Delaware, March 6

I stayed mid-state for the morning due to concerns with the coastal winter storm.  First stop, Bombay Hook NWR for potential new birds Barred Owl, over-wintering Black-necked Stilt and American Pipit.  Unfortunately, conditions for birding were horrible with high wind and driving rain.  I saw the usual waterfowl, American Coot (100), Northern Shoveler (300), Northern Pintail (20), Gadwall (40), Green-winged Teal (50), Mallard (40), Black Duck (30), Tundra Swans (20), Canada Geese (50), Ruddy Duck (10), Hooded Merganser (6) and two Common Merganser (male plus female).  Waterfowl were hunkered down to stay out of the wind.  I probably missed seeing many.  There were large numbers of Dunlin in Raymond Pool in widely scattered flocks.  I did not find the pipits where they had been reported, because the high wind kept bird activity low and vastly decreased the possibility of hearing bird calls, which is important for finding pipits.  Outside the refuge along Route 9 near the turn on to Whitehall to get to the refuge, there were very large flocks, estimated to be several thousand, of Snow Geese.  I found at least one Ross's Goose, but could not get a photo.  The birds move away from the road when a vehicle stops.  I drove down to Little Creek Wildlife Area, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of Clapper Rail along the road out to the bay.  I was able to drive almost to the bay until water over the road caused me to turn around and found no rail.  In the early afternoon, I drove down to the Rehoboth Beach area and discovered that Route 1 to Indian River Inlet was closed.  Later, I heard on the radio that water had washed across Route 1 at the approach to the bridge, causing the shut-down.  The wind was really fierce.  I drove to Cape Henlopen State Park and drove out to Herring Point to look at the ocean.  The wind was less fierce at first due to the trees as I drove to Herring Point.  I was able to get out of the car briefly to look at the ocean, just in case there might be storm driven birds visible.  However, conditions were impossible.  I left the area and drove back to Dover where conditions had improved vastly in comparison to the morning.  I drove to Bombay Hook NWR again to try for Barred Owl at Finis Pool but found only a fly-by non-adult Bald Eagle.  I stopped at the visitor center intending to wait until dusk for the Barn Owls to come out and the woodcock display.  However, the wind was still too strong.  I headed back to Dover to spend the night and monitor the storm.    The Bay Bridge to Annapolis was also closed down, which eliminated driving back home to Cincinnati by that convenient route, if I decided to cancel the rest of this eastern trip.  No new birds to report.     

South Delaware, March 5

I returned to Indian River Inlet this morning for a only several hours, starting at the north side.  I stopped to look for the Eared Grebe but did not find it.  Right next to the inlet by the Coast Guard Marina, I found Boat-tailed Grackles.  Apparently, these birds were somewhere else yesterday due to the high wind.  I watched a male down by the water's edge.  It was feeding on the mollusks attached to the rocks.  It opened the shells and pulled out the animal and swallowed it.  I had never seen Boat-tailed Grackles do this before.  See picture below.   There were several very close Brandt in good light.  I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.  See picture below.  I returned to the South Inlet to scan for Razorbill, but had no success.  There were 75 Long-tailed Ducks and the drake Surf Scoter still there.  Purple Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones and Sanderlings were still feeding on the rocks of the south jetty.  I haven't found the previously reported White-winged Scoters.  Inlet birding was slow.  I left and  headed north to Cape Henlopen State Park to check the feeders at the Nature Center for Brown-headed Nuthatch.  Within a few minutes of watching the feeder, a Brown-headed Nuthatch obliged.  See picture.  There was competition for the nuthatch preferred spot on the feeder with a Red-breasted Nuthatch.  See second picture with the Red-breasted Nuthatch in flight.  Next stop was the fishing pier.  There were eight Surf Scoters (four breeding plumage males) out toward the point.  

Encouraged by the number of Surf Scoters, I drove out to the point, but could not drive the whole way due to construction work.   I walked, but without a telescope, out to the beach on the beach access road just beyond the air pumps.   As I approached the beach, I saw a close group of scoters with their heads tucked, later determined to be mostly male Black Scoters with one female/immature.  A fast running boat came out from the west and turned south.  Suddenly, the air was filled with flocks of scoters and continuing, as the boat moved south, to put scoter flocks into flight.  I estimated 5,000 to 10,000 birds.  The closer birds were mostly male Black Scoters with lesser numbers of male Surf Scoters.   Apparently, this location is a major staging area for the spring scoter migration.  Most of the scoters were too far for identification through binoculars.  I needed my telescope, because there could be White-winged Scoters mixed in.  I walked quickly back to my car and returned with my telescope. After ten minutes of scanning, I got good enough looks at flying White-winged Scoters mixed in with the other scoters.  The white speculum on the wing is more visible in flight.  There were not many White-winged Scoters, but I got to see about six White-winged Scoters well.  A quick accounting indicated that the best use of the rest of the day was to head north and visit several places where Eurasian Wigeon had been reported in Delaware.  I returned to Prime Hook Beach Road where two Eurasian Wigeon had been reported in January and early February.  I did not find the Eurasian Wigeon.  In fact, there were very few American Wigeon visible.  However, there were more shorebirds than yesterday.  I found two Lesser Yellowlegs, a new bird for the year, mixed in with about 25 Greater Yellowlegs.  The American Avocets increased from three yesterday to twelve today.  There were large numbers of Dunlin, approximately 500 to 800 birds, mostly on the very eastern edge of the marsh close to the village of Prime Hook Beach.  Another spot, the next one north, for Eurasian Wigeon is the marsh south of Big Stone Beach Road at the end by the bay.  A single male Eurasian Wigeon was reported there within the past week or so by Chris Bennett of Delaware.  I arrived at the end of Big Stone Beach Road at about 4:30 pm.  There were a large number of American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler and Green-winged Teal to scan through.  I found male Eurasian Wigeon on the third or fourth scan of all the birds I could see from the road.  I got a very distant and heavily cropped photo of this Eurasian Wigeon showing the reddish, chestnut colored head and gray sides.  See photo.  The bird is along the shore behind the Northern Shovelers.  As I was packing my scope and tripod at 5:17 pm, a flock of Tree Swallows, another new bird for the year, flew south over the houses of Big Stone Beach.   I added six new birds for today.  The total is now 162.
                                                                                  

 

Indian River Inlet, March 4

I did not arrive at dawn.  Early in the morning, I would have been looking into the sun in the east, so arriving later was better for viewing the inlet and ocean.  I stopped at the north entrance to the inlet to look for the Eared Grebe.  The light was good with back-lighting, the sun to the east.  However, the wind from the west was still strong, and the long distance viewing required through a telescope was difficult.  It was difficult to keep the scope steady.  I heard the call note of a Savannah Sparrow nearby and a little later saw one at the parking area along the north side of the inlet west of the new bridge.   WOW!  That's a cool bridge in comparison to the old one that I remember from the past.  I spent the rest of the morning doing an ocean and inlet watch for Razorbill that has been reported here within the past week.  The Long-tailed Ducks (I estimated a total of 50.) were fun to watch and listen to their call/song.  In addition to four Black Scoters (3 female/immature plus on drake), there was a Surf Scoter, a nice drake in breeding plumage, of which  I managed only a very distant photo.

The Great Cormorants put on a great show.  (Pun intended!)  There were at least six, five on the tower on the south jetty and one sitting on the jetty.  Later in the day, I found one sitting in the inlet at close range and got a photo of the Great Cormorant taking flight, and showing at close range all of the field marks and the blue or turquoise eye color!  At noon, a Northern Gannet circled over the inlet and then disappeared back out to sea.  It was not an adult bird, because the upper surface of the wings were all dark.  After the gannet left, I left the inlet and drove to Ocean City, Maryland, to try the inlet there.  There were fewer birds at Ocean City Inlet than at Indian River Inlet, which probably explains why there have been few reports from Ocean City Inlet recently.  Because the tide was going out, I drove
a short distance west on Route 50 to check out the flats for oystercatchers, which can sometimes be seen in the winter at this spot.  However, there were only Herring and Ring-billed Gulls and a few Sanderlings.  I headed back north to Indian River Inlet to extend my ocean watch.   Here are the pictures of the Great Cormorants.

I could not find a Razorbill.  I left Indian River Inlet at about 3:30 pm and headed north toward Prime Hook Road to look for Ross's Goose in the flocks of Snow Geese.  Also, Eurasian Wigeon had been reported there, but not within the past week.  There were large flocks of Snow Geese in fields along Prime Hook Road before reaching the water on both sides.  However, I could not find a Ross's Goose.   When I first reached the water on both sides of the road, I found three American Avocets, a new bird for the year.  See photo below.  I scanned the waterfowl, and found American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler,  Black Duck and Mallard.  With the drakes in breeding plumage, the views were gorgeous.  I drove to the end of the road to Prime Hook Beach at the bay and turned around to scan for Ross's Goose again.  At a turn-out with a sign for Prime Hook Refuge, I scanned the Snow Geese.  The scattered flocks had

joined together near the road.  I found a Ross's Goose, by looking for smaller birds in the tight flock of geese as they fed.  The Ross's Goose had all the classic field marks, more rounded head with eye more centrally located on the face, short stubby triangular bill with a straight posterior interface of bill with the face and with a grayish color at the base.  It was too dark to get a photo, and it was hard to find the Ross's Goose in my camera. 

Savannah Sparrow, Surf Scoter, Northern Gannet, American Avocet and Ross's Goose makes the total 156.  (Note:  I updated the total after yesterday by one.)    

Successful First Day East, March 3

After staying the night off the PA Turnpike near Carlisle, PA, I headed south toward Baltimore, MD to Hunt Valley Town Center mall in search of Black-headed Gull, the first overwintering rarity targeted on this trip, that has been overwintering there with a flock of Ring-billed Gulls.  In the 70's, Black-headed Gull, a European bird, was more rare, but the breeding population in upper northeastern parts of Canada have expanded since then.  It is still and much sought after bird, but is reported more frequently in the east now during the fall migration and the winter.  I picked up two 5 oz. bags of popcorn, an all natural ingredient brand, unsalted, to activate the flock of Ring-billed Gulls.  The activated feeding of the Ring-billed Gulls has been reported on the Maryland Birding News list serve for bird reports to bring in the Black-headed Gull.  When I arrived at 10:00 am, the flock of Ring-billed Gulls was sitting in the parking lot near the closed Best Buy store.  When I pulled up to scan the birds, the flock flew over toward my car in anticipation of being fed.  So, I obliged the gulls and fed them popcorn, like chumming for birds on a pelagic birding trip, but now on land.  The Black-headed Gull came in quickly, but I am not sure from what direction.  The flock of gulls got up and flew around after which the Black-headed Gull appeared.  I got some very close photographs by zooming out to 70 or 100 mm on my zoom lens (70-200 mm with a 2X extender), because the bird was almost underfoot.  This is the closest that I have ever been to a Black-headed Gull.  The photos show the red bill with dark tip, the reddish gray feet and legs, and I managed one photo showing the black underside of the primaries with the wings up, even though the bird was too close to see the complete wing.

At about 11:00 am, I headed to the nearby Lock Raven Reservoir to look for a Eurasian Wigeon that has been reported there during the winter at Peerce's Cove.  However, I found only three American Wigeon with a mixed flock of Gadwall, Bufflehead, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, a few scaup and two mergansers that were either Red-breasted or Common Mergansers at which I got a very poor look.  I did not find the Eurasian Wigeon. 


At about 1:00 pm, I headed to Kent Narrows on the east side of the Bay Bridge east of Annapolis to search for the Tufted Duck.  Tufted Duck is a also a European bird that has expanded into Iceland and Greenland and appears in the east during fall migration and winter.  This female Tufted Duck has been overwintering at Kent Narrows with the other diving ducks.  I first looked under the Route 18 bridge from the east and west sides and then under the Kent Narrows bridge.  There were about 500 scaup, mostly Greater Scaup with a few Lesser Scaup mixed in, and about four Long-tailed Ducks.  The most recent report on February 20 of the female Tufted Duck was under the dock at Red Eyes, so I needed to locate that.  As I was scanning east from under the Kent Narrows Bridge from the viewing platform, on the other side I noticed Red Eyes Dock Bar and a few Buffleheads with a likely candidate for the female Tufted Duck, a very dark duck that was larger than the female and male Buffleheads.  I headed to Red Eyes Dock Bar and walked out to the edge of the water.  A small mixed group of Bufflehead and scaup swam out from either close to or under the dock, and included the female Tufted Duck.  The photos show the smaller size than scaup and slightly larger than the female Bufflehead, the small tuft (female's is smaller than the male's), the white before the dark tip to the bill, the lack of white on the face like a female scaup and the overall dark brown color of the sides and back.  The second photo shows the size comparison with scaup and Bufflehead.

I left Kent Narrows at 3:00 to 3:15 pm and headed to Delaware.  My goal was Indian River Inlet for Great Cormorant, Snow Bunting and maybe Surf and White-winged Scoter as well as Eared Grebe and maybe Razorbill.  I arrived before sunset and found Great Cormorant flying west through the inlet seen from the north side of the inlet.  I drove to the south side of the inlet and found the over wintering flock of Snow Buntings.  See picture below.  I also found a flock of Dunlin and two Greater Yellowlegs in the exposed mud flats in the marsh.   At sunset, I headed to Rehobeth to stay the night.  I added three of the winter specialty birds, Black-headed Gull, Tufted Duck and Great Cormorant as well

as Snow Bunting, Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs. 

The total is now 151.   Shortly, I will make the total list available for viewing.  Gotta go.....birding!

This Time Success, March 2

On my way to the east coast, as noted yesterday, I stopped on the way in Columbus to look for the Eastern Screech Owl at Alum Creek South Park.  It was only a 15 minute drive out of my way.  At first I had no success, focusing on the eastern end of the upper beam of the bridge where I saw whitewash on my first visit and again this time.  I could not find the owl.  I walked the bridge west and found a large blotch of fresh whitewash undisturbed by the snow showers on the path.  I looked up and there was the owl or rather the underside of the tail and wings of what appeared to be an Eastern Screech Owl. The owl was hiding behind one of the metal plates in the upper beam of the bridge.  The wing coverts and primaries were a rusty reddish brown like the color of a red phase Eastern Screech Owl.  It was cloudy with snow showers so the light was not very good for photos.  However, the clouds started to break up and the sun showed briefly.  I walked west of the bird and looked back.  I could make out the shape and size as well as the flattened top of the head as well as the tufts on its head.  Without a doubt, it was the Eastern Screech Owl that has been roosting here for at least two winters, maybe more.  See zoomed, cropped photos below in which the lighting was adjusted.

 I left the owl to its daytime slumbers and continued easts on I70.  Because I was successful with the Eastern Screech Owl, I stopped at The Wilds east of Zanesville hoping for a late day sighting of Golden Eagle which over-winters at this location.  The snow showers were much heavier vastly reducing visibility.  I was able to find only two Northern Harriers, one a "grey ghost" male, a very distant Rough-legged Hawk and only one Red-tailed Hawk.  I met Jim McCormac briefly there.  I had not seen Jim for at least two or three years.  Jim was the Secretary of the Ohio Bird Records Committee when I served a term several years ago.  I left The Wilds without a Golden Eagle for my list, which is now 145.  

A Futile Chase, February 27

This week I had to plan for a Spring trip to Alaska.  I have spent time communicating by e-mail with John Puschock about potential pelagic trips from Adak and also a trip to Attu leaving from Adak.  In addition, I must get set for a trip to British Columbia very soon to try for the Red-flanked Bluetail, Brambling and Citrine Wagtail.  In order to go there, I need to renew my passport and started looking into what is required to do so.  I also communicated extensively with John about strategy for finding these birds and the amount of time needed.  I took a break in the afternoon today, Wednesday, February 27 to try for some birds I still need that are nearby.  I went to Deer Creek Reservoir and area to look for  Eurasian Wigeon reported recently by Bob Royse.  I did not succeed on the Eurasian Wigeon, but neither did Dan Sanders and Doreene Linzell, who were also looking for the bird.  I left them and headed to Columbus to try for the roosting Eastern Screech Owl near Alum Creek South Park in the upper beam of a converted railroad bridge used now for a foot and bike path bridge.  Unfortunately, I got held up in traffic due to an accident and the light was fading fast when I arrived. It was too dark to see into the beam from below when I arrived, so I decided to stay to try to see it against the lighted sky.  I stayed until between 7:00 and 7:30 pm, but never saw or heard a screech owl, even though  the bird was reported at this location last month.  It probably is still there.   So, I missed two species on this short trip, but there are opportunities for both in the future.

As I write this entry, I have tentative plans for a trip to Attu with John Puschok,  reservations for a flight to Seattle starting March 12 to go to BC for the rarities and have submitted for a fast passport renewal to arrive before my departure date.   An itinerary was needed for this passport renewal application.  This required a significant amount of planning.  Thanks to John for all of his help.

As I finish this entry on March 1, tomorrow, Saturday, I leave for one last trip to the east coast for winter specialties, Black-headed Gull, Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Great Cormorant, King Eider, Thick-billed Murre, Razorbill, Dovekie, maybe Gyrfalcon and some missing waterfowl like Surf and White-winged Scoter and Ross's Goose and other birds that are now in Delaware, but not yet in Ohio.  I expect to be birding full-time from now on and the list to increase accordingly as I go to Florida, Texas and Arizona to pursue other rarities.    

Another Eastern Owl, February 25

A Barn Owl was reported on Saturday at Higginsport on a Cincinnati Bird Club field trip.  Today, I spent time inside putting together an estimate of my income for this year to be prepared for a telephone interview about Medicare.  Later in the afternoon, I left for Higginsport about 49 miles from my home and along  the Ohio River east of Cincinnati.  I timed this visit to be evening to dusk in hopes of seeing a Barn Owl leave the roost Sycamore Tree in which the owl was seen by Bill Stanley.  I arrived between 5:45 and 6:00 pm...and waited.  I got my camera ready, but that was overly optimistic.  The light decreased and soon I could barely see the cavity where the Barn Owl apparently roosts.  Eventually, I got out of my car parked next to a restaurant, and walked a side street to look through the tree toward the lights of Higginsport.   Across the ball field to the east I heard a call that sounded like a Barn Owl.  It was the short harsh or burry call with rising inflection that ends abruptly at the highest point.  This is a call made by Barn Owls when they are hunting and may also be a contact call.  However, I saw no owl.  The almost full moon was rising and the night was clear, perhaps I could still see a Barn Owl flying.  I returned to my car and waited, deciding to stay until 7:30 pm.  Just before I decided to call it quits for the evening, I heard another similar call almost above me, but I still could not find the bird.  I have seen Barn Owls flying while they make this call.  I also checked on the internet and verified that this call was indeed a Barn Owl.  I never saw a Barn Owl leave the tree; therefore, I wonder if this bird  was roosting elsewhere or if there is a Barn Owl on a nest in the cavity in the tree, and the bird I heard is the mate.   I am willing to count this bird, because it is not a new bird for me and I am acquainted with this Barn Owl call.  I expect to see a Barn Owl in further travels this year.  The total is now 144.