Friday, July 25, 2014

Back to Routine

"Routine" in late July means that I am at the shore and looking for the shorebirds to return from their nesting grounds in the arctic. It is always a delight to see the first of them trickle into our beach in the Villas. So it was this past weekend.  Harvey arranged for a few of us to go to Forsythe (Brig) together for some early shorebirds - or as he put it "the shorebird shuffle". I met Harvey at his house at 5 AM and we headed north on the Garden State Parkway to meet the others at 6 AM. Mary, Marc and Eric were waiting for us in the parking lot despite the fact that a mega rare bird was being seen in north Jersey at the same time. They were there despite the miserable weather - raining sideways. They were there because they know, just like Harvey knows, that something good could be at Brig in late July.  

I won't hold you in suspense. There was nothing "good" at Brig when we were there. The only good thing was the company. Mary and Harvey are self proclaimed shorebird nuts and they sure proved it by pointing out subtle and obvious field marks on the common shorebirds that we did manage to see.  We spent much less time at Brig than we normally do. Harvey and I dropped the others back at the parking lot so that they could speed up the Parkway to see the European Golden Plover. I hope they got it. Harvey and I headed south back to Cape May.

The weather finally cleared overnight. I was able to get my first banded Semipalmated Sandpiper resighting this morning. Good ol' 54J arrived on the Villas beach sometime overnight and was as feisty as ever. Here he is from Monday morning. 

SESA - 54J - 07/21/2014
And here he is on the same beach from August 4, 2012. Overcast skies make him look more gray in this photo.
SESA 54J - 08/04/2012
I can't wait for his buddies to return. The beach isn't the same without them. Of course, the Forster's Terns don't seem to mind. This one cruised by at eye level this morning. 

Forster's Tern
This was an odd thing - a Least Sandpiper on the Villas beach acting like a Semipalmated Sandpiper. You can tell that its a Least by the yellow legs. Compare to 54J above which looks almost identical except with dark legs. Least Sandpipers are usually found in more muddy habitat. Maybe he was waiting for the tide to go out and expose the muddy yucky low tide line that occurs on our beach.
LESA - waiting for some mud

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Final Post from UK Trip

My last day in the UK was spent on public transportation. I had a few hours to spend in town before heading to the airport so I planned a trip to Brent Reservoir which is technically in London but like traveling from Center City Philly to the Northeast. I had to take 2 "Underground" lines and then walk over a mile to get there. I targeted the reservoir hoping to get a few last Life Birds which I did manage. Like many of the parks in the UK, this one had a "hide" or bird blind that is managed by locals. They lock them up when not in use so that they are not vandalized or used by homeless people to sleep. You need to be savvy enough to find the contact info for the guy with the keys before you go. I am not that savvy. I emailed the guy the night before but of course it was too late for him to be able to help me out (although he did respond to my email).

One of my target birds for the trip was Great Crested Grebe and although I saw many on the trip, the grebes at Brent Reservoir were particularly accommodating. Here is the classic side shot where you can see the crest on the head and the puffy feathers on the neck. This is a big bird. Probably as large as Western Grebe or even larger. What a sight.

Great Crested Grebe
Here is another shot of the same bird where you can see the crest.

Great Crested Grebe
Other water birds were going about there business too. Check out this Coot baby. Its a wonder that Mom takes credit for that ugly mug!

Coot Mom and Baby
The Moorhen was not so trusting of people. I didn't know it but I got too close to her nest. She freaked out and started swimming away from the nest while wagging her tail - a distraction display intended to make me follow her and leave the nest alone. It worked. I couldn't keep my eyes off of those bright white tail feathers.

Moorhen Distraction Display
Andrew (the guy with the key) was kind enough to review some of my photos to make sure that I got the ID correct. Here is a female Blackcap who landed in front of me and proceeded to go into a torpor (a kind of trance like state where the bird just droops its wings and lays in the sun).

Female Blackcap
Summing up the trip - it was GREAT! Great birds, great people, great scenery, great experience. The only thing that I wish is that my Mom was with me (I should have planned ahead). She would have loved all of it (except the trudging around in the rain part). Oh well, she'll have to live vicariously by reading the posts.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Sitting Ducks

I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do any "real" birding when I got to London. I didn't have time to make a trip out of the city and frankly, we were all lucky that no one was hurt when I rented the car in Manchester, so I didn't want to tempt fate and attempt to drive in London. With that in mind, I did a little research on places to see birds in the city. Regent's Park, Hyde Park, St. James Park and Burton Reservoir all made the list.

On Sunday, I hoofed it all over town to get to some of the parks. Of course, it was overcast and drizzly when I got to Regent's Park but it did clear up later. Regent's Park has a lake where Tufted Ducks were reported which is definitely a bird that I wanted to see. Tufted Ducks are rare in the US. One or two show up each year but they are usually way north. You may remember that one showed up in NJ last year which I immediately left the office to go see for the Stupid Contest.  Here is a photo from London where I saw about a hundred of them. Great looking duck.

Tufted Duck
They even nest in London. Here is a mother who slipped under the fence. The babies were frantically trying to get over the fence. She eventually swam back out to retrieve them.

Tufted Duck Mom and Babies
I saw a few other Duck Moms and Ducklings. This is Pochard which is very similar to our Canvasbacks.

Pochard Mom and Babies
There were Greylag Geese there too.

Greylag Goose
And then I saw more ducks and geese, but it started to get really weird. Other geese were mixed in with the Greylags which shouldn't be lazying about in downtown London.

Barheaded Goose

Barnacle Goose

Egyptian Goose
Odd ducks started to appear too. Ducks that should be in far away places.

Bufflehead
 I had to look this one up on the Internet. It doesn't even show up in any of the Field Guides that I have.
Maccao Duck

Red-crested Pochard
And the one that sealed the deal - Smew. Check out a range map for this duck. They are arctic specialists.

Smew

And then it hit me - Regent's Park also has a zoo. Doh!  Oh well, I got to see and photograph pretty birds without traveling to Svalsbard or wherever.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Wales?!?!

Did I mention that I rented a car for the 2 days? It was a harrowing experience driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Did I mention that the car was a manual transmission? So, not only did I have to drive on the wrong side of the road but I had to change gears using my left hand. It is a wonder that no one was hurt. I did pretty good - especially in traffic since I could just follow along. It was only in the countryside that I had to really concentrate on where to point the car when coming around a corner or "roundabout".

On the "Motorway"
My Birding Pal, Rachel must be a glutton for punishment because after spending the entire day with me on Friday, she agreed to take me out to the coast on Saturday . I think it's that British politeness that is bred into her. I had already researched a place called Dee Estuary and that is exactly where Rachel suggested that we go.

The Dee Estuary looks like Delaware Bay on a map. It is a wide Bay that dumps the River Dee into the Irish Sea. When we arrived at the Point of Ayr, it reminded me of Cape May Point. In fact, we parked in a parking lot that could have been Sunset Beach (sans the concrete ship).  It even had a lighthouse and an ice cream parlor.  The only difference is that the Point of Ayr is in Wales! And I thought the best thing in Wales was Tom Jones (even I think he's sexy).

Out on the beach, we didn't see many birds. I was expecting some sea ducks or loons or something. We saw a few gulls and a few shorebirds until we came around the point. Then we were greeted by hundreds of Oystercatchers sitting on a sandbar. Behind them, in the grassy area were about a hundred Black-tailed Godwits and Curlews too. Thank goodness Rachel brought her scope!

Oystercatchers - Point of Ayr
Oystercatcher in flight
We also got to see some other birds on the beach like this Pied Wagtail. Wagtails really do wag their tails a lot which makes them easy to see and identify.

Pied Wagtail
This Ringed Plover looks a lot like our Semipalmated Plover.

Ringed Plover
I had to touch the Irish Sea. My Father's Father was aboard one of the ships (Lusitania?) that was sunk by a U-Boat in WWI just off the Irish coast. He was rescued by a fishing boat and spent 3 months in Ireland recuperating. The water was surprisingly warm.

Linda and the Irish Sea
We left the beach and headed to Burton-Mere Wetlands in hopes of some other shorebirds. We were very successful. We saw a few Red Shanks, Spotted Red Shanks, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, and Ruffs plus more Black-tailed Godwits. No photos. The birds were too far away and the day was too overcast for any of the photos to be presentable here.

The Brits do a lot of birding in "hides" which are bird blinds. The hide at Burton-Mere is nicer than our shore house! It has huge glass windows to allow viewing the main impoundment in comfort. The hard core birders lined up outside of the hide while trying to find the most obscure birds. Rachel and I struck up a conversation with a few of them. Of course, my accent gave me away as a tourist. The guys asked me about my trip and I casually told them that one of my target birds was a Little Owl. They looked at each other and then looked back at us and then looked at each other and looked at us again. OK, what gives? Turns out that there was a Little Owl sitting in a tree at the end of the path. NO SHIT!?!?

Little Owl
It made my day! Of course, all of the other birds were awesome but the owl was a treat. Rachel was a doll. The guys were terrific. Oh, and I was in Wales for Christ sake. A good day all around.



Thursday, July 17, 2014

Birding Pal on the Moors

The timing of our trip to the United Kingdom meant that we had to stay over the weekend. We started the trip in Scotland and then went to Manchester on Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all on our own  My coworkers made their plans and I made mine. My plan involved - don't be shocked here - birding. I know from past experience that it can be difficult to go birding alone in a new place. Luckily, I have friends who are very experienced with international travel. Marc recommended that I check out a website called birdingpal.com. The site matches travelers with local birders who are willing to take them birding. 

I signed up and sent messages to a few birders on the list. Someone responded but said that he would be out of town during my stay.  He said that his friend Rachel would be happy to help. Thankfully, she was. We agreed to meet up on Friday and explore "the moors". It was terrific - the birds and the moors and the "pal". 

Indian Head Rocks
 The hike yielded some excellent birds. It is amazing how many sat up on the boulders and posed for us. This is Mistle Thrush which is huge compared to our Wood Thrush.

Mistle Thrush
I am always thrilled to see a grouse. This is Red Grouse which is actually a Red Phase of the Willow Ptarmigan.
Red Grouse
This photo should give you some perspective of the size of the boulders. Can you find the whole family of Grouse?  There are at least 6 of them.

Red Grouse family
One of my target birds for the trip was Ring Ouzel - just based on the name. "Ouzel" My birding pal Rachel knew that there was one in the area and quickly pointed it out. Here he is bringing food back to the nest.

Ring Ouzel
In England, the grazing and property rights are different from the US. Sheep seem to be everywhere, and people are allowed to hike through pastures.  Here are a few sleepy sheep on the moors.
Sleepy Sheep
Here is a photo of Rachel on the moors. You can see how vast the space is in this part of England. There is also a gruesome story that goes along with the photo that I won't share here. Suffice to say that it is just one more benefit of finding a local to go birding with.

Rachel and the Moors



Sunday, July 13, 2014

Rainy Lady

One of the places that showed up in my search of birding locations near Edinburgh was a place on the coast called Aberlady. Sam and I had the morning free before our colleague arrived from San Francisco. And remember, the UK is 5 hours ahead of US time, so we couldn't even do our regular work in the morning so we decided to go.  We figured out how to get there by city bus and away we went.  Of course, it was pouring rain!

The bus driver was kind enough to drop us off at the Scottish Ornithology Club (SOC) headquarters so that we could get some information. The lady that worked there kept trying to talk us into birding sites that had nearby cafes or the seabird research center where we could sit inside and watch seabirds on video. No way. We came to Scotland to see real live birds not videos or cafes so off we went trudging through the marsh.

Here I am in my fashion poncho. It worked pretty well to keep the rain off of the camera but it was definitely not pretty.

Poncho Lady
Here is Sam. We bought a cheap umbrella that he used. Pity we didn't think to buy galoshes too. He feet were cold and soaked for the rest of the day.

Umbrella Man
Tidal Marsh
We did see some really good birds on the trip. Of course, almost everything is new to us here.  Remember the Northern Lapwings that showed up in NJ last year?  Well, this is where they are supposed to be. We saw several along the coast here and more in the cow pastures near Manchester.

Northern Lapwing
It doesn't take long to see a Meadow Pipit in the UK. They are probably the most common bird in the field. This one was trying to feed babies in the bush along the path.


The 2 best birds of the outing for me were Sedge Warbler and Skylark. Here is the best shot that I could get of Sedge Warbler in the rain. All of the warblers look alike in Britain. You will see that in upcoming posts.


Here is Skylark. Not much to look at. Frankly, none of the British birds are very colourful (see how I did that "ou" thing?). However, Skylark has been on my "must see" list for a long time.

Skylark
This is the full frame of the Skylark photo to show you how obscure it is on the path. I mean, you really have to look for these birds. Also note how similar the Skylark is to the Meadow Pipit. Geez.

Skylark on path
It was so rainy and wet that the path was lined with slimy things - black slugs and snails. The slugs were huge.

Slimy slug
 The snails all had these psychedelic shells.

Snail

Friday, July 11, 2014

"Working" Hard in Scotland

Tally Ho from Scotland! I am on the other side of the pond this week for work and of course, doing my best to see as many British birds as possible. We started our trip in Edinburgh Scotland and I can say that you should make the trip if you can. It is a terrific little city - a bit like Philly but with really old castles and stuff. 


Castle in Edinburgh
Sam and I wandered around the city near our hotel, took the bus tour, saw the castle, and climbed Arthur's seat (more on that later). My first UK bird was Wood Pigeon. These are like our pigeons only on steroids. They are huge. We also saw Gray Wagtail in the city.

Sam thought it would be a good idea to climb up "Arthur's Seat" which is a massive hill/mountain/volcano remnant that is right next to Holyrood Palace which is where the Queen held her annual picnic just last week. Check out the steep climb and the view from the top. Needless to say, I felt like I was back on the Donut Hole Trail again.

Arthur's Seat trail

View from Arthur's Seat
I am really electronically challenged over here. My little laptop that I use to download and edit photos crapped out on me for the first few days. My cell phone doesn't work over here like I thought it would. I can't get Internet everyplace. So, you'll have to wait for bird photos for another few days until I can get them downloaded. The best that I can do for now if offer this photo of Kestral hovering at eye level from the top of Arthur's Seat. Ta for now!

Kestral