Life Birds and Rarities

It has taken me longer than I would've liked to get this post up.  The past month has been filled with more life birds than I've seen in a long while, many of which were rarities for the area, though somewhat regularly so on the Gulf Coast.  As I would think about editing photos and writing up a post, yet another rare bird would pop up for a chase, in addition to many other exciting outings and rarities that weren't lifers, but amazing just the same.  My year started off with a bird that I had hoped to see two years ago here on the Gulf.  Unfortunately, we didn't even hear a report of the Groove-billed Ani then, but this year my advisor Scott found one about an hour away, gave me a call, and I rushed over to Meaher State Park faster then I've ever moved to chase a bird species.  Coincidentally, Meaher park was where I lived last fall while working as a bander for a fall migration study, so I knew exactly where Scott described the bird was hanging out.  Without much effort, I walked down the trial towards the boardwalk and the bird popped out making its rather adorable call.  Sadly, the lighting wasn't great for photos, and these birds love bashing around in dense shrubby habitats.  Here are a couple shots of this great bird, just the same:

Groove-billed Ani

After the Ani, I finally went to chase down a Tropical Kingbird that had been found on the CBC by another group of birders.  I was lucky enough to have Eamon and Lauren along for the birding and the search for the Kingbird, and we eventually found him. It was a lot of fun to see a new Kingbird species since they are really enjoyable to watch as they flycatch and zip around from perch to perch, occasionally making a ramped up call.  Life bird number two for the year!

Tropical Kingbird with a Mourning Dove for size comparison

All throughout these life bird adventures there have been plenty of shorebird and waterbird trips as well.  It has been a lot of fun to watch shorebirds and their behaviors, and the seasonality of birding is really what keeps it from ever getting boring.  For now, it is a lot of fun to spend my time staring through a scope on the beaches and the water, but by the time migration comes along, I'll be ready to be using both eyes through my binoculars a bit more often.  

Willet

Black-bellied Plover

Marbled Godwit

Ruddy Duck

A group of us, led my advisor Mark, took a pilgrimage to find a Vermilion Flycatcher in an attempt to get away from the shorebirds for a day.  Although this wasn't a life bird, I would gladly chase after this species any time as their bright red plumage is quite amazing, and all flycatchers are so fun to watch.  This trip turned out to be awesomely successful on the Vermilion front, but we also managed to see a couple of Vesper Sparrows (sadly no photos!) and a tree full of Brewer's Blackbirds.  These are both somewhat uncommon to see, but really awesome to pick out of the surrounding common species.  The flycatcher was on a family farm area in southern Mississippi, and the landowners were extremely welcoming and definitely excited to share a view of the bird with us.  After having a great view of the Vermilion, we decided to see if we could turn up a Bullock's Oriole back on the coast.  After some waiting, and just hanging out on the street where the bird had been reported, the Oriole dropped down to a favorite hummingbird feeder.  This bird also happened to be on a property of someone that Mark knew, and he welcomed us inside to view the feeder from their living room.  The only picture I could manage was pretty dark, and through a window, but still proof of life bird number three for the year!

Vermilion Flycatcher

Brewer's Blackbird

Bullock's Oriole

There are plenty of other common birds around that are lots of fun to watch, and most of the birding trips I have done haven't revolved around any attempts to see life birds.  Lately, I have been fortunate enough to visit the barrier islands to do a winter plover survey and spend a bunch of time out on the water where I will be doing my master's project.  This has given me lots of time seeing the marshes, driving the boat, and enjoying being outside.  The other day, Mark, Eamon, and I were able to sneak up to a small island right behind a large group of Redhead.  This was probably the closest I'd ever been to this species of duck, and it was amazing to scope these birds from so close and catch all their details.  It has been great to be surrounded by birder's that enjoy the chase for rarities, but also enjoy the common species, their behaviors, and the sometimes overlooked beauty they show.

Loggerhead Shrike

Nelson's Sparrow

Marsh Wren

American Pipit