Tell me you don't know how to fish without telling me you don't know how to fish...

    Working at Bass Pro Shops the past few months has put me in contact with fishermen from all skill levels from pros to people that are buying their first fishing pole.  I have literally had hundreds of people come up to me and ask advice on their first pole. I've had mothers and fathers ask me what to buy their kid and I've had retirees tell me they want to get back into fishing for the first time in forty years. I am certainly not going to make fun of their ignorance. We all have to start somewhere.  Whether you are a six year old or a sixty year old picking up a new hobby, you need to build a foundation based on info and learning through repetition.

    However, many of these one on one conversations are exactly the same. I find myself telling ten different customers the exact same thing on a busy Saturday. While many people will tell me straight out they know nothing about fishing, you'd be surprised at how many others will pretend they know what they are doing. Here are some interactions that I have on a regular basis and some funny stories...

   Everyday I have multiple people come up to me and ask what they should buy. When they say they want a pole for "just for pond fishing". They always say "just" and they don't say freshwater or lake, they say "pond". This ALWAYS translates to... they do not expect to catch anything big so direct them to the cheapest pole in the store. These people do not want to spend any money on a pole, but since they don't own one, the cheaper the better.

   You'd be surprised at how many people actually think "Ugly Stick" are good rods. We sell ten or more a day. Some of our employees recommend them just because the rod is not going to break. The reel is junk though. I hate selling the combos to people because there are way better products for only ten dollars more.

On a regular basis, usually on Friday's (before people start vacation) people will come up to me and tell me they want a single rod for both fresh and saltwater. They don't understand that a freshwater rod will corrode in saltwater or that saltwater fish (and live bait) are too big for freshwater gear. Despite my explanation, I've had to sell rods far too big for freshwater to people that were going to use it in both ponds and the oceans. I've sold freshwater combos that I know were going to get used at the Cape Cod Canal.

  You'd be surprised at how many people ask where the saltwater line is or the freshwater line. To which I explain to them their choice is mono or braid and the line can be used in both the ocean and ponds.

   I had a guy on Friday come in with two junky rods. One was a six foot spinning rod with a 4000 series reel and an extremely light baitcasting rod that was falling apart. The line was a total bird's nest. He wanted me to put six pound fluorocarbon on both rods and got me a 250 yard spool of Vanish. The spinning reel could easily take over 400 yards of six pound line. I explained to him that both rods should take twelve pound line and that fluoro casts like crap because it is stiff. He wanted the fluoro because it was invisible underwater. He was going to Long Island and using the rods for fishing a lake and a bridge over a saltwater channel! So I told him these rods were not made for the salt to which he didn't care. I also explained if he got a two pound fish from the bridge he would break the six pound line trying to hoist it up. He did end up getting twelve pound line. BUT he had me use the 250 yard spool of Vanish for both reels. When I was done, the spinning reel was only one third spooled at best. There was a half inch of empty space between the line and the edge of the spool.

   Understandably, but so many people do not know that a baitcasting rod has a trigger and spinning rods don't. I show at least three people a day the correct way to hold a spinning combo. 

   You'd be amazed at how many people buy rods based on color. We sell these junk "Krazy color" combos. We sell bright orange baitcasters. People buy these things based on color even though they could get stuff so much better for cheaper.

   Combining the last two thoughts, I had a guy come up to me right before close last week who wanted me to "show him the most expensive rod" so I brought him to the G Loomis rods for freshwater. He then decided he was going to buy a baitcast rod (with a trigger) for a spinning reel. I explained why this wouldn't work (for one, you hold the spinning reel upside down and a baitcasting reel  reel side up) Not to mention the trigger! Then he told me he was going to use it in both fresh and salt. Then he wanted to see "the most expensive saltwater surf rod". Jesus, I wanted to get away from this idiot. He then proceeded to tell me he bought one of those Krazy Color spinning rods at Dick's last week and asked my opinion. While I did sugar coat it a little, I did tell him it wasn't good quality. He would be better off returning it and even if he couldn't get his money back maybe get store credit.

   Yes there's more... he then decided he was going to get a Krazy Color baitcaster (right after I told him it was junk) as a "back up rod" So I explained that there is huge learning curve and he would get tangles. Also, it wouldn't be a "back up" because a baitcaster is made to do different things than a medium spinning rod. So, he could buy a second rod, but it really wouldn't be a back up. He ended up buying the junk Krazy Color baitcaster anyway. I learned a very important lesson not to waste time with morons. Let them buy whatever the hell they want.

   You'd be amazed how many people have more money than brains. A guy that owns a high end auto dealership ( BMZ, Mercedes, etc...) came in one day after catching his first fish. It was a striper and he was hooked. He came in with his wife and three kids. He bought all the kids push button poles. However, for himself he wanted to buy a thousand dollar Shimano Stella. One of our employees talked him down to a nice $260 Saragosa. Still, they guy wanted the Stella right up till he paid. 

   We had a guy put 80 pound braid on a small baitcasting reel. I doubt it held forty yards.

    We had a guy put a 5000 size reel on an ultralight trout rod with heavy braid. His target...squid.

   Lastly, a Portuguese man and his wife came in yesterday. His race only matters because he was going on a trip to Portugal. He had huge reel for thirty years that finally died. Obviously, that reel has been discontinued for twenty or more years so he was looking for something similar. He was talking to my boss and he wanted a reel that would be huge for tuna. Think about an eighteen wheeler for carrying your lunch. The reel he was looking for could hold 600 yards of 50 pound mono (yes  600 yards, and yes, mono, not braid). Then my boss asked him what he was fishing for and he said and I'm quoting "small fish like fluke". Good lord!!!

   

Operation 365!!!

 Since January 1 I have been on a quest. I've told very few people about it and even most of my close birding friends don't know. I have spent the last six and a half months trying to see 365 species of vertebrates in New England this year. I chose 365 because that would mean getting an average one species a day for the year. I originally had hoped for 350, but I got that the end of June so I knew 365 was very doable. 

  Today I hit the magical 365 with a very magical bird. The first ever American Flamingo to land in RI since records of such things were kept was my three hundred and sixty fifth vertebrate species this year! This Flamingo has been hanging around the Northeast for a month now. It touched down on a Cape Cod Beach twice but has spent most of its time on Long Island. Today it showed up in Little Compton. I got to see it along with very few other birders because it was at a private beach. I got very lucky.

   I've actually been at 364 since July 9th. I could have ended it very easily by catching a very common Brown Bullhead catfish. I didn't try because I didn't want Brown Bullhead to be the winning species. I wanted it to be something special. I got a Common Galinule a few days ago but I had to take a Boat Tailed Grackle off of my list the same day. I'd say Flamingo counts as special. 

   This journey required a lot of research but more than that it required planning. The most important factor was staying true to nature's calendar. For example, birding as much as I could in May was a no-brainer. But there were many other much smaller windows to get specific targets. Herring only run upstream in the spring. My only chance to see Sea Lamprey was at a fish ladder in Manchester in late May. The easiest Spotted Salamanders would be during a rainy night in March. Wood Frogs are in vernal pools for a short time. The list goes on. 

   I planned as many of these events as I could. If I felt the urge to go trout fishing but the weather was good for looking for snakes, I looked for snakes. I purposely took off the six weeks after May from birding to look for herps, go seining, and day trips. Since May, Laurie and I took a trip to Boston to see Italian Wall Lizards, went up to Maine on a Puffin Cruise (got four targets) and went to NH for NH specialty birds, Eastern Newt, and fish. 

 

 One thing I tried to do was bundle. I wanted to keep my driving/gas expenses down as much as possible. I would spend an entire day off in nature. I'd bird in the morning, go seining in the late morning, and try for herps around lunch time into the afternoon. I went to New Hampshire trying to get all of my species in one trip, but my car radiator and a couple of dips foiled that plan. Still, I had very productive days getting a large variety of species.

    I also put myself in places where I had a good chance to see things I couldn't easily see. At Bioblitz I got ten species most of them were fish. The reason was that RI DEM used a hundred foot seine to haul in a lot of species. They also set out lobster pots and when they brought them in, I got Sea Bass and Scup. My Puffin boat had four species. The whale watch I went in April had seven mammal and two birds. The whale watch I went on last week had the other two Shearwaters I needed.

If I was going to chase a single species, I wanted it to be either a lifer vertebrate or a state bird. I wanted to see many new species as I could. This meant I had to get off of my butt when a rarity showed up in Rhode Island. This has worked out far better than I could have hoped. I've gotten ten lifer birds so far this year and one state bird for RI (Black Necked Stilt).  For the sake of records the lifer birds I've seen so far this year are- MacGillivary Warbler, Northern Shrike, Little Gull, Hermit Warbler, Swainson's Warbler, White Winged Dove, Mottled Duck, Swallow Tailed Kite, South Polar Skua, and the Flamingo. 

Eastern Chubsucker

 
 


I knew going in that the wildcard would be fish. I know that I would get somewhere between 250-280 birds. I know what mammals, reptiles, and amphibians I could get within ten. Fish were the wildcard. I've caught in my best year 33 species in New England, I knew that would be an impossible number. To catch that many, I'd have to take too much time away from other animals. I couldn't spend days trying for a Bowfin when I could get five or more birds in that time. However, I have a new weapon, a seine. This allows me to catch small little fish I could never get on a hook. With the seine or with RI DEM I've seen twenty three fish species. I've also caught sixteen while fishing. There are certainly a lot more species out there so fish will still be the great variable (along with winter birds I missed) on what I end up with. Five of the fish are lifers (Smallmouth Flounder, Rainwater Killifish, Four Spined Stickleback, Sheepshead Minnow, and Eastern Chubsucker). All but the Smallmouth Flounder were in my seine. The flounder was at BioBlitz.

By the numbers... 

   Birds    276  (240 in RI, the other 36 in other states but not RI)

   Mammals 21 (one lifer Red Backed Vole)

   Reptiles     12

   Amphibians   11

   Fish               45

   Total lifers    15

Dips...

    Obviously, on a quest like this you are not going to bat 1.000. There are going to be dips. For fish, my biggest dip was American Shad. I tried for them at the Merrimack River and a fish ladder but never saw one. I tried for Northern Pike but since I had never caught one, I really don't look at it as a failure. For herps, I've tried for Green Snake a dozen times without success.  For mammals, I have very few rodents and didn't see a moose or bear in NH, I got very lucky on whale watches and even saw my only coyote from the deck of a whale watch boat.  

  I didn't get a chance to try for Bicknell's Thrush in NH. While I was in New Hampshire Merlin picked up Ruffed Grouse in the place I was looking for them. Despite my best concentration, I did not here them so I didn't count it. At that place (Pondicherry) I did get Mourning Warbler, Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Purple Finch, and Yellow Bellied Flycatcher, so I'm not complaining.

   The one person that I talked extensively about my gameplan was Charles Avenego. I bounced ideas off of him multiple times a week for the last few months on  Messenger. I explained gameplans and listened to advice. I didn't always follow his advice. Even when I didn't, he has always been supportive and congratulated me on my victories. Thanks buddy!

Easy ones left...

   By far the easiest species left would be Brown Bullhead. There are other easy fish like Yellow Bullhead and White Catfish. I'd probably see Cod and other bottom fish on a Cod Boat and the Cape Cod Canal usually has a run of Mackerel in the summer and another in winter. I also haven't seen Bay Anchovies or Menhaden.

  I've got most of the easy herps, but I'd like to chase some of the harder ones but they require long drive to Connecticut or the Berkshires. Most of those would be lifers. I can get Leopard Frog at Great Meadows in August. I also need Diamondback Terrapins which will require a special trip but should be pretty easy. I'll keep plugging away at Green Snake

The easiest birds left are shorebirds. I should be able to pick up another five between shorebirds and terns. More if I get lucky. I missed a few winter birds, so I'll be doing this up until December 31. 

 You can't really predict mammals. I was told where otters live but haven't gone to look yet. I want to buy a small mammal live trap to try to catch different small rodents. That would be the biggest variable on adding to my number. Other than that, I am going on a bat walk on Saturday. So I could get lucky and see a species with people capable of identifying them.    

A Maine and New Hampshire weekend

    For the past month Laurie and I have been trying to see the Puffins that live on Eastern Egg Rock. Each time we planned on goin g the weather did not cooperate. Finally. this week it did. So we bought tickets.

   To get to Eastern Egg Rock you need to take a boat. There are two boat companies that will take you out. One is in Boothbay Harbor, the other is in New Harbor. We took the trip on Hardy Boats out of New Harbor because it was our only option. The other boat was sold out. The cost for a ticket on Hardy Boats is $51. The trip lasts ninety minutes. Thirty minutes to the island, thirty minutes there, and thirty minutes back to port. The trip goes out at noon.

   I wanted to see more than Atlantic Puffins. There were four species I hoped to see on the day. Besides the Puffins, Black Guillemots and Arctic Terns nest on the island along with other species I had seen. Seeing the Puffins and and Guillemots would be easy. I actually had a  Guillemot in port before the boat engine even started. The tern would be the hard part. The easiest way to tell an Arctic and Common Tern apart is bill color. Commons have an orange bill with a black tip. Artic Terns have an all red bill. This is much easier said than done. Terns are fast and focusing on the bill while in flight is challenging. There are also way more Commons than Arctics. 

   While near the island after taking a few photos of Puffins, I spent most of my time trying to see tern bill color. I was alone in this endeavor as everyone else on the boat were there to see Puffins. I did see a few Arctic Terns.

   After we got off the boat we drove down to Scarborough Marsh near Old Orchard Beach. Laurie stayed in the car and I hustled out to see Nelson's Sparrow. I hear, I saw, I conquered. Then I jogged back to the car.

    We then headed west to New Hampshire. Laurie booked a Best Western in Franconia. It has an indoor pool and we swam for an hour. I slept on the floor near the A/C. We woke up to a decent Continental Breakfast at 7 am.

   We went to Pondicherry which is my favorite place in NH. There is so much wildlife. Though not really on Sunday. Merlin heard three separate Rough Grouse but I didn't hear any of them so I can't count them for the year. I did see two snakes. 

   

From Pondicherry, we went to Mirror Lake in North Woodstock. Mirror Lake has trout but they were not my quarry. It also has Red Breasted Sunfish. I remembered to bring my rod, but I forgot my tackle. I was going to use a fly with a casting bubble. Since I left it at home I had to resort to worms. So I bought the only hooks in the store that were way too big, some bobbers and worms. This cost me eleven dollars to catch a sunfish. 

   Once at Mirror Lake I caught a fish on my first cast but it was a Pumpkinseed. For the next forty minutes I had fish strip my tiny piece of worm on the point of the hook constantly. Finally forty minutes in I caught a beautiful Red Breasted Sunfish.

  We then headed south closer to home and we went down Sandwich Notch Road. This was the sight of my radiator exploding three weeks ago. This time, in Laurie's car I went very slow and

missed all but one pot hole. Once at Upper Hall Pond I walked down the side road with my net. I looked for and found Eastern (also known as Red Spotted) Newts. I caught two and took a few photos.

   We left New Hampshire soon after but it was a memorable trip. 

   

Two more life fish

Eastern Creek Chubsucker

    This week I saw two species of fish that I'd never seen before. One of them I had never even heard of. One was a freshwater fish the other a saltwater fish.

   Early this week I went exploring some small ponds and creeks in Norton. I didn't want to travel far and Banded Sunfish  supposedly inhabit some water in the area. So I searched for them unsuccessfully. However, while I was seining the Wading River I caught some little minnows I'd never seen before. I thought they were Eastern Blacknose Dace. It turned out they were Eastern Creek Chubsuckers. Either fish would have been a lifer, but I was glad to have people give me the correct ID. They are pretty little fish with orange fins. They certainly would be worthy of being in a household aquarium. These guys were released though after I took some photos.

   Today my friend Allison O'Connor went seining in Ninigret Pond. I did well there last week getting some pretty cool fish including a lifer Four Spined Stickleback (Don't worry if you have never heard of the fish I'm writing about. I never knew most of these fish existed until recently). I knew that it would only take one new fish to make the trip worthwhile. I met Allison at 12:30. We made a couple passes at

Sheepshead Minnow

the boat ramp at Grassy Point. The first pass yielded us a few Mummies, Silversides, some Striped Killifish, and a Needlefish (new for the year).  

   Our second pass produced the same and also a two and a half foot eel. For our third pass we decided to go way out and work our way back in. We caught over a thousand fish and rushed to get them back in the water. There was one odd looking black and white fish that I put into the holding tank. We took some photos of the fish and released them. We learned a lesson on not catching too many fish at once. The black and white fish looked a lot like the Sheepshead that DJ and I caught while in North Carolina. 

   It turned out that the fish wasn't a Sheepshead, but a Sheepshead Minnow. Thanks to the ID from our friend Rick Rego. It was obviously a lifer for me and Ally-O. All in all, seining at Ninigret really produced. We had about ten species all from the twenty foot seine in waste deep water. 

Other notes from the day...

 

Swamp Darter in the front

   Before I met Allison I went seining alone in a freshwater pond. Seining alone means I put one stake in the bushes and swing the net into a big circle. Once the circle is unbroken (country song) I take both ends and drag the net up the beach. This is how I caught all of my freshwater fish. Today when I did this, I caught the expected Banded Killifish and Bluegills. What I did not expect was the little tiny Swamp Darter that I caught. I knew they were in the pond since we caught one last year. I had given up hope of catching one after the last outing. I assumed they were just in another part of the pond. 

   On a not so fun note, on my way home I saw a piece of "dirt" in my elbow pit (you know what I mean). I tried to brush it off but it was stuck. I tried rubbing it off but it did not move. After a minute of this I realized the dirt about the size of a flake of pepper was a deer tick. So when I got home I pulled it out with tweezers and saved it on a piece of Scotch Tape. I called my doctor and explained that I had a deer tick embedded in my arm for up to six hours. It did not have a bullseye but probably didn't have time to form. So they prescribed me medicine as a preventative treatment for Lyme Disease. I will take this tomorrow. If you are wondering how I got a Deer Tick on me while seining, I went looking for snakes before seining while it was cool out in the late morning. I walked through grass and weeds  higher than my waste to get to the rocks. I did see my Milk Snake friend again though.

More photos below of some of the fish we saw today...

Another photo of the Swamp Darter

Needlefish

Male Striped Killifish. Really beautiful

First of the year Pickerel Frog

American Eel

Little Fish

 

Black Sea Bass from BioBlitz

I have spent a lot of time over the last four days looking at little fish. On my own I caught White Perch, Yellow Perch, Fallfish, and Common Shiner fishing. At BioBlitz (post to come) I saw ten species of fish while helping seine. One was a lifer that I had never heard of, Smallmouth Flounder. Yesterday I went seining with my friend Jan in both a freshwater lake and a salt pond. We got some pretty cool things including two lifers for me (Four Spined Stickleback and Rainwater Killifish). After Jan left I went to the site of last year's BioBlitz and picked up three more species for the year and a mystery shiner that I think will become a new species for the day after people smarter than myself identify it. Photos are in no particular order because some were on my phone while others were on my camera card. Also, Blogger thinks it is fun to mix up the order anyway. 

  Since the photos are all messed up at the end of each species I put an "F" for freshwater fish and an "S" for Saltwater.  Fish I caught/saw but did not add a photo of since last Friday are Yellow Perch, White Perch, Scup, Windowpane Flounder, Fluke, Silversides.

Black Sea Bass-S

Lifer Smallmouth Flounder- S

Northern Sea Robin

Lifer- Four Spined Stickleback- S

Lifer- Rainwater Killifish- S

Mummichog-S

Bridle Shiner-S

The smallest Bluefish I
have ever seen- S

Striped Killifish- S

Mystery Shiner- F

Fallfish- F

Common Shiner

Two of the mystery shiners-F

Pipefish seining with Jan- S

Tautog- S

Pipefish from BioBlitz

Seining Third Beach at BioBlitz 
with RI DEM

Photos below of Jan and I seining at Ninigret

The ups and downs of my trip to New Hampshire

 

Both Mourning Warbler photos are cropped
but I'll take it!

  I went to New Hampshire on Monday night planning to spend Tuesday and Wednesday birding and fishing. The plan did not go as I hoped. 

   Tuesday started off with a bang. I got to Pondicherry by 6 am and I was the only one there. Pondicherry is an amazing place to see wildlife. I've seen moose, bear, porcupine, and Snowshoe Hare for mammals. For birds it is incredible with Ruffed Grouse, Alder Flycatcher, and Black Backed Woodpecker as reliable species. It is also loaded with nesting warblers. While the only mammal I saw was a beaver, I did have some great birds. I saw Least Flycatchers and Alders everywhere. There was a Yellow Bellied Flycatcher singing that I saw. They are really rare and my best find for the day. I also saw a Purple Finch which is my biggest nemesis bird. There were multiple singing Canada Warblers. All in all, Pondicherry was the highlight of my trip.

    On my way back to my car I heard what I thought was a singing Mourning Warbler. Mourning Warblers suck. They are absolutely beautiful. They are a rare species to see and worst of all they do not like to be seen. They stay hidden in thick brush and will frustratingly sing without letting you see them. This one sounded to be up in a tree and was singing continuously. After a twenty minute search, I found it singing about fifteen feet up. It is amazing how a yellow bird can blend in. I had never seen one out in

the open before. The only other one I had ever seen was for about a second as it hoped from one branch to another in heavy brush and I had a one foot window to look through. This guy sang for a minute or two in my view then flew back to the tree behind where I saw it and it continued singing. I got my first ever photos of a Mourning Warbler which was really exciting.

   From Pondicherry I went to Moore Reservoir hoping to catch Smallmouth Bass. The wind was blowing and I got frustrated fighting it. I caught a couple Rock Bass but no smallies. I stayed around two hours.

   Next I went to Echo Lake. Again, I did not have any luck. I had a couple bumps on my lures but no takers. I walked around half the pond trying to find fish but did not. At this point it was around 3 pm. I stopped and got a couple slices of pizza for lunch. 

  From there I went to Mirror Lake in the hopes of catching Red Breasted Sunfish. Again, it was a bust I caught Pumpkinseed Sunfish and Yellow Perch, but no Red Breasted. So I moved on.

   My next goal was Sandwich Notch Road. I was going to look for newts then fish for Common Shiners (and Brook Trout). After fishing, I was going to find a parking spot and sleep in my car for the night. Wednesday, I planned on Smallmouth fishing in the Lakes Region. Depending on wind, I'd fish two lakes if it was calm. If it was windy, I'd fish one for a few hours then beat the afternoon traffic and get home about 3 pm. 

  None of that happened. While driving down Sandwich Notch Rd I had to pull way over to the side of the narrow road so an oncoming car could pass. As I slowed down, I saw what looked like a lot of dust blowing around the front of my car. This isn't unusual on these dry dirt roads. However, there was a lot. I looked at my temperature gauge and it was pinned HOT. The dust was not dust but smoke. I pulled over and lifted my hood and it was smoking like crazy. Everything was wet. Either I blew my radiator or a radiator hose. I was done for the day!

    Not only was driving my overheated car a bad idea, but I didn't have cell service. None what so ever. I couldn't make any calls. So I let my car cool down and after ten minutes, I started it and drove it back towards Waterville Valley. I drove it between sixty and ninety seconds and I pulled over to let it cool again. I did this about five times. Finally while on Rt 49 I got cell service. I called Triple A and told them about my situation and that I needed a tow back to MA. This was about 5 pm. 

    It took Triple A an hour to find a tow truck willing to pick me up and bring me home that late. Then it took another two hours for them to come get me. After that I had a three hour ride home. The tow truck had to make a couple stops. I got home at midnight. They dropped me and my car off at my house.

   Wednesday morning I drove it to the mechanic a quarter mile from my house and dropped it off. It was a radiator. Six hundred dollars later I have my car back with a new radiator. If there is any good news it is that having Triple A saved me almost seven hundred dollars for my tow.

  I got seven new vertebrates for the year on Tuesday ( Least and Yellow Bellied Flycatcher, Purple Finch, Black Backed Woodpecker, Rock Bass, Beaver, and I saw Brook Trout). My biggest dip was the Red Breasted Sunfish and I didn't get a chance to see newts or Common Shiner). My best experience was finally getting a life photo of a Mourning Warbler.  Obviously my Wednesday was ruined. At least I made it home without paying for a tow. I realized my car was overheating before I blew the motor so that is probably the most important thing.

Wrapping up Spring Migration with a bang!

By far, my best photos of Cerulean
Warblers were taken today

 
   Today I went back to Plum Island. This time I went with  Laurie and my friend from Connecticut, Nicole. I knew this was about the end of migration birding for me. While I am not opposed to looking at any late birds, I do plan on fishing and herping more. Additionally, next week I'm going to New Hampshire to see what birds I can see and what fish I can catch.

   Today started out spectacularly. One of the first birds we saw was a Cerulean Warbler. Ceruleans are a very rare warbler and they have a habit of feeding high up in the canopy making them that much more frustrating to see. I've only seen three before. Usually I rely on hearing them as my ID to count them for the year. This one today was only fifteen feet up and fed out in the open for ten minutes. This means I saw it roughly nine minutes and fifty seconds more than my other ones combined. 

   A little while later we heard not one, but two Alder Flycatchers. Again, a really rare bird. We listened to it for a few minutes but we could not find it despite sounding close.

   Back on the road at Hellcat, we saw a couple people in one spot. We realized they were listening to a Mourning Warbler. Yes, very rare, and a serious skulker. They do not like to be seen. It stopped singing just as arrived. I heard it once. It did fly out for a brief second and we got a quick look. Only the second one I have seen.

   

A little dark, but an Alder Flycatcher

A little later on we did end up seeing an Alder Flycatcher. Alders look exactly like Willow Flycatchers. Even experts can't tell them apart. They actually used to be the same species until the species was split. The only sure fire way to tell them apart is by song. We did hear this guy say "free beer" as we were watching it. 

   While we were at Parker River, I overheard a guy say the Cliff Swallows were back. They are an extremely tough swallow to get in New England. They told me they were near the bridge on Route 1. Unfortunately, they were wrong. After spending forty five minutes at that bridge we checked ebird reports and they were near the Chain Bridge. We went there and saw them after a few minute wait. They are far too fast for me to attempt a photo of. 

   All in all, we did not see a lot of species today. We had to work hard to see the birds. There were enough birds to keep us focused, but they were few and we had to look hard. The flip side to that is, the quality of birds was phenomenal. All of the birds listed above are once a year type birds. On top of that, we saw a dozen Blackpoll Warblers and a Blackburnian. I didn't take photos of today's Blackburnian but here is a photo I got of one on Tuesday.