Eighteen

Although nothing more than a proof shot, that beautiful
blue speck is an Indigo Bunting (species number 173, And
my 18th new bird that I didn't have last year)

 In my quest to reach 250 species of Rhode Island birds this year, I needed to get at least eighteen more species than I did last year. Last year I saw 232 species, so to reach 250, I needed at least eighteen more even if I saw every single species that I saw last year.  Now, there is no way I'm going to see the exact same 232 from last year because some of those same rarities just aren't going to show up,  But, unless I saw at least eighteen new species, I'd have no chance of reaching my goal.

While walking the trails of Trustom on Friday in between rain showers I saw an Indigo Bunting on the trail. I didn't see them in Rhode Island last year. The beautiful blue bunting was my eighteenth new species that I didn't see last year. I got six others in the last week (Ruffed Grouse, White Faced Ibis, Upland Sandpiper, Cattle Egret, Purple Martin, and Blue Grosbeak).

By far, Purple Martin is the easiest bird I missed last year. All I had to do was drive to a Purple Martin colony and look. There are at least four in Barrington alone. Because I had such great looks and pictures of P. Martins at Plum Island, going to some two hundred yards away at Barrington Country Club was never a priority. I needed them this year though.

So now that I got eighteen new birds, I can logistically start a countdown to 250. Any bird I find that I didn't see last year is one less rarity from last year I won't need to find. With only seventy three birds away from my goal and the entire month of May coming up, I should have a fun next few weeks for sure!

The reason I didn't look for Purple Martins in RI last
year was I took photos of them from twenty feet away
at Plum Island

Chasing birds

 

Swamp Sparrow

Yesterday I drove all over hell and creation chasing rare birds. I left my house around 5 am and drove through Coventry to the Connecticut border to listen for Ruffed Grouse. Ruffed Grouse aren't rare in many states, in fact, in some states they are very common. In Rhode Island there are very few reliable spots to hear them. Luckily, waking at an ungodly hour paid off. I listened to two grouse drum until 7:30.

   As I was driving away, Jan sent me a text that she found an Upland Sandpiper in Richmond, RI. So I headed up that way. I had seen a few Upland Sandpipers in South Dakota, but they are rare around here. Lets put it this way, Jan has been birding over 30 years and routinely sees 300 species a year, yet she has only seen seven. So, as you can imagine, it was a bird I should chase. Upland's are a pretty big shorebird and it was walking around a turf field. Once I started looking in the correct field (thanks Linda) I spotted it pretty easily.

   On Wednesday afternoon, Jan and I spent over two and a half hours scoping through a huge flock of Glossy Ibis looking for a White Faced Ibis. White Face look almost exactly the same except they have red legs, a red eye, and a little more white on the face. After 2.5 hours we never saw the bird.

   While I was looking at the Upland Sandpiper on Thursday John Magill showed up. I had him look at the bird in my scope then he found it in his. While we were there, we decided to go chase the White Faced Ibis. I was already two for two on rare birds and it wasn't yet 9 am.

 

The first small flock of Glossy Ibis to come back

John drove faster than me so he got to Simmon's Farm in Middletown first. When I pulled in there were ten birders looking at a couple hundred ibis. It was going to be easy to see it because it was out in the open and all the birders had their scopes on it. I no sooner step out of my car and the entire flock got spooked by a Red Tailed Hawk. The huge flock of 250 ibis circled around for ten minutes then flew away. I was crushed. All the birders left because they had seen it except John stayed. John got a quick look before I got there but he decided not to leave. The owner of the property came out and talked with us for a while. I told John he should leave but he said he wanted me to get the bird. Finally after over a half hour looking at an empty field ibis started flying back in. The huge flock didn't come back. They were coming back every five minutes in groups of 5-10. When the fifth flock came in and there were only about forty birds in the field the White Face Ibis was one of them! John and I both got good looks at it. We shook hands and parted ways. It is doubtful I would have stayed and talked to the owner of the property for an hour if I was alone. It was a class move by John to stay.  Later in the day I saw the very common Yellow Warbler to give me four new birds for the day.

Friday

    Rain was predicted most of the day. I figured I could squeeze a quick trip to Trustom  showers. I slept in leaving the house about 7 am. My entire drive to Trustom was dry but it started raining as I entered the parking lot. I waited it out for 45 minutes in the car. When the shower finally stopped I went for a walk. Within minutes I was rewarded with an Indigo Bunting sitting right on the trail.  After I saw the bunting, I looked for Brown Thrasher and White Eyed Vireo. They are two fairly common spring migrants that are responsible for 500 miles on my car over the last week and a half. I didn't find them today either.

    I walked out to Osprey Point. I saw a bunch of swallows. I found two Bank Swallows flying in the group. I also saw two Green Herons fly across the pond. I went back looking for the vireo and the thrasher but was still unsuccessful.

   Since the weather held out I figured I'd press my luck and do the four mile loop around Great Swamp. I was rewarded almost immediately. Within a hundred yards of my car I saw a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. Those little birds have been giving me fits. It is a bird that some will over-winter but I had yet to see one. I was really happy to put a "tick" on my list to get it out of the way. Just past the marsh I saw a couple of Ovenbirds. They are a brown and white warbler that sings a pretty song. The rest of my walk was unspectacular and didn't see anything else. About 20 minutes from my car the sky opened up and it rained hard. Luckily it only rained about five minutes. Despite my raincoat and rain pants getting wet, they were fairly dry by the time I got back to the car.

   Since I have to work everyday until the rest of April and the weather over the next week looks awful, I probably won't get many more birds this month. As of April 26 I have 177 birds in Rhode Island. I was hoping for 150 before the end of the month so I am pumped. If the year ended today, it would already be my second highest total beating my 2016 number of 161. Somehow I moved up to a tie for second place for the year so far. We will see where I stand after May. I still think my final standing will be somewhere between 4th-7th place. But I think 250 is within my grasp.

House Wren

Slump Over?

Caspain Tern

Easter Sunday I had to work a double. After doing my normal job in the morning I spent the afternoon making muffins. Laurie came with me. It was extra money and we decided to put it towards our boat trips on our Maine vacation. During the day, there were reports of a Summer Tanager at Trustom. I was't going to drag Laurie down to South Kingston for a bird that probably came and left. 

When we got done with work it was too nice out for me to come home. Rather than go to South Kingston, we went to Barrington to look for Purple Martins and chill at Brickyard Pond. While we were in Barrington, more reports of good birds came in. I got anxiety at birds I might miss so we headed down.

Long story short, I didn't see the Summer Tanager. I had seen my friend's Jan and Sue. Jan saw the tanager but Sue hadn't. They left while I looked for the bird. After half an hour looking for it I decided to walk up the trail and see if I could find anything else. I ran into a bunch of birds and somehow pulled a Blue Grosbeak out of it. I texted Jan and she walked the mile back from the parking lot along with a whole crew of people. They all got on the bird. Blue Grosbeak is not only beautiful, but it is a southern species. For sure, it got blown up here from the constant south wind we had for days straight.  Although I didn't see the Summer Tanager the Grosbeak is a "better bird". Jan has reported to me some pretty rare birds this year, it was nice to finally return the favor.

Fast forward to today,

Sue, whom I mentioned above found a Cattle Egret in Matunuck. Cattle Egrets are very common in Florida but pretty rare up here. Usually one shows up a year. This year's bird was today. I was working, but knew I had to chase this rarity. As soon as I was done I went straight down. The bird was easy to see. A white heron type bird sticks out hanging with black angus.

After I saw the egret, I went birding with Sue. We found a pair of Caspian Terns. They are another species that I only see once or twice a year, always in the late summer or early fall, so they were a pleasant surprise. Besides the tern I found 4 other new year birds at Trustom (Baltimore Oriole, Cedar Waxwing, Magnolia Warbler, House Wren), 

I ended up dipping on a couple other birds that had been seen. However, it was a great day. I got five year birds. One of which I didn't see in RI last year (cattle egret). Hopefully, the slump is over... now if I could do something about the rain on my days off (supposed to rain Friday, Grrr!)  

Slumping

One of the few highlights over the last couple days
Pine Warbler

Despite the fact I just went reached 160 birds today, I am in a major outdoor slump. I don't just mean birding, fishing also. This of course can easily be blamed on the crappy weather.

I went into my weekend with high hopes (Friday and Saturday off this week. Working Easter) I knew a few migrants had shown up and I was hoping to see them. Besides the birds, stripers had trickled in. Usually the "trickle" only last a day or two then there is a big push.

I birded hard on Friday. I walked roughly eight miles birding four very good locations. The spots I went were Miatomini Park in Newport, Trustom Pond, Great Swamp, and Fisherville Refuge. All are spring migrant traps. Yet, they all sucked yesterday. I only got two new birds. I saw Black and White Warbler and Northern Parula. They are both pretty birds, but are among the most common warblers.

Knowing it was going to rain on and off most of the day today I decided to hit spots near or on the road as opposed to hiking miles into the woods. The strategy was to look at specific spots for specific species. I got up very early knowing the birds would (should) be active in the morning. If birding sucked, I'd go trout fishing in the afternoon (more on that below).

The only walk I made was a quick hike out to Trustom at 6:30 am. I dipped on a white eyed vireo. However, I did have a driving rainstorm to keep me company. From Trustom I went to Westerly looking for two species. I found the Northern Rough Legged Swallow, but missed Cedar Waxwings. Then I drove back up to Fisherville Refuge and heard a Northern Waterthrush.

After I left the waterthrush I went to Barrington. Purple Martins were seen at three places this morning. So I figured I should have no problem getting them. Purple Martins are a common bird. So driving to Barrington was just so I'd have a short drive home after birding. However, I wanted them. Purple Martins were the easiest bird I missed in RI in 2018. Seeing them would save me the anxiety of knowing I missed them last year. It was not meant to be today. I not only went to the three spots they were seen, but two other colonies were empty. I suspect this had to do with the afternoon rain keeping the bugs down (the martin's food). I went home with my tail between my legs.

I ended up with four new species for the weekend. If the weather gods had shined down on me, I could have doubled that. Three of the four are really common, only the waterthrush isn't a "gimme". I missed the purple martins which was a bummer.

Fishing, unfortunately, has not been any better. Guys have been catching small numbers of stripers everyday on the south shore. I went down on Wednesday. Tuesday, decent numbers were caught. Not on Wednesday. Most everyone including myself went fishless. I saw a couple guys get a few fish. They were in the right spot. Five yards from either of those two guys and you may as well have been a mile. Thursday, there were plenty of fish, but I was hanging out with Laurie, a decision I don't regret at all.

Yesterday after birding from 6 am-6 pm I rushed home to fish Falls Pond before dark. I tried two of the three access points, but didn't even see a rise never mind get a hit. Tonight after a couple hours rest, I went back again. I tried all three access points. Because it was raining, I was the only one fishing. Despite a pretty good effort, I only had one hit. Que Sera, Sera

As depressing as this post was to write, I don't expect a pity party to be thrown in my honor. I know things will improve. I can easily improve the trout fishing if I just venture a little further from home. Some ponds are loaded with trout. Falls Pond is big and when they spread out, your not going to catch more than a few. Stripers will be all over by next week, so that really isn't a worry either.

My big worry is the birds. If the weather is nice while I'm working but rainy and windy on my days off, then I am going to miss a lot of birds. This is three weeks in a row where it has rained on at least one of my days off. I could get away with it in late winter. But as spring migrants whip through on their way to breeding grounds, I need some nice weather. I know complaining about the weather isn't going to change it, but it sure as hell is frustrating.

On the bright side, Fisherville was loaded with birds yesterday. They were all birds I'd already seen. Still I got my first good pictures in a couple of weeks. A Pine Warbler posed for me. A late Pine Siskin came down to feed on seeds in a Pollinator Garden only five feet away from me. Two pictures below.

Pine Siskin

One Hundred fifty-two down, ninety-eight to go

Bird #152 Louisiana Waterthrush

As I've said all along, one of my goals this year is to see 250 species of birds in Rhode Island. Yesterday, I hit a milestone as my journey edges close to that number. I got my one hundred fiftieth bird. The bird that reached that milestone number was a barn swallow. Later in the day I got a cliff swallow ending my day at 151.

Today, despite leaving the house at 6 am, I only got one new bird, it was a Louisiana Waterthrush that I found at Stepstone Falls.  It was singing up a storm in a tree near the river. Despite being so loud, it took me some time to pinpoint it with the drab grey sky behind it. I hit other spots today, but there wasn't much going on in terms of bird life.

To give myself a chance at 250, I had hoped to reach 150 by May 1. Then when the majority of the migrants came in, I could hopefully concentrate on them. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy to hit 150 with two full birding weekends left in April. Hopefully as I count down from the ninety-eight to reach 250, I'll get quite a few more this month.

As for my place on "the list", I am pleasantly dumbfounded to still be among the leaders well into April. I am still in third place on the list we keep track of our number on. The leader, Jan StJean has seen 159 of the 175 birds. Second place is Carlos Pedro at 157. Of the top nine birders on the list, only one other (Matt Schenck at 144) works a full time job. The other seven are either retired or work 3 days a week or less.To see my name mixed in with some of the best birders I know sort of blows my mind. I do not have feeling of "pride" nor is it a reason to brag, the feeling is more like dumbfounded astonishment. By the way, Matt will not only surpass me, but in the end will obliterate my total. Matt is one of the best birders in Rhode Island and when he decides to go hardcore, I won't be able to keep up.

To reach 250, I need to see 18 more birds than I did last year in Rhode Island (232). But as I wrote before, I really need more than that, because I will not see all of the same 232 as last year. Some of the rare birds from last year won't show up this year. For example, the Little Egret (name not description) was only the second sighting in the state EVER. So very doubtful it will be back. Realistically I need roughly 25 birds I didn't get last year IF I get all of the birds that aren't vagrants. As of right now, I have seen eleven species in 2019 that I did not see in 2018.

Pace really doesn't mean anything when it comes to birding. It doesn't matter if I see a Pectoral Sandpiper in April or September. It counts the same either way. The key is to make sure you get the bird when it is around. That said, I checked to see where I stand against 2018. On April 13, 2018 I had 107 birds compared to the 152 this year. What is more shocking is my 152, is exactly the same number Jan StJean had on April 13 last year. To be on the same pace as her is mind boggling!

I was with Jan when I got birds 150 and 151. When we were walking back to the cars I said, only 99 more to go. To which she said "why 99?. I reminded her my goal is 250.  She said I'd definitely get that at the rate I'm going and to aim higher. Sounds good, But lets worry about 250 first

Brookline Bird Club

March 30 was the annual meeting of the Ocean State Bird Club. Although I go to most of our monthly meetings of the Narragansett Surfcasters, I'd never been to a bird club meeting. Before the meeting, there is an hour for refreshments. During this time I was chitchatting with people I knew. We got on the subject of books about birds/birders. Two books I had never heard of were "Lost Among the Birds" by Neil Hayward and "Birding without Borders" by Noah Strycker were mentioned. Both sounded interesting to me and I had not read a book in a long time. I ordered both that night.

Neil's book is about his "Big Year" in 2013. He broke the record for the most birds seen in North America that year. He really didn't plan on doing a Big Year. He wasn't working, loved birds and realized in April he had seen so many birds already he should try to see how many he would get.

Noah traveled the entire world in a year to see if he could see 5000 birds. There are roughly 10,400 birds in the world and he was shooting for half. He ended up seeing 6042 species of birds. He never went home during the year.

Flash forward back to last week. Both books came in on Thursday. I started with Neil's book first. He lives in Massachusetts so I owed him that. Also, it was the book I wanted to read more. I started devouring the book every chance I got. Laurie and I went to Race Point Friday and Saturday. She also came over on Sunday and Tuesday or I'd surely be done with it. 

I subscribe to an email list called MASSBIRD (it is all capitol letters). On Monday I got an email from the Brookline Bird Club (BBC) through the server. Neil Hayward is now the president and they were having their quarterly meeting on April 11. The keynote speaker was (can you guess?) Noah Strycker! What are the odds that the two authors of the books I just bought would be in Cambridge a week after I got them in! The public is welcome. You don't have to be a member to go to a meeting. 

Bad picture of a slide. This is the
amount of guidbooks Noah
needed to prepare for his
round the world quest

I sent Neil Hayward and email asking if he would sign my book if I brought it (if I could make it). He happily responded that he would sign my book. I asked Laurie to go and she said yes. It took  one hour and forty minutes to make it to Harvard and the presentation. 

The club does their business stuff first then the speaker goes on. Noah Strycker was awesome. Besides having pictures of birds from around the world and a million stories, he was extremely entertaining. He talked for an hour then took questions. He made the audience of bird nerds laugh multiple times.

I had gotten Noah to sign my book before his presentation. I had to wait till the end to get Neil Hayward to sign the other one. Neil is British and still has the accent. In his book, he mentions crippling shyness as a kid and even as an adult, never knows what to say when trying to carry on "small talk". However, when he was signing my book he answered my couple of birding questions.

Lets put it this way, Laurie, who is not a birder, enjoyed herself. It was a fun night.

It may be slow, but spring is starting

I think when most people think of spring, they have images of Easter Egg Hunts, daffodils and warm sunny weather. Sounds grand, but how often do we go from cold raw weather straight to uncomfortable heat?  Old Man Winter took it pretty easy on us this year, but the pattern the last few years seems to have some pretty chilly springs. This has been true this year. March, although we didn't get pummeled with three Nor'easters in ten days like last year, was not a lot of fun.

However, things are looking up. Despite the fact it is only forty one as I write this, spring is here and nature know it. Herring, birds, and whales are all migrating. Vernal ponds and trout ponds are full. And believe it or not, I saw a dandelion on Friday.

Over the past week, I have gotten out and enjoyed doing spring activities. Hold onto your hat, but birding was not one of them. On Thursday I caught my first striped bass of the year. It was a holdover, but it was a decent sized fish (well short of keeper, but not a little 13 inch rat either).

On Friday, Laurie and I went to Race Point in the hopes of seeing migrating whales. Unfortunately after three hours of looking at various spots, we gave up. We did rent a motel in Yarmouth where we had a fun night eating takeout and watching Jeopardy. It turned out we were a day early. The whales were right in the rip at Race Point of Saturday. The water was flat and viewing conditions were awesome. I missed this spectacle, but did see some amazing pictures. If you are wondering, yes, I was pretty bummed out and jealous.

Saturday afternoon I went for a walk. I didn't see a whole lot but every vernal pool I walked by was full of croaking wood frogs .I also saw some eggs of some amphibian that I need to look up.

I should have wiped the grass off of this brown

Lastly, I have caught trout two out of the last three nights. I've been hitting my local pond only a two minute drive from my house. I usually fish the last hour before dark. I've caught four trout so far (3 rainbows, and a brown) along with some sunfish and crappie.

As you can see, whether you are into fishing, wildlife watching, or just going outside, things are getting better. Each day brings us a little further from winter. I am really starting to get excited about all of the possibilities over the next coming weeks! It is going to be fun!

There was a flock of turkeys at the motel. The males were
displaying. The fence these turkeys are on is the one surrounding
the pool.

Dave, I know you love the pics of fish on the ground, this
one is for you

Piping plovers seemed everywhere, even if the
whales weren't

Clump of eggs.