Current Topic: Buntings

Snow Buntings on the Beach

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During a visit to the New Jersey coast last month, my friend Jon and I came across two very cooperative Snow Buntings on the beach at Barnegat. Jetty birding was extremely slow – likely due to the waterfowl hunters in the inlet. We walked up the jetty and decided to take the beach back to search for larks, buntings and longspurs. Just as we reached the vegetation on the beach, we located a Snow Bunting. It was foraging around a pile of garbage and debris, which didn’t make for very nice photos.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting in beach debris

Another bunting was foraging a bit further away at the edge of the beach vegetation. We waited as the first bird moved toward the other one.

Snow Bunting

Both Snow Buntings in a much nicer setting

The photos in this location were much more pleasing!

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

The birds would jump on the grasses and grab seeds. It was very fun to watch them.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting grabbing grass

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting jumping on the grass

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting eating grass

We laid down in the sand and stayed with these birds for around twenty minutes.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Eventually, one even made it’s way right toward me, it was so close that my camera did not want to focus.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting up close

I was very pleased with this photo-op – the buntings were very cooperative. These turned out to be my best Snow Bunting photos ever!

Snow Bunting

More Birds in Hand

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Last month, I shared some photos from a private bird banding that I watched. A couple of weeks later, I went to another one on both a Sunday and Saturday morning. It’s always nice to see birds up close! More cool birds were seen, but once again, the species who was caught the most were Gray Catbirds.

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird not having a good time

Catbirds are always fussy, but other birds just want to bite down on something.

Northern Cardinal

This Northern Cardinal needed something to grab on.

We caught a couple of Lincoln’s Sparrows – it was nice to see this bird up close!

Lincoln's Sparrow

One of the target birds, a Lincoln’s Sparrow

Many of the birds were not in breeding plumage, but they are still beautiful!

Scarlet Tanager

Male Scarlet Tanager in non-breeding plumage.

American Redstart

A young male American Redstart

Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting in non-breeding plumage

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler in hand

Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler brightened up the morning

We caught males and females of a couple of birds for comparison.

Eastern Towhee

Male Eastern Towhee

Eastern Towhee

Female Eastern Towhee

Common Yellowthroat

Male Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat

Female Common Yellowthroat

And accidentally caught a Hummingbird in the net. This one was not banded, so she was let go right away.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird before release

We also had a Praying Mantis hanging out with us on Saturday.

Praying Mantis

This Praying Mantis hung out with us

Sorry for not being so wordy in my post, I’d rather focus on the photo then the text!

Birding in the Pacific Northwest – Part 1

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Back in March, I was announced as the winner of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Photo Contest. The grand prize was a three day trip to Portland, Oregon for me and a friend, courtesy of Bob’s Red Mill. The trip would include birding and a tour of the mill. Of course, I wanted to maximize the birding so I asked my birding friends about when a good time to go was. My friend Chris gave me the name of a Portland native, Dave Irons, who I sent a Facebook message to. Not only did Dave tell me when the best time to go was, he also offered to take us out birding. I sent him my “wishlist” of life birds – I’ve never birded in the Western United States so the list was not small. He replied back that he could get me most of the birds on it in a day’s worth of birding!

I asked my birding-travel-buddy, Renee, to join me. We ended up making plans for the Fourth of July weekend. We knew it would be crowded, but decided to spend the holiday miles away from home, across the country. We added an extra day on our dime so that we had one day to visit Bob’s Red Mill and explore Portland, one day to go birding with Dave and another to head to the coast to see an Oregon coastal specialty – the Tufted Puffin. As the trip grew closer, I asked Dave if he was interested in heading to the coast with us. I can only imagine his thought process when he said yes – it may have went something like “this spot is on the way, then that spot, and then we can go see [insert bird here] in this forest and [insert another bird here] on the way, then get to the coast to see the famous puffins before noon.” It didn’t take long for him to tease us with hints of the birds we can see along the way.

We arrived in Portland in the afternoon on July 2nd. After three flights and two short layovers, we needed some real food. We decided to check out Portland’s famous food trucks and ate more than our stomachs could handle. We walked it off at the Waterfront Park where I saw my first two life birds for the trip – the Violet-green Swallow and California Gull. Then, because we had an early dinner, went to the one of the famous Voodoo Doughnut locations to enjoy dessert.

Violet-green Swallow from later on in the trip.

Violet-green Swallow from later on in the trip.

We went to bed early… in fact, it was still light out… but to be fair, we were up since 1AM local time and it was nearing 9PM.

In the morning, we headed across the river to Milwaukie to visit Bob’s Red Mill. We arrived just in time for the tour – it was very interesting to learn the history or Bob’s Red Mill and also nice to see it behind-the-scenes. I never did get to meet Bob because he was in London, but I did get to meet his partner and shell an ear of whole grain corn in his office. After the tour, we stopped at the Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store where we spent my gift certificate and ate some really good food.

Renee and I at Bob's Red Mill

Renee and me at Bob’s Red Mill

We headed over to Washington Park where we explored the Portland Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden. Bird-wise, I picked up two more lifers – a family of Black-throated Gray Warblers and a singing Spotted Towhee – and also saw my first Oregon subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco.

This Spotted Towhee continued to sing even as we were nearby.

This Spotted Towhee continued to sing even as we were nearby.

One of my favorite roses from the Rose Gardens.

One of my favorite roses from the Rose Gardens.

We explored Portland some more, sampled flights of hard cider at a local brewery, went to an art walk, and ate delicious Thai food in the Pearl District. We ended up going to bed a bit early again because, the next morning, Dave was picking us up at 5:30 AM.

Pad Thai and Pumpkin Curry from Khao San

Pad Thai and Pumpkin Curry from Khao San

Dave arrived on schedule with an extra birding guest in the back seat – Rozi, the super relaxed and laid back dog. We eagerly hopped into the car and were on our way. As we drove along the highway, Dave pointed out that the birds on the wires were Western Scrub-Jays – a new bird for me. The local Brewer’s Blackbirds were also new and we even stopped the car so I could get good looks at these common birds.

Western Scrub-Jay

Western Scrub-Jay with a filbert

Or first stop awarded us with a singing Western Wood-PeeWee; we tried to locate it with no luck. We continued up the road to find Acorn Woodpeckers – this would be a lifer for Renee and a US-lifer for me. We eventually found them further down and also got our first looks at a Bullocks Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeaks and a Western Wood-PeeWee who showed himself.

Bullock's Oriole

Bullock’s Oriole on the treetops

We made our way to the spot that Dave said we could get a Northern Pygmy-Owl. Renee and I had our doubts about actually seeing this bird but we certainly got more than we bargained for! Dave pulled out a small whistle that resembled a broken recorder (you know, that little instrument that you have to play in grade school?) and started tooting away. The trees started filling up with birds – Hermit and Wilson’s Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Oregon Juncos – and then we heard the Owl call back from down-hill. The Owl progressively got closer until it flew to a treetop within view. The birds then started to focus on the Owl and were joined by Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. Gray Jays gave us some back-lit looks, I saw my first Red-shafted Flicker, a Red-breasted Sapsucker flew in and Band-tailed Pigeons flew by at some point. We were racking up life birds like crazy!

Northern Pygmy-Owl

One of the Northern Pygmy-Owl’s great perches

Hermit Warbler

Hermit Warblers were pretty common!

Dark-eyed Junco

The Oregon subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco

We headed over to Tillamook Forest Center where we could find more birds and, more importantly, have a nice clean restroom. We headed to a small bridge that overlooked a creek and searched for a bird that I was excited about seeing – the American Dipper. Dave found one foraging a bit far off, but not too far for our binoculars.

American Dipper

An American Dipper is hidden in here.

We finally headed off to the coast, but not without stopping at Tillamook Creamery on the way. It was 10AM and Dave insisted that we stop here to have some ice cream. We were on vacation so it didn’t take much to convince us to have ice cream for breaskfast. He gave us a 5-minute tour, we sampled some cheese and ordered our ice cream.

Proof that we had ice cream for breakfast.

Proof that we had ice cream for breakfast.

On the way to the coast, we stopped at Bay City Oyster Company where I got my first Glaucous-winged Gulls. Back on the road, we got caught in holiday traffic. Not just beach traffic – parade traffic. We must have arrived just before the parade and passed crowds of people who waved to the cars passing by. It felt like we were in the parade! What a way to greet the out-of-staters (OK, so they were waving to everyone). Once we broke free from the traffic, we made a stop at Silver Point to do some sea watching. Heermann’s Gulls, Pelagic Cormorants and Brown Pelicans flew by and we had Pigeon Guillemots and a Black Oystercatcher fly in – one of which was my 500th life bird. If only I could remember which I saw first! I think I got my first good scope-looks at the Oystercatcher…

Silver Point

My 500th life bird is somewhere in this photo

And then the moment we were waiting for – not like the rest of the day wasn’t amazing because it certainly was – we arrived at Cannon Beach.

Haystack Rock

Haystack Rock was full of life birds!

We scoped out the rock from where we parked and got our first looks at Puffins – but Renee and I were itching to get closer. Low tide allowed us to get right up to the rock. Tufted Puffins, Common Murres and Western Gulls flew on and off the rock. The Puffins were, unfortunately, landing on the ocean side where there was more grass. A pair ended up flying on the beach side and we got fantastic scope views. Brown Pelicans were also plentiful and we got more looks at Pelagic Cormorants as well as Brandt’s Cormorants. Harlequin Ducks also swan down low and hung out on the rocks.

Tufted Puffin

Tufted Puffin on Haystack Rock

Common Murre

Common Murre flying by

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican flying by

Pigeon Guillemot

Pigeon Guillemot on the nest

Brandt's Cormorants

Pelagic Cormorants on their nests

Pelagic Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant with Common Murre in the background

After being in a dream world for about an hour, we headed to our next destination – LUNCH! Or, we tried to. Traffic stopped us from going to get fish and chips in Seaside but we did end up making some more bird stops along the way were we looked for Bushtits and Wrentits; it was very hot out so we had trouble finding them. We did, however, stumble upon our first Steller’s Jays and got close to a forging Black-throated Gray Warbler.

Steller's Jay

I was so happy to get good looks at Steller’s Jays!

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler foraging along the road

We ended up hitting some standstill traffic and went a new direction. Dave led us to Camp 18 for lunch. The restaurant was very interesting: built like a huge log cabin with logging equipment laid throughout the property. As soon as we walked inside, we saw bird feeders and gravitated toward them. We ended up having lunch along side Evening and Black-headed Grosbeaks, Rufous Hummingbirds, Purple, House and Goldfinches, Steller’s Jays and a Cooper’s Hawk who swiped up one of the songbirds.

Evening Grosbeaks

I took this photo of Evening Grosbeaks with my phone – they were eating right outside the glass from me

We had to head home early – we were invited to a Fourth of July BBQ at Dave’s friend’s house – so we headed back after lunch. On the way, we kept an eye out for birds; we specifically tried looking for a Cinnamon Teal but came up empty handed. What we did find was a cooperative Lazuli Bunting.

Lazuli Bunting

The Lazuli Bunting’s song reminded me of the Indigo Bunting.

Finding life birds did not stop there – during the BBQ I got good looks at a female Anna’s Hummingbird and a couple of Lesser Goldfinches. No one minded me putting up my binoculars to look at birds – in fact, they encouraged it – it was a yard full of birders after all…

Continued… Birding in the Pacific Northwest – Part 2

First Fall 2013 Migrant Wave

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I went out to my creek today and saw into a lot of activity on the opposite side of the water. The lighting was poor and the birds were very distant to really see. The creek was too high to cross on foot, so I drove over to the field on the other side. I did not even have to leave the parking area to see tons of birds moving through the brush on either side of me.

Migrants were all over these trees and brush

Migrants were all over these trees and brush

Some of the residents would move over to this side to forage

Some of the residents would move over to this side to forage

The trees were full of Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, Sparrows and Buntings. I managed to get some photos of the birds for documentation and ID purposes. It’s a good thing I did because what I thought was a Magnolia Warbler in the field was actually a Canada Warbler!

Black-and-White Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler

Canada Warbler

Canada Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Prairie Warbler

American Redstart

American Redstart

Least Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher (still confirming ID)

This young Indigo Bunting was begging at the Flycatcher

This young Indigo Bunting was begging at a [different] Flycatcher

It started to quiet down so I got back into my car to leave. As I was making my way out, I saw a larger bird with a long tail fly into the tree – not a Dove, not a Blue Jay. Perhaps a Cuckoo? I stopped the car again and hopped back out.

Black-billed Cuckoo

Black-billed Cuckoo

I was right! It was a young Black-billed Cuckoo! It was a life bird for me the other week – this time I got killer views of it.

Black-billed Cuckoo

Black-billed Cuckoo

It’s only the beginning of September – I can’t wait to see what else shows up locally!

Celebrating One Hundred Yard Birds

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Today, I took a better look at my yard bird list because I thought I hit the 100th milestone with a singing Wood Thrush. Well, it turns out that I did not hit it today – I hit it last month without realizing it! The Thrush ended up being number 103, making a Barn Swallow that I saw two days ago number 102 and an Eastern Screech-Owl that I heard number 101. Number 100 went to a good one and I wish I knew it at the time – I was outside talking to a friend about yard birds and I mentioned that I have been trying to see Bald Eagles migrate overhead so that I can get it as a yard bird. Ten minutes later, guess who came flying low over the creek while we were standing in my driveway? A Bald Eagle. I did not know it then, but that was yard bird number 100!

I will celebrate this huge milestone with a list of my yard birds and, of course, some photos taken from my yard.

I have some birds who stick around all throughout the year, my true residents and feeder birds

Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
American Crow
Mourning Dove
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
European Starling
Tufted Titmouse
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
 

Some birds are here year-round but do not show up often, or show up more in one season than another

Eastern Bluebird
Brown Creeper
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-necked Pheasant
 

And Hawks who watch them or are seen flying over the house

Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
 

Some birds stay to breed and I see or hear them throughout the summer, but they migrate south in the winter

Gray Catbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Purple Finch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Phoebe
Chipping Sparrow
American Robin
Field Sparrow (heard only, seen in woods)
Veery (heard only, seen in woods)
Red-eyed Vireo
Turkey Vulture (flying)
Common Yellowthroat (heard only)
Cedar Waxwing
House Wren
 

Others stay to breed but I only see or hear them once in a while

Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Northern Flicker
Ruffed Grouse (heard only)
Ovenbird (heard only, seen in woods)
American Redstart
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Barn Swallow (flying)
Tree Swallow (flying)
Chimney Swift (flying)
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Yellow Warbler
 

These birds stay throughout the winter but breed further north

Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Tree Sparrow
 

My yard gets a lot of migrating birds who come through in waves

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
 

And birds who come during migration and stay for a few days or even weeks

Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
 

Also birds who I’ve seen migrating over my house, both high and low

Double-crested Cormorant
Snow Goose
Broad-winged Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Merlin
Common Raven
 

These birds are usually flying to or from the neighborhood creek

Mallard (flying, vocalizing)
Canada Goose (foraging across the street)
Green Heron (perched in a tree!)
Great Blue Heron (flying)
Killdeer (flying, vocalizing)
Belted Kingfisher (flying, vocalizing)
Common Merganser (flying, vocalizing)
 

I’ve only seen or heard these birds once, but hope they return soon

Bald Eagle (flying)
Northern Mockingbird
Osprey (flying)
Rock Pigeon (flying)
Eastern Screech-Owl (heard only)
Swainson’s Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Wood Thrush (heard only, seen in woods)
American Woodcock (heard only)

Pileated Woodpecker

Brown Creeper

Ring-necked Pheasant

Cooper's Hawk

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Baltimore Oriole

Red-eyed Vireo

Yellow Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Pine Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

It is exciting to think about who will show up next or which birds I will see in my yard that I’ve only heard so far. Fall migration is when I get most of my new surprises but hopefully I do not have to wait that long for the next one.

Indigo Bunting

Published in National Wildlife Magazine! Behind the Photo

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National Wildlife Magazine

National Wildlife Magazine – April/May 2013

Last December, I entered a photo into Project FeederWatch’s BirdSpotter contest on Facebook. The photo did not win, but it received recognition from Cornell and plenty of kudos from fans. That day, I received a private message from an editor of the National Wildlife Magazine who was interested in using the photo for an article. I didn’t get my hopes up yet because the image was not the best quality and probably not good enough to print. I sent the photo over and it turned out that the photo was usable! I was told that it would appear with a story about summer bird feeding in the April/May 2013 issue. I still did not want to get too excited because it all seemed to good to be true.

Then yesterday, the magazine showed up in my mail box. I saw my photo as soon as I opened the magazine – it ended up on the centerfold article! It really happened! I was published in a national magazine!

National Wildlife Magazine

National Wildlife Magazine Centerfold

You can find the article, written by Laura Tangley, online at the National Wildlife Federation website.

So, how about some back-story on this photo? It almost seems too perfect to have happened and I’ve been accused of it being photoshopped many times; but it really was a lot of patience and especially luck.

In 2010, I moved from central New Jersey to upstate New York. The decision to move was made easier because the company that I work for, Local Wisdom agreed to let me work from home. In the absence of people, I decided to make the best of my new situation by putting my desk downstairs near my sliding glass doors. I immediately purchased bird feeders that were visible from my desk and so began my love of birds. I made sure my set up was ideal for both working in a relaxing environment and having maximum exposure to my yard. I always have my camera facing out the window, even on poorly lit days because you just never know what will show up.

My home office

My home office, with camera set up to face outside

On warmer days, I set up outside for even more exposure and a better overall view of my yard.

My outdoor office

My outdoor office, on a second story deck, taken with my HTC Thunderbolt

This set up paid off a few times where I was able to get photos that I would have otherwise missed. From new yard birds to Warblers who perched for only a few seconds; a rare Hoary Redpoll who disappeared after four snaps; and the most colorful photo that I have ever taken.

Four Colorful Male Birds

Indigo Bunting, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole

Too bad I was not 100% prepared for it! At the time, I was aiming to get a photo of my most colorful birds. I was zoomed out because my original yellow bird was a Yellow Warbler who would often perch on the branches to the right. I kept coming close to the perfect photo with female Goldfinches instead of male. Still very lucky, but not what I really wanted!

Three Colorful Male Birds

The photo taken right before my all-male photo

This was taken only a few seconds before my prized photo. The female was not cooperating enough and never made it to the feeders, but then a male flew in and I quickly took another photo.

Four Colorful Male Birds

The original uncropped photo

Then I zoomed in and took another one… and he was gone.

Three Colorful Males

Three Colorful Males and a Chickadee

The Goldfinches were much more fidgety than the other birds. But the Cardinal and Oriole seemed to not want to pose anymore either. Any more attempts after that only resulted in three colorful birds, not four. But hey, I won’t complain about it!

Three Colorful Males

Goldfinches, Indigo Bunting and Baltimore Oriole

Always be ready, you never know what surprises you may catch!

Horned Larks and Buntings on a Wire

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This afternoon, some friends and I joined the Cayuga Bird Club on the field trip to find Short-eared Owls in Ovid, New York. We gathered while it was still light out to search the fields for roosting owls and ran into field birds along the way. I’ve been wanting to get decent photos of Horned Larks for a while now and had my chance today to shoot them right from my car. I am pleased enough with these photos, but of course I always want better.

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

We also came across a large flock of Snow Buntings who would repeat the same thing over and over – they would all perch on a wire above the field…

Snow Buntings on a Wire

Snow Buntings landing on a Wire

Snow Buntings on a Wire

Snow Buntings on a Wire

Snow Buntings on a Wire

Snow Buntings on a Wire

… and slowly drip down onto the field; then flush up and repeat.

Snow Buntings

Snow Buntings

This was my first time seeing Snow Buntings on a wire, so it was a real treat!

Onto the Owl search, as dusk approached and passed, we camped at a spot that the Short-eareds have been spotted in recently. Just as we were losing hope, I spotted a bird flying! Only one other birder got on the probable Owl and we never were able to confirm that it was our target bird, since it was distant and eventually disappeared below the tree line. We described how it was flying while we had it in our binoculars and it could very well have been our bird. Maybe next time we can be more certain and more people can see it…