More Pine Run

Quick stop at Pine Run this morning. No sign of the buff-breasteds. Still a few shorebirds: Solitary Sandpiper (1), Lesser Yellowlegs (1), Pectoral Sandpiper (1), Semipalmated Sandpiper (1), Least Sandpiper (4), Killdeer (30). Also a juvenile Northern Harrier there when I first arrived. It was tough to see what was out on the lake at Peace Valley because of fog, but did see the number of Ruddy Duck there had inched up to seven.

Most interesting bird of the morning was a leucistic (partial albino) Egyptian Goose at Peace Valley. The bird has been around for at least a month.

(Photo: Howard Eskins)

Buffies in the Morning

(Photo: Howard Eskins)
This morning I stopped by Pine Run, where the water levels are down and a few shorebirds are starting to show up. Best birds were what appeared to be a male and female Buff-breasted Sandpipers--always a good bird in this area, and on the late side for them to be moving through. Also 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 6 Least Sandpipers and 45 Killdeer. I also heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the woods--looks like it may be a good year for them down here. At Peace Valley, I saw my first Ruddy Ducks (3) of the fall, as well as a nice juvenile Ring-billed Gull, which I usually only see later in the year when they've already molted into their first winter plumage.

Update: Howard Eskins was able to get over and photograph the Buff-breasted Sandpipers on his lunch break. In addition to this shot here, see his other photos of the birds here.

Free Bird Feeders and Seed

How far are you willing to go to get some free bird feeders and bird seed? If you are an experienced backyard bird watcher, and willing to count the birds at your feeder for 45 minutes every other day, then Project Wildbird will send you a whole load of good bird feeding equipment to participate in their ground-breaking research on seed and feeder preferences in backyard birds. If you can't commit to that level of bird observing, there are other ways to participate--but you'll have to provide your own feeders and seed.

Project Wildbird has already greatly expanded our understanding of what seeds are preferred by different birds, and how those preferences vary across the country and over the course of the year. I got a sneak preview of some of the initial study results, and I'm anxiously waiting to hear more as the study progresses. If you haven't heard of this project, take a look at the website, and contact my friends over at Project Wildbird to sign up to help out with the study.

Birdchaser on the Radio

This morning I was on Bridget Butler's BEEKS radio program up in Vermont. We discussed the new Audubon Birds to Help resources. There seems to have been some static in the line, but you can listen to the online podcast. Our conversation took up the last 1/3 of the program.

Bird Puzzles

Check out this cool online feature. Click the image to do the puzzle online.

Birding Monhegan

Last week our Hog Island Audubon Camp cruised out to Monhegan Island on the camp's new boat the Puffin V. On the way offshore we saw lots of Northern Gannets, a Red-necked Phalarope, and some scoters, but the highlight was this Mola Mola swimming next to the boat at point blank range.

On Monhegan we saw lots of warblers and other migrants, including a Lark Sparrow--a bird usually found much farther west, but that shows up here each year as a vagrant. It was fun to see some Great Cormorants on the rocks at White Head, and we watched a school of tuna attack some baitfish--with some of the larger fish clearing the water while lunging at their prey. A few of us were lucky enough to see a Minke Whale as well. I also had a close encounter with a green snake while hiking back from White Head. Merlins were flying all over the island, and the group got very close looks at a Rusty Blackbird perched on top of a spruce tree.

On the way back to Hog Island, the best bird was a juvenile Sabine's Gull first seen on the water (and photographed by Scott Weidensaul) and then seen in flight. It has been a long, long time since I've seen one of these beauties--so a special treat. Red-necked Grebes in flight and a few Surf Scoters and White-winged Scoters rounded out the birds as we cruised back into port. A great day of birding with some great company. (photos: Scott Weidensaul)

Hog Island Camp

Had a great time up at the Migration and Conservation workshop at Hog Island last week. Fun to bird with Scott Weidensaul, Peter Vickery, Alicia King, and the Hog Island staff and workshop participants. Great looks at over 120 bird species, including many warblers, migrating falcons, shorebirds, and some nice seabirds.

At one point Scott and I were singing a little duet while I was driving one of the camp vans--a moment caught in this sketch by camp participant Susan Beebe.



We were just joshing around. I'm not all that competitive. OK, I'm pretty competitive when I'm birding. But only in the sense that I'm out to see, and help trip participants see, as many birds as humanly possible.

Birdchaser on TV

This past week a TV crew filmed us at the Hog Island Audubon Camp migration and bird conservation workshop. Click here to watch the spot online--including a shot of me wolfing down blueberries.

When Merlins Attack

On my way into the office this morning I stopped by Pine Run, hoping to find some shorebird habitat. Water levels were pretty high, so no luck. But I did get to spend a few moments watching an immature Cooper's Hawk working the edges of the lake, scattering a few Killdeer in its path. Then out of nowhere a very dark Merlin dive-bombed the young accipiter, then just as quickly it rose high in the air and winged off to the west. Seems like more than half the times I see a Merlin its a bird harassing a larger bird of prey. Feisty fellows, these small falcons!

Buffy Run

While some folks are launched from their couch by the news of a closeout sale at Target, I was ripped from my laptop after my most recent post by an email letting me know that a few Buff-breasted Sandpipers were at Green Lane just 25 minutes from my house. The sun was going down, but I hopped in the car and zipped over there, arriving just as the sun was dipping down into the trees to the West. In the gathering darkness I was able to see one American Golden Plover with the dozens of Killdeer, a couple dozen Least Sandpipers, a handful of Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a couple Pectoral Sandpipers. Finally, barely discernible in my 20x scope was one Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I've loved these guys since I saw my first vagrant juvenile on the Oregon coast back in the 1980s. In Texas they were uncommon but regular migrants at Hornsby Bend and stock ponds east of Austin. But this is the first one I've seen in Pennsylvania. It was running back and forth in the drier and sparse grassy section of a mudflat. Dainty and dovelike, a palomino-maned visitor from another world. It was a nice reunion with an old friend.

Have we all lost our minds?

The recent Birding photo quiz presents us with a picture of three unidentifiable birds. But that didn't stop many of us from speculating what they might be. What does the willingness to pin a name on these blurs say about the state of birding in America? If the photo hadn't been taken in the Ivory-billed Woodpecker search area, would we even bother looking at it? If a novice birder showed up at your birding club with this photo in hand, would you even bother trying to identify it? It is perhaps the worst bird photo ever published anywhere. I'm trying to be careful with what I say here, since some good friends of mine were willing to play along and submit their identifications. But at best this photo can only serve as a birding Rorschach test exposing the inner workings of our imaginations. Maybe we've all gone a little crazy lately.

Birder or Birdwatcher?

Would you rather see a bird you'd never seen before, or watch a bird you see all the time do something new and unusual? I have to admit that usually I'd rather see a new bird. Perhaps that makes me more of a birder than a birdwatcher. But since new birds are few and far between for me these days, I have a growing appreciation for watching unusual bird behavior as well.

Today during lunch, I saw a Downy Woodpecker. Now I just checked and I've reported 115 Downy Woodpecker sightings to eBird over the past two years. That's just the ones I've reported from birding trips, not the ones that I see or hear everywhere but don't bother to enter. So a bird I probably see or hear a couple times a week--and almost every time I'm actually out birding.

Today I saw one do something I hadn't seen before. A female woodpecker perched on a horizontal branch stretched its neck upwards as if looking up. Then it flew/hopped/jumped directly up and landed upside-down on the bottom side of an overhead branch. I've seen woodpeckers moving along the bottom side of a branch, but had never seen one fly up and land on one like that. It was pretty cool. Wish I had it on film. Probably speaks more about how little I have paid attention to these birds in the past than to how rare this behavior might be.

So how about you? Are you more of a birder or a birdwatcher? How do you compare seeing a new bird to seeing an old bird do a new trick?

Join the Birdchaser in Maine

Next week I'm off to Hog Island for a Bird Migration and Conservation workshop. Last I heard there were a couple spaces left if you want to join me and Scott Weidensaul, Peter Vickery, and Alicia (Craig) King and the Hog Island staff for a week of birding, great food, and inspiration. Come walk where Roger Tory Peterson walked, and see where Steve Kress was inspired to bring Atlantic Puffins back to the Gulf of Maine.

Overheard today at the bird blind

Middle-aged man to his friend after a few minutes of watching birds at the feeder:
"You're right, this is better than Prozac!"

Bald Blue Jay

Snapped a shot of a bald Blue Jay this morning at Peace Valley park. Sometimes molting jays and cardinals look like this--see Cornell's page on this here.

New Online Bird Game from Audubon

Another cool bird conservation outreach tool from Audubon. Fly flocks of birds over various landscapes and help them find safe and healthy stopover habitat. Click here to play!

A lesson from puffins

There's a great lesson from all of us that I get reminded of every year when I'm up at the Hog Island Audubon camp in Maine. Stephen Kress was working at the camp there when he conceived of Project Puffin, an attempt to bring puffin populations back to abandoned nesting colonies on islands in the Gulf of Maine. The puffins we get to see out at Eastern Egg Rock during the camp are only there because of Dr. Kress's efforts.

While most of us don't have access to remote islands to practice the restoration of bird populations, many of us do have yards or property that can be improved for birds. Can you do on your property what Steve Kress did on his? Can you create a better environment that will attract and support birds that might have abandoned your neighborhood as homes and lawns replaced native habitats? Audubon's Birds to Help resources and other Audubon At Home materials are created in this spirit. Make the world a better place for you and the birds. You probably won't get a puffin in your birdbath, but you can make your property or yard more inviting to other native birds that need your help to thrive in our neighborhoods.

Bird Envy

To some, birdwatching is a casual pursuit--an activity to do for relaxation. For others, it can approach something of a blood sport. For the latter crowd, the green-eyed monster of envy can become a serious and constant companion. I see enough rare birds that I'm at least partially immune from this malady. I don't begrudge anyone their rare bird sightings, which I do celebrate. But as a birdchaser, I do face occasional bouts of "wish-I-could-have-been-there" syndrome. So, with only the slightest twinge of envy, I celebrate some amazing bird sightings made by others this past week or so!

A Jabiru in Mississippi.
North America's first record of Brown Hawk Owl in Alaska.
A sighting of a rare Macaronesian (Little) Shearwater off Massachusetts.

If any of these sightings make you want to turn off the computer and go out birding, they've done their job. To that end, they also serve as a self-diagnostic for bird envy. How did you fare? Do you suffer from bird envy?

Hog Island Audubon Leadership Camp

Last week I got to help out with another Audubon Chapter Leadership Camp on Hog Island, Maine. We had 27 Audubon chapter leaders there for workshops and birding and magnificent food. In between exploring tide pools, hiking, and taking boat trips to see Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, and Common Eiders, we spent a lot of time looking at warblers--some still tending their young and some migrating through. Highlights for me were a couple of Cape May Warblers--a warbler I don't get to see that often.

In addition, this year a pair of Ospreys nested right above one of the camp buildings--so we could watch the three fledged young at almost point blank range as they practiced flying and ate fish brought in by their parents. They were calling to each other almost constantly all week long. Amazing to live in such close proximity to these spectacular fish hawks.

Another high point for me this year was that my family got to join me for the first half of the week so my kids got to enjoy the Ospreys and see the Atlantic Puffins out at Eastern Egg Rock. They were begging me to wake them up so they could go birding with me at 6am each morning--sweet music to a birding father's ears!

Birds 2 Help

Earlier this summer Audubon released a report on common birds in decline. Now Audubon has produced Birds to Help--a resource suggesting birds that homeowners and other private landowners can help in urban, suburban, and rural areas. While these aren't all the birds that need help, these are some of the birds that landowners can most easily help. They also represent birds that need help to thrive in most residential areas--so they are a good place to start if you want to help local birds.

For each of the thirty birds to help, there is a printable "recipe" telling what the species needs and how you can provide those needs. Lots of good information on these birds. In the future we look forward to providing habitat guidelines for additional species as well.

I've been working on this project for a couple years and am glad to see it finally online. Eventually we envision folks being able to enter their zip code and get an even more targeted list of birds to help in their specific region. Until then, here's a start. Check it out and find a bird to help in your yard or on your property today!

The Other Goldfinch

I got a call at work about a male European Goldfinch coming to a feeder near Core Creek Park in Langhorne. Its only 20 minutes from work so slipped over there on my lunch break. After half an hour of standing in the drizzling rain the bird came in and fed at the feeder for about 6 minutes at 12:30pm. (photo credit: Trev Feltham)

These guys show up every year or so in southeastern Pennsylvania. They're usually presumed to be escaped cagebirds, though as with this bird, there is usually no obvious cage wear and no band. Julie Craves at the Rouge River Bird Observatory in Michigan has been tracking European goldfinch sightings in the Midwest since a large importer was rumored to have released a large number in 2002.

Unfortunately, since we don't have a good handle on the status and distribution of these goldfinches and other European birds in North America, its almost impossible to determine what might be legitimate vagrants from escaped exotics.

But that's only something of interest to birders keeping lists (exotics don't count) and a few researchers interested in the dynamics of new invading species. For some of us, seeing a European Goldfinch is just a real treat.

Downtown Bird Habitat

Downtown Salt Lake City has some unique bird habitat. Here's a California Quail right on temple square downtown. The dome in the background is the historic tabernacle, home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

My favorite patch of habitat is the rooftop garden on top of the LDS Conference Center. How many other places let you walk around on their roof? Not many. Even fewer have a three acre meadow of native grasses and pine trees up there. So there's a lot more to do on temple square than getting a quick overview of Mormon history and beliefs. If you find yourself with a little time in downtown Salt Lake City, check it out. And let me know what birds you find on temple square.

Birding Outdoor Retailers

Just got back from a week out in Utah leading morning and evening birding trips for the Outdoor Retailers Summer
Show in Salt Lake City. Lots of fun showing American White Pelicans, White-faced Ibis, Burrowing Owls, Golden Eagles, Snowy Plovers, and dozens of other birds to a wide range of experienced and brand-spanking-new-birders. It was especially fun to take out some folks who had never even thought about birdwatching before, and to see them get excited by some great birds.

One morning we saw a Peregrine Falcon chase a flock of ducks and fly low almost directly overhead. On a quieter trip we got great scope views of a Sage Thrasher. Another morning provided looks at 35 Snowy Plovers (including some fuzzy chicks). The rarest bird of the trips was a juvenile Summer Tanager, about 250 miles out of range, that popped up on a gate to the Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve--a restoration project of Kennecott Copper on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake. There literally wasn't a tree in sight for this woodland species to land on, so it was in very atypical habitat.

It was exciting to see different birds each day. To visit the same place over and over for five days and learn some of the rhythms and schedules of a few individual birds, and to be constantly surprised by the appearance of new birds along my birding route. Birding truly is a joy, and as far as I could tell, there was much joy had by all!

Go Go Gadget Birds!

Ever hear of a Google Gadget? Its a small add-on to your Google search page that provides customized information to your browser. Now there's a rare bird Google Gadget that can bring you the latest rare bird info in real time as it is submitted to eBird. The eBird rare bird gadget sits right there on your Google search page, and whenever a rare bird is reported in your area, it shows up immediately--along with a note of who saw the bird, whether it has been confirmed by an eBird reviewer, and--perhaps best of all--a Google Map showing exactly where the bird was seen!

Will this revolutionize the way rare bird information is reported and disseminated? Only time will tell, and the value of the service depends on the willingness of the birding community to report rare bird sightings to eBird. But its already fun to see who on the birding email lists is reporting their rare birds to eBird, and who isn't. I've already had a couple gull sightings show up on the PA rare bird gadget, and my NY Western Reef-Heron sighting was added as soon as I entered it into eBird this morning.

So check out the rare bird Google Gadget and report your bird sightings--rare or otherwise--to eBird!

Junior birdchasers score!

Last night I figured out that with a little juggling I could manage a 15 minute stop at the Western Reef-Heron site in Brooklyn on my way to another appointment. I spent a restless night wondering if it was worth hauling my three kids over there after so much heartbreak. The bird had never been seen three days in a row, so it seemed a bit crazy to try again. And with limited time to search, it seemed like a recipe for failure. Besides, the polluted Coney Island creek inlet is hardly scenic, has been the scene of some strange goings on, and not the kind of place I'd really want my kids to spend a whole lot of time.

But at 8am we pulled up to the Home Depot, I jumped out, ran across the softball fields to the creek and there, just as it should be, was the bird feeding a mere 30 feet off shore. After so much heartache on my previous two attempts to see this bird (three if you count last year's attempt in New Hampshire), you'd think I'd savor the moment. But no, I ran back to the car to get my three kids. We ran back to the creek, where the bird had moved off about 50 yards, and we all got looks through the scope and binoculars. My kids are for sure my lucky charm, as I rarely dip on a bird chase when I have them along. Junior birdchasers, don't leave home without them! (photo:digitalmediatree.com)

Killing Me

So, for the last two days my nemesis bird, the Brooklyn Western Reef-Heron has been putting on a show back on Coney Island Creek, but I've been unable to chase it. Yesterday I drove to Orange County, NY to visit a friend who was an LDS missionary with me in Ecuador back in the day. Sundays are usually reserved for church and family, so no chance to make the long drive today. While I must say I wouldn't trade family, friends, and church for anything, it is killing me a bit to have that bird so close yet so far away!

Birdchaser in the Providence Journal

Another quirky bird story, this time about roadkill.

No Satisfaction

Another 200 miles. Six hours in the sun. No reef heron in Brooklyn. Its officially gone beyond being merely a jinx bird. Its risen to the level of a curse.

Hither and yawn

Birding has been a bit slow lately, though I've had some fun watching mockingbirds in my small backyard. Someday someone really has to figure out why they repeatedly raise their wings when they are on the ground (more speculation here). On my way to work this morning I stopped by Pine Run and saw 7 Bobolinks and a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks. This remains the only place I see these birds around here. There was also a male Belted Kingfisher on the lake there--the first one I've seen in months. Kingfishers often go silent during the summer when they are nesting. Glad to have them noisily out and about again.

Feds to Red Knot--take a number

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have determined that the Red Knot, which has declined more than 50 percent in the last ten years "warrants protection", but since other species are even more rare (like the Gunnison Sage Grouse, which they refused to list as an endangered species after it had one good year out of five--see one possible reason for that decision here), the knots cannot be listed as endangered. What kind of crap is that? The Endangered Species Act would work if we could get real enforcement rather than this bureaucratic hokum. I'm usually a big fan of USFWS, but this is ridiculous. Why are they spending time trying to determine if penguins, which don't even live in the United States, warrant protection while doing nothing to help a U.S. species like the Red Knot which they know does "warrant protection"?

Join the Birdchaser in Utah

8 Sort of Random Birdchaser Facts

David over at Search and Serendipity has tagged me for the 8 Random Facts meme. My understanding of the rules is that:
- Players write a post describing eight random facts about themselves.
- They then “tag” eight bloggers to write similar posts, including the rules.
- The players then leave a comment on blogs they've tagged to tell them about the meme.

First off, since this is a birder blog, I'm not going to have to modify this a tad, and stick to 8 Sort of Random Facts about myself--since truly random facts such as my fondness for dark chocolate and genealogical research aren't germane to the theme of this blog. With that in mind, here we go...

8 Sort of Random Birdchaser Facts

1) First Bird The first wild bird I remember putting a name to was a Killdeer flushed from a gravel road on a fishing trip with my dad and grandfather to either Deep Creek or Honey Creek near Lakeview, Oregon in June 1975. I was just a kid, so I remember being alarmed by such a violent name for a bird!

2) First Birdwatcher In August 1976, my mom and I and some of my other siblings went to the Oregon Coast with another family from Oregon City. Ellen Skyles had just taken a birdwatching class somewhere and was keeping a list of birds she had seen. It was the first time I knew there was something called birdwatching.

3) First Bird List In July 1977, I made my first bird sighting list for a cub scout requirement. While I've since lost that list, I'm sure it included crows, robins, blue jays (=Western Scrub-Jay), and chickadee (=Dark-eyed Junco).

4) First Birding Trip I remained a casual birdwatcher for several years, and wanted to be a herpetologist. Then on August 10, 1981 I went on my first birding trip--a week long excursion to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon with a group from my junior high school. Ron Keil, my science teacher, gets credit for giving me the real birding bug. We saw over 60 bird species that week. Its been downhill ever since.

5) First Audubon Field Trip In June 15, 1983 I joined Lynn Herring from Portland Audubon for one of her monthly birding trips to Sauvie Island. We met at the Safeway store in Lake Oswego where she gave me a lift to the trip in her VW Rabbit. On that trip I saw my first Barn Owl, Blue-winged Teal, American Bittern, and Bullock's Oriole.

6) First Birding Milestone On July 18, 1983 I saw my 200th bird, a Marbled Murrelet at Yaquina Head near Newport, Oregon. Actually, due to bad note taking, I hadn't realized that I had actually reached that milestone a week earlier when I went to look for Purple Martins nesting in some pylons in the Columbia River off Marine Drive in Portland.

7) First Pelagic Trip A couple days before starting high school, my folks dropped me off at Westmoreland Golf Course in Portland so I could catch a late-night ride to the Oregon Coast with David Irons and Koninendyke. I was fourteen and had never met these two guys before and was a bit alarmed as Mark downed a beer while driving his truck through the dark over the Coast Range. We slept on the beach and got up early to catch the boat, only to find Mark's truck was stuck in the sand. Dave and I hitched a ride to the Garibaldi marina to catch the boat, and somehow Mark got the truck out and just barely made it to the boat before departure. Despite the crazy start, it was a glorious day with shearwaters, and storm petrels, and Sabine's Gulls!

8) First Rare Bird Chase On December 10, 1983 my dad drove me over to see a Brown Thrasher hopping around in a backyard compost pile in Colton, Oregon. It was my first time to chase a rare bird listed on the Portland Audubon rare bird alert. Birdchasing has been a chronic obsessive degenerate disorder ever since!

Well, that's it for me for now. To continue the meme I tag

1) High School birding buddy David Bailey at Eva Calidris Bailey.
2) Fellow college radical Matt at The Underview.
3) Underground college paper mate Russell at In Medias Res.
4) Foodie and fellow birder Scott at Dallas Food.
5) The crafty and not so birdy Cheff Messy.
6) Favorite Austin musician and sometime birder Kim at Boneyard Media.
7) Texan birder John at Swampblog.
8) Winging It editor Rick at Aimophila Adventures (I'll get you that article soon, promise!)

Birdchaser in the Washington Post

On Sunday I was quoted in a Washington Post article about House Sparrows and other birds frequently found in big box retail stores. Interestingly, on Saturday I was watching House Sparrows in my very own neighborhood Home Depot store. At any rate, check out the article here.

Reefer Madness

So yesterday I'm sitting at work and discover that a Western Reef-Heron was just two hours away in Brooklyn. The bird disappeared in the afternoon, but I made plans to be there at low tide this morning.

Birders joke about chasing rarities as being like a drug. I don't want to minimize the problems caused by real drug addictions, but bird chasing does seem like an addictive, or at least a compulsive behavior. As a good Mormon boy who doesn't smoke or drink, let alone smoke, snort, pop, or shoot up more illicit substances, maybe I'm not the best authority here. But for sure, for me, chasing rare birds is as close as I have to an addiction.

At 4:30am I couldn't sleep any longer. By 5am I was on the road, shooting up (so to speak) to the freeway and speeding (OK, maybe not technically speeding--I'm not the fastest driver out there) east on I-78 towards New York.

When I arrived just after 7am, the tide was still pretty high. Nothing to do but wait for it to go down and pray that the bird comes back to feed where it spent most of the morning yesterday.

Jittery. Nervous. My own case of Reefer Madness. Lots of good birds to look at. OK, a few interesting birds to look at. Least Terns diving and carrying fish back to a nest somewhere. Common Terns flying around and feeding young. Black Skimmers doing the same. Then at one point a yellow and green Budgerigar flew past the 30 or so anxious birders watching the channel.

But almost no egrets. One Snowy Egret. One Great Egret across the channel. A dozen or so Black-crowned Night Herons were around, and a smaller handful of Yellow-crowned Night Herons. I remembered my first Yellow-crowned Night Heron back at Santa Ana NWR in Texas more than a decade ago. I'd have to look up when I first saw Black-crowneds back in Oregon in the 80s.

The tide slowly went out. Every couple minutes I looked to see how far it came up a nearby rock, then how much of a nearby submerged branch was exposed, then an old tire in the channel. A couple more egrets flew in. Or rather flew over--they didn't stay. Finally, at low tide, another Snowy Egret came and joined the other bird fishing in the shallow water. But it only stayed a few minutes then flew off again. Not a good sign. Yesterday there were lots of egrets and herons actively feeding at low tide.

But not today. Finally, just before noon, with the tide quickly rising and no more egrets let alone Reef-Herons in sight, I headed back to PA to get a late start on work. 200 miles. $20 in tolls. No bird. My second strike out on seeing this species. A royal pain. Officially a new jinx bird.

Reefer Madness!

New Bird-friendly Windmills

And not just good for birds, good for home and business owners. These windmills go right on your house or business--bringing the benefits of windpower right to your rooftop. Check out the various models at PacWind. You could be the first one on your block to get one...unless you live on Jay Leno's block. He's already got one.

Basra Reed Warbler in the Big Time

You know you've arrived when you make it on the Daily Show. Our endangered friend Acrocephalus griseldis has finally arrived. Of course, since it lives in the middle of Mess O'Potamia...

Steve Kress's Guide to Attracting Birds

Even if you didn't win a copy of Steve Kress's The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds playing the IATB Sweepstakes, here's why you should get yourself a copy--its an absolutely amazing resource put together by a legend in the field of bird conservation. While there are literally hundreds of books out there on how to attact birds to your yard--this is one of the very best. Steve Kress has written several other books along this line, but this is the one where he had the freedom to put in all of the extra stuff that wouldn't fit in some of the other books.

As Steve writes in the introduction, "Improving the quality of land for wildlife is the single most constructive step that anyone can take to assist wild bird populations." If you want to help birds, the best place to start is in and around your own home--the bird habitat you have the most control over. As indicated by the subtitle, this book focuses on Creating Natural Habitats for Properties Large and Small. Steve Kress, a Vice-President at the National Audubon Society with a Ph.D. from Cornell, has spent his life researching and practicing the techniques and secrets he shares in this lavishly illustrated 466 page volume dripping with information.

As mentioned, this guide covers a full range of habitats and property sizes, from large rural grasslands or forested tracts, to suburban yards and urban patios. Its more than just a guide to attracting birds, its really a user-friendly guide to bird habitat management--with detailed instructions on how to manage grasslands, forests, and shrublands, as well as over 130 pages on various trees, shrubs, and other bird-friendly plants. If you want to build a pond or small pool for wildlife, its all here. Nest boxes, gott'em, for birds of all kinds. And not just nest boxes, but nesting structures for other birds as well, including owls, geese, loons, and terns. Everything you wanted to know about bird feeders, but were afraid to ask? All right here under one cover.

But, you say, you've seen it all before? Think again! How about detailed illustrations showing exactly how a bird opens a seed? Or how to provide live food for secretive towhees? Or make a nest cone for Mourning Doves? Unless you've been poking around in the scientific journals, you're not likely to have seen a lot of the information in this book before.

So, whether you own a farm, ranch, suburban yard, or apartment balcony, this book contains the best-researched and most useful information you're going to find about how to make your property better for birds--and will teach you a lot about birds in the process. Unfortunately, we all can't spend time individually with Dr. Kress as he works to bring puffins and other seabirds back to abandoned islands off the coast of Maine, but through this book, we can work shoulder-to-shoulder with him to bring more birds back to the yards and properties that make up our own mini-Edens.

And the winner is...

Thanks to the drawing facilitated by a random number generator, I'm happy to announce that the winner of the IATB Sweepstakes is Liza of The Egret's Nest. Her copy of Steve Kress's The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds will ship out shortly. Thanks to everyone for playing, and enjoy the latest IATB over at The Wandering Tattler.

Bird Flu Hits NYC

Not for the faint of heart...



More footage, again, pretty rough...

Common US Birds in Decline

Some of my colleagues at Audubon have recently conducted an analysis of over 40 years worth of Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey data to identify common birds that have experienced large declines. These birds are not endangered, but have declined by more than 50% over that time period. A new website gives more info on these birds and what can be done to help them.

A press conference today attracted a lot of media attention to this issue, with over 160 stories posted by newspapers so far.

I and the Bird Sweepstakes

Welcome to I and the Bird #51. You love IATB, but admit it, you don't always read all the posts, right? But this time you will, because this time you'll have to in order to enter the I and the Bird Sweepstakes!

How to Enter
To enter the sweepstakes, just email your answers to the following questions to me at birdchaser AT hotmail DOT com by Tuesday, June 26. I'll draw a name at random from all of the correct completed answer sheets on June 27 and announce the winner here at my blog.

The Prize
The winner will receive a copy of The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds, signed by the author, Steve Kress. This book has mountains of information on how to help birds thrive in your yard or on your larger rural property, brought to you from the guy who has spent his life bringing birds back to abandoned habitats--most notably bringing puffins back to abandoned islands in the Gulf of Maine. Just think of your yard as a miniature island of potential habitat just waiting for you to improve for waiting birds.

The Questions
1) Bird conservationists have reintroduced Aplomado Falcons to their former range in arid grasslands near the Mexican border of the United States. According to Carel at Rigorvitae, how many Aplomado Falcons successfully fledged in South Texas last year?

2) Ski areas and conservation partners have made great strides in the last couple years to protect the montane habitat of the rare Bicknell's Thrush. Name the blogs of the four intrepid bloggers (Mike, Patrick, Corey, and Will) who recently traipsed up Wakely Mountain to see this threatened songbird.

3) Invasive exotic vegetation can play havoc with bird habitat restoration efforts, though some native birds may utilize them for food or cover. Name the invasive plant plaguing the Birdman, but providing habitat for Spotted Morning Thrushes.

4) Conservationists seeking to restore native bird populations should take into account the predator avoidance strategies of the birds they want to help. That's all well and good, but what the heck is aposematism?

5) Rails are hard to protect since they can be tough to find in their wetland haunts. Which rail finally showed up for Tai?

6) Migratory birds have many ways to orient themselves during their seasonal movements. According to Gulf Crossings, which species recently helped researchers figure out how some birds may use polarized light to help them find their way?

7) In suburbia, large parks with good habitat can be important refuges for resident birds, and can attract locally rare species. What locally uncommon bird did John find at a DC area park and only see once, though he could hear the bird singing nearby?

8) When you're trying to help birds, and need local landowner help, communication can be a problem. Many people know birds by names other than those by which they are labled in the field guides. Birdfreak revels in bird nicknames. What is his own nickname for the American Robin?

9) Even more troubling than confusing local nicknames, other bird terms can cause problems for bird conservationists. What bird term noted at Words & Pictures recently caused a stir when it triggered internet filters in the UK?

10) On the other side of the pond from Steve Kress's puffin islands, Craig visited an important seabird sanctuary on the Farne Islands. What type of cormorant was he able to photograph there?

11) In addition to managing for rare birds, bird conservationists have to manage for abundant species that can become pests. While some folks may not like these, I'm kind of partial to this species from my days in Austin--what's the name of the species that the Wrenaissance Woman was able to photograph in San Antonio?

12) Even abandoned housing projects can be important bird habitat for some species, as noted by Sarala at Blogaway. What kinds of birds did she see, that were also enjoyed by K T Cat at The Scratching Post, but not filmed by Shinie in Northern Idaho?

13) Habitat loss is the greatest threat to most bird species, including the Northern Spotted Owl (which is under threat again). What threat to Canada's boreal forests (described at the Stokes Birding Blog) is also the greatest threat to the Northern Spotted Owl, as noted by GrrlScientist?

14) Helping birds isn't always as difficult as fighting the government. In a backyard, even a little pond or birdbath can help local birds. What species did Summer note taking a bath?

15) Bird atlas projects help us keep track of bird distribution as populations fluctuate through time. Pennsylvania is conducting its second statewide atlas. How many species has Vern confirmed breeding in his atlas block?

16) Just down the road from Vern, Drew was doing his part for bird conservation by conducting point counts. What bird did he see and hear in the same place where he found a clump of thirty or forty butterflies?

17) Other birders have been using eBird to track bird sightings, including the unusual influx of Horned Puffins along the California coast this spring. Where did Liza of The Egret's Nest find her lifer Horned Puffin?

18) Farther afield, researchers have determined descovered some interesting, some might say disturbing, behavior in Oriental Pied Hornbills. While many hornbill species are critically endangered, this one is still fairly common in some areas--which is a good thing based on the behavior described by YC at the Bird Ecology Study Group blog. What behavior did these researchers document?

19) The African nation of Cameroon is home to at least 15 globally endangered bird species. David at Search and Serendipity shows us video of some more common Cameroonian birds. Which bird does he describe as "little bits of sky that have fallen to the ground"?

20) And last, but not least, Duncan at Ben Cruachan Blog reminds us that birds are part of a larger ecosystem that includes many other organisms that we should stop and enjoy while we're out trying to make the world better for birds. While you might want to stop to smell the roses, you probably don't need to stop and smell what he found on top of an ant mound. What did he find there?

The Payoff
OK, that wasn't so hard was it? Just 20 short questions. Email your answers to me by June 26 and you'll have a chance to win Steve Kress's book. Thanks for playing. Now that you've been inspired by these posts, head out and do something good for the birds we all love! Then share your bird experiences with us on the next edition of I and the Bird, and come back here after the next I and the Bird comes out to see who won the book.

Submit your next I and the Bird post links by June 26 to Paul at The Wandering Tattler (pjollig AT gmail DOT com) or Mike at 10,000 Birds.

Special thanks to Steve Kress for donating the prize for the I and the Bird Sweepstakes. Show your thanks by supporting Project Puffin.

Tom Petty and oiled cormorant

Check out the video here. Devil's Been Busy.

Where JJ Walked

Yesterday I visited Mill Grove, where John James Audubon began his journey of discovering American birds, and where as a young adult he met and married his longsuffering wife Lucy. A lot has changed in the past 200 years. The landscape is now one of mature trees and highways, rather than agricultural fields. The Perkiomen Creek still flows past down below the house, and many birds enjoy the environs of this county park and Audubon Center.

During a walk through the woods, we saw Scarlet Tanager singing high in a tree, and heard baby Downy Woodpeckers calling from within a nest cavity. Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and House Wrens are nesting in boxes on the property, and a colony of Barn Swallows inhabits the bottom floor of the old barn. A Baltimore Oriole was hanging out near the house, and a pair of Chimney Swifts were nesting in Audubon's old home. Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats, and Great Crested Flycatchers were among the more than three dozen birds we saw in a couple hours, walking where JJ Audubon walked, along a wooded Perkiomen Creek that he might barely recognize now for all the trees.

Audubon Bird Clock

Here's the dirty little secret in the bird marketing world--real birders HATE the Audubon Singing Bird Clock. You know, the one with a different bird picture marking each hour and that gives that bird's call when the clock strikes that bird's hour. At $19.95 its a not an expensive gift, and its an all time best-seller in the bird merchandizing world. And maybe that's the problem with the clock--many birders just find too many incongruities between the worlds of birds and marketing. No offense to the clock people, many birders feel the same way about bird mugs, dishrags, or pillowcases. There's a wide divide between bird people and bird mug people.

But maybe there's a way beyond this impasse. What I propose is a new singing bird clock. Instead of featuring real birds at each hour, it should have beloved pop culture birds in their place. Since they aren't real birds, they won't annoy real birders. And since most cartoon birds are more popular than real birds, this clock would be a guaranteed best seller. Here's your million dollar idea for the day!

The new "oughta been" singing bird clock could feature the following birds and their calls:

1--Donald Duck saying "Mickey Mouse" from the Mickey Mouse Club song.
2--Big Bird saying "Snuffy, Snuffy...where are you?"
3--Tweety Bird saying "I tot I taw a putty tat!"
4--Foghorn Leghorn saying "I do say..."
5--Daffy Duck saying "Despicable"
6--The Roadrunner saying "bbbbbbbppppttt"
7--Heckle and Jeckle (for the old-timers) saying "Hey, Old Featherhead"
8--Iago (from Disney's Aladdin, for the younger kids) saying "Look at this. I'm so ticked off that I'm molting"
9--Alan-a-dale the rooster from Disney's Robin Hood singing "dododododododododo, dodododododo"
10--Zazu from Disney's The Lion King saying "Not so fast!"
11--Toucan Sam saying "Follow your nose, it always knows!"
12--Woody Woodpecker and his famous laugh

C'mon, it made you laugh, right? You even followed a link or two. You'd buy this clock for someone, right? And its totally inoffensive. Who can get upset at the marketing of pop icons? No real nature to despoil or prostitute there! Even hard-core birders have a soft spot for some of these beloved characters. I'm telling you its a winner. Look for it in stores by Christmas!

Hummer Nest

There must be a Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest near the office at work, as this morning as I came in I saw a female fly down to the foundation to pick spider webs--which they use as nesting material--from the basement window wells. Very cool to see these tiny birds doing their thing.

Field Birds

This weekend I took a walk at Pine Run, going another half mile or more farther than I usually do there, and finally found a pair of Eastern Meadowlarks that were rumored to be there. These may be the only meadowlarks for several miles around. Also had Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling in the woods, as well as several Willow Flycatchers. Summer is pretty much here, and we had to break out the window AC units this weekend.

Lee Creek sanctuaries

Sunday afternoon we got a tour of the Lee Creek area on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake. Fun to see some more old friends, including Burrowing Owl, Sage Thrasher, Prairie Falcon, and a pronghorn antelope. But the stars of the show were a family of four baby Long-billed Curlews with their parent in the tall grass. These are perhaps the cutest little birds I've ever seen. Its amazing to think how much those bills have to grow in the next few months as the birds mature! I couldn't find a good photo of these guys online. If anyone has a good photo of baby curlews, let me know!

Park City

On Saturday, I woke up early and hiked up the mountain behind The Canyons at Park City. Lots of old friends up there--Virginia's Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Dusky Flycatcher, and my favorite of the morning, four booming Ruffed Grouse. I love how you almost feel the low wingbeating of the grouse before you actually hear them. Its been probably ten years since I've heard these guys, so a real treat. (grouse photo credit: Utah DNR)

Farmington Bay

Friday I flew to Salt Lake City to take part in some Global Warming meetings at Park City. On my way to the meetings I stopped by some of my old stomping grounds, including Farmington Bay. Fun to see American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, and Cinnamon Teal--old friends that I don't get to see too much of out here in Pennsylvania. (photo credit:Sandra Bray/Great Salt Lake Audubon)

I was a little surprised to see a Northern Mockingbird in Davis County, something I never would have expected when I lived in Utah during the early 1990s. Seems like there are more sightings of these guys away from Southern Utah or the West Desert where they were more likely to be seen back then. Is it Global Warming? Increased shrubbery in suburbia? Something else happening? Its always hard to tell what causes these kinds of distributional changes.

Birdchaser at IATB Wordchaser

Dave Bonta has the latest I and the Bird #49 up at his blog, and gives me a kind nod with the title of his poetic version of this blog carnival--The Wordchaser.

Bobolink Odyssey

Some birds are old friends that you only see now and again. This morning, on my way to work, I stopped by Pine Run to look for shorebirds. Walking back to my car, a Bobolink flew up out of the field and circled me while singing. This past weekend, I’d seen three Bobolinks in a horse pasture in Ambler, where I always see them on my birdathon, but this was my first one for Bucks County. (photo credit: USFWS)

I did not grow up with Bobolinks, as they are almost unheard of in Western Oregon. There are a few scattered colonies of Bobolinks in Eastern Oregon, and I saw my first ones at the P-Ranch near Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge on May 26, 1984. The next year I saw them on June 1, during the traditional late May or Early June trip to Malhuer to search for eastern vagrants.

The next year I graduated from high school, and missed Bobolinks. For the next couple of years, I didn’t live in Bobolink country. Finally, on June 26, 1993, I was married, finishing up my degree at BYU, had a car, and was able to drive up to see Utah’s most accessible Bobolinks in some wet pastures near Heber.

In 1994, we moved from Utah before the Bobolinks returned for the summer, but I was able to see some on May 20 west of Helena while doing field work in Montana. In 1995, we moved to Texas. Bobolinks are only extremely rare migrants in Central Texas, and I never did see them near Austin where I lived for almost ten years. Bobolinks are uncommon but regular during migration on the Upper Texas Coast, and I finally saw some at Bolivar while leading trips for the April 2001 American Birding Association conference in Beaumont.

For the past three years, I’ve been able to see Bobolinks here in Pennsylvania each spring during my birdathon. I love to hear their raspy songs, and their stunning display flights. And every time I see them, it brings back memories of all the times and places where my life has intersected with these charming black, brown, white, and butter-colored blackbirds. While I’m not sure I’ve spent enough time with them to actually call them old friends, they are familiar acquaintances, favorite guest stars when they show up on my birding exploits and help weave together over twenty years of my birding odyssey.

Birdathon

On Friday and Saturday I birded with a couple of friends to raise money for the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association birdathon. Our birding was restricted to sites within the watershed, which does not include any good waterbird or shorebird habitat, so we're always struggling to get to 100 species. This year was no different, we ended up with only 96 birds.

Highlights on Friday were a Black-crowned Night Heron at the Ambler Waterfowl Preserve--an old abandoned asbestos pit filled with water--and a Wild Turkey, which are easy to get this year at Four Mills, but a bird we've missed in the past.

Friday night I ended up camping at Fort Washington on Militia Hill, one of our best birding spots, for a father/son campout with my church group, so I got an early start on the dawn chorus there. It was a much better day for migrants on Saturday, and we ended up with 20 warbler species, including Cape May, Blackpoll, Wilson's, Hooded, and Nashville--some not-to-easy to get birds in our area. But the highlight for me was my best-ever look at Black-billed Cuckoo, a bird that has elluded me many times in the past.

So, a good weekend of birding, for fun and nonprofit. And congrats to my eBird friends at Cornell who won the big-league World Series of Birding in NJ this weekend.

Not so wetland

The detention basin that hosted 17 Solitary Sandpipers earlier in the week is almost dry, and only had two Least Sandpipers and two Killdeer this morning. Another detention basin near the Quakertown Lowes had a single Least Sandpiper and two Solitary Sandpipers. We're forcast for some rain tonight and tomorrow, which should be good for my birdathon as well as refresh some of this shorebird stopover habitat.

More migrants

On my way to work this morning I stopped at the drainage basin with all the shorebirds in Quakertown--there were only 8 Solitary Sandpipers that I could see, along with the other shorebirds there yesterday, and a Greater Yellowlegs was new there.

Then I stopped by Nockamixon and saw Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, and heard lots of Ovenbirds.

At State Game Land 157 there were over 20 Ovenbirds singing, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, and plenty of Gray Catbirds. Best birds were a Pileated Woodpecker and a fly over Broad-winged Hawk.

Unsolitary Sandpipers

This evening while running errands, I stopped by a detention basin in Quakertown and found two Solitary Sandpipers with a Spotted Sandpiper. At another detention basin, there were an eye-popping 17 Solitary Sandpipers, 8 Least Sandpipers, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 3 Killdeer, and 1 American Pipit. With the warm water, not sure how long the water is going to last in these detention basins, but worth taking a look over the next few days. It's a far cry from the coast, but I'll take what shorebirds I can get!

Spring colors

A colorful assemblage of migrants at work this morning, including brilliant blue male Indigo Bunting and everyone's favorite orange and black Baltimore Oriole. Not much singing in the woods, Warbling Vireo, Northern Parula. A male Eastern Bluebird was defending a nest box from four dive-bombing Tree Swallows in the field by the barn. Common Yellowthroats were singing in the brush below the power lines. (photo: National Park Service)

Dunlin on the run

On the way to work this morning I found a nice breeding plumage Dunlin at Pine Run. This sandpiper, formerly known as Red-backed Sandpiper or Black-bellied Sandpiper, is a rare migrant in Bucks County, seen only a couple times a year if that, so a nice way to start the week. Also saw my first Solitary Sandpiper of the year at Pine Run, and a lingering Bonaparte's Gull at Peace Valley. (photo: USFWS)

megaloony

I was in DC yesterday, and busy this morning, so didn't check my email until 3pm--when I learned that yesterday Cameron Rutt had discovered a Yellow-billed Loon about 100 miles away near Harrisburg. It was still there this morning, so within an hour my 4th grader and I were in the car cruising west on I-78. By 5:30 we arrived, a few birders were still there, and the bird was in view. We watched it and followed it as it dove just offshore in the Susquehanna River. This is another bird that I had chased and missed several times as a kid growing up in Oregon, so it was sweet to finally see this bird. Its almost in complete alternate (breeding) plumage, which is another treat, since most birds that wander down to the Lower 48 from Alaska and Canada are in basic (nonbreeding/winter) plumage and not nearly as classy looking as this beauty! What a great bird to end the day! (photo: Cameron Rutt)

Update: More photos of this bird are online here--
Tom Johnson's photos
Tim Lenz's photos
Geoff Malosh photos
Dustin Welch photos

Watch a local TV news story about the bird at WHTM.

Rose-breasted Fun

Sitting at my desk the fun continued at work today, when a brilliant male Rose-breasted Grosbeak flew to the seed feeder a few feet from my window. It spent several hours there, off and on, munching on seeds. Each year I get dozens of emails at work from folks seeing these birds for the first time--they're always blown away and think they've found something totally rare and unusual. They are spectacular birds. Ah, Spring! (photo: Bedford Audubon).

Warblers Arrive

Finally had a good flock of warblers at work this morning in the drizzle, with birds singing everywhere. Highlight was 1 Blackburnian Warbler high in the tree. Most numerous were 55 Yellow-rumped Warblers. Also singing--5 Black-throated Green Warblers, 3 Palm Warbler, and 3 Yellow Warblers.

Shorebirds on the move

On the way to work this morning there were 8 Spotted Sandpiper, 9 Least Sandpiper, 8 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Wilson's Snipe at Pine Run. Not a huge number of shorebirds, but good to see them on the move. In the woods near the shore, were my first Yellow Warbler of the year, as well as several Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Palm Warbler. Migration is underway!