Update on the year of Jon

In January I started posting on state/life birds that I hoped to get this year.  Here's an update on how I've done so far:

Mottled Duck-A life bird that shall elude me no longer!  I guess this really depends on the water levels at CB and Q.  If they are good, this is a distinct possibility.=I actually think I had a Mottled Duck at Webster...I just didn't have a camera and couldn't rule out ABD.  What could have been...!

Scoter-Any of the three would be a state bird.  They will be mine; oh yes, they will be mine!=Nothing yet...nothing even remotely close.

Lesser Prairie-Chicken-This is my promise to you, dear reader: I will get Lesser Prairie-Chicken this coming year!=Calhoun took me to a lek in April...it was awesome!

Scaled Quail-The "cottontop" will bite the dust if I make a trip down to SW Kansas.=I'm going to Morton Co. on September 20.  If I get it this year, it will be on that trip.

Clark's Grebe-A new scope will do wonders of my chances of identifying one of these.  A new scope huh....=Got one on Spring KOS.  If I was by myself, I wouldn't have called it, but others had better scopes and more experience.

Red-shouldered Hawk-One trip out East with a little birding involved should nab this state bird for me. Now, if only I can figure out how to make that trip....=No birding trips out East yet this year; therefore, no R-s H.

Black/King Rails-These little buggers cannot avoid me much longer!  Please, Quivira, have good water levels this year!=Tried for them in late April/early May...nada!

Mountain Plover-How did this bird ever get its name?  Did someone see one in a mountain at one time?  Not likely!  This lifer is a real possibility if I make the long-awaited trip to SW Kansas.=I think I could still get them in Morton Co. on Sept. 20.

Long-billed Curlew-Does its bill really need to be that long?  Really?  Another SW Kansas specialty that could appear in my area as well.  State bird.=Lake Coldwater in April!

Sabine's Gull-Not many this year.  Next year?  A lifer t'would be.=I will be looking this Fall!

Caspian Tern-Oh, Prince Caspian, will I ever find you in this state?  Me thinks t' answer would be "yes."=Think I had one at Wilson Sp last weekend, but the bird was in flight and the look was too fleeting.

Inca Dove-Why is it called an Inca Dove?  Hum, I wonder?  Where could I find this little guy?  SW Kansas; that's where.  Well, I think I'm starting to see a pattern here....=Sept. 20?

Long-eared Owl-One of those tree branches will turn out to be a Long-eared Owl one of these days!  My life is not complete without it.=They have still all been tree branches:)

Short-eared Owl-One of those harriers will turn out to be a Short-eared owl one of these days!  My Kansas list is not complete without it.=Pawnee County in the Winter=Short-eared Owl!
To be continued....

Pics of 2013

So it's been waaaaaaaaaaaay too long since I posted.  This year has been a strange one as far as birding goes.  I've had some great experiences and odd sightings interspersed with some long periods of "drought."  I haven't gotten a new year bird in quite some time, so it currently feels like I'm in a slump.
Things at Webster were weird this summer, too.  Because Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira were so dry at the beginning of the summer, I got a lot more birds at Webster.  I also got breeding Piping Plovers and probable breeding Snowy Plovers.  I'm going to post what birds I still need for this year (Snowy Egret!?) soon, but I'm going to dedicate this post to pics.

 Juvie Red-headed Woodpecker near my house

 Black Terns at Webster August 2013

 Six-lined Racerunner at Wilson SP in August '13

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Wilson SP (August '13)

Juvie Mississippi Kite in Stockton, KS (August '13)

One of hundreds of Bank Swallows at Kirwin NWR in August '13

Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Rooks SFL

Piping Plover doing a distraction display at Webster Reservoir.  The first confirmed breeding record of the species in Rooks County.

Say's Phoebe that has been around my house since April

Adult and juvie Snowy Plovers.  Although I never confirmed breeding, it is likely that the juvie was born at Webster.

One of 4-5 juvie hybrid towhees found at Webster Wildlife Area in Summer '13

2013: The year of Jon!

Okay maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but it's always difficult to keep perspective as a new year rolls around.  My mind is busy creating lists of all the cool birds I might see.  Here is a list of likely life/state birds I might get in 2013:
Mottled Duck-A life bird that shall elude me no longer!  I guess this really depends on the water levels at CB and Q.  If they are good, this is a distinct possibility.
Scoter-Any of the three would be a state bird.  They will be mine; oh yes, they will be mine!
Lesser Prairie-Chicken-This is my promise to you, dear reader: I will get Lesser Prairie-Chicken this coming year!
Scaled Quail-The "cottontop" will bite the dust if I make a trip down to SW Kansas.
Clark's Grebe-A new scope will do wonders of my chances of identifying one of these.  A new scope huh....
Red-shouldered Hawk-One trip out East with a little birding involved should nab this state bird for me. Now, if only I can figure out how to make that trip....
Black/King Rails-These little buggers cannot avoid me much longer!  Please, Quivira, have good water levels this year!
Mountain Plover-How did this bird ever get its name?  Did someone see one in a mountain at one time?  Not likely!  This lifer is a real possibility if I make the long-awaited trip to SW Kansas.
Long-billed Curlew-Does its bill really need to be that long?  Really?  Another SW Kansas specialty that could appear in my area as well.  State bird.
Sabine's Gull-Not many this year.  Next year?  A lifer t'would be.
Caspian Tern-Oh, Prince Caspian, will I ever find you in this state?  Me thinks t' answer would be "yes."
Inca Dove-Why is it called an Inca Dove?  Hum, I wonder?  Where could I find this little guy?  SW Kansas; that's where.  Well, I think I'm starting to see a pattern here....
Long-eared Owl-One of those tree branches will turn out to be a Long-eared Owl one of these days!  My life is not complete without it.
Short-eared Owl-One of those harriers will turn out to be a Short-eared owl one of these days!  My Kansas list is not complete without it.
To be continued....

Catchings Up

You would think that a life bird that is rare in the state would merit a post.  And I had very good intentions.  Had the bird not been in the middle of the lake and a decent photograph been possible, I swear there would have been a more recent post.  But alas, all my good intentions are worth about as much as Monopoly money.  You see, I saw a Pacific Loon on November 29.  It is now December 9th and I am just now posting about it.  Sad, so sad.
I had mad my usual run around Webster and was about to head back when two birds caught my eye.  I first thought, "loon!" but when I think that, the bird often turns out to be a cormorant.  These two passed further inspection, though, and were clearly not cormorants.  The aspect that struck me, though, was that they were clearly not the same type of loon.  One was a bit larger with a much larger bill.  This  left me two realistic possibilities for the smaller: Red-throated and Pacific.  I guess Arctic is also a possibility, but c'mon...let's be serious here.  Although the bird was distant, I could tell that the demarcation of dark and white was too distinct to be Red-throated.  The bird also never held its bill up as Red-throateds are wont to do.
So there I had it, a new life bird.  Pacific are more expected in Kansas in stark contrast to the arrangement in Michigan.  But they are still not "expected" at any time.  I was thrilled needless to say.
With time winding down and commitments keeping me from birding much the rest of the way out, it is likely that I have seen my last new species in Kansas for the year.  Not a bad year: 251 Kansas birds!

The Days Grow Shorter...

and the year reaches a close.  A birder looks back on the year's list and remembers the special ones.  He looks forward to the coming year when even a House Sparrow brings excitement because its the first of the year.  He ponders on the misses and grins at the fortuitous finds.
As November reaches its dusk and December lurks around the corner, I look back at the birding year 2012.  I set out to see 245 Kansas birds, not a lofty goal but a realistic one considering the arrival of a new family member and the tight budget hindering long birding trips.  I now sit at 250 birds for the state in 2012.  More impressive probably is my 229 birds found in Rooks for the year.  In fact, there were only 2 county birds I saw in 2011 that I did not see in 2012: Black-necked Stilt and Eastern Wood-Pewee.
As 2013 draws ever closer, I wonder what my goals for the coming year should be.  Will it be another "stick close to home" year?  Will it be a "scour the state" year?  Who knows, but I'm excited no matter what lies ahead.

Photos

Here are some decent photos of some of the birds I've seen recently.  I won't bore you with any more words....

 "Just" an American Pipit

 A Pipit in Profile

 A songbird's bane

 Female Merlin

 By far the best shots of a Merlin I've ever gotten

 Here in Kansas, this is already the Winter of the Red-breasted Nuthatch.  I've even got it as a yard bird.

Townsend's Solitaire.  One of a group of four.  Isn't that an oxymoron?  A group of Solitaires?

A Few Surpises

The past few weeks have been pretty crazy in terms of my schedule.  I have made it out some, though.  Unfortunately, I've missed some primo opportunities to take some weekend trips with Henry.  Sooner or later, I'll get to go.
There has been quite a bit of migration going on recently.  The early songbirds and shorebirds have given over to waterfowl, later sparrows, and some "winter" birds.  Here are a few photos of a few nice "winter" birds:

 I love all nuthatches, but these guys are, for some reason, way cooler than their White-breasted relatives.  Maybe it's that cool facial strip, or maybe it's the Red-breasted's nasal voice.  Whatever it is, this awesome guy was frolicking near a maintenance building at Webster SP.

Thanks to Tiff's suggestion, I was sitting on the porch with Caid just taking everything in...and more to the point, trying to keep Caid from fussing (He already loves the outdoors!), when I heard a "jip jip" sound.  Now I wouldn't have told you before that I could pick out a Red Crossbill by voice, and I'm still not sure I can, but "Red Crossbill" immediately popped into my head.  Anyways, this guy landed in the tree in the lot across the street.  He called repeatedly, long enough for me to get my camera and get some documentation shots.  When I came out of the house, he had a girlfriend with him!  They took off not too long after, but not before I had landed another awesome yard bird!

While not really a "winter bird" the next bird was a new county bird for Mitchell County and one that I've had a lot of success finding lately in the surrounding counties.

The bird on the left is smaller, has a noticeably smaller and thinner bill, had a longer tail, and had no yellow/orange on the lores.  All of these traits add up to the first Mitchell County Neotropic Cormorant.  I've been finding quite of these birds in the surrounding counties.  I hope that this continues because they break up the monotony of looking at Double-crested after Double-crested.

I hope to get out some more in the coming weeks to pick up a few more year/county birds.  I'm sitting at 249 for Kansas for the year, so 1 more would put me at 250, which sounds a lot better than 249.  Here a few "likely" candidates: 

Common Loon

Scoter

Short-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl

Le Conte's Sparrow

Marsh Wren

Clark's Grebe (if I can get a good enough look at them to differentiate them from Western)

Sabine's Gull

A Few Pics

 A beautiful Grasshopper Sparrow.  It's large head gave me hope at first that it might be a Baird's.  Looking at it through my binoculars, I realized that hope was in vain.

 A very poorly lit Taiga Merlin that I saw the previous day munching on a House Sparrow.

This guy was 10 yards away from before I reached for my camera...he must have thought I was reaching for something else.

 White-throated Sparrow: an uncommon migrant through these parts.

Another look at the Grasshopper Sparrow

This bird is supposed to be shy

So I'm going to post some pictures first and let you revel in the awesomeness of how bold this bird was for a supposedly shy species.  Take it in and try to imagine how excited I was to find my target bird and get such awesome looks as it:

 A beautiful Sprague's Pipit!

So I set off yesterday with two target birds: Sprague's Pipit and McCown's Longspur.  Not only would both of these birds be county, year, and state birds, they would be life birds to boot.  Sprague's passes through every year, but they can be shy buggers and difficult to find.  McCown's may pass through every year, but Rooks would be on the Eastern edge of their migration route.  

When looking for these types of birds, you basically drive around...or at least that's how I do it.  If anyone knows a different way, let me know.  Anyways, you drive around and look for decent habitat: pastures, short grass prairie, disced fields, etc.  Then you hope to see little birds flying around.  The presence of Killdeer can be a good indicator at this time of year to see if birds are using a specific field.  

I had been driving the country roads for a little over an hour when I found this disced field and happened to see a few small birds flying around.  Bingo!

At first all I saw were Horned Larks and some American Pipits (always a nice bird to see).  I then caught some flashes of black on the bellies of a few birds.  When I finally got them in my binoc view, I found that they were Chestnut-collared Longspurs still transitioning into basic plumage.  Now this is only the second time I've seen Chestnut-collared Longspurs.  And this was the best view of them I've had.  They are not as "pretty" at this time of year, but you just don't complain when getting to look at Chestnut-collared Longspurs.  I tried hard to find a McCown's, and there was one bird that I saw through my binocs that looked like a good candidate, but when I got the scope up, it had flown the coop.  

Meanwhile, while I panned the field looking for McCown's, I also had Sprague's in mind because they can use these types of field during migration.  All of a sudden, I noticed a very pale bird off to my right.  I got the bird in my field of view and was awestruck to find that it was a Sprague's Pipit!   I turned on the pipit's song and the bird proceeded to fly within 10 yards of the car and poke around trying to find the bird that was making that racket.  Eventually the bird flew off into the field to the West that had fairly tall grasses, but not before I got some awesome looks at my lifer Sprague's!

What Next?

I've met my goal for the year, and it's only in September.  So what do I do now?  Try to find more birds of course!  There are a number of potentials out there, but here are some of the more likely birds:
-Common Loon
-Bonaparte's Gull
-Pine Siskin
-Long-eared Owl
-Short-eared Owl
-Le Conte's Sparrow
-Marsh Wren
-Swamp Sparrow
-Scoters
-Long-tailed Duck
-Sprague's Pipit
Difficult but not out of the realm of possibility:
-Nelson's Sparrow
-Sedge Wren
-McCown's Longspur
-Baird's Sparrow
-Trumpeter Swan
-Tundra Swan
-Purple Finch
-Northern Goshawk
All of these birds are possible.  It be great if I could get above 250 this year, but I'm not going to kill myself doing it.

245!

I reached my goal last Saturday.  With Grandma Kerri coming up to spend time with Tiff and Caid, I was able to get away and do some birding.  The funny thing was, I got my best bird (and only new year bird) in the first half hour of birding.  That's when I was able to track down this little bugger in the canopy and Id it:

So it's not the best photo in the world (which of mine are), but it shows enough to let you know that what you are looking at is a first Fall female Chestnut-sided Warbler.  This bird was on my radar, but I wasn't counting on it.
While driving the country roads later in the day, I saw the White-winged Dove-like flash of white on the wing scapulars on a much smaller bird.  It turned out to be this:

It's my first Lark Bunting for Rooks in 2012.
I also happened to avoid running this awesome guy over:

I first thought that this snake was a Coachwhip (which would have been sweet!).  But I now think that it's an Eastern Racer (still pretty cool, but c'mon...it's called a Coachwhip!).  The scales look very braided, which made me think Coachwhip right away, but the coloring of the snake should be quite a bit different for that particular species.  If you know for sure, please let me know.  But I'm pretty sure it's an Eastern Racer.

Ramblings on Wilson Lake

I jump at the chance to go to Wilson Lake.  It's not so much a birding thing; it's a relaxing thing.  If I get to do some birding there, all the better.  So most of the my last weekend was spent like this: 

Not a bad way to spend a weekend, especially when the weather is awesome!  But I got to take some birding walks as well.  While it didn't pay off in the form of large groups of migrants as I was hoping, it did pay off with a few interesting things.  The first of which is pictured below:

Eastern Collared Lizard

I also picked up a fairly unexpected year bird: Broad-winged Hawk.  I saw this beaut (bute-o?) on the Cedar Trail in Otoe area of Wilson SP.  When I first saw a large bird take off from the tree to the left of the path, I thought it would be an accipiter, but the white bands on the dorsal surface of the tail made that impossible.  The bird landed where I could see it, and the looks I got were of my first Kansas Broad-winged Hawk!

Warbler Migration Capital of the World: Rooks County?

Okay, so maybe the title indicates that I'm getting a little carried away with myself, but seeing how the warbler migration has gotten off to a flying start compared to last Fall and especially this Spring, I'm ecstatic.  The other day I picked up 5 year birds and 3 state birds.  The culprits include Nashville, Black-and-white, and Mourning Warblers.  The Mourning was a tough id because it was a young female, lacking any hood or other typical Mourning Warbler field marks.

The highlight of the past few weeks was definitely the Pine Warbler yesterday, though.  This is NOT, I repeat NOT, a species I expected to get in Kansas any time soon, let alone in Rooks.  But a small group of birders found a few small groups in the area over the weekend.  So it was on my mind as a possibility, albeit a very remote possibility.  But the bird I saw was a pretty typical individual.  I even got great looks at the undertail, which definitively separated it from Blackpoll or Bay-breasted.

Anyways, I now sit at 241 birds for Kansas for the year!  I'm only 4 away from my target!  With the way migration is going right now, I wouldn't be surprised to get it in the next few weeks.

The Last "1"

At the outset of the year, I gave each bird a code from 1 to 6 based on likelihood of me seeing it in Kansas this year.  "1" meant that I was sure to see it without much difficulty.  "6" meant that there was basically no way in the world that I would see it.
Yesterday, I saw the last bird on my list that was given a "1" at the beginning of the year: Western Sandpiper.  Apparently they are not quite as abundant here as I thought.  That perception was probably generated by the fact that they are not rare in Kansas, and I saw my first Westerns last year not long after I moved here, so I thought I would get them easily this year.  In fact, when I made a calendar of when I predicted I would get each of the birds I had a decent shot at, I only listed them in the Spring because I thought I wouldn't have to wait until the Fall.
Well it didn't quite work out that way.  I have spent the last month scouring peep flocks, trying to turn Semipalmated Sandpipers into Westerns.  That's the funny thing about perception.  When you are looking for a specific bird you can almost convince yourself that you are seeing your target when you are looking at a similar bird.  I've had this with Semipalmated/Western Sandpipers, Warbling/Philadelphia Vireo, Herring/Thayer's Gull, Forster's/Common Tern, and a slew of others.  The thing is, when you actually see the target species, you know very quickly (usually) that you've got what you are looking for.
That was definitely true yesterday.  I saw of Semipalmated/Western Sandpipers and immediately checking the bill length.  Most of the birds' bills were obvious: just way too long for Semipalmateds.  After that, everything else fell into place, namely the rufous wing coverts and crown, which make the id obvious.
Anyways, the Westerns make it #235 for Kansas for 2012, and it is #213 for Rooks for 2012.  I'm optimistic that I can make my goal for 245 for Kansas.  I didn't really set a goal for Rooks (that I can remember), but it will be fun to see how many I can get.

Two (More) New County Birds

I love living in a county that has not been birded heavily for quite some time.  Most easy birds have been seen in Rooks, and the total number of bird species seen before I got here was 256, which is quite respectable for how little it gets birded.  Spending the entire year here, though, allows me to pick up some of those birds that are rare but annual in the county, species that haven't been seen in Rooks before.
Two of the species which are probably rare but annual are Red-necked Phalarope and Common Tern.  I found both of these birds in the past week or so.  One of them (the phalarope) was an easy identification practice.  The other required me to take 2 hours of my birding time to zig-zag back and forth to get close enough to a group of terns in order to confirm the identification.  The medium sized terns are a pain in the butt to identify except in pure alternate or basic forms, forms in which they are rarely seen in Kansas.  It was very rewarding then when I confirmed the identification of at least two of the terns as Common.

Rooks County's first documented Red-necked Phalarope

I now sit at 234 Kansas birds for the year and 212 Rooks birds for the year.  I'm getting excited.

The Hummingbird Dilemma

Back in Michigan, the only hummingbird I could realistically expect was Ruby-throated.  Granted, they were plentiful there and a delight to watch.  The way hummingbirds defy the laws of physics is awe-inspiring.  Here in my part of Kansas, there are no hummingbirds that breed.  During migration, there is a chance at a few different types of hummers, though.  The most likely is still Ruby-throated followed by Rufous and then Calliope, Broad-tailed, and Black-chinned with a few other really rare hummers seen once or twice in the state.  However, no hummingbird is a given here.  Take this year for example.  I put Ruby-throated as a Code 1 bird, meaning I would be guaranteed to see it with relatively little effort expended.  Guess how many Ruby-throats I've seen so far this year.  Yeah-zero!
So today as I was birding with Caid, I saw a hummer flitting here and there on the side of the road.
"Awesome!" I thought.  My next thought was, "It's probably a Ruby-throated."  Usually, this would be followed by some let down, but this year, even a Ruby-throated in August is a year bird.  However, as the bird landed and I creeped the car forward to get pics, I noticed that this didn't look like a Ruby-throated; in fact this is what I saw:

  Now I want you to notice a few things about the bird:
1.  It has a buffy wash on the sides of its body.
2.  Its tail is very very short, not reaching past the wingtips.
3.  The bird looks very chunky.
4.  The second picture appears to show the beginnings of a gorget appearing.
All of these clues lead clearly to the conclusion that this is a Calliope Hummingbird and probably a young male bird if there is indeed a gorget appearing.  Anyways, it's a year bird, a county bird for me, and a new Rooks County record!
P.S. Although not quite as exciting of a find, I also got my first Rooks County Least Flycatcher.