A lifer, a state bird, and a photo upgrade on the same day

 

Western Flycatcher 

   Chasing rare birds has not been a fun pastime for me. Last week, I missed a Townsend's Solitaire by twenty minutes. The same day I missed a Bell's Vireo by forty five. I went back for the Bell's and dipped again despite giving it a solid six hours! Both of those birds would have been lifers for me. I can't tell you how frustrating that was.

   So when a Western Flycatcher was found by my friend Carlos Pedro early this  week, I tilted my head back and dropped an F-bomb. Not only was this a bird I'd never seen, it was the first one to show up in the state...ever! I couldn't go the day it was found and most of my friends did get to see it. The next day it was reported again so it was not what we call "a one day wonder". So I drove the ninety minutes to Burlingame Campground in the hopes of seeing it. I did not (four hours).

   I tried again on Thanksgiving. As I was driving down a birder reported it. I was still an hour away but felt good that the bird was still there. At least it had not died or flown away. I got to Burlingame about 10:30. Though I had the place to myself for a couple of hours, a few of my friends showed up after 1 pm. We searched for hours but did not see the bird. (five more hours)

   From 8 am on,  yesterday people started reporting the Western Flycatcher again. A pattern was developing that this bird was most active in the morning when the sun starts to warm up the trees. I could not go, and I  really didn't want to make the three hour round trip. I was quite content I had a turkey in the oven. That was until the reports did not stop until well after 11 am. I could have gotten the bird if I'd had left early. I was pissy all day. My friend Charles suggested we try again today (Saturday). I really didn't want to. It was going to be cold with a morning low of twenty one degrees. Who knew if the bird could survive the night? I didn't want to be cold for hours. Charles pushed me a little and I agreed. We met at 7 am. Temperature- 22 degrees.

   We made it to Burlingame at 7:30. A few people I knew were getting out of the car too. Dan and Sue are great birders. Sue is far better than me so I was quite happy to have them around. We walked out to the campground which is about a three quarter mile walk. We went right to the nature center and the sun was hitting the trees in front. In seconds Sue called out the bird. We all would have seen it anyway because it was very active. She gets the credit for finding it first. I was just happy to see it. 

Townsend's Warbler 

    Charles and I ran into my new friend Nicole (also her third try, and she was there for hours of Thanksgiving also). The three of us decided to go to Tiogue and look for Tundra Swans. On our way there, Alan Kneidel reported a Townsend's Warbler at Swan Point. We were twenty one minutes away so we went straight there. Within minutes of us getting there every birder I know was looking for this yellow colored warbler. It flew into a tree right next to myself and Dick Bradley. We saw it and I yelled for everyone else to come our way. About half of the hoard saw it and the other half didn't. It flew out of the tree never to be seen again. Half of us were very happy, the other half stayed until dark but left disappointed. The Townsend's was a state bird for me but not a lifer. I saw one a couple years ago near the Cape Cod Canal. Both birds were lifers for Nicole. The Flycatcher was a state bird for Charles.

   
   We still had time and went for the Tundra Swans but they were not there. We had an hour to kill before I had to get Charles to Wickford and Nicole to a Park and Ride in North Kingstown. So went to Frenchtown Park. There wasn't a lot of birds but we ran across a small mixed flock. A very curious Golden Crowned Kinglet came to check us out. They are a common species but one I never got a good photo of. Today I got my best one yet. A photo upgrade.

Golden Crowned Kinglet 

   We had one more interesting sighting today. My friend Sue sent me a photo of thousands of baby fish yesterday. I had never seen a school like that in freshwater. Though I did not think that the pond was connected to the ocean I thought the only thing they could be were herring. I stopped today and scooped some with my net. They were White Perch by the tens of thousands. I could fill my net with well over a thousand, if not thousands of little perch and it didn't make a dent in the school. I very cool sight! Today made up for what had been a god-awful November for seeing the "good birds".

White Perch and a few
Yellow Perch mixed in