Birder from the Bay

August 10th, 2014: Why Do We Bird?

Millions of people around the world participate in this outlandish pastime known as birding, but a question many people ask themselves is why? Why do so many people take pleasure in looking at these feathered animals? Being a young birder myself, I am frequently asked this question by my peers, so naturally this is a topic that I have pondered on for a long time. For me, my passion for birding is rooted in my great fascination for nature and the environment, which eventually led me to noticing the birds in my yard. However, for others, birding doesn’t necessarily stem from a preceding passion for the environment. It may actually be the other way around: because people are birders, they then develop an interest in the environment. But then, you may ask yourself: “How did they start birding in the first place?” Well, that’s hard to say exactly, everybody has their own story and their own reason for birding. But figuring out why people find birds and birding so interesting isn’t as personal and esoteric.

For starters, probably the main reason for why people find birds so interesting and fascinating is because they are aesthetically some of the prettier animals of our world. Many birds as you probably know are blazoned in vibrant colors, from crimson-reds, to deep-blue azures, and even to some stunning ivory-whites!

The Vermilion Flycatcher, a personal favorite of mine

is certainly one of the more striking North American species.

However birds aren’t just eye-candies, they can also be music to your ears! A big part of birding is listening (which is why we prefer saying “birding” rather than simply “bird watching”, and it also lowers the creep factor). Birds can produce some of the most complex sounds in nature, from the liquid, flowing song of the Pacific Wren, to the incessant chattering and mimicry of the Yellow-breasted Chat.

Although, listening to calls and songs can be the bane of birding for some, I know it can be for me. Sometimes you’ll hear the faintest and most indistinguishable chip coming from 30 yards away and you haven’t the slightest clue as to what it is, which will continue to pester you as you try to resume your birding: “What was that chip note? Could it have been a vagrant warbler? Did I even hear that or did I imagine it? (which can happen surprisingly often)”. However, listening can be, and usually is, the most fruitful way to distinguish two species from each other. Willow and Alder Flycatchers were once lumped into the same species (Traill’s Flycatcher), as were Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Cordilleran Flycatcher (Western Flycatcher). Gray-cheeked and Bicknell’s Thrush were never once the same species, but they look nearly identical. The only way to properly identify all of these species is by listening to their call. Here is an actual account of when this proved to be very helpful. My friend Logan Kahle got a tip from a friend about an Eastern Wood-Pewee that he found in an undisclosed location in California. This would be California’s 11th state record, a mega-rarity. I joined him on the hunt for it. We got there and not 15 minutes after having been there, a wood-pewee pops up onto a willow. We looked at it and picked out all the field marks to separate it from a Western Wood-Pewee, our local species. These two species are nearly identical, except that Easterns have a peaked eye-ring, an all yellow lower mandible and brighter wing bars. This bird showed all those features. However, we didn’t feel comfortable calling it. We could have very well made ourselves think that the bird had all these field marks, so that we could count it. We waited another hour and a half, following it as it sallied from branch to branch. Finally, it called: “pe-WEE”, and we knew we had located it. Although we were fairly certain from the start that this bird was in fact the Eastern Wood-Pewee, we stuck around long enough for it to emit its call, because hearing its call was the only way to positively identify it.

The famed Eastern Wood-Pewee that we only felt
comfortable identifying it after it called.

Yes, listening to the birds truly is an essential part of this pastime. There are even some blind birders believe it or not! Because hearing a bird is the best way to identify birds, some people don’t even need to see the birds. I know I’ve definitely been birding in places where I only actually got a good view of a mere 10% of the species present. So there is no reason for why blind people shouldn’t bird. If anything, they are at an advantage compared to us because their sense of hearing is heightened, so they would be able to hear even the most faint and minute chip note, something I know many birders wish they could do. It’s almost like they have superpowers! One final aspect of birding I would like to touch on is the ubiquity of birds. Birds are everywhere! Besides arthropods, birds are the only group of animals to be found in every possible habitat in the world. Think about it. Where haven’t you seen or heard a bird? Even in the most remote and desolate area, birds have found a way to adapt and call that area home. Open ocean? Tubenoses such as gadfly petrels, albatross, shearwaters and storm-petrels have conquered this marine environment by developing sharp bills to grasp onto slippery fish, and tubular nostrils to excrete non-purposely ingested salt. Arid desert? Sandgrouse are able to survive without water for extended periods, and for when they need to quench their youngs’ thirst, they’ll dip their breast feathers in pools of water, from which the young will sip from. Frozen tundra? Ivory Gulls have evolved pristine white feathers to blend in with the ice and snow, and have learned to follow polar bears, because they will lead them to carcasses, from which they will scavenge. We even see birds in urban areas now! I live right outside of San Francisco, which is of course one of the most developed cities in the Bay Area, and I have seen numerous species of birds using mankind’s urban creations to their own benefit, such as the Peregrine Falcons that nest of the side of buildings, resembling cliff faces where they would nest out in the wild.

The Peregrine Falcon is one of those species that has adapted to
an urban lifestyle. I photographed this individual on a high-tension
power tower in Humboldt County.

I could drone on for ages about why birds are such unique and splendid creatures, which I hope I have helped you realize now. Birds truly are amazing animals, whether it’s their undeniable beauty, their sonorous voices that enchant us, or even the simple fact that they have been able to adapt to a vast array of different habitats and can be found just about anywhere. Birds have fascinated me for eight years now, and my fascination I know will never cease to grow and will last with me for as long as I live. Although not everybody appreciates birds at the same level as birders do, I have a hunch that everybody has a soft spot for our feathered friends.

March 17th, 2014: Florida Canyon Rarity Hunting

Off the top of your head, could you list the three rarest birds you've ever seen in your life? Before Spring Break, I only had two genuinely rare birds on my life list, but then we made our trip to Florida Canyon in the Coronado National Forest, situated approximately an hour south of Tucson, I added number three.

Knowing we weren't going to be far from Tucson, I thought it would be great to call our friend Jennie Duberstein, one of the co-leaders for Camp Chiricahua. Jennie works for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, but volunteers as a youth representative for the ABA (American Birding Association), serving as a connection between young birders and potential scholarship or internship opportunities. She is a wonderfully delightful and generous person, and she let us spend the night at her house, which was something I didn't think I would appreciate as much as I did. Of course I was grateful of her hospitality, but what made it even better was access to a bed (for Kyle anyways, I landed myself a comfy futon) and a warm shower. Sooooo nice after having spent the night in an uncomfortable vehicle in the middle of a cold and frigid desert Unfortunately, because of our plans to go owling, we had to leave her house at 4:00 AM and therefore couldn't see her in the morning, so we had to say our goodbyes that same night.

We awoke two hours before the sunrise, which gave us an hour to arrive at our destination and then another hour to listen for some owls. Once we arrived, we immediately heard a couple Western Screech-Owls, but that was all we had. We then drove on over to our location of interest for the day: Florida Canyon. At Florida Canyon, we were hoping to find a gorgeous, neotropic ABA Code 4 bird.

This bird was the Rufous-capped Warbler, a dapper gray bird, blazoned with olive wings and tail, a bright yellow throat, and a striking rufous and white striped head pattern. Three individuals of this species had been regularly seen at this location for the past few months. However, the day we arrived, the birds weren't seen the day before, which only increased our desire for these birds.

We arrived at the entrance of Florida Canyon at around 7:00 AM. Yellow-rumped Warblers flitted in the trees above while Bridled Titmouse called further away. Both pert species, but not the species we were after. As we walked down the trail, we saw some wonderful birds including Pyrrhuloxia, Painted Redstart, 2 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulets and Costa's Hummingbirds, species I hadn't seen since Camp Chiricahua. Then, as we were about to cross the wash which was going to lead us to the Rufous-capped Warbler spot, we heard a very warbly and buzzy song that I immediately recognized. This species had eluded me since Camp Chiricahua, when I made the wrong decision of looking at a Broad-billed Hummingbird, rather than this bird: a Bell's Vireo. This species is as widespread denizen of the southwest, commonly found in riparian habitat. However, the subspecies in California (the 'Least' Bell's Vireo) is a threatened one, which means it's more difficult for me to find one in California. When I heard this bird singing, I immediately knew that I had to locate it. Kyle had already seen them (because he didn't waste his time with a hummingbird we almost got tired of seeing by the end of our trip), so he wasn't as anxious about seeing this bird. Because we were pressed on time, I didn't want to spend to much time looking for this bird. Then, I noticed a smaller bird hop from one branch to another, and I finally got my lifer Bell's Vireo!

Bell's Vireo

A wonderful bird indeed, but not the bird we had driven so far to see (we only seriously decided to go to Arizona about a week before our departure, so this wasn't even part of our original itinerary). We continued down the trail a little while more, and we finally ran into a group of birders looking up a ravine: we had arrived. Unfortunately, none of them had seen them yet, and given that they hadn't been seen since two days before, the odds certainly weren't in our favor. We stood around the general area and pished a little for a good 25 minutes to no avail. Kyle and I realized that this standing around didn't serve us any good, so we decided to walk a little further down the trail, where no one had yet walked out to. We pished a little more, and Kyle decided playing a quick little call couldn't hurt. He began playing the recording, and suddenly I heard him shout: "Cédric, look behind you!".

I turned around to see our sought-after target of the trip: Rufous-capped Warbler! This beauty was within fifteen feet of us and offered spectacular views, which was remarkable given I was hardly expecting any views at all.

Rufous-capped Warbler

I was in absolute shock by the stark radiance emanating on this gorgeous bird. Based on photos and illustrations, I knew this bird was beautiful, but it was a completely different experience to witness this bird in real life. We then noticed the second individual, which cavorted its way into view. It was that much more incredible to see two individuals of this species socializing together in an area where they are only accidentally seen.

We called over the other birders, who followed by praising us and saying that the 'young birders' saved the day. We were just happy that everybody was able to see the stunning celebrity. In spite of the fantastic views we earned of this species, we had to head on out because we had a jam-packed day of birding in store for us. We bid farewell to our neotropic visitors and walked on back to our car. We high-fived each other as we walked back, to celebrate our successful hunt! It was indeed a successful hunt!

March 16th, 2014: Thrasher Spot

eBird is a fantastic resource for birders. If you aren't familiar with it, eBird is an online database where people can submit their sightings of birds at a given location. Accessible to anyone, it's extremely handy for when you're planning a trip and have a set of target species. As I stated in my previous post, Le Conte's Thrasher was a big target for both of us, but we didn't exactly have a spot specifically for that species. So as we were grabbing lunch at Subway, Kyle was searching for reliable locations for this species, and as he searched on eBird, he came across a hotspot entitled "The Thrasher Spot". Naturally, we were greatly intrigued, and decided to see what species to expect there. We were astonished to find that this location boasted 5 different species of thrasher! This is exceptional because thrashers are usually adapted to a certain type of habitat and it is uncommon to have more than one different species in a certain area. So we were blown away when we saw that there are 5 different species that frequent this location. Obviously, we had to go.

"The Thrasher Spot" was located about 30-45 minutes outside of Phoenix, AZ. Yes, our Spring Break Trip brought us all the way to Arizona, something I was unsure about doing at first, but something I would have greatly regretted not doing, looking back now. So we drove for approximately 2 hours, and we finally arrived at the famed "Thrasher Spot". We were surprised to find that this was merely a field with some sage and coyote brush spread around. We didn't know whether or not we were at the right spot, but according to eBird, this was it. So we got our scopes, bins and cameras, stepped over the broken barbed-wire fence, and began our search for the thrashers.

It was unpleasantly quiet, the kind of quiet that kills your hope of seeing any birds (you birders know what I'm talking about). The slight breeze kept us cool under the scorching Arizona sun. I made sure to lather my Vermilion Flycatcher tattoo in sunscreen to prevent it from burning, which would in turn cause it to fade. We slowly started noticing more and more species: a Verdin, a Gambel's Quail, and heard-only Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Though all wonderful species, we had already seen these species earlier in the day, so we didn't want to spend too much time looking at these birds, and missing out on a thrasher.

More and more walking led us further into the field. Finally, the walking paid off when we were rewarded with a calling thrasher. We scanned the area, and Kyle spotted the bird, put the scope on it, and granted me a view of my lifer Sage Thrasher, a long overdue species for me!

Sage Thrasher

Resembling more a mockingbird, the Sage Thrasher is adapted to expansive sage fields where it scours for invertebrates to eat. This field did have many sage plants, which made this spot ideal for this species.

I then started scanning the field with my own scope, in hopes of lucking upon another thrasher species. I was then rewarded with another lifer! Not a thrasher, but a Horned Lark! Now, I know what a lot of you birders are thinking: "How is Horned Lark a lifer for Cédric! That's outrageous, I see huge flocks of them in fields all the time!" Well if that is the case, you're most likely inland where flocks of these are common, but I can't say I've birded inland counties as much as the coastal counties, where they aren't as regular, bordering on rare.

Horned Lark

I scanned some more and I then noticed a thrasher-like bird perched atop a bush. It was very distant (I had zoom on the 60x power, the most my zoom will go). The wind shaking both my scope and the bush it was perched on only made identification that much more difficult. But then, both the scope and bush ceased swaying, and I discovered I had been looking at a Le Conte's Thrasher this whole time! I immediately got Kyle on it, and we both appreciated the mutual lifer. Unfortunately, due to the microscopic aperture and the less-than-great lighting, I couldn't obtain a shot of the lifer.

It then flew off, and we continued birding. A Curve-billed Thrasher, a species neither of us had seen since Camp Chiricahua, called and hopped along the path in front of us. It was nice seeing this bird again, especially since it had been two years since our last view of it. After this bird, the birding started slowing down a bit. They all seemed to have stopped calling, which made it quite troublesome for us to locate any. However, as we were about to leave, we halted when we heard another thrasher calling. It sounded different, unlike any thrasher we had heard earlier in the day. We turned around, and saw a thrasher species perched atop a tall mesquite bush. We got our scopes on it, and thoroughly studied the bird. After a good twenty minutes of scrutinizing it, we were able to conclude that this bird was our lifer Bendire's Thrasher!

Bendire's Thrasher

Although superficially similar to a Curve-billed Thrasher, this bird shows more spots on the breast, a relatively bigger head and its bill is not as decurved as would a Curve-billed. This is a species we both missed at Camp Chiricahua, so we were psyched to have found this bird. What made this bird that much more special, is that we were about to leave, and we very well could have left without seeing this lifer.

"The Thrasher Spot" certainly did not disappoint, as we left with 4 out of the 5 different species: Curve-billed, Sage, Le Conte's and Bendire's. Add a lifer Horned Lark, and this spot was certainly the highlight of our first day of Spring Break.

March 16th, 2014: Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor's Center, Mojave National Preserve

When people think of Spring Break, images of Cabo San Lucas and throngs of inebriated college students acting like buffoons come to mind. As much as I like partying, I had no interest in participating in such activities on my week off. So I decided to take advantage of this break to get as much birding as possible done, and so along with my friend Kyle Kittelberger (whom I had met in Camp Chiricahua two years ago), I spent the week birding Southern California and Arizona, a trip I had wanted to do for a while. We had a whole itinerary planned out, but we ended up doing a lot of free-styling and deciding what we wanted to do on the spot. Kyle landed at SFO at 11:00 AM, and we left for Mojave National Preserve right away.

We ended up driving a total of 9 hours (normally it would have only been a 7 hour drive, but being the budding birders we were, we had to stop and bird around along our drive). We parked near the Hole-in-the-Wall visitor's center in the preserve, along the side of the road so that we could actually bird the visitor's center in the morning.

For those of you who don't know this, the desert may be hot during the day, but at night the temperature drops to near freezing, and despite the numerous layers we had, we just couldn't fight the cold. Add our discomfort due to the uncomfortable seats, and you get yourself a god-awful night. We hardly got any sleep, so this allowed us to get up at 6:00 AM, nice and early, giving us plenty of time to bird the area.

We awoke to the buzzy songs of Black-throated Sparrows and the wurring calls of Cactus Wrens, sounds I hadn't heard in a longtime. It wasn't quite light yet, so we weren't quite able start visibly noticing the other birds. We were mostly hearing Lesser Goldfinches flying over and we heard our first Phainopepla of the trip, making its 'wo' call.

Finally, first light broke, and we could actually start seeing birds! The first birds we noticed were a sizable flock of Black-throated Sparrows, with 4-5 individuals. Black-throated Sparrows are by far my favorite species of sparrow, from their namesake black bib, to their white supercilium and malar, and their white arc below. They are indeed pert little birds!

Black-throated Sparrow

This species is mainly an inhabitant of sage and brushy desert habitat throughout the western side of the Rocky Mountains, where it thrives in numbers. My first experience with this species was 3 years ago in Death Valley National Park, where I found a single bird up on Dante's Peak, a high promontory looking onto the valley itself. After that first experience with it, I was in love with this species.

Other birds in the area were the ever-present Common Ravens, a species I have seen in numerous habitats, ranging from mountains, to deserts, cities and woodlands alike. A Gambel's Quail quickly flew onto the top of the ridge, a few Western Scrub-Jays screeched at each other and a single Cactus Wren persistently called from the top of a nearby boulder, making sure Kyle and I were aware of its presence.

Cactus Wren

My lifer Prairie Falcon quickly flew over, while a Greater Roadrunner sang its dreary and mournful song: a descending 'Coo, coo, coo'. We eventually ended up seeing the roadrunner, which offered great views of its long iridescent tail. As we walked around the visitor's center area, we heard another Phainopepla, and we were subsequently able to locate this female calling from inside this acacia bush, which offered remarkable views.

Female Phainopepla

Finally, it was time to begin playing calls of our primary target species for this location: Crissal Thrasher. This species lives in the thick chaparral in the southeastern United States. So when we found a nice patch of thicker shrubbery, we found it apt to play a call to coax one out. Not two minutes later, were heard one respond. Given how much of a target this was for me, I scanned and perused the landscape as thoroughly as I could, and then I suddenly noticed a brown figure swoop into a nearby bush. We waited with anticipation, hoping this was our bird, and well, I'll let this next photo explain what the bird was.

Crissal Thrasher

At first, we identified this bird as a Le Conte's Thrasher, due to our quick views of the bird and, quite frankly our naiveté, which was exciting for both of us because it would have been a lifer for both Kyle and I. Unfortunately, Kyle had already seen Crissal Thrasher before, so this bird wasn't a lifer for both of us. But Kyle was still happy to have seen it, as it was only the second one he had seen before.

After sighting this thrasher, the only other highlight of this location was a very cooperative Rock Wren, that hopped around the picnic site, almost oblivious to our presence, which proved quite fruitful when looking back at our photographs of the bird.

Rock Wren

This concluded our birding at this location. With two lifers under my belt, I'd say this trip was already off to a great start!

March 8th, 2014: North Spit Jetty.....By Bike!

Up here in Humboldt County, I lack something that would greatly aid my birding. It has four wheels and goes "vroom-vroom". For those of you who are onomatopoeically ignorant, I'm lacking a car. Back home in Pacifica, my parents were very lenient with their lending me the car, which I will forever be grateful for, especially now experiencing life without a vehicle, so getting around San Mateo County, or doing the San Francisco Christmas Bird Count in the Presidio, or chasing a Rusty Blackbird in Marin County, wasn't an issue at all! However, now chasing a Black Vulture in Ferndale, or attempting to find a Ruffed Grouse along Maple Creek Rd., or even chasing a Burrowing Owl at Clam Beach, becomes extremely problematic. Luckily, I have my trusty bike that dates back to the 80s! Despite the myriad problems and accidents I've had this past semester (not even counting all the ones from last semester), this bike has taken me all across the Arcata Bottoms, to the Arcata marsh innumerable times, and has gotten me my lifer Little Bunting. Needless to say, I depend on this bike like a child depends on its mother's milk. However, I started getting a little tired of always visiting the same spots in Arcata. I felt like switching it up today. So rather than hitting Shay Park, or biking through the Arcata Community Forest, I decided to bike 13.5 miles to the North Spit Jetty. This jetty boasts the best sea watching in the county, and is also the most reliable spot to get Rock Sandpiper in the state. Having been there before, and having experienced its undeniable awesomeness, I thought I should muster up the courage to bike all the way out there. So, I put my alarm for 6:45 AM, and left my dorm around 7:15 AM.

It wasn't as cold as I had presumed it would be, which was a pleasant surprise. I biked along Samoa Blvd. for approximately an hour (fortunately there's only one road to get all the way to the jetty, so my chances of getting lost were pretty low. Although given my track record, I was nonetheless careful). At around 8:15 AM, I finally arrived at the jetty. I was sweaty, tired, enthused, and downright ready to bird the hell out of the jetty. After all, that's why I put myself through all this trouble. Sadly, I didn't actually start birding until 9:00 AM, because I made the bad mistake of saying "G'Morning!" to an overly enthusiastic and affable photographer, who had me ID a bird in one of his photos. This led to him explaining to me that he pioneered waves in Mendocino County, whatever that meant. Finally, once I was freed from his zealous clutches, I began birding. As I was walking down the jetty, a noticed a single Brant flyover. Humboldt Bay is one the largest wintering grounds for Brant in the state, notably southern Humboldt Bay, due to its extensive Eel Grass fields, the primary food source for these pelagic geese. I then started noticing some rock pipers working the mussel-adorned rocks right by the jetty. These birds consisted in the usual suspects: Black Turnstones and Surfbirds. However, I was able to pick out 2 individual Rock Sandpipers! One of the species I was after! Although not a lifer, it was year tick for me, and it is always a spectacular bird to see, especially since I don't seem them all that regularly.

Rock Sandpiper

A wave suddenly surged from behind them and spooked them further down the jetty. I continued on down, birding as I walked. There was a Common Loon on the south side of the jetty, and I could hear the high-pitched calls of Western Grebes coming from the northern side of the jetty. I then noticed something grayish on one of the dolos. Further inspection proved this something to be a Wandering Tattler, another year tick for me! I had ran into another birder on my way down the jetty (the very sweet Alexandra Lamb), and she had told me about this bird. I was happy to have refound it sitting lazily atop the concrete dolo. It then got up and started walking around, offering nice views of its banana-yellow legs.

Wandering Tattler

By the tattler was another fun bird to see. Not a lifer, nor a county bird, not even a year tick, this bird is just plainly a beautiful species that I will always appreciate seeing: the Pelagic Cormorant. Humboldt County's smallest and most slender species of cormorant, it is also my favorite species of cormorant. From the striking red face, to the shimmering, iridescent sheen to its feathers, to the white ankles puffs they develop during the breeding season, these birds take the gold when it comes to cormorant beauty. I noticed upwards of 15 individuals during my entire time at the jetty, two of which were egregiously obliging, perching side-by-side at the perfect distance for digiscoping.

Pelagic Cormorants
(adult on top, juvenile below)

As I turned around from admiring the cormorants, I was granted a gorgeous male Red-breasted Merganser flyover. Flashes of white, mixed in with some green and noticeable orange-red on its breast, this species and this sex is always a treat to see. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to snap a shot of it, due to my lack of a DSLR camera.

I finally reached the tip of the jetty, and began scoping the sea. Scores of Surf Scoters paddled nonchalantly along the water's surface, as Red-throated Loons either associated with them or flew over them, totally dismissing their presence. There was a surprising lack of activity out at sea, which was sort of a downer. As a matter of fact, the only real exciting finds out at sea were a pod of 3-4 Harbor Porpoises swimming around and a deceased Cackling Goose floating on the water's surface, presumably shot in the wing by a hunter, rendering it useless and the bird defenseless on the water's surface.

Dead Cackling Goose

I didn't notice anything new or different on my way back to my bike, aside from a few Herring and California Gulls. All in all, this was a good morning! I got to see some great birds, I got to push myself and bike for a little over an hour nonstop, and got to get away from campus, something I hadn't done for a while due to my busy schedule lately. I'm also glad I was able to make it out because I was able to blog about this excursion, something I'm trying to get back into.

February 23rd, 2014: Birding Humboldt County with a Friend from Back Home

Goodness, goodness! Has it seriously been 2 and a half months since my last post! Man, I've been slacking. Any who, let me make up for that by making this post a good one. On this fine Sunday, my mentor and birding companion from back home (the young birding phenom, Logan Kahle) was making his way up to Humboldt County for the day. Now you guys are certainly asking yourselves: "Why is this 16 year old driving all the way up to Humboldt County from San Francisco for just one day?" Seems ridiculous and borderline deranged. Well one thing you need to understand is that he is doing what is called a "Big Year", throughout the entire state of California. I assume some of you readers have heard of this birding event, whether from just plain birding knowledge, or from the recently released movie "The Big Year", starring comedic legends Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. But for those of you who aren't aware of what this is, a Big Year is when a birder spends an entire calendar year traveling all around a given area (a county, a state, or even country!) to spot the most species of birds as possible. Having been an intensive California birder for the past 8 years, Logan decided it was fine time for him to truly test his knowledge on bird identification and localization by dedicating 2014 to staying within California and to traveling to all corners of the Golden State in search for all the species he could potentially see. He's already at remarkable 240 or so species, which is decent given he's only 2 months in!

So anyways, this still doesn't answer as to what Logan was doing leaving SF at 3:00 AM to get up to Humboldt County. Lately, Humboldt County has been graced with many remarkable vagrants, notably a few that came in the form of raptors. A Gyrfalcon, the world's largest species of falcon, which is regularly found around the Arctic Circle, was sighted near Ferndale, a Long-eared Owl (not a California rarity, but a rare bird for Humboldt County, especially for this time of year) was sighted on the V St. Loop, and last, but most certainly not least, a Black Vulture was sighted in the Ferndale Bottoms, which wound up being only Humboldt's third ever record of one, and the first one in over a decade! With all these tantalizing year ticks, Logan couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a day trip up to our fine redwood-clad, northwestern county. Given the direness of the situation, he first stopped at the Gyrfalcon location before picking me up, because he tried for it the past month to no avail, which rendered him quite irritable and nearly irate as I remembered. Fortunately for him, luck was on his side, and the Peregrine Falcon he was observing in his scope was shortly after disturbed by the large, white falcon he sought after. After a successful hunt, he called me letting me know he was going to pick me up so we could spend the day together. Although, before chasing any of the wayward raptors, he wanted to go on a grouse hunt. The species he was after, Ruffed Grouse, is only found in three California counties (Del Norte, Trinity, and of course Humboldt). Given that he was already up here, he wanted me to bring him to a spot I was told about that where RUGRs were supposedly a given (and I had gone down this road a week before where I found my lifer with Rob Fowler, local birding expert, so I knew this place was promising). Unfortunately, we were unable to stir up this game bird, so Logan dipped on this potential lifer.
Our next stop was to chase the Long-eared Owl on the V St. Loop that had been roosting in and frequenting the Sitka Spruces near the Mad River Slough. It had been very reliable, and many people had been able to get inspiring looks and photos of it. This species would have been a lifer for me, so I really wanted this bird to make an appearance. We decided to split up to cover more ground (we were on a tight schedule after all), and if either of us got it, we'd whistle to not frighten the Strigiforme. Sure enough, shortly after splitting up, I hear Logan call my name (the whistling tactic must have just gone right over his head). I come over, and there was the bird, perched and slightly obscured by the branches, but nonetheless stunning. The bird sat there, apparently oblivious to our presence, or so we thought, as it flew off after a few minutes of having it in the scope and snapping a few shots of it. We felt bad about flushing it, because it adds unnecessary stress to the bird's life, and there are too many tales of obsessive photographers flushing these beautiful owls into the clutches of the larger and more predatory Red-tailed Hawks. Fortunately, this one didn't get snagged by a hawk, and so we decided to make a move out of the premises before we caused it anymore stress.

Long-eared Owl

Success! Logan had gotten another year tick, and I had gotten a lifer! We felt like kings, and decided to push our luck and chase a few more birds. A Loggerhead Shrike had been hanging around Quinn Rd. in the Loleta Bottoms since late October, and I had never made it out to see it, and seeing how it's a difficult species to find in the county, we decided to give it a go. And sure enough, after 10 minutes of scanning the tops of blackberry brambles, Logan spots the "butcherbird" atop a bush. Another county tick for myself!

Now came the moment of truth, to find the Black Vulture. Typically found in the southern and eastern states, this bird is lost! So it was essential for Logan to see this bird, for it would make quite an addition to his year list, and not to mention the sheer thrill of seeing such a species so far from its regular range. We arrived at the location in the Ferndale Bottoms, and we began scanning the skies above, searching for Turkey Vulture kettles where it could potentially be associating itself with. As we scanned, I spotted a distant Bald Eagle, a Peregrine Falcon and Logan nailed a gorgeous Ferruginous Hawk fly right above us! But no vulture (of the Black sorts that is, Turkey Vultures galore at this location). We had dedicated a good hour and a half of scanning before we began getting bored of the seeing the same fields and birds around us. I then remembered that a Sandhill Crane had been hanging around one of the fields in the Ferndale Bottoms, and was sighted just the day before. So we decided to go for that bird, which would also have been a good county tick for myself (Logan already had that for the year). As we drove down the road, I immediately spotted it foraging surprisingly close to the road. We got out of the car and snapped a few shots of this crane. This was certainly my closest encounter with this species. My past experiences were either of distant birds congregated in the center of a large field, or of scores of them flying and bugling above me. This bird was a mere 20 feet away, and was quite obliging. As a matter of fact, the bird was so close, I had trouble getting the entire bird in the frame!

Sandhill Crane

Having found this bird, we figured our luck was still with us, so we returned to the vulture location for Round 2 of the Black Vulture search. We spent another 45 minutes at this location, but the bird never made an appearance, crushing Logan's morale. The bird actually hasn't been recorded since we were there and when I wrote this post, so maybe it finally realized how lost it was and decided to head back home.

In spite of this dip, Logan and I had a great time chasing some good birds, and spending time together and catching up, since we hadn't seen each other since winter break. He got himself a few county ticks, year ticks and even one lifer! (Gyrfalcon). So all in all, his trip was fruitful. And if that weren't enough, he got to bird with a friend from home, away from home, which is always great! Logan still has 10 months of rarity-chasing and California-traveling to go, and he's already off to a good start. I don't think this will be the last time I see in Humboldt County this year, so I will see you soon good friend. Good luck and good birding!

December 13th & 16th, 2013: Little Bunting and Ferruginous Hawk

Having birded northern California rather thoroughly, it's exciting when I get some lifers up here, because they've become so much harder to come by. So when my buddy Logan Kahle texted me that a Little Bunting had been sighted in McKinleyville, 25 minutes away from Humboldt State University, I knew what my next lifer would be. The only problem was that I had class until 3 o'clock that day, so I had to impatiently wait until then to chase the mega-rarity.

As much as it killed me, I finally finished all my classes, and with another birder friend of mine (another student at HSU named Stephen Montaro), we were off to chase the bird. I've learned that when chasing a bird, one should never expect to see it. As pessimistic as this sounds, too many times have I overconfidently chased a bird, and wound up incredibly disappointed when I didn't see it. If you chase the bird with low expectations, and you miss the bird, you're not disappointed because you anticipated that. However, if you go in with low expectations and you do end up seeing it, the excitement of finding the bird increases tenfold!

So we biked all the way to the Hammond Bridge, the bridge that crosses the Mad River, which was where the bird was seen. The second we crossed the bridge, we saw a horde of people with binoculars and spotting scopes. Call it a hunch, but we figured they were birders. So we joined them, and I even saw a friend from back home, Michael Park, who was just in Humboldt County and only heard of the Little Bunting once he was in Santa Rose (4 hours south), and decided to drive back. We asked if they saw it and one man pointed to his scope, and so I looked through to find myself looking dead-on at, by far, the greatest vagrant I had ever seen. This was the Lower 48's fifth record, California's fourth record, and Humboldt County's very first record. It was an exceptional find made by Keith Slauson, a local birder/biologist that lives just up the road from where he found the bird.

Once I was able to pinpoint exactly where the bird was on the field in front of us, I put my own scope on it and just marveled at the pert sparrow. Little Bunting belongs to the family Emberizidae, along with our local White-crowned Sparrows, for example. In their native range, they breed all throughout Siberia and northern Eurasia, with some breeding populations in Sweden and Norway. They spend their winter in more tropical climes such as southern China or northern India. Reminiscent of our local Savannah Sparrows, this species is identified by its prominent rusty-brown cheek, its white malar stripe, its vague supercilium (more noticeable in breeding plumage), its black stripe reaching behind its eye, its eye-ring, and its white outer tail feathers.

Humboldt County's first-ever
Little Bunting

The tiny little bird caused quite the ruckus. I know people from the Bay Area and from the Sacramento Area that drove up to see this bird. I also met people that flew from Washington state, Florida and even Massachusetts to see this bird!

I saw this bird on the Friday before finals week, so I didn't get to bird a whole ton that weekend. However, all my finals were on Monday, so I got them all done with early in the week. To celebrate, I decided to scour the Arcata Bottoms for any possible vagrants. Unfortunately for me, the birding was pretty slow, and I didn't come across anything major. However, as I was heading back to the dorms, I noticed this large raptor perched atop a telephone pole. I put my binoculars up and saw this was a Ferruginous Hawk! This regal species was long overdue for me, so when I saw this white and orange raptor, I was elated!

Ferruginous Hawk

This large raptor is a winter visitor to Humboldt County and is partial to open fields where it can perch atop poles, which serve as perfect vantage points to scope out small mammals to feed on. It earns its name Ferruginous Hawk by its rusty-orangish back, which was absolutely stunning to look at it in the light given by the sunset. It eventually flew off after 20 minutes of looking at it, and I kept on staring at it in awe. It was just a splendid species to see.

The Little Bunting and the Ferruginous Hawk were certainly the highlights of this past week's brief birding. One was a vagrant that attracted a wave of birders from around the country, and the other was a personal victory that I was happy to have seen. Now I can officially say that I am on winter break, and that I will bird the heck out of it!