Second time is not the charm

Eamon, Matt, and I decided to try for the Sprague's Pipit and Razorbill once again this weekend.  The American Pipit flock that was reported to have a Sprague's or two in the mix was down to roughly 20 birds, that we could find at least.  We were able to get a good look through the scope at seemingly all of the birds, and none of them had the streaked back, flesh colored legs, or streaked "necklace"  of the Sprague's Pipit.  We did get some good looks at plenty of raptors again, though.

Red-tailed Hawk

We went to the pier and coughed up the whole two dollars that would give us access to the pier.  We struck out on the Razorbill search, but we did get to see black scoters and northern gannets!  The gannets were doing a lot of diving while we were there, and the black scoters even came in close enough for some nice pictures.  We also had a friendly Sanderling that scavenged the fishing pier a lot like a gull, with some of the most docile brown pelicans I have ever seen.

Sanderling

Northern Gannets in the distance.  Notice how streamlined they can get for a dive!

Brown Pelican

Black Scoter was an unexpected highlight for the day.

Eamon and I paid a visit to Dauphin Island the following day, for which I will have a post coming soon!

The Lost Bird

Beep.  I had to stop a moment to register the sound.  It came softly and unexpectedly from the receiver as I walked the treeline at the edge of the wide pine savannah.  I turned the antenna, waiting to hear the sound again.  I took a step back and pointed in the direction I thought the antenna had been when I heard the sound.  Beep.  The signal was coming from the stand of slash pines.  I tried to see if there was any opening in the pines where the bird could be sitting since I was already at the edge of the savannah.  The stand of pines looked like the perfect pinball machine for a signal to bounce around in all day, coming out in odd directions and strengths.  As I walked in the direction of the signal, the wind picked up and the light seemed to dim slightly.  I trudged through the shrubs, stumbling over uneven ground, listening intently for the receiver to let me know I was on the right track.  The signal seemed to vanish as I walked in its direction.  I stopped and began turning in circles, waiting.  I walked further into the stand and the wind picked up some more.  There appeared to be an opening ahead.  Beep.  I stopped and turned to the signal, perpendicular to my line in the pines, and stronger.  It had definitely been stronger.  Beep.  I followed the signal again.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Finally consistent, I could move with faster speed without worrying about losing that sound.  Louder and stronger, the signal led me on a strange and frustrating path.  I was finally picking up on the subtle cues on the wind, to make the hunt more pressing.  My path was a set of right angles throughout the pines, bouncing around in what seemed to me like all directions.  The signal was still gaining strength, so I just carried on until I met a dense set of shrubs and vines packed between trees.  At this point, there was no way to miss the dense clouds that were racing in my direction.  I had come this far, so I decided to continue the search.  Through the brush was the very back corner of the adjacent savannah, which was finally the right habitat to find this little yellow rail.  Out into the opening, after tearing through some dense vines, I had a good signal in good habitat.  Now, it was just a matter of getting close and taking a GPS point.  As I got closer the rail moved and changed direction, and I followed.  I heard a loud rushing of wind.  As I looked up, I saw a downpour coming straight over the slash pines.  I followed the rail in the rain, which clearly wasn’t slowing it down.  After getting a strong enough signal, I stopped.  The storm had darkened the sky and the rain had soaked me.  The storm over the savannah was raging as I stood in awe.  The wind was energizing and the rain refreshing.  It was even a little nerve wracking.  What if lightning struck, or a tornado formed?  I was a kilometer from the truck and my co-workers.  I took the necessary data and began my long trek back to the truck in the rain.  

A Failed Hunt

Today I set out with a car full of people ready to go on a search for a few specific birds.  I had found reports for Sprague's Pipit and Razorbill about an hour and a half away in Alabama that were less that a week old.  We found a huge open field with muddy roads running through it where the Pipit's had been reported.  Sadly we didn't find any Sprague's Pipits, but we saw around 50 American Pipits, a lifer for me, which still made the trip well worth it.  We also got great looks at Northern Harriers, a Cooper's Hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and an American Kestrel.  The Savannah Sparrows weren't camera shy at all today, but the rest of the birds at the fields sure were!

Three very differently colored Savannah Sparrows

Next, we went to find a Razorbill off of a pier only a few minutes away.  When we got to the pier, the haze over the ocean was fairly thick, as well as there being a charge to walk out onto the pier.  We all decided to pass on this because we could hardly see anything in the distance through the haze.  I did happen to take a few pictures of a Sanderling hanging out under the pier.

The final part of our plan was to check out Dauphin Island, which is off the coast of Alabama and can provide a great spot to find many birds, especially sea ducks and shorebirds.  When we got onto the island we couldn't make it to the Audobon sanctuary because of a parade.  We were all pretty bummed that we couldn't bird the more anticipated part of our trip, but we decided to explore little sections of Google Maps that appeared green in the area.  We found a nice little park with Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and a House Finch.

 Red-breasted Nuthatch from a few different angles

 Eastern Bluebird

Brown Pelican

On the drive back along the bridge and peninsula to the mainland we decided to stop to see if we could scrounge up any final birds for the day.  The sun was already setting so the pictures are a little dark.  All in all it turned out to be a pretty fun day exploring some birding hot spots, and seeing a couple life birds, even if I couldn't get any pictures worth sharing.

 This Great Blue Heron flew in and cleaned his bill for the camera.

 A Ruddy Turnstone with an injured leg.

Close up with a Ring-billed Gull

Photo ID Quiz Answer

Hey everyone, bird in the photo quiz from 1/2 was a red-breasted nuthatch.  Unfortunately, I chose this picture because I could not get a better shot of this little guy!  He just kept refusing to face the camera.  I hope to have some better quizzes in the near future for everyone, so stay tuned.

Even from this angle you can see the white supercilium (the line above the eye), the bluish back, and some of the orange color of the belly.  This is not a Black-capped or Carolina chickadee for several reasons.  First is the white eye line.  Also, this bird has no white, or grey edging on the secondaries.  Here is a black-capped chickadee for comparison:

Update 1/12/13- I got a photo of a Red-breasted Nutchatch in Alabama that gives a better view!

Vermilion Flycatcher in Mississippi

This morning I woke up with plans to do a long day of birding, only to hear the sound of pouring rain.  I decided to at least look around for local bird reports, and my friend Matt found a report of a Vermilion Flycatcher.  I decided that rain or shine, this was a beautiful life bird to go chase down.  Matt decided to stay home to watch football, but Eamon wanted to join me for a little birding (even though he has already seen a bunch of Vermilion Flycatchers).  We ended up having to drive out of our way to get gas, and we went past a pier with great mudflats and lots of shorebirds.  We took a brief scan of the area and then went to find the flycatcher.  Eamon ended up spotting the bird within a few minutes, and it was beautiful even from as far back as we were.  Here are a few of the pictures I got, with some pretty bad light:

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Dunlin

Dunlin

Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit

Short-billed Dowitcher (I am pretty sure)

Vermilion Flycatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

First Photo ID Quiz

This was photographed in western Virginia in late December 2012.  Send me your guesses at scribblingjay@gmail.com.  I'll be posting the answer in a week!