Olaf Danielson's Blog, page 26

The Biggest April Fool of All

Chapter 32

New Mexico
Big Year Days 92

Big Year Total:  539
Coded Birds:  37

Miles driven.  21100Flight Miles 59,200flight segments: 59   Different Airports: 29Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 111
showshoes 4 (isn't going to be more)Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded: 21

Roswell, MN  Lek 45N
I drove from Arizona to Roswell NM.  I had planned on getting the Lesser Prairie Chicken in Dodge City but looking at the map and seeing where two big year birders had bagged their prairie chicken, about 40 miles east of Roswell, the map genie that I am quickly deduced that I would save 4 hours on the road by stopping there and that may, may give me a shot at some sapsuckers later.  I didn't turn north at Deming.  The initial plan was to just sleep at the lek but with 4 hours, I could sleep in a bed and get a shower in the morning.  It is good to feel like a human sometimes.

My choices for lodging in Roswell were endless, I settled on a place called Leisure Inn, it was 48 bucks after tax and was on my route.  Efficiency..efficiency.  After avoiding all the Billy the Kid this and that in Rudioso, like who would want to go to a Casino, named after a thief?  Billy the Kid Casino, are people nuts?  I found the actually expansive hotel, maybe 10% occupied, checked in, and crashed.  I'd been up since 4 am.  I HAD to wake up on time, just had to.  I set my Iphone AND the hotel alarm clock for 5am.  I zone out before I even blinked.  It is god to be able to sleep anywhere.

April 1, is notiously April Fool's day, and during the day, I saw phantom posts for a Little Curlew in Massachusets and the finding of a hidden Auk colony, that one given away by a note that the birds flew in front of the bow of the research vessel.  My April Fool's tales unfortunately are real.

A rather odd noise awoke me, and still, thinking about it, I'm not sure what it was, maybe it was a guy outside unlocking his car, I don;t know but I awoke to total darkness.  TOTAL darkness, the alarm out, I tried to check my cell phone, it was out of power.  I booted up my computer to see the time, out.  I had no power in anything.  Had the Aliens came back?

I groped for something and found my sweatshirt and forgetting where I was, I tried to find the door.  I had thought when I checked in, that this was an oddly layed out motel room.  I got to the car and got it open and then realized I was searching frantically for my spot light bare-ass.  I saw the guy next to me in his car looking for a flashlight wearing less than I did.  I got the light, started the car and saw the clock....0555, what time zone was I even in, was this really 0455?  No, F...U...C...I ran back in, was going to take a quick shower but alas the water iced cold, I looked at the fridge defrosting and thought, had the power been off all night?  What gives?  I found some pants, nothing more threw them on and barefooted threw everything I owned in the car and tore off.  I was going to be late.  I could NOT afford to miss this bird

The rain hit the car as I sped out of town in the darkness.  There was power everywhere else in town. The drizzle became a deluge as I climbed on the plateau.  The directions were good and dawn began to break in the rain as I turned at a rest area north.  Let me say here that this road is dangerous in the dark, it was dangerous being able to see some of the large sandy holes.  Not knowing where even the lek was in relation to the road, I cautiously approached the end and then realized the lek WAS the road.  Birds scattered as I bounced over a rise.  I stopped.  These are protected birds.  They came back just as the rain changed to a heavy snow.  I took a couple of pictures out of the passenger window.  As snow blew in the window.


#537  Lesser Prairie Chicken
The birds tried to dance but it was tough in the worsening weather.  One chicken was so close to the car, I couldn't see it.  I finally had to shut the windows as the snow was blowing in the car and about 5 minutes later they flushed.  I have seen many Lesser prairie chickens in Oklahoma, and have seen bobcats rush leks, hawks buzz them, and once an angry meadowlark caused them to go.  They eventually come back but once when the weather was actually better than it was now, they gave up and didn't go back.  I looked as the ground became white and decided that I was 7 miles off a road and I didn't know how bad the storm was going to be, I didn't want to get stranded out here and so I left.  Oddly, I flushed a prairie chicken 5 miles from the lek on the trail out.

I was lucky they even came in today and I don't know what happened in Roswell at that hotel.  I don;t like this town.  I got a bad feeling when I left...but I had a bird...a good bird.

 I drove north in the rain in Roswell and heavy snow north of there.

More bad weather...I screamed out the window, is that the best you have?  I turned on the radio for the first time all day and the first song...kid you not...EX's and ohs

It stopped when I crossed I-40 and then in Las Vegas NM, another town I have bad memories of from a trip to Santa Fe once, I pulled off the road to look for red-naped sapsuckers near Mora NM, there had been reports.  I also like Swedish immigrant towns, but when I finally made my way up the foothills I noticed that this was a Spanish town, and was built at the sight of a 500 year old land grant. Communal living for centuries and only modern day has made these people poor and a failure...how sad.  The story of this valley is fascinating but I don;t feel like another history lessen.  I was finishing a four-day--2400 mile loop.  I was still 300 miles from Denver.

I found the location of 3 sapsuckers I called and called and then I called in three....four...five...maybe even six, they just kept coming.....

Great Pyrenees dogs!

Well that was as best as I could ID them.  They never barked but when I played a sapsucker call, they turned their heads processing and then slowly circled the SUV.  This one was alpha dog.  I moved and they just tightened their circle.  I moved again and so did they, they followed me a mile.

One younger one causally led rear guard action.


Finally I turned around and tried to drive off but soon they circled the car, they were slobbering, drooling, looking at me and then the one in the road took a better central position, laid back down,  and refused to move, even when I slowly put the bumper of the SUV up to him and tried to nudge him.  Nothing.  These were 150lb dogs or more, and if they didn't want to move they weren't moving.  Who feeds these things?  Maybe me............Finally the old dog just gave me the look and like he said April fools, he let out a very subtle whine and the dog in the road walked away, lifting his leg on the corner of the rental.  The older dog looked like he shrugged, "so what do you expect from dogs?"  and then with dogs on both sides I was let out of my K-9 trap.  What was that all about?
It was too odd to even process.

I saw a sign for Miller Lake State park, down a mile and found my way to very scenic lake.  I called for Red-naped and listened.  Then called the whole time I was in the bathroom.  Still nothing.  I played their drum and then I heard a different drum very quietly almost like it was echoing my iphone but it wasn't the same.  My phone has issues and rolls over to the next bird sometimes and in this case a Williamson's is next in the Alphabet and immediately the unseen bird tapped back.  Where was this bird?  I then looked straight over my head.

 Bird #538  Williamson's sapsucker, one of my missing Colorado birds.  How'd it get up there?

This bird never moved, never made a sound just tapped a little.  If it would have been two trees over, I never would have seen or heard it.

They are stunning woodpeckers, so much contrast, if the lighting would have been better.  It was like this bird was trying to make a fool out of me.

I had more fool in me.  I went to Raton to eat and hopefully correct a picture error in my last blog, the McDonald's was closed and so I went to Dairy Queen, they had neither internet nor power outlets, i drove looking for a coffee bar and none.  I came back to DQ and ate a salad, they didn't have salad dressing.  I left and was entering Trinidad when I realized my backpack was missing, with my computer, passport, small camera lens, field notes.......the swear words were flying.  I had no cell phone reception then when I had enough to get the phone number, it was out of service.  I reclimbed the pass and went down and sped into the DQ rehearsing my story to either of the two state patrols that would stop me.  I rushed in, and there it was same place this FOOL had left it.  I aged a year up over that damn pass.  So I reclimbed Raton Pass the third time, this time not leaving anything in New Mexico but a really odd day, a fitting April Fool's day

I met up with an old fraternity brother of mine from Ripon hadn't seen him since 1988, he lives in Colorado Springs, Craig Casper.

I actually got the idea to base my 4 book "Defenders of the Earth series out of Ogallala, Nebraska due to him, that is his home town.  We told stories and I learned one of the brothers I had taken fishing in Canada in 1989 was doing 25 years for impersonating a doctor and killing someone...I guess when he was all excited to make a coffin for the 22.5lb pike he caught to take home, maybe it was somehow a warning of the future.  IDK.

We drank beer and went to bed.  It was a very VERY long day.

POST SCRIPT

I am still exhausted from my snowshoe outing and I don't want to say much about it but let me say this:

Ptarmigan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I drove up to Loveland pass, on 4/2 fighting the skiing traffic and looked for 2 hours.  I was so shaky from the height I stopped shaking, like counter shaking cancelled it out.  IDK.  I finally heard two on the opposite side of the pass from where I had one last year.  One on either side of me.  I heard clucks and tried to get them to come out, but I couldn't locate them.  I went higher still to get a better angle on where it was, and I found what will be the highest elevation bird of the year, 12,350 feet.

Horned Lark, a hardy rascal.  This bird wasn't making clucks but i wonder, what was he eating up here?

I could not see the ptarmigan, from the lark's vantage point so I walked back down to the road, I gave up my parking spot, which was brave as a skier took it immediately and at the next lower turnout got out my spotting scope.  I worked the area under where I was sitting hearing them for 20 minutes slowly studying each foot of snow.  Then I saw one, maybe  15 yards from where I had heard it--a white bird shaped snowball, with a head, it was a long ways from me now and then as I tried to attach my digiscoping stuff to the scope, a skier decided to go very near the bird.  Afterwards, I couldn't refind my feathered snowball.  He or she probably dug itself down in the snow and hid.  No pictures but bird #539.  White-tailed ptarmigan.  I got my perfect lifer picture last year here so no worries there.  That was something.  I was so relieved, i almost got hit by a gasoline truck as I was bouncing too near the traffic.

I searched for a dusky grouse for two more hours down the mountain and around haunts nearer to Denver but nothing, no tracks, nothing.  One Colorado bird will have to stay on the board....DUSKY GROUSE.....any one got a plan for this bird?  I will probably wait to concentrate on it when I'm in Montana in June, but open for suggestions.  I may have to even chase it.

Loveland is a pretty Pass but I don't ever want to bird up here again.  I hate passes and heights, and thankfully THANKFULLY I got my ptarmigan........whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

539...I'm heading home for a bit, I probably should go back to Arizona but I need a shower, my own bed, and I need to cuddle a dog, but maybe I'm not going to ever cuddle any Great Pyrenees, those dogs are up to something.

Woof

Olaf

Olaf at the Battle of the Bulls

Chapter 31

Sierra Vista- Thatcher AZ
Big Year Days 89-91

Big Year Total:  536
Coded Birds:  37

Miles driven.  19,550Flight Miles 58,200flight segments: 57   Different Airports: 28Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 105
showshoes 4 (isn't going to be more)Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded: 21


I had been watching the reports of a rose-throated becard at a place I had never heard of called Cluff Ranch WA in extreme Southeastern Arizona with interest and when another snowstorm was coming into Denver and it was 6pm and I had a full tank of gas I thought, heck, what is 835 miles?

I drove all night except for a nap in the back of my car at some ghost town exit south of Albuquerque, waking up to a dream I was in a Tony Hillerman novel.  I even looked for odd Hopi art on my car, but alas only dust.  I arrived at sometime after 8am, Others were already there including another Big Year birder, Christian, Mr. The Birding Project and they had already seen the bird.

It then became a stakeout, for me to see the bird and them to see it better.  After a few calls, it was finally refound, but this is a wily little bird, fluttering in and out so quick, you blink....yea...you guessed it.  Poof!  It was going into a large cottonwood fully leafed out and that was making matters worse.  Finally, another fellow spotted it in the mesquites opposite and we all came running.  It was a grassquit esque look, quick but satisfying, Christian snapped a couple of photos, photos courtesy of The Birding Project, me...I was too busy watching to snap a photo.

Two wild and crazy big year birders meet again in Thatcher AZ



Noet that great facial sunburn courtesy of Colorado. It is more than a rosy glow

Rose-throated becard courtesy of Christian Hagenlocher, the Birding Project



Okay, now what?
A dust storm was coming in so I decided to ride that out in The Chirachua Mountains south of here, rain, sleet, snow, waves, and now dust storms?  What more bad weather could I have...wait...I didn't print that.  I got a Mexican chickadee and migrating Pacific Slope flycatchers, and then I decided to stick a day and wait for Ramsey Canyon to open.  The tufted flycatcher was back.
You know, you see historical markers all over the place, most of the time I just drive past but sometimes...you read and learn
 This marker commemorates the Mormon Battalion and "the Battle of the Bulls"
Now I understand memorials to Pearl Harbor, Bull Run, Appomattox (as that started today 151 years ago) etc. but the Battle of the Bulls?  What was that?  I read a book on the battles of the Mexican American war but...
It was 1846 and the US declared war on Mexico.  Why?  I guess why not, was the idea back then and I think there were two larger desires....G O L D and California, but well, that is another story.  A group of 550 Mormon soldiers enlist and become the first and only religiously dedicated unit in US Military History.  Fremont heads to California and General Kearney distrusts him so decides to send this column by the southern route to San Diego Mission.  They leave Council Bluffs IA and head to the Southwest.  In what would become their only encounter with the enemy (not counting engaging and capturing Fremont when he declares himself leader of California in 1947) at a ford in the San Pedro River between what is now Sierra Vista and Tombstone AZ.  Charleston Bridge is the name and the old one-lane bridge is also there as is the bed of the Old San Pedro and Southwestern Railroad.  It is a cool place.

It was a crisp November morning in the desert.  Seeing the soldiers cross the river agitated the enemy  on the west bank, it must have made them feel like red meat, and hoofing it fast, they charged down the back on the right of the picture and rushed the US column.  Catching the American army somewhat asleep, the herd mentality of the charge initially caused some damage to the Morman unit, injuring two and killing a few of the mules and disabling many of the wagons.  Things were in disarray and the army was about to break ranks when the strong leadership took over.
The commander of the US forces decided to slaughter the enemy and ordered a counter offensive and made mince meat of their charge.  Killing between 11 and 15 of them before they retreated into the mesquite.....the American captured the west bank and victory was theirs, they even hoisted a flag to signify their big victory....the problem was the Mexican forces were entirely ......Cattle.
This area saw the Fight at the OK Coral, Geronimo's campaign, Pancho Villa sacking Columbus NM, and this...in what was to become a BBQ and yet it is commemorated by markers, service medals, and such.........Does the military need continuous glory even when there really isn't any?This is worthy of a marker?  Should PETA put up one for the opposing forces?

When the forces came to Tucson the next week, obviously aware of the battle nearby the few admin officials retreated away, not wanting to be eaten themselves, apparently.  
What did this Riparian paradise yield for me, charging cattle?
No, It had more Lucy's warblers than I had ever seen in one place.


These are our smallest warblers and they have the highest nest density of any birds.  They also don't sit still.  I guess when they like a place, everyone wants the same place.
I also saw Plumbaceous Vireos, and violet-green swallows under the watchful eye of a resident gray hawk.

I tried to call owls in the evening, but all I called in was Rangers, and the police.  When the forth car came, I left. However, while I was being checked over for drugs and after showing the officers my owl calling device was not some way to signal the drug traffickers, we discussed the border.
You know, at the bottom of the Huachuca Mtns, the border fence running from El Paso ends

On the other side there is a five strand barb wire fence, which is essentially nothing.

all the way to the Colorado River, hum!!!  where would you cross?  The fence itself is not complete, it has breaks for wildlife as they migrate, so I wonder, do other things like people migrate at these openings too?  I got into a little argument with some Californians up on Montezuma pass when I asked, how big should the fence be? ten feet, 20, 30?   
I left the officers to their own waste of time and money, I was going to say it was the battle of the bull sh&^t when they were checking me over but I didn't now did I?
It was a great day though 10 new species of birds here and elsewhere, I think I'm now done with Carr Canyon road!!!!  I was going to say I am married to two things, my wife and Carr Canyon road as both take commitment that upon starting, you can't turn back, they are both windy, uphill and rough in spots, and well, there is always the unexpected, a rock or a tree down in the road, but when you are on top, it is bliss.  I don't think I want to say that.  I am not married to a road.

What kept me going was the thought that if Neil Hayward could make it up this road in a Corolla, I could in a SUV.  It had been graded, and some of the wicked flood diversion humps had been leveled but at the cliff where it is soft and has big rocks in it, there were bigger rocks and a tree in the road.  Luckily, I didn't meet anyone coming up or down.
On the 31st, after calling in my western screech owl in Carr canyon, Ramsey Canyon opened to a near fight.  People were waiting in line for one of the potential 23 parking spots, when someone was mistaken for a birder who was passing the line, angry words were spoken and it got real tense.  More battles of the BS.  I stayed out of it.  I got in and a space, but others after 8, there was no chance what-so-ever.  The problem ended up being the only small group that saw the Tufted flycatcher didn't tell anyone, I was maybe 100 feet away, and so word got around much later and by then the bird was a no show for the rest of the day, the Flame colored tanager put on a show but alas... that was an old been there done that bird.  It was even starting to sow and the weather looked worse coming in over the mountains, my wife needed me to call and so I left, I'll be back and the tufted will hopefully settle into a routine.
Here is my list of what I added...
Somewhere on I-10 Western New Mexico
519.  Swainson's Hawk
Cluff Ranch WMA Pond #3520.  Bell's Vireo521  Yellow Warbler522.  Rose-throated becard
Chirichua National Monument523.  Pacific Slope flycatcher524.  Mexican Chickadee
Carr Canyon Reef Campsite525.  Buff-breasted flycatcher526.  Grace's warbler527.  Olive Warbler528.  Hermit warbler
Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast529.  Lucifer's Hummingbird530.  Scott's Oriole
San Pedro Riparian WA531.  Lucy's Warbler532.  violet-green swallow533.  Plumbaceus Vireo
Montezuma Pass- Coronado National Memorial534.  White-throated swift
Carr canyon Picnic Area-lower535.  Western Screech owl
Ramsey Canyon536.  Dusky-capped flycatcher
Some of the Birds
 Flame Colored tanager

Dusky-capped flycatcher
Buff-breasted flycatcher
Olive Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Lucifer's Hummingbird

Scott's Oriole
White-throated swift
Zone-tailed hawk One quarter of this is over, 536 birds!!!  I think that is a good start, shrug.  It will be good to take a vacation for a bit before the big push starts.Thank you all for your support and help.
Just like that epic Battle of the Bulls, I keep fighting this battle, just keep looking down so you don't step in any, well what the bull makes....I am still trying to answer the reason why?  Maybe in 1846, they were also asking why?
Olaf

The Colorado Snow Loop

Colorado
Big Year Days 85-88

United Airlines is not my friend, it never was.  They had delayed my wife’s arrival by two hours, as we were coming to Colorado from different airports on different planes.  I waited patiently…chatting to myself, when in doubt don’t fly United. 

This trip was harsh, exhausting, gut wrenching, and soul searching.  Silja and Lena came with too.  It was snowing before I came, it was snowing during my stay and the forecast was for more snow upon my departure, I headed out fast....El Nino, thanks ole' El...by the way, where are those west coast vagrants?

I did this trip last year for practice...we got all the birds so quickly we added birds and then done in 72 hours I flew home early...that was then this is now...what should I expect on a bad weather big year?  but Bad weather....

I had a list of 16 birds I could get, we hit the ground running  We headed west on I-70 into the teeth of a traffic jam.  It was stop and then just stopped.  It took us 3.5 hours to go an hour.  Loveland Pass was closed, any ptarmigan try was out…dang and worse, it was snowing and the police were checking for chains, and enforcing laws 15/16 of the vehicle code.  Luckily I had rented a Jeep at the advice of my wife, the lovely Silja.  Since no hazardous cargoes could go around on the pass, they had to stop traffic at the tunnel to let them through.

Tiring of the traffic jam and taking a break before any added accent to Vail Pass, we got off at Silverthorne and I went up Wildernest Rd to a neighborhood to lurk feeders.  It was barely passable to drive around in the heavy snow but rosy-finches of all three stripes were everywhere, they were loaded in the few feeders and trees of humdreds were spotted.  There was a few black ones but mostly Gray crowned and brown capped ones maybe a thousand or two in all...maybe more.  They were in trees coming to feeders and a lone gray-crowned by the car in the snow
 brown-capped rosy-finch


Here is a feeder,But with the snow and bad lighting, hard to get photos.
Waunita Hot Springs Road, Gunnison Cty CO
We awoke at a relatively manageable 0515, and pulled out of Gunnison at 6am, and arrived the to the lek area about 20 minutes later.  On advice of Doug Kibbe, we parked about a quarter of a mile north of the viewing spot ignoring the signs which informed us that what I was doing wasn’t legal.  I could rag on the whole management of this bird for the public but I’m not sure anyone cares and I have.  Parking at viewing spot almost cost me a bird last year.  They mark viewable bird sightings on a sign that shows 1500 bird signings ten years ago and just 55 in 2015.  However, they don’t start until April 1st, and therefore didn’t include 8 from me last year.  Also if the lek moved north, it says nothing about dwindling bird numbers.
We turned off the lights as the light snow slows outside and waited, allowing our devices to charge up.  When I can see, I turn down the windows and we listened.  It takes not more than a minute to hear them, then I see one moving across the prairie, wait….It has a long bushy tail…a red fox, and this marks possibly the first time a red fox has been mistaken for a Gunnison sage-grouse.  I feel stupid.  No grouse here so I back up for a quarter mile.  We scour and then scour again, it is now maybe half light.  We are elevated and have a good view and then, I see some birds flush up, I can’t tell what they are and then they turn towards us, they get bigger...sage grouse, 26 in a flock and they go across the road north of us.  That is why we didn’t see them the night before.  They were on the sage on the hill way too far off to see.    Still hearing the lek, I scour the open areas and then I spy two males dancing, Gunnison sage grouse!  I set up my digiscope and snapped a few pictures.




Overcast, snow in the air, low light, it wasn’t a good, but half as close as my 2015 sightings.  Being 500 yards away, just driving off and going isn’t going to spook these birds and since I am not supposed to be here anyway we drive on. 
We drive on the road to the west and spot mule deer everywhere, my daughter is definitely part of this family in that she also likes deer.  Then we come across a CO Natural resources truck at a walk in spot which ominous closed signs.  I assume he has a much better lek to view, and I feel my anger rise a little, and so it is time to bolt west for more birds.
We get my daughter a triple on the open stretches of the Gunnison River when we spot a small flotilla of Barrow’s and Common goldeneye plus a bonus common merganser, and eventually we get to Black Canyon of the Gunnison as it starts to snow harder.  By the top and as we pass the gate, there is snow on the roads and when I pull into the visitor center I notice something bad, the road on the south rim is closed, a three foot snow drift blocks the road past the visitor center along with a sign.  My no fail, Clark’s nutcracker spot, inaccessible.  The area seems almost devoid of birds, except Townsend’s solitaires singing which I hadn’t photographed until now and a couple of scrub jays.
We have a Kodak moment with a German tourist who braved the walk to the overlook below snapping our picture, like us he said he wanted the look as he came all this way.  There was no hope of Dusky grouse, nutcrackers….nothing.


I take a photo of a Townsend's solitaire since I haven't this year


There is not grouse up there, we can't get to the Clark's nutcracker spot and all there is is snow.

The weather warmed to 45 and the snow magically was gone by the time we drove the few miles to Montrose, it was odd.  Suddenly, I had the urge to stay up on Grand Mesa.  I had seen Boreal Owl reported up there already but I didn’t know the area at all, thinking it was just like Colorado National Monument we booked a night at the Grand Mesa Lodge, as I thought, then I wouldn’t have to drive too far to call owls, and we had to stay somewhere.  Luckily, they had an opening…..

Grand Junction CO


At Colorado National Monument, my 6th visit, I think, we had a bit of luck, finally.  We stopped at Hanging Rock and waked around and I heard Pinyon Jays…oh, finding these rascals, isn’t so easy.  You can drive and drive and not ever find them  They travel in a large flock, sort of the blue hoard, and are consistent in their travels, until they aren't.  I have only seen them 4 times, once where they shouldn’t have been.  The flock came over the mesa, literally almost hit the mesa wall on the other side and then descended straight down and landed in a bush over the park road.   They allowed for a couple of pretty good pics.  I have not photographed this bird very well, so this was a treat.

Pinyon Jays.


Then on top near the visitor center, after more memories of the overlook, I got another year bird out of the junipers for a photo, juniper titmouses, or is it mice?  IDK.Juniper Titmouse.

We looked over the edge for white-throated swift for a while but they never showed, I assume, too early for them since spring hadn’t arrived yet.
Cameo Wildhorse area is my lock it down and throw away the key spot for Chukar.  Doug warned me not to be so self confident, but I’ve been sending people here since I found it.  No one complained of dips.  We drove in on the bad road, past another makeshift shooting range out in public land, again making me wonder why?  I know of only one way to get this bird, besides dumb luck and I’m not sure if I would have time for that.  You walk into a good chukar area, and call.  One responds, and then you triangulate and locate.  We walked in about half a mile, I stopped, “this looks far enough.”  I said as we had encountered dogs right away but I had just passed some squirrels foraging in the very dry desert habitat that this is.  I called.  One immediately answered.  I got a bearing and my wife and I crossed the dry stream bed, as my daughter took up a skua-like position to snap a photo if one flew and then…it flushed.  I watched it land on the hillside, they always do and then walk up the hill.  I snapped a good picture.  We walked back to the car with a fist bump.  Chukar!!!


  Grand Mesa CO

Serendipity is an odd thing.  Why did I have this urge to stay up on Grand Mesa?  Why? This or that?  Answers few have.  We left Cameo, drove three miles and turned up 65 to the Lodge, just as a snowstorm hit the top.  As I climbed into fog and snow, I was starting to get nervous, I didn’t like this.  We turned past Powderhorn Ski Area and it got more ominous, then snow on road and then in nearly whiteout conditions I passed an avalanche area that said no stopping.  I understood this warning unlike those at the sage grouse area and clenched the wheel.  I had overwhelming urges to turn back, at one spot where the road was clear before I resumed the accent, I almost wanted to cry.  Ever the stubborn Swede, I just kept going.  I wasn’t going to die today, was I?Then we were there.  I got out of the Jeep, shaking and could barely walk.  Crap, I hate this.  We talked to the very positive owner of the lodge.  Then I asked about birds…”yes we have this really odd bird everyone apparently wants to see.  Had some woman come from England to see it.  They nest in that tree, he pointed.  They make such a racket, too.  Had no clue that was from a bird until three years ago, warned guests it was from some wild animal, but it was probably safe.  Then someone said the noise was from Boreal owls….”  I gasped quietly, the shakes stopped.  “They are quiet right now but around May 1st….”  Serendipity.
Our cabin was basically a snow cave with a cabin in it.  



The snow promptly stopped but as your can see there has been no shortage here.  We ate, the women passed out and at 8pm, I went out to call owls, hopeful but not overly so.  I walked to the top of the road and called.  Immediately before I was done with the second poop-poop-poop call, I had an answer.  I repeated and so did the response, but it wasn’t a poop-it was harsh barking.  If I hadn’t hung out with Rickey Olson in Pierre and worked so hard on saw-whets, I wouldn’t have realized the vocal range these little owls have.  My ibird and Sibley’s only had one call but I knew what I heard, but the xeno-cantho website had many many barks and squeals of the European version of this bird. 
 Oddly, I played some saw-whet calls and got nothing, then the poop-poop and the barking from up in trees on the cliff resumed about two notes int the poop.  After a few rounds I ran to get the ladies but alas when I returned…nothing.  The bird had either figured out I was not an owl or it had flown off to feed.  None-the less, I had a Boreal Owl!!!!!!!  Good bird!! 
I returned at 5 am as this was so cool I had to try again. I got out and turned on my speaker and hit the phone app.  My phone has a weird tick, every once in a while Lady Gaga and Bad Romance starts playing at top speaker volume.  This happened again and with my gloves and cold hands, it was like 5 degrees out, I couldn’t turn it off as Lady Gaga started bouncing in the valley in the predawn darkness...and I don't think the owl was dancing….thankfully, my phone discharged power and was off.  I had my owl, I went back for a warm bed with a woman sleeping in it, and eventually coffee.  All I can say is Serendipity. 

It was the beginnings of a technically challenged day.
We walked around the property, saw another three-toed woodpecker and heard it repeatedly, then finally after calling in Steller's jays for Lena's year, Cassin's finches perched for a great photo-op, a year bird.  Eventually tiring of the local birds and needing a Clark's Nutcracker, we packed up and drove up to pass and in a parking area found a lone Clark's........now I would show you my photos of these birds and those later in the day, but I forgot to replace the chip in my camera...I took some great photos....they even looked good on the camera, but with no chip, I got nothing.  My daughter won't share until she publishes her blog.  Oh well.

I took a Cassin's Finch photo on the next day
It was probably better.

My wife now understands what the Green cross signifies in Colorado, in France, it is a pharmacy, here...well....

Don't worry, it was Easter and they were closed, they share space with a liquor store, and a logistics company.

Loveland Pass

Back last year when I rolled though here, I had great luck at Loveland pass, elevation 11,990 in getting white-tailed ptarmigan, it was a once in a lifetime moment, the bird flew and landed at my feet, I had to step back to take a photo with my iphone.........this year?  There were skiers, tons of skiers on both sides of the pass this year.  Despite, me hearing the birding song on the way up the pass, nothing worked...my iphone didn't have a call for the birds, then it failed all together and just shut down.  It was windy, and I couldn't see any birds....It was a bust.  Why the birding song?


We searched for Williamson's sapsuckers without luck and finally, we just found a room.  March 28th was going to be a long..LONG day.

Guanella Pass

Swear words describe my thigh burn, my sunburn on my face, and burning lungs.  I sent my wife and daughter home (good thinking!) and Doug Kibbe, Denver Master Birder took me up on snowshoes to the closed pass to get the ptarmigan, THE spot for this bird...except it wasn't.  Last times up here over 30 and 50 ptarmigan....this time......the big 0...I don't know how far we hiked.  We hiked up and then through snow.  Then down through snow.  The highlight was sitting on a rock taking my lone picture.  I had oxygen choices and well, fat and out of shape I am.  Doug is much older than me and he made me look bad, even taking my pack around on the pass.  We criss-crossed and saw just one, day old track...I imagined something...then I miss called a herd of Elk...Bighorn...It was time to get off that God forsaken place.  I don't want to say any more....It was tiring..,I'm sick of 4 to six foot deep snow....


Now I have to hail Mary a ptarmigan....I will have to think about this bird, and the Dusky grouse, and sapsucker, my other big misses.  Doug took photos of me wore out in parking lot, ass-deep in snow, dragging bum up the hill, but I am not ready to see them or post them...too soon, the memory is still too painful.

I got 12/16, the Boreal owl was key but those d$%m grouse

Big Year Total:  518
Coded Birds:  36

Miles driven.  17,950Flight Miles 58,200flight segments: 57   Different Airports: 28Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 98
showshoes 4 (isn't going to be more)Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:20
507.  Brown-capped rosy-finch
508.  Black rosy-finch
509.  Gray-crowned rosy finch
510.  American three-toed woodpecker
511.  Gunnison Sage-grouse
512.  Sage Thrasher
513.  Pinyon Jay
514.  Juniper titmouse
515.  Chuckar
516.  Boreal owl
517.  Cassin's Finch
518.  Clark's Nutcracker


Rare birds in Arizona, I rented a second car and Doug graciously dropped me off at the Avis spot and away I go...Arizona with out snow.  I'll be back...at least I got the western side birds done...dang birds.

sigh........

Heck Lena's total is now 341!!!!!!!!!!  Wow!

Here is her blog

lenasbigyear.blogspot.com

Olaf

48 Hours with Olaf

Big Year Days 83-84

Big Year rule #3

As hard as it may seem..please keep off the walleye

Okay I think tongue and cheek....reason below.

So just so some of you understand what a couple of days are like doing a big year, I thought I'd try to document two days with me.  Reading a Facebook page, many of you don't like the Movie the Big Year.  I have found it can inspire you when you are doing this, if you have nothing else to push you on, but it has flaws. What it does do to some extent is to show the hardships we all experience.  I sleep in cars, I eat on the run or skip meals, I drive long and hard. well...on the good side...I meet some interesting and new people.  Big Year Birding and birding in general is the only competitive activity that you help your competitors, well in general.  So you can get a feel for what I'm up to, here is here is a look at 48 hours with Olaf, the last 48 hours.

3/23/2016  3am Florida City
...I awake and quickly pack for my trip to the airport in Miami, skipping shower, breakfast everything, I just pack and go.  The woman working the Ramada desk, is still on... doing a 24 hour shift, she is asleep and a homeless guy has snuck into the lobby.  I take off and luckily find no traffic, even where they closed a highway.  I arrive at the rental car center at 0430.  Assuming there will be extra security from the TV warnings and the Brussels incident, I am prepared for the worst and lines, I assume wrong.  By 450, through security and waiting for Delta Sky Club to open at 5am.  I have lots of extra time.  I eat at the Sky Club, the reason I have a AMEX card, cheaper meals and coffee and free internet.  I start my blog of Florida trip.

0715 Flight to Atlanta boards, I am surprised by being upgraded to first class, but alas, no breakfast on this flight and seat 1A isn't so wonderful.  You have no leg room despite the theory of first class in seats 1 on almost all planes, especially 757s.

0845, land in Atlanta, A1, I transfer to B4, stop by this Delta Sky Club to post blog which takes too long, and just make 0910 boarding to Minneapolis in the dreaded MD80.  MD80s are the worst plane flying for room, seating, everything.  I fight with attendant to stuff my carry-on in Economy extra, which is supposed to have "guaranteed" space but the attendants have taken much of it and I almost break the door.  I took an economy extra seat instead of an aisle farther back as these planes take forever to unload.   Note to self-never take a middle seat on MD80 no matter what.

I make reservations for a rental car in Minneapolis in the air as the wi-fi generally works on this 2 hour flight.  I need one since I don't have a car there while in air and get lead on Northern saw-whet owl from Tony Lau on Facebook messenger.  Hertz, Alamo, Avis don't report having any cars so I'm forced to use Thrifty--not a favorite.  I land at 1200 and go to Thrifty and notice that a snow storm has hit Minneapolis.  The lady at Thrifty talks me into a bigger car, since my "manager's choice" is a micro car.  Then...I get the same car, I have to argue about the rate.

Eventually, I find my car and call Butch, the man with the owl in his yard.  He lives in Deerwood MN, 125 miles north of the airport.  I shrug, I've driven in worse.  Luckily, the snow clears up north of Minneapolis.  They get none up north and 7 inches at the airport.  I get three hamburgers and a coffee at McDonalds in Elk River MN, the birders lunch and keep driving north.

At Garrison MN, I stop to look at the ice on Mille Lacs lake.


Looks like a couple of weeks of ice yet.  Deciding not to climb on it, I snapped a selfie of me with the walleye and head to Deerwood, as my owl awaits me.


Butch Ukura lives in a nice house in a grove of trees between Deerwood and Crosby MN.  I know the area well, having both worked at Crosby Hospital 2 miles away, and Aitkin Hospital 15 miles away and also based the early parts of my novel Anders Zorn: Unveiled in Crosby.


The forlorned ER doctor, Alan Zorn Evardson is the probable illegitimate great-grandson of the famous Swedish painter Anders Zorn (cover art Rodloga) and one of his models who is banished to America.  A dying Crosby ER patient offers his physician (Evardson) a way to improve his self-esteem and sets him on a life of adventure.  But enough about my writings....

I arrived as the homeowners were sitting in their garage and Butch, the ultimate birding host, took me on tour.  Unfortunately, the day before, the poor owl was being mobbed by chickadees in his front yard but was seen by 15 birders.  Today, it left but was calling during the daylight along with a second owl.  I walked around, looked in holes and then called the owl.  It was 4pm and I got two close responses, one across the road, where I couldn't trespass and one in a tree at the neighbors but that bird only responded once unlike its buddy 100 yards away.  I couldn't see it and triangulate and when Butch came out to check on me, the other owl called in the neighbors and I decided to leave the bird alone, I had it, it was witnessed, so we chatted and talked about all the local birders we knew in common.  I told a Kim Reisen story, a guide who is based nearby, and I last ran into in Nome and I left at sometime after 1700.  Ticked Bird #505.

I finally nabbed the little bugger, NSWO 4, Olaf 1, but in this game just scoring gets the X on your O, and my 12th owl was in the checklist.  Thanks Butch!!

South of Brainerd, I had another photo op....who is that man trying to get my attention?

.this Paul Bunyan statue was only made in 2005, because...you just can't have enough Paul Bunyan statues...Brainerd has 2 large ones.  This is the small one.

245 miles later, I arrived home at 945 pm, 420 driving miles plus and just under 1700 miles in the air for the day.

I watched the current episode of  Shameless with my wife and petted my dog and drank a single Ardbeg Scotch and was shortly out...it was a long day.

3/24/2016

It was a restless night, especially since my son Allwin in Germany texted that his keys had arrived.  He forgot his apartment keys before he left on Monday and also apparently forgot about the 7 hour time difference...it was 430 am and unfortunately 8am came far too quickly afterwards.  Everyone overslept including my daughter, she grabbed a trail bar and out she went.

Barry Parkin had reported for the last couple days to me in Aberdeen that Baird's Sandpipers were in and hanging at the James River wetlands area off Hwy 12 east of Aberdeen.  Baird's is typically both the first and the last bird through, the alpha and the omega.  They can be easy to miss as is the White-rumped which is typically next to last each spring and also have the long wing projection but a white behind.  The bird is named after Spencer Fullerton Baird, who among other things, hiked 2100 miles on foot in 1842 around America, and collected stamps.

I decided to go and get this bird, as Chris Feeney says, "More Birds!"  I know I can rest next year.  I left Milbank at 9am for the 125 mile trip to Aberdeen.

Along the way I spotted some migratory geese east of Bristol SD, they always seem to hang there.  Most of the snow geese have come through and went on and the greater white-fronted are coming through now.  It is nice seeing both still.  They are keen looking birds.


25 miles down the road, I changed to the eastbound lanes at the James River.  The overlook from the expressway wasn't a good place to bird but there and I counted just 21 Baird's tiptoeing on the ice, the pond refroze overnight in the 19 degree evening, their long primaries quite obvious and I snapped a picture.  Not good but a picture

#506  Baird's Sandpiper


you can see the projection of the long wings behind the tail better on this photo

Barry wanted me to drive in to Aberdeen to look for a Harris's Sparrow with him, so after another quality birder lunch, this one at KCF, we looked at two spots in the city.  There were lots of juncoes, a Cooper's Hawk, FOY for Barry and a fallout of robins but no sparrows of any stripe.  I drove back and the Baird's were gone when I passed.  Olaf had came, seen and counted, so now they could move north to the next stopover on the way to the Arctic.

I drove back to Milbank, waiting 20 minutes for a train at the new crossing before my house and I forgot to get bird seed for my feeders.  After a return trip I loaded up my feeders

the view at the ranch looking at my feeder trees, the person watching the feeders was one of my cats, Nightmare, she said to me I needed more feed but maybe she was thinking something different than I...it was 5pm.


I may live out in the prairie but I may have an advantage over east/west coast birders, I have a good flyway right here, and people will struggle to get birds out here that are my backyard birds....Baird's fly right by me, they migrate right through my house in fall.  I will only need to bird the Northeast to get Bicknell's not counting chasing of course.  I can fly west really easy, too.  IDK, we'll see.  I am beginning to miss South Dakota

I petted the dog at 1715 before she had to go to the kennel after finding out delayed flight for wife and daughter from Sioux Falls to Denver to join me a little.  United strikes again, I am flying out of Minneapolis...I leave at 1am to drive back in.

At 8pm, I take a bastu (sauna) in my Swedish room with my wife


The room is being taken over by emergency food and water supplies since the treadmill broke. It is hard to store 9 mos of supplies.  I built the electric sauna from a kit in 2004 and is one of my prized possessions.  Saunas refresh and empower.   I drink a single Erlanger beer.

I work on a novel, Sjofn, the Goddess of Love, and go to sleep for two hours before the 4 hour drive to the airport.

So that is the exciting life I (we) lead as Big Year birders. I get champagne only on my 50th birthday and if I hit a really big number, no fancy meals, luxury hotels, and door to door chauffeurs...this is long, tiring, frustrating, and well why am I doing it?  Why really do anything?  I guess because I can. These were 2 bonus days and I was only here on these days because I had finished early in Miami and didn't have any birds to really get down there.  My scheduled Florida trip is still upcoming next month.  Two days to see wife, house, 2 bonus birds, 850 miles, two adult drinks, laundry, and my bed for a night. I did need to repack switching from Miami to snow in any event.

No time to reflect and relax as Chris Feeney's words haunt me..."More Birds!"

Olaf

Big Year Total:  506
Coded Birds:  36

Miles driven.  17,150Flight Miles 57,300flight segments: 56   Different Airports: 27Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 88Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:19

That is the sexy life of a Big Year birder...

The 50/500 Club

South Florida

Big Year Days 80-82
If I had one goal in this big year was to get to 500 birds by my fiftieth birthday and as I left south on March 20th after celebrating birthday's for my grandmother Lucille (91) and me in advance in Wisconsin.  I was 8 birds short and only had a day and a half to do it.  The first day of Spring was coming on the 21st and with it a half century of age...

I landed in Miami and rented a pickup because...it was half the price of a small car, spring break at its finest, everything overpriced but things no college student would touch, a extended cab pickup.  I decided to clean up my three missing exotics.  Ocean Bank, the white-winged parakeet hangout is very close to the airport so that was my first stop.  They are nesting here so even mid-day they are easy gets.  My lens kept fogging up due to the condensation but these are passable ID photos

White-winged parakeet



The Bulbul can be a tricky bird and i'm not sure how many of them are around. I tried a new neighborhood near Kendall Hospital (and note there are multiple Kendall Medical Centers now and Siri gets confused.)  but couldn't figure how to access the areas and then finally I was near the entrance off 82nd where I have gotten in them previous.  I drove in, and above the honest to God first house, was one on a powerline.  I took the photo out the car window and since I have good photos before in here just before the woman called the police on me, I didn't need better ones....but today it was a good, quick, and easy bird and without needing any explaining to the cops....

Red-whiskered bulbul


One left...and what should be the easiest, the common myna.  The area near the Ramada or Burger King is Lousy with Myna in Florida City, how I didn't get one was comical or shows how pathetic I really am in this hobby.  I parked the car in Cracker Barrel and couldn't see any and then they were everywhere.  I then saw then every time I drove through the area.

Common Myna


Bad photos all but exotics of Florida are now finished!  495.

I searched the glades but the rain came in, and it screwed everything up, dejected and short of my goal, Chris Feeney called and subtly gave me the business about giving up on the goatsuckers so at 11pm I went out to bird in the dark and yes, I called up an eastern whip-poor-will and near Royal Palm got a good response of chuck-wills-widows, including one maybe 25 feet away with the odd quank call.  They sound just like herons.  The bugs bit but I had got to 497....maybe 500 was doable on my birthday?
How hard could 3 be?  But it was my birthday and birthdays...

I woke up at 3, couldn't sleep....I was 50, life was now definitely down hill to the end.  Generally my birthdays are miserable affairs, fights, plane cancellations, getting lost in a desert, some have been cautiously okay but generally, I don't like to be home when I have them as I'd hide in bed all day....I just had a feeling this one was going to be a bad one.  I didn't take a shower in the morning...as I'd slip, so I juts headed to the Keys...I was going to open a bottle of Dom Perignon on the beach at sunrise, 0728 local time.  I got to Anne's beach way early, and just savored the moment, the smell of rotting vegetation, the rain, the wind...and first light, popped the bottle and promptly spilled 3/4 of it over the car and the driver's seat....yea, it is my birthday, only on my birthday....but I was by myself and so I didn't need much.

Birthdays for me end up generally just private affairs, alone and so I drank what was left of a 300$ bottle of champagne out of a used Burger King cup... by myself..for myself...nothing says happy 50th more than that!  I toasted the birding Gods and me...and hoped nothing too terrible would go wrong today...my son was traveling, I was birding, and my other son was in class, daughter and wife at home.  Picture of first light is above.  I made some resolutions, one was to get the dang grassquit and come hell or highwater, get #500, others were more personal...

The gang drove in behind me as I waited for the 0800 opening at Long Key State park 6 miles down the road.

I tried a new strategy at Long Key State Park in the Campground.  Non-camping Birders have been kicked out and as it is nearly impossible to get a campsite. First opening is in May for a single day... Generally, they have been giving us 15 minutes and then if a ranger finds you, they ask you to leave.

I decided to lower my profile.  No huge camera, no exposed bins, no birding hat and well, I also feigned injury.  I was just the invalid with a severe limp who was heading to the handicapped bathroom.  They wouldn't boot out a injured camper-birder would they?  We also spread out as even though we were five people birding, we didn't want to jumble up and be conspicuous.  As I limped along, I had to walk really slow as walking was oh so much of a chore, that was the first positive and also, many of the campers were talkative to me as due to the struggle, I needed to get my breath, especially near campsites 17-18, and in the 30s so I struck up conversations including people in #20 from New Hampshire who offered me coffee and we talked politics, my football "injury," and the future of this campground.  All the while I kept an eagle eye out for a little gray bird.

Here is the barefooted "camper" bins under my jacket...yup, just fat under that coat and it was a cool morning so the coat looked normal.  I wish I would have had a walker.  I was thinking of going to get my towel and wash my hair to look like the morning people heading to the showers and back.  I made the rangers wait for me to come out of the handicapped bathroom before they locked up the bathroom at 35 area to clean it, all the while with them waiting impatiently for me to stumble down the ramp and chain it off, they weren't kicking out the other birders.  Here I am picking up my shoes heading to the bathroom at the 14 area (right after that) since they didn't allow me to go before they cleaned other one.  They clean bathrooms at 0930 and that other one at 11.


No birder here, just a limping camper trying to hobble across the road before the garbage truck can get by.  The whole process extended the 15 minutes to become and hour and then 2...then 3!  I picked up a year bird, 498, an American redstart lurking and peering into campsites...I was generally taking lurking to a whole new level.  The couple at 20 packed up, loaded their car on a trailer and went home and as they were using the dump station, I went and said goodbye on my way to the other bathroom as the ranger patrol drove by, but didn't pay me notice.  I watched them go and then went behind the bathroom and looked in the weeds...I flushed a little gray bird, it flew just like the grassquits I have seen so many times in St Martin, up and then it disappeared across from 20-21.  It wasn't a good enough sighting for me to call it so I called in help.  We refined our search but it wasn't easy or quick.  A couple of other more conspicuous birders came, that looked like birders and I knew it was only a matter of time....and out we'd have to go.

I knew 19/20 was the key, I could feel it, then as it just wasn't turning up, one of the other birders, a man doing a big year in baseball cities (states) Toronto plays in.  He spotted it on the beach side of 19.  We were 25 feet away, he motioned.  Chris, Theresa, and I got behind him and bingo, perched on the railing.  female grassquit.  He took some photos, I, the incognito birder, had no camera but it was as Chris said, a short but plain and a satisfying look.  We weren't so careful after that and a few minutes later were asked to leave.  Then the deputy sheriff drove through, but I (we) had the bird...wait..where was Rangel Diaz?   He had wandered off, crap, he missed it but had the bird for Florida before.... just not Monroe county so we didn't feel too bad.

the grassquit search detail  summarily expelled from the campground


Chris Feeney, Theresa Schwinghammer, and Rangel Diaz, and me.  Rangel has his hands up because when the bird was found, where was Rangel?  Four weeks ago when the Zenaida dove was found, where again was Rangel?  That time he came a running from far away and got it, this time....alas no....But...Rangel got the Cuban Pewee last Monday and I ask, where was Olaf?  Yea, I was in Texas when I should have been here.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...if it flies like a grassquit, and it looks like one too...
..a birthday present for me
and many more.........!

It was a good birthday present and I had hoped it would be a fitting bird #500 but I was one bird short...we looked for a rumored worm-eating warbler near the Zenaida dove spot on the other side of the park but alas nothing.  It would have to fail at this goal....that pink-footed goose...I should have been down here 10 days ago.

I searched and searched all over South Florida for a bird, any bird I could call 500, eventually getting near the glades nearing 3pm, time was short.  We were going to meet for my birthday in Florida City and for birders, these guys eat early and I was probably going to be late.  Driving past Lucky Hammock, I spotted an odd dove on a fence before it flew down disappearing into the grass.  I would have liked to see that bird again, I swear it was a female ruddy quail-dove, I don't know what else it could be?  But alas after a one hour stakeout, it didn't reappear..I almost got it on camera...but in this game, to call that bird and I wasn't sure it was that bird, I needed more than a quick look and a guess, I needed proof...it was just another UFO sighting of birding.  Was that my birthday bad thing?  Tormented by a not provable code 4 rarity one bird short of a goal?  It was so typical for my birthday of bad and unsettling things.

I was down past where Aerojet road is blocked off and walked to near some abandoned installation that included flood lights, razor wire and a pretty bad vibe.  I was getting a really bad vibe..."what is this place?"  I said to myself.  I could even sense death.  Yuck!  I saw some odd vultures circling way off.......wait they weren't vultures....

It was a kettle of Swallow-tailed kites!  Eventually one flew my way for a photo op...


bird 500!!!!!!!!!!!  yes!  and on my birthday!  I could thankfully leave this scary place.

Then I got a call from my business partner...Troy.  It was really bad news....They had taken my secretary off in a helicopter to Sioux Falls...brain bleed........shit (I'll just say it, sorry, I said worse than that).  Margaret is like the best woman and the best employee...just about ready to retire, her husband just did and this?  The elation....became....dejection....another birthday disaster. Damn birthdays.

The party was a bit somber, despite the big 5-0 and the bigger 5-0-0, I drank my lifer beer, Monk in the Truck, or something like that, lifer 735, I guess, it just didn't matter...and thought of my poor Margaret.  I had been a long day...a very long day and I was tired of it, the anticipation and the waiting for what bad that was going to happen....sleep is the ultimate cure of bad birthdays, I have learned, so sleep I did.

Morning came and I turned on TV, in the shower, I heard explosions at European airport...crap I ran out naked and wet...my son had just landed in a European airport....Brussels...I heard it, again.  Brussels....whew, not Dusseldorf or London...I took a breath..not that I'm glad for them, I'm not... but it didn't involve my son and in cases like this, I'm selfish, sorry....I had a bad feeling about my son flying on my birthday and I had booked the tickets....It is sort of like playing with fate, doing things like that on March 21...I just can't do them.

So I went to Matheson Hammock at dawn to see hopefully short-tailed hawks.  I better focus on this bird.  It is a beautiful park actually, but alas...no hawks....I was, though, like a zoo there......parakeets and parrots of different stripes, red-headed, some with yellow on their faces, or maybe those were parrots IDK, and these


Blue and Yellow macaws...really?  There was just bat-sh&5t crazy stuff there, I couldn't figure out what some of it was, but all of it was nothing I could officially count, so I didn't even photograph a couple of species of parakeet I've never seen.

I ran into a birder.  He ignored my parakeet call as some really exotic flock cruised by but when I mentioned I'd only seen a pair of mynas as the only countable bird he replied..."where?"  I pointed and he literally ran.  Mynas...?  Hadn't he been to Florida City or a McDonald's?  Whatever.  The Opossum wandered by again and wandered is the correct term, and then the birder came back and had missed the mynas and wanted to know how to get across the road. How does the birder cross the road. I had on my monogrammed shirt and looked official...for Smoothrock camp, Ontario.  I had no clue where anything was.

I walked around a bit, and the mynas were still on the same dead tree....I looked back at the birder across the lake and then I went and found the trail across the road like the map said...you go across the road...did he not look?  I finally gave up and started to head to the Lucky Hammock area near the glades.  I wanted to look for that dove.

There are five warblers that I consider chase warblers.  All will be buggers for me to get.  Living in South Dakota and being generally from extreme NW Wisconsin, I have not birded the southeast and as such SE warblers dominate this "big" five.  People all worry about Connecticut warblers, heck, they nest in my grandmother's and, I guess now, my swamp, so I just got to wait until they show up in May.  These are the tough ones, and my history with them...Hooded (seen 2 both Florida keys), Kentucky (once Oklahoma), Swainson's (once Florida), Hermit (once Oregon and not very well), and Cerulean (2 times MN and Dry Tortugas FL).  I have to chase prothonatory warblers to La Crosse...about 250 miles one way but I know exactly where to go and it is on the way to my red-headed woodpecker spot and not far from my Henslow's sparrow spot, so now I have deleted that bord from my toughie list.  The Kentucky is really bad as I don't even have a plan for that bird, I just hoped to run into one in south Texas.

Then I get a text...Kentucky Warbler...Bahia Hondo...from Theresa....crud, why did I go to Matheson Hammock?  Then another...Hooded warbler....I texted her back..."you are stabbing me in the gut and twisting the knife"  Then she asked if I had the hawk yet..."NO!"  I responded.

I went back through Florida City and checked out the spot of the odd dove but it wasn't there.  I looked for hawks, none, not even the red-shouldered, I searched for even the western kingbird seen here, which is a backyard bird and then frustrated I said why am I wasting my time on that?  I got some lunch and headed for the keys.

I had noticed that Dagny Johnson Park was closed tight on the 21st which is a good spot for yellow-billed cuckoos, not sure why it is closed, I hope not for good.  I always think driving the Card Sound road is good potentially for birds but it never is ...and it just costs me a buck and typically I get frustrated by the gobs of unexplainable traffic coming from the eastern end of Old 1, usually jamming up the toll road at the booth.  I was near the Crocodile Lake NWR buildings which aren't open to the public when on the south side of the road I spotted a hawk about ten feet up in the tree, it was precariously perched on a small cut branch and had a wing out, and even made me think it had been hit. It was a dark phase...juve short-tailed hawk!  Crap, it matched a picture I had stopped on my phone during a picture search at Matheson when I was sitting on a picnic table wasting time, hoping for a fly-over. Sh%t!  I said as I slammed on the brakes and being no real shoulder of the road and with the truck I needed something to turn into, so I drove ahead 100 feet and then let a car pass me before I swung around.  Unfortunately, bird...gone...my thoughts of injury were unjustified....it made it out of there quite easily.  I looked up and drove back to the where I could see if it flew east a little, but I never spotted anything, dang, no picture.

I drove with the traffic jam to Bahia west of Marathon.  Bahia is basically a beach park, it is small, narrow, tight on parking, and sometimes like today the access gate is too close to Hwy 1 and a bit dangerous to turn into.  It can be a bugger finding parking there, and there really isn't much to bird IMHO.  The park owes its existence to Florida moving the highway north and abandoning in 1972 one of the coolest and probably unsafest bridges on the Overseas Highway, the over-under former railway trestle over the Spanish channel.


One of the many things from the 60s I missed out on is driving on this.  I think old bridges are cool and some of these made getting to Key West a miracle in its own right.  Driving a 1962 Galaxie like my old one, pulling a Rol-lite Travel trailer like those made in Grantsburg WI would have been an adventure.

There is some terrain here, on the sides of the old road bed as it goes up to the old bridge it has sea grapes and that was where they saw the warblers on the leeward side.  But alas I could only find a couple of butterbutts...and two common ground doves and a rather suspicious sneering college co-ed group....I almost was ready to say, hey girls...I may be old, and ugly but heck, I can take a year off to go birding on the beach..you?.....Then they rolled their eyes and walked on.  I got the same looks when I was 21.

Where did the warblers go?  I looked the beach side and then about to give up, I saw a butterbutt (yellow rumped) in a tree, then I looked closer, then closer and there was a female painted bunting under the bush, and so soon was I on my knees, peering, lurking in a bush, one of those beach guys mothers warm children about.  Now I think I have exceeded my tolerance on lurking.  Here I am, in the middle of a tree, with a camera and on the beach side of the tree maybe 25 feet away are those girls and in not much with more girlfriends and here am I.  A mother with her 7 year old walked by and the kid stopped and the mother saw him stop and looked at me and made that "Oh my God!" face and pushed her son back towards the trail.  The bugs ate me from every direction and now even on unexposed flesh.  The ranger drove by not once but four times but didn't give me grief, and it took that long to get the birds and the shots.

hooded warbler



Kentucky  warbler


Wow...2 of the big 5!

The birding gang was back at Long Key so I decided it was prudent to go, so I did, maybe I'd see another warbler...

I ran into them in the parking lot, Liz from Massachusetts had come in and had gotten the dove and they were out to find the grassquit although that never happened.

at the turn off on the boardwalk I stopped.  I could sense something or heard it, IDK.  I had learned to look down on the ground at Bahia and so I did again and there it was a Swainson's warbler...as plain as day and then it turned and walked away slowly.  I grabbed for the camera and just like the golden crowned at Refugio, I lost it....it was like it vanished.  This bird never said anything, was on the ground, I could appreciate if this the way they act why they are so hard to see.  That was a fist bump moment...another tough one down.  504!

The Zenaida dove was back at it's usual confines on the Golden Orb trail near the beach access, I saw it both days I was here.
A code five and it is just an incidental bird...LOL
Zenaida dove (again)


I heard that the prayer warrior Margaret was improving quickly, the bleed 3  cm and she was talking, talking about work!  The best employee ever....everyone was now praying for her and it was helping...I felt better.  We ate at Mrs. Macs and then I went to my room

I had expected that due to the Brussels attacks and all the hype on extra security on the Miami news that I better get to the airport earlier than usual for my 745 flight out of Miami.  There were also two road closures I had to contend with, one without a detour, but there was no traffic at all, and when I got to security, not only was there no extra security, no armed people like they said on TV, but the person on the Xray screening was so asleep apparently they let through a full waterbottle I had forgotten to empty....go figure...It gave me two extra hours in the Delta lounge to write this.

The Delta Sky Club is next to Victoria's Secret...waiting for 5 am opening I watched the Victoria's video display in it's entirety, some of those frilly things just don't look too practical, generally, I think less to nothing is better....I also concluded that it isn't the underwear us men want, it is the women in the underwear, we want.  But like most fantasies, those are women we will never have just like those, 20 year old somethings at Bahia giving me the stink eye.  Those were women I couldn't get even when I WAS 20.

At least when I dream about grouse, grassquits, and hooded warblers, those are attainable goals, and maybe now over 50, and AARP eligible, I need to be happy with what I can get.  With that in mind, I guess, I'll go and get some grouse in Colorado.....

81 days to get 500, but if this was a baseball season, I would have just completed the exhibition part, exhibition sets you up but in reality doesn't mean much but can ruin it all.  I didn't do anything to screw up the year but the real season of birding was now upon me and with it I needed every bird...every single one.  I would be a long hard three months until I could take a break and then wait if I had positioned myself for Alaska. and the playoffs...I had done nothing yet....but at least now I am 50...

Summary

Big Year Total:  504Coded birds:  36Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, ringtailed cat, opossum
Miles driven.  16,300Flight Miles 57,300flight segments: 56   Different Airports: 27Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 88Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:19
Miami
493. white-winged parakeet
494.  Red-whiskered bulbul

Florida City
495. Common myna

Lucky Hammock/ Frog Pond SNA
496.  Eastern whip-poor-will
497.  Chucks-will-widow

3/21
Long Key SP
498.  American Redstart
499.  Black-faced Grassquit (4)

Lucky Hammock/ Frog Pond SNA

***500.***  Swallow-tailed Kite

3/22

Key Largo

501.  short-tailed hawk

Bahia Hondo SP

502.  Hooded  Warbler
503.  Kentucky warbler

Long Key SP

504.  Swainson's warbler

thanks all

olaf

No Hookers in Texas

Mission, TX

I spent three days looking up, and what did I see?  Well, it was a hawk watch, vulture watch, anything watch, except for I guess a hook-billed kite watch.  The hook-billed remained...sadly...uncounted, but well, I saw a lot of migrating hawks including the above broad-winged hawk and at least 70 of its pals fly over head migrating north, I saw somethings that well...we'll get to that..

The stakeout at Bentsen for hawks was so much fun (sic), I drove over to Salineno to stakeout red-billed pigeons one afternoon and evening.  15 Hours on a dike or hawk tower wasn't enough, so I supplemented that with five hours on a boat landing looking at Mexico...

Big Year Days 74-6
Big Year Total:  492Coded birds:  35Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, ringtailed cat
Miles driven.  15,700Flight Miles 54,300flight segments: 53   Different Airports: 27Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 80Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:19
They have been seeing red-billed pigeons, a bird missing from my life list, and one starting to border on becoming  a nemesis, (did I say that?) on the island north of the landing and on the island south.  It was a hot afternoon and the thermometer was 99 when I walked over to check on the two locations, but there was nothing there, no pigeons, just osprey, six of them in all.

I ran into a friendly Houston birder named Gary Benderim, who was there after the same tough bird, I was.  We chatted and he went and checked the surroundings, too.  He saw the same seedeater I had, a female type.  I went up to the feeding station and found a flock of bobwhite, they still had Altamira and Audubon's orioles but will be closing shop in a few days as the caretakers will be moving on.


I came back down and spotted FOY barn swallows feed over the river.  Then fishermen arrived and well first one, then two, then five, one of them caught a small largemouth and one of the osprey caught a catfish but besides that, fishing seemed a bit slow, and generally the ospreys stayed perched.  I was dozing off in the heat when all of a sudden something had gotten over me without me noticing it.  It could have been the pigeon....but IDK, it was too fast and I was droopy, so I started chain eating mints.  I needed to pay attention!  Had I missed my chance?

It was dragging on.  Gary came back and we watched, waited and hoped, I didn't mention my possible dozing miss....530, 6, 630, and then two birds came at us from Mexico.  There was no doubt this time...PIGEONS!  The correct ones but they were in Mexico, way in Mexico. Damn!   I began to coax them like a golf shot waiting for the action, the wind, or the break to work.  They were still coming at us.  "Come on, come on!"  I yelled.  Then they turned to almost Parallel.  I swore and then tried to encourage them.  "Left!  Left! Get into America, come on!"  I yelled as if they could hear or understand me.  It was then as if waiting for a monster Tiger Woods putt (when Tiger was a monster) to break over an unseen ridge on TV, that the birds started turning towards us again as we stood there transfixed.  "Come on, come on, a little more!" I yelled as Gary pulled up his camera and began to take shots.  I couldn't take shots as I had to know where these birds were.  They were now clearly over the Rio Grande, but where exactly is the border? Where is America?  I had heard from multiple sources that it was the channel, but where exactly was that?  The birds zipped past as I followed them as they headed east of south dead down the river.  "Left!" I yelled one more time and then they veered ever so subtly a little to the left heading towards the island and then I watched as they went over the island clearly on our side.  "Yay!  ABA!"  I jumped and cheered as if the gigantic putt rolled into the hole.

Now, I can say two things about these two pigeons.  First, they were undoubtedly red-billed pigeons, and secondly, and unquestionably they crossed into American airspace, at least somewhere in that journey.  Was that when they passed us? Possibly, but it was definitely as they took a straight line from us towards that island as the river goes a little more to the right.   The bad part of having to watch them and their exact position the whole period was I was unable to take pictures, and there was no way I was going to have those birds out of eye sight at anytime, when I thought they crossed into ABAdom, I shouted it.  Gary agreed.  Just like a Tiger putt I did a little fist action with the bird.  It was in the hole, it is in THE hole...wait, that IS golf.  This is birding.  Os becomes an Ex...Tick, counted, bird #489.  Gary is sending me a copy of a picture he took for my records.  Lifer number #734 too.  I'm drinking beer tonight, well I didn't but I will get to that.

It isn't like they would be good pictures, here is a ringed kingfisher taken by me a few minutes later.  It is the best of ten shots and isn't very good, I look forward to seeing what Gary got.  I didn't need it but the kingfisher is in ABAdom, too....see the border?


No, you don't.  To be honest I'm not sure where this bird is, but it landed on our shoreline.  This you will agree, is really an imperfect science and I saw this bird last year in Roma (I mean same species of pigeon), they never ever crossed the border.  I assume the border was past where the guy in Mexico with the jeep drove out past the sand bar.  Those pigeons were squarely on the Mexican side IMHO.

WARNING:  What I'm about to say should be graphic.  It should be laced with expletives and every foul word I could come up with, maybe even using a British dictionary for more.   I turned back towards Mission nearing dark and after the traffic being afraid of the plethora of police and stops upon cars next to me three times, for infractions, I couldn't fathom....maybe the truck with the boat failed to yield for a cop but it was solid traffic and I was to his left, so where could he go?

Going 40 in a 60, I finally got to Hidalgo County phew!  Wow, I will never EVER, spend a dime in Starr county, either the county is so unsafe as to warrant the occupation by the Texas State Police, so one shouldn't dare venture from your car OR they are just being a public nuisance and either way I want no part of it.  You couldn't give me property in that county.  Now, finally cruising along at the speed limit, at the Bentsen State park exit, traffic just stopped, no stop and go, just stopped and no go.  it took 90 minutes to get to the next exit, Encarnation (sp?) and %^^&...okay construction, no problem but they %^^&$ Texas highway department didn't mark the detour and people were going every which way and the cop gave the frontage road people, where us that were going where we were supposed to go, no turns at the intersection.  It took me three hours to go 3 miles, REALLY?  I found the Motel 6 in Mission which by the way is NOT findable by Siri on Iphone and I was too pooped to eat, drink beer or anything,...I went to bed.

I moved from the dike to the official hawk watch with the John and usual counters for the next two mornings. The guys have good eyes, especially John's friend, name alludes me.  It was not as good of a day as the day before when they saw 11,000 plus vultures.  Heck, I saw a lot of vultures from the dike, not that many, but lots.

Then we get to more imperfect science.  Hook-billed kites and hawk IDs.  Only four species commonly group up here, Vultures, broad winged hawks, Swainson's hawks, and Mississippi kites, the latter two haven't begun coming by yet, so if there is a group of raptors--broad-wings, but single birds of other species will come into a kettle of vulutres especially say, zone-tails which may be a hunting technique.  Gray hawks flap and broad wings don;t except with heavy air trying to gain altitude.

So here is a bird from the ground..I'm pushing my lens


I'm thinking Cooper's hawk here.

here is a hook-billed from internet


Now on hawk-watch day II, the guy standing next to me called this bird on Ebird, I bird I clearly remember, BTW,  a hook-billed, this is his picture....I will cite if needed but don't want to cast any aspersions.

[image error]
I had it down also as a Cooper's but...?  No one called it hook-billed at the time.  This is imperfect.  I saw a roosting hook-billed at Santa Ana a few years ago and I know exactly what it was but no photo and no one believed that ebird report.  It got up, and flew off back towards Mexico....It is just the way things are.

About all I do know is this is a white tailed kite.


the weather became even heavier on day #3 and it wasn't until nearly 11 that the vultures and hawks lifted off.  I had a bird way out in the scope that I could have called a hook-bill, even the watchers were waiting for my call but I couldn't do it, I just couldn't.  IDK, so I leave Texas hookless, so to speak, no hookers, but unless someone has something to enlighten me, I need to come back.

The synopsis

3/14 Bentsen Rio Grande State Park

487.  Broad-winged Hawk

Salineno

488.  Barn Swallow
489.  Red-billed pigeon

Santa Ana NWR

490.  Yellow-throated vireo
491.  Stilt Sandpiper

Bentsen Rio Grande State Park

492.  Nashville warbler

Okay, now some Texism.  H E B stores. one of the most intriguing markets--stores, I have seen in a while.  This store always makes me laugh.

First, flaming birds?  Nothing says birds better than flaming ones....okay they are probably talking fried chicken but do I really want flaming chicken?
Now the first time ever visiting one of these masterpieces of local commerce was in Rio Grande City when I used to shop in Starr County, they had an entire section of Madonna statues next to a beer display.  Hundreds of Madonnas....Mother Mary and imported beer....I think about the two of them.
Okay here is one

Grilling next to School and Office?  Or office between sporting goods and grilling?  Who lays these stores out?  They are never the same.
I needed toothpaste....I couldn't find any.  It actually was in this aisle

Okay look at what they have in this aisle..think about this combo.....Reading glasses next to Incontinence?  Travel Sizes.  The combo of Feminine hygiene and eye care?  They have depends next to small tubes of toothpaste, next to pregnancy tests, by ....
I went and bought a really weird beer for my lifer beer.
 
True Blonde Dubbel.....only at H E B, almost following my wine theory for a good red.  I buy from the label which has to be either a naked woman or a fine French Chateau, I have never been wronged using this technique.....this one was close, but does it work on beer?  They weren't naked but it wasn't too bad of a beer either...a day late but still savoring the pigeon.  This beer was about as close as I came to hookers in Texas,  Okay a bad pun made from a guy who lives for these things........ 
Cheers to Texas!Cheers to Red, red IS not the new pink.

Olaf

The Hummingbirds are back

The first hummer came to the feeder and even it mocked me with my trouble with pink....then I scratched my head...a pink breasted hummingbird.....what the?  Everything seemed pink now to my eyes....

It was the start of some early hummer madness...they were hummers...I was mad, mad as a hatter.

Big Year Days 71-73
Big Year Total:  486Coded birds:  35Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, ringtailed cat
Miles driven.  15,500Flight Miles 51,300flight segments: 49   Different Airports: 27Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 70Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:19

SE Arizona

It was a long day repositioning from Connecticut and my busted pink goose project.  I flew into Minneapolis, hooked up with my wife and daughter and then on to Phoenix and Tucson.  We crawled into our hotel room for a few hours in Green Valley.

Let me say, this was a scheduled trip for sometime.  I needed family and this trip was a bit on the calm and down low.  I needed that...

I had three birds I needed, as I had scrapped the search for the black-capped gnatcatcher to go get the ivory gull, that was a first stop and then I needed a spotted owl.  I also learned that there was a hawk watch at a park in Tubac south of Green valley and when I emailed the person reporting the numbers, he said anyone could come.  The place offered, picnic tables, a jumping dog, and a group of about 60 watchers...the first bird called out was a black hawk, and life...was good.


It turned out the dog walkers came out and watched the bird watchers and many of the bird watchers watched the dog walkers.  It was basically the month of March in Tubac, people with dogs looking at people with bins looking for birds but generally chatting.  My daughter watched Joey, the jumping dog who could easily clear the fence in the dog run, and after a while, as my hoping something else showed up waned, I realized my two ladies weren't watching hawks and just dogs...it was time to leave.

We then went to Florida Canyon and got the gnatcatcher with a little effort, and then we had ice cream bars at Santa Rita Lodge while watching hummers feed.  It was a little slow as the heat of the day was happening, but my daughter was adding year birds right and left.

After a supply stop in Safeway where I met the oddest, and most talkative checkout guy ever, I got a listing of his entire household of pets, feeding schedules, and I learned he was a young man who needed to leave Sierra Vista right away....really.  His middle name was bored...

We came into the Beatty Ranch just after 1530, and met Tom and Edith.  They were the consumate hosts and we stayed in cabin A.  It was a rejuvenating place and good for Silja and my souls.  Sometimes we don't seem to know which way to go..


but here...we met in the middle.


It was nice at the Beatty's, and it turned out one of the three Chemistry Profs that challenged me and shaped me back in the day at Ripon College, Dr James Beatty PhD of Ripon is Tom's brother and also now lives in Sierra Vista.  Ahhh...P Chem...the memories.  Not all memories are good.  One memory is of one of my classmates and one of the 8 in that class killed himself the weekend before finals started, with cyanide he stole from the stockroom possibly even when I was on duty.  We all went to Scott's funeral on reading day.  I ate with Scott just before he did this as I had a forensics meet in UW-Stout.  He seemed okay 48 hours before....I also remembered a caring prof during those trying times named Dr. Beatty.  I chose to remember the good......

This is the forth time, Ripon College has turned up recently birding.  I have even been rescued by the president of the Board of Trustees in Belize birding once.  I called my old prof, who I'd lost track of when he retired and although he didn't remember me, I thanked him as I have Dr Scamehorn who is still living in Ripon and I always regret I never did this for Dr. Earle Scott before he died. Dr Katahira who replaced Dr Scott in 1986 is still there and teaches my twins.  It has been 28 years since I graduated ...I was a 22 year old punk back then, with unruly hair, bad dress, and well, not a six pack or even a single can abs....now... nothing has changed!

It is a small world, and as the Beatty's hail from Fargo area, it was nice talking midwest with them.  They have suffered much over the years with fire and flood and it is amazing they still have a ranch.  I needed the 10 hours of sleep and so apparently did my family.  Tom took us personally and showed us the pair of spotted owls in a tree, it was even kind of sweet in a romantic sort of way.  Nothing beats owl sightings and for the rare owls, even better.  We look forward to coming back in hummer season.

We hiked as much as my wife's bad ankle would tolerate and except for my daughter loosing her cell phone, I think in Suguaro National Park, it was good trip, even she thought so.

You know, I like writing about some big event, or ranting about something I see, but this was just a nice relaxing weekend and allowed me to reconnect with my wife of 25 plus years and my 15 year old daughter....that and 3 target birds and 11 FOY birds gave me a total up to 486.  I got 5 hummers, including a couple of really good photos of birds I haven't photoed...Okay ready now for more chases.  The biggest surprise was a yellow-throated warbler in Patagonia.  It has been there for months but what is that doing there?  Maybe it like us needed a little R&R.  Thank you Arizona, the Beattys and the birds.....

Synopsis

3/11/2016
Tubac Hawk Watch

476.  Broad-billed hummingbird
477.  Common black hawk

Florida Canyon

478.  black-capped gnatcatcher (code 3)

Santa Rita Lodge

479.  Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Miller Canyon

480.  Spotted Owl
481.  Magnificent Hummingbird

3/12/2016

482.  Cassin's Vireo

Paton's Hummingbird Center

483.  Violet-crowned hummingbird
484.  black-chinned hummingbird

Patagonia City Park

485.  yellow-throated warbler

3/13/2016

Saguaro National Park
486.  Gilded flicker

Here are some of the gorgeous photos of birds from this weekend

Common black hawk, first one on the watch, we saw 5, not sure what the final tally was for Friday




broad billed hummingbird



Black capped gnatcatcher male, got many photos of the female below



Black-tailed gnatcatcher



spotted owls (Mexican)


Violet crowned himmingbird, which is slowly becoming my favorite hummer, third time is the charm to get decent photos of this bird....2013, and 2015 photos sucked!




painted redstart


well enough R&R, I need to get my last 14 for 500 by my 50th birthday and stay on schedule...any one need a birding partner is LRGV?  I land in McAllen in the morning.....
Life is good, the hummers are back!
Olaf

The Pink Menace II?

Big Year Days 68-70
Big Year Total:  475Coded birds:  34Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, 
Miles driven.  15,100Flight Miles 47,300flight segments: 46   Different Airports: 27Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 66Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:19

Hartford, CT

It is my hope that some adversity will make me stronger.  The good news is that I came to Connecticut and added my 47th state to my lifetime visit list, now only missing New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, the bad news is I seriously dipped out on the bird.  It was one of those monumental busts...

I sat above in the departure lobby in Montreal (pictured above) for a flight that I ended up being the only passenger....note to self--there is a reason no one else is going to Hartford..maybe you shouldn't go either.  It was a very small Beechcraft 1700D and I did get here alive but well....

The final score is Pink-footed goose 3, Olaf 0

It was long and a hard stakeout at Fisher Meadows in Avon, CT.  I came, I didn't see, and I was conquered.  All this, despite the best efforts of Mark Danforth, the man who found the goose originally.  It was also in spite of  Darlene Moore, who had been reporting it nearly daily and took me under her wing, even feeding me and putting me up after I got stubborn and stayed an extra day when I should of bugged out.  It was also despite it being reported just 3 hours before I got here.

I had expected a quick in and out, be home for dinner almost, but the bird didn't cooperate.  I think the bird was coming in the first night with a lone snow goose and two pairs of Canada's in low light but it didn't stop and kept flying north right by its nightly hangout...why?  IDK, the geese seemed to change their patterns the second day and despite a search of the whole region and sorting thousands of Canadas ...........no dice.

Some dip outs don't bug you but this one did.  I don't like to feel defeated and today when I made a last ditch effort to see the bird I ran into a man from Ohio who recognized me and to be honest, that gave me a boost.  He knew Jay Lehman, big year birder and knew of me and has followed this....you know that is what this is all about, people saying hey, god job!  Thanks!

Birders came and went and one thing was constant, no goose.

I got excited when 500 geese came in yesterday and one was different...


My excitement waned when the bird turned showing me it's white face--greater white-fronted goose...the only reported one here in months.

I was somewhat happy to have noted the American woodcock returning and hearing their peent, which gave me bird #475 and saved me a early 50 mile trek to get one in Wisconsin but it wasn't much of a consolation prize.

Both John and Debbie S. from St Martin took in this wayward traveler (Debbie has taken me down in the islands under her wing before) and so did Darlene Moore, a woman I hadn't met before....thanks much for your warm hospitality.  I appreciate your kindness.  I don;t think I'm worth it, but well...this is depression talking, I'll perk up when a good bird is nabbed.

I wish I could have something witty to say, but I'm worn out with this stakeout and I don't want to sort geese for a while.  Yes, they are just fascinating to watch land, and I did watch it for days but well maybe I'll appreciate my time in Connecticut more in retrospect.  Anything in excess is tiring...

I tried to standby a flight to get out early but alas NO, last man not on the plane.  I sit here waiting for a call from any birder that they have found the bird but alas, the phone isn't ringing.  I'm better off because it will go before I can get there anyhow and I'll miss the last flight out which I am on.

I worry that this bird will become my new nemesis...I have issues with pink....I am trying everything, a new hat, a new shirt, I played Ex's and Oh's in the woods yesterday....I just hope the Pink Nemesis hasn't reincarnated as a goose...a %^& pink-footed goose.   There is a story about this goose costing me in the past...a business deal in New York....but I won't have any of this talk....I just won't have a new nemesis...NO!

Hope and patience is the only things us birders have some days and if my hope fades and I become inpatient, this will evolve into a VERY long year.  Maybe that is what I will get out of this dip out is a new perspective on all of this....in that I find something I can truly hope for.

Thanks again to everyone in this fine state, I apologize for avoiding it for 49.96 years...gosh I'm almost 50, maybe that is why I feel so down...birthdays suck.

enjoy the moment

Olaf     

Uhtceare about the Rock

It was all dark, I could feel a presence looking at me, maybe many presences and then the light shined and the familiar music started with a finger running down the piano.  I didn't like my hair at all, my shoes were wrong, and the Rainbow flag I was wearing seemed ill fitting and a bit drafty.  I noticed the mike in my right hand and then I had an urge to sing: "Go on now, go walk out the door..just turn around now.."  Why was I singing the Gloria Gaynor's song, but I continued and then in the chorus out comes Bart Simpson wearing only a thong, but also colored like the LGBT flag like my dress and then also out comes Robin Williams, he was all pale and gray but was wearing even less, LGBT colored socks and red 1970s Converse high-tops.  "You look terrible, Robin."  I said in a pause.

"I'm just dead, Olaf."  he smiled and then said "Just go with it, man...go with it."  Bart was singing I will survive alone so we had to catch up.

Then the music stopped and Robert Wuhl (may favorite actor) came out, he was teaching a class, the spectators were graduate students, he was lecturing on LGBT anthems of the 1970s...."Now let me introduce the late Freddie Mercury...."

I woke up with a start..."What the...?"  I said sitting up in bed and where even was I?  Then I felt women looking at me...I laid back down....I was in the safe confines of my bedroom with the beautiful models of the 1920s and 30s of Marcel Herrfeldt paintings looking at me.  Brighid the dog groaned un-approvingly, it was too early...even for her.

For the next hour I was taken over by a terrible case of uhtceare

 UHTCEARE. (n.) Pronounced- oot-key-are-a. An Old English word meaning. 'lying awake before dawn and worrying'

and it had nothing to do with that strange dream, well maybe not.  One shouldn't be too concerned about being oneirocritical (pertaining to the interpretation of dreams) so I won't be.  I was worried about whether going to St John's Newfoundland, the "Rock" was a good idea.  It is the best palce to see two coded birds, but I already had the tufted duck.  It was a long way for a black-headed gull.  I would need to get up in an hour.  The marquis bird, the yellow-legged gull hadn't been seen for a while, the ice had melted 2 months early and a snow storm was imminent.  It would be a long trip for just a black-headed gull.  Then what?  The uhtceare just continued until the alarm sounded and soon, Allwin and I were heading to Minneapolis.  I was going birding alone, he was just off to visit college and the airport in Minneapolis was on the route to Ripon. Oddly Sirius radio was on the 70s channel and then as I danced to some mighty fine disco tunes, No "Ex's and Oh's for me today.  My son just looked at me like I had a disease.  I then sang to "I will survive" and I looked at him staring at me like was I truly okay...."What?"  I said.  "It is a powerful song, the narrator discusses her refound strength after a devastating break up.  It is sort of analogous to the refinding of the strength of the late seventies after the breakup of the sixties culture for the baby-boomers if only to be crushed again as they became 40 a few years later in the eighties..."

"Where did that come from?"  I said quietly to myself I wasn't even thinking about that.

Then I added when he asked me a question about things I regretted from the past.  Sigh, more thoughts I would rather not think about......but I discussed how I felt like I had arrived to a party just as the Baby-boomers were turning off the lights.  I was 10 days below the cut off for the 18, then 19, year old drinking age as they raised it to 21 in 1984-87.  The boomers had their fun and now they stuck the 1980s with us, Aids, Reagan, Inflation, bad music, conservatism, and Walter Mondale and Dukakis....They had given the tail end of the Boomers or GenX the shaft, that was my one regret, missing the all the fun...but as the song goes, I will survive.

"THE ROCK-- NEWFOUNDLAND"

Newfoundland, Canada

Big Year Days 64-67
Big Year Total:  474Coded birds:  34Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, 
Miles driven.  14,900Flight Miles 43,200flight segments: 45   Different Airports: 26Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 66Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:18

Where to start....I arrived at 1230 AM, almost wanted to hug the cheery Hertz rep at the airport and went to my hotel, a B&B in downtown St. John's, which I might add as it turned didn't offer breakfast, in fact, it was devoid of any hosts at all, and was above a very noisy nightclub which kept going to 3am.  It is called the Duckworth Hotel and was warm and the bed was night but lacked much of anything such as some direction to the stay which I guess for me was okay.  It was cheap.  The Quality Inn is the the old birder standby and well, the bed was nicer here but it was easier to figure out the bar and get a direction to visit there but it wasn't bad.

The local young birder el-primo, star medical student, and all-around nice guy Alvan Buckley picked me up before 6am outside and while I waited on the cold dark streets of the capital of Newfoundland for him, it seemed like I was in a move scene with Peter Sellers "The Pink Panther."  A cab came by going left and then turned right up the hill.  A moment later the same cab retraced it's step down hill.  He then went by me slowing....I waived him off.  I sat, just like the observer in the movie did.  Then he came around again from same direction.  He came around from three directions 5 times stopping twice.   In the movie the three cars doing such can't leave the neighborhood and end up crashed at a fountain, luckily Alvan showed up before that happened.

We joined what appeared to a gathering of the St John's birding community at Cape Spear, looking for a white gyr, I had seen a gyr already but white ones....while waiting in the cold, I observed the first point of sunrise on North America, its easternmost point is Cape Spear.


While I was there I added a couple of new birds.

#471  Black Guillemot

 way out in the sea and so windy, I was unable to use my digiscoping equipment, but it was the bird as were the five common eiders Bruce McTavish called out which after they flew by, I sort of looked at everyone and then had a vision of another movie....Rare Birds. With William Hurt in it and it was filmed here.  The birders were all searching for a not real "Labrador Duck" to get birders in to save a restaurant.  Bruce MacTavish was almost in the movie but didn't make the editting, today, the dean of Newfoundland birding looked at Black Head, maybe even with his naked eyes a mile plus off, and called out a white morph gyrfalcon, which everyone was there except me to see.  He should have been the movie in my opinion.  

The gyr landed and Bruce found it in his scope and after he let me look, I found the bird sitting on a rock in my scope once I got bearings.  It was a dot on full power but impressive none-the-less.

So I was plus two birds for the year before my coffee had gotten cold which I would be soon, and Alvan, Chancey, and me (hope I spelled his name correct) who was another local birder took off on what would become a generally futile attempt to see a yellow-legged gull, a black headed gull, and a Bullock's Oriole at a feeder.  Eventually we did find a Thayer's gull that they were looking for.  I did get better looks at a couple of birds I had seen before....

Tufted ducks...


Eurasian Wigeon


Alvan sent off SOSs, APB or what ever they call it out there for the gull.  We looked everywhere ...but no coded gulls, just the usual, Iceland, Herring, Great Black backs, a couple of European subspecies Mews, and black-legged kittiwakes.  The weather was changing and a big storm was coming in, the wind was picking up and the ice was being tore from the ponds and all the gulls had gone away to hide.  Then something worse happened, the Fieldfare was reported five hours away and right in the middle of what would become the teeth of the blizzard.  The storm seemed to make a donut around St John's but eventually it started here and soon it was too miserable to bird.  I turned in early tried to sleep, and continued to experience uhtceare about the Rock....

Morning came and the snow had came, then rain, it was a mess outside, but where the fieldfare was, worse--70 mph winds and 16 inches of snow....

I forgot Newfoundland is one of my mermaid birding spots...spots with mermaids adorning them, I like mermaids....

Ventura harbor California


Catalina Island


and the Chocolate mermaid princess of St John's Newfoundland


Why a chocolate mermaid...?  Why not...but things always happened to the good when I am blessed by a good mermaid.....

I needed to be patient and let the Chocolate mermaid do her magic...

I got picked up and we looked and looked, but no oriole, no yellow legged gull, and even no black-headed gull and then after a full 2 hours of staking out a feeder for what was for me a near backyard bird...a friend of Alvan's named Bill (last name?) spotted three BHGU and off we went.  Had the mermaid helped me?

Out in the surf, there they were...

#473  Black-headed gull, my first coded bird for a while and a lock bird as Alvan said unfortunately we must have lost the key, albeit only temporary, thanks Bill.



It was a still a tough go for the yellow-legged gull as the gulls had there own agenda wherever that was and didn't show up with their European visitor in tow.  Of the 20,000 gulls hanging around, we maybe saw 10-15%.  My scheduled plane was set to go out at 5am, in general, this trip had been a bust, the uhtceare had been warranted, like a premonition...what singing I will survive had to do with it...IDK.

I went to bed early and woke up at 0130, I had said I was chasing the fieldfare, but had second thoughts, I hadn't cancelled anything.  I sat there, more worry, and then "F this, the mermaid is on my side." I said, bolting out of bed.  I fired up the computer booked a flight a day later and sprinted for my car.  I drove to Hertz, up-rented a car, wanted to hug the woman again, she is so nice, and took off on a 500 mile round trip odyssey that in many respects will be the pivot point of this year of birding....in many respects, it was wasteful, stupid, idiotic, name an adjective,  but I was going.....

driving at night in moose country...bad idea...but I ran across no moose.  Driving on little sleep....I didn't nod off...bad roads....they weren't too bad........at dawn, I pulled into Lumsden, NL a town of a few hundred and found Forest Ave, the sight of the first sighting at Trace Stagg's house and then also with Bill Bryden next door.  Bill had photographed it on Saturday.

 My day in Lumsden was just really indescribable.  These people are some of the warmest and friendliest people in North America.  They have such warmth, they even, I think, they melted a little of the snow and warmed my heart.  They are almost too friendly.  Can that be?  Bill and Trace gave me the once over, some direction, I gave them some dog berries I swiped from a cemetery in St John's as the woman buried under them didn't need them any longer and the robins and the fieldfare had largely cleaned out most of them in the village.  We laid them out for the birds....first they had to find them.  I began the stakeout as the entire town drove past me to school.

I was certain I heard the fieldfare at 0730 and a little later, but all I saw was a robin in plain view looking at me acting stupid.  They had said the fieldfare was skittish and well they appeared correct.  Bill took me on tour.  We even went down looking for eiders and only found a few common eiders.  I came back and staked out the feed, generally blocking traffic to and from the school, or more so when the locals stopped to see how I was doing, or while I was walking around lurking in the neighborhood with camera in hand.  Why they put up with me and seemed friendly doing it, IDK?  At 1030, I got antsy.  Then I thought about it all.  One robin up looking stupid, the others hidden or feeding...lookout bird...crap.  sparrows do that all the time and Bill had said they had a very aggressive sharpie around, the birds had adapted to a lookout, and also they were on the lookout for me  or any human.  It was simple, find the lookout, find the fieldfare.  I drove the streets....

Then I saw a robin land in the top of a larch tree (or whatever shedding conifer they have)...and I turned down that street to check it out.  There wasn't any berry trees nearby and I was about 500 meters from Bill's.  The robin flew as i approached and then a second one and then a large dark thrush with an undulating flight, robins fly straight...while belly...the fieldfare.  I ran the stop sign on the main road, accelerating and then as it dove into a spruce and shrub thicket I slammed on the brakes on the side of the road.  It was standing up so I could see it well, good look, gray head black-brown saddle, white underneath, large bill for a thrush, I've seen this bird in Sweden many times, and to be honest never got a good photo then ....satisfied with the look, I grabbed for the camera, then it dived down and I waited.  A local man with his husky saw me and walked over..."Good day!"  I was greeted.  Then I had to explain myself, then talked about owls, eiders, the dog had to lick me....I got invited to lunch and then....the bird popped out of the undergrowth and flew west and then i could see it circle.  I bid my chum adieu and chased after it, but i lost it as seemed to head down towards Bill's.  Just near the village office, I saw the lookout bird and then it saw me and spooked, three birds went three directions and one suspiciously the fieldfare....a man named Barry Hall, another of Lumsden's nuevo birders came over to Bill as I drove around and parked and gave Bill the thumbs up on seeing it.  Barry reported having seen the bird right when I did.  Now Barry had a big camera out, and then the three of us cased town for a picture.  This went on until nearing noon when Frank King, another Newfy birder drove up and now four of us looked along with Trace through her window and then she drive us around town.

At 2 pm I needed a bathroom break and at the convenience store, which didn't have a bathroom, the clerk chatted me up about America and the bird.  I got invited to dinner.  Then returning to Frank, he reported it again, hearing it and seeing it fly by...dang thrush...skittish bird...no photo.  So that was the way the day went.  We walked got invited to things, chatted up the neighbors, and even almost crashed a burial but gave someone directions at the burial...I guess the next step was an invitation to the event.

We looked and looked, but except for along ways away from the sightings, never encountered a lookout bird except a group that I think was a second flock of robins, which eventually came in that evening to the stakeout to eat our offerings of dog berries and then blueberries as Bill added some of his remaining supply for pancakes....but no fieldfare....alas at least I saw it but neither Frank nor I got pictures.....

we did see some very photogenic white-winged crossbills...



robins at the stakeout



pine grosbeak which came up as rare on ebird



We gave up near dark and I headed the 250 miles back to St John's and my next chase, I was beat, but the people of Newfoundland are just great, thanks to Alvan, Bruce, Trace, Bill B, Bill ?, Chancey, Ed, Frank, tanks everyone. Everyone who invited me into their car to warm up, thanks too.  Just out of Lumsden I turned on the radio, the first song started....It was Elle King singing the Big Year anthem, Coincidence....?  I'd have no uhtceare anymore, this was righteous, both the Chocolate mermaid and Elle King had blessed it.

I had bird #474 a fieldfare which I now consider the bird of the year....maybe I could have got a photo but I'm a birder first and a photographer second and I think that way....hard to not to in a car with a skittish bird.  No yellow legged gull but there would be a Rock II trip, I knew it and Alvan hoped so too, as that would mean a really good bird.

One last look....


Good day!

Thank you Newfoundland!  I love you guys!  I promise to never sing disco music EVER in your fair province.

Olaf
  

The Milk Run

The Yellowstone Trail, ND/SD/ MT

Big Year Days 62-3
Big Year Total:  470Coded birds:  31Cool animals: Bobcat, Harbor seal, gray whale, California sea lion, pronghorn, porcupine, sea otters, Island gray fox, 
Miles driven.  14,400Flight Miles 38,200flight segments: 42   Airports: 23Hours at sea: 25Miles walked 64Miles biked 2states/ prov. birded:17

  In an attempt to continue to share useless but hopefully mildly entertaining information describing my avian big year adventures...this time in the northern prairie....

All J.W. Parmley of Ipswich, SD really wanted was a better road between Ipswich and Aberdeen, South Dakota.  He bought his first car in 1905 and by 1910 he had enough of the muddy stage trails and organized a movement.  When he had to go to Mobridge, SD the other direction, the residents that direction also wanted a better road and soon it snowballed.  By 1912, Parmley was galvanizing a movement to build the first good road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound and the Yellowstone Trail later known as US Highway 12 was born.  It was the first transcontinental highway in America and it all started because a guy was pissed that he had four flats in only a 20 mile drive.

I live a mile and a half from US-12 and every year in June for a crazy day, I decide to bird what I call the "Milk Run," a hectic crazy day of birding the Yellowstone Trail to the Montana border and then I swing down into the Slim Buttes of NW South Dakota and cruise home.  It is usually a 900 mile day of birding and depending on what I need I catch the easternmost breeding location of McCown's Longspurs, Sprague's pipits, short-eared owls, Baird's sparrows, western hawks of all sorts, and then I get some  of the western species in the small portion of the Custer National Forest I clip.  One of the spots I featured in a novel, and it is an area with much history, beautiful scenery, odd things, and birds.  It is a haul, with a 2am departure, but it usually is a haul of birds I never otherwise see in a given year.

Still on the lookout for northern saw-whet owls, South Dakota birding guru, Ricky Olson had been seeing some and allowed me to invite myself over to Pierre to look for them.  I had two days off between California and Newfoundland, so what the heck.  I arrived in Pierre, the diminutive capital of South Dakota just before 8pm, it is a 290 mile drive for me.  South Dakota is so cheap, when they probably should have moved the capital to a population center, it would have cost money to do it, so it stayed put, here in Pierre.  The state is also so cheap they even reused the plans for the Montana State Capital in Helena for our own, since it would save money.  If it was good enough for Montana, it would be good enough for us.  At 12,210 people, Pierre is the smallest state capital being passed by Carson City, NV in the last couple of decades.  No elected politician wants to move here, and many Governors are simply Pierre area businessmen as who else would want to move here for 4 years.  Mike Rounds, two term Governor and now senator, was a local car dealer.

He picked me up and we went around calling.  We stirred up great horned owls, shared birding stories, and I learned that my lifer yellow-rail in South Dakota had been rejected for no other reason than I didn't have a picture....Ricky is on the State records committee and is President of the SD OU.  At one stop, right after we stopped calling, I heard an odd bard in a nearby cedar, unfortunately Ricky hadn't heard it and then he heard something but I didn't.  I couldn't call a tick for an owl sound he hadn't heard, but I'm sure I heard it,  so in the end the score rose to Saw whet owls 4 Olaf 0, 4 tried this year no NSWO....thanks anyways Ricky

I left Pierre at 10, immediately it switched to 9 crossing the Missouri River and the Mountain time line and I decided, heck, I'm already west, heck, I might as well go do the Milk Run in reverse.  I had a lead of a good bird on near the route--greater sage grouse.

I drove for 160 miles without even passing a gas station and then near a boat ramp in the Shadehill Recreation area I pulled off the road at nearing midnight for a couple hours of sleep in the back of my car.  The problem with grouse is they get up early and I still had many hours to get to the spot south of the Yellowstone Trail about 15 miles from  the prairie dog town that harbored McCown's in the summer.  I I woke up with a hangover at 0230 and climbed into the front seat and took off.  great horned owls came off the ditch in the prairie as I drove into Lemmon and reconnected with Hwy 12 and headed west.  Luckily, in Hettinger ND, the convenience store is open 24 hours and had foul tasting but caffeine laden java.

I arrived at the last city in North Dakota on Hwy 12, Marmarth, population 143 and shockingly the largest city in Slope County, but what this county lacks in people it has in oil, which was first discovered locally in 1936, as this is still clearly in the oil fields.  The town was a favorite settler destination as the climate in the early 1900s up until 1930 was wetter and the population approached 5000.  At one time the jail housed the Jesse James gang and Teddy Roosevelt shot his first grizzly bear just outside of town.  It was too early for history so I drove south on Camp Crook Road and then an eerie glow caught my attention, WTF?


Gas flaring....here they just do it in pits as there is no pipelines for all the gas and because of this, anywhere near oil wells it never gets dark and worse, all the flaring makes this terrible smog.  I have not been in the oil patch in the last few years since the Bakken boom and not experienced smog, well except when it was a blizzard outside or heavy rain.  Luckily, I had a favorable weather forecast otherwise I would never have attempted this.
North Dakota biding guru Corey Ellingson of Bismarck had given me a location of the lek of greater sage grouse, A bird, I fear, isn't long for this world.  I used to see them on my Milk Run down in the first county in South Dakota about 40 miles from here, but unfortunately West Nile Virus destroyed all the birds of that lek and with a continual plowing of the sage out here in the prairie, a fragmented population, the poor grouse numbers are dropping and dropping.  
These directions were not for city people.  I wound past oil pads in the dark, more fires, farm machinery, until nearing the Montana border, I parked the car and still an hour before first light, I crawled in back for a nap.  I was expecting the bubbling and dancing outside of grouse but I awoke to silence. Not even a coyote was howling.  Crap, I wondered, had I misread the directions?  I reposititioned the car as the fog steadily worsened.  I started to scour the surrounding sage brush for birds and then I looked on a hillside about 150 yards off.  I could see a male grouse just laying there.  It wasn't displaying or anything.  It moved it's head or I might of thought it was dead.  I know it is early but usually they will display this time of year.  It's lack of anything confused me.  I looked at the disinterested grouse for a while and then I decided I should try to get a photo, only digiscoping would do, so I grabbed the scope, got my phone attached and then attached that to my window mount and then I had to start the car to roll up the window.  By the time I was ready and prepared, the grouse was gone.  I need to get more streamline for this.  Eventually, since I was not near a lek I got out and listened.  I could hear them a long ways away, maybe 3/4 of a mile?  But with the heavy air I couldn't really tell.  The smog was getting worse so any more time here was futile and there was no need to walk the prairie to flush this bird...I had it and this was about them, not me.  This bird has enough problems without being scared by a large 6-3 230 pound Oaf, I meaning Olaf coming crashing its way.
I drove across the border hoping to stumble upon something, but I saw nothing in the endless prairie and smog except this old sign marking the border...


This is looking east with North Dakota state line on it, the other side had Montana state line on it.  I wonder which decade that sign got placed?  Here is a look at a heard of antelope to get the mental picture of the smog I stumbled upon.

It was just like I was in a glass of milk...I guess this IS the milk run.  .I drove east out of the oil patch and upon leaving, the smog cleared.  Hum, the flaring isn't causing this...yeah...right...
bird #469 greater sage grouse, first bird in North Dakota for this big year, well I think it was in North Dakota, it was close to the line.  Thanks Corey.

Nobody thinks of the Dakotas as a birding destination, but we have some great spots and hopefully, if nothing else, I will be sharing this to you as the year goes along.  The one bird everyone asks me about wanting to see is the gray partridge.  Which locally we call grays or in Wisconsin as a kid we called them Hungarian partridge.  These are backyard birds near my cabin and along with that area, Lemmon, South Dakota is the other really good spot for these birds ...but...there is no really easy way to get them.  I have actually seen as many bass fishing on my lake from the boat standing on shore as I have flushed in a field.  I spent an entire month riding ATVs near my cabin au naturel searching for the elusive birds, with an entire chapter of the futility of it all in my BPT book.

Grays like open rangeland but will also be out in fields and they also like to look at you from rock piles but they are flighty...really REALLY flighty birds.  More so than any grouse-like birds I see.  I've only been able to put a camera on one twice.  Unlike pheasants which will fly 50 yards if flushed, these birds will fly over a mile sometimes if spooked, especially if they don't have chicks.  So you don't get a second chance at them  My technique....endless mindless driving to get them.  It is just work.  Eventually, one will flush or will stand and look at you and you hope you have your camera ready.  I have probably already driven 50 miles in prime areas this year and have seen exactly none of this bird.

The best area, I think is around a couple of hills on Reidy Road just off 12 east of Lemmon, SD.  There is native range and farm fields.  In a couple miles of this road, in June, I can really pile up the birds, once I saw 32 upland sandpipers on 32 consecutive fence posts and then when they ended Dickcissals began, when they ended, Lark buntings....oh I yearn for June, as today except for a couple of horned larks, the fences were barren.  I drove the loop and in a prime area I looked out to the north of the car, the passenger side....partridge!  8 of them and I sped up over the hill to hopefully catch where they were going below the crest.  I hopped out, camera in hand, ran up the field and looked and ...nothing...like every time....they just kept flying.  It was bird #470 anyways, gray partridge.

I still had well over 300 miles until I got home and I was shortly on the road home.  I drove a while and then I saw something white in the only tree I could see for miles.

Another snowy owl....I didn't need it but heck...OWLS ARE COOL!



There is a reason, I guess, that I have trouble finding owls, although I hate to mention it.  There was this nurse in Two Harbors MN, who had a spiritual animal--the beaver.  Apparently beavers have special insight or something.  I don't remember her name and always refer to her as the "beaver woman."  She determined my spiritual animal is the eagle, which makes sense but I don't want to elaborate.  She told me owls don't like eagles, so I would always have trouble with owls birding....so there is the reason for my many saw-whet owl misses, I guess...beaver woman speaks....or something like that.

I got home by 5 not stopping at any other place, not even the Arch over old Hwy 12 in Ipswich as I had to drive to Minneapolis in the morning for a flight to the ROCK...Newfoundland.  The rock is a place that makes the weather out here look good.
Two more off the grouse section of the checklist, but still too many to go.  Hum....I'm thinking, I need a glass of milk...I wonder why?

got milk?

Olaf