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Kites and More Kites

Jul 272020

Kites are arguably the least known group of raptors, at least by the general public. If you stop John Q. Public on the street he will be happy to tell you about the eagles, hawks, vultures, Ospreys, and perhaps falcons and owls that they have seen. But kites? To the general public those are the things that people fly on the beach with a long string attached. For us birders the kites fall into the ‘most desired’ category. (Trivia question: how many of the seven North American Kite species can you name? Answer at the bottom of the page.) With that in mind, yesterday brother Rich and I drove to the nearby Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in hopes of seeing the large numbers of Swallow-tailed Kites that amass in the area and have been seen recently. We were not disappointed.

The Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive is a one-way 11-mile drive on raised dikes through old farmlands that are going through the lengthy process of being restored to its natural wetland habitat. As such, it is a prime birding destination in Florida; in fact, it is the ebird hotspot with the most bird species recorded in all of Florida, with species such as Fulvous Whistling-ducks and Mottled Duck occurring regularly. It’s not just the number of species that is impressive, but also the number of individuals seen. For example, back in NJ we’d expect to see a few dozen American Coots and perhaps a Common Gallinule or two during a typical year. In contrast, during this past winter as many as 28,000 American Coots and 8,000 Common Gallinules have been reported at Lake Apopka, mixed in with the numerous wading birds and ducks. But what drew us here today was hundreds of Swallow-tailed Kites in recent reports. Indeed, as we drove around the dikes, we spotted a flock of birds soaring in the distance. Anyplace else, you might casually write them off as distant vultures. But when we got out of the car and looked though the bins, we were amazed at seeing a horizon filled with Swallow-tailed Kites.

These birds are all Swallow-tailed Kites. I counted at least 62 birds in this photo, and estimate that this was approximately 1/4 to 1/5 of the flock that stretched across the horizon. That means that we saw ~250-300 Swallow-tailed Kites today. Wow! My understanding is that the numbers will increase through this next month. Double Wow!

A close-up view of the large and graceful Swallow-tailed Kite. Now that is a strikingly handsome bird! Seeing even one of these birds is a treat…seeing 250-300 at a time seemed unreal.

The Swallow-tailed Kites clearly stole the birding show today, but we were not yet done kiting. As we neared the end of Wildlife Drive, we spotted another raptor flying over the turf fields. This one had the long pointed wings typical of a kite, but it was smaller and gray, perfect for Mississippi Kite. Indeed, we were able to spot three Mississippi Kites hunting over the fields. This was probably my first two-kite day in North America. A good day indeed!

One of Three Mississippi Kites seen over the fields at the end of Wildlife Drive.

Answering today’s trivia question: the seven Kite species that have been seen in North America are Snail, Mississippi, Swallow-tailed, Black, White-tailed, Hook-billed, and Double-toothed Kites.

Pandemic Birding in Florida

Jul 202020

I have been spending some time in Florida recently, because, hey, who wouldn’t want to be in the middle of a pandemic hotspot in 90 degree temperatures + 90% humidity during hurricane season? (Can you sense the heavy sarcasm??) Actually, I’m mostly visiting family, but finding some time to bird in between. Most of my birding has been inland, where the best sighting shortly after arriving in FL was finding a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in a local park.

We spotted the bird 2 minutes after leaving the car (and leaving the camera behind, since expectations were low). Fortunately, it perched on a wire, giving me a chance to run back to the car, grab the camera, and snap a documentary photo.

Later we spotted it a few hundred yards away in a more natural setting, as it flew from treetop to treetop.

When seeing a species like this in a location that we’re not familiar with, it can be unclear how unusual it is. It turns out this was a better sighting than I had expected. According to eBird, Scisssor-taileds are seen in Florida each year, but mostly in the Jan. – March time frame. There was only one summer sighting in all of FL in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This was the first one seen in the county this year but unfortunately it turned out to be a one-day wonder, so other birders did not get an opportunity to view it. So it turned out to be a great seasonal and local sighting. And the best part is that it was spotted only five minutes from home on a day when nothing was expected. Birding at its best….anything can show up.

Sandhill Cranes photo story

Apr 082020

I have been spending time during the early part of this year in Florida, enjoying the warmer weather and some of the birds that we don’t see frequently up in New Jersey. The most visible of these species has to be Sandhill Cranes, which stroll across the yard, and are nesting and raising young at different stages within the village. I thought that I’d share some of the photos here, showing their progress.

Sandhill Cranes build a low large stick nest, high enough to keep the eggs dry and out of the marsh.

One evening she stood up to reveal two large eggs. Two eggs are the norm for Sandhills.

Then there was a little bit of egg maneuvering before incubating them again.

Two days after hatching the fuzzy chicks left the nest and the marsh to explore their new world.

Hey ma, let’s go this way!

It’s feeding time!

It’s not too long before they are nearing the size of the parents, but still sporting that rusty juvenile color.

New Southern California BirdQuiz

Apr 022019

Would you like to test your knowledge of the birds of southern California? If so, try our newest slideshow BirdQuiz highlighting some species that can be seen along the coast, and in the deserts, mountains, and foothills of this diverse area. Click here to start.

Birding Southern California (part 4: seeking rarities)

Mar 132019

The final portion of our trip moved north of LA into the Santa Barbara area. Our goal here shifted somewhat, from just finding good overall birding areas, towards looking for rarities with other species as bonuses. Our first stop was Lake Piru Recreation Area, where we were hoping to spot California Condors. We had been watching reports from this location for the past week or two before starting our trip, as it seemed to be the most reliable southern location for condors. Apparently there was a dead cow in the area that the birds were feeding on (Was it was placed there intentionally? We don’t know.). But during our trip a report came out saying that the carcass was nearly gone, so we were desperately hoping that the condors would remain for us.

As background, it is perhaps worthwhile to realize how rare California Condors are. In 1982 there were only 23 California Condors left in the wild, so they were all captured and put into captive breeding programs. As of 2017, the total population was up to 463 birds, with 173 in captivity and 290 in the wild, in California (170), Arizona/Utah (82), and Baja MX (38).

We arrived at Lake Piru in early morning, assuming that they would take off on the thermals when the air started warming up. It wasn’t clear to us where they were being seen, so we just started birding, keeping a watchful eye on the clear blue sky. There was quite a bit of activity, but mostly due to the species that we now had grown accustomed to: Say’s and Black Phoebes, Cassin’s Kingbird, Audubon’s Warblers, Spotted Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch, Bewick’s Wren, Western Bluebird, California Scrub-jay, and Common Ravens. The first new bird for the trip was a flock of ~26 Lark Sparrows. We get Lark Sparrows in New Jersey in fall as vagrants, so seeing even one is normally a treat. Seeing 26 of them on the ground at once seemed like a dream. I assume that to California birders it is absolutely normal, but we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Part of our flock of 26 Lark Sparrows at Lake Piru. This would be astounding to see in New Jersey.

Our second new bird was a condor. After about 30 minutes or so of birding, Jeanine suggested that we just scan the trees near the rolling pasture at one end of the lake to see if we can spot any perched condors. I thought it was a longshot, but went along with the suggestion. Thankfully I was wrong again. Within five minutes we spotted two condors in adjacent trees. Like most condors, they are wing-tagged for identification purposes, and these were condors ‘blue 16’ and ‘blue 26’. They eventually flew into another tree maybe 300 yards away where they were joined by an immature bird that lacks the orange head of the adults. After watching the distant birds through the scope and attempting distant photos, the birds flew off and rode the thermals up the ridge and out of view. We soon decided to move on too, but on our way out of the park, I noticed what I thought were condors flying above us. Pete pulled off to the side of the road, and indeed, we had at least six condors flying directly above our car, rapidly gaining altitude. What a treat. There on that California hillside we were viewing ~2% of all the wild California Condors in the world.

Our first view of two perched California Condors, with a Common Raven perched between them. The wing marker ‘blue 26’ can be seen on the rightmost bird.

An adult California Condor soaring over the California countryside. If it weren’t for the effort of the past few decades to revive this species, this sight would have been gone forever.

Three California Condors circling the ridge above our car at Lake Piru. The one with the black head is an immature bird. These birds have a 9 ft wingspan (compared to ‘just’ 5 1/2 ft. for a Turkey Vulture) Wow. Just wow.

Our next stop was north of Santa Barbara to the rolling hillsides in search of Yellow-billed Magpies. This is the southern-most end of the range for this species, which is one of the 18 or so birds that are endemic to the United States. In fact, it is found only in California. Moreover, this is a ‘good’ endemic, in the sense that it is morphologically distinct from any other species and not one of those ‘split’ species that are not possible to distinguish unless they are in your hand and measured. They had been seen the general area near the intersection of two nearly deserted roads: Alisos Rd. and Happy Canyon Rd. (Happy Canyon…a portent of good things to come?). Well, we drove those roads nearly a mile in each direction from that intersection with no luck. We couldn’t have missed them, could we? After all, the habitat is wide open and they are a large and showy and social species…pretty much a ‘can’t miss’ bird. Or so we thought. So should we move on to a different location, or try again? Being stubborn (or should I say ‘persistent’?) birders, we drove back again, and this time Jeanine spotted a pair flying across a pasture only to disappear into thick trees surrounding a roadside ranch house. I always feel odd pointing my binoculars anywhere near a house, so we drove on, and this time hit the motherload, with Jeanine again spotting more, but this time a group of seven or so feeding mostly on the ground just ahead of our car. We waited patiently, and the birds kept strolling past the car and into good light for a few photos. When they flew up into the roadside oak they seemingly disappeared even though there were no leaves on the tree. That made for a great day, with the rarest species in North America and an endemic within a few hours of each other.

Here’s an example of the lovely Yellow-billed Magpie country. We drove along these kinds of roads scanning the fields and the bare oaks for magpies. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

A Yellow-billed Magpie. One of the few US endemic bird species.

Yellow-billed Magpie in an oak tree, showing its elongated tail. It was surprising how tough it was for us to spot them in this tree despite the lack of leaves.

The following day we went in search of our next US endemic, taking the boat trip to Channel Islands National Park in search of Island Scrub-jays. Good fortune was on our side on this trip, as it was supposed to be raining through most of the day, but it didn’t rain until our boat docked at the end of the day. Seriously. Amazing timing! On the trip out to Santa Cruz Island we tried pelagic birding, spotting some Pacific Loons (another species that we see in small numbers in NJ), Cassin’s Auklets (which were tough for us to identify), and near the island the more obvious Pigeon Guillemots with their large white wing patch. Since this island is the only place in the world to see Island Scrub-jays, the pressure was on, but within five minutes or so of beginning our hike, Pete spotted a distant one in a bare tree. Whew. With the pressure off, now we could enjoy the walk. We ended up seeing at least four more, with much better views, along with a super displaying Spotted Towhee while enjoying lunch.

Island Scrub-jay with a mouthful of acorn.

Here’s a classic cooperative Island Scrub-jay. They are distinguished from the similar California Scrub-jay by having a blacker facial mask and a cap that is darker blue.

A Spotted Towhee displaying in the wind, with another one in the bush in the background.

The gorgeous Island Fox. Another endemic species for Santa Cruz Island.

A Pacific White-sided Dolphin viewed on the boat trip out to Channel Islands National Park.

Thus ended our birding tour of southern California. Can I make any recommendations to others going there for the first time? First of all, although we explored only a small section of California, for the trip that I described in these blog entries, it is still quite a large area to cover in ten days. If we were doing it again, I’d spend 12-to-14 days to cover the same area and feel less rushed. Some birders consider the Salton Sea a ‘must ‘ stop for any southern California tour. We could have opted for going to the Salton Sea instead of trying for the rarities (condor, magpie, and scrub-jay), but those are three five-star species, so I feel it was worth it in the end, but that is a matter of personal choice. With regard to the timing, we arrived before the peak of migration, so we could have found more western species (tanagers, vireos, orioles, terns, etc.) if we traveled in April or May, but part of our goal was simply to escape the cold and relatively birdless March in New Jersey, so for us it was good timing. (And yes, it did snow in NJ while we were away.) For the entire trip we ended with 156 species seen, with 36 new lifers for Jeanine and 12 for me. Although those numbers would pale in comparison to more exotic locations in South America, that is pretty darn good for a US destination. So give it a shot and enjoy. Contact me (greg@birdquiz.net) if you have any question or comments.

Birding Southern California (part 3: the desert)

Mar 132019

We spent three days in the desert on this trip: one day at Anza-Borrego State Park, and two in the Joshua Tree / Big Morongo area. Our main targets were the difficult thrashers (LeConte’s and Crissal) along with the more typical desert birds. Needless to say that we don’t have much desert habitat in New Jersey, so seeing even the common desert species was fun for us.

A view of the Anza-Borrego desert where we were searching for thrashers. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

We had planned to walk the popular Palm Canyon Trail of Anza-Borrego, but it was closed due to recent flooding, so we spent the first part of our morning near the Borrego Springs landfill (which doesn’t sound great, but it was actually quite nice), and the second half near the Wastewater Treatment Plant ponds (which sounds even less pleasant, but it’s a nice mesquite bosque). Both of these walks consisted of wandering through the desert between sagebrush and mesquite and the first blooms of the season, listening for any singing birds and looking for movement. At the landfill we often heard mimid vocalizations, but they were always due to mockingbirds, not the desired thrashers. The highlights here were numerous Phainopeplas, a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes, and a group of more than 20 Swainson’s Hawks lifting off from their overnight roost north of us. We then moved on to the WTP ponds where the mesquite was thicker, and there we had a little more success. We spotted a couple pairs of Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, a pair of Verdins including one making a nest, and shortly after speaking with a trio of local birders who assured us we were at ‘Ground Zero’ for thrashers, I was able to get a quick view of a Crissal Thrasher singing atop the mesquite.

A male Black-tailed Gnatcatcher in the mesquite of Anza-Borrego State Park.

Cinnamon Teal was the only waterfowl that we saw on this trip that we don’t find regularly in New Jersey. These are good-looking ducks. We saw them in the WTP ponds and elsewhere. Photo by Pete Mooney.

Flower season was beginning in parts of the desert. A super bloom is predicted for this year. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

We moved onward to Yucca Valley, where we skipped the motel routine and instead rented a spacious home for the next two nights, but on the way we stopped at the Coachella Valley Preserve, where some interesting birds were being seen. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, we were tired and it was windy and mid-afternoon, so activity was low. When we neared the McCallum Trail pond and oasis though, we started hearing bird chatter that turned out to be a mixed flock of Lesser Goldfinch and Lawrence’s Goldfinch. Lesser Goldfinch are relatively common, but this was the only location where we would see a Lawrence’s, which was a lovely bird and a lifer for me.

McCallum Pond. It is so amazing to see oasis ponds like this, surrounded by huge fan palms, in a desert environment.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, which was a major target for me on this trip. They are interesting partly because unlike most birds, they don’t return reliably to the same place each year, but instead have a tendency to wander.

The following morning we began at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and Covington Park; Big Morongo has extensive property with numerous cottonwoods and willows and fan palms abutting the desert that serves as a natural magnet for migrating birds, while the adjacent Covington Park is a small town park with cottonwoods and eucalyptus that is worth a quick visit. It was too early in the season to get the full effect, but it’s clear why this is a favorite location during migration time. We began at Covington Park because Big Morongo was not yet open, and the cottonwoods were filled with Mountain Chickadees, Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Lesser Goldfinch, with a few new species mixed in. We found three male Vermillion Flycatchers sparring over a single female in the group, had super views of a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers, and Pete spotted a Great Horned Owl in the still-bare cottonwoods. In Big Morongo we added a Barn Owl hiding in the fan palms and we spotted Bushtits paired up and making their nest near the trails. We barely touched the extensive canyon trails of Big Morongo, but this is clearly a place that deserves more attention if we ever return.

One of the male Vermilion Flycatchers at Covington Park. That is one sharp-looking bird.

Red-breasted Sapsucker in a eucalyptus tree in Covington Park.

A tough-to-find Barn Owl hiding in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve.

A Bushtit gathering nesting material.

And here’s what the Bushtit nest looks like. We heard it described as ‘an old sock’, which is very apropros.

In the afternoon we planned to look for birds in Joshua Tree National Park, but the conditions were tough, with constant 30 mph winds creating havoc and keeping the birds hidden. We did view several handsome Black-throated Sparrows, but little more. It was a good day for simply enjoying the scenery and the rock climbers and the massive blooms that were just starting to appear on the Joshua Trees.

A fairly typical scene in Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

The Joshua Trees were just starting to bloom. They are not true trees, but are in the yucca family.

Black-throated Sparrows were found readily in Joshua Tree NP. Photo by Pete Mooney.

The rock climbers love the Hidden Valley area of the park, which mostly looked like this. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

We returned to Joshua Tree for our final morning in the desert, to the Black Rock Campground. I was looking at a trail map at a kiosk before beginning the walk, when I noticed some quails moving between the brush. I quickly called Jeanine and Pete over for what I assumed would be tough views of these Gambel’s Quails scurrying away from us. We all had good views eventually, but then it got even better, as one bird started singing and then flew into a low cactus in the morning light and continued singing for a few minutes. Wow! What a privilege to see that performance. He then moved onward, and this time decided that he’d like to display and sing from atop a Joshua Tree, where he repeated his performance again. I never thought that I’d see something like that from so close and under such perfect conditions. This bird probably wondered why these humans kept repeating their “wow” call.

“Our’ Gambel’s Quail who put on quite the show for us under perfect conditions.

He then moved atop a Joshua Tree where he continued the performance.

We continued our stroll through the desert hillside, finding several Cactus Wrens and Bewick’s Wrens, but missing the Rock Wrens and Canyon Wrens that we hoped to find. Like the Gambel’s Quail, one of the Cactus Wrens also decided to appear atop a nearby Joshua Tree for a priceless photo op. Other birds seen on this walk included a pair of Pinyon Jays and another desert specialty, Ladder-backed Woodpecker. It was a great morning, but by this point it was time for the long ~ 3 1/2 hour drive out towards the Santa Barbara area to chase some rare species in our final portion of the trip, as will be recounted in the final blog of this series.

Cactus Wren on a Joshua Tree. They are the largest wrens in North America.

Another desert specialty, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, showing the…ladder…on it’s back…that extends up to its neck.

Birding Southern California (part 2: the mountains)

Mar 122019

A remarkable thing about birding in southern California is how quickly you can be in completely different habitats. After 2 1/2 days in San Diego, we literally left the beach and just one hour later found ourselves in the Laguna Mountains, hoping to find some higher altitude species. We stayed overnight in a town called Pine Mountain (3,700 ft elevation) and woke up the following morning to a light fog that unfortunately became more dense as we drove up to higher altitudes, forcing a change in plans. The fog was likely due to the unseasonable snowstorm that they received the previous week, coating the ground outside of town in 6 inches of snow and resulting in some road closures in one of our destinations, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

Wildflowers were blooming in colorful clusters in the foothills outside of San Diego. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

Just an hour drive eastward after we were strolling barefoot on the beach we were in mountain habitat with 4-6 inches of snow. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

We made the best of the situation, and ultimately found most of our expected targets. In the town park we found our first Acorn Woodpeckers of the trip, and being a sociable species, a single oak hosted nearly a dozen of these distinctive birds. Dark-eyed Juncos were feeding on the ground, but for a nice change they were of the Oregon race, unlike the Slate-colored sub-species that we left behind in New Jersey. Groups of Band-tailed Pigeons flew above the pines, and a Bewick’s Wren and Steller’s Jay joined the group.

Acorn Woodpeckers were found in several types of habitats, and when you found one, you were sure to find more. They are very sociable.

The Oregon sub-species of junco was a slightly more colorful change from our eastern Slate-colored Juncos.

Bewick’s Wren was the most common wren species seen on this trip. This one is singing up a storm.

In Cuyamaca Rancho Park the trails were difficult to walk due to the snowcover, so we focused on the cleared roads in Paso Picacho Campground (5,000 ft). The Ponderosa Pines here were FILLED with Acorn Woodpeckers and their acorn stashes, but we had other birds in mind. We started with a brilliant Red-breasted Sapsucker, and then started finding species that replace our familiar eastern mixed-flock birds. In southern NJ we have Yellow-shafted Flicker, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch, but up here they were replaced with Red-shafted Flicker, Mountain Chickadees, Oak Titmouse, and Pygmy Nuthatch. (to be more accurate, both White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches were present, so it wasn’t a true nuthatch ‘replacement’).

The Acorn Woodpeckers stash acorns in the Ponderosa Pine bark, as can be seen here. Some of the Ponderosas were just filled with acorns.

It was not uncommon to see trees that look like this due to the Acorn Woodpeckers.

Mountain Chickadee, with its white supercilium that gives it a masked appearance.

Oak Titmouse was seen in the mountains, desert, and foothills, but our first one was found in the higher altitude of Rancho Cuyamaca.

We struggled to find Pygmy Nuthatch, but when we did find them, they were in a group of about six birds working a single pine.

Driving downhill from Cuyamaca Rancho towards the desert we spied our first Phainopepla of the trip. Upon arrival in Borrego Springs we took a break in the desert warmth with a short walk around the Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor’s Center followed by a dip in the motel pool. A lone Verdin was our first introduction to the desert species that we would see over the next three days. For part three of the Southern California tour, click here.

Birding Southern California (part 1: the coast)

Mar 112019

March is a tough time of year for me to be in New Jersey. By this time of the year I’ve seen most of the winter birds, it has been cold for far too many months, and spring seems to take its sweet old time arriving. For these reasons I like taking birding vacations during this time of year, especially to a warmer climate to escape the lingering NJ winter. This year my friends Pete and Jeanine joined me for a 10-day trip to southern California, birding from San Diego up to Santa Barbara. This part of California has the advantage that different habitats, ranging from seaside to foothill scrub to mountains and deserts, occur within a relatively short distance. So we drew up a list of target species and set out to take advantage of those diverse habitats.

Pete and Jeanine scanning the coastal scrub habitat alongside Lake Hodges. You won’t get ‘warbler neck’ when birding here.

A coyote was also birdwatching in the scrub at Lake Hodges. Probably looking for that pesky Roadrunner.

We enjoyed two full days exploring the coastal scrub habitat in the San Diego area, especially Lake Hodges, located just 21 miles north of downtown San Diego (but still within the San Diego city limits). Before we even left the parking lot we were already enjoying species that we don’t see back home, with Western Bluebird, Black Phoebe, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and Townsend Warbler. The scrub was filled with other species that soon would become familiar to us: Cassin’s Kingbird, Say’s Phoebe, Greater Roadrunner, California Towhee, and Bushtit. The lake hosted several ducks that we were familiar with from birding in the east, but also held dozens of Western Grebes and at least one Clark’s Grebe. Amazingly, some of the grebes were performing their mating dance ritual, which was A-MAZING to behold in person. Click here to see an example of the grebe display from the BBC.

Our first ‘good’ bird of the trip: Townsend’s Warbler.

Western Bluebirds were common on this trip. I’m trying to remember….where was this one photographed?

A Clark’s Grebe in non-breeding plumage at Lake Hodges. Note the partial black area by the eye. They were outnumbered by Western Grebes in a ~50-to-1 ratio.

Here’s a Clark’s Grebe in breeding plumage, where it’s eye is completely surrounded by white.

Here’s one of the more common Western Grebes for comparison. Note the eye completely surrounded by black, the olive-toned bill and the darker body plumage. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

California Towhees were seen nearly everywhere in good numbers on this trip.

Say’s Phoebes would become a familiar sight on this trip, often in the same habitat as Black Phoebes. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

Yes, we did see a couple Greater Roadrunners, including this one near Lake Hodges that eluded the coyote. Meep-meep. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

Two of our new lifer target species were also found at Lake Hodges: California Gnatcatcher and California Thrasher. The thrasher is even larger than our eastern Brown Thrasher. Luckily, they were singing loudly, and as expected they were doing so from the top of the trees, giving excellent views. My final landbird lifer from the SD scrub was a secretive Wrentit that Jeanine found deep in the brush at Tecolote Canyon the following morning.

A California Thrasher taking a break from singing up a storm. That is quite a remarkable bill, isn’t it?

The SD waterfront provides ample opportunities for viewing gulls, terns, and shorebirds that we don’t see on the east coast. La Jolla Cove is a photographer’s dream, where we enjoyed impeccable views of Western, California, and the delightful Heermann’s Gulls among the nesting Brandt’s Cormorants. Both Brown Pelicans and American White Pelicans frequently patrolled the coastal waters. Western shorebirds such as Black Turnstone, Long-billed Curlew, Wandering Tattler, and Snowy Plover were all seen, although Black Oystercatcher and Surfbird eluded us.

A cooperative Black Turnstone on the beach near the massive and luxurious El Coronado Hotel.

A Brandt’s Cormorant stretching on the nest. Their blue throats are electric in the bright sun.

Some Brandt’s Cormorant chicks had already hatched out.

I hereby nominate Heermann’s Gull as the handsomest gull in North America. This is exhibit A. I rest my case.

A pair of Snowy Plovers hiding in footprints on the beach near Tijuana.

Wandering Tattler was seen on the rocks alongside La Jolla Cove.

Long-billed Curlew on the San Diego River mudflats. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

San Diego is not far from Tijuana Mexico. Here is part of ‘the wall’ that we hear so much about, visible from Tijuana River Valley Regional Park.

This is the bullring in Tijuana, just across the river mouth from where we were unsuccessfully searching for Pacific Golden-plover and Elegant Tern.

It helps when you know the locals who are tuned into the best places to eat. My good buddy Bri showed us the best Mexican restaurant in Ramona.

After 2 1/2 days of enjoying the birds and pleasant weather and Mexican food (best fish tacos ever!) of San Diego, it was time to move inland to the nearby mountains and deserts. Click here to continue on to that section.

The 2018 Ecuador trip (finale): The paramo

Mar 192018

On our final day we drove ~ 1 1/2 hrs from Papallataca up to Antisana Ecological Reserve. Antisana is huge, at 125,000 hectares (~300,000 acres), and it is a great day-long birding destination that starts only an hour or so southeast of Quito, with a nice list of high-quality high-altitude target species. Unfortunately, we only had half a day to explore this location, but we made the best of the opportunity.

Snow-covered Antisana Volcano and the vast paramo on a gorgeous day.

The altitude within the park ranges up to 18,714 ft at the peak of Antisana Volcano, but most birders travel the main road only up to Mica Lake (Laguna Micacocha), which is at 13,000 ft. The road is entirely paved except for a mile or so near an active quarry, providing easy access, and there is no entry fee. Our first stop was the Tambo Condor Restaurant beyond the outskirts of the small town of Pintag.

The entrance to Tambo Condor. The cliffs in the left background are where Andean Condors roost, but unfortunately this wooden sign was as close as we got to a Condor.

Tambo Condor is a convenient and worthwhile stop, partly because it is one of the few places (if not the only place) to get food along this road, but also because some quality birds can be seen here. To start, across the valley from the restaurant is a cliff face where Andean Condors roost. We were able to see many splotches of whitewash on the cliffs here, but alas, no condors. Another target that we were told could be found here is Giant Hummingbird, the largest hummingbird in the world at 9 inches long with an 8.5 inch wingspan, which to put in perspective, is approximately the same dimensions as our Northern Cardinal.(!!) Here we were more successful, spotting this outsized but otherwise plain bird several times. While waiting for breakfast to be served, we also spotted Black Flowerpiercer, a gorgeous Golden Grosbeak, Sparkling Violetears, and our only Stout-billed Cinclodes of the trip. They have a small cabin for rent here, which could provide a nice base for a more relaxed exploration of the paramo. For somebody like me who has more than a few years under his belt and is used to the amount of oxygen at sea level, it would be interesting to see if sleeping at this altitude (11,550 ft) would be difficult. I certainly felt winded just walking up the short and slight incline from the restaurant up to the road.

Here’s a nice Black Flowerpiercer that was in the garden at the Tambo Condor Restaurant.

An alert Giant Hummingbird. What it lacks in color it makes up for in size. Unfortunately it is hard to gauge the size of this bird from this photo, but it is a LARGE hummingbird, approximately the size of a cardinal.

I was able to capture a Giant Hummingbird in the midst of an aerial maneuver shortly after taking off from its perch. Note the distinctive white rump patch.

A Golden Grosbeak visited while we were waiting to see the Giant Hummingbird at Tambo Condor. Now that is what I call a gross beak!

After leaving the restaurant we progressed further uphill, constantly scanning the skies and the horizon for condors and other raptors. We did have one quick but otherwise great sighting of an Aplomado Falcon swooping across a field near the road. This was a large bird with the distinctive pointed falcon wing shape that appeared, swooped, and was gone in a flash. Very impressive. We spotted two other raptors along the road; Carunculated Caracaras are abundant up here, and on the way back down we found a perched Variable Hawk.

An alert Carunculated Caracara in the paramo. They were very common, with somewhere between 50 and 100 of them spotted during our day in Antisana Reserve.

A Variable Hawk that perched for us near the end of our trip.

Our target destination at the end of the road was Mica Lake (or Micacocha). Shortly before arriving there we spotted a pair of Black-faced Ibis conveniently feeding near the road. This is a large ibis, with a thick neck and legs, presumably to help withstand the cold at this altitude.

One of two Black-faced Ibis that we saw in the paramo. This is one of the rarer target birds up here.

When we arrived at the visitor center parking area, we were already running short of time. We barely had enough time to scan around the area, and then take a rushed walk to the overlook of the lake before needing to start our drive back downhill in time to get to the airport for our homebound flights. Although our time at the visitor center was very limited, we found several excellent birds within a ten-minute span, including nesting Ecuadorian Hillstar, multiple Tawny Antpittas, Plumbeous Sierra-finch, Chestnut-winged Cinclodes, and Andean Tit-spinetail. At the lake we had poor scope views of Andean Coots and Ruddy Ducks before the alarm went off signaling that our birding time was up.

A male Ecuadorian Hillstar, with its blue-and-purple head, white breast and distinctive central dark breast band. It’s a super bird, but posing in an unfortunate un-natural location.

This is an Andean Tit-spinetail. Look at that great long deeply notched tail.

Here is one of several Chestnut-winged Cinclodes that we found near Mica Lake. Compare the bill size with its less common Stout-winged relative below.

Here’s the aptly named Stout-billed Cinclodes.

I missed getting a photo of a perched singing Tawny Antpitta at Papallacta Pass, but captured this one near the visitor’s center at Mica Lake.

Here is a uniformly slate-gray male Plumbeous Sierra-finch. Yes, it is quite plumbeous indeed. The females have no gray, but instead look very much like a typical streaked brown sparrow.

A quartet of alpacas roamed around the grounds near the Mica Lake visitor’s center.

It was unfortunate that we were unable to spend more time up here; a full day is needed to drive at a more relaxed pace, with occasional stops to scan and soak in the spacious 360-degree horizon, and to walk from the visitor center to the lakeside. I’m sure that there were plenty of other good high-altitude birds to be found along the lake and in the polylepis patches in the lower altitudes of the reserve. We were forced to leave them for another day and another vacation as we bid a fond adios to Ecuador.

THE SUMMARY

If you have been keeping up with this Ecuador 2018 blog series, you probably get the sense that this was a terrific trip (and congratulations and thanks for making it through the whole 6-part series!). I am a big fan of self-guided trips, compared to large group tours with a guide pointing out all the birds with little or no input from the patrons. On this trip we interspersed two days with local guides to strike a nice balance. I realize that my style of birding is not for everyone and it is more difficult and results in fewer species seen, but for me the rewards outweigh those disadvantages. Self-guided trips also are not feasible everywhere, for example where safety might be an issue, or where language skills are lacking, or where getting around can be problematic. If you are feeling adventurous, however, and want to try a self-guided trip, the eastern Andes of Ecuador is a great place to start due to the simple logistics and having fine lodges scattered down this slope.

Would we change anything? Probably not anything substantial. The idea of spending 2-3 nights per location worked out well. I would have liked a full day (or maybe even a little more) in the paramo, but we were working within the constraints of trying to limit this to a two-week trip, so another day in the paramo would mean one fewer day elsewhere. I’m sure that we could have done better bird-wise in the lowlands near Jatun Sacha. We didn’t even hike on their main trail system or try to climb their 30-meter tower, and the morning spent going to their ‘parrot lick’ was a waste. One thing that I might change is the timing. I would love to know how different it is in Ecuador at another time of year. There was not much bird song on this trip even though a few species were nesting, and it sure would help to find and more confidently identify more birds if they were vocalizing. It might be better to go during the main breeding season, but I suspect that there would be more rain then too. And to be honest, I simply need to get away from at least part of the frigid northeastern US winter (which seems to get longer each year), which means going to a tropical location even if it is not the ideal time for birdsong.

I’ll end this series with a few numbers, even though numbers are a poor, poor, poor way to summarize a trip.
Number of species identified: 250
Lifer species for me (two previous trips to Ecuador): 59
Lifer species for Jeanine (who had not been birding in the tropics previously): 201 (!)
Cost: $2,189 per person (includes EVERYTHING, from flights to lodging, meals, guides, car rental, gas, trip insurance, even JFK airport parking and NJ Turnpike tolls)
Photos taken (my camera only): 1,842

The 2018 Ecuador trip (part 5): Guango and Papallacta

Mar 122018

After leaving San Isidro, our plan was to head upslope, staying one night in Guango Lodge and then treating ourselves on our final night at the Papallacta Hot Springs Resort, just 10 minutes beyond Guango. But then again, plans are meant to be flexible, right? Somehow we drove past Guango Lodge (apparently the navigator was sleeping or looking elsewhere), but since it was such a gorgeous cloudless day, we decided to continue driving even further upslope to Papallacta Pass. The weather up here is legendary for being fickle and nasty, as it was when we drove eastward over the pass after arriving on our first day, so we unanimously decided to take advantage of the clear skies while we had the chance. We found the rough dirt side road by the virgin shrine (there always seems to be a virgin shrine) and started driving up it towards the radio antennas where some high-quality birds can be found. The problem was that our Chevy Sail was not equipped for the 14,000 ft altitude, based on its frequent stalling, and the poor traction caused by the loose gravel and rocks was getting worse as we ascended. We decided not to risk tumbling down the steep hillside, so we turned around and headed back to Guango. It was a nice try, and we did pick up a few Variable Hawks, Chestnut-winged Cinclodes, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, and a singing Tawny Antpitta (finally an antpitta that we found ourselves, not at a feeder station!!), but Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe would have to wait for another day and another year.

On the level section of the road up to the Papallacta radio towers. Notice that trees are mostly replaced by low grasses up here. Snow-covered Antisana Volcano is peeking out behind the clouds on the left. We didn’t know if it would be out the next day when we were scheduled to drive up there.

Guango Lodge (8,600 ft elevation) is a delightful small lodge consisting of a single building with perhaps only 10 rooms that has a distinct feel from the other lodges that we visited on this trip. It is a birding lodge that hobbits might be comfortable in, with an alpine feel despite being near the equator, two fireplaces in the dining room, and small but cute rooms with nicely detailed curved ceilings.

Our small room at Guango Lodge. I love the feel of the curved detailed ceiling and the rounded windows.

The hallway at Guango, with its stone walls, again showing the curved ceiling.

Before we even unpacked our car at Guango a group entered the lodge and showed us photos of a Mountain Tapir that they just spotted ~5 minutes from the lodge. So without even unpacking, we rushed out on to the trail, armed only with their confusing directions. Amazingly, we found the location fairly quickly, but to no avail, although their report did serve to remind us of the wildlife possibilities up here.

Having spent a few hours on the Papallacta and tapir detours, we could now get back to birds. Our late afternoon walk was only mildly productive; although we didn’t see many birds, we did find one of the big targets for this location, a Gray-breasted Mountain-toucan on the Torrent Duck Trail. Coming back on the Pipeline Trail we bumped into a nice male Masked Trogon, and a Blue-and-Black Tanager. We stopped at the feeders hoping to find the stunning Sword-billed Hummingbird mixed in among the Long-tailed Sylphs, Collared Incas, and the numerous Tourmaline Sunangels, and Jeanine finally spotted one just as it was getting dark.

A male Masked Trogon.

The delightful Tourmaline Sunangel was the most common hummingbird species at Guango.

In contrast with the Sword-billed Hummingbird, the Long-tailed Sylph is elongated at the rear end.

Masked Flowerpiercers could be found near the Guango hummingbird feeders.

While Pete was taking a break, Jeanine and I took another stroll along the river, still hoping for a Fasciated Tiger-heron, even though this is at the far upper end of their range, or perhaps finding that tapir. We were surprised when a bird flew by quickly from the Papallacta River and up a smaller feeder stream. “White-capped Dipper!”, I shouted out. “White-capped Dipper?” was what I was wondering. We had to find out. Well, to be more accurate, I had to find out to silence the doubters. We walked uphill on the streambank as far as we could, but came up empty. I thought it must be further upstream, and being a notoriously stubborn individual, suggested crossing the stream and following a small side trail that was on the opposite bank to see if we could find this bird. We crossed the stream. Nothing past the first bend. Nothing over the small ridge. One more small ridge and then I’d give up. But there it was. A gorgeous White-capped Dipper feeding close by along the shoreline, and it didn’t seem to care that we were watching it creep onto and over and around the rocks. What a treat.

The White-capped Dipper that delighted us for an extended period with its feeding behavior along a small feeder stream.

A Slaty-backed Chat-tyrant posed for us near the river’s edge.

The next morning we had what was without a doubt the best few hours of birding of the entire trip. It started out with Turquoise Jays around the lodge. We took the short walk up to the Waterfall trail, which was then level and ran parallel above the highway. We were spotting birds all along this trail, often at eye level in the downslope treetops. Among these flocks we saw Northern Mountain-Caciques, Blue-backed Conebills, Black-chested and Lacrimose Mountain-tanagers, Pale-naped Brush-finches, Handsome Flycatchers, and multiple Pearled Treerunners. It was pure birding heaven; one of those times where new birds are almost coming too fast and furious. This is how birding always should be.

Serving as a great example of the change in species at different elevations, at the high elevation of Guango, Turquoise Jays replaced the Violaceous Jays that were at low elevation and Inca Jays that were at at mid-elevation.

The Waterfall Trail where we had our best birding of the trip. It was level and comfortable, with great eye-level views of birds in the treetops below. Most importantly, it was full of good birds.

We found several Pearled Treerunners in the big flock on the Guango Waterfall Trail.

Several Blue-backed Conebills were in the mixed-species flock at Guango.

Northern Mountain-Cacique at eye level.

This is a hummingbird.

Birds in the tropics are often skilled at hiding behind the thick foliage. This Gray-hooded Bush-tanager didn’t fool us.

This is a Pale-naped Brush-finch that landed and fed in the middle of the Guango Waterfall Trail.

After such a great morning, it was tough to move on, but hot springs were calling us. Our final night was to be spent in a spacious two-story cabin in the Papallacta Hot Springs Resort, a high-end resort complete with three hot spring pools that we had to ourselves. Before taking advantage of the pools we drove into the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve that begins just beyond the resort grounds. Here we saw two new high-elevation lifer hummingbirds, Shining Sunbeam and Mountain Velvetbreast; it’s always a treat to find hummingbirds away from feeders. Another treat was seeing the lovely Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager and Hooded Mountain-tanager, completing a super four Mountain-tanager day.

A Scarlet-bellied Mountain-tanager that we found in Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve.

Our first Shining Sunbeam (a lifer for me) in the polylepis forest of Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve.

It was time to sample the hot spring pools. Wow! How great to treat ourselves to some relaxing time. It was funny that while we were soaking in the pools, the adjacent flowering trees were visited by Great Thrushes and several Shining Sunbeams (don’t you just love some of these hummingbird names?), along with Sword-billed Hummingbirds that we were having trouble finding at Guango. Isn’t that the way it is sometimes? When you stop looking for some bird, then they show up.

This Great Thrush was eating berries the way that I eat blueberries; just keep popping them in the mouth until it’s full.

The bill of the Sword-billed Hummingbird is almost beyond belief. I saw this species on my two previous trips to Ecuador, but still let out a childlike “WOW!” when I saw it again. Pinocchio has nothing on this bird.

One of three hot spring pools, each at a different temperature, that we had all to ourselves, with Antisana in the background.

Tomorrow we head up to the paramo in Antisana National Park on our final day.

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