The Chicago Elaenia +

On April 20, I went with Scott Jennex and Karl Overman to view the Chicago Elaenia. We arrived in less than ideal conditions which included rain. However, there was plenty of bird activity, and it was only a matter of time before one of the other birders spotted the bird. Sure enough, we all enjoyed the perplexing Elaenia as we chased it from tree to tree.

I'm not even going to attempt to throw an identification on this bird. Experts have been going back and forth from White-crested to Small-billed Elaenia and back. The bird does not respond to tapes and will not call. There is a possibility this bird will be banded in the near future, if they can catch it, which I am all for. It isn't on a breeding ground, isn't setting up a nest and will not be harmed, so I say go for it.

I've also added quite a few year birds since my last update, and I'm closing in on 400. At this point last year I was only reaching 300, so I am feeling quite good. I leave tomorrow (4/23) morning for a week of raging on birds in south Florida.

I'll visit Miami for exotics, Ft. Lauderdale, Bill Bagg's State Park for the La Sagra's Flycatcher, the pinewoods NW of Lake Okeechobee, Everglades, the Keys and Dry Tortugas. It is sure to be a crazy trip! More when I return.

A New Chicken

Folks, apologies for the lack of posts recently. I've been enjoying being home, but also busy preparing for another Alaskan field season.

This past weekend, my dad and I drove down to Newton, IL to look for some Greater Prairie-Chickens. We drove down Friday morning and birded around the area the rest of the day. I added a few year birds including Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, among others.

Saturday morning we got to the chicken spot early in hopes of securing a spot in the blinds even though we didn't have a reservation and they say the blinds are booked a year in advance. Lucky for us, they have a portable blind no one was using, and we were able to use it.

The chickens started dancing right before sunrise, making all sorts of hoots and chicken noises. They were far enough away, and the weather was cloudy enough to make photography tough, but I did manage a couple alright pictures with my Iphone through my new scope.

All in all, it was a very fun weekend with my dad, especially since we both got our lifer Greater Prairie-Chickens.

I'll be working on seeing some more year birds before I leave for my FL birding trip on April 23rd.

More Valley Pics

As promised, here are a few more pictures from my recent trip to Texas.

It would be a sin not to show off the stunning Green Jays:

The Great Kiskadee has to be one of my favorites:

White-eyed Vireos were busy singing away:

On South Padre Island, Black Skimmers were doing what they do best:

Also on South Padre Island, this Tropical Kingbird was quite vocal:

And last, but certainly not least, is the bright orange Altamira Oriole:

I will be in Florida, on a non-birding trip with some buddies for the next week. No birding for me. You can bet I'll be right back at it when I get back to Michigan, though.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley- 2012

Late October 2011 was my last trip to the magical place that is the LRGV. I just ended my contract with Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory on 3/2 and Garrett, Mike and I hit the road, driving through the night to reach Salineno by morning. A Brown Jay was/has been seen throughout the winter, so we had high hopes.

3/3 we started bright and early at the river at Salineno, where I was quite happy to get my life Red-billed Pigeon in the form of two close fly-bys. The Brown Jay wasn't to be seen at either Salineno or Chapeno. We also struck out on the Tropical Parula at Quinta Mazatlan, the Rose-throated Becard at Estero, and White-collared Seedeaters in Zapata. Overall, a disappointing day.

3/4 We hit Al Williams house who has been hosting a Crimson-collared Grosbeak all winter. More misfortune was had here, as it appears the bird left a day before we showed up. We did get Red-crowned Parrots, a small consolation.
Things got better at Frontera Audubon Thicket when Mike spotted the silent Golden-crowned Warbler. I also found a Two-barred Flasher (butterfly), which was a lifer as well.
We hit Estero Llano Grande again in hopes the Becard would show. We found it feeding in a fruiting Mulberry, and again a few "streets" over in the tropical zone.

I also got my lifer Fulvous Whistling-Duck at the Progresso Ponds.

3/5 Tired of chasing rarities and sitting at feeders, we decided today was the day to do some field birding. We drove to South Padre Island where we enjoyed great looks at Skimmers, Sandwich Terns, a white-morph Reddish Egret dancing, Roseate Spoonbills, among others.
We also birded a few spots looking for Green Kingfisher which turned up nothing. We did see a small flock of Green Parakeets at 10th and Dove.

3/6 We went back to Salineno since the Brown Jay was still making appearances on the 5th. Of course, the bird decided not to show up by 11:30am, so we started the 16 hours drive back to Tucson.
We stopped at San Ygnacio where Seedeaters had been previously reported. Again, nothing.
One last stop in Laredo at Zacate Creek made us realize we had no idea where to look. We finally found the trail after searching a less-than-adequate portion of the creek (where we did get Green Kingfisher), and we heard the sweet song of a White-collared Seedeater singing away. Garrett first located the bird behind some cane, trying to avoid the wind.

I could go into a lot more detail and post a lot more pics, but I'm dead tired. Look for another post soon as I am birding Tubac tomorrow (3/8) in hopes of an early fly-over Common Black Hawk, then a quick stop at the Salton Sea on the way to San Diego. I will have 2 days to bird San Diego. The year list currently stands at 331. I didn't see year-bird #300 in 2011 until the end of April, so I'm quite happy with the progress this year.

I have 10 gigs of pics to sort through, I'll try to put up a slide-show type post later.

Slow Days

It has been a while since I have done any birding, which is why I haven't updated the blog recently. The field season ends on Friday, and I have been crunching numbers in anticipation of the end. Friday we leave for Texas! We will leave Friday afternoon so we can arrive at Salineno in the morning on Saturday for the Brown Jay.

Keep checking back. I'll do a big update after Texas!

David

Sandia Crest

Sandia Crest is well known for being the easiest place to see all three species of Rosy-Finch. Having never been there, and since we are only 7 hours from the place, we decided to leave Friday after work. After sleeping in the Yukon at 10,000 feet and 15 degrees, we woke up early and hit the crest.

Unfortunately, the building doesn't open until 10am, so we bummed around for a while, finding my year Cassin's Finch and Hairy Woodpecker. We saw some Rosies before the store opened, getting nice looks at both Brown-capped and Black. When the store opened, we enjoyed some Hot Chocolate and more Rosy-Finches. The Black Rosy-Finches were most common.

I also made sure to get a photo of a Brown-capped Rosy Finch, just for the records (far left bird).

While waiting for a Gray-crowned to show up, we started talking with a guy from Ontario. After some conversation, he revealed himself to be Martin Bowman, younger brother of Scotty Bowman (aka the best NHL hockey coach ever)!

Finally, a Gray-crowned did show up, just one, but it was good enough for the Rosy-Finch sweep!

Back in Albuquerque, we stopped for a Winter Wren that has been around all winter. Given that it was very vocal, we quickly located it, and Garrett celebrated another lifer (#2 for the day). We also picked up Wood Duck and Downy Woodpecker, bringing the day total to 9 year birds. We then started the long drive back to Whitewater Draw.

Today is a lazy-Sunday. The only two big misses so far in AZ are Hepatic Tanager and Elegant Trogon, and it looks like I won't have time to get to Patagonia again, so these may not make it to my year list.

Huachuca Spotted Owl

Yesterday (2/15), we sprung a flat tire on our way to survey. This required a trip to Sierra Vista to get the tire replaced. Since we were in the area, we decided we should at least attempt to find a Spotted Owl, so we searched Scheelite Canyon in the Huachucas.

We hiked up the steep, rocky canyon scouring every suitable roost tree, until Garrett mentioned "Hmm, there is a lot of white-wash here...". We looked up and gazed into the brown nether-regions of a Spotted Owl. Repositioning ourselves gave us a more pleasing view. Of course, I had no intention of being in the Huachucas yesterday, so I did not have my camera. Here is a Spotted Owl from 2006.

We also bummed around lower Garden Canyon and scored a snazzy Townsend's Warbler sporting his spring colors.

Tomorrow, after surveys (if it doesn't rain), we leave for Sandia Crest in New Mexico!