When in Michigan... June 2015

Of course, the first bird you want to see while in Michigan in the Summer is the Kirtland's Warbler.  However, though I did stop in Grayling to go on the Kirtland's Warbler Tour, as I had done in previous years, I actually wanted to check out Hastings, where Michigan Audubon holds the annual Cerulian Warbler Weekend.  There wasn't enough time last year to go, but I did have one day,(the day prior to the actual festival), to check out the area.  Turns out it is a fantastic place to bird in the spring.  The main events take place at the Otis Bird Sanctuary.  I birded late in the afternoon, and early the next morning, counting 34 species, including Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Sedge Wren, Cerulian Warbler,(of course), and Henslow's Sparrow, of which I got great photos.

Kirtland's Warbler

Henslow's Sparrow

Eastern Bluebird

The Star of the Cerulian Warbler Weekend

Migration Means Magee Marsh: May 2015

Migration Means McGee Marsh: May 2015

I have been trying to hit all the best North American Hot Spots for spring Migration, but had yet to go to the Biggest Week in American Birding in Ohio.  This year we finally made the trip.  Before heading out, there was the matter of a Kentucky Warbler here at home in Toronto's spring hot spot, Col. Sam Smith Park:

Two days later we were off to the Biggest Week in American Birding, in the areas of Toledo-Oregon, Ohio.  And who did we meet along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, but one of the all time kings of Big Year Birding, Greg Miller.

But the real celebrities were the birds, warblers everywhere!  We counted 51 species on our first day along the boardwalk, including 16 species of Wood Warbler.

A Tree Swallow, actually in a tree:

We got very close to most of the birds on the boardwalk

Blackpoll Warbler:

Prothonotary Warbler:

 Blackburnian Warbler:

Singing Indigo Bunting:

Finally, got a photo of the very elusive Mourning Warbler:

The next day, we went on a guided tour, the highlight of which was a Lifer for most of us, a distant look at a Henslow's Sparrow,(#638 for the ABA Life List:

That night, we went on an outing to see American Woodcocks, another difficult bird to see, especially after sunset.

We finished off the trip by taking a day at Canadian Migration central, Point Pelee National Park and Hillman Marsh.

American Avocet in Hillman Marsh:

My first photo of a Chuck-will's-widow at Point Pelee.  I've only ever heard them at dusk, so seeing one high in a tree during the day was an unexpected bonus for everyone at the park

Not long after returning to Toronto, there was more excitement in the Toronto Birding World, as a Swainson's Warbler had been reported in Tommy Thompson Park, which is another place I spend a lot of time during migration.  I missed the bird in the morning, but after work I headed straight back to the park and with a large group of local and some not so local birders, the bird was found and everyone got great photos.  It was my third time in four years looking for this hard to find bird, but it was worth the wait!

We were not yet done with the excitement of spring birding.  For the first time in a generation, a Piping Plover showed up on a beach on Toronto Island.  An entire area had to be fenced off to protect this threatened species.  This was one of just about 6,000 remaining Piping Plovers world wide.

And finally, to cap off a great month of birding, we took in Carden Alvar an important birding area east of Toronto.  Eastern Bluebirds, Upland Sandpipers, Loggerhead Shrike and Sedge Wrens all breed here.

My first ever photograph of a Sedge Wren!

A distant Upland Sandpiper, hiding in the tall grass:

As Migration Draws Near it's Time to Catch Up on the Year

As Migration Draws Near, It's Time to Catch Up on the Year

Dear Birding Diary,

After Blogging nearly every day during my 2012 Big Year, and on a very regular basis throughout 2013 and the beginning of 2014 I was all blogged out.  So I took a break from Blogging.  But now, I'm back!  I need to review the first part of the year before I set out on my Spring Migration travels.

I'm actually going to cheat a bit on what I am considering my "Year List," this year, since I began my travels with a trip to California on December 10, of 2014.  So I'm going to consider my 12 month Year from December 10, 2014 to December 9, 2015.  So there!

DECEMBER 10-16, 2014, CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME!

Every December I head down to different states for the Winter Meetings, usually in Orlando or Nashville, sometimes Houston, but this year it was San Diego for the first time.  Sue normally does not want to come on these trips, but who would turn down a nearly free trip to Califronia in December?  And, it was an opportunity for her to catch up on our friendly Life List Competition.  And it was my chance to finally go to Santa Cruz Island for the Island Scrub Jay, one of the places and birds I missed during my 2012 Big Year.

We began the trip in San Diego and our first bird was a Western Gull, seen from our hotel window.  After the "meetings" we began our trip north to The Salton Sea, stopping at La Jolla Beach for Black Turnstones, Whimbrel, and a photo-bomed Brandt's Cormorant.

Black Turnstone:

Winter  Plumage Whimbrel:

Brandt's Cormorant and his photo bombing friend:

I had read about the Salton Sea as a great birding destination, especially for White-faced Ibis, and had just finished an Agent Pendergast novel that took place, in part, at the Salton Sea, so was excited to visit, and we were not let down, though the sea is not what it used to be, back in the days of grand hotels and celebrity stopovers.  However it is great for birders.  We were greeted by a Say's Phoebe and saw Western Meadowlarks, a White-tailed Kite and were treated to a flyover of White-faced Ibis at dusk.

Say's Phoebe greets visitors to the Sulton Sea:

 

 White-faced Ibis at dusk:

 

Heading back to the coast, we stopped in Oxnard, home of Johnny Carson's lawyer, Omar of Oxnard, where I added Tri-colored Blackbird to my ABA Life List, and saw and photographed Cinnamon Teal,(Sue's target bird for this trip), Townsend's Warbler and saw and tried unsuccesfully to photograph the ever-flitting Wrentits.

The deliciously named Cinnamon Teal:

 

Townsend's Warbler: 

           

      Anna's Hummingbird, California Towhee and Western Scrub Jay

      at the Orcott Ranch Horticultural Park           

    

 

     Common Raven and Island Scrub Jay on Santa Cruz Island:

      Nuttle's Woodpecker at the Orcott Ranch:

    Near the end  of our trip Sue wanted to spend time at the aquarium, so I ventured north to San

    Francisco  for the day to see if the Rustic Bunting was still around.  A somewhat rare bird in northern

    Alaska, it was a huge deal to have one spotted in Golden Gate Park.  When I arrived before 8am there

   were already a dozen birders lined up with scopes looking for it.  By the time we found it, the crowd had

   nearly tripled in size.  My first view was not great, but once we got it in our scopes it was a beautiful

   sight for all present, though I'm sure any non-birders would just see as a drab, brown sparrow and wonder    

   what all the fuss was about.

    My original camera view of the Rustic Bunting:

      Cropped scope view of the Rustic Bunting:

   Though we didn't get to see the California Condor at Big Sur, it was worth the drive down the coast, even i  in the pouring rain.  But that just leaves us something to shoot for on a future trip out west.  But befor that, we were headed to Arizona for our next big birding trip, only weeks later.

Back in Canada

Spring Mean Migration: April 2015

After a month in Florida, it was time to come back to the chill of Ontario and oddly, the first bird I recorded prior to heading back to Florida, was a wayward Neotropic Cormorant at the Tollgate Ponds in Burlington.  A few set down for a spell in Ontario during migration.  But it was a new bird for my Ontario List, which now stands at 297.

Two days later I was back in Florida,(sounds like someone doing a Big Year, but alas no), where a Wilson's Plover greeted me at Fort De Soto in St Pete.

Next on the trail of Red-whiskered Bulbuls.  I had searched for and missed them in 2012, but in 2013 went on a Florida Exotics guided tour with Miami Audubon and after much searching, added them to the Life List.  This time, I was determined to drive the Kendall neighborhood on my own and find them for myself.  It actually took less than an hour, and no one accused me of spying, when I found not one, but four, flying from wires to trees and back.

Later that day, in my tour of Miami Birding hot spots, I found my first Purple Swamphen, not at the Florida Mall.  This time it was in Wakohdahatchee Wetlands, an amazing place to bird.  Along with the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, there are lots of new hatchlings, including Anhingas.

After a quick trip back to Toronto, birding in local hot spots, I was once again headed to Florida.  It was time for a rematch, a grudge match, even:  Me vs Seasickness on the Yankee Freedom to the Dry Tortugas...  I had been horribly seasick on that first trip, but now I was armed with a Scopolamine Patch and survived the trip, both ways with my lunch in my stomach and my dignity and sanity in hand.

And it was a day for Lifers, as well.  An Audubon's Shearwater on the way there and a Black Noddy seen from the old fort.  Birding the Tortugas and the fort is interesting.  It is a small space, relatively speaking, so if a rare bird is spotted it doesn't take very long for everyone to converge on the spot.  In this case, while many of us were looking at a Wood Thrush in the brush, someone up top had spotted the Noddy and we all, at various speeds, converged on the mid-level of the fort and got a great look at this often tough bird to see amongst the hundreds of Brown Noddys and Sooty Terns.  Other good birds were the Masked Boobys on Hospital Key, a Connecticut Warbler as I entered Ford Jefferson and a Black-whiskered Vireo.

Masked Boobies on Hospital Key

Sooty Tern

A very badly digiscoped photo of the Black Noddy amongst the Brown Noddies

Winter Birding: February 3 to March 30, 2015

In my case, winter birding doesn't mean just the cold of Ontario, but the warmth of Florida as well.  I was in Florida from February 3 to 11, back home in Ontario from February 12 to 26, before returning to Florida again until the end of March.

The highlight of one of my Florida trips was a female Black-faced Grassquit, Lifer 635 for the ABA and number 800 for my total Life List.  I drove down to Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys for this one, as did lots of out of town birders who came to find it, and it ended up being easily viewed from the deck around the showers/bathrooms at the Buttonwood Campground.

Female Black-faced Grassquit:

Another highlight from Florida was a flyover of a Whooping Crane.  I was in Wekiva Springs State Park, and happened to be talking to the park rangers when the crane flew over.  It was calling and he got all excited because he recognized the sound.  Sure enough, as confirmed by sight and a recorded call, it was a Whooping Crane.  This is a species that is often found in the winter in Texas, but only starting to make a comeback in Florida.  It was also the 257th species I've recorded in Florida.  I also got to listen to a Chuck-wills Widow in Dunedin Hammock Park for several consecutive evenings.

Back in Ontario, I birded Algonquin Provincial Park and was able to get close views of both Boreal Chickadee and Hoary Redpoll

In non birding news, I finally saw Florida Bobcats!  Not just once, but twice within 3 days.  One of my fondest memories of traveling around Florida during my 2012 Big Year, was being asked on numerous occasions, when people saw me with my camera and binoculars, if I was "looking for the bobcat."  I had never seen one, and wasn't even sure what they looked like until the second week of February when, while looking for a Smooth-billed Ani, I stumbled upon these two, below:

A few days later, in Wekiva Springs State Park, another one appeared before me and posed in the sun for a great photo: