January birding coming to an end

It was a beautiful day in southeastern Michigan; sunny with some clouds scattered around. It was cold, but the bright sun tempered the cold air to make a very enjoyable winter day. I had some errands to do, but I also wanted to take advantage of the great weather to fit in some birding. After wasting some time in the morning, I finally got out of the house at around 11:00 am. Destination: Vreeland Road in eastern Washtenaw county to look for previously reported Lapland Longspurs.

I found some Horned Larks, but I was stymied on the longspurs. I continued slowly on westbound Vreeland Road, not seeing much, and approached Harris Road. Ahead, over a large field at Vreeland and Harris I saw a raptor soaring and was surprised to see that it was a Rough-legged Hawk, my first of the year. I used to bird this road a lot but not much at all recently. I always thought that the fields along Vreeland were suitable for roughies but had never seen one. Nor do I recall others reporting roughies along this popular birding road.

Click on any photo to enlarge image.

My first photo op came as I approached Prospect Road.

I took many photos of this Red-bellied Woodpecker and somehow decided that this was the best. At the corner of Vreeland and Prospect roads (a very busy road with fast moving traffic) I did not see any oncoming cars. I turned left on to Prospect and immediately saw a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a branch that hung very near the roadside. Photo op. As I sped up, planning to pull to the side, I looked in my rearview mirror to see a line of traffic on my tail. Too much traffic for the hawk so near the road; it took off.

Next destination: Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping. Nichols Arboretum is an easy drive from Trader Joe's and I have not been there in the winter time in years and some good birds had been reported in the Arb recently.

Two courting Red-tailed Hawks were soaring and frolicking (sorry, but this is the best word I can think of to describe their behavior - I know the guys are cringing) over Dow Prairie. The trail around Dow Prairie did not seem all that birdy and the trails were snow and ice covered so my visit was short.

Both of the Red-tails were light with faint belly bands. I took photos of both but could never get them both in the same frame. I think these two photos are probably of the same bird.

The Arb is always full of walkers, runners and dog-walkers and so this Fox squirrel allowed me to approach quite closely. It must have had some personal boundary, because ... it let me know when I got too close.

Every so often I whistled my miserable screech owl tremelo to see if anything would pop out of the bushes and trees. I startled Blue Jays and Robins, but nothing more. I came to an area where titmice and chickadees were calling and whistled my screech again. The titmice were not interested, but the chickadees came in close. I've never taken a decent photo of a Black-capped Chickadee. Every prior attempt has always resulted in an instant delete.

Today was my lucky day. I deleted many but had other good photos as well. I selected the above two from the best of four.

From the Arb I returned to Vreeland Road to look for the Rough-legged Hawk. Not seeing it near Vreeland and Harris, I continued east on Vreeland. Just west of the large farm, I saw a Cooper's Hawk perched in a tree over a brushy area.

Not a great photo, not even a good photo, but this Coop did not stick around to allow me a chance for a closer shot.

Finally, another poor photo, but here's the Rough-legged Hawk perched at the top of a tree on the north side of Vreeland. I tried to get closer for the chance of a better shot, but it was not to be. The best I could do was to get the bird flying away to land at the top of a very distant tree.

Tomorrow, the last day of January 2010, is supposed to be partly sunny and a little warmer. In Michigan, cardinals usually begin singing in February.

Just noticed that there is a full moon tonight. I learned from Harold and Artemis Eyster that this moon is the brightest of the year and is called the Wolf Moon.

Camera batteries ... dead

First, I should just start with the disappointment of the day. Get it over with. Put it behind me. Move on. Since I'm a little late in posting this, the disappointment occurred on Sunday, the 17th, at Crosswinds Marsh.

Just as I was entering the boardwalk area from the Woodpecker Trail, an adult Bald Eagle flew in and landed on the tall dead tree just to the right of the boardwalk. I couldn't believe it. What a photo op for me and my challenged little camera. The eagle perched comfortably on the treetop and appeared to have no concern about my presence. I turned on my camera watching the bird more than paying attention to my camera. Hey, what's the matter here? My non-functioning camera forces me to pay attention - DEAD BATTERIES!

I couldn't believe it, but I don't know why ... it has happened to me before with other excellent photo ops. Honestly, you would think I'd learn. I continued walking along the boardwalk and soon my back was to the eagle. I turned around once briefly. The eagle was still there surveying its surroundings.

So what did I expend my camera batteries on?

As with many winter days in southeastern Michigan, yesterday was deep gray and overcast. But, it was not too cold. I picked up my brother's family dog and headed for Crosswinds Marsh, hoping that it would not be too muddy. It wasn't too muddy and, in fact, it turned out to be a beautiful day for a walk. Anything to be out of the house in winter, no matter how gray the sky.

This is the best shot of several of this Song Sparrow amongst some scrubby branches.

I clicked a few of this White-breasted Nuthatch.

But, the biggest battery waste came when I tried to photograph several Tree Sparrows feeding along the snowy/dirt track trail. I took several photos of snow and dirt - that contained no birds at all. The white against the dark made it essentially impossible to find the birds in the viewfinder.

I use rechargeable batteries and these are more finicky than the lithium batteries that the pros use in their big, power cameras. I could use lithium but I don't like the idea of throwing so many batteries away. This set of rechargeable batteries are new so I was overconfident that they would be fine for a two hour walk in cold weather and I did not take along a spare set, which I usually do. But, I had not recharged them before going out. Obvious mistake. Also, I'm wondering if cold weather has an impact on lessening the life of rechargeable batteries?

It will probably be awhile before I am offered such a photo opportunity by a Bald Eagle again. I live in a world of live and learn - always the hard way.

New decade of birding begins

The Detroit River CBC was the last in the 2009 CBC season for me (thank goodness!), but the first birding of the New Year and of a new decade. It was cold, gray, windy ... about as always for our Detroit River CBC held each January 1st. This year there was only a very light snow covering.

The low, gray sky of Detroit; this was our weather for birding yesterday, and fairly typical for January 1st. This is flagpole hill in Ford Field, one of Dearborn's larger parks. Just looking at this photograph makes me shiver. (Click on any photo to enlarge the image.)

The Rouge River courses through Ford Field park and in some weedy branches hanging over the river I photographed this smart, little juvenile Song Sparrow. This bird and a companion Song Sparrow seem to have chosen to brave out the winter here. I found four Song Sparrows for the day; the others also along two other areas of the river. I counted zero of the more typical winter sparrow here - American Tree Sparrow - even though I spent time in good winter habitat for them.

As always, plenty of our ubiquitous Fox Squirrels were around. I also saw one raccoon while owling early in the morning and two white-tailed deer in woods near the Henry Ford Estate.

By the end of the day I was chilled to the bone and this didn't improve at the tally held at the University of Michigan Environmental Interpretative Center. The heat had been turned off for the holidays! A good thing for global warming concerns, but a bad thing for a cold birder at the end of a long day of cold weather birding.

Christmas bird counts: yesterday the Rockwood CBC

Yesterday I finished three of the four annual Christmas bird counts I participate in. I always do the early wake-up for owling - for me, only Eastern Screech and Great Horned are located. I have never been able to contribute the more uncommon species like Saw-whet, Long-eared or Short-eared - despite looking each year and each count. I counted my annual territory of the Rockwood CBC yesterday. However, it was the first morning when I remained in bed and guiltily skipped the owling.

All of the counts I participate in are driving counts - trolling for birds, large and small, while driving slowly along a [usually] rural road. While I understand the need for driving while birding - it's not my favorite way to find birds. At least when I am walking, I'm also getting some exercise, even when there are no birds to count.

The Rockwood count is my favorite of all of the counts I do. Despite being driver, sighter and recorder - the habitat I cover seems to offer the greatest number of possibilities. There are areas to get out of the car and do some brief walking. The rest is as I describe above. The good thing is that most of the roads are lightly travelled and it is easy to pull over to allow the scant traffic to pass. Needless to say, it is easy to miss birds when counting this way.

Yesterday, was probably the quietest Rockwood CBC I have ever participated in. I found only 32 species overall and it took me until after 12 noon to find my one and only Red-tailed Hawk. This is the lowest species count, by far, that I have ever had for this count.

(Click on each photo for a larger image.)

Bald Eagle is a bird I have only seen on one other occasion for the Rockwood count, even though other areas within the count circle often have many. I watched this adult Bald Eagle fly into an area with a frozen farm pond and land in a tree directly opposite my car.

It is not visible in the first photo, but when the bird is looking to the left it seems to have a large smudge dirtying its beautiful white feathers. Alternatively, this may be the wind blowing the feathers aside to reveal downy underfeathers or, more likely, just creating a shadow effect. There was certainly a moderate wind blowing yesterday.

Contrast finding only one Red-tailed Hawk, a common winter raptor in Michigan, with finding eleven American Kestrels. I believe that eleven is the highest number of kestrel that I have ever seen for this count. Michigan winters are quite severe and most kestrels will migrate south. In wintertime south Texas, for example, there is a kestrel perched on a utility wire every few hundred feet along almost any road. It appears that this winter, many have decided to stick it out and brave the elements until spring.

Here is another photo of the same bird with its head turned slightly more. This was the only kestrel that remained close enouth to allow a photo with my distance challenged camera. It's hard for me to commit to naming a favorite bird, but American Kestrel is certainly one of my favorites - completely charming and beautiful.

Of the three Christmas counts I have completed thus far, the above birds are the only ones I have been able to photograph. One more to go, the Detroit River Count on New Year's Day, and that will complete the 2009 CBC season for me.

Can you spell Phain ... o ... pep ... la?

Saturday in the Niagara Falls area was windy and so also very cold. It's not that the temperature was that cold, just that the wind was blowing all day long. We saw all the birds that we typically see, but in dramatically reduced numbers.

The wind whipped off the Niagara River

This pleasant suburban house had a front lawn of congregating Wild Turkeys - at least 20 birds. Good thing Thanksgiving in Canada is not celebrated on November 28th!

We traveled the Ontario side of the Niagara region throughout the day. We saw California Gull so distant that it was actually on the New York side of the Niagara River. How did I know it was a California Gull? I took everyone else's word for the identification of this bird scoped from the Ontario side of the river.

We saw a Nelson's Gull (Glaucous x Herring hybrid - my first - I'm terrible at hybrids) at the Sir Adam Beck power plant. I came across Kirk Zufelt's blog Larusology. Scroll down to his 11/22/09 post where he discusses Nelson's Gull in detail and has some great photos to support his discussion. Other good birds at Sir Adam Beck were Thayer's and Iceland gulls. If one can have a favorite gull, I think mine is Iceland.

We finished out the day with a Northern Mockingbird seen from the parking lot of ... wait for it ... Tim Horton's. For us Michiganders, the Mockingbird is pretty special. I, for one, would be thrilled if one set up residence in my backyard. In this area of Ontario, with all of its orchards and vineyards, the Mockingbird is a pretty common bird. We returned to the hotel chilled to the bone.

Not a great photo of the Northern Mockingbird

Sunday morning arrived still and quiet. When we left the hotel for our breakfast at the Flying Saucer Restaurant (where we had all of our meals - fun place with a large diner menu) not a leaf stirred on a tree. This made for great Sunday birding conditions that did not disappoint us throughout a great day of birding.

Sir Adam Beck and Niagara-on-the-Lake did not have much new for us to find. We moved on to Lake Ontario. It's hard to describe Lake Ontario this time of year - waterfowl as far as the eye can see might be a start.

This tiny, cropped photo is like looking at the blades of grass on an inch of football field. Only on Lake Ontario the blades of grass are individual waterfowl as far as the eye can see.

Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Redhead, all three scoters, Red-breasted Merg, scaup and others were seen well by everyone. And, I'm probably omitting other species.

Female Long-tailed Duck ...

... and her dashing male counterpart.

This White-winged Scoter (white wing patch well seen when the bird is flying) came very close as it dove for, we think, zebra mussels.

Going ...

... going

... gone.

(You can click on all of the photos for a larger image.)

We reluctantly left Lake Ontario and all of the close waterfowl on a lake smooth as glass. We had other birds to see.

First we stopped at the traditional Sunday lunch stop.

Hutch's Fish and Chips - a historic and famous greasy spoon on Lake Ontario. There's a Ring-billed Gull roosting on the chef's hat.

As much as I like the Flying Saucer, this is my favorite meal stop on the trip. I love old-timey places and this is such a place - essentially unchanged from the 1950's. It has old-fashioned booths and a black and white tiled floor. Old newpaper articles of decades ago local sports achievements are framed and hang - often crooked - on the walls of the restaurant. Each booth has a juke box with songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Large windows face the beach and lake. Instead of ketchup for fries, each table has bottles of vinegar. And, even in the off season, it has a good crowd of leisurely diners. Perfect!

Next stop - the rural Niagara escarpment for a crowd-pleasing majestic (queenly?) bird.

This beautiful, nearly all white - so perhaps adult female bird - posed for us all from an antenna on a house as we rushed around taking photos and talking with the homeowner who did not know he had a Snowy Owl on top of his house. He took photos with his cell phone - definitely not a birder, even he knew his visitor was special.

We stayed with the Snowy Owl as long as we could - no one really wanted to leave - but, we had another special bird to find.

Flashback to my southeast Arizona trip in April, 2007 with my Maryland birding friends Steve and Mark. Early on I took on the job of recording each day's bird sightings - as it turned out a fairly important job because the trip was so birdy. On our first full day of birding, we were in a weedy field adjacent to a rest stop trying to chase down (successfully) a Cassin's Vireo when a dark bird flashing white wing patches flew out of the scrub. Hey! What was that? When I was doing my research for the Arizona trip, focusing on western flycatchers, vireos, warblers, sparrows, orioles, etc., it was easy for me to overlook our one silky-flycatcher. As it turned out we saw a few at various locations throughout the trip. Each time I wrote out the list I asked, "how do you spell that bird's name again?" After awhile I settled on an abbreviation.

This first year male Phainopepla has been in a modest, suburban neighborhood of Brampton, Ontario for approximately two weeks where he has become quite a celebrity.

Apparently, he has been given two names - Mr. P by birders who have come to see him, and Jerry by the neighborhood residents. Everyone knows of him and if you come looking for him at the wrong house, you will be given the most recent advice about his current whereabouts. He kept us waiting for a brief time, but we finally saw him at 12 Aberdeen Crescent. When he did reappear, he stayed for a good long time and for numerous photos. We also heard his charming and clearly whistled wurp call.

You can just see the Phainopepla hiding in the red leaves ready to pluck a berry.

While photographing the Phainopepla I saw a leaf (top center of the above photo) on the ground. I thought it was extremely attractive and odd and I began to look for more. Some of the red leaves had the golden markings, but others did not. I have no idea what causes this, but it is different, unexpected and attractive.

Again, flashing back to my southeast Arizona trip, another bird name I never learned to spell properly during my list keeping was Pyrrhuloxia. I still cannot spell this, but at least I've learned to spell Phainopepla.

From the Phainopepla it was a mad dash home - most of it made in messy rain which I think makes the most difficult driving conditions. Karl and Alan are impressive power drivers. I've done my share of long-distance driving so know how difficult it is. I'm grateful for their willingness to offer and lead this great trip.

As I wrote about my weekend trip to the eastern shore of Maryland in the beginning of November, Ontario Niagara Falls is a great place to visit in the off season and I would recommend it to anyone - birder or not.

2-15-2010 addendum to the Phainopepla story -

Approximately two weeks after we saw this bird, the weather became bitterly cold - I think the coldest temps thus far of this 2009-2010 winter season. It also snowed. Dian Bogie, the Ontario birder who had been providing daily Ontbird updates about the bird, sent a message that she had not seen the bird and feared that he has succumbed to the weather. I almost wrote my addendum to this blog entry then, but kept forgetting to do so.

On 2-14-10, Ms. Bogie sent a completely unexpected post to Ontbirds titled simple, "Mr. P." Apparently, the bird had been relocated following the bitterly cold weather and was watched all the way through 02-08-2010. It was not seen daily and was sometimes absent for several days in a row. It seems that on 02-09-2010, Ms. Bogie and her husband actually saw the bird fall into the snow from a low perch in its favorite mulitflora rose bush. They picked the bird up and took it to a songbird rehabilitation organization called SOAR, where the bird is thriving.

Whatever one may think of bird rehabilitation centers - their mission can be controversial - I was rather happy to hear this story and know that the bird is still alive and well.

2-17-2010 addendum to the Phainopepla story -

Dian Bogie has just posted to Ontbirds that Mr. P. has expired. After so much hope just two days earlier, alas this is a sad event.