Out of area - Texas trip - April 10th-18th

Just made it back from a very productive trip to Texas. Starting off in San Antonio the route led through the hill country, down to the Rio Grande Valley where I spent most of the time, then back up to the coastal bend before flying out of San Antonio.

Here's the trip report for this April 2008 Texas trip (under edit) .

Experiencing a remarkable string of luck, I found life birds on each of the first five days: Black-capped Vireo, White-throated Robin, Red-billed Pigeon, Hook-billed Kite, White-collared Seedeater, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Groove-billed Ani and Aplomado Falcon.

I'm sure the mosquito bites will go away eventually.

Sapsucker-assisted vagrancy

In the late half of this winter we've seen two noteworthy NYC vagrants - the Union Square Scott's Oriole and the Central Park Western Tanager - help their survival prospects by taking advantage of a less conventional food source of plant sap. Both the Oriole and Tanager have been seen drinking from sapsucker holes. Both of these sites happened to be on Viburnam bushes - an exotic hardy evergreen shrub that is present on both of these city parks. Later in the winter the Scott's Oriole was re-found in Thompkins Square Park doing exactly the same thing - drinking sap from Sapsucker holes in Viburnam.

Last winter an almost-overwintering Cape May Warbler in Riverside Park in Manhattan was seen drinking sap from Sapsucker holes, although these were probably from more native trees than Viburnam shrubs. Exploitation of sapsucker holes by Cape Mays is not an uncommon thing to observe in the Pinetum region of Central Park in late fall or early winter.

Shai Mitra, via the NYSBirds-L list made the observation that the numbers of overwintering Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been greater in recent years. Unfortunately I can't locate a reference for that observation. The BNA account for this species illustrates that it has a wide wintering range, with NYC being at the extreme north-eastern edge of it. It remains to be seen what influence non-native plants have on this range, because the Sapsucker doesn't appear to be all that picky over which plant to use. So a lot of unanswered questions. Certainly vagrants aren't obliged to exploit Sapsuckers - the 2006/7 Western Tanager in NJ was eating Juniper berries - but perhaps it indicates that the vagrants or out-of-seasonal rarities that we observe are the ones that are most resourceful in exploiting local food sources. Memorably the Scott's Oriole may have chosen to hang around the small corner of Union Square Park because the fruit offerings at the Ghandi statue offered it a supply of palatable food - it's a nectar drinker during the summer but eats fruit on the wintering grounds in Mexico.

Scott's Oriole in Union Square Park (NYC)

I went into NYC early on Monday morning to track down the first winter Scott's Oriole that was being seen in Union Square Park, of all places. True to form the bird was seen quite easily - perching over my head in a tree pre-sunrise and returning to the small garden in the southwest corner of the park a couple of times to pose in the sunlight. This is potentially a first NY State record for this species. More pictures with text here and a fuller collection on my gallery page for this species.

Catskills boreal invasives (NY)

A brief foray into the southern edge of the Catskills in search of winter boreals netted some excellent looks at Pine Grosbeak in Grahamsville but unfortunately the civilized start time led to us missing feeder birds like Common Redpoll. The day was frigid (low 20's at most) with a brisk wind. So a visit to Shawangunk NWR near Wallkill in Ulster County was especially invigorating while scanning the fields for Short-eared Owl. While developing the early stages of frostbite we did see 4 Rough-legged Hawks including one dark morph and one that looked more intermediate than pale morph. That and several Northern Harriers dominated the field and we did not manage to wait out full darkness before retreating to the car to thaw out.

Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese in Montauk (NY)

After the Masked and Muscovy Ducks in Texas in November 2007, it seemed only natural to do another crazed road trip to go find the the Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese at the Deep Hollow Ranch in Theodore Roosevelt State Park in Montauk (NY). I saw the Barnacle Goose in the first 30 seconds, but the Pink-footed Goose took more effort - the reward for hiking the trail up the east side of the pasture was that I ran into 25 Red Crossbills in a mobile and vocal flock, and TWO Western Kingbirds perched together on a wire at the northern end of the pasture. The day was remarkably balmy. Both geese were ultimately quite cooperative. There are more pictures at PFGU_2007.html. These were the first Western Kingbirds I've seen in NY state, although they are an annual vagrant - I just haven't ever bothered to "chase" them. I still remain cynical about Barnacle Geese on Long Island, although it's telling that there's another Barnacle Goose at Cape May right now. In a bit of inconsistency, Pink-footed Goose is in my USA list from the PA bird in 2005, but Barnacle Goose is still not included and I really don't want to make it USA #600.

Connecticut Warblers in Central Park (NYC)

This Connecticut Warbler turned up in Central Park on Sept 8th 2007, found by Tony Lance and seen by many (click on icon to see pics). The bird lingered near Hernshead in what was at times a surreal location just behind an amplified guitar player who was "entertaining" an audience on the west shore of The Lake. Apparently oblivious to all the fuss, the Connecticut persisted until late in the day but was not found on subseqent days. This was one of a series of Connecticut Warblers that were to show up in Central Park that fall, including another exceptionally tame one up at Sparrow Ridge (Sept 18-20th) and a more elusive one at Summit Rock (Sept 23rd).

Western Reef-Heron in Brooklyn (NYC)

An exceptionally rare find of a Western Reef-Heron (or if you prefer, Western Reef-Egret) was made by Alex Wilson on July 8th at Dreier-Offerman Park in Brooklyn - now apparently renamed Calvert Vaux park, not that this location would have been appreciated by Mr. Vaux in it's current form. Apparently quite wide-ranging, this bird was also sighted from Staten Island and also from Sandy Hook. It was also not entirely reliable at the Brooklyn location, but nevertheless many people got to see this remarkable rarity. Western Reef-Herons have been cropping up on the east coast over the last few years. There was one in Newfoundland in the summer of 2005. There was one in Nova Scotia from June-August 2006, and another one or the same one in Maine and NH August-Sept. 2006. Apparently prior to this cluster of sightings the only other record was from Nantucket (MA) in 1983. Either we're getting really good at finding Western Reef-Herons or they are getting really good at finding us. The species is apparently closely related to Little Egret (itself very rare in the US) and some authorities consider it a subspecies of that - there appears to be no firm consensus on the situation as of now.

Summer Tanager in Central Park (NYC)

This Summer Tanager was highly cooperative in Central Park on May 13th 2007 - seen at eye level multiple times and also on the ground. The bird appeared to be in molt - the uppertail coverts in particular were both a deep red and also not lying flat. Closer inspection of the photos reveals that one central retrix (R1) was fresh and probably still growing, as well as one or two innermost tertials. The rest of the tail feathers were relatively abraded, as you'd expect. I've decided that this is probably a first spring male, from a combination of factors: the deep red of the undertail and uppertail coverts, the replacement of that central retrix (just the one, although conceivably this could be from damage) and the relatively pointed outermost primaries. Most passerines do not replace their flight feathers (incl. tail feathers) in the pre-alternate molt, although apparently this sometimes happens in hatch year birds (as per Pyle - Identification Guide to North American Birds). Click here for pics.

Curlew Sandpiper at Heislerville WMA (NJ)

This adult male breeding plumage Curlew Sandpiper was at Heislerville WMA in NJ on May 13th 2007, one of at least three that were at that site in spring 2007. This was one of a series of five Curlew Sandpipers seen in southern NJ in May 2007 - three at Heislerville (1 male, 2 females), and ones at Stone Harbor Point and Brigantine NWR. Click here for pics or on the image.