Mexico is calling!

Several weeks ago it occurred to me that this has been the longest period of time in probably a decade that I haven’t traveled somewhere outside of the Great Lakes. Contrary to this year, in 2011 I found myself in a dozen countries…not just five states. This is blatantly unacceptable. Where have I not been yet? What can be done on a budget? Cancun, Mexico is probably one of the cheapest places to fly to south of the U.S. border – ok, let’s go to the Yucatán Peninsula! I created a quick itinerary and within a few hours of my initial idea, I started throwing out open invitations on Facebook. While most were too busy with university exams, visiting family and other preplanned trips, two birders eventually jumped on board including Eric Ripma from Indiana.

For the past couple weeks I’ve been working on the ultimate itinerary - to see as much as we can in a two week period.  I also enjoy the challenge of seeing how far one can go by spending as little as possible. With that said, we are not renting a car relying on the Mexican bus system and will camp for most of the trip. Here’s our route:

We’ll land in Cancun and proceed doing a big loop starting off on Cozumel for island endemics. We’ll then head south spending a couple nights outside Felipe Carrillo Puerto birding along the famous Vigia Chica Road before heading further south into Belize. When planning trips, I like to include bordering countries – especially when they have a lot of potential. In Belize we’ll bird the Mountain Pine Ridge (Stygian Owl!) and the Caracol ruins. Seeing that the famous Tikal Ruins are just on the other side of the border with Guatemala, we’ll also bird there for a day before heading back into the Yucatán. From here we’ll head west to the incredible Calakmul Ruins and finish the trip at the northern tip of the peninsula at Ria Lagartos.

I find it interesting to also include photos of items packed. Being a backpacking trip, we can’t carry much. Here’s what I’m taking.

From left to right: sleeping bag (2lbs 12oz.), solo backpackers tent,
 camera gear, acoustic recording equipment (from the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology to record songs/calls), dry bags, passport, binoculars,
extra clothes and a few toiletries and essentials. Surprisingly enough,
on my 4-month, nine county backpacking trip around Southern
Africa, I packed even lighter than this!

 All of these items fit perfectly into a camelback backpack and dry sac.

My flight leaves early tomorrow morning (Dec 10th) at 5:25am and I won’t return until Christmas Eve. Even though I have birded much of the southern U.S. border, Panama and Ecuador, this trip should still put my world list over the 2,000 milestone! In the meantime, enjoy the holidays and check back after Christmas for a trip report!

Taughannock Loon Watch (part two)

Taughannock Loon Watch - picnic table wind breaker
(Photo by Bill Evans)

Today marked the end of the season counting southbound loons over Cayuga Lake. Altogether, a little over 6,000 Common Loons were counted in addition to a half-dozen or so Red-throated Loons.  This appears to be quite an impressive number, but looking at the years 1993 through 1997, the average was over 10,000 loons! This fall actually fell well short (~600) than the lowest count between that period (6,703 in 1994). It’s hard to say if their numbers are considerably lower than 15-20 years ago after only one season. Idealy the count should be conducted for another couple seasons to establish an average. If the numbers like this persists, then we should start looking into factors such as avian botulism, which has affected large numbers of loons in the past.

Even on slow days, it’s never a dull moment on the lake. Stationary counts from Taughannock every morning, you’re bound to see other birds as well. During the five week period, I recorded over 70 other species– mostly waterfowl as you would expect. Some of the highlights include: Brant, 4,000+ Snow Geese, all three scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Merlin, Peregrine Falcons, a Golden Eagle, Snow Buntings on a daily basis, and of course, the occasional winter finch - White-winged & Red Crossbills and Common Redpoll all making an appearance.

I’m really going to miss it out there. This evening I drove back home (Ohio) so that I can start packing for my trip to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala this Monday. I'll post a little more on that this weekend!

Taughannock Loon Watch

      Bill Evans, creator of Old Bird (a nonprofit which facilitates acoustic monitoring of avian flight calls), discovered back in 1992 that Common Loons had a significant southbound migration route over Cayuga Lake. For those geographically challenged, Cayuga Lake is the longest of the glacial Finger Lakes in central New York, stretching 40 miles north of Ithaca. In the fall, Common Loons congregate on Lake Ontario and when winds are favorable from the NW, they head south following Cayuga Lake and eventually over land towards the Atlantic coast.

Common Loon fall migration route

      Between 1993 and the mid 2000’s, dedicated loon counters position themselves at Taughannock (a prominent point along Cayuga Lake) every morning for two hours from late October through early December. Thousands of loons were counted annually with the highest seasonal total of 13,250 in 1995.

Taughannock Falls State Park - point

Taughannock pier where the loon watch is conducted

      Seeing that the count hasn’t been conducted for several years and this fall marks the 20^th anniversary, Bill Evens invited me to be the chief counter at Taughannock and I gladly accepted the position. I have now been counting for 13 days and the current total is 4,254 Common Loons (and 4 Red-throated Loons).

Yours truly at the loon watch

      The counts are conducted for two hours every morning starting 15 minutes before sunrise and split into eight 15 min periods. The first several periods make up the first 'wave' of loons - those lifting off Cayuga Lake further north. Halfway through the two hours, there's a break and then the second 'wave' arrives, those from Lake Ontario. Unlike the first wave, these birds have already gained altitude and are sometimes only specks in the sky. Depending on weather, either wave can be exceptionally larger than the other. On November 3rd, I had well over 500 loons in the last 15 min period. By the end of that period, the loons have ceased. Apparently they were stalled, probably due to weather, and then came through all at once.

Common Loon (Photo © Laura Keene)

      When you have big days such as November 3rd, you'll also have slow days. Fortunately, Cayuga Lake is also the migratory route for a lot of other species including all three scoters, Long-tailed Ducks and thousands of Brant. With Ithaca, Cornell University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology right at the southern end, rarities are reported regularly so it's never a dull moment on the lake. Over the past couple weeks I've had Purple Sandpiper, Parasitic Jaeger, Red Phalarope, and finches galore. Today a Northern Gannet was reported just north of Taughannock so who knows what might fly by during one of my counts!

Be sure to check back for another update...

Turkey Vulture nestlings

Of the 196 species of birds confirmed breeding during the latest Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas (2006-11, http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/), it is probably safe to say that Turkey Vultures have one of the lowest nest confirmation rates out of all common species.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that they prefer to nest concealed away in old, abandoned barns, hollowed out logs and rocky niches. Using data from the breeding bird atlas, the comparable Red-tailed Hawk clearly shows the difference between confirmation frequencies. (Note: black represent confirmed).

Red-tailed Hawk - Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II results

Turkey Vulture - Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II results

Interesting enough, using eBird data for Ohio, during the past 10 years for the months of June-July, Red-tailed Hawk had a report rate frequency of roughly 11% of all checklists, while Turkey Vulture hovered around 17%. With that said, you can imagine my excitement being able to monitor a nest right down the road.

For the past three and a half weeks I’ve been in west-central Ohio doing some non-bird related work in the agriculturally dominated Darke County. Upon arriving, a local birder and I checked an old barn that has had Turkey Vultures nesting there for several years and sure enough, here is what we found…

Turkey Vulture young

As we climbed the ladder, their raucous hissing immediately caught our attention.  A simple impression in the hay tucked in the corner of the loft is all these prehistorically-looking fuzz balls need. 

After a couple weeks, we ventured back and discovered our ugly friends have doubled in size. I took this quick video before leaving them be. No, that’s not my cell phone having sound issues, that is the sound of two angry vulture nestlings. Some say it has the distinctive sounds of whip cream coming out of an aerosol can.

I've always had a keen interest in bird ecology and behavior so having the opportunity to observe the nesting habits of vultures has been quite educational. In a few weeks they’ll make their first flight attempts and eventually leave the nest.

Local Patch Big Year

Most birders have a local patch – either a county, backyard, neighborhood park, or a defined radius surrounding their home and will keep a running tally on all of species seen or heard within this boundary. Some birders will go one step further – commit to a local patch big year to see as many species as they can in a single year – and I did just that.

Back in mid-January, I moved to northwest Ohio to join the team at Black Swamp Bird Observatory as the new Education and Outreach Specialist. Of the many perks, one that clearly stood out was the fact that I was now living less than three miles from the famed migrant trap – Magee Marsh. Combined with the nearby Ottawa and Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuges, Metzger Marsh and Mallard Club Marsh Wildlife Areas and Maumee Bay State Park – the Magee region is clearly an incredible area that offers a lot migrant stop-over habitat, wintering grounds for tens of thousands of waterfowl and prime coastal habitat along Lake Erie. I was set.

When planning a local patch big year, or any kind of big year for that matter, a boundary must be created. As with several other birders in Ohio who are doing local patch big years, I wanted to set a county as the boundary – however, my ‘local patch’ is basically split right in half by two counties, Ottawa and Lucas. Seeing that I already have quite an advantage with one of Ohio’s birdiest regions, I opted out doing an entire county and set the boundary below - approximately 18 miles by 4 miles.

Local Patch Big Year boundary

From the beginning, I set my goal at 250 species – the bar was set high but still reachable. By the end of May, my patch list was already sitting at 229 with some ridiculous misses (i.e. Greater Scaup, Common Loon, Black Tern, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Pine Siskin). But there’s still plenty of time.

Starting in mid-February, which is when I initially started my local patch big year, I quickly checked off the more uncommon winter species – Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Northern Shrike, White-winged Crossbill and Common Redpoll.  Thanks to the invasion of Snowy Owls this past winter, two appeared within my patch. Normally, Snowy Owl would go under the list of unlikely patch birds so it was good to get that one right away.

February and March yielded good numbers of waterfowl – 27 species to be exact. Ottawa NWR holds impressive numbers of waterfowl including upwards to ten thousand Tundra Swans. Late March through April provided decent shorebirding, especially south of Magee Marsh off Benton-Carroll Road and at several of the units in Ottawa NWR. Twenty-one species of shorebirds is nothing to complain about seeing that fall is yet to come! Highlights include American Avocets, Upland Sandpipers, and a Wilson’s Phalarope.

American Avocets - Maumee Bay (Photo by Sherrie Duris)

Then May came around – what can I say? April 20^th I was sitting somewhere in the 140’s. By the end of May I added 80-90 species. For those not familiar with the incredible birding in the area – Magee Marsh is one of the top migrant stopover spots in the United States. Tens of thousands of birders flock to Magee every spring to see warblers and other migrants literally dripping out of the trees. I ended with 35 species of warblers including two Kirtland’s and several Connecticut’s. Swainson’s and Worm-eating are the only eastern warblers I still need for my patch. Other highlights for the month of May include American White Pelicans, Glossy and White-faced Ibis, Eastern Whip-poor-wills, several Clay-colored Sparrows and the greatest highlight yet – Least Tern! Thanks to Ohio birder, Sherrie Duris, on May 16^th, she called me stating that she was sitting there looking at a Least Tern at Maumee Bay State Park. Even today, I have no idea how I got there so quickly but was able to observe it for the rest of the evening as it roosted on the beach and took several passes along the shore. It ended up sticking around for several days offering great views to a lot of birders. It’s not every day you get a state bird in your local patch!

Biggest Week in American Birding crowd
looking at a Kirtland's Warbler

Least Tern - Maumee Bay (Photo by Sherrie Duris)

Now that its mid-June, the birding has slowed down considerably and most of my time is being spent elsewhere. It’s been over two weeks since I’ve birded my patch and I don’t have any plans to do so for another couple weeks. Before the end of summer I will have to find some time to target some of the breeders including King Rail, American Bittern, Black Tern, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Then fall will come around and the possibilities are endless – more shorebirds, migrants and vagrants.

Book Review: Birds of India (2nd Edition)

I recently received my Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives (second edition) in the mail and haven’t been able to get any work done since. For those familiar with the first edition, the authors have put in an exceptional amount of work creating an even better, up to date resource and the most comprehensive field guide for the Indian subcontinent. The 226 plates (72 more than the 1^st edition) covers all 1,375 species of residents, migrants and vagrants – and better yet, the range maps and text now mirrors the plates eliminating the hassle of relentlessly flipping through pages. It also includes taxonomical name changes as well as accurate, updated range maps.

As with all field guides, there will always be cons and with this guide there was one that caught my attention. A few of the plates appear to be moderately dark (i.e. shorebirds) – this can either be the artist that covered that section or simply the printers. However, the vast majority of the plates are exceptional and precise.

Plate 82: Parakeets

Plate 124: Jays and Magpies

Without a doubt, this user-friendly guide is a must for anyone heading to the Indian subcontinent or for those who simply want to add another remarkable field guide to their library. My next backpacking trip will hopefully be the Indian subcontinent and the Birds of India will certainly be the first item packed.

Note: this advanced copy of the Birds of India was sent to me by Princeton Press for review. The paperback publishes on March 7, 2012.

Possible Hoary Redpoll

Yesterday, Cleveland birders Paula Lozano and Bob Finkelstein joined me on a quick jaunt into the heart of Toledo in search of finches. Woodlawn Cemetery, our destination, has been hosting White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls for most of the winter. To cut to the chase, it didn’t take long before we were watching roughly 70 Common Redpolls and 45 White-winged Crossbills – not bad for a non-irruption year!

As I reported elsewhere, amongst the Common Redpolls was a good candidate for a female Hoary. A shorter, stubbier bill, clean rump and undertail coverts, thin streaking on its flanks and a generally frostier appearance is what caught my attention. I wasn’t able to get the greatest photos that would clinch its identification but would like to hear from others what they think. So far I’ve privately sent these photos to a few other birders and the general consensus is leaning towards Hoary.

Note pale rump and undertail coverts, thin streaking
on flanks and general frostier appearance

Unfortunately, none of my photos showed
the short, stubby bill

Angle showing frostier appearance