Now, all I Need is a Spoon and a Knife...

... because I finally have a fork!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher that is. If this were a movie loosely based on the Star Trek movie franchise, it would be called: Bird Trek: Nemesis.

This fork tailed fiend has eluded me at every turn until today.  Twice in February Sue and I stood in the middle if a swelteringly hot field not finding a bird that pretty much everyone else seemed to find with ease.  Twice when one had been seen on the east coast I was on the west coast. And finally, I nearly succumbed to heat exposure and dehydration,(okay that was partially my fault), chasing it near Orlando.

But thanks to the following series of events, the Forked One is now Big Year Bird # 540.

First, I contacted Sandy Komito about birding together in south Florida this week. Bad timing, as he is on his way to Africa,(like me, he can't sit still for long).  Sandy gave me the name and number of his birding buddy Larry, who invited me down to Homestead to see Shiny Cowbirds at his feeder after I birded the Miami area, today.

I was looking for White-crowned Pigeon: Swing and a miss; Red-whiskered Bulbul: Steeerike Two; and finally Spot-breasted Oriole: Strike Three! One out.

I was now on my way to Homestead to meet Larry at his place and called for directions, when he told me he was on his way to Big Pine Key, two hours south, where a Fork-tailed Flycatcher had been seen earlier this morning.   I decided to sacrifice on the cowbird, and with two away late in the game, I raced south on Highway 1, hoping not to be late again. On my first pass through Big Pine Key I completely missed them, but did see a lovely Key Deer and his mommy.

I called Larry from a parking area where the bird had originally been reported and he said to get there quickly, as he and his son were looking at it as he spoke.  They were two minutes down the road at the Visitor's Center. How convenient and kind of the bird to locate himself near free parking.

Once I parked, they waved me over and pointed up to the wire, where, finally I was just on time for the bird.   Fact was, they had been searching for two hours while I drove in air conditioned comfort.  About time, I say.

But not only that, the fork-tailed was consorting with, of all things, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. How about them apples for a bonus double rarity.  There was even a Gray Kingbird as another bonus,(541).  While we took photos others arrived, but within an hour, or less both all but the Gray and Eastern Kingbirds were gone, and the late arrivals had to feel the sting of fork-tailed disappointment.

Tomorrow I am heading down to Key West after spending the night in a lovely little resort on the Gulf, in my own private cabin that was recommended and booked by the nice lady at the Visitor's Center I was brought to by my new best friend.   I got to sleep happy and with a full stomach, thanks to dinner just up the road, which included amazing lobster cakes, a rum runner and the best-ever key lime pie.

Oh, on the way to Miami I did stop a lot and at Oscar Scherer State Park got some nice photos if the Florida Scrub Jay and along the way, a few others with my brand new Sony Alpha 57, which I really love like no other camera I have ever used.

The Elusive Fork-tailed Flycatcher, finally brought to justice before my camera:

Top is the Scissor-tailed, below the Fork-tailed.  Forks are longer than scissors, I guess.

Florida Scrub Jay:

Can I Boreal a Bag of Owls? Sure, don't Saw-whet it!

So, I drove 6 hours up to Hilliardton Marsh yesterday so I could see at least one Boreal Owl.  I saw two, and a Saw-whet Owl, got to hold a Boreal Owl and see and photograph one Boreal Owl in a Pine Tree before the night was done.  It was one of the coolest things I've done this year and the furthest, I think, I've driven for just one bird.

After a few false starts and after having gotten lost in the pitch blackness that is District Road 569 and then finally finding, deep in the woods, the owl banding station, run by Bruce Murphy and his merry band of "banders," I was treated to an evening of bird talk, muddy walks in the woods and a short education on how to tell the age of an owl, using funky black-light technology.  Apparently owl wings glow purple under ultra-violet in younger owls and it diminishes as they get older.

After finding and banding a Saw-whet Owl, and seeing it was a first year bird, Bruce and one of his student assistants, Maggie, took me out in their pick-up truck to see the Boreal Owls deep within the woods.  We had to chase a young moose along a crazy-bumpy path, park in what seemed like the dead centre of the Boreal Forest, and walk through ankle deep mud puddles, to where we found two Boreal Owls.  It was a lifer for Maggie as well, as she had come up a year earlier and not seen one.  She had come specifically to study the Boreal Owls in the year that there were none.  Two of the Boreal Owls were caught in the mist-netting and Bruce and Maggie placed them in little cloth bags, after which we drove back to the little shack in the woods where they were banded and a few people, including me, got to hold one.

I was able to get a photo of one in a tree later on, and spend the rest of the night chatting with a few of the birders who had come to see the owls, one of which was an older gentleman who had also driven up from Toronto.  We swapped Alaska stories and I mentioned that next week I was going to the Yellow Rails and Rice Festival.  Maggie laughed and said she'd be there too.  We talked at length about birding in Louisiana and she promised to give me tips on where I can find more than just rails, including a place where I might be able to see Whooping Cranes.

By 11:00 pm or so I was ready to hit the road and find a hotel for the night.  Bruce had tipped me to a place I might be able to find Three-toed Woodpeckers in the morning, in an area of burnt forest to the south.  I checked it out this morning but didn't find anything more than Field Sparrows and Red-breasted Nuthatches.  I still had hours to go before I was home and wanted to get back to Toronto by dinner time.

And now, those of you with sensitive constitutions might want to just skip ahead to the photographs below as I now wish to share some of the realities of long days of driving and not always eating a balanced diet.  Things happen.  Well, that's not exactly right.  Sh-- Happens, as they say.  And sometimes you have to go when you have to go.  And sometimes it's on the side of a dirt road, in a ditch, hiding behind the car, next to a farmer's field, with the wind blowing on and the cold rain pelting your bare bum.  I'm not proud of this.  But in the interests of full disclosure, so to speak, sometimes we just have to bare our souls for all to see, while hoping we didn't bare our buttocks for some poor farmer's family to see.

Boreal Owl: # 539

Whoooo Me?

Yes, Yooooo!

Planning to Bird and Chasing a Bird

A lot of this year has been spent in the field, naturally.  Where else to see all the birds?  However, in order to get into the field, and far afield, to such places as Florida, Louisiana, Arizona etc etc etc, a lot of planning is involved.  And yesterday I planned on staying  indoors in order to plan the next 2 weeks.  My head was spinning, frankly, and I don't doubt it might spin right off my neck in short order.  Of course, Sue is convinced I have flipped my lid and any chance of recovery prior to December 31, 2012 is very unlikely.  I spent most of the afternoon making flight, rental car, hotel reservations and Pelagic reservations for Florida and Louisiana, where I will be attending the Yellow Rails and Rice festival and hoping to see a few other good year birds, in addition to the rails.

By mid-afternoon I was feeling cooped up and decided to take a walk in the woods and just look at local birds in James Gardens.  However, while I was looking at sparrows and kinglets, my iPhone dinged with an e-mail with an Ontbirds report of a Townsand's Solitaire being seen by Josh Vandermeulen out at Van Wagner's Beach, across from Hutch's between the two ponds.

I ran back to the car, battled westbound rush hour traffic and made the 35 minute drive in just under an hour.  I arrived shortly after a small group of other chaser-birders, and just before a couple of enthusiastic kids who also wanted to see the Solitaire, a rare visitor to to the east.  I had chased and missed one last winter, so I was hoping I wasn't too late.  I asked the first birder I saw if they were seeing the bird and he told me it had just disappeared into a thicket a few minutes before I arrived.  Great.  Late again.

But, in this case, less than 10 minutes after I arrived the Solitaire appeared atop the thicket.  I pointed, and all heads turned to see the bird alight and fly slowly enough across the path and to the other side, giving everyone present very good looks at the bird.  I was too enthralled to think of taking a photo, as had I tried I'd have not had a good look at it and doubt I'd have taken a good photo.  I was hoping it would appear again, but only had one quick fly-by with another late arriving birder after the rest of the folks had left.  It was fun to chase after a bird again and run into a few of the local Hamilton/Niagara birders I have been seeing on and off over the past 9 months.

This afternoon, I am heading north for Boreal Owls and perhaps one or two other boreal species.  Then Tuesday am flying to the Tampa area and birding there for a few days, after I finish my work portion of the trip.  Then it's down to Miami and Key West, then to Louisiana for rails and such speciality birds as Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Bachman's Sparrow.

Happy Thanksbirding

And on the menu for this Canadian Thanksgiving Monday, we had Peach Glazed Turkey, with homemade cranberry sauce, mashed Potatoes, corn and Pumpkin Pie for dessert.  However, it was the appetizer that really made today special, as Sue and I found a Winter Wren while out birding this afternoon, where I had found the Nelson's Sparrow the previous day.  I had hoped we could find one for Sue, but I was hoping we'd also find the Winter Wren the OFO group found in what they call Dundas Marsh or the Willows.

But prior to our walk down to Spencer Creek we parked near another Royal Botanical Gardens path that was kind of like going through a corn maze, without the maze or the corn.  I was half expecting to find a rotting corpse like so many people do in episodes of CSI or Bones.  However, we found lots of nice birds and an unusual duck family, as you will see below.

Later, while walking on a path on Cootes Road we found an American Mink and that was number 16 on my list of Rodent-y things for the year.  Never thought I'd even crack a Baker's Dozen in that category.

We had lunch at Hutch's Diner at Van Wagener's Beach, and then made our way back to Coote's Road and our search for the Nelson's Sparrow and ran into Barry, who I am sure is convinced I am stalking him, as he and another fellow I've run into a few times in Hamilton, who I shall call Joe, since I am not sure I ever got his name, were also searching for Nelson's Sparrows.  We didn't see one at the dried up pond, but on the way back to the car, Sue got a good look at the Lincoln's Sparrow I had seen on the way in and then, after hearing it a number of times, finally found the Winter Wren, number 537 for the year.  Having seen the Pacific Wren a couple of weeks ago in California, I have now seen all the North American Wrens there are to see, including the oddly named Wrentit, which, is not actually a Wren.  As I told Sue when as we drove home, "One less bird to obsess about the rest of the year."  Of course, she countered, "Oh, you will find others to obsess about."

And I suppose she is right.  And so, on Thanksgiving Monday, I should be thankful to Sue for putting up with a crazed "lister," for the past 9 months.  Only 84 days to go.  She might just survive my Big Year after-all.

American Mink

Nearly lost in the No Corn-No Maze Corn Maze

The Winter Wren!

The Odd Duck Family

Teeter-totter Herons

Thanks E-bird and the OFO

Just a short post today, but one to hi-light just how much we rely on and should be thankful to our technology when it comes to birding. Thanks to a few good folks who were on yesterday's OFO Hamilton field trip, who also posted on E-bird, I had the GPS coordinates of the Nelson's Sparrows I had been seeking, without success, the last little while.

Once I parked the car in the Coot's Paradise area it didn't take long to find lots of Sparrows and in short order I got a spectacular look at the elusive, at least for me, Nelson's Sparrow.

Number 536 for the year with just a little help from the Ontario birding community.

From Humber Bay to Presquil'e in a Day

I had a lovely day to go birding with the hopes of finding a couple of new birds but instead got a really nice look at a Brant and the pleasure of birding with Fred Helleiner up at Presquil'e.

I will return next week when Gull island is not closed off for hunters.

The Final Quarter

3 months to go.  Wow.  I remember thinking on January 1, that this was the first day of the rest of my Big Year.  Well, today feels like the first day of the rest of my Big Year.  While I'd have never thought that, in my first year of birding, I'd be able to see even 500 species, I am now making a full charge toward the finish line and going for 600.

It's not going to be easy.  But even for me, I think it can can be done.  I am returning once again to Arizona and likely Texas.  I will be doing Pelagics out of New Jersey and Florida.  I will be heading down to South Florida for a couple of days, and maybe even to the Dry Tortugas if necessary.  I will go anywhere in Ontario I can drive to in a day to chase whatever shows up, including special trips for Boreal Owl and Sharp-tailed Grouse.

With the baseball season ending on Wednesday, and only a very specific work schedule the rest of the year, I will have plenty of time to go birding the next three months, and will get back to chasing.  I am not looking forward to the cold weather birding, but that comes with the territory.

And I have just booked one of the coolest trips of the year.  The Yellow Rails and Rice Festival in Louisiana.  You actually get to ride a combine through a rice field and watch as the rails are flushed from the grass.  Not sure how many birds I will add on that trip but it has got to be a hoot and a half just to do it!