On hosting rare birds

So there’s been more than a few hints that I’ve been keeping something quiet for a few months and I finally more or less revealed what is was the other day. Now, here’s the story.

December 1st was a pretty typical Tuesday. I got up around 7, checked the feeders quickly, read the paper, ate breakfast, and got ready for work. There was nothing at the feeders when I looked, so the House Sparrow that was sitting outside the sink window as I got my lunch together was the first bird of the day. It flew a few feet and I noticed a bit of white in the tail and wings. That probably should have been a sign to look closely, but I just assumed it was last year’s leucistic bird returning.

Five minutes later, I headed out the door to work. I immediately heard a chirp that sounded different from everything I’ve heard 1. The ‘sparrow’ flew up into one of the trees and I scrambled to get my binoculars out. I’m still not sure what I expected to see (obviously something new for the yard) but not anything close to this:

For some reason, even though it had been about 12 years since I had been to Europe, that collar stuck in my memory and I remembered Chaffinch. Rushing back inside, I ran for the camera but the bird apparently moved and I couldn’t find it quickly. After a quick reference check to make sure I was thinking of the right bird, I headed off to work, leaving instructions to keep an eye out and call me immediately.

At work, I made a quick sketch and emailed my friend Marj. Then I waited (and didn’t accomplish much). Finally (4PM and approaching dark), my parents called and said it was on the deck. After quizzing them, I left them to get pictures. I’ll just say it’s fortunate that we had another couple months to improve on those.

Wednesday morning, I was up early. The bird was as well, on the deck at 6:45. Marj arrived a few minutes later and he (as we now realized, my brief views the day before left me thinking it was a female) came back and forth, allowing for easy study. I sent an email saying that I would be late for work and Marj called our friend Bob, who rushed right over.

Unfortunately, our yard is not ideal for viewing, especially on the deck. There’s nowhere to stand outside (trees or feeders everywhere), so we immediately realized that it would not be possible to make the bird public. We discussed options for a little while, and I headed off to work.

I ended up running home on my lunch break. The first wave of additional visitors were either present or on the way. Having one of them being the only one to greet me was a bit surreal. The bird was very cooperative, giving plenty of chances to check for any anomalies (a couple primaries appeared missing or damaged but otherwise things were fine).

The afternoon had the first scare. Bob had returned (with a memory card for his camera this time) and was sitting around talking to my parents when they looked out and saw a Cooper’s Hawk sitting in the brush the bird had been perched on a few minutes before. When the hawk dove down, they all ran out and scared it off. No feathers and no obvious kill, but it was apparently a tense few minutes until he returned.

Once I got home for the day, I started sending out some invitations. For most of the next couple weeks, we had people in and out most of each day. Almost everyone saw the bird quickly (two people had an extended wait as the street was being dug up and a few needed a second trip as they had other commitments). I missed most of this, but did spend most of my weekends taking over the hosting.

Fortunately, the bird settled into a regular schedule pretty quickly and was normally in the first group of cardinals and white-throats of the day and again with them at dusk. This proved to be very good for the Greater Boston CBC. The CBC had to be postponed due to a snowstorm (which wiped out more than a couple other rarities in the circle) and as a result, the people I had asked to house sit and make sure we got the bird had to back out. Fortunately, he was on the deck just after 7, so we were able to meet the rest of the group at the scheduled start time.

By the end of December, Harry (as we now called him to allow conversation in public without anyone else knowing) had discovered the feeder on the side of the driveway and started spending more time over there. It didn’t affect the views, but photography got much harder. He also started showing up a bit later in the mornings (but still regular, so this was a good change).

I took a trip into the MCZ collections at the end of December to go through a few specimens. In hindsight, this didn’t accomplish much but it’s always a fun thing to do. We did learn that the odd-looking feathers on the tail were actually normal.

Our 100th visitor came by on January 8th. Things slowed down a bit, but we still had people a couple mornings a week. Towards the end of January, he spent his first day away from the feeders but he was back the next day. Although various Accipiters had passed through most days (I could pick out at least 4 different individuals), the biggest scare came on January 29. Late in the afternoon, the Bloggerhead Kingbirds stopped by. A Sharpie passed through and the person at the window thought it may have chased him out of the yard. Since it was already late afternoon, we were unsure if the lack of a return visit meant anything, but the next morning was quite anxious. Fortunately, he came back and the 4 guests (all from out of state) got excellent views (I was getting close to getting a search expedition going for feather piles in the neighbors’ yards).

About few days before this, the latest North American Birds arrived. Flipping through, one of the first things I saw was a note about a number of Chaffinch sightings in Quebec over the summer (there’s a brief discussion in the Changing Seasons column that you can download at the link above, issue 63:3 but see page 390 if you have the magazine). With this information, banding the bird and getting a feather sample became a priority again. It had been discussed earlier and I was willing to try but didn’t push when nothing seemed to be arranged. But now I really wanted to know the origin, which may be possible with a stable isotope analysis.

After a few emails were exchanged, Trevor Lloyd-Evans, director of banding at Manomet, came by with a couple traps. We had a very pleasant afternoon talking, but no bird. The traps were out for a few days without any success (and possibly were scaring things away) so we pulled them and decided to use a mist net.

Unfortunately, this was right as we were heading to Texas. We asked our neighbors to keep the feeders filled and invited Marj to try and coordinate with Trevor but the timing didn’t work. Fortunately (and shockingly), I spotted Harry within an hour of getting home and we were able to arrange for the everyone to come by the next day.

I’ll post the banding story in more detail later, but things ran far better than expected. Instead of spending a day plucking House Sparrows as we planned, he was caught within 15 minutes (with 3 White-throats and no House Sparrows). Clearly not bothered by the experience, he was back within a couple hours of being released.

As it got warmer out, he tended to not show up in good weather. If there was a storm, he was around all day, but 5 minutes on other days was a lot. Even so, into the first weekend of March only one person had come by and not seen him. He sang for the first time (that I heard at least) on March 4 (as posted). That Saturday was the day of the Birder’s Meeting and 7 people stopped by before or after, all missing. Somewhat surprisingly as Sunday was a nice day, he made a brief appearance for 4 visitors (and was singing again, from across the street).

The huge rainstorm on the weekend of the 14th didn’t seem to bother him (he actually seemed to stay drier than most birds). Our last 3 visitors came by just before things got bad on Saturday and all had success. It appears that he headed off sometime that week as we did not see him in the lighter storm the following weekend (it was too nice in between to be sure, although I suspected he was gone as I had windows open and didn’t hear anything).

So that explains the last three and a half months. It was very enjoyable on the whole. Over 140 people were able to come by and in the end, only 6 did not see him (3 of those only put in about 15 minutes). Most were obviously from Massachusetts but we had people from as far as Georgia (and others from further made plans but had to cancel). There were a few days where I would have preferred to have slept in (or even just to my normal 7:00 wakeup) and there were days when going out would have been nice. Fortunately, it was winter so most birds didn’t go anywhere (and even without being reported for 2 months, the only real rarity, the Sage Thrasher, is included in that).

The people were all great. Everyone was friendly and appreciative. After the initial group, I relied on others to make suggestions and was able to invite a large majority of them. Everyone seemed to understand the situation and pretty much everyone went through me to invite others (instead of having them contact me). Vague word did get out, but I don’t think it was in any detail (a couple people mentioned hearing rumors that were not exactly accurate, and two people did get some details the first day but they would have been invited almost immediately anyway).

With that said, if something similar happens again, I hope I’ve moved to a location that allows for easier viewing from the street (and more parking). Not because I disliked dealing with all the people, but because it wasn’t fun having to keep things quiet and try to coordinate with everyone.

1. Similar to this recording.

WIR 3/29-4/3

Monday 3/29: Rainy but checked Woerd Ave briefly (3 Wood Duck) and Moody St (the Double-crested Cormorant that flew over on the way down was just below the waterfall on the way back).

Tuesday 3/30: Little too rainy to put it lightly. Did end up at Hardy Pond but too wet to even roll the window down. I know there were a few Common Mergansers out there but no clue what else.

Wednesday 3/31: Walked the road at Prospect Hill a bit but nothing worth mentioning.

Thursday 4/1: Paine: 2 Pine Warblers, 2-3 Phoebes.

Friday 4/2: Day off. Started at Dunback. Long walk looking for Red-shoulders and Fox Sparrows without any. Two phoebes were about it. Quick stops at the Beaver Brook Ponds and Hardy Pond didn’t have much either. Afternoon trip to Arlington Res was about equally productive.

Saturday 4/3: Decided to try and find an Upland Sandpiper at Hanscom. No luck with that, but first of year Swamp Sparrow, Field Sparrows, Wild Turkey (displaying), and Eastern Meadowlark plus a kestrel made it worthwhile. Also a brief walk at Assabet River NWR added Spring Azure and the Infant (moth).

Sunday 4/4: Rock Meadow and BBN were both pretty quiet. Many Tree Swallows at Rock Meadow. Field and Swamp Sparrows were both in at BBN along with a flock of Cedar Waxwings. Phoebes were building a nest at the water tower. Forgetful: Hairy in the yard, one of a handful of records. Woodcock walk for WLT at night ended up not seeing any, not sure why.

What's in the bag?

Mystery bag

It’s been an interesting 3+ months and since I’m telling other people they can start talking, I should have something up first. Much, much more in the next few days.

(Photos from 2/15)

WIR 3/22-3/28

Monday 3/22: Prospect Hill in the drizzle. Killdeer flying over turned out to be new for me at the site but otherwise very little.

Tuesday 3/23: Hardy Pond in the heavier rain. Scanned quickly as I pulled up and saw 2 Bufflehead and almost didn’t bother looking again after I ate. Good thing I did as I immediately rushed out of the car to get the scope on 3 Lesser Scaup. Otherwise about the same as the last week (wigeon were up to 4 but no new arrivals).

Wednesday 3/24: Woerd Ave at lunch. Too windy and wet to find much, but 8 ring-necks were in the cove.

Thursday 3/25: Took a long walk at Beaver Brook North but didn’t see much of anything.

Friday 3/26: Cold and didn’t go out.

Saturday 3/27: Dunback and Waltham St. in the morning. Red-shouldered Hawk was the big highlight, but several Wilson’s Snipe weren’t bad either. Arlington Res later was pretty quiet.

Sunday 3/28: Did some work on future trail locations at Lot 1 in the morning. Poked around a bit first without much of anything. Since the Sage Thrasher was back at Salisbury, I finally made the effort in the afternoon and watched it feed for about 40 minutes (pictures sooner or later, other things are more important right now).

WIR 3/15-3/21

Monday 3/15: Raining still.

Tuesday 3/16: Back side of Prospect Hill as it was likely the only place not under water or all mud. First Mourning Cloak of the year.

Wednesday 3/17: BBN without much of note.

Thursday 3/18: Had a Killdeer while running to another school today and then Wood Frogs at Paine (plus another cloak). Peepers were out at the end of the street after dark, probably should have been checking for the last few days.

Friday 3/19: Beaver Brook Ponds: no birds of note but the storm damage was impressive, a large part of the back trail was washed out and there were a couple big sink holes. Woodcock watching at night was limited by the water covering all the trails but we still heard 3 from Falzone Field. A bat was flying around as well.

Weekend 3/20-21: Posted separately. Hardy Pond had the same wigeon/bufflehead/hoodies.

Spring to Bird

The weather was good for a change this weekend and I didn’t have anything keeping me in (is that a hint for an upcoming post?) so an actual post about birding is required.

Saturday began with a walk around Rock Meadow. While checking the gardens, I found my first Tree Swallow of the year way off in the distance. Working that way, there were bluebirds checking the boxes and another swallow in closer. I checked the marsh area without finding much and then the back side (wettest spot of the day and nothing of interest).

I proceeded into Beaver Brook North and headed towards the Great Horned spot. On the way, the vernal pool had flooded the trail but there happened to be side trails that went around the one spot almost exactly at each end. The pool also hosted 5 Wood Ducks. No luck with any Great Horned, so I continued to the West Meadow.

Passing below the apartments, I found my first Comma of the year and followed that with my first Eastern Phoebe (heard only however). The marsh was as wet as expected but the boardwalk was above it. Unfortunately all that I found in the water were a few geese and Mallards. A Sharpie passing overhead was nice.

Back at the Met State side, I finished the loop back to Rock Meadow without finding much of anything. There were several more Tree Swallows at Rock Meadow and I ran into my friend Jon and met his son Ben. While talking to them, two hawks flew over. Expecting a pair of Red-tails, I was surprised to see one was a Cooper’s and was taking swipes at the Red-tails.

Finishing that walk, I decided to head to Dunback to look for Fox Sparrows and then check for snipe at the Waltham St. Fields. Dunback turned out to be a waste as I walked from the tennis courts to the birches and saw almost nothing but grackles and Song Sparrows. Although I didn’t find any snipe at Waltham St., I did have 2 Killdeer, a Green-winged Teal, and 2 Savannah Sparrows.

After a stop at home for lunch, I headed to the Charles with my parents to see how the storm affected things. The water was way up (I think the waterfall dropped 6 inches at most) and the paths were as clean as I’ve seen them. Unfortunately, there were very few birds. Highlights included a single Fish Crow and this Sharp-shinned Hawk:

Sharpie

On Sunday, I joined the Menotomy walk to some of the Boston Harbor sites. I ended up carpooling with Karsten (the leader) and after picking up his friend Niclas, we went to do a bit of scouting. The couple landbird stops we made were pretty dull (Red-tails were about the most exciting thing). We walked the back trail at Belle Isle without finding much, but at the tower we had a few shovelers and 2 Green-winged Teal. We then passed the group, made a quick coffee stop and a quick scan for any early arriving plovers.

Meeting up with the rest of the group, we headed into Winthrop. Our first stop was Small Park, where we had good numbers of grebes, eiders, scoters, a couple loons, and some seals. Considering the wind was supposed to be pretty bad onshore, it was very mild (much more so than previous times I’ve been here).

The next stop was Deer Island. We didn’t venture too far from the parking lot but I was impressed and will have to make a point of doing the whole loop at some point. From opposite the parking lot, we had many Long-tailed Ducks, a few scoter, some goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Brant, and a few loons and grebes. We started around to the other side when Niklas found a pipit. We doubled back slightly and the bird took off onto the beach. It disappeared even as we all scoped the general area where it landed. Eventually we gave up and went back to checking the water. There were many Surf Scoters but not much else different.

We then moved on to Snake Island. Oystercatchers had arrived earlier in the week and we quickly found two. The sun wasn’t great but everyone got fairly good looks. We moved on to the beach, which was quiet. At the far end, the Red-necked Grebes were staging and we counted close to 100.

The trip officially ended here, but we continued on and rechecked the far end of Revere Beach for plovers. On the way back, we stopped briefly along the Mystic Lakes. A Great Cormorant flew by at Sandy Beach but it was quiet otherwise. We made a brief stop at the Arlington Res where a scan produced 2 Ruddy, 1 Bufflehead, 2 Gadwall, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

An excellent weekend, very nice to be out and about again.

WIR 3/8-3/14

Monday 3/8: Prospect Hill, nice walk but nothing of note.

Tuesday 3/9: Met State, see yesterday. Grackles have fully arrived in the neighborhood.

Wednesday 3/1: Paine, see yesterday.

Thursday 3/11: Beaver Brook ponds. Bob’s Ring-necks had departed and not much else was around. Nothing good among the geese at Fernald either.

Friday 3/12: Hardy Pond had lots of ducks including 25+ Common Mergansers, 5 Hoodies, 1 Ruddy, 3 Ring-necks, 3 Bufflehead, and a Wigeon.

Saturday 3/13: Stayed in, good bit at the feeders but nothing different (other than a passing falcon that I barely got on).

Sunday 3/14: Heavy rain all day.

TX 2010: Day 5

Feb 11

Today, we headed to Laguna Atascosa. It was drizzly to rainy when we arrived and the staff were almost surprised that anyone showed up. Luckily it stopped enough to walk the trails near the visitor’s center for a few minutes. We didn’t see too much (unfortunately the Blue Bunting didn’t show up until a day or two later).

Starting around the auto loop, we had many thrashers and a few ducks. Unfortunately the fog rolled in, so viewing the water was not easy, especially along the bay. We were able to pick out a few of the sandpipers and egrets but most were getting lost. One good bird on the way was a Grasshopper Sparrow that was sitting in the road. I was able to roll the car right up to it and snap a few shots:

Grasshopper

Continuing around, we were passed by a couple cars and seeing more of the same. Eventually I saw something small pop up off the road. I pulled over and surprisingly was able to find it in the vegetation. It looked pipitish, so I pulled out the scope. It flew again but I again managed to refind it and confirm the blank face of a Sprague’s Pipit. This was one bird that I was hoping for but not anticipating finding. The area also had a few Gull-billed Terns flying around, of which I managed a couple marginal (for a marginal definition of marginal) photos.

Gull-billed

Completing the loop, we drove to the observation platform and trail. It started raining a bit, but we walked down the trail to the pond. The water there was almost over the platform and the only bird on the water was a Least Grebe. Getting back turned out to be a muddy mess.

From here, we began the long drive to Rockport. Before really getting going, we did get a fairly decent look at a perched White-tailed Hawk. The drive was fairly quiet (and rainy off and on). A stop at the Sarita rest stop had more than a couple Brewer’s Blackbirds, another overdue lifer. Instead of taking the camera, I decided to drive up to the flock and get some pictures on the way out. Of course, the birds took off in by the time we did so.

Other than a big traffic jam near Corpus Christi (which was stop and go for probably 40 minutes, note this for later), we didn’t have any major issues and reached Rockport (or Fulton), where we got a room at the Best Western for the next two nights. Dinner was at Charlotte Plummer’s (which took a bit of work to find with the road being dug up). The food was excellent, especially the shrimp gumbo (thanks for the recommendation Paul).

Tomorrow: Aransas NWR and vicninity

WIR 3/1-3/7

Monday 3/1: Busy with family things but took a quick walk over to Hardy Pond. Almost totally frozen still but a few gulls, geese, mallards, and swans in the little open water.

Tuesday 3/2: BBN, nothing of note (other than what appeared to be the remains of a deer carcass).

Wednesday 3/3: Charles was very windy but 3 Great Cormorants were very nice (two adults with spectacular color). Also 5 ring-necks and 2 goldeneye.

Thursday 3/4: Checked more of the Charles (Woerd Ave and Charlesbank) with absolutely nothing (snowing and strong wind though). Lots of song in the yard though.

Friday 3/5: Beaver Brook ponds, nothing much. Got out of work a little early and tried to take a quick run to Nine Acre Corner and Water Row. NAC was too trafficy and no teal were obvious. Water Row (and River Rd) were flooded and closed and by the time I detoured around and got to the Old 27 Bridge it was getting too dark. And there were no ducks (a few red-wings and muskrats were about it).

Saturday 3/6: At the Birder’s Meeting most of the day. Skipped the last session and poked around a bit but nothing of any note.

Sunday 3/7: Caught up with the Menotomy walk at Dunback in time for 4 Turkey Vultures. Wandered over to Great Meadows and the to Heard Pond after. Great Meadows was flooded but scanning from the tower for 30 minutes revealed a few ducks and one Bald Eagle flying by. Nine Acre Corner had a few Green-winged Teal but no luck with the Eurasian. Water Row had a few ducks way out but nothing I could make into anything Heard Pond was frozen. Cambridge Res on the way home had 2 Ring-necks and 9 Common Mergansers.