Last Day in Vegas

My last day in Vegas was all mine to go to the hottest local birding spot called Henderson Bird Viewing Area (pretty explicit huh). This is a waste water treatment plant which has big open water impoundments which attract lots of birds. I never imagined that I would see so many waterbirds in a desert but there they were. Ruddy Ducks

Ruddy Duck

 And Northern Shovelers

Northern Shoveler

And lots of grebes of all types including Eared Grebe

Eared Grebe

And Horned Grebes. There were 3 albinos in the group. This one is partially albino

Leucistic Horned Grebe

 And this one is almost all white when it is supposed to be black and white.

Leucistic Horned Grebe

And then there were the waders. American Avocets were kind of expected. I've seen them in water oasis in the desert before.

American Avocet

But I've never seen them swimming around in a flock and going butt to the air dunking for food.

Swimming Avocets

There was also one lone Black-necked Stilt in the park.

Black-necked Stilt

And one White-faced Ibis.

White-faced Ibis

Shorebirds found refuge here too including this Killdeer who wouldn't shut up the whole time I was there.

Killdeer

And this Greater Yellowlegs. Check out the cracked earth in the background.

Greater Yellowlegs

I was pleasantly surprised to find this Pectoral Sandpiper.

Pectoral Sandpiper

The bird that was most expected was Western Sandpiper. I saw a few but this one really caught my eye. He has something around his bill which he struggled to get off. He finally did.

Western Sandpiper

And then, there was the Life Bird. I stumbled on finding the Crissal Thrasher. They are so shy and stay hidden in the desert scrub. I heard something on the edge of the park and turned to see the Thrasher's iconic curved bill and red butt before it disappeared into the desert again.

More Costa's Hummingbirds were at this park so I took the opportunity to photograph this male. He mostly sat on a branch in the shade of the trees so you couldn't really see his bright purple gorget feathers.

Costa's Hummingbird

But occasionally, the light would catch him just right to reveal the iridescent feathers.

Iridescent Purple

This guy was molting. You can see where he is missing feathers under his chin and around his eye.

Molting Costa's

I love this shot. He stretched out just before giving his iconic call again.

Costa's Hummingbird

Alas, I has to leave to catch my flight home. An exhausting trip overall but ended on an up note.

What a Difference a Day Makes

March 20 - first day of Spring 2015.Had the snow blower out clearing heavy snow from the driveway.

Snowy Spring

March 22 - first day that it felt like spring. I finally got down to the shore to do some birding with Harvey. We started the day with a bang. Harvey found these Black-headed Gulls along the beach in Villas. Black-headed Gulls show up in NJ during their northward migration up to New England and Canada. They are one of the first migrants to come through and only spend a day or so along the Delaware Bay before heading north. It is not a sure bet to find one every year - and here we found 2. We chased them down to Townbank where we were able to snap a few photos. By far, the best photos that I have of BHGUs.(shorhand for Black-headed Gull)

The first Black-headed Gull that we found didn't have such a black head. This guy/gal isn't quite in breeding plumage yet.

(almost) Black-headed Gull 

It flew around enough for me to get this shot that shows dark under the wing tips which is a field mark. Bonaparte's gulls look very similar but lack the dark under the wings.

Look under my wings

Here is another BHGU that really looks like its name. This bird is in full breeding plumage.

(really) Black-headed Gull

We were on a roll and headed to the State Park (aka Lighthouse) to see if we could find some other signs of spring. We were met by another bird that is an early migrant - Killdeer. In fact, there were a pair of them in the parking lot. A pair usually nest here every year and these birds looked like they were home rather than just passing through. Here is one of them. You can imagine how stupid I looked sitting "Indian style" in the middle of the parking lot trying to get this shot.

Killdeer

Another resident was out and about - this Muskrat swam across the pond right in front of us. They are funny looking little animals - half rat, half beaver.

Muskrat

The next sign of spring came in the form of this soaring Osprey. Who knows if this bird will nest here or go farther north but he/she was looking for fish in the pond on Sunday.

Osprey

Just as we are happy to see some birds returning from the south, other birds will shortly leave us to head north. Ducks spend their winters only as far south as they have to go to find water that isn't frozen. This Bufflehead (lower left) and Ring-necked Duck (above, right) will disappear shortly as the water warms. Zoom in to see the iridescence on the Bufflehead. It is amazing.

Bufflehead and Ring-necked Duck

More signs of spring will be showing up in the coming days. I have more to tell you about our visit to the State Park so stay tuned.

Good Day - Despite Adversity

We finally had some decent weather yesterday. I was at the shore and planned a whole day of winter birding with Harvey. The day started with a big decision - what to do with Roxy. The issue is that Roxy has been a bit lame this week and cannot go out for the full day. We decided to leave her at the house and go to Stone Harbor Point first. Dogs are not allowed and this would shorten her day.

We were almost alone at the point. Only 2 other cars were in the parking lot. We met the first person soon enough - Richard Crossley, the field guide author was out and about.  The second person was out in the dunes wearing full camouflage carrying a huge camera. Soon enough, we were being yelled at for being too close to him. I guess he thinks that he deserves the beach to himself because he has a big camera.  He literally marched over and yelled at us for being on the beach "invading his space".  He wasn't joking. You know me - I didn't take that shit off of him. I gave it right back. Jerk. He flipped me the finger and stomped off the beach. We shook it off and went about our day.

This Ipswich Savannah Sparrow sat up on an old beach fence munching on a seed.

Ipswich Sparrow

He put on such a show that he eventually took a bow before disappearing into the dunes.

Ipswich Sparrow

We were pleased to see this Black-bellied Plover looking for breakfast between the frozen waves.

Black-bellied Plover

Alas, our joy didn't last. We had just about forgotten about the rude photographer when we came across this sad seen. We noticed her laying in the street along with another dead companion. Both Ruddy Ducks had bloody wounds on their breasts which look like shot gun wounds. Who would shoot 2 ducks and let them just lay in the street?  Sickos.

Ruddy Duck

We put them in the van and took them home. They are now in my freezer waiting to take their place at the Academy of Natural Sciences ornithology department. We picked Roxy up and decided to go to Cox Hall Creek for a walk and possible winter warblers.  No peace there either. Harvey was attacked by a wild rose bush and then threw his back out trying to escape the bushes.

Wound

And not to be outdone, I was bitten by a Dachshund!  The little fucker tried to attack Roxy and got me on the shin instead - through the jeans.  You can see the little teeth marks. Jeez.

Dog Bite

Roxy started limping about half way through the walk anyway. We had to take her home. One last try - let's go to the State Park and see what we can find there. This very accommodating Killdeer was poking around the grass.

Killdeer

This young Red-Shouldered Hawk perched on the Hawk Watch Platform - taking the name literally.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Harvey's back finally gave out on him so we called it quits. Besides, we didn't want to find out what else was in store for us. We were lucky to survive the day.

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.

Not for Kids

One wrong turn off the Freeway and I ended up at a park by the bay. I stopped in and I am glad that I did. There were Avocets and Black-necked Stilts very close to the parking area. Not like we usually see them in our area - very far away. Here are a few Avocets that flew right over my head. Even in flight, you can see their distinctive upturned bill.

Avocets

Here is another one hanging around the mudflats at low tide. The apricot color on the head and neck indicates an adult in breeding plumage.

Avocet

The real stars (porn stars) of the show were the Black-necked Stilts that are nesting on the mud islands in the park. Cover the kids' eyes. Here they are doing the deed.

Black-necked Stilts - gettin' jiggy

Here is the happy couple playing house afterwards.

Black-necked Stilts

Some other good birds were at the park too like this Clarke's Grebe. It came swimming down the channel right beside me and disappeared beneath the surface of the water. It popped back up a few yards away with a little fish! You can tell this is Clarke's Grebe by the fact that you can see the red eye in the white part of the face. Western Grebes look very similar but the black covers the eye.

Clarke's Grebe with fish

 The fish was finally gulped down and the grebe swam back out into the bay.

Clarke's Grebe

Another bird that nests in the park is the Coot. Here is one sitting on a nest right by the parking lot. I wonder how long that will last.

Coot

Green-winged Teals were swimming around in the shallow water. This one popped out onto a rock for a rest.

Green-winged Teal

Northern Shovelers were also feeling romantic. The males were chasing females around doing a head bob and a really cool quack.

Northern Shovelers

I left the park and headed to my original destination - a park in the mountains. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the park has both Sequoia and Redwood trees - pretty big ones. No photos since it is difficult to photograph giant trees with a telephoto lens.  What a great way to end a trip.