Sooty Shearwater Facts and Fun

So, last month I went out on the Atlantic ocean for the day. This month, Todd and I went out on the Pacific ocean for more birding at sea. We booked 2 trips with Alvaro's Adventures. The first trip was out of Monterey Bay which was pretty good and I'll post about it later. The second trip was out of Half Moon Bay and unfortunately was cancelled due to rough seas. Alvaro and the boat captain felt bad for us and agreed to take us around the bay for an hour so that we could witness the spectacle of a huge Sooty Shearwater  flock that had taken up residence in the bay feeding on a school of anchovies. This phenomenon does not occur often so it was worth the boat ride. You can see the black dots surrounding this fishing boat.

Our Captain drove the boat right into the flock slowly so that we could get a closer look. As the boat approached, the birds would run across the water.

You can see all of the splashing water behind the birds as they tried to take flight.

I took several videos so that you could see the birds but also hear the pitter-patter of their feet as they ran across the water to lift off.

It was tough to get a photo of a single bird. They are powerful flyers. In fact, Sooty Shearwaters complete the second longest migration of any bird traveling from their breeding grounds in New Zealand across the Pacific ocean to California and back each year. A total trip of 40,000 miles!

Unfortunately, with so many birds, there are bound to be casualties. We found this dead bird floating face down in the water with a big gash in its side. They are pretty hefty birds. I took this selfie with the bird and Alvaro. I guess its kind of morbid but at least the bird's death will have some positive effects. Alvaro will take it to the natural history museum for study. 

OK, so now comes the interesting part. You need to listen to the video for the story that Alvaro told us. As you read earlier, the Sooty Shearwater phenomenon doesn't happen often. It happened in 1961 and due to weather and other circumstances, the birds lost their bearings and flew onto land. I'll let you listen to the rest of the story.

I really love that movie and now I love it even more.

Potter County 2019

Wow. Where did June go? I'll tell you where - to house projects, that's where. After 20 years in our house, we broke down and decided to do some renovations and upgrades. After weeks of disruption by contractors and painters, we headed up to Potter County with our friends Jill and Becky for the summer solstice weekend. The plan was for Becky to teach us how to fly fish but the weather made that impossible. It rained for 3 weeks straight prior to our arrival making the streams unfishable. We hiked instead and I got to show them some birds. Cedar Waxwings are easy birds to show to non-birders. They are beautiful and often pose like this one did.

Cedar Waxwing

Really pretty birds are great to show non-birders. Unfortunately, many of the pretty birds are often difficult to see. Blackburnian Warblers are usually bouncing around at the tops of trees which puts them in that "difficult-to-see" category. Not this guy. This guy was flitting around in a walnut tree at eye level right in our yard making it easy for Jill to see. She was impressed.

Blackburnian Warbler

I snuck away to do some early morning photography down by the stream while the others lounged at the camp. There is a place where I can stand on the road at the tree top level which makes it easy to photograph yellow warblers and willow flycatchers. On this day, the stream was running high and fast. I heard a quack and saw a mother Common Merganser swimming against the current followed by 3 tiny ducklings. Wait til you see how cute this is:

Look how fast #3 swam to catch up! And then it got cuter. I snuck upstream to get an angle for some photographs. Mom didn't know that I was there until I moved. Then, she sounded the alarm call and the ducklings hustled close and jumped onto her back for safety.

Common Mergansers

I don't know where #3 was. Only 2 jumped on her back. I left them alone to continue their upbringing. 

We did see a fish this weekend when we went to the Austin Dam. This is a Sucker Fish that was swimming around a clear pool of water below the dam ruins. 

Suckerfish

Colorful birds aren't the only attraction on our hikes. Jill spotted this Red Eft along the logging road. 

Red Eft

All-in-all it was a great weekend despite not being able to fish. The good news for me and Connie is that we were headed back to Potter for a whole week over July 4th holiday. More about that soon.

Back to Birds

Let's start this post out with a Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest. Harvey found this nest in Belleplain State Park while looking for another bird. Here is the female sitting in the nest.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Nest

The bird that Harvey was looking for was this Kentucky Warbler. We heard the bird singing along Pine Swamp Road a few times. I went back to the spot to see if I could get a photo and was really pleased to get a few. 

Kentucky Warbler

Kentucky Warbler

Another bird that we often here singing in Belleplain is Prothonotary Warbler. There is a place in the woods that has a post in the middle of the creek. I've waited and waited for the bird to perch on that post for years. It happened last week for about 3 seconds. I managed to get this photo.

Prothonotary Warbler

Another bird that usually doesn't pose is the Brown Thrasher. Drew and I scared up a couple who were nesting in a shrub near the visitor center in Virginia. They both popped out of the bush squawking at us.

Brown Thrasher

Back on the beach, I was doing my volunteer duty watching the shorebirds and snapped this photo of a Common Grackle walking along in the wind. The wind was blowing so hard, the bird couldn't keep his tail down.

Common Grackle

Overhead, this Osprey came back ashore with a fish. He flew right over my head with his catch of Menhaden.

Osprey with Menhaden

I was just happy to have a few birds to photograph recently.

Spring has Sprung

It's April and officially spring. For us birders, we get really excited when we see or hear the first arrivals from the south. For me at home, spring is signified by Chipping Sparrows who showed up en-masse last week with a record high 7 of them hanging on the feeder at the same time.

Meanwhile, in the woods at Pennypack, I have been treated to seeing Louisiana Waterthrush on multiple occasions along the creek. I don't know if it is the same bird hanging around or a different bird moving through each day but one of them put on a show on Sunday morning singing his heart out.

Louisiana Waterthrush

The Wood Ducks are up in the trees whistling. That only means one thing - love is in the air for them. Wood Ducks make their nests in holes in the tree just like an owl. Here is a crazy photo for you:

https://www.facebook.com/AudubonEverglades/photos/a.1172524176139159/2695677033823858/?type=1&theater

That's a Screech Owl and a baby Wood Duck in the same hole!

More signs of spring in the woods include these wildflowers that Connie and I photographed on Saturday.

Virginia Bluebell

Trout Lily

Blood Root

Cut-leaf Toothworth

 Things are definitely ramping up for spring. and, I've been asked to participate in the World Series of Birding this year. Stay tuned for details.

Spring in My Yard

I realized recently that I neglect to write about the birds in my own backyard. I guess this is because it is usually the same-old-same-old with cardinals, chickadees and sparrows. Well, that certainly isn't the case lately. I think I am one of the only birders in the area who has Pine Siskins visiting my feeders. I've had them for a few months. A high count of 6 during one of the snow days in January. They are still hanging around and have been really hitting the bird seed hard this week. I think they may be fueling up to head north back into Canada soon. 

Pine Siskins

They are sure cute little buggers. Pine Siskins regularly mix in with Gold Finches. You can tell them apart easily. The Siskins are always streaky with a very thin bill. Some of them show yellow patches on the wings. You can see that on the right side bird above. Meanwhile, Goldfinches are not streaky. They are solid yellow with black wings most of the year. Take a look at the bird on the right below. This bird is in full molt going from dull gray to full yellow like the bird on the left. 

Goldfinches

So, Siskins are fueling up to leave. Goldfinches are molting into their new breeding plumage. And at the same time, some birds are arriving from the south including Chipping Sparrows. They usually show up on tax day but this guy is early. 

Chipping Sparrow

Brown-headed Cowbirds also arrived this week. Not that I like having them around since they lay eggs in the other birds nests but they are pretty to look at. All photos taken with iPhone out of my office window, so not that great. 

Interesting times in the yard also include frogs emerging from hibernation in the pond. Spring is here! 

Arabian Nights

You already read about my Kuwait birding adventures. Birding in Kuwait was a no-brainer since Kuwait was our work destination but I figured that I should also take advantage of the trip to spend another day in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since my flight had a layover there anyway.

I hired another guide named Oscar in UAE. He is based in Abu Dhabi so that is where we met to spend a full day birding another area of the Persian Gulf. Oscar did his homework and mapped out a route for the day so that we would hit the areas where the specialty birds would be found. It is confusing to know which direction anything is in UAE. Here is a map of the region:

Persian Gulf

We started early and headed east toward the "mountains".  And by mountains, I mean a few high elevation areas of bare rock that stick up from the desert. We hit paydirt right off the bat with a few new birds including Desert Larks, Water Pipits and Gray Francolins that were in the public park at the bottom of the mountain. They didn't seem to mind the picnicking families.

Gray Francolin

And then I saw the Indian Roller - a bird that I have wanted to see since I first read about it in a magazine. They are colorful birds that command respect.

Indian Roller

The day was  overcast with light rain which is not ideal for finding birds (or lugging expensive cameras around) but we perservered and headed up a winding road to the top of the mountain where we found a few more target birds including this Sandgrouse sitting on a windy pinnacle.

Sand Grouse

And this stunning Blue Rock Thrush. It's a "wow" bird for sure.

Blue Rock Thrush

There is a hotel at the top of the mountain complete with a pool and water slide. We found a few more birds hanging around the pool area including Hume's Wheatear sitting on a post.

Hume's Wheatear

Our best desert find of the day was this Hoopoe Lark. A true desert specialty that reminds me of a thrasher or roadrunner  the way it scurries across the barren landscape. Oscar knew right where to go to find one and this guy put on a show.

We also looked for lakes which naturally attract birds. We found a few good ones at the lake near the horse race track. Clamorous Reed Warblers come by their name honestly - they are certainly clamorous. You often hear these loud birds but cannot see them hiding in the reeds right in front of you. It is maddening. Thankfully, this guy wasn't shy. He came right to the edge of the reeds and sang his heart out.

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Isabelline Wheatears are never shy. We saw many of these birds perched on top of posts or bushes in the desert.

Isabelline Wheatear

We often see other wildlife when birding but I never expected to see one of these! This is an Arabian Oryx. They were almost extinct from hunting. UAE has released some back into the desert after successful recovery program. I think the park people feed them to make sure of their success but it was still a pleasant surprise.

Arabian Oryx

We also caught a few glimpses of antelopes but they were too fast to catch with a photo. The only other desert animal that we found was this Desert Hare. He sat perfectly still as we walked by confident in his camouflage.

Desert Hare

We ended the day on a high note by finding an Egyptian Nightjar. Oscar knows where they like to nest and had heard one singing a few days earlier. We arrived before sunset in hopes of hearing the bird but got even luckier when we spotted him moving through the desert between bushes. I was able to sneak up on him and snap a few decent photos.

Egyptian Nightjar

Another great day of birding in Arabia. I highly recommend getting into the desert to see this amazing place. 

Where in the World?

If I gave you 100 guesses, you would never guess where I am this week. Hints: they love the US military, it's really hot, and the language is Arabic. Answer: Kuwait. Yup. Kuwait. A random work trip popped up and after some careful thought, I said yes. Of course you know that I don't go anywhere without the binoculars and camera. In most places, I am pretty comfortable going birding on my own using eBird hotspots as my guide. Not when I am in a very different culture though. Lucky for me, my friend George knows a birder who lives in Kuwait so I hired him as my guide.

Linda and Mike

Mike is originally from South Africa but transferred to Kuwait for his real job and is now an expert in Kuwait birding. Check out his blog at http://kuwaitbirding.blogspot.com/ for more info. We started the day early and headed north of Kuwait city into the desert to begin our day. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING out there for miles and miles except rocky, sandy desert. And, giant electric power lines.

There are more power lines running through this desert than  I've ever seen in my life. This photo is only one row of them.  The other very interesting thing that fills the desert are huge camping areas. Apparently, the Kuwaitis love to camp on the weekends in winter. Not my idea of camping but . . . 

Camping Kuwaiti Style

Oh, and if your going to be in the middle east in the desert, you gotta make friends with the locals. All I had to do was hold my hand up and this big fella walked right over looking for a handout.

Linda and friend

Kuwait is experiencing a very interesting natural phenomena in the desert. Can you see all of the vegetation in the camel photo? The entire desert is "green" due to rain of biblical proportions in November. The middle east was flooded and the desert came to life with grasses and flowers and - butterflies. We saw a million Painted Lady butterflies - not an exaggeration. They were literally covering the desert on every flower and little tree.

Painted Lady

It was very windy and much colder that I thought it would be in the desert. Glad I had my jacket with me. We finally got to our first birding destination which is a "farm" in the middle of the desert. Mike says that the farm is out here due to a natural spring that allows the farmer to have animals like cows and exotic pets plus trees and vegetables. Our first bird of the day was actually a shorebird - Green Sandpiper which was hanging out at the little man-made pond.

Green Sandpiper

Other birds used the pond for catching dragonflies. Here are 2 different types of wagtails with dragonflies. First is Gray Wagtail.

Gray Wagtail

This one is White Wagtail on the platform that the farmer uses to shoot ducks.

White Wagtail

I know, I know. It gets worse. Here is a Eurasian Kestral dead in a tree. The red flag is used to tether the Kestral to train the other falcons to kill it. Once it is caught, the Kestral is left to die in the tree. This is the trade-off with birding in other cultures. You can't be offended by the property owner's traditions if you want access to the land. Maybe the culture will change in the future. 

Dead Kestral

On a brighter note, one of my target species to photograph is the Eurasian Hoopoe. What a cool bird. We saw about a dozen during the day. I was able to capture a few photos.

Hoopoe

We saw many other birds at the desert farm including a few species of shrikes but the photos are not that great. The birds were pretty far away. I did manage to catch a shot of this Tawny Pipit. Talk about camouflage. We would never have seen the bird if it wasn't perched on a bush at first. Once it hopped onto the ground, it almost disappeared. 

Tawny Pipit

We spent a few hours at the farm and then headed back towards the city to explore other birding spots.

Pretty in Pink

You might think that Flamingos are easy to see in Florida. Many residents have plastic pink flamingos in their yards which makes me think that the flamingo is the Florida state bird. They are not - the state bird or easy to see. American Flamingos are not common and where they are regular, they are difficult to see. Most of the Flamingos in Florida are seen at the bottom end of the Everglades by people who are kayaking in the back country. No roads can take you there. And most boats cannot access the area either. I've tried to see Flamingos in the Everglades in the past. I drove all the way to the end of the road and asked the people at the campground. They just giggled and told me that I needed a boat. I slinked away. That was years ago.

Fast forward 15 years and now there is a single Flamingo that has been hanging around in a wildlife refuge up on the Florida panhandle near Tallahassee. The bird has been there since December but I haven't been able to get there to see it. That all changed on Sunday when Connie agreed to make a quick road trip this week to see the bird. Truth be told, she really wanted to visit her sister who lives in Florida. A compromise seemed like the best solution. We left Pennsylvania at 6:30 PM on Tuesday and drove straight through arriving at St. Mark's NWR at 9:30 AM on Wednesday. 15 hours of straight driving.

I probably didn't do enough research because we arrived at the spot and found a vast area of impoundments to search. As we stood there wondering where to start, a Vermillion Flycatcher flew out to the road. WOW! Totally unexpected rare bird.  We have seen this bird in Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize. I saw one in another spot in Florida a few years ago but this guy put on a show searching for bugs along the road and perching on low sticks at the water's edge.

Here he is looking for a bug to pluck from the water.

Luckily, we found a birder who had seen the bird a few times. He was taking his friend/wife/? out to the impoundment to look for the bird. We walked ahead of the couple trying to cover a lot of ground quickly. Peanut LOVED the walk. We went about a mile out on the dike road. I heard someone yelling and looked back to see the couple frantically waving their arms. They found the Flamingo. We headed back to meet them with our spotting scope. Donna aimed the scope out into the marsh and viola, we had the bird!

In the scope

Happy dances ensued.

Flamingo! The bird is back there somewhere

Seeing the bird through the scope was great but I needed a better view so I headed out for another mile to get a closer look. It was quite a hike but totally worth it. The Flamingo was right there!  He/she didn't care a bit about me or Peanut.

Me and the Flamingo

I spent another 20 minutes watching and photographing the bird as he/she was feeding in the impoundment. Flamingos are much taller than I imagined.

Flamingo

He/she would stomp around in circles searching for food.

Flamingo

You can see how the bird uses his foot to search and stir up the water for food.

What a great experience.