of Spring and ticks

BEYOND, Birds

No not the crawly kind, but it may be time to tuck your pants into some white socks on that note as Spring is finally here and the Ring-necked Pheasants are squaring off.

The ticks I refer are my Nova Scotia “ticks”, which means the first time I’ve seen a bird in the province. For me that list is more important than my life list, and I’m only 8 birds short of nabbing 200.

For some time, I sat at 190 and then I went to CSI with my birding friends Diane LeBlanc and Keith Lowe on Sunday and we met up Mark Dennis who helped us find the Oystercatchers and Brant which were both new to me so also “lifers”. My photos aren’t glorious, but they are mine so I’m pleased for now.

Brant Geese – I was very surprised to find out how tiny they are…Mallard sized in fact. Cape Sable Island – Fish Plant Road at the Hawk (a staging area for the Brant) – April 17, 2016

American Oystercatcher Cape Sable Island – Fish Plant Road at the Hawk (also a staging area for the Brant) – April 17, 2016

The photos of the humans turned out much better.

Mark Dennis left, Keith Lowe right at Baker’s Flats CSI

Diane LeBlanc left, Keith Lowe right – Cherry Hill Beach ( a definite MUST for shorebird season I’ll be back!)

I will be leaving for New England on a long business trip this Sunday and had hoped those two species would line up timewise (the Brant and Oystercatcher, not Diane and Keith LOL) before I head out so I could better justify the trip, and so they did cooperate. CSI (Cape Sable Island) is an enjoyable day trip no matter but to get your target species is always fantastic. I hope to be back in the summer, but if not then definitely for the Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the Light in September…thanks for the tip Mark! PS – Mark has created a FREE guide for birding CSI that you can download here.

It’s a little early for things to be hopping at CSI but these three Brown-headed Cowbirds were good fun.

Naturally we are all waiting for Warblers. And the Yellow-rumped are just starting to drop in. We do have some overwintering flocks but it’s nice to see them dropping in from down South too. We found about 20 of them at Sand Hills Beach feeding on flies around the evergreens by the beach. Noisy and happy they were indeed.

I feel fortunate that I will be in Connecticut when their Warbler season is heating up, and back home just before it heats up here.

For now, if I could find an Eastern Phoebe this week I’d be pleased as they are being reported all over.

As a year two birder it is really fun for me to have my first returns of birds since I only just learned what many of them were last year.

My second year signs of spring so far are the Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey, Black-bellied Plover, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Norther Flicker, Belted Kingfisher, and Ipswich Sparrow (a subspecies of the Savannah that visits us from Sable Island). Dare I mention Robins and Grackles which we all know and love and have shown up in droves? I am fairly convinced that I live in a neighbourhood called “Grackletown”.

Last week I was dog-sitting two large lab mixes so I didn’t get to do a ton of birding, but I did hone my photography skills whilst practicing photographing small, quick moving birds while holding the leash of two pulling beasts. I do miss Beatrice and Trigger, but am happy to be hand’s free once again.

This morning early before starting my work day I walked all over Hartlen Point and although it’s still a bit quiet there, it was lovely to have the place to myself and get a nice show from some woodland birds such as this Junco, and to see my old friend the Osprey for the first time.

For the most part I’m trying to get my “spring ears” back on, and enjoying Mother Nature’s critters.

Happy Spring,

Angela

a Louisiana Waterthrush and the case for quiet birding

BEYOND, Birds

My friend Diane found a very rare bird the other morning all by herself. She is a pretty new birder, but walking quietly in her “patch” she found a Louisiana Waterthrush mixed in with some American Pipits.

I am also a pretty new birder and have often found great birds in the same fashion, which to me pleads the case for quiet birding. Good eyes and ears are required for silent birding, but the reward is great. When you find them this way you are able to observe their natural behavior and watch them for a while if you are lucky. Certainly I understand there are exceptions to the rule and have many birding friends with differing approaches but for me this is most in line with my way of thinking about nature. I am also fortunate enough to be able to spare the time to walk and observe which many are not. So do not take offense if you have a different opinion, instead discuss it with me in person when next we meet. The birders in Nova Scotia are a good lot all round I find when I’m out and about 🙂

So with this in mind today I found some time this afternoon and was able to make it over to Crystal Crescent to look for the bird myself. It appeared the coast was clear but then I realized some birders were coming up behind me and was disappointed to think about them scaring off the little rare treasure I was “twitching”. You may know that I don’t do a lot of “twitching” as it usually gets me something bad like a rusty nail and a tetanus shot but I digress.

Luckily the birders approaching were Fulton Lavender and Mike King and one thing that is even better than silent and solo birding is bumping into excellent field birders when you are on a hunt. Fulton really knows bird behavior and calls very well in addition to their appearance and had excellent pointers on how to locate the bird. It eluded us on our first pass of the beach but shortly we were joined by Richard Hatch (also an excellent birder) and it did a fly by and then we waited patiently for it to show itself. Although a small bird at a distance I was lucky enough to capture a few ID shots and learn some of its behavior as it stuck around for a bit.

It was a really great experience and I’m fortunate I could find a few hours of daylight and do my paperwork tonight. I couldn’t rush out this morning to find it as of course I had work to do in the morning and into the afternoon but it managed to sort itself out as the day progressed…whew!

When I reached my car the cutest porcupine was above in a tree eating some shoots and was not disturbed at all by a photo shoot.

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We had seen a mink at Crystal Crescent and I missed the chance to nab a photo but I saw another one in West Penant on the way home and also spotted my first Great Blue Heron of the season.

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It was a fantastic couple of hours in the fresh air ahead of the snowstorm tomorrow.

I will be hunkered down as of tomorrow doing office work for the next 8 days while I babysit my friend’s big dogs. Shortly after that I will be living on the road for about 10 days while I travel New England for work, so I am thankful this opportunity presented itself today. And also that migration season has finally arrived!

Happy Spring,

Angela

Lunch Break Birding in Orlando

BEYOND, Birds, Travel, United States

Some people take March Breaks in Orlando but I did lunch breaks, and didn’t too badly for about a grand total of 90 minutes of birding in a 4 day stretch.

I was there for the Global Pet Expo to help my good folk from Auburn Leathercrafters show their booth.

I had high hopes for racking up world lifers at the end of each day, however I forgot that it would be dark fairly early in the evenings and the sun would come up late. So with little time to work with I just made the best of what I could snag within walking distance on a quick lunch break, a quick break before evening meals, and a brief jaunt before leaving for my flight.

In a twist of fate we were displaying our products on beds designed by Bev at Black Cat Dog Designs, who turns to be an avid birder. So although we were inside the convention center much of the time we could at least compare notes.

My hard core first year in birding paid off as many of the migrants who visit from Florida were wandering about in plain sight and easy to spot for me since I did my homework in Nova Scotia.

I had a few target birds from a brief google study I made the night before flying out and on my first day I found one of them in a little pond of reclaimed water across from the Hyatt Regency. He was a great reward after a 9 hour day on the show floor. I’m happy the photos turned out as he cost me a severe allergic reaction to the pesticide in the grass not to mention the weirdness of being spotted sitting in the middle of hotel land in the grass (in a dress at that) by my colleagues as they headed off to dinner in a group…yes I am the crazy bird lady…LOL. My advice at any rate is don’t sit in the grass in the urban centers, but for me it’s done now and I will never see a Wood Stork in Nova Scotia he is so cool!

There were many Boat-tailed Grackles and Fish Crows around the convention center at all times and both were new to me so that was kind of fun. They were mostly flying about and perching high so my photos aren’t great of them but I did catch this fellow in a tree.

Also in the pond in front of the convention center I saw my first Tricolored Heron.

We stayed out at a house in Davenport in the heart of some orange groves so the Northern Mockingbirds were in good numbers. Each morning we could hear them from the driveway as we were just heading out as the sun rose and what a sweet way to start our day.

And I quickly spotted a Loggerhead Shrike which looks much like the former on quick glance which is likely how they sneak up on their prey before impaling them. Yup. No photos of that I’m afraid.

But the best thing that happened to me was when a Sandhill Crane walked right up to me as I was standing still and all the hair on his neck stood up when he had the gut feeling that no, I am not a light post.

It’s always somewhat disappointing when I can’t make as much time for birding as I would like, but a girl’s gotta work and I feel very fortunate to even be able to get to these wonderful spots for work and catch a little birding on the side.

All in all I had a great time connecting with my friends and coworkers who I don’t see very often. I made some new friends, the trade show was very upbeat and the attendees were interesting and engaged, and I got to do some birding.

I’ll take it.

Happy Birding,

Angela

Team Phalarope – we made the best of the weather and the leap year day to grab a rarity in the dead of winter

Atlantic Canada, Birds, Canada

My day was slated to be spent at Myra Run with Diane and Sean, and Chris who very kindly offered to be our guide, searching for crossbills but the windy weather is less than ideal for finches so we put that on hold for a better day.

When Paul got in touch yesterday about looking for Harlequins this week I said let’s do it Monday because Diane and Sean live in Harlequin territory and have the day free, the windy weather is good for blowing things onto that shore, and the Harlequins won’t let a little wind get them down.

We started out at Chebucto Head where I’d hoped we might get some Kittiwakes close to shore but I didn’t realize and Easterly wind is probably best for a sea watch. So much to learn! Hence Chebucto Head was a bit of a bust for birds, but a place to visit for the vista for sure and well enjoyed by all of us.

And so off we went to Crystal Crescent Beach in search of the Harlequin Ducks to no avail. Perhaps they were in Prospect today or Peggy’s Cove or just flew in behind us from further up the hike. We went just past the 3^rd beach which is usually a guaranteed spot as of late but no go.

Although with the wind it was not a terribly birdy day we were greatly entertained by 8 American Pipits.

The absence of Harlequins and uncommon sea birds made us question and second and third every bird we saw in the water which turned out to be wise as not for from the parking lot we spotted a Phalarope fairly close to shore.

Through binos we could at least determine it was not a Guillemot, and next that it was not a small gull such as a Bonaparte’s but with the new cameras you can zoom in almost as far as a scope so I was able to see the line through the eye and also realized it was spinning a bit and shouted out Phalarope. Bing…we have a winner. Next onto the phone to Sibleys to confirm and also Paul had seen them in Calgary. We came up with Red-necked being the more likely of our two native Phalaropes but it turned out to be a Red Phalarope.

None of knew at the time that either of the two would be a very rare sighting for this time of the year and the first record for the DoWL. Proving you always have to expect the unexpected as they say, and having an extra day in February is cool for more reasons than we thought 🙂

Honestly we would have been happy for a walk on the beach in the sunshine on the last day of February.

Diane, Sean, and Paul aka Team Phalarope

And for me that ends my first winter list at 106 birds and quite a few uncommon ones, thank you El Niño I suppose? Well and to birding friends who help ID things when we are out of course.

I find it very interesting that it was easy to get that many birds in the winter period without doing anything different than I usually would. So I didn’t go for some easy grabs such as the Wood Duck or Peregrine Falcon, and some I saw last year as a brand new birder didn’t turn up, but I also ended up with some surprises and it all balances out I suppose.

Perhaps I’ll never keep a winter list again but I’m glad I did it for learning purposes.

And here is what appeared for me from December 1^st 2015 – February 29^th 2016 and ended with our very interesting Leap Year rarity, our little friend the Red Phalarope.

Much serendipity to you in birding,

Angela

COMMON NAME

ANATIDAE (Waterfowl)

Greater White-fronted Goose

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Eurasian Wigeon

American Wigeon

American Black Duck

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Duck

Tufted Duck

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Common Eider

Harlequin Duck

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Black Scoter

Long-tailed Duck

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

PHASIANIDAE (Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies)

Ring-necked Pheasant

GAVIIDAE (Loons)

Red-throated Loon

Common Loon

PODICIPEDIDAE (Grebes)

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

SULIDAE (Boobies and Gannets)

Northern Gannet

PHALACROCORACIDAE (Cormorants)

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Cormorant

ARDEIDAE (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns)

Great Blue Heron

ACCIPITRIDAE (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites)

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

RALLIDAE (Rails, Gallinules, and Coots)

American Coot

GRUIDAE (Cranes)

Sandhill Crane

CHARADRIIDAE (Plovers and Lapwings)

Killdeer

SCOLOPACIDAE (Sandpipers and Allies)

Ruddy Turnstone

Dunlin

Purple Sandpiper

Red Phalarope

ALCIDAE (Auks, Murres, and Puffins)

Dovekie

Thick-billed Murre

Razorbill

Black Guillemot

LARIDAE (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)

Bonaparte’s Gull

Black-headed Gull

Mew (Common) Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Iceland Gull

Glaucous Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

COLUMBIDAE (Pigeons and Doves)

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

STRIGIDAE (Owls)

Snowy Owl

PICIDAE (Woodpeckers)

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

LANIIDAE (Shrikes)

Northern Shrike

CORVIDAE (Crows, Jays, and Magpies)

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

ALAUDIDAE (Larks)

Horned Lark

PARIDAE (Chickadees and Titmice)

Black-capped Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

SITTIDAE (Nuthatches)

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

REGULIDAE (Kinglets)

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

TURDIDAE (Thrushes and Allies)

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

STURNIDAE (Starlings)

European Starling

MOTACILLIDAE (Wagtails and Pipits)

American Pipit

BOMBYCILLIDAE (Waxwings)

Bohemian Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

CALCARIIDAE (Longspurs and Snow Buntings)

Lapland Longspur

Snow Bunting

PARULIDAE (New World Warblers)

Palm Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-breasted Chat

EMBERIZIDAE (Buntings and New World Sparrows)

Eastern Towhee

American Tree Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

CARDINALIDAE (Cardinals and Allies)

Northern Cardinal

ICTERIDAE (Blackbirds)

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Bullock’s Oriole

FRINGILLIDAE (Finches)

Purple Finch

White-winged Crossbill

American Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak

PASSERIDAE (Old World Sparrows)

House Sparrow

Year 2 in birding – a Towhee, and the return of the Black-headed Gulls

Atlantic Canada, BEYOND, Birds, Canada

It was last year in February that I really delved into the bird nerd world. Starting in winter is likely not the way most people start, but for me it means that the month most people consider to be a bust in Nova Scotia birding has been really special for me.

One of the things that make Year 2 in birding great is seeing returning migrants. And I was really happy to get views of the Rough-legged Hawk last week at Hartlen Point who comes to Nova Scotia for the winter. Not too many years ago homes had field guides and Robie Tufts books full of handwritten notes and dates with the birds seen each year. And the old ways of doing things should never be forgotten in my opinion.

The winter has not been cold enough to be locked up reading books, but I digress. Every advanced birding book will tell you that you can’t look at a photo of a bird and go in the field looking for it. Birding does not work like that. You need to learn the shape of birds, their features, plumages, behavior, and preferred habitats. I can’t argue the convenience of posting a photo to an online group and having it immediately identified, but I am learning way more since I decided to advance my own skills and make my own efforts.

My notes are not handwritten but they are still being written, much of which I share here in the interest of encouraging others. And eBird tracks all my sightings and logs them as parts of their “citizen science” project.

So armed with a wealth of digital information and books as a new birder I feel fortunate to have so much available to me. Fortunate is also how I feel that other birders will share their knowledge in the field. A group of us went to the valley last week primarily to enjoy the sunshine and exchange ideas, but also to find the Eastern Towhee that had been hanging about.

I found a great article a while ago about birding photography and letting the birds come to you which reiterated what I’ve already figured out. You have to learn the birds, study the birds, and once you know their behavior you can get their photographs. As a newer birder I’ve many times photographed an uncommon bird not knowing what it is at the time but there is little satisfaction in that for me. That being said my “snap everything” approach landed me a photo of a Broad-winged Hawk which is uncommon in Nova Scotia at this time of the year. The people I was with knew it was something other than a Red-tailed Hawk but I was completely unaware and just shot it and moved on to other things. The after study will help me to recognize one down the road though, perhaps this summer when they are more commonly around.

Broad-winged Hawk – Fred Thomas Road – Canning, NS – Feb. 19, 2016

There is a joy in recognizing the bird and happening upon it naturally and nabbing the photo. Or getting better photos of birds the second time round. And third and fourth, you get the picture.

And I got the picture of the Towhee. It was my first in Nova Scotia but my 3^rd sighting as I’ve seen them in Maine and because of that I was able to spot the bird in the bushes and anticipate his behavior. My first 2 attempts to photograph a Towhee were photos of bramble and the reward is this clear photo.

And so it was also this February that I found a large group of Black-headed Gulls in the same place I first saw them last winter and realized with a big smile on my face that they come every year to this spot. This year I didn’t photograph them and go home later and study photos on the internet and field guides trying to figure out which of the “little gulls” they were, I knew right away. This year I was able to recognize 3 different plumages, and enjoy their noisy calls and antics.