will. We even heard a quick call of a Spotted Owl which was an unexpected bonus.

Red-faced Warbler:

All and all, a wonderfully successful trip that produced some great memories, some hard earned treasures and a new birding friendship! I ended the trip with 487 Life Birds. 13 to go and a trip to San Diego in September should get me my goal of 500 by the end of 2009. Is there any better passion than Birding? I say, not a chance.

Dan & Jeanette on Mt. Lemmon:

Below are some more of our favorites of the birds we saw. More will be posted on our Flickr site (found by clicking on the Flickr link at the top right of this page).

Gambel’s Quail:

Verdin:

Arizona Woodpecker:

Black-billed Cuckoo:

I stopped by Garret at lunch today and had 2 beautiful Black-billed Cuckoos at the beginning of Wilson at around 12:30. I got some nice pictures of them as they glided from tree to tree. Also saw a singing Chestnut-sided Warbler (that Garret regulars Pete and Chris pointed out) and 5+ Parulas, 5+ Baltimore Orioles, and 2 male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the short time I was there. The Cuckoos were a first for me.

Chestnut-sided Warbler:

Hooded Merganser:

So in February, the cold days wind on with no end in site and the extended “birding lull” starts to take it’s toll on a budding birder. It feels like birding requires more effort. I think I like that in a way. I know I learn something new on every birding trip in winter. In winter, sounds seem to migrate too as the calls are less, and wing whir is minimal. Each aerial activity gets your full attention. This provides a birding landscape ripe with details. I think I “notice” more in winter. So you plan and plot to get to the few birding hotspots that hold that moniker even in sub-freezing temperatures. One of these spots is the North Shore (a collection of ponds, inlets and rivers strew along the New Jersey coast). You can always find a variety of ducks and gulls waiting for your attention. Last year I saw my first Canvasback and Redheads on a North Shore trip. Silver Lake held a group of Hooded Mergansers shown in the picture above. Although it is a common winter bird around New Jersey the Hooded Merganser never “feels common.” It just seems that a bird so delightfully ornate should come with some extra pomp and circumstance. I tried to oblige.

Another wonderful winter spot is the Pole Farm near Princeton New Jersey. The Pole Farm is home to numerous Short-eared Owls who hunt and float above its fields. They arrive as the sun sets and it feels amazing as you realize you are lucky enough to be in the presence of hunting “Owls.” I have snapped some pretty good shots of these guys in the past but the setting sun below seemed to remind me of something. You can’t get to tomorrow without today. The Spring will come soon enough as the sun will set on winter but the winter has some pretty cool birds too. Birding in New Jersey is year round.

Short-eared Owls:

Altamira Oriole:

Wow what a trip! Where to start? I guess at the beginning. Jeanette and I were eagerly anticipating our winter trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. September in South East Arizona was amazing so we were curious to see if this too would exceed expectations. We got to see some amazing birds and meet some wonderful people along the way.So, we landed in McAllen, Texas on Friday January 9th and met up with LRGV expert birder Roy Rodriquez on Saturday the 10th. Roy was going to show us the sites and boy did he deliver! We stopped at many of the Valley’s top birding spots like Estero Llano Grande State Park, and the Frontera Audubon site. That first day we had wonderful life birds like Plain Chachalaca, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Long-billed Thrasher, Bronzed Cowbird, Green Kingfisher, Altamira Oriole, and Couch’s Kingbird. We also scored some of the Valley’s harder to come by species like Red-crowned Parrot, Clay-colored Robin, male and female Blue Bunting and a beautiful Black-throated Magpie-Jay. The Magpie-Jay was most certainly a cage bird at one point but it was now living “wild” and was a stunning site. We also picked out a single Masked Duck at the Willacy County Brushline Road location to end the busy day.

Plain Chachalaca:


On Sunday, we started the morning early looking for one of the most famous LRGV species Muscovy Duck. The Muscovy can most often be found along the Rio Grande river and it wasn’t long before one of these large birds flew right by us and then returned later for a second fly-by. We also tallied Ringed Kingfisher and a late arriving Hook-billed Kite that morning. We got to visit some more amazing places like Chapeno, Falcon State Park, Roma Bluffs and Zapata. We saw beautiful birds in bunches with all three orioles (Hooded, Audubon’s and Altamira) Olive Sparrow, Green Jays and Orange-crowned warblers only feet away at feeders in Salineno. For lunch we headed to Zapata to attempt to find the White-collared Seedeaters that are frequently spotted there. Sure enough, a turkey sandwich later and we got great looks at a male Seedeater fluttering about in the reeds. We got to visit some historically relevant sites in Roma and got to see some wonderful Mexican architecture. The last stop of the day was at the Peñitas pipit patch for Sprague’s Pipit. It took some work but a bird popped straight up and then back down and finally allowed some brief posses for photos. Another amazing day of Texas birding!

Green Jay:


On our final day of birding with Roy we started off with Eared Grebe, Long-billed Curlew, and Western Meadowlark packs while looking for an Aplomado Falcon. We dipped on the falcon (one of the few birds we missed all week) but were treated to huge numbers of Black-necked Stilts, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Roseate Spoonbill and American Avocets and got to see some cool Shrimping boats as they headed out from port. Some places we visited were Laguna Atascosa, Brownsville, Port Isabel and ended the day back at Frontera Audubon in Weslaco. Frontera finally granted us wonderful views of the Crimson-collared Grosbeak after Jeanette stealthy picked her out of the potato plants stuffing her mouth with bulbs. This brought an end to our time with Roy but his kindness, sense of humor and amazing birding skills were shared and appreciated by Jeanette and I and we will surely meet again.

Crimson-collared Grosbeak:


The rest of the week was a little more laid back birding wise but we still found time to see an amazing Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl at San Miguelito Ranch and got to Choke Canyon State Park for the reported Pine Flycatcher. We got to Choke Canyon early Thursday morning and joined a group of eager birders and shared wonderful views of the bird. We got to hear and record his sharp calls (I will try to post the sound recording shortly) and got the low down on why the bird was now a full blown “birding controversy.” There have been multiple flycatchers wintering in the area which has led some to question the original identification of the bird. We saw a second bird later in the morning that was much more similar to the Least flycatchers we are accustomed to so the concerns are legitimate. There is talk of netting the bird with camps on both sides so we will see how this turns out.

Pine Flycatcher:


The last two days we spent in San Antonio and this gave me much time to reflect on an amazing trip. We met amazing people we now consider friends and got to see equally amazing birds in a unique natural environment. We have been asked “What do you get out of birding? You don’t get to eat your capture, stuff your trophy or even “own” any physical representation of the things you are chasing! How can that be fulfilling?” This vacation provided the simple answer. Birding for us is about the trip more than the destination. It’s the things you see along the way that make just having shared it worth more than any final possession. The Texas LRGV is a place that needs to be seen and its out there waiting to be shared with us all.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl:


Below are some more of our favorites of the birds we saw. More are posted at our Flickr site (found by clicking on the Flickr link at the top right of this page).

Muscovy Duck:


Black-throated Magpie-Jay:


Golden-fronted Woodpecker:


Blue Bunting:


Great Kiskadee:


Dan & Jeanette at Frog Size!:

Northern Hawk-Owl:

Yesterday, Jeanette and I decided that rather than stand in line to return gifts and hunt for sales we would track down a gift of our own. The 5 hour trip is a little more than we would usually take on, but with a full day off and the possibility of a bird that hunts and hangs out in a relatively small area we decided we would take a shot. The trip up wasn’t bad at all. I much prefer a trip into NY that avoids any notion of the city itself. We flew all the way up 287 and then the NY Thruway and eventually 87. The views at times were beautiful and the surrounding area has a lot of natural activities to offer.

We left at 4 30 AM hoping to get there at a time many had reported success with in the morning hours. We got into Peru around 10 AM and stopped for a quick on-the-go breakfast break. As we closed in, the directions were spot on and the roads were easily traveled with our car. We drove down Clark Rd and sure enough there he was perched on a telephone pole on the right side of the road. We easily watched him from the car as he moved periodically from one pole to another. At one point he flew to a tree branch that seemed incredibly too small to support the birds weight. But alas, perch there he did. We watched for about 45 minutes without the need to even leave the car. The bird seems content to share the space with onlookers, which hopefully doesn’t result in over-eager birders getting “too” close.

As we watched he (I keeping saying he out of ease of use rather than actual knowledge of the bird’s sex) preened and scratched and stretched as needed. Occasionally doing that poltergeist spinning head move that seems impossible. The drive home was a little more difficult with the star of the day already seen but a quick stop off at the Great Swamp for a dark-morphed Rough-legged helped, and a stop at the Raptor Trust allowed us to donate and take in some final holiday cheer. There are also some more pictures of the Hawk-Owl on our Flickr site. Just click the Flick button to the right —>