Rain does not always ruin a birding day. I recently came back from a photographic trip in Florida where the weather started out very iffy. We arrived early on Saturday and went right into bird-mode. One of our stops for the day was Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, which recently opened up last summer. We decided to go there when the skies started to darken. It was the perfect stop for a rainy afternoon since we could stay protected in the car.
Pied-billed Grebe surrounded by rain drops
Most of the birds just continued with their normal routines, feeding in the marsh.
American Coots
This Purple Gallinule came out for a quick view
Common Gallinule with its tail up
Others waited outside of the water for the rain to stop.
Little Blue Heron on the bank
Great Egret waiting on concrete
Soaked Anhinga drying on the rocks
Anhinga waiting for the rain to stop
Drying its wings before jumping down
The rain started to calm down not long after we began the drive, but was still falling enough to get our gear wet if we left the car, so many shots were taken from a higher angle.
Glossy Ibis as the rains calm down
Tri-colored Heron hunting nearby the Ibis
White Ibis drying off
It did eventually stop, however, the skies remained overcast for the rest of the drive. That certainly did not stop us from getting low to photograph birds for the remainder of the drive.
Blue-winged Teal in overcast light
Anhinga with a nice catch
Snowy Egret resting in the water
I was able to get some great photo ops with some birds that I could not get close enough to last year. I took tons of photos of this Osprey and Red-shouldered Hawk, which may end up getting blog posts of their own in the future.
An Osprey with a huge Catfish
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk who gave us quite a show
The Cattle Egrets were tough to photograph unless you stayed in the car
Not all of them were fully cooperative though.
I would rather this photo of the Belted Kingfisher include the tip of his beak
I even saw a life bird on the drive – the Fulvous Whistling Duck. Our first looks at them were all in flight until a single duck flew in, landed nearby, and interrupted our photo session with the Red-shouldered Hawk.
This Fulvous-Whistling Duck came in close for a decent photo op
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks also made a few appearances
I even photographed a new sub-species life bird, the Eastern Towhee with white eyes. The ones I am used to seeing have red eyes. The white-eyed ones are found in the Southeast and Florida.
White eyed Eastern Towhee
Some young birds made an appearance, too.
Young Pied-billed Grebes
We also photographed two American Bitterns out in the open – one was found toward the beginning of the drive and the other at the end.
American Bittern just after the rain calmed down
American Bittern photographed toward the end of the day
And, of course, there were Alligators. I photographed this one below the Osprey.
This Alligator stole my attention for only a moment
I highly recommend this wildlife drive for anyone who finds themselves birding around Lake Apopka. The different habitats bring all kinds of great birds!
Last weekend, on December 20th, Pocono Mountain held their annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBC is a bird census, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, where birders across the Western Hemisphere count birds over a 24-hour period within 15-mile diameter circles. I live in a private community, Penn Estates, which happens to be right in the middle of one of the areas for our local CBC that is not usually accessible. My friend and I volunteered to count within the gates so that the area is not left out.
Black-capped Chickadee
Penn Estates is a residential, yet very wooded, community in the Poconos that gets a nice variety of wildlife including over one hundred species of birds that I have found so far in two years. Our count was a little slow, likely due to the nicer weather that is keeping the winter birds north, at 22 species. Our highlights included a calling Eastern-Screech Owl, a nice flyover Red-tailed Hawk and two Ravens at the end of the count. Birds that we likely should have seen that we dipped on include a resident Great Blue Heron, Pileated Woodpeckers, Brown Creepers, White-throated Sparrows, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red-shouldered Hawks and Turkey Vultures. We also could have tried harder to call out a Barred Owl who I have previously heard calling near my friend’s house, which is not far from the Tannersville Cranberry Bog.
Red-tailed Hawk
Many of the birds we found were hanging around the three small lakes within the community. We had a surprisingly small amount of luck at bird feeders, which probably means that the natural food is keeping the birds satisfied.
Tufted Titmouse
The following table summarizes our counts:
Species#
Canada Goose1
Mallard21
Red-tailed Hawk1
Mourning Dove16
Eastern Screech-Owl1
Red-bellied Woodpecker6
Northern Flicker1
Downy Woodpecker6
Hairy Woodpecker1
Blue Jay7
American Crow8
Common Raven2
Tufted Titmouse87
Black-capped Chickadee69
White-breasted Nuthatch31
Carolina Wren4
Eastern Bluebird3
Northern Cardinal3
Song Sparrow2
Dark-eyed Junco87
American Goldfinch4
House Finch1
I will most likely do the same next year so that my community is no longer left out of the CBC due to restricted access. Even with the low number of birds, it was a fun morning!
Last weekend, I took an impromptu birding trip with my friends, Jon and Steve. Steve invited us along to chase a Painted Bunting that was just over the Pennsylvania border in Andover, New Jersey. A beautiful male life bird at a private feeder that can be viewed from a public trail? Sounded like a plan! We had vague plans afterward to go to Wallkill New York for some field birds. We had no idea what the day would end up being as epic as it was.
When we arrived at the location for the bunting, it started to snow. Thankfully, the bird had been hanging out in a tree right before we got there. After a nice scope view, he flew to the feeder.
Painted Bunting on a private feeder
A life bird for all three of us. He flew into the brush shortly after and disappeared for some time, probably finding shelter from the weather. Satisfied enough, we left and made our way to Wallkill, New York.
On the way up, we drove through some farmland back roads and said hello to various local cows. We found a large flock of Horned Larks feeding on the melted parts of the field. Every time they would get close, a car would pass, so I did not get any good photos of them.
We arrived in Wallkill almost two hours later. We made our way through the marked paths, even though the snow was a foot or more deep. The first owl was spotted in the distance, followed by another who wanted the perch. We saw several Rough-legged Hawks flying around and perched in trees – at least six of them that we could differentiate all at once. We also saw a Bald Eagle flying in the distance and a Red-shouldered Hawk perched near the parking lot.
Rough-legged Hawk in flight
We walked around the paths, through the deep snow, looking for any way would lead us to a better location. We decided to go to a hunting blind across the field where some of the owls were perched (one was ON the blind). While we were walking, most of the owls slowly made their way into a single tree stand. It was really cool to see all of them in one spot!
Four Short-eared Owls in the trees
I also got my closest views of this beautiful bird.
Short-eared Owl perched
We made out way to the blind, but just as I set my camera up, the owl who was perched nearby flew off to meet the other birds.
Short-eared Owl in flight
We decided to settle in the blind to see if the birds would come in close. That lasted all of five minutes after I checked Facebook to see this message:
3:30 PM Saturday: Curt McDermott reports that the GYRFALCON is being seen now at Hoagerburgh Road near Bates Lane at Blue Chip Farm, Wallkill, Ulster County
That was in the exact area that we were. This Gyrfalcon was reported the day before, but they aren’t known to stick around, so we did not have high hopes of seeing it. That changed quickly! We trudged back through the snow to the car and made our way to Bates Lane. The line of cars gave the exact location away.
This is not even a quarter of the Gyrfalcon crowd, more were in front of me
We could see the bird sitting on top of a pole as soon as we got out of the car. It stayed in the same spot for the entire twenty-or-so minutes that we hung out until a Red-tailed spooked it off. It was nice to watch the flight too!
Gyrfalcon iPhone-scoped
Scope views were beautiful. This was not my lifer Gyrfalcon – I saw one at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge a couple of years ago, but I did not get these same killer looks at it for this long, let alone decent photos, so this was a real treat.
We started the day with a rare bird from the southern US and ended the day with a rare arctic visitor. In-between these two amazing birds, we saw six Rough-legged Hawks and seven Short-eared Owls – two species that the three of us enjoyed very much. This day easily completes with the top birding days of my “career!”
Every North American birder should try to make it to the tropics at least once in their lifetime, if finances allow it. The beautiful array of birds would be worth every penny. I took my first trip in December 2011 and stayed through New Years and the first week of January 2012. I visited four different locations: the Osa Peninsula, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Arenal Volcano and San Gerardo de Dota. Even though the trip was not based on birding, I racked up 130 life birds.
The trip was suppose to be during the beginning of the dry season, however, it rained for much of the trip. This led to mostly mediocre photos – many of which I never showed anyone else since they are not up to par with my normal work. Despite this, I wanted to share the beautiful birds that I saw, even with sub-par photos. I will also mix in some of the nicer photos – though, they were few and far between!
I’m not entirely sure where to begin, so I will jump in with some of my target birds. The bird names and locations are under each photo.
Resplendent Quetzal, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-crowned Motmot, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Keel-billed Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Scarlet Macaw, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Note that I also wrote a post about the Quetzal early last year where you can see more photos. This was on bird that I had great photo ops with! I plan on doing the same for the Motmot.
As expected in the tropics, I saw many species of Tanagers, most of them were very colorful.
Rufous-winged Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bay-headed Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Golden-hooded Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota
White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Cherries Tanager with a Variable Seedeater, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager, Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-gray Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Palm Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
These birds are also classified as Tanagers, but do not have it in their name. They are still equally as beautiful!
Green Honeycreeper, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bananaquit, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Yellow-faced Grassquits, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-throated Saltator, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I also saw some species of warblers that I do not get in the northeastern US.
Rufous-capped Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Slate-throated Redstart, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Collared Redstart, San Gerardo de Dota
Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the birds were cool surprises.
I nearly jumped out of the car for the White-throated Magpie-Jays, Arenal Volcano
Common Potoo hiding in the brush, Sierpe River
White-whiskered Puffbird, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Slaty Flowerpiercer, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-throated Trogon, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
One of my favorite birds had a great mating display.
Montezuma Oropendola, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I saw a nice variety of different Flycatchers throughout my trip.
Great Kiskadee, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Tropical Kingbird in the rain, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Social Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Yellowish Flycatcher, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Black-capped Flycatcher, San Gerardo de Dota
Possible Mountain Elaenia (still being identified), San Gerardo de Dota
Common Tody-Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Phoebe, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the finches were pretty unique…
Large-footed Finch, San Gerardo de Dota
Thick-billed Seed Finch, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Especially, the colorful ones in the Euphonia family.
Yellow-throated Euphonia, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Tawny-capped Euphonia, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Elegant Euphonias are hidden in this photo, Monteverde Cloud Forest
I did see some nice woodpeckers, including a couple I did not get to photograph like the Pale-billed and Lineated Woodpeckers.
Acorn Woodpecker, San Gerardo de Dota
Red-crowned Woodpecker, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
I also saw some birds from the Thrush family.
Clay-colored Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Sooty Robin, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-billed Nightengale-Thrush, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-headed Nightengale-Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Of course, I did see some parakeets too!
Orange-fronted Parakeets, between San Juan and Monteverde
Orange-chinned Parakeet, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
I did not see many raptors, but I was able to photograph some. Unfortunately, my Owl photos are not even good enough to show on this post and my lifer Crested Caracara is too terrible.
Common Black-Hawk, Cano Island
Yellow-headed Caracara, Sierpe River
Here are a few birds that I found by the water:
Magnificent Frigatebird, off of the Osa Peninsula
Sandwich Tern, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron perched over a waterfall, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Like their North American relatives, some birds were very vocal.
Great-tailed Grackle, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Brown Jay, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Some of the larger birds just chilled and let me get a nice look.
Crested Guan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Guan, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Gray-headed Chachalaque, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
But many of the smaller ones were hard to catch!
Band-backed Wren, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-cowled Oriole, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-hooded Antshrike, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Ruddy Ground-Dove, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
As you can see, this post is lacking Hummingbird photos. I will put up a post specifically about them at another time since I saw so many! For now, and to close this post, I will leave you with a photo of my target hummingbird…
My most frequent hawk yard bird is not the more common Red-tailed Hawk – it is a bird that I did not see often when I was in New York, the Red-shouldered Hawk. Since they were difficult to see in New York, I did not have this as a yard bird at my old house… not even a flyover.
Last November, while at my new house in Pennsylvania, I was surprised with a beautiful adult right outside my window. This was on my birthday – a great gift from nature! After that, I would see or hear this bird often and I am pretty sure they ended up nesting in the neighborhood.
Adult Red-shouldered Hawk
Lately, I have been getting multiple visits from a young Red-shouldered Hawk. I wonder if this bird is one of the offspring.
A visit during my Project FeederWatch count
At the end of October and again a couple of days later, I saw this hawk grab a snake. The first time, it was right behind my house so I had a few photo ops. Despite the high angle, I am still happy with the photos!
Look closely – the snake is wrapping around the hawk’s leg
The snake was still alive and wrapping around the hawk’s leg.
The hawk works at killing and untangling the snake
It eventually gave up and the hawk left with its meal.
Finally, the snake gives up
The hawk picked up its catch and flew off
I have to admit that I was a little confused as to the identification of the younger bird. Some friends on Facebook helped me with the ID and gave me good information on how to ID the juvenile. This Sunday, I went to a hawk banding and they caught a Red-shoulder that looked just like my bird. I knew what the bird was as soon as I saw it in the net and it was really nice to see the details up close. The following photos are from the banding and not from my yard.
Red-shouldered Hawk in hand
Details in the wing
A close-up that I only wish I could get in my yard
If you put out bird feeders for the seed- and nut-eating birds, you are also going to attract the bird-eating birds. Accipiters are known for stalking feeder-birds and I enjoy their visits, even though they could get one of my songbirds. I always had problems getting photos of them because they would fly off at even the slightest motion from inside the house. This was the case earlier last week when a Sharp-shinned Hawk was right outside my window: As soon as I grabbed the camera, he flew off. Disappointed that I only got a photo where his head was behind a tree-trunk, all I could do was hope that he returned for more ops.
Yesterday, he visited again. I just happened to look out my window when my sister pointed out something on a squirrel who was foraging on my deck. The Sharp-shinned Hawk was right above the squirrel.
“DON’T MOVE!” I exclaimed.
I slowly grabbed my camera and started snapping away at the bird through the glass.
Sharp-shinned Hawk through my sliding glass doors
The bird moved to another branch – one that was a really great perch, but I could only take photos at an angle through my window…
This photo was shot through my window at a poor angle. Post processing cleared it up.
…so I slowly opened the sliding door and stuck my camera out. The bird did not move.
I stuck my camera out the sliding glass door for this one.
I moved myself all the way out the door and closed it behind me so that my cats would not get out and scare the bird. He was on the perfect perch, feet away and still did not move.
This photo is not cropped much – he was close!
He continued to look for the birds who were chirping around the trees and moved to another branch a bit further away, but still good for photos.
All fluffed up – it was cold outside!
It was a nice treat to actually be able to watch an adult Sharpie who did not seem to mind my presence.
Stretching after taking a poop (hey! birds poop!)
I went back inside and later came out again only to find that the songbirds were all over the trees calling in alarm. I took a short video of this – sorry about the motion – it was hand held and I stabilized it using Youtube’s built in tools. Hint: look at all of the birds in the background.
He knew the birds were around and continued to look for one that he could grab.
Looking for a meal
He eventually went after a bird and flew to another tree over my deck. The bird must have been hungry so I left him to hunt in peace.
Looking at me, comfortable, with one leg tucked
On a side note – the Hawk returned today and caught what I believe to be a Junco. Unfortunately, not long after he caught it, I saw Crows flying away with his meal. They stole his breakfast and the poor Sharpie has to start over.
Last Friday I visited my friends at the Pennsylvania Falconry and Hawk Trust annual field meet for the day. I was expecting to see some Red-tailed Hawks hunt but instead I was in for a big surprise!
The first Hawk we hunted with was an adult Northern Goshawk. I’ve only seen this species once and it was not an adult; I also never saw one hunt before. That all changed this time by!
Adult Northern Goshawk
This Goshawk hunted from the glove, a technique I’ve never seen since the Hawks and Kestrels I’ve hunted with flew freely and hunted from higher perches.
Northern Goshawk on the glove
After some failed attempts at rabbits, she came close to capturing a squirrel who was in her grips, but the squirrel was not quite ready to be hawk food!
Northern Goshawk with a Squirrel
The squirrel got away, but it helped me get a nice photo by making some snow fall on the Goshawk.
Northern Goshawk with snow
We saw another adult Goshawk hunt later in the day – this one was sixteen years old!!
Sixteen year old Northern Goshawk
Still, at that age, she was as beautiful as a younger Hawk!
Northern Goshawk
The next bird we hunted with was one I’ve seen in the past but are always a pleasure to watch – a Harris’s Hawk.
Harris’s Hawk up close
This bird hunted with a Dachshund – their relationship was pretty amazing! While the dog tries to find and flush rabbits, the Hawk watches from above. They almost got a cottontail on their own but the brush was too thick.
Harris’s Hawk in flight
Again, no kills, but it’s great seeing the relationship between a falconer, his dog and his bird.
Harris’s Hawk with falconer
I nearly fainted from seeing the next bird we hunted with – an Ornate Hawk Eagle.
Ornate Hawk Eagle
This bird was so perfect that it looked like a stuffed animal. Every color of this bird was so vivid.
Ornate Hawk Eagle posing
This bird also hunted from the glove. We only “somewhat” saw the bird fly once – a rabbit was right below her and she tried dropping on it, but the prey got away. It was still great to see this gorgeous bird!
Ornate Hawk Eagle on the glove
These were my first hunts with accipiters and an eagle – even though we did not catch anything, it was another perfect day with great friends!
I started my blog in February of this year so this will be my first “new year” with an audience. I am taking this opportunity to do what many others do this time of year – reflect on my year, with a focus on my best birds and experiences. Personally 2013 brought many changes to my life – I started the year in New York and am ending in Pennsylvania. As far as birds go, I got 36 life birds, a great oppurtunity to be a part of the birding community and unforgettable trips with friends.
I started out with a bang doing New Years birding with my friend; the first bird we spotted together was a life bird for me – the Northern Shrike. This bird eluded me any time I would look for it during the previous season. The scope views were great, but he was too far for good photos.
Documentation shot of the Northern Shrike
Halfway into the month, my friends and I went up to the Cayuga Lake region to search for a Townsend’s Solitaire that had been reliably seen. We searched for two hours and never found the bird. Of course, the bird was spotted about ten minutes after we left – go figure. As we were making our way back down the lake I received an email about a juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon that was spotted at Montezuma NWR. A Gyrfalcon?? We turned right around and chased this bird which would have been a lifer for all three of us. We had our sights on a bird that we thought was the Gyrfalcon, but it was too far even for scope views and concluded that it was a Rough-legged Hawk (shadows played tricks on us). We went to another area to get a better view and the bird we were looking at was, indeed, the Gyr. It was a great turn-around to our otherwise disappointing day!
I promise you that this is a Gyrfalcon
This month was the start of my interest in falconry. My friends caught and hunted with a handsome male Red-tailed Hawk who they named Rusty.
Rusty, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
I watched birds hunt for the first time at the New Jersey Falconry Club Annual Meet. I hope to have the time to hunt with birds one day in the future. For now, I will follow around my friends and photograph them with their birds.
Rogue, my friend’s Harris’s Hawk
January was also the start of my Redpoll invasion that ran well into February. I had over 100 birds at my feeders – they cleaned me out, but it was a great experience. Within the Common Redpoll flocks, I also spotted a couple of Hoary Redpolls.
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
The winter months bring tons of waterfowl to the finger lakes. This year was my first time seeing rafts of ducks swimming close together – this raft included great views at a life bird, the Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
In March, my friends and I did a winter big day where we found a flock of Red Crossbills at a residential feeder. My next lifer was seen on the very next day – a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Horned Larks.
Red Crossbills
Later in the month, after multiple attempts at finding Short-eared Owls both locally and further north, we finally had one fly over low as the sun was setting. I didn’t even lift my camera for it, because I did not want to lose this beautiful sight by playing with settings and focus.
My biggest highlight this month was not an actual bird – earlier in the season, I submitted a photo to Project Feederwatch that was recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on their Facebook page. An editor at National Wildlife Magazine saw this photo and asked me if she could use it in an article. The magazine arrived in my mail box on March 15th. I was published in a national magazine for the first time!
My photo in National Wildlife Magazine
April brought another really great life bird – the Bohemian Waxwing. A friend and I went up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to photograph birds. As soon as we parked the car, I received an email that the Waxwings were nearby. We packed back up and headed to the location. We ended up getting permission to go in private woods and were surrounded by these beautiful birds!
Bohemian Waxwings
May was highlighted by The Biggest Week in American Birding. Back in February, I volunteered to be on the events blogging team. I ended up getting a bit more involved than last year, met many new friends and walked away with a lot of great memories – and 12 life birds.
This Long-eared Owl was the most unexpected life bird at Magee Marsh
Cape May Warbler at Magee
Things slowed down in June and July. We did, however, get to see the return of a local family of Barred Owls. At about the same time, I also had a guest Great Horned Owl in my own woods. All of these birds proved to be great subjects and were fun to watch.
Young Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
In August, I added some more really good life birds – An American White Pelican who was out of range at Montezuma NWR and some Least Bitterns that I was able to self-identify in the field. A Black-billed Cuckoo also flew into my yard – this was a very unexpected visitor!
Black-billed Cuckoo
Then came September and our annual trip to Cape May. For me, this trip started last year and both visits were beyond my expectations. While the morning flight at Higbee was not as great as last year, we still went on a good day and saw many birds zip by.
Cedar Waxwings morning flight
I finally saw a Marsh Wren – a bird that I had previously only heard… many times… many many times.
Marsh Wren
We also found out where the Black Skimmer flock likes to hang out during the fall – a beach near the 2nd Avenue jetty. I was in Skimmer heaven!
Black Skimmers
Endless Black Skimmers
I moved to my new house in Pennsylvania – this was a big change for me. Leaving New York was difficult, but it had to be done. Before I left, however, I was given the opportunity to hold my favorite bird, the American Kestrel, for the first time thanks to my friends.
Me with an American Kestrel
Birding slowed down for me in October. I spent a lot of time settling into my new house and only went birding once with a new friend. Other than that, I watched as migrants passed through my yard. In November, this same friend also brought me to Barnegat on the coast of New Jersey – a first for me. The trip yielded five life birds including the Harlequin Duck – our target bird.
Harlequin Ducks
We stopped by Sandy Hook Gateway National Park to check in on some Snowy Owl sightings. Just as we were about to give up, a fisherman told us where to find the one of the birds on the north beach. The photo op was unbeatable. This was one of the earlier Owls from this years irruption.
Snowy Owl
Last week, my best Christmas present was in the form of votes – I won week 7 of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Contest. This was completely unexpected since I never asked anyone for votes – it just happened!
My winning House Finch photo
We visited Barnegat again in December with another friend to show her the Harlequins. Once again, the trip did not disappoint us. Not only were we rewarded with great views at Harlequins, we also had up-close looks at Northern Gannets and an unexpected visit from two Razorbills off shore.
Northern Gannet
I look forward to seeing new birds in new places for 2014. Every year keeps getting better as I add more places to visit. More trips to Cape May are already planned, the Biggest Week is already in discussion and we are even considering going to the Rio grande Birding Festival this year. Perhaps my post a year from now will be even better than this one!
Early this month I went to my second falconry field meet and met some pretty awesome birds (and people!). For this meet, I was able to photograph more birds around the headquarters. This will be a photo-heavy post with little words. The beauty of these birds will do the speaking…
I saw a couple of great Falcons:
3/4 Gyr + 1/4 Saker Falcon
Barbary Falcon
Peales Falcon, a subspecies of the Peregrine
And my first Goshawk! Too bad I couldn’t count her as a life bird.
Northern Goshawk
Someone had a Golden Eagle that I could get close to near the weathering yard – this bird is massive!
Golden Eagle
I watched multiple Red-tailed Hawks hunt…
Nikita, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk on the lookout
Meallan, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
Including my friend’s adult Red-tail that I also saw in the beginning of the year. She successfully caught one squirrel and we tried to get another.
Isis, protecting her kill
Isis, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk on her lure
Once again, I watched my friend’s Harris Hawk, Rogue, hunt. This time, she hunted with other Hawks that belonged to new friends.
Group hunting with Harris’s Hawks
My friend’s Harris’s Hawk
I also had the pleasure of seeing my favorite little raptor, the American Kestrel.
Hank, my friend’s American Kestrel in flight
Hank, my friend’s American Kestrel on his lure
Clover, my friend’s imprinted American Kestrel
Clover and Sid my friends’ American Kestrels, hunting together
To end this post, I’ll share some mug shots of three different Red-tailed Hawks that were in the weathering yard. It’s amazing how different they can look!
Red-tailed Hawk with transitioning eye color
A darker Red-tailed Hawk
This Red-tailed Hawk looks like it has puffy cheeks
Today, I took a better look at my yard bird list because I thought I hit the 100th milestone with a singing Wood Thrush. Well, it turns out that I did not hit it today – I hit it last month without realizing it! The Thrush ended up being number 103, making a Barn Swallow that I saw two days ago number 102 and an Eastern Screech-Owl that I heard number 101. Number 100 went to a good one and I wish I knew it at the time – I was outside talking to a friend about yard birds and I mentioned that I have been trying to see Bald Eagles migrate overhead so that I can get it as a yard bird. Ten minutes later, guess who came flying low over the creek while we were standing in my driveway? A Bald Eagle. I did not know it then, but that was yard bird number 100!
I will celebrate this huge milestone with a list of my yard birds and, of course, some photos taken from my yard.
I have some birds who stick around all throughout the year, my true residents and feeder birds
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
American Crow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
European Starling
Tufted Titmouse
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Some birds are here year-round but do not show up often, or show up more in one season than another
Eastern Bluebird
Brown Creeper
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-necked Pheasant
And Hawks who watch them or are seen flying over the house
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Some birds stay to breed and I see or hear them throughout the summer, but they migrate south in the winter
Gray Catbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Purple Finch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Phoebe
Chipping Sparrow
American Robin
Field Sparrow (heard only, seen in woods)
Veery (heard only, seen in woods)
Red-eyed Vireo
Turkey Vulture (flying)
Common Yellowthroat (heard only)
Cedar Waxwing
House Wren
Others stay to breed but I only see or hear them once in a while
Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Northern Flicker
Ruffed Grouse (heard only)
Ovenbird (heard only, seen in woods)
American Redstart
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Barn Swallow (flying)
Tree Swallow (flying)
Chimney Swift (flying)
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Yellow Warbler
These birds stay throughout the winter but breed further north
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Tree Sparrow
My yard gets a lot of migrating birds who come through in waves
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
And birds who come during migration and stay for a few days or even weeks
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Also birds who I’ve seen migrating over my house, both high and low
These birds are usually flying to or from the neighborhood creek
Mallard (flying, vocalizing)
Canada Goose (foraging across the street)
Green Heron (perched in a tree!)
Great Blue Heron (flying)
Killdeer (flying, vocalizing)
Belted Kingfisher (flying, vocalizing)
Common Merganser (flying, vocalizing)
I’ve only seen or heard these birds once, but hope they return soon
Bald Eagle (flying)
Northern Mockingbird
Osprey (flying)
Rock Pigeon (flying)
Eastern Screech-Owl (heard only)
Swainson’s Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Wood Thrush (heard only, seen in woods)
American Woodcock (heard only)
It is exciting to think about who will show up next or which birds I will see in my yard that I’ve only heard so far. Fall migration is when I get most of my new surprises but hopefully I do not have to wait that long for the next one.
