Christmas Passed

Here we are, right between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Since the middle of December many regions are once again in the throes of the “CBC” – the Christmas Bird Count. This Audubon sponsored endeavor is one way that bird population trends are tracked, long term, across the continent. Count season starts before Christmas and ends just after the New Year.

Last count season, I took part in the CBC in my home county. This time around, I helped my friend David Goodwin and his team with the east Pasco County count, the day after Christmas.

In order to get started on time, I had to leave my house before 3am for the 2+ hour drive to our meeting place at a Denny’s by the interstate, just outside St. Leo. From there we hit several spots in our designated part of the count circle (for an explanation of the CBC and count circles, visit the Audubon CBC webpage).

We started before dawn at the Tyndall Road Marsh [map] to catch birds most active at or before dawn. Much of the day required that we drive on McKendree Road – an unpaved stretch with washboard ridges and potholes – and other rural streets to get to our various hot spots.

As a group, we found 107 species for the day (I personally identified 99). Some of the good “gets” for the count were American Woodcock (seen by Dave Goodwin before dawn), American Pipits, a couple of Red-headed Woodpeckers, and a Merlin.

red-headed-woodpecker — *The closest and longest look I’ve had of a Red-headed Woodpecker!*

american-pipits — *If you look closely, you’ll see 5 American Pipits in this shot. They blend in very well on the ground where they forage for insects.*

The parts of Pasco County we birded are all quite rural, making for some lovely scenes, and we were only downwind of some of the more fragrant aspects a couple of times.

cow-and-pond — *This cow pasture has an obligatory watering hole and an attendant cattle egret, behind the cow. Note the remnant of a cypress dome on the left.*

pasco-barn — *Florida isn’t all palm trees and thrill rides. I leave it up to you if that’s a good or bad thing.*

At Wesley Chapel District Park [map], Erik Haney got a pair of Ovenbirds to respond to a recorded call of that species, but they remained very well hidden. We managed to scare up a Carolina Wren or two, and on the way out, a singing Blue-headed Vireo briefly got us back, scanning the woods to see it.

carolina-wren — *Carolina Wrens share the same habitat as Ovenbirds, but are often a little less secretive.*

In general, the concentration of wading birds was low throughout the day. The only large numbers were from a distant rookery before dawn, as they dispersed. There were just two wading birds at Wesley Chapel District Park. A Great Egret and a Glossy Ibis were quietly feeding in a small wetland area.

glossy-ibis — *A Glossy Ibis, looking a bit less than glossy, over the winter.*

great-egret2 — *A really great Great Egret!*

The goal of any count is to see as many birds of as many species as possible. To achieve this birders, of course, use skill, patience, and optics. But there is an even greater urge than usual to “pish” at birds to get them to come out into the open or to use recordings. It is much easier in these days of smartphones to get high quality recordings of almost any bird to draw it out. And it’s not just the recording of the target bird. Some birders use the distress calls of other birds (the Tufted Titmouse is a favorite among eastern birders) or even predator calls, such as screech owls. There’s an always ongoing debate as to how much of this is necessary or causing stress/harm to the birds. It’s generally accepted that the least one uses these measures the better, but it can be hard when doing something like a CBC or a paid field-trip.

hermit-thrush — *Hermit Thrushes were among the birds pulled into clear view due to the persistent playing of an Eastern Screech Owl recording.*

Our group made a lot of use of titmouse and screech owl recordings to lure birds out. We relied on it much more than I am comfortable with, but probably did no permanent harm to the birds in the areas in which we used them.

eastern-bluebird — *Eastern Bluebirds are normally birds of open or semi-open country, but our recordings lured more than a few into more wooded areas to see what the hubbub was about.*

We ended the day with a walk through an old field, looking for sparrows in the brush and weeds and then circling back to McKendree road for a final look for ducks and shorebirds at pond we had scoped out earlier in the day. Throughout most of the day, Dave Goodwin had been commenting on us not having seen a Northern Harrier. By sundown, we still hadn’t seen one. But as I made one last scan in the fading light, I caught one in my binoculars skimming low over the fields. I found it fitting that I found the bird that way. On my first field trip with Dave at the Space Coast festival, our group was heading home in the tour bus, going over our day’s list. The only hoped for or expected bird we didn’t have was a Northern Harrier. Just after Dave commented on how nice it would be to have that bird before we arrived back at the festival HQ, I looked out the window and there was a Northern Harrier, about to fly over the road. “You mean, like that one?” I said to him. It was a cool moment.

For the so-inclined, here are all the eBird lists for our stops. If you poke around eBird, you’ll see Erik’s lists too, which differ slightly from mine. This isn’t for lack of trust or disagreement, it’s that sometimes we were looking in slightly different areas and saw different birds.

I would have liked to stay for the end of the day count up from all the teams in the CBC circle, but I had a 2+ hour drive ahead of me. So I said my good-byes and headed home. Birding with Dave is always fun and informative. CBC days are long. You have to drive, walk, talk and share with people for hours, and sometimes the birds are less than cooperative. Birders, as a general rule, get along pretty well. After all, we’re united by this passion for birds. But having Dave head up a team is special, and all four of us did pretty well, and had fun doing it.

Unlimited Ducks!

As much of the nation went into a deep freeze last week, the cold air brought with it those promised ducks to Florida. As I mentioned in my last blog post, ducks and other waterfowl only tend to migrate south when the weather or food supply dictate. When ponds and lakes freeze over, these birds cannot forage and have to move to warmer places.

The ducks came in to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in massive amounts last weekend. Thousands of birds settled into their usual digs along Black Point Wildlife Drive [map], along with a growing contingent of shorebirds and gulls and terns.

The first most noticeable difference along Black Point was the relative abundance of Wilson’s Snipes, feeding in the open. Snipes are usually fairly cryptic and will suddenly take to the air in an erratic zig-zag flight pattern only when approached very closely, often startling whomever is walking by. They rely on their camouflaged plumage to stay hidden. This was the largest single grouping of Wilson’s Snipes I’ve seen – almost 40 birds.

snipes-yellowlegs — *Normally secretive Wilson’s Snipes feeding in the open with Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.*

wilsons-snipe1 — *Snipe’s bills are similar in size and shape to those of dowitchers, and their feeding methods and posture seemed much alike. This bird was resting in the margin of some tall marsh grass.*

Ducks started appearing farther along the drive. First, Hooded Mergansers in small groups, quickly diving and scouting for prey. When food is abundant, these birds are in almost constant motion and only fully on the surface for a few seconds at a time.

Blue-winged Teals had already arrived in numbers earlier in the Fall, but they have been joined by Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails.

blue-winged-teal-couple — *This male (left) and female (right) Blue-winged Teal pair have likely been at MINWR for weeks.*

pintail-tail — *Bottoms up! Even without breeding plumage, you can see how pintail ducks got their name.*

shovelers-pintails-coots — *A wider shot showing Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, and American Coots together. Large areas of the ponds on the west side of the road (north of Cruickshank) were like this.*

A large flock of Redheads were just within binocular range, as well as smaller pockets of Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks, and even an overflight of Black Scoters. Overhead and in spotting scope range (for those that had them) were many hundreds of more ducks, too distant or backlit to identify.

Of course, winter means American Coot time. Coots gather in huge rafts over the winter, using a “safety in numbers” survival strategy from predators, such as Bald Eagles. Sometimes other birds use the coots as cover, some blending in better than others. The largest rafts of coots were actually along Playalinda Beach Road (402) in some mangrove-screened ponds [map]. Google Maps erroneously calls this Max Brewster Memorial Parkway.

redheads-coots — *A pair of Redheads trying to fit in.*

The main event the past few years along this stretch has been the large and vocal numbers of American Wigeons. Whether it’s the added privacy of the mangrove hedge or something about the ecology of the area, the wigeons have staked it out.

many-wigeons — *Many American Wigeons (and coots, of course). There might be a grebe or two in there, as well.*

wigeons-flight — The wigeons were a bit skittish. It seemed like they took to the sky at the slightest approach through the mangroves. The large flocks would break up and circle in smaller groups like this before settling down again.

Hopefully the ducks will stay over longer this winter than they have. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival begins in just over a month, and the impressive array of ducks at MINWR would be a great treat for field-trip attendees!

Look Who’s Ducked in for a Visit

The major bird “events” that many people look forward to in Florida are the Spring and Fall songbird migrations. In the Fall, hundreds of northern species funnel south through the state either to stay for the winter or on their way to Central and South America. The process is reversed in Spring when these species pass north on the way toward their breeding grounds.

There’s another migration that happens, though. In November, ducks by the thousands begin to arrive on the coasts, lakes, ponds, lagoons, and estuaries. Unlike most songbirds, whose drive to migrate is dictated primarily by length of day, many ducks and other waterfowl migrate when the food supply or weather dictates. If a winter is comparatively mild and food is abundant, these birds may not arrive in Florida until later in the winter, if at all.

One thing to count on, no matter when the ducks arrive, is that there’s almost always a vagrant, rare or unusual species that pops up here and there in central Florida.

For example, there has been a Common Goldeneye at a small retention pond in Melbourne for the past couple of weeks. This particular bird has been hanging out with a flock of Hooded Mergansers. Common Goldeneyes normally winter as far south as the Gulf Coast and the Carolina Coast (though they are increasingly found in northern Florida).

common-goldeneye1 — *The brown head indicates that this is a female. Note the gold-colored eye that gives this bird its name.*

common-goldeneye3 — In breeding season, the tip of the bill would be brighter yellow, contrasting with the almost black base. The black area at the tip of a duck’s bill is called the nail and is sometimes useful for species identification.

A few days earlier, another rare but regular visiting duck species was seen at Orlando Wetlands Park. Buffleheads are small diving ducks, usually seen in saltwater bays or along the coast in winter (though they do breed near northern lakes). These Buffleheads (either females or immature males) were swimming and diving with Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaups and a Ring-necked Duck. The typical winter range for Buffleheads just extends into extreme northern Florida.

bufflehead-in-there — *The Buffleheads are the 3rd and 4th ducks from the left, in this distant shot. The first duck is tipped tail-up, feeding. The white head-stripe was noticeable, even without binoculars.*

bufflehead-in-there2 — *Here’s a close crop of the birds on the wind-ruffled surface of one of the artificial ponds that make up the park.*

The two duck species above are among the more often seen, since their historical winter ranges are not that far away.

Other rarer, but regular waterfowl visitors to Florida include Snow Geese, Ross’ Geese, Mute Swans, and Long-tailed Ducks (the latter usually along the coast or in coastal lagoons). Over-wintering ducks and other waterfowl aren’t always that picky on where they stay, either. It often pays off to drive by suburban and urban retention ponds. Keep your eyes open!

Memory and Mystery

After over a decade, I was finally able to recover my 4th edition of A Field Guide to the Birds East of the Rockies, by Roger Tory Peterson. It was given to me by an aunt soon after I had my spark as a high-school senior to be a birdwatcher. Years ago, I lent the guide to a friend with whom I almost immediately lost regular contact with. I purchased a 5th edition, after making do with my Stokes guide for a time (which is fine, if you like photo-based vs. illustration based guides – a discussion for another time).

peterson-4th — The cover of my Peterson’s 4th Edition with the 3 (sort of now formerly) finch heads. Since this edition, cardinals and grosbeaks are still “together” (family Cardinalidae) but separate from finches and sparrows (family Emberizidae). Back in 1980, they were all in family Fringilidae. Taxonomists live and die by their Latin, of course.

Its recovery also includes attendant checklists and notes, some made in the margins of this well-worn volume. But with it came a mystery! I have “Scrub Jay” noted, seen in Montana.

Why is this significant? At the time I “lost” the guide, I had not yet seen a Florida Scrub-Jay. It is also important to note that the 4th edition was published in 1980. As many of my birding readers know, bird taxonomy (the practice and science of classification) is in a constant state of flux. Back in the early 1980s, birds such as the Baltimore and Bullock’s Oriole were lumped (or re-lumped) into “Northern Oriole” and there was only one “officially” recognized species of Scrub Jay on the continent. Since then, the Scrub Jay has been split and/or redefined at least twice.

What to make of this simple note of a Scrub Jay in Montana in 2001? The two most likely candidates are the California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay; both were formerly part of the “Western Scrub-Jay” prior to a taxonomic split this year. In 2001 the Western Scrub-Jay was already a distinct species from the Florida and Island species, but my 1980s era guide didn’t tell me that.

sfw_gbbc_2014_5238_western_scrubjay_lou_orr_arcadia_ca_habitat_kk — *From left: Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay. Photo: FLPA/Alamy; California Scrub-Jay. Photo: Lou Orr/Great Backyard Bird Count (Not my photos).*

The problem is larger than this, though. For either “probable” species of scrub jay, neither is terribly likely in the places I visited back then. Our track took us from Fort Benton, along the Missouri River to Great Falls, south to Helena and eventually to Three Forks. According to eBird (which risks becoming the “Wikipedia” of the bird-sighting world, I realize) there are no reports of a scrub jay within hundreds of kilometers of my locations. The closest mapped species is the California Scrub-Jay, seen near the Thompson Falls Reservoir. But it’s the least likely given the habitat. The closest Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay is mapped near the Cress Creek Nature Trail in Idaho, well to the south.

Unfortunately I did not make any further notes on this sighting (or if I did, they are lost to both my memory and physically). Was the bird or birds I saw pale or strongly colored? I want to say pale, but memory is notoriously faulty and I can’t rely on a decade-and-half-old recollection.

Realistically, this doesn’t mean a whole lot in practical terms. It’s one “count” on my life-list I can’t really add. The best I can do is note, in today’s taxonomy, “Woodhouse’s/California Scrub-Jay” and leave it at that. It’s an almost imperceptible blip in the vast store of bird sightings both within and outside of eBird.

This illustrates the importance of notes and photographs. It hasn’t really been until my adoption of eBird to track my sightings and my use of a camera that I’ve had any semblance of good record-keeping with my birdwatching activities (and even still, I could do much better). I am not by nature an organized person. For these and other past records, they’ve passed on into memory and thus into obscurity and I’m left with a handful of sightings that will be best served as personal myth.

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