2015 February » BirdQuiz.net

The return of Bohemian Waxwing

Feb 262015

This was the week I was waiting for. But first here’s a little background. Eleven years ago I went on an amazing trip to Alaska, where I took great photos of Mt. McKinley, my first-ever salmon, breaching Humpback Whales, and a series of birds that I do not expect to ever see again unless I travel back to Alaska. When I came back home all of those photos were stolen. (I know…awwww) One of the birds that was in that collection was Bohemian Waxwing, a bird that is actually possible to see here in NJ, but only rarely. In fact, the NJ Birds Records Committee only lists 16 accepted records since 1962. But this month they were being sighted on Long Island, then at Sandy Hook in northern NJ. I figured that within a week they would head further down the coast, most likely appearing at nearby Island Beach State Park. This was going to be my week to photograph this bird again.

Today brought winds from the northeast, so the window of opportunity was open. I headed to Island Beach despite light snow and the uncomfortable combination of 25 degree temperature and 15 mph winds. The strategy was to drive the main road slowly or walk some of the trails, looking for Cedar Waxwing or Robin flocks, hoping that a Bohemian would be mixed in. The first sighting of the day was a familiar face at IBSP, one of the resident Red Foxes, following me down the Reed’s Road trail.

One of the resident Red Foxes of Island Beach State Park.

The birds were mostly hunkered down due to the wind and the cold, so any sightings were welcomed. I stopped and waited when I located decent Robin flocks at lots 3, 11, and 14, and occasionally found a few Ceder Waxwings mixed in, but alas, no Bohemians.

Cedar Waxwing, frontal view. Note the white undertail coverts and yellow belly that distinguish them from Bohemian Waxwing.

After driving the 8.3 miles of the main road, then all the way back I was about to give up, but summoning up all the optimism (or desperation) of a determined birder, I decided to try the same strategy again. I drove back out, focusing on lots 3, 11, and 14, then turned around and again stopped by 14, 11, and then 3. When I reached lot 3 again, I saw a photographer, Kevin Knutsen, aiming a big lens into a tree as he called out ‘Bohemian’.

Kevin and I searching for a Bohemian.

I joined him, and indeed, within 2 or 3 minutes a Bohemian Waxwing flew to the top of a nearby tree. Notice the rusty undertail coverts and gray belly compared to the white coverts and yellow belly of the Cedar Waxwing.

A Bohemian Waxwing. Notice the overall gray appearance and the rusty undertail coverts.

That was a nice documentation photo, but I was hoping for better. I positioned myself in the road and a few short minutes later the bird flew into the nearest cedar, just above eye level for a stellar photo op. If only all birds were so cooperative.

Here’s the photo that I’ve been waiting to get for the past eleven years. Welcome to the collection, Bohemian Waxwing. How would you describe this bird? Elegant? Regal? Either way, its photo bird #1,037.

So the strategy worked, with help from Kevin. Patience and persistence pay off, as they often do. And I finally have a Bohemian Waxwing photo again.

Northern Gulling

Feb 232015

When I was in Florida last month, I described the pleasures of sorting through gull flocks on the beach, in shorts, with gulls so close that binocs were barely needed. Today I sampled sorting through gull flocks, northern-style, with parka, mittens, and scoping a distant flock. Here in New Jersey, one of the best locations to search for the rarer winter gulls is in the small parks alongside the Delaware River in Florence. This location is just upstream of a deep bend in the river, with a landfill on the Pennsylvania side. That combination is like catnip for gulls.

This was my first trip to Florence, with the main targets being Lesser Black-backed Gull and the two white-winged gulls: Iceland and Glaucous, all of which occur here annually, and which have been sighted recently. The only problem is that the weather here has been frigid, with a mix of snow and rain yesterday that froze overnight making for treacherous walking, and the temperatures only reached a high of 24 degrees with winds in the 15-20 mph range. Oh well, as they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, so I bundled up and went out, undaunted. (although I did end up taking one nasty spill, ending up horizontal in the parking lot)

When I arrived, the gulls were there in big numbers. Unfortunately, when I was at the upstream park, the gulls were primarily downstream, and when I drove to the downstream park…well, you can guess where they went. Eventually we got in synch and I found myself with a huge flock of gulls on the ice and floating down the river in front of me.

A portion of the main flock, consisting of thousands of Herring Gulls, hundreds of Great Black-backed Gulls, a smattering of Ring-billed Gulls, and a few ‘interesting’ gull needles mixed in this veritable white haystack.

Glaucous Gull is currently my birding nemesis; the Great White Gull for me has been The Invisible Gull. So I was particularly focused on finding birds with all-white wings and white-or-pale bodies. Gladly, I found one fairly quickly, but it turned out to be an Iceland Gull despite my best efforts to convert it to a Glaucous. Its pale appearance was obvious whether sitting on the ice or in flight, and at least this sighting confirmed that I can recognize white gulls.

An Iceland Gull beside Herring Gulls for a good size comparison. Notice how the overall washed out appearance and pale wings are immediately apparent beside the grayer Herring Gulls.

Iceland Gull in flight remains relatively conspicuous with its pale wingtips compared to the Herring Gulls that appear to have dipped their wingtips in black ink.

The vast majority of gulls present here were Herring Gulls, and I found it surprisingly easy to recognize adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls mixed in the flock. Their steely-gray body was intermediate between that of the more familiar Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, as you can see in the photo below. The streaked head and smaller size than Herring Gulls confirmed the identification.

Here we have an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in the company of three Herring Gulls. Note the steely-gray wing and streaked head, and slightly smaller size of the Lesser Black-backed Gull on the left, compared to the more familiar Herring Gulls.

Over the course of 2 1/2 hours I was able to spot 5 Lesser Black-backed and 7 Iceland Gulls, a successful day by any measure, since I don’t remember ever seeing more than singletons of either species in a single day previously. Glaucous Gull did not make an appearance, as expected for a worthy nemesis. There is still time for a return visit to Florence over the next month to search again before they depart for their northerly summer homes, preferably on a day without icy parking lots, and with warmer temps and less wind. I think I was spoiled by Florida-style gull watching.

A wild day at the inlet

Feb 122015

Some days you have to trust your instincts. Yesterday I visited Manasquan Inlet and turned around almost immediately because, unexpectedly, vicious winds were pounding in from the northeast, busting surf all over the jetty. Today I was hoping that those winds might blow something exotic into the inlet, so I returned. There were many cars in the beach parking lot, so for a while I thought maybe I missed some rare bird alert. Turns out that the surf was still up, bringing a lot of these guys out:

That’s not what I was looking for.

Although the waves were active, thankfully the jetty was clear. A quick look hinted that something was up, with 25 Common Loons visible within a small area within the inlet, and another 11 loons keeping a Red-necked Grebe company at the mouth of the inlet. I decided to head over towards the loons and get some photos for an upcoming presentation.

An extremely cooperative Common Loon.

One of two Red-necked Grebes that I saw in the inlet today. This would be the highlight of most days, but not today. And look at the position of that neck!

As I was watching them, I noticed a smaller bird mixed in, and with a quick binocular look I knew it was something new. I haven’t yet seen any alcids in NJ, and this was an alcid. The bill was too small for a Razorbill, it was way too big for a Dovekie, and it was too dark for a Guillemot, so it had to be one of the murres. Time to break out the trusted Sibleys and see what we have. The dark face and relatively stubby bill confirmed that it was a Thick-billed Murre, a lifer for me.

Today’s Thick-billed Murre with a Common Loon for a size comparison.

A view showing the bill structure and facial pattern a little better.

I sent word out of the sighting, and followed the murre as it drifted along the inlet. It wasn’t feeding or diving, but simply drifted far inward as the first birders started arriving. After swimming back outward, it eventually took flight, landed near the end of the jetty, and a few minutes later was lost in the waves. The newly arriving birders drifting in were not happy with hearing that news. Thick-billed Murre is a review species here in New Jersey, and its always fun to find a review species. According to the NJ Bird Records Committee website, this species is not seen in NJ every year, yet a Thick-billed Murre was reported yesterday at Barnegat Light (where many other birders started out today), another was spotted in Absecon today, and yet another was found in Staten Island. Wow…when it rains, it pours.

I left for the day, and later heard that the bird was re-sighted in the inlet along with a second Thick-billed Murre, and a total of three Red-necked Grebes. It was a wild day at the inlet, and I expect it will be busy there again tomorrow despite incoming frigid weather.

A new quiz format

Feb 092015

Today we introduce a new series of quizzes, which I’m calling Pop BirdQuizzes.

Why? I’ve taken some photos lately that are ideal quiz subjects, but which I thought made an identification point that deserved a more extensive answer. So instead of simply incorporating the photo into one of the existing quizzes, I decided to experiment with a format where I provide the location and the time of year of the photo as clues, and then discuss the bird(s) more fully. Give it a try; start by clicking here or on the PopQuiz tab at the top of the page