Today's Photo - Barred Owl...

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Wordless Wednesday - Birds of Costa Rica...

Resplendent Quetzal

Resplendent Quetzal

Resplendent Quetzal

Resplendent Quetzal

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Good Tern of Events...

Move along folks, nothing to see in the fog.

Heydi Lopes and I were in Delaware on May 27th, chasing a breeding plumage Sabine’s Gull (Xema sabini) that was hanging around the Dupont Nature Center near Misipillion Harbor, when we picked up a report that my friend Shai Mitra, the ternmiester himself had found and photographed four Arctic Terns(Sterna paradisaea) at Cupsogue LI.  I was not surprised, an Arctic Tern had been found the previous day at Sandy Hook NJ by Scott Barnes and I had a gut feeling that they would show up on LI.  After speaking with Shai and Tom Burke; Heydi and I discussed whether to try for Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) that had shown up at Sterling Forest or the Terns. We settled for the Terns since it was a life bird for Heydi.

The morning began really slowly at Cupsogue LI, with heavy fog engulfing the ocean thus, making sea watching impossible. Out on the flats it was worse although some birders actually decided on wandering out on the flats. After giving up on the sea watch, Tom Burke, Gail Benson, Heydi and I began to scan the flats from the boardwalk and Tom very quickly picked up 2 fly by Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus). Seeing that the fog had lifted slightly, I decided that it was time to explore the flats, so Heydi and I headed out. Before we could get onto the flats, I got a phone call from Tom indicating that he had received word that Michael McBrien who had ventured out onto the flats had found an adult Arctic Tern. This was excellent news!! We just had to get out there, so Heydi and I hurried, managing the tricky channels and made it onto the flats where we connected with the Arctic Tern (Thank you Michael!).

Can you find the Arctic Tern in this photo?

It was a life and state bird for Heydi who was happy despite being a little distracted at receiving reports of Brooklyn birds showing up that she needed for the year :) I was very pleased that we had gotten our target bird for the day and enjoyed studying the bird as it moved around with the Common Terns. We were then joined first by Tom Burke and Gail Benson and then later by Shai Mitra and Patricia Lindsay. As if on cue, Shai upon arriving picked out a second adult Arctic Tern, which departed all too quickly for the ocean. However, the first Arctic Tern stuck around and we all got excellent looks and some of us managed photos. In addition to the Arctic Tern, we had really close up looks at Roseate Terns, a single Forster's Tern and a variety of shorebirds.

Shai and I did the ritual of staying with the rising tide until the last possible moment (Heydi being a good sport stayed with us) hoping to add to our already good list of birds, but we were unable to top our already excellent sightings. We eventually made it back to the boardwalk where we joined the others and imbibed in a few celebratory drinks. Some of us stayed around for an afternoon sea watch, which was not too productive save for a couple of Sooty Shearwaters.  We all soon parted ways trying to beat the holiday weekend traffic; Heydi and I continued birding out on the Island of Long, adding several good birds to an already impressive day list and wrapping up a good weekend of birding!  Here are some additional photos of the adult Arctic Tern we enjoyed at Cupsogue LI.

Common Tern in flight with Arctic Tern

Nice close comparison of a Common and Arctic Tern in flight.

Tags: Arctic Tern, Cupsogue Long Island

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Van Cortlandt Park Birdathon - and the winners are....

Us...we did it!!! Our team retained our title from last year as this year's winners of the Van Cortlandt Park Birdathon. This year we tallied 63 species beating last year's number of 56. The day (May 19th), started with Frank Donovan and I working a few spots as early as 6:00 a.m. we quickly picked up a number of species and by the time we met up with Hilary Russ, we were well into the twenties. At 8:00 a.m. we picked up the rest of the folks who would participate with us and birded the Parade Grounds, Vault Hill, and then the North West Woods.

 It was obvious that many of the birds we had from the previous week were not around and it appeared that there were little to no new arrivals; however, with some hard work we slowly but surely added to our list. Black-crowned night Heron, Broad-winged Hawk and Purple Martin were species we picked up that I felt other teams would be hard pressed to find. We looked hard for a Solitary Sandpiper that I found the previous week but could not find it (I learned later that someone else had seen it); instead we picked up several Least Sandpipers, which were new for the year.

We took a break for lunch, something we did not do last year and then birded the Putnam Trail, where we tried to add Titmouse; we did not find any and I considered this a bad miss. We pondered about going into the North East Woods, but decided against it because we had already birded 10 + hours and folks were starting to lag. In the end 63 species was good enough! Huge thanks and congratulations to the team consisting of Frank Donovan, Hilary Russ, Abby Turner, Joan Klavan, Tamara Loomis, Ann Murray, Gerry McGee and his wife and Ryan Davis. 

If you wish to support our effort in the Birdathon, you could still make a pledge. Remember, it is all for a good cause as the money goes into the conservation work and birding programs at Van Cortlandt Park. Click here to view and download the pledge form or you could click here to donate online. A complete list of birds from our walk is provided below.

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)
Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Purple Martin (Progne subis)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

Tags: Van Cortlandt Park Birdathon, Bronx NY

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Today's Photos - Eastern Willet...

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Wordless Wednesday - Birds of Costa Rica...

American Dipper

American Dipper

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Ruff or Reeve...I'll take it...

When word of an apparent Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), was still being reported in Connecticut, it did not take much convincing to get my juices going for a chase especially when it would be a lifer shorebird.  That is exactly what we did when Heydi Lopes and I successfully chased down the target bird on May 18th, in Connecticut at Hammonasset Beach State Park CT.  It was touch and go on the way as we were not picking up any reports of the bird being seen that day while on route, but we erased any negative thoughts and hoped for the best.

When we arrived, the lack of birders in the area gave us a sinking feeling that maybe the bird was not around, but we focused on searching the area.  I chased down a couple who I spotted with binoculars only to learn that they were not even aware that a rarity was in the area.  Not, what we wanted to hear, but I urged them to join us to look for the bird!  We continued exploring the area and were looking at a strange looking Tri-colored Heron (more on this later), when I noticed another couple with a spotting scope looking at another pond (later determined to be Boulder Pond).  They had a field guide out and I began to get excited.  Field Guide could only mean one thing; they had a bird that they needed to verify the ID.   

Ruff/Reeve a lifer!!

Ruff/Reeve...perhaps was my thought.  I shouted out to Heydi, that I was heading over to the couple and hurried over to where they were standing.  Asking if they had the Reeve/Ruff, I was greeted with, "ah…not sure…we think so" followed by an offer to look in their scope.  I took one look and a huge grin engulfed my face.  Ruffreevelieved I was!!!  I had a lifer.  Turing around to Heydi and the other couple, I yelled out that it was here.  We quickly setup our own scopes and got great looks at the Ruff/Reeve.  Heydi and I hung out all afternoon at the location birding the area, helping others to get on the bird and totally enjoying our lifer Ruff/Reeve.  Shout out to Toby and Dottie (hopefully I spelled their names correctly), thank you for your kind words and for sharing a good bird with us.

Readers might be wondering why when describing this bird, I choose to use Ruff/Reeve.  Even though the size seems to point to a female (Reeve), I have no experience with this species and so I cannot confidently say this is a male or female.  Well, how about the plumage of the males you may wonder...isn't it different than females?  Yes and no.  At this time of the year "typical" males known as Ruffs would be easy to identify with their extensive neck plumes which goes on full display when courting or lekking.  But wait, I just used "typical", so what does that mean? 

Ruffs, the males, have a lekmating system with three males types, the colourful independent males, the white satellite males and the faeders, who so closely resemble females that they are indistinguishable in the field (Hogan-Warburg 1966; van Rhijn 1991; Jukema & Piersma 2006).  This bird could very well fall into the faeder category; hence, my position.   If you want to learn more about this fascinating species, then take a look at this  link and also google for more information.  It is pretty cool stuff!

Nice size comparison: Far left - Ruff/Reeve, center - Greater Yellow-legs, right - Eastern Willet.

Ruff/Reeve in flight.

Tags: Ruff, Hammonasset Beach State Park CT, Reeve

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