Some normalcy

I've seen a bunch of Black Headed Gulls before, but this is
the first I've seen in breeding plumage with a full hood.

I'm not going to use this blog to talk about the events going on in the world. I'm pretty sure we have been bombarded with too much of it everywhere. I'm going to use it as a way to escape from it by writing and hopefully reading it will be an escape as well.

With that said, I have written very little over the last six weeks. That is because I had very little to write about. I started January like a buzzsaw hoping to get a hundred birds for the month but getting 125 by January 31. The problem with getting almost all of the winter birds means you have to wait for early spring for new birds to arrive. For all of February and the first twenty days of March, I'd go out on my days off. Usually it would rain on one or both of them, and I'd bird between showers. I'd chase the harder birds I missed occasionally picking up one here or there. What I learned during those six weeks is, in a normal year, it would be a great time to take a vacation. But other than getting the very rare for Rhode Island, Wilson's Plover, there wasn't anything to write about.
 
   Then spring arrived. At first it was tough to tell because the winter was so mild anyway. But my daffodils are flowering. The majority of birds don't come through until May, but the earliest migrants start showing up in late March. True to form, birding got fun again.

The last two weeks I have been birding hard and having fun. I have birded with friends and we certainly practice social distancing. Since I like being in my bubble anyway, this is not hard for me at all. I have seen some really good birds.

Last week, I met my friend Jan at Fisherville. We were looking for three birds. I needed Red-Shouldered Hawk and Eastern Phoebe, while she needed to see a Brown Creeper. We got my birds fairly easily the hawk was circling us in the sky while calling, while the Phoebe was singing across a field. Unfortunately, I also saw the Brown Creeper (which I had actually seen the day before, and why Jan wanted to go back). However Jan didn't see it despite the both of us looking for an hour after I saw it, but it never showed itself again.

Also that week, I saw Marsh Wrens and Piping Plovers. Although Piping Plovers are endangered, Marsh Wren is the much harder bird in Rhode Island.

If you read my blog a lot, you will see that birders are dependent on each other for reports. As a working person I spend a lot of time chasing down birds my retired friends have seen and found. That isn't always a good feeling. It is nice to contribute and repay the favor. On Wednesday night I found by far the best bird I've gotten myself this year, the bird is an Eastern Screech Owl. I didn't see or hear one last year. I have friends that saw over 295 species last year but didn't get Screech Owl. So it was awesome to post it to the group, not to brag, but to repay and contribute. We struck out tonight listening for it, but hopefully it calls again and my friends can hear it.

Thursday, I left early to see Purple Finches that were reported (me chasing reports again, thanks Matt) off of Exit 6 on I-95. Purple Finch was my biggest miss last year. It was the "easiest" bird I didn't see. I spent the entire month of December looking for them in known spots. That is after looking for them where the breed in June and where I saw them in migration the previous October. Yet, even going through all of that trouble, I never saw them in 2019. The empty box next to Purple Finch became a running joke the second half of the year.

Bad photo of female Purple Finch

I was hopeful I would see them on Thursday. Jan joined me again hoping for a better look than she had gotten previously and because she was still looking for  Brown Creeper. Because many birders were there before we got there, seeing them wasn't as dramatic as I expected. We heard the male and saw it fly across the sky. We had a much better look at the female where I got some crappy photos.

Here is where it got tricky yesterday. After we spent half an hour looking for a Brown Creeper, Jan decided to go chase a Red Headed Woodpecker at the Grill's Preserve in Westerly. She asked me if I wanted to go. It had been seen a couple days prior. Many birders including Jan had looked but never relocated it. I, along with others, assumed it took off. I declined Jan's offer and went on my own. I went to Scarborough Beach to see if I could get photo upgrades of birds I'd seen there. From the beach I was to head south along the coast to look for birds I hoped had shown up.

I got some good pics of the Black Headed Gull that already molted into breeding plumage.  After I left the beach, I had just gotten on Route 4 when I got a text from Jan, she found the bird along with Sue and Jess. I was only a 17 minute drive away but they were a 20 minute walk into the woods. When I got there I ran/walked sweated and caught my breath. I got out there in 14 minutes. Luckily all three were still there. They let me go ahead of where they had seen it last. I  saw it low to the ground perched on a tree branch. Not close enough for a photo (I didn't carry my camera anyway) but I enjoyed it in the binos for quite some time.

Friday I went to Great Swamp in the morning. I was hoping for Blue Winged Teal, but the only new bird I saw were Pine Warblers. I ran into a friend named Carlos and birded a couple more spots. We didn't see much, but it was a beautiful day to be outside. Later in the evening, as I mentioned above, we didn't hear the Screech Owl.

As long as I'm allowed to, I'm going to keep birding. I keep my distance from everyone. I think most parks will be closed down shortly. This sucks for people that need to be outside. I am having a great beginning of the year. I've seen 156 species. I didn't see that many until April 17 last year, so I am three weeks ahead of my pace. The crazy thing is, I'm not trying to beat my personal best. I've only chased two birds after work this year (Wilson's Plover and White Pelican). All of the other birds I saw on days I was taking day trips anyway.

I will be writing more. If for no other reason than to keep busy. Normally I don't post links to my blog on Facebook unless there is a big accomplishment or I want to thank somebody but I am going to post the link for now on. Even though I know only a few people care enough to read my post, if it takes their mind off of whats happening around them for five minutes, then I did something good for the world.

In case you are keeping score at home,  Jan did see a Brown Creeper yesterday.

Below are some photos from the last few days

Bam! Song Sparrow

Sanderling

American Pipit

Eastern Phoebe

Another look at the Black Headed Gull