Day 1 in Cali

After arriving at midnight we crashed out and got up early to head over to Golden Gate Park. After finally finding the spot we spent five minutes before the celebrity bird made its appearance. The Rustic Bunting that has been hanging out with a group of Juncos stayed true to form and dropped in about 15 feet away from us. We observed the bird for a little while as a herd of Brewer's Blackbirds surrounded us, stumbling around like the walking dead, Varied Thrushes poked around the edges and White-crowned Sparrows owned the brush-pile. Amusing at is was, we had big plans for the day. 

We starting driving north and made the obligatory stop for photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We decided to make a detour to check out Point Reyes National Seashore. Somehow in all my visits to California I had never ventured out there and after today I can say I really love that place. It's vast, beatiful and contains many different habitats from wave crashed shores, rocky cliffs, grassy plateaus, farm lands and pine stands amid coastal scrub. I did not plan to spend the day there, but before we knew it the sun was setting over the Pacific. 

Birds, birds and more birds along with mammals filled the day. Scoping the ocean, hiking trails and glassing basically everything that moved makes for a tired traveller tonight. 33 new birds were added today along with an American Badger for the mammal life list. 

Tomorrow we will continue to head north to Arcata for target #2 since today went a completely different direction than I had planned but I wouldn't change a thing. Even though I love a good chase, I'm a firm believer that spending time outdoors in a beautiful location is never time wasted. It's as much about the journey as it about the trip. Tomorrow is another day...

Back at it: Cali bound

I have been keeping my eye on the rare bird alerts for the last couple of weeks and it seems that the rarities that are hanging out in Northern California are staying put so I am heading out today for a week.   And with the temperature being 2° right now I can't say that I feel bad leaving Ohio at all. Lol. 

It's been about four years since I've been in Northern California so it will be good to experience it all again. I'm taking my sister with me this trip so that I've got some company and so she can also see this beautiful part of the country. My bag was already packed since I didn't use anything I took to Texas because it was so cold there. Hopefully the forecasted 50-60° temps will hold. 

Our chases will take us to Golden Gate Park for Rustic Bunting, Colusa NWR for Falcated Duck, Arcata, Ca for Brambling and then up to Nestucca NWR in Oregon for Tundra Bean-goose. There's the possibility of chasing a tufted duck as well but that is to the south so it will depend how we do up north. Should be an interesting run and should also add close to 80+ new birds for the year if I do well. 

Currently I have 251 birds for the year after adding a few yesterday (Barred owl, Lesser Black-backed Gull and for the 250th bird of the year (on my birthday no less) was the illusive and rare Hairy Woodpecker. Haha. Actually it's an easy bird and a little disappointing as a milestone bird. But what the hell, every bird counts so +1. 

So half of January has flown by and by the time I get back it will be even closer to February. The east coast holds some interesting possibilities as does Arizona right now. I'll be watching the reports to see if any of these birds manage to stick around. Somehow I imagine flying to Tuscon and driving another 5000 miles in the near future. Time will tell.  And let's not forget a certain visiting dove in Florida that deserves my attention...more updates tomorrow. For now it's so long Ohio, hello Pacific Ocean! 

Texas Recap: 10 days - 234 Species

The last ten days kind of flew by. It's hard to believe I'm looking out the window at a frosty Lake Erie when three days ago I was looking across the Rio Grande at palm trees in Mexico. And it's cold here. Really cold.

The trip to Texas was everything I had hoped it would be. We saw beautiful birds, laughed our asses off and had a great time. Anyone who has ever travelled with me knows that I forget about simple things like lunch and dinner when birding. I can't help it. I'm so "in the zone" and always looking at every bird that I lose all track of time. And I assume that is why Pringles were invented. 

   My companions definitely held their own though. From sunrise to sunset and lots of miles driven in between we all managed to walk away from this trip with lifers and a few photos. Oddly enough I didn't take many myself. I figured that there would be plenty and maybe one of these guys would share.          

Highlights of this adventure for me were of course the birds I'd never seen before but there is something else that stands out for me. I don't consider myself a "teacher" or a very patient man by any means, but when I travel with someone to a place I've been before I feel a bit responsible for making sure that everyone has a good time as well as sees all of the birds that they possibly can. My buddies and I managed to only miss seeing a few birds in the area that we had hoped for and I feel good about where we ended up. And seriously, the last few birds that we chased are just stupid luck.  New birds for

me include: Groove-billed Ani, white-collared seedeater, Brown booby and of all things an Ivory Gull. Not a bad way to start the year. 

I'm home feeling rejuvenated and ready for more. I birded today and added 9 new birds to the year including Glaucous and Iceland gulls among other "trash" birds for Ohio. Currently I am looking at options for a quick trip to Northern California by the end of the week. I'll consider it a birthday presant to myself. lol 

A White dream in Illinois

Today we got up at 5:30 and started driving. It was crystal clear skies and 11 degrees. We had 8.5 hours to go until we had the chance to see a bird that I have had dreams about for a long time. It would be a life bird for all of us if it was still there. Around 11 am we received word that the bird was still putting on a

show and we kept trucking. Along our route we saw a field full of wild turkeys and a rough legged hawk, both new for the year. 

At around three o'clock we arrived at a marina on an island in the Mississippi River. Quinsippi island to be exact. And the only bird present was sitting atop a steel dock cover. 

Ivory Gull! 

We added a few other birds in the area to our year list including Eurasian Tree Sparrow.  

Tomorrow we finish the drive home and I say goodbye to my friends. Tonight we celebrated with dinner and laughs.

It's been one hell of a run. 9 days. 12 states. 234 birds. Not a bad start to the year. 

Booby prize

Well it's cold and windy again. But the sun was shining a little so the drive across the state was mostly enjoyable. But it has been lot of driving. I'm not complaining. I like to drive, in fact I kind of love to drive. It helps me to clear my head and relax and after last year I really needed that. My buddies and I have laughed our asses off and I'm a little sorry we are running out of time on this trip but we're going to make the best of the days that remain. And we still have targets to hit. 

We pulled into Travis Lake State Park mid-afternoon and scanned the entire area. Every dock and boathouse roof, each snag and stump, every rock with nothing more than coots and a few common loons diving in the smooth lake. A single cormorant was perched on a log. A pair of osprey squeaked overhead and chip notes of sparrows in the grasses kept us busy but the celebrity we were seeking was not being seen. There was no one else around to ask for help either and after about an hour of walking around in 20 degree weather we were about to give it up. I swung around to pick up Jacob who had walked farther down to the edge of the grasses. Just then a large bird soared into view. "Booby!" 

This brown booby has been hanging out at the inland lake for quite some time apparently enjoying the area. We watched it glide over the water and out to the opposite side of the lake before looping back and perching on a stump. We took a bunch of photos and the bird again flew off around the bend in the sandbar not to be seen again. Score! 

We then headed over to Balcones Canyonlands NWR. Again cold and windy but we managed to add more birds to the year: spotted towhee, chipping sparrows, fox sparrow, Harris's sparrow and western scrub jay. We didn't spend a lot of time here and birded primarily from the van because it was windy and very chilly but still a productive stop. 

Our final spot of the day was a set of ebird coordinates where longspurs had been seen. The McCown's variety to be exact. We searched the "mega-field" with no luck but did manage to finally pull a western meadowlark as it called it's "churt " calls from a fence nearby. 

We were also amazed to see many, many eastern meadowlarks, flocks of brown headed cowbirds and Brewer's blackbirds. Oh yeah, and a little brown bird that popped off the side of the road: 

Burrowing Owl

Tomorrow will be another long day. It's almost 9 hours until our next bird. Until then, sleep is in the very near future. 

Hasta mañana amigos. 

Take me to the river....

Wednesday we explored areas along the Rio Grande trying to clean up on some missing birds. We still hadn't found a few valley specialties and we're hoping to track them down before we left the valley.  First up was Anzelduas County Park. This is an interesting little park right on the river. I really can't figure out why people would go there, there isn't that much to do, but I guess a picnic is always fun and you can look across the river and wave at all the people in Mexico having picnics in their park. There is a large short grass field immediately to the right as you enter this park. The field was filled with meadowlarks and pipits which we scanned for both Western Meadowlark and Sprague's pipit but could not locate. 

Continuing on at the bend in the river there was a ringed Kingfisher perched in a tree which almost immediately took flight heading into Mexico. A large flock of house finches and eastern bluebirds was working the ground beneath the trees with yellow rump warbler's and a vermilion flycatcher adding to the colorful show. A flock of greater white fronted geese flew overhead adding them to our Texas list as well. A feeding flock of lark sparrows and a verdin were also great to see. As we were watching the lark sparrows I looked up and an eastern screech owl was sitting in a hole in a tree looking at us through angry eyes. Only a few photos were taken. Lol. On the way out of the park we spotted a small hawk sitting on a power pole. Great looks at this beautiful adult gray hawk. 

Next we went out to Salineño to the feeding station at the DeWind house. This place is truly unbelievable. And old trailer home, a few plastic chairs and a bunch of feeders comprise the site that sits a few hundred yards from the Rio Grande. There was a light, misty rain as we arrived and continued the duration of out visit.  Hoards of birds called and chattered as they came into the feeders. Close to 20 kiskadees loudly called and dive bombed the yard. Altamira Orioles and hooded Orioles flitted in and out of the yard. We waited patiently for the guest of honor as we watched the feeding frenzy go crazy when a Cooper's hawk invaded the yard. Minutes later a beautiful Audubon's Oriole came in to the bark butter on the tree limb. This is possibly my favorite oriole of the valley and certainly the most difficult to locate. We thanked our hosts and walked down to check the river. A few ducks paddled around down river but otherwise the wet weather kept it pretty quiet. 

An hour later we pulled into a small neighborhood along the river. A gate was across a dirt road which was the location of our targeted bird. It took less than 90 seconds. Four white collared seed-eaters  popped up from the tall grasses and perched on the brush nearby. This was a bird I imagined would take a lot of work to find. Nope. Life bird for all of us in less than 5 minutes. Check. 

We headed into Laredo for the night. Tomorrow we will begin to make the swing toward home with a few stops long the way. So long valley. See you soon...

A few cell phone shots from the camera for now. Too tired for the real thing today. 

Ani good birds around?

Tuesday was the best weather day we have had yet. Blue skies, sunshine and warmer weather. We went to Sabal Palm sanctuary first and walked the trails of the jungle like setting. A beautiful hooded oriole was working the trees above the feeder near the visitors center among 15 green jays. A yellow throated warbler put on a nice show right after I spotted a great horned owl hiding in a palm. A small flock of warblers worked the edge of the resaca including a northern parula, but not its tropical cousin I was hoping to find. A loud call note caught our attention and after searching for a minute we located a dusky capped flycatcher on a bare limb. The bird almost immediately took off to a more secluded area but I momentarily had great looks. We spent some time watching a family of least grebes move around the lake as great kiskadees continuously chattered all around us. We decided to walk the native trail where we had our first good Looks at the Rio Grande of the trip amazingly enough. There were plenty of birds on the opposite bank. Mexico life list? Not yet. Lol. 

The trail wound through an open wooded area where a large black bird sailed into the brush. Groove billed ani. We waited it out and two more joined it. One bird perched on top of a shrub giving us great looks and photos. Finally a life bird on this trip. It only took 6 days. Ha

Next we headed out to Old Port Isabel Road. It's been some I've been on this drive but I didn't remember it being quite so rural. The "road" was basically two tire tracks though a mud slide. Although mostly dry, some areas were quite thick and a little unnerving. We stopped before it got too ugly and immediately a cactus wren popped up to scold us.  The angry little fella perched up, believe it or not, on a cactus of all things. A covey of bobwhite darted across the road in front of us as we were getting ready to turn around to find more suitable pavement since the road ahead of us seem to be deteriorating rapidly. We tried to enter the road from the opposite and but it was also a complete pit of mud so we headed out to South Padre Island. 

We decided to go walk the boardwalk's at the convention center to see what kind of birds were around.   Clapper rails were sitting around in the sun, reddish egrets and tricolored Herons gave close up looks and laughing gulls and black skimmers cruised the shore. Virginia rail and sora were also walking around in the marsh but no purple gallinule that had been seen there. 

From there we decided to try Laguna Atascosa NWR. Things have changed since the last time I was there. The wildlife drive that was 15 miles is long no longer open to the public. Since a few assholes decided to run over and kill two ocelots. 

Inside the visitor center we talk to a very nice man and an incredibly strange woman. Now mind you, we have been driving around most of the day and most of the week for that matter, so we are all a little slaphappy and tired. You know how when something is funny and you are tired it makes it even more funny? Well this was one of those moments.  The nice lady at the refuge is about to give us some information about going to find aplomado falcon when she paused and began licking her lips and sticking her tongue out faster than any reptile I have ever seen. Her tongue was moving so fast that it was almost a blur but the sounds that she was making were so loud that it was impossible not to notice. Normally I would not make fun of somebody ( that is a lie) and I tried my best to hold it together without looking at my buddies, but one little poke from shawn and it was all over. I managed to hold my composure as the two of them walked away hysterically laughing, but once we got outside I completely lost it. It will be one of those things that we laugh about for a long time to come. 

So we headed out, parked near a gate and walked out into the refuge. After searching for a little while 2 Falcons were spotted on fence post about a quarter of mile away. Aplomado Falcons. We watched the birds through the scope for a while chasing off northern harrier's and white tailed hawks. We tried to jockey to get a better view but they were not visible from the road. Some crappy digiscoped photos were taken just to record our sighting though.  The sun had set and it was time to end of the day. Wednesday we will explore some border towns seeking a few more rarities....