The Tundra Bean Goose

 

  The Saturday before MLK day I was on my way to the Cape to see if we could find the rare hawk around Monomoy. As we were nearing the exit for I-195 0ff of I-495 Joe Koger a great birder (and great former school teacher) reported seeing a Bean Goose. I'm not going to lie, I'd never heard of a Bean Goose. So I knew it was rare. We jumped on 195 and then Route 24 and were at Portsmouth High School within twenty minutes. 

   The only other birders there were Joe and Louise Ruggeri. It wasn't hard to see the goose at all. They pointed me in the direction of where it was in the flock. The bright orange legs gave it away. 

   It turned out that there are three species in the Bean Goose family. One is the Pink Footed Goose which is a pretty rare visitor to Rhode Island. I've seen three of them in my years birding. The other two are Tundra Bean Goose and Taiga Bean Goose. As I was looking at this goose there was a big debate on whether it was a Tundra or a Taiga. Honestly, it blew me away that people were talking about the differences in the two species instead of driving to see this very rare bird. 

   It turns out that it is a Tundra Bean Goose and it was the first one ever reported in New England. Way to go Joe! The Saturday Joe reported it, ninety birders did see it. We left before the circus arrived. We watched it for twenty minutes. When we left about ten people were there and it was going to get crowded.

    It is still around and people are driving from as far away as New Jersey and I know one couple flew in from Florida. It has a pattern. It sleeps at Lawton Reservoir at night so people can view it there in the wee hours of the morning. Then it flies to fields to feed. It usually ends up at Portsmouth High School in the afternoon. Birders are not allowed on school grounds during school hours. So they can check the goose flock on weekends or after school gets out. 

  There is a Northern Lapwing around which is a great bird. I saw it the day after it was reported at Scarborough Beach. From there it was seen in Jamestown. Then it moved to New Bedford and has been wintering there for the last couple weeks. Between the Lapwing and the Bean Goose, there are two really great birds in the area!

   

Learning from Gear Junkies

    My interview at Bass Pro Shops went well. I had tailored my resume specifically for fishing. I highlighted links to this blog and also fishing magazine articles that can be found online (Fishing Jamestown). I answered all of the questions easily and was hired on the spot.

   However, my knowledge of fishing really did me little good when it came to the gear. Much of my gear was in very good shape and old. Since fishing companies are always trying to get you to buy the "latest and greatest" pretty much everything I own had been discontinued. Even rods and reels that still have the same name are three or four generations newer than my stuff.

    So I spent a lot of time trying to learn about new products. Whenever I had to close, I'd spend my last hour just trying to get a feel for rod brands and where they were in the store. I'd go home and try to read reviews about one specific rod or reel. a night. Quite often, I'd send my buddy Adam a text message and we would discuss his opinion on a particular brand of rod/reel.

   Adam is a twenty one year old kid but he is one of the biggest gear junkies I know. He is also probably my best friend at work. For sure I have text conversations with him more than everyone else combined. Adam has a photographic memory so he is a wealth of knowledge. We discuss the value of one brand versus another. all of the time. I do this with other people while at work too. I'm always asking questions "polling" people for their opinion.  

   Adam has really strong opinions and there is no changing them. When I wrote the long post about different models of reels, many of the things I wrote were based on conversations we had. Sometimes I agree with Adam and sometimes I don't. For example, I think he is spot on about how great the Bass Pro Panfish Elite rod is for $80. But I do not think St Croix rods are "overpriced junk".  So I wade through our conversations and pick out info and form my own theories and opinions. 

  When I got there, everything at the reel counter looked the same to me and I thought I'd never learn one baitcaster or spinning reel from another. I had to break them down and learn what each brand/model looked like one at a time. Even now, I still don't know what all of the codes are on some of the reel boxes (all the Daiwa Tatula models for example). My conversations with Adam and others in the store proved very useful An example of an opinion I formed over these conversations- 

   I have owned a few Shimano Sedonas so going into the job, it was my favorite reel under $100. However, they have gone up in price and the newer models are much different than the ones I have. Adam is always saying the Daiwa Regal is the best reel for under a hundred. At the very least, it is "the cheapest good reel". It costs seventy dollars. The Sedona is about ninety dollars. The truth is they are both decent reels but the Daiwa is a better value. So I suggest the Daiwa Regal when kids (and adults) are stepping up to a decent inexpensive reel instead of the Sedona. I kind of owe it to my conversations with Adam about value and cost comparison conversations that I've saved many customers money

  I've also polled all of my fellow employees in the fishing dept about which brand of mono (regular fishing line) they use. I've always used Trilene XL for bass and Big Game for carp, but I figured with my discount, I'd be willing to try and use other lines. It turned out that there really isn't one opinion that one line is better than another. I had two employees including my boss tell me they use the Bass Pro Excel fishing line (the cheapest) Adam uses Suffix Advance (the most expensive). In between were other Suffix models, Trilene, and P line. So I learned that basically mono is a personal choice. Some stretch more than others and some people may or may not want that, but the reality is there are many quality lines. 

   All in all, a year into this job, I know an exponential amount of info about fishing gear than I did when I got hired. It took a ton of reading descriptions and reviews. It also took a ton, and I mean a ton, of questions. I appreciate all of the patience that was awarded me.

Lapwings and other things

 

A friendly Palm Warbler walked up to me at 
the Black Throated Grey stakeout. I didn't 
get Palm Warbler (a common species until 
December last year)

   The biggest news in the Rhode Island birding world at the end of December was a Northern Lapwing that showed up at Scarborough Beach. I had spent the morning birding in southern New Hampshire. Just as I was pulling into the yard to drop Laurie off so I could go to work at 3 pm, the report came in. As you can imagine, I was pretty frustrated that I couldn't chase a great bird because I had to make money.

   I did have the next day off and I luckily got to see it. Northern Lapwings are native to Asia and Europe and as I just read, very rarely come to North America. When they do "cross the pond" they usually end up in the Canadian Maritime Provinces. So yeah, it was a big deal bird. We call them "megas" as in mega-rare. 

   I didn't have my camera with me that day but luckily my friend Claudia Cooper let me borrow hers so I could take a photo that I could call mine to add to my photo album. I am grateful for her kindness.

    The bird was only seen for those two days then it disappeared presumably forever. I had to work on January 1 so I couldn't go out and do a traditional big day like most of my birding friends. I did have the weekend off though and didn't plan on wasting it. 

    A couple days ago Dick and Marge Bradley found the Northern Lapwing in Jamestown. They found it

Northern Lapwing with Claudia's camera

 on Weedon Lane. So obviously I, along with everyone I know, went to see it so they would have it for their 2025 year list. It was out in an open field and this time I had my camera. It was far out in the grass so my pics aren't any better than with Claudia's photos. 

   Since I had two days to bird I had a choice to make. Did I want to see how many species I could see or did I want to chase rarities. I could rack up big numbers just by going for all of the common winter residents. But I decided to go for rare birds. I got some and I missed some.

   Saturday morning my first bird I tried for was a Greater White Fronted Goose at Jamestown Reservoir. It wasn't there. Then I went right up the street and also dipped on Clay Colored Sparrow at Goodna Farm with other birders. From there I got the Lapwing. 

   

Northern Lapwing, my camera, cropped

I then drove to Scarborough to see the Black Headed Gulls that winter there. However, the highlight was watching crazies do a Polar Plunge. It was freezing. The air temp was about 25 but the wind was howling making the wind chill near single digits. They jumped into thirty five degree water and got out in those conditions.

    We then left to go to Trustom. We saw most of the good ducks and I found unreported Canvasbacks. I was happy to contribute to the good bird list since I spent most of the day chasing reports.  I picked up another five species including Eurasian Widgeon at Perry Mill Pond.

Female Canvasback. 
Probably better than any bird I found in RI 
all last year

   I also tried to find Long Dilled Dowitcher, White Crowned Sparrows, and Meadowlarks without success. All in all, I found Saturday to be a struggle. I saw forty five species, but missed more than half of my targets.

   Sunday I changed strategies and went to the Groton area of Connecticut looking for two rarities. I first tried and failed at the Black Throated Grey stakeout. I spent about ninety minutes there. While I was there, I talked to a Connecticut birder and she said the Spotted Towhee which was my next stop was a two mile walk one way. I couldn't leave Laurie in the car for what would have been over two hours. So I abandoned my next idea and Sunday was frustratingly feeling like Saturday. 

   I drove back into Rhode Island where I got Lapland Longspur, Horned Larks, and a large flock of Snow Buntings at Misquamicut Beach. Then I went back to Jamestown and got the Greater White Fronted Goose which was my fourth attempt. 

 

Lapland Longspur

 I had a decision to make and decide if I wanted to go to Ft Adams for a Lark Sparrow, Providence for a Tufted Duck, Dartmouth for a lifer Says Phoebe, or back to Matunuck for the three birds I dipped on yesterday. 

   Long story short, I went back to get the three from yesterday. I got two of the three. With Tim Metcalf we had the Long Billed Dowitcher and he refound the White Crowned Sparrow. We didn't see the Meadowlarks but  all in all, Sunday was more fun than Saturday. Maybe it was because it ended on a good note with friends.

Post script-

   I haven't decided if I want to keep a list this year or not. I also don't know if I want to do a Rhode Island year list. I chased as many of the rarities as I could over the last two days. I got frustrated with multiple strikeouts. But these were birds I wanted to see. Thinking about many of the rarer birds that show up every year, honestly I don't have the mental energy to chase them. The thought of jumping in the car to see Vesper Sparrow, Cape May Warbler, American Golden Plover , Royal Tern, and twenty five other rare year birds already feels exhausting and not fun. So if I know that I'm not going to go after them, then is there any point in keeping a list? Probably not. I just want to have fun.

A few photos from below including the Polar Bear Plunge-

Ameriasn Pipit
My 300th bird for 2024. 
Drove to Rye, NH to see them

Wilson's Snipe in New Bedford.
One of those rarer birds that show up every year. Usually I get them in April
This is one of those species I wouldn't go out of my way to chase but since it was near a
Snow Goose I was looking at, I was glad to see it.

Sue Palmer's 312 Birds

 

  My friend Sue Palmer came extremely close to breaking Tim Metcalf's Rhode Island single year record for birds. Tim saw 314 birds in 2022. Sue saw 312 birds this year. Before this year, Tim had the 314 and the previous high was 309 set by Carlos Pedro. 

   Sue worked tirelessly all year to find birds. She found an Atlantic Puffin on a pelagic and Jaegers from shore. She found plenty of other good birds that she reported so that others could also see them.

 She was also relentless in refinding birds that others previously reported. She spent hours looking for a Sedge Wren that was found in Lincoln. But she did see it. She did this with other birds throughout the year. Sue worked her ass off to get these birds.

   Sue's 312 birds is the second highest total all time in Rhode Island. As I wrote above, Carlos had the record of 309 until Tim smashed it. Sue beat Carlos by three species. This may not sound like a lot, but three species when you have seen everything else is really (I mean really, really) hard. 

Congrats my friend!