I flew over Colorado Monday, June 25th, and could see scattered patches of snow still on the ridges of the Rockies through the smoke. The sky as far as I could see looked like someone had brushed it with dirty water colors. A layer of smoke was in the stratosphere all the way to Missouri. The news this Friday is that the fires have eased somewhat. A tragedy.
Meanwhile, John was in the Dakotas seeing Chestnut-Collared Longspur and Dickcissal, Lark Bunting and Vesper Sparrow. Then he drove down through eastern Colorado mostly seeing pronghorns and burrowing owls. Wednesday night he stayed in Grants, New Mexico. A few years ago, we discovered a closed campground just north and east of Grants that had a wonderful variety of mountain birds. This year it was open but not as many birds to see, so Thursday morning, John drove up higher to a fire lookout and saw Red Crossbills, Clark's Nutcracker and got his first good picture of a Harris's Hawk.
Thursday afternoon, John went into Aravaipa Canyon. One of the joys for him in his big year, has been visiting wonderful natural areas. A plethora of peccaries crossed the road, including really young ones.
The saguaros were covered with fruit and birds, Lucy's Warblers, Hooded Orioles, Phainopeplas, Gilded Flickers, Gila and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers. Purple Martins were nesting in some of the woodpecker holes. The reported Black Hawk would have been a life bird for John, if he had seen it. Drat! Of course, as we were driving on I 10 a few years ago, two immatures cartwheeled by the car and I saw them but John didn't.
John estimates that his big year total is around 550, not many new birds in all his wanderings. Today, June 29th, he goes into California Gulch with Melody Kehl.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Awash in nature
Yesterday, June 24th, John left Duluth for our old stomping grounds, Sax-Zim. He took the long gravel roads into the area. Didn't see, maybe, or hear, maybe, anything new, then it started to rain so he closed up shop. Paved roads seemed to make more sense to return to Duluth. Every paved road he went on either was closed due to flooding or closed due to 'water on the road'. The water wasn't very deep so he chanced it a few times, took some questionable detours and managed to get to Floodwood, aptly named. There were some MDOT repair crews there who assured him he could drive past one more barrier, carefully, and get back on a major road to Duluth.
Today, John went back on the gravel roads into Sax-Zim and stopped to do some recording. In his earphones he heard, galumph, galumph, galumph, turned around and saw a black bear running away down the road. The footprint dwarfed a quarter set for scale. John had been recording the winnowing of snipe and interesting bird songs, bonus bear galumph. Now, besides pictures to process, he will have hours of recordings to puzzle through.
John managed to head west without major road outages and stopped by my sister's place near Ponsford Minnesota. At the wilderness headquarters nearby, he saw a female Hooded Merganser with chicks, a male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and an Upland Plover. It is nice to see birds on their breeding grounds even if you saw them in migration. At least the HOME was new.
Will he see any target birds in the Dakotas? Will the Colorado fires abate? And just what is John's year-to-date species total?
Today, John went back on the gravel roads into Sax-Zim and stopped to do some recording. In his earphones he heard, galumph, galumph, galumph, turned around and saw a black bear running away down the road. The footprint dwarfed a quarter set for scale. John had been recording the winnowing of snipe and interesting bird songs, bonus bear galumph. Now, besides pictures to process, he will have hours of recordings to puzzle through.
John managed to head west without major road outages and stopped by my sister's place near Ponsford Minnesota. At the wilderness headquarters nearby, he saw a female Hooded Merganser with chicks, a male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and an Upland Plover. It is nice to see birds on their breeding grounds even if you saw them in migration. At least the HOME was new.
Will he see any target birds in the Dakotas? Will the Colorado fires abate? And just what is John's year-to-date species total?
Saturday, June 23, 2012
tick, tick, tickity tick
John spent the last two days in Wisconsin. Thursday night, June 21st, he counted 9 ticks. Friday night, June 22nd, he had counted 24 by the time I had called him. He always tucks his pants into his socks so he hasn't gotten bitten....yet. Many others are probably crawling around inside the rental car. EWWW! Here I sit, tickless, in Southern California, while John struggles to find birds on his own.
Thursday, notable were pics of Chestnut-Sided Warbler and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. He definitely heard a Connecticut Warbler too. He also discovered that when he uses my IPhone to review bird songs and returns it to his pocket, sometimes the program spontaneously plays a fragment of a song, fooling him into thinking he has heard the bird. But he can tell. The song is too perfect, not repeated, and not complete. Brief, false hope.
The other tool John uses a lot is Birdseye. The phone app mines EBird and maps the sightings of a target bird near to John's location. Doesn't mean he will see it, but gets him closer. Thanks, everyone who contributes to EBird.
Friday, he saw about 24 Trumpeter Swans, another conservation success story. He is staying overnight in Duluth, then, Saturday, he will head to Sax-Zim, where we attended a festival in February.
On his own, John has spent two days in Wisconsin, and will spend two days each in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Colorado. He will join Melody Kehl in Arizona for a trip into California Gulch June 29th, spend a few more days there and head home to Southern California. We will have been apart two months.
Thursday, notable were pics of Chestnut-Sided Warbler and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. He definitely heard a Connecticut Warbler too. He also discovered that when he uses my IPhone to review bird songs and returns it to his pocket, sometimes the program spontaneously plays a fragment of a song, fooling him into thinking he has heard the bird. But he can tell. The song is too perfect, not repeated, and not complete. Brief, false hope.
The other tool John uses a lot is Birdseye. The phone app mines EBird and maps the sightings of a target bird near to John's location. Doesn't mean he will see it, but gets him closer. Thanks, everyone who contributes to EBird.
Friday, he saw about 24 Trumpeter Swans, another conservation success story. He is staying overnight in Duluth, then, Saturday, he will head to Sax-Zim, where we attended a festival in February.
On his own, John has spent two days in Wisconsin, and will spend two days each in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Colorado. He will join Melody Kehl in Arizona for a trip into California Gulch June 29th, spend a few more days there and head home to Southern California. We will have been apart two months.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Oops!
John called from the Grayling Ramada in Michigan. There wasn't a reservation for him. Turns out I made it for May not June. Wasn't the first mistake I have made like that. Once, we showed up in Yellowstone and my reservation was for the next year! Maybe he will fire me as travel agent! I can only hope.
The hotel did have a vacancy. John did get to go out with the ranger June 18th. They did see and hear Kirtland's Warblers. KIWA is a conservation success story. There were about 2000 singing males counted last year. KIWA territories have expanded into Wisconsin and Ontario. They are picky birds. Large areas of forest have to be clear cut and replanted with pine. The birds will move in when the trees are about 5 feet tall and move out when the trees reach 20 feet tall. John realized that the ranger chose a tract of short trees to visit so that the warblers would be easier to see. Still, the birds mostly moved around inside the trees, rarely singing out in clear view. When the thunder and lightning kicked in, the birders quit.
John continues to find cool places to bird. Later that same day, he visited Otis Bird Sanctuary. It has a cabin on site for rent with a canoe-able stream running by. Maybe, after this year is over, we can revisit some of the cooler birding places he has found, TOGETHER.
The hotel did have a vacancy. John did get to go out with the ranger June 18th. They did see and hear Kirtland's Warblers. KIWA is a conservation success story. There were about 2000 singing males counted last year. KIWA territories have expanded into Wisconsin and Ontario. They are picky birds. Large areas of forest have to be clear cut and replanted with pine. The birds will move in when the trees are about 5 feet tall and move out when the trees reach 20 feet tall. John realized that the ranger chose a tract of short trees to visit so that the warblers would be easier to see. Still, the birds mostly moved around inside the trees, rarely singing out in clear view. When the thunder and lightning kicked in, the birders quit.
John continues to find cool places to bird. Later that same day, he visited Otis Bird Sanctuary. It has a cabin on site for rent with a canoe-able stream running by. Maybe, after this year is over, we can revisit some of the cooler birding places he has found, TOGETHER.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
New England Friendly Encounters
When we visited Machias Seal Island 40 years ago, we camped near Cutler, Maine. I remembered the bay that totally emptied of water at every low tide. John remembered the fireflies. He had never seen them before. Across from the campground there is now a wildlife refuge. The bird list had at least 12 birds John needed that were supposedly easy see there. He heard an Alder Flycatcher. If I hadn't gotten earphones and recording equipment for him, he wouldn't have gotten that.
Off to New Hampshire, for the Bicknell's Thrush. By the time John got to the road up Mt Washington Friday afternoon, June 15th, it was closed in preparation for a race Saturday morning. He would not have access until Saturday afternoon. Saturday evening he had to return to Portland, Maine. Another pothole in the road to his big year.
Then the birding gods smiled down on John. He met Jim and Margaret Vernon on Cap's Ridge Trail to Mt Jefferson. They helped him get the Mourning Warbler, Winter Wren, Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher and the BICKNELL'S THRUSH. Thank you so much, Jim and Margaret.
Now John had time to drive back to Maine and Scarborough Marsh Saturday. He stopped at the visitor cente, and, manning the desk, was Doug Hitchcox, who was with John on Attu. Doug would be free after 4:30 to help John with those little brown jobbies he had missed on his previous visit to the marsh. They found both the Nelson's and the Salt Marsh Sparrows! Thank you so much, Doug.
John has a lot more success when he gets help from fellow birders. Birding is a team sport. His big year total will be due to many such friendly encounters.
Off to New Hampshire, for the Bicknell's Thrush. By the time John got to the road up Mt Washington Friday afternoon, June 15th, it was closed in preparation for a race Saturday morning. He would not have access until Saturday afternoon. Saturday evening he had to return to Portland, Maine. Another pothole in the road to his big year.
Then the birding gods smiled down on John. He met Jim and Margaret Vernon on Cap's Ridge Trail to Mt Jefferson. They helped him get the Mourning Warbler, Winter Wren, Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher and the BICKNELL'S THRUSH. Thank you so much, Jim and Margaret.
Now John had time to drive back to Maine and Scarborough Marsh Saturday. He stopped at the visitor cente, and, manning the desk, was Doug Hitchcox, who was with John on Attu. Doug would be free after 4:30 to help John with those little brown jobbies he had missed on his previous visit to the marsh. They found both the Nelson's and the Salt Marsh Sparrows! Thank you so much, Doug.
John has a lot more success when he gets help from fellow birders. Birding is a team sport. His big year total will be due to many such friendly encounters.
Machias Seal Island 40 years later
In 1972, John and I decided to go to the total solar eclipse on the Gaspe Peninsula in Canada. (We were clouded out!) We flew into Boston and rented a car. We were already pretty intense birders, visiting SE Arizona twice. While there, we kept running into the same small groups of birders. There weren't as many of us back then.
John had heard about Machias Seal Island so we decided to visit it while we were in the area. We got to Cutler, Maine, found the captain's house and asked if we could go with him to the island. The next day was the Fourth of July, but he took pity on us, and we had bought the book about him and the seal island. So the next AM, early, we boarded his little mail boat and headed for the island. What a magical day. The Canadian lighthouse keeper led us to the photo blind through hundreds of nesting birds. We had to wear hard hats to avoid diving tern beaks. Once our guide left, the birds relaxed, not realizing that we were still in the blind. Somewhere on the island, there was a team of videographers making a film on remote islands. Otherwise, we were alone. We got lots of cool pictures, donned our hard hats again and made our way back to the boat. Sated with puffins.
Almost 40 years later, June 14th, 2012 John sailed to the island with Bold Coast Charters from Cutler, Maine, in a much bigger boat. The island light house is still maintained by Canadians and the bird population is monitored by them. There are more blinds than before, lots of Atlantic Puffins like before, but you don't have to wear hats to avoid being dive bombed by Arctic Terns. Their breeding population collapsed several years ago and they have not successfully bred since. University students do research on the island during the summer. The boat lands all the passengers a few times a week, other days, it just sails around the island. I booked John on a day when they could land. So there were a lot more humans on the island this time. Boardwalks have been constructed that you must keep walking on, only stopping where there are benches or blinds. The lighthouse keeper still guides you around and you still get great pictures. John had another magical day 40 years later.
John had heard about Machias Seal Island so we decided to visit it while we were in the area. We got to Cutler, Maine, found the captain's house and asked if we could go with him to the island. The next day was the Fourth of July, but he took pity on us, and we had bought the book about him and the seal island. So the next AM, early, we boarded his little mail boat and headed for the island. What a magical day. The Canadian lighthouse keeper led us to the photo blind through hundreds of nesting birds. We had to wear hard hats to avoid diving tern beaks. Once our guide left, the birds relaxed, not realizing that we were still in the blind. Somewhere on the island, there was a team of videographers making a film on remote islands. Otherwise, we were alone. We got lots of cool pictures, donned our hard hats again and made our way back to the boat. Sated with puffins.
Almost 40 years later, June 14th, 2012 John sailed to the island with Bold Coast Charters from Cutler, Maine, in a much bigger boat. The island light house is still maintained by Canadians and the bird population is monitored by them. There are more blinds than before, lots of Atlantic Puffins like before, but you don't have to wear hats to avoid being dive bombed by Arctic Terns. Their breeding population collapsed several years ago and they have not successfully bred since. University students do research on the island during the summer. The boat lands all the passengers a few times a week, other days, it just sails around the island. I booked John on a day when they could land. So there were a lot more humans on the island this time. Boardwalks have been constructed that you must keep walking on, only stopping where there are benches or blinds. The lighthouse keeper still guides you around and you still get great pictures. John had another magical day 40 years later.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Bounding on the Maine
As John flew into Portland Maine early June 12th, he could see Scarborough Marsh below. He spent the morning there looking for little brown jobbies, specifically the Nelson's and Saltmarsh Sharptail Sparrows. Others saw them but not John, sigh. On to New Harbor, where two young men were sorting lobsters, 60-70 lobsters or about 90 lbs of lobsters per box. John estimated the men filled about 10 boxes and locked them under the dock with several other boxes. That's a lot of lobsters.
John was in New Harbor to go on a Hardy Boat Cruise at 5:30 PM out to Eastern Egg Island. On that little rock, thousands of birds nest, a couple hundred are Roseate Terns. John was very happy to get good looks and a few pictures of them.
He stayed overnight in Augusta planning to look for brown jobbies again at marshes on his way up to Machias. The little brown jobbies were again saved from him, this time by rain. As most birders know, little brown jobbies can be difficult.
John had time that evening in Machias to look over his lists. He reckons he has 51 new life ABA birds, only 20 that he has seen in other countries, so that is 31 totally new life birds. Not bad. As for his big year, he is up to 534.
John was in New Harbor to go on a Hardy Boat Cruise at 5:30 PM out to Eastern Egg Island. On that little rock, thousands of birds nest, a couple hundred are Roseate Terns. John was very happy to get good looks and a few pictures of them.
He stayed overnight in Augusta planning to look for brown jobbies again at marshes on his way up to Machias. The little brown jobbies were again saved from him, this time by rain. As most birders know, little brown jobbies can be difficult.
John had time that evening in Machias to look over his lists. He reckons he has 51 new life ABA birds, only 20 that he has seen in other countries, so that is 31 totally new life birds. Not bad. As for his big year, he is up to 534.
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