On Saturday, 5 January, I led my 3rd annual "Winter Rarities" field trip for Redwood Region Audubon Society. I always schedule this now annual trip to take place after the coastal Christmas Bird Counts--the Arcata and the Centerville to King Salmon--both of which tend to turn up some interesting rarities in generally accessible locations. This year was no exception as many "goodies" were turned up on both counts; especially the Centerville CBC! Read Centerville CBC compiler, Gary Lester's message to NWCALBIRD from 31 December:
"A mix of perfect weather and eager, capable participation brought a load of rarities and overall satisfaction in a job-well-done. Although the pelagic cruise didn't materialize, there was a respectable count total. I don't have all my reports, but the species total is in the neighborhood of 188. A belated report of Common Grackle, found on private property in the upper Salt River area, caught me by surprise.
Unusual reports include, in no particular order-Long-eared Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Selasphorus sp., White-throated Swift (1st count record), Vaux's Swift (previous records?), Say's Phoebe, Wilson's Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, Western Tanager, Vesper Sparrow, and Common Grackle (1st count record). Notable efforts included 8 warbler species total from 2 separate parties, a foraging Hermit Warbler on a Ferndale lawn, a dizzying mixed foraging flock of 1 Tree Swallow, 2 Violet-green Swallows, 2 Vaux's Swift's and 22 White-throated Swifts and a late-night owling effort on Graham/Tompkins Hill roads that produced 6 owl species including the infrequently reported Northern Saw-whet Owl...."
Gary
Unfortunately, a lot of the best birds were reported on private property that wouldn't be accessible to a field trip, of which has had up to 20 participants in the recent years--especially the 2010 trip when the infamous BROWN SHRIKE was around. But, we did have possibility for the Long-eared Owl that had recently been reported by numerous observers from the Hookton Slough Unit of Humboldt Bay NWR. Also, THREE Northern Shrikes had been reported by 3 separate parties on the Centerville CBC so we had excellent chances to try and refind at least one of those birds, including a stunning adult found by Greg Chapman on Quinn Rd. (For some reason I REALLY like the name of that road!) We also had to make an attempt to look for the reported Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the town of Ferndale and had some other possibilities for lesser rarities like wintering Nashville Warbler, Long-tailed Duck, etc.
In the Arcata area, where we start the trip every year, we had a lot of possibilities to look for, like the traditionally wintering NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at the Butcher Slough Log Pond, a continuing TROPICAL KINGBIRD in Sunny Brae, another NORTHERN SHRIKE in the Arcata Bottoms, and the traditional SWAMP SPARROW(s) at the Arcata Marsh. Del Norte County birder Lucas Brug reported a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in the Arcata Bottoms the day before and, even though it flew off after he soon found it, we probably should just drive by the area and confirm it wasn't back in the same field it was reported at.
DISCLAIMER TIME: Before I write any more about this fabulous day of birding I must first state a disclaimer about the title of this field trip. Even though this trip is billed as a WINTER RARITIES trip the rarities that we go chasing after, or even FIND, are just part of the day and we make a point to enjoy all the species present while birding throughout the day. This is a perfect trip to start, say, a year list and we generally visit a lot of habitats throughout the day and enjoy seeing upwards of 100 species during the whole of the trip. So even though rarities are the means for this trip they are certainly not the end.....but we have seen some GREAT RARITIES, also! I also keep eBird lists for each location visited so we are also contributing important real time bird status and distribution data.
Also, with the recent passing of Rich Stallcup, who was one of the defining figures in California birding and a key pioneer for figuring out how, when, and where to discover rarities in the state, I dedicate this trip to him and his memory. I wish I could have gotten to know him a bit better and could have been blessed by being in his presence like so many others but am thankful I got to know him as little as I did.
For the 3 years I have led this trip we have met at the Arcata Marsh G St. parking lot. I met the 7 participants of the trip here under threatening storm clouds. The weather report predicted 100% chance of rain but only after 2 p.m. Our first target bird of the day was the NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH that has wintered here at the Butcher Slough Log Pond for at least 9 years now (first showed up in Fall 2004). Last year we missed it but in 2010 we picked it up and a couple participants actually got a look at it. This year we picked it up pretty quickly but only got to hear it call a couple of times, which is how you typically detect this bird.
After picking up the waterthrush I decided that it would be nice to drive over to the Brackish Pond complex of the Marsh project. There had been a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL reported here recently and other rare birds (for the Marsh project) like CANVASBACK and AMERICAN BITTERN. Lew Norton spotted the teal for the group and we all got nice looks at it. On the way to the Eastern Pond we had smashing views of an American Bittern that was only 20 feet or less away from us! I had some nice digiscoping opportunites (with Zeiss T*FL 85 mm scope and 20-60X zoom + Nikon V1 camera) here and got some decent photos of some of the birds here as seen below:
DISCLAIMER TIME: Before I write any more about this fabulous day of birding I must first state a disclaimer about the title of this field trip. Even though this trip is billed as a WINTER RARITIES trip the rarities that we go chasing after, or even FIND, are just part of the day and we make a point to enjoy all the species present while birding throughout the day. This is a perfect trip to start, say, a year list and we generally visit a lot of habitats throughout the day and enjoy seeing upwards of 100 species during the whole of the trip. So even though rarities are the means for this trip they are certainly not the end.....but we have seen some GREAT RARITIES, also! I also keep eBird lists for each location visited so we are also contributing important real time bird status and distribution data.
Also, with the recent passing of Rich Stallcup, who was one of the defining figures in California birding and a key pioneer for figuring out how, when, and where to discover rarities in the state, I dedicate this trip to him and his memory. I wish I could have gotten to know him a bit better and could have been blessed by being in his presence like so many others but am thankful I got to know him as little as I did.
For the 3 years I have led this trip we have met at the Arcata Marsh G St. parking lot. I met the 7 participants of the trip here under threatening storm clouds. The weather report predicted 100% chance of rain but only after 2 p.m. Our first target bird of the day was the NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH that has wintered here at the Butcher Slough Log Pond for at least 9 years now (first showed up in Fall 2004). Last year we missed it but in 2010 we picked it up and a couple participants actually got a look at it. This year we picked it up pretty quickly but only got to hear it call a couple of times, which is how you typically detect this bird.
After picking up the waterthrush I decided that it would be nice to drive over to the Brackish Pond complex of the Marsh project. There had been a EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL reported here recently and other rare birds (for the Marsh project) like CANVASBACK and AMERICAN BITTERN. Lew Norton spotted the teal for the group and we all got nice looks at it. On the way to the Eastern Pond we had smashing views of an American Bittern that was only 20 feet or less away from us! I had some nice digiscoping opportunites (with Zeiss T*FL 85 mm scope and 20-60X zoom + Nikon V1 camera) here and got some decent photos of some of the birds here as seen below:
basic-plumaged Long-billed Dowitcher © Rob Fowler
I got one nice comparison picture of an American and the Eurasian Green-winged Teal. Besides the obvious horizontal vs. vertical bar note the lighter brick-red coloration on the head of the male Eurasian, the defined white eye line on the bottom front border of the green face patch and the thin, white line that runs down the front of the face to the bill. Also note the white speckled breast on the Eurasian vs. buffy speckled breast of the American.
male American and Eurasian Green-winged Teals © Rob Fowler
Here's some samples to give an idea of just how close and accommodating the American Bittern was for us.
© Rob Fowler
© Rob Fowler
After everybody got their fill of the the bittern hamming it up we walked to the eastern pond to look for the CANVASBACKS and found 6 of them diving constantly, making it a bit of a task to count them accurately. We then started walking back and on the way back the bittern was even MORE out in the open this time so I just had to take the opportunity to snap a couple more pics of it like this one below:
© Rob Fowler
After the Brackish Pond area we decided to go to the foot of I st. (still Arcata Marsh) to look for some of the small wintering population of FORSTER'S TERNS that are traditionally found in North Humboldt (Arcata) Bay in the winter time. We ended up tallying 6 of them roosting on the old Arcata Wharf pilings. The tide was going out so we also picked up most of the expected winter shorebirds here for the day, also.
Like always, the Arcata Marsh produced a lot of species for the trip and kicked off the day very nicely for us. Here's the full eBird list.
After we finished at the Arcata Marsh it was time to venture out into the Arcata Bottoms to look for the reported LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, that I had little hope of finding and to look for some other birds like NORTHERN SHRIKE, WHIMBREL (rare in winter), and possibly raptors like FERRUGINOUS HAWK (has been tough in the Arcata Bottoms in recent years.) We first stopped off at the slough along Foster Avenue which is where local bird artist extraordinaire, Gary Bloomfield, found a NORTHERN SHRIKE the day before. (Gary is also responsible for creating the "Fowlerope Birding Tours" logo that you see on the homepage of this website. You can see some of Gary's artwork here.) We didn't see the shrike but we had great views of an adult BALD EAGLE eating a coot with 4-5 ravens eagerly waiting for scraps along with really nice and close views of a PALM WARBLER along the road, our only one for the day. We also had some distant views of a PEALE'S PEREGRINE FALCON. Both the tundrius and pealei subspecies of Peregrine are somewhat rare in Humboldt County in the winter time.
Like always, the Arcata Marsh produced a lot of species for the trip and kicked off the day very nicely for us. Here's the full eBird list.
After we finished at the Arcata Marsh it was time to venture out into the Arcata Bottoms to look for the reported LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, that I had little hope of finding and to look for some other birds like NORTHERN SHRIKE, WHIMBREL (rare in winter), and possibly raptors like FERRUGINOUS HAWK (has been tough in the Arcata Bottoms in recent years.) We first stopped off at the slough along Foster Avenue which is where local bird artist extraordinaire, Gary Bloomfield, found a NORTHERN SHRIKE the day before. (Gary is also responsible for creating the "Fowlerope Birding Tours" logo that you see on the homepage of this website. You can see some of Gary's artwork here.) We didn't see the shrike but we had great views of an adult BALD EAGLE eating a coot with 4-5 ravens eagerly waiting for scraps along with really nice and close views of a PALM WARBLER along the road, our only one for the day. We also had some distant views of a PEALE'S PEREGRINE FALCON. Both the tundrius and pealei subspecies of Peregrine are somewhat rare in Humboldt County in the winter time.
"Peale's" Peregrine Falcon © Rob Fowler. Poor quality documentary photo.
After our brief stop along Foster Avenue we made our way to the intersection of Mad River Rd. X Lanphere Rd. in the north Arcata Bottoms. The day before I had a large group of Marbled Godwits feeding in the recently sprayed-with-manure-water field and in the flock were 2 WHIMBREL and 10-20 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS. The birds were still there this morning and we had nice looks at the 2 Whimbrel still present plus at least 20 Long-billed Curlews and around 300 Marbled Godwit. Below are a couple of photos of the birds from the day before.
eBird list for Foster Ave.
eBird list for Mad River X Lanphere Rd.
eBird list for Foster Ave.
eBird list for Mad River X Lanphere Rd.
one satisfied Long-billed Curlew with Marbled Godwits © Rob Fowler 4 January 2013
same bird contemplating what it might have actually just eaten...ewwww © Rob Fowler 4 January 2013
Whimbrel with godwits © Rob Fowler 4 January 2013. Same bird was present on 5 January.
After this stop we drove towards the field where the Lesser Black-backed Gull was reported from the day before and saw some gulls but none that looked like a dark-backed 3rd winter Lesser Black-backed as it had been reported as. We continued towards Mad River County Park for a bathroom break and picked up COMMON MERGANSER and our only COMMON GOLDENEYE for the day. Full eBird list. After a brief stop at Mad River County Park we made our way to Sunny Brae to look for a TROPICAL KINGBIRD that was last reported on 1 January by David Fix. No joy on that bird and the rain began earlier than predicted so we decided to begin our way south towards Eureka and drop off a car or two for carpooling purposes.
After a brief food stop at the Co-op in Eureka we made our way south to the Loleta area. Our first target was the adult NORTHERN SHRIKE that was first found by Greg Chapman on the Centerville CBC. We spent a bit of time looking on Quinn Rd. for the bird and I spotted a couple of Western Bluebirds on the north end of the road that the others in the other vehicles didn't get to see. After spending a brief amount of time looking Ken Burton said the 2 words that birders that are looking for a "good" or rare bird love to hear on the chase: "GOT IT!" The bird was a bit distant but we all got nice scope views of it as it perched on the couple of isolated blackberry brambles in the open field. Northern Shrike is pretty much an annual bird in Northwestern California and for some reason this late-fall/winter season we've seen a much higher than normal number of this species around the region with over 8+ reports thus far. The vast majority of birds found are immature birds so the opportunity to see an adult bird in the area is few and far between! Document-quality (meaning....POOR!!!) photo of the bird below. Full Ebird list.
After a brief food stop at the Co-op in Eureka we made our way south to the Loleta area. Our first target was the adult NORTHERN SHRIKE that was first found by Greg Chapman on the Centerville CBC. We spent a bit of time looking on Quinn Rd. for the bird and I spotted a couple of Western Bluebirds on the north end of the road that the others in the other vehicles didn't get to see. After spending a brief amount of time looking Ken Burton said the 2 words that birders that are looking for a "good" or rare bird love to hear on the chase: "GOT IT!" The bird was a bit distant but we all got nice scope views of it as it perched on the couple of isolated blackberry brambles in the open field. Northern Shrike is pretty much an annual bird in Northwestern California and for some reason this late-fall/winter season we've seen a much higher than normal number of this species around the region with over 8+ reports thus far. The vast majority of birds found are immature birds so the opportunity to see an adult bird in the area is few and far between! Document-quality (meaning....POOR!!!) photo of the bird below. Full Ebird list.
adult Northern Shrike © Rob Fowler
After everyone got their fill of the shrike we began pondering what our next target would be. Ken Burton suggested going to Loleta to look for the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD that had been reported by David Fix and Jude Power on the Centerville CBC. That sounded good to me so we made our way over to the quaint little town and we were sure glad we did! We had no luck with the mocker, though, which has been wintering in the area for some years now. Trip participant George Ziminski suggested we walked around the block on the way back to the car. While walking just south of the corner of Montgomery and Church streets Ken Burton called out "ORIOLE!!." The bird landed in the top of the leafless tree, I got my binos on it and blurted out, "BALTIMORE ORIOLE!!!" (I may have said a couple of other words that I won't repeat here.....) Everybody got looks at the bird and I quickly called out the identifying marks for the bird. I then decided to run back to my car and drive it over to the spot where the bird was so I could try and get some pictures of it with my digiscoping setup. The bird flew to the east and out of sight RIGHT when I got my scope pointed at it after hurriedly setting it up . We ended up finding it a couple of streets to the east where I got a couple of poor pics of the bird like the one below.
Note the strong white wing bar on the lesser coverts. Bullock's would have wing bars that looked more "scalloped" on the top of them whereas Baltimore has fully white complete wing bars.
Note the strong white wing bar on the lesser coverts. Bullock's would have wing bars that looked more "scalloped" on the top of them whereas Baltimore has fully white complete wing bars.
female Baltimore Oriole © Rob Fowler
After we got some more looks we walked back and caught up with the rest of the group. George Ziminsky and I walked back to my car as the other participants walked back to theirs and the oriole was back in the same spot where it was first spotted. It was hanging pretty tightly in this small apple tree that still had a lot of apples to satisfy any Baltimore Oriole apple craving. Full eBird list.
I got a couple more pics of the bird here as seen below:
I got a couple more pics of the bird here as seen below:
© Rob Fowler. Note the dark centers to the back feathers which might make this an adult female according to Pyle (1997). Not fully sure but it is brighter than other females I've seen in the state.
Note on the below photo: bright fiery orange breast with less bright orange going down to the belly. Olive auriculars washed with a bit of orange, orange undertail coverts.
© Rob Fowler
© Rob Fowler. Note that wing bar again.
After our unexpected rarity in Loleta we made out way further south to the Ferndale area. Rob Hewitt earlier in the day had found 2 CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS of of Sage Rd. on the way to Ferndale. We almost drove right up to them and found the birds with a large sparrow flock about 5-10 minutes into looking. Yup.. both were "Claykes," as David Fix would call them. There was also a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW in with the flock, our only one for the day. Full eBird list.
After our continued lucky streak we took a brief jaunt down Coffee Creek rd. to look at the general area where the Common Grackle was belatedly reported on private property. After assessing the situation we decided to head into Ferndale to to try for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Full eBird list. We had no joy finding that bird but we did find a slight consolation prize and year bird for most of us: 1 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. Full eBird list.
After our continued lucky streak we took a brief jaunt down Coffee Creek rd. to look at the general area where the Common Grackle was belatedly reported on private property. After assessing the situation we decided to head into Ferndale to to try for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Full eBird list. We had no joy finding that bird but we did find a slight consolation prize and year bird for most of us: 1 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. Full eBird list.
Birders seriously birding on Berding st. in Ferndale. © Rob Fowler
After "seriously birding" a bit at the corner of Berding and Ocean street we decided it was high time to try a late-afternoon vigil for the LONG-EARED OWL that has been present along Hookton Slough for at least a week or more. By the time we arrived the rain had begun coming down a bit more frequently and after waiting around for 10+ minutes we decided to call it a day. Looks like the owls just weren't coming out today... maybe due to the rain? Full eBird list.
One car ended up leaving and heading back to Eureka and that left just George, Ken and I to finish up the day. We went to Humboldt Bay NWR headquarters to see if maybe we can add at least one more species to the day list and did. George spotted a SHORT-EARED OWL which was our 100th and final species for the day! Full eBird list.
Even though we had a somewhat damp and cold day it was truly a spectacular day of birding and a perfect jumpstart to the New Year! I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about it.
Full species list + numbers for the day:
Brant 75
Cackling Goose 284
Canada Goose 2
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 20
Mallard 35
Cinnamon Teal 26
Northern Shoveler 30
Northern Pintail 20
Green-winged Teal 123
Canvasback 6
Greater Scaup 10
Lesser Scaup 1
Bufflehead 30
Common Goldeneye 1
Common Merganser 10
Ruddy Duck 27
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Horned Grebe 1
Eared Grebe 3
Western Grebe 4
American Bittern 2
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 46
Turkey Vulture 12
White-tailed Kite 7
Northern Harrier 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Virginia Rail 3
American Coot 90
Black-bellied Plover X
Killdeer 3
American Avocet X
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Willet -- Whimbrel 2
Long-billed Curlew 22
Marbled Godwit 300
Western Sandpiper X
Least Sandpiper 2
Dunlin X
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Wilson's Snipe 1
Ring-billed Gull 7
Western Gull 22
California Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 4
gull sp. 20
Forster's Tern 6
Eurasian Collared-Dove 10
Short-eared Owl 2
Anna's Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 3
Black Phoebe 7
Northern Shrike 1
Steller's Jay 1
American Crow 2
Common Raven 12
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 9
Pacific Wren 1
Marsh Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Western Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 162
Varied Thrush 1
European Starling 5
American Pipit 20
Northern Waterthrush 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Clay-colored Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 15
Fox Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 40
Golden-crowned Sparrow 8
Dark-eyed Junco 7
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Western Meadowlark 1
Brewer's Blackbird 10
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch 12
House Sparrow 10
One car ended up leaving and heading back to Eureka and that left just George, Ken and I to finish up the day. We went to Humboldt Bay NWR headquarters to see if maybe we can add at least one more species to the day list and did. George spotted a SHORT-EARED OWL which was our 100th and final species for the day! Full eBird list.
Even though we had a somewhat damp and cold day it was truly a spectacular day of birding and a perfect jumpstart to the New Year! I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about it.
Full species list + numbers for the day:
Brant 75
Cackling Goose 284
Canada Goose 2
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 20
Mallard 35
Cinnamon Teal 26
Northern Shoveler 30
Northern Pintail 20
Green-winged Teal 123
Canvasback 6
Greater Scaup 10
Lesser Scaup 1
Bufflehead 30
Common Goldeneye 1
Common Merganser 10
Ruddy Duck 27
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Horned Grebe 1
Eared Grebe 3
Western Grebe 4
American Bittern 2
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 46
Turkey Vulture 12
White-tailed Kite 7
Northern Harrier 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Virginia Rail 3
American Coot 90
Black-bellied Plover X
Killdeer 3
American Avocet X
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Willet -- Whimbrel 2
Long-billed Curlew 22
Marbled Godwit 300
Western Sandpiper X
Least Sandpiper 2
Dunlin X
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Wilson's Snipe 1
Ring-billed Gull 7
Western Gull 22
California Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 4
gull sp. 20
Forster's Tern 6
Eurasian Collared-Dove 10
Short-eared Owl 2
Anna's Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 3
Black Phoebe 7
Northern Shrike 1
Steller's Jay 1
American Crow 2
Common Raven 12
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 9
Pacific Wren 1
Marsh Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Western Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 162
Varied Thrush 1
European Starling 5
American Pipit 20
Northern Waterthrush 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Clay-colored Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 15
Fox Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 40
Golden-crowned Sparrow 8
Dark-eyed Junco 7
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Western Meadowlark 1
Brewer's Blackbird 10
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch 12
House Sparrow 10
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