Rain does not always ruin a birding day. I recently came back from a photographic trip in Florida where the weather started out very iffy. We arrived early on Saturday and went right into bird-mode. One of our stops for the day was Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, which recently opened up last summer. We decided to go there when the skies started to darken. It was the perfect stop for a rainy afternoon since we could stay protected in the car.
Pied-billed Grebe surrounded by rain drops
Most of the birds just continued with their normal routines, feeding in the marsh.
American Coots
This Purple Gallinule came out for a quick view
Common Gallinule with its tail up
Others waited outside of the water for the rain to stop.
Little Blue Heron on the bank
Great Egret waiting on concrete
Soaked Anhinga drying on the rocks
Anhinga waiting for the rain to stop
Drying its wings before jumping down
The rain started to calm down not long after we began the drive, but was still falling enough to get our gear wet if we left the car, so many shots were taken from a higher angle.
Glossy Ibis as the rains calm down
Tri-colored Heron hunting nearby the Ibis
White Ibis drying off
It did eventually stop, however, the skies remained overcast for the rest of the drive. That certainly did not stop us from getting low to photograph birds for the remainder of the drive.
Blue-winged Teal in overcast light
Anhinga with a nice catch
Snowy Egret resting in the water
I was able to get some great photo ops with some birds that I could not get close enough to last year. I took tons of photos of this Osprey and Red-shouldered Hawk, which may end up getting blog posts of their own in the future.
An Osprey with a huge Catfish
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk who gave us quite a show
The Cattle Egrets were tough to photograph unless you stayed in the car
Not all of them were fully cooperative though.
I would rather this photo of the Belted Kingfisher include the tip of his beak
I even saw a life bird on the drive – the Fulvous Whistling Duck. Our first looks at them were all in flight until a single duck flew in, landed nearby, and interrupted our photo session with the Red-shouldered Hawk.
This Fulvous-Whistling Duck came in close for a decent photo op
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks also made a few appearances
I even photographed a new sub-species life bird, the Eastern Towhee with white eyes. The ones I am used to seeing have red eyes. The white-eyed ones are found in the Southeast and Florida.
White eyed Eastern Towhee
Some young birds made an appearance, too.
Young Pied-billed Grebes
We also photographed two American Bitterns out in the open – one was found toward the beginning of the drive and the other at the end.
American Bittern just after the rain calmed down
American Bittern photographed toward the end of the day
And, of course, there were Alligators. I photographed this one below the Osprey.
This Alligator stole my attention for only a moment
I highly recommend this wildlife drive for anyone who finds themselves birding around Lake Apopka. The different habitats bring all kinds of great birds!
I started my blog in February of this year so this will be my first “new year” with an audience. I am taking this opportunity to do what many others do this time of year – reflect on my year, with a focus on my best birds and experiences. Personally 2013 brought many changes to my life – I started the year in New York and am ending in Pennsylvania. As far as birds go, I got 36 life birds, a great oppurtunity to be a part of the birding community and unforgettable trips with friends.
I started out with a bang doing New Years birding with my friend; the first bird we spotted together was a life bird for me – the Northern Shrike. This bird eluded me any time I would look for it during the previous season. The scope views were great, but he was too far for good photos.
Documentation shot of the Northern Shrike
Halfway into the month, my friends and I went up to the Cayuga Lake region to search for a Townsend’s Solitaire that had been reliably seen. We searched for two hours and never found the bird. Of course, the bird was spotted about ten minutes after we left – go figure. As we were making our way back down the lake I received an email about a juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon that was spotted at Montezuma NWR. A Gyrfalcon?? We turned right around and chased this bird which would have been a lifer for all three of us. We had our sights on a bird that we thought was the Gyrfalcon, but it was too far even for scope views and concluded that it was a Rough-legged Hawk (shadows played tricks on us). We went to another area to get a better view and the bird we were looking at was, indeed, the Gyr. It was a great turn-around to our otherwise disappointing day!
I promise you that this is a Gyrfalcon
This month was the start of my interest in falconry. My friends caught and hunted with a handsome male Red-tailed Hawk who they named Rusty.
Rusty, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
I watched birds hunt for the first time at the New Jersey Falconry Club Annual Meet. I hope to have the time to hunt with birds one day in the future. For now, I will follow around my friends and photograph them with their birds.
Rogue, my friend’s Harris’s Hawk
January was also the start of my Redpoll invasion that ran well into February. I had over 100 birds at my feeders – they cleaned me out, but it was a great experience. Within the Common Redpoll flocks, I also spotted a couple of Hoary Redpolls.
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
The winter months bring tons of waterfowl to the finger lakes. This year was my first time seeing rafts of ducks swimming close together – this raft included great views at a life bird, the Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
In March, my friends and I did a winter big day where we found a flock of Red Crossbills at a residential feeder. My next lifer was seen on the very next day – a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Horned Larks.
Red Crossbills
Later in the month, after multiple attempts at finding Short-eared Owls both locally and further north, we finally had one fly over low as the sun was setting. I didn’t even lift my camera for it, because I did not want to lose this beautiful sight by playing with settings and focus.
My biggest highlight this month was not an actual bird – earlier in the season, I submitted a photo to Project Feederwatch that was recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on their Facebook page. An editor at National Wildlife Magazine saw this photo and asked me if she could use it in an article. The magazine arrived in my mail box on March 15th. I was published in a national magazine for the first time!
My photo in National Wildlife Magazine
April brought another really great life bird – the Bohemian Waxwing. A friend and I went up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to photograph birds. As soon as we parked the car, I received an email that the Waxwings were nearby. We packed back up and headed to the location. We ended up getting permission to go in private woods and were surrounded by these beautiful birds!
Bohemian Waxwings
May was highlighted by The Biggest Week in American Birding. Back in February, I volunteered to be on the events blogging team. I ended up getting a bit more involved than last year, met many new friends and walked away with a lot of great memories – and 12 life birds.
This Long-eared Owl was the most unexpected life bird at Magee Marsh
Cape May Warbler at Magee
Things slowed down in June and July. We did, however, get to see the return of a local family of Barred Owls. At about the same time, I also had a guest Great Horned Owl in my own woods. All of these birds proved to be great subjects and were fun to watch.
Young Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
In August, I added some more really good life birds – An American White Pelican who was out of range at Montezuma NWR and some Least Bitterns that I was able to self-identify in the field. A Black-billed Cuckoo also flew into my yard – this was a very unexpected visitor!
Black-billed Cuckoo
Then came September and our annual trip to Cape May. For me, this trip started last year and both visits were beyond my expectations. While the morning flight at Higbee was not as great as last year, we still went on a good day and saw many birds zip by.
Cedar Waxwings morning flight
I finally saw a Marsh Wren – a bird that I had previously only heard… many times… many many times.
Marsh Wren
We also found out where the Black Skimmer flock likes to hang out during the fall – a beach near the 2nd Avenue jetty. I was in Skimmer heaven!
Black Skimmers
Endless Black Skimmers
I moved to my new house in Pennsylvania – this was a big change for me. Leaving New York was difficult, but it had to be done. Before I left, however, I was given the opportunity to hold my favorite bird, the American Kestrel, for the first time thanks to my friends.
Me with an American Kestrel
Birding slowed down for me in October. I spent a lot of time settling into my new house and only went birding once with a new friend. Other than that, I watched as migrants passed through my yard. In November, this same friend also brought me to Barnegat on the coast of New Jersey – a first for me. The trip yielded five life birds including the Harlequin Duck – our target bird.
Harlequin Ducks
We stopped by Sandy Hook Gateway National Park to check in on some Snowy Owl sightings. Just as we were about to give up, a fisherman told us where to find the one of the birds on the north beach. The photo op was unbeatable. This was one of the earlier Owls from this years irruption.
Snowy Owl
Last week, my best Christmas present was in the form of votes – I won week 7 of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Contest. This was completely unexpected since I never asked anyone for votes – it just happened!
My winning House Finch photo
We visited Barnegat again in December with another friend to show her the Harlequins. Once again, the trip did not disappoint us. Not only were we rewarded with great views at Harlequins, we also had up-close looks at Northern Gannets and an unexpected visit from two Razorbills off shore.
Northern Gannet
I look forward to seeing new birds in new places for 2014. Every year keeps getting better as I add more places to visit. More trips to Cape May are already planned, the Biggest Week is already in discussion and we are even considering going to the Rio grande Birding Festival this year. Perhaps my post a year from now will be even better than this one!
Who would think that bad weather could equal really great birds? When birds are migrating through and run into poor migrating weather (storm, front), they will drop out of the sky, typically in good numbers, to the most convenient habitat that suits them. This is known as fallout. Serious birders will actually go out in the rain and look for these birds because many times, something rare is sure to show up.
On Wednesday morning it started with an early report of some Long-tailed Ducks and Bonaparte’s Gulls. It was before work, so I went out to find these birds with success. I had 27 Bonaparte’s Gulls and later in the day over 80 were counted in the same location. As the day went on, the reports started coming in quick from birders who were off from work — more Long-tailed Ducks (20+ in one location and 40+ in another), Red-necked Grebes in four different locations, Horned Grebes showing up in high numbers, Four Great Egrets foraging together in a local pond, Caspian Terns in two locations — it was too much to resist not taking a long lunch for these great reports! I went out and quickly found some of the birds with a friend, but did not have time to take photos or get all of the birds.
Four Great Egrets stop to rest for one evening
The next morning, I headed out with another friend to see if we could get the high number of Long-tailed Ducks. They were no longer around, but I did see two Caspian Terns, which I did not get the previous day.
Caspian Terns
We continued to get poor weather so many of the birds stuck around for the weekend. Bufflehead were in high numbers at every location.
Bufflehead Pair at Dorchester Park
Bufflehead at Lisle Park
For the first time, I saw Horned Grebes in every possible plumage — winter, transitional and full on breeding plumage. I was happy to finally get photos of them too!
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebes
Both birds were often together…
Horned Grebe and Bufflehead
The big Grebe news, however, were the Red-necked Grebes. It is rare in our area to see a single one – I had at least NINE in one location with great scope views (not so great camera views…)
Red-necked Grebes with other waterfowl in Whitney Point
Today, we also found a Common Tern actively fishing around a lake. Another great rarity.
Common Tern in Whitney Point
And, of course, our more usual waterfowl were also around.
Pied Billed Grebes and Blue-winged Teal
It was not just about waterfowl. I also believe we had a Kinglet fallout. Ruby- and especially Golden-crowned Kinglets were everywhere. At one point I was surrounded by at least 50 birds dripping from the trees. There was a Kinglet on every branch that I looked at. I failed at getting a decent photo of a Golden-crowned since they are so fast but I did manage to get a Ruby-crowned at one point.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
This weekend also brought my first Warblers of the year! I had Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers (in multiple locations) and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Other great highlights included another rarity for our area, a Vesper Sparrow who has been hanging around with some of our more common Sparrows and many first-of-year birds. We also did a Woodcock walk and enjoyed a male in good enough light to follow his aerial display.
Vesper Sparrow (far left) among Savannah Sparrows, a Junco and American Tree Sparrow.
I also had my best looks at singing Rusty Blackbirds – close enough to see how they got their name.
Rusty Blackbird
It was a great birding weekend and I am sad that it is over. I will write about my more local yard and creek birds in another post later in the week. This next week will bring more new migrants… I can’t wait to see who shows up!
Today, two friends and I drove around the east shore of Cayuga lake in search of waterfowl – in particular an Eared Grebe and Tufted Duck. We had an exact location for the Grebe thanks to a local birder but we knew the Tufted Duck would be a challenge since it is mixed somewhere within the rafts of Aythya species around the lake.
We started at Allan H. Treman State Marine Park where the Grebe has been seen and were greated by a large raft of Redheads and other Aythya species. They were flushed up by the geese, but ended up landing right back where they came from, minus the skittish geese. We could not locate a Tufted Duck in this fairly close flock. (eBird Checklist)
Raft of Redheads and other Aythya sp.
Aythya flock
As soon as we set up our scopes, maybe ten yards in from the shore, we were surprised with beautiful looks at the very active Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
… who tried really hard to fit in with the Ruddy Ducks.
Eared Grebe with Ruddy Ducks
After spending over an hour with icicles for hands and feet, we headed farther north and saw more of the same types of rafts along with the usual Gulls. Our next real gem of a spot was on the northern end of the lake in Mud Lock. We had better looks at some of the duck species that we saw all along the lake. (eBird Checklist)
Gadwall
Ring-necked Duck
A nice surprise at this spot was having all three species of Swans – and being able to compare Trumpeter vs Tundra in one scope view.
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swans
We started off with a bang (and a life bird for me) but never did locate the Tufted Duck. Maybe next time…
