Avoiding the Pope

In case you have been living on Mars and didn't hear about it - the Pope is in Philly this weekend. If you have been paying attention for the past 6 months, it is all the news casters talk about. The mayor and the Secret Service have been announcing road closures and off limit areas and tow-away zones for weeks. Our office closed on Friday. We were all told to work from home. I chose to work from the Villas instead.

There have been very few birds around since that big Monday but recently, my friend Harvey found a Curlew Sandpiper at Forsythe (don't worry, I'm not going to give you another shorebird lesson). Curlew Sandpipers are supposed to be in Europe. Harvey regularly finds one in the spring but having one in our area in fall is really rare. Needless to say, I went to Forsythe before work the other day with Harvey to see the bird. This is the best shot I could get.

Curlew Sandpiper (center), Ring-billed Gull

The shorebirds were skittish - taking off and landing somewhere else - the whole time we were there. This had something to do with it:

Peregrine Falcon

A Peregrine Falcon was cruising the area looking for a meal. He/she sat down for a few minutes in the salt hay which made for a very fall-flavored photo.

Peregrine Falcon

We saw this nasty looking Marsh Wren in the weeds along the road.

Marsh Wren

And this Clapper Rail hunting the edge of the marsh.

Clapper Rail

On our way back to the Villas, we decided to swing by Reed's Beach Road to see if we could find another rare bird that was seen there this week - Western Kingbird. You can tell by the name that the bird shouldn't be found here. One Western Kingbird is a good find, but 2 is pretty rare. We found both birds sitting on wires along the road. I told Harvey that I needed to be back to the house to get to work so we got back into his van - or at least that was our intention.  There we stood, looking into the van where both sets of van keys, both cell phones AND Peanut were locked in. Sigh. Luckily Harvey's friend Steve came along to see the Kingbirds and rescued us by calling AAA. A quick trip turned into 2 hours sitting on the side of the road. At least I got a few good shots of the birds while we waited for AAA.

Western Kingbird

Not sure what that red stuff is on his breast - looks like blood to me.

It was fun to watch them try to land on the wire. You can see how focused this bird is on that little wire.

Getting closer.

Touchdown!

A quick trip turned into a pretty long day.

We Three Kings

In our area, we only have one type of kingbird - the Eastern Kingbird. We have some that hang out in our yard in the Villas which is really cool. Occasionally, other types of kingbirds show up which gets the birders excited. The story changes when you go south and west where there are several types of kingbirds. Once you get south of the border there are even more choices - and they start to all look the same. Take these three for example.  All three have gray heads, yellow bellies and some sort of light under the chin but they also have some differences.

First up - this bird has a gray bib that extends pretty far down the chest. The tail is partially obscured by the wire but it looks kind of notched.

#1

Something weird is going on with the front of this bird too. Is it the same as the bird above? Not as much white under the chin either. What about that tail? Is is flat or round or notched? 

#2

The final bird also has some smudgy stuff on the chest and definitely has a white chin. It also has a definite notch in the tail.

#3

So, I would guess that #1 is Western Kingbird due to the light throat and breast. Although #2 and #3 are not the same bird, I think they are both Tropical Kingbirds. Of course, I could be wrong. Some of the experts in our area call the vagrant kingbirds "yellow bellied" at first until they have a chance to review their own photos. 

FarmStock 2014

I made it out to FarmStock this year which was really great. As usual, Mark and Linda volunteered me to lead the "bird walk". The walk is scheduled for 7:30 which means that we start an hour later after everyone rouses themselves, gets much needed coffee and opens their eyes after a fun night of drinks and music.

Of course, the bird walk is more like a walk down to the Buffalo Creek with me hoping that a bird - any bird - shows up or sings or something. And as usual, the walk started off with no birds in sight or earshot. I tried to entertain the group by pointing out butterflies and such but they weren't interested. Thank goodness we heard a few and got to see a few too. Eastern Kingbirds were chirping. This one posed for me later in the day.

Eastern Kingbird

 When leading a bird walk for non-birders, you really hope to see big birds or red birds or blue birds or something showy and flashy. Of course, the only bird that would show itself was this immature Swamp Sparrow. B.O.R.I.N.G. The crowd lost interest and started lagging behind. A leader's worst nightmare.

Swamp Sparrow

We finally made it down to the creek which thankfully was more interesting. The group perked up a little bit when we got to the duck blind. A few birds showed up. We saw this Killdeer and a Solitary Sandpiper too.

Killdeer

Juvenile Wood Ducks quickly took cover when we arrived. I snapped this photo before they ducked (pun intended) behind the reeds.

Wood Ducks

The group lost interest again and we headed back to the camp for breakfast and a tractor ride. I guess all leaders have to suck it up when there are no birds. I think they forgot all about it once the tractor came out of the barn.

Tractor Ride!

A leader's worst nightmare - seeing the best birds of the day after the official walk has ended. Case in point:

Female Kingfisher

This female Kingfisher sat right next to the duck blind and chattered away. Her mate was there too. I could just cry. This is one of those birds that could get someone really interested in birds and birding. God forbid they show up when I have the group with me.  I give up.

Government Back to Work Equals Another Bird For Me!

What are the chances that the year that I am doing this contest, the government shuts down during fall migration and all of the National Wildlife Refuges are also shut down?  Just my luck. I swear.  I have probably missed all kinds of birds because of it.  Anyway, the stupid politicians struck a deal last night which means that the NWRs reopened today and viola - a rare bird was spotted.  The bird is Gray Kingbird.  Not very sexy but still rare in our part of the country and still adds another tick to the contest list.  My friends Chris and Gerry spotted the bird and were still there babysitting it when I arrived.  I have some decent photos below.

You may be able to notice the pale yellow under wings on this shot.  Kingbirds like to sit on top of trees and shrubs then swoop out to catch a bug in the air, then land back on top of the tree to eat it (or wait for another one).

Gray Kingbird

 Here it is perched and ready to snag another bug from the air.

Gray Kingbird

I won't tell you my total but suffice to say it's pretty high.  My competition is right on my heels though.