little year

Today we took a trip up to Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin--our first of the year, I'm surprised to say. The Wisconsin email list reported two rarities, and we saw them both: a BLACK-NECKED STILT and an AMERICAN AVOCET. We hadn't seen these birds since our trip to Texas last year, and it was a strange sight. Lucky for us, the birds also attracted two very good birders: Tom and Carol Sykes. Tom is the administrator of the WISB list that brought us up here. It was a hot day, and the Sykeses were able to get us two lifers: a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. They helped us navigate our binoculars through the dried-up mud using fish carcases as bearings. Best sighting of the day, though, might have been a LEAST WEASEL that dashed across the road in front of our car. Good day: two rarities, two lifers, and a weasel. But then a weasel day is always a good day.

posted by Scrubb at 09:11 PM | permalink | stuck under lifers + other animals

We toured Santa Fe yesterday, but did no birding. Today we headed out north to Bandelier National Monument to visit the Pueblo ruins and, yes, do some birding. We concentrated on the ruins on our first go through, though we still carried our bins. The last stop on the tourist trail is Alcove House, which you get to by climbing a series of long ladders. They warn you it's not for everyone, and since Pole is acrophobic, she decided to sit it out. I bravely went up the first ladder on my own, but it was pretty spooky; the ladders are long and crooked. I hate to admit it, but I chickened out and went back down, which was even scarier than going up. Most humiliating of all were the little kids who passed me up. A birder, you say, afraid of death? Go figure.

Continue reading "recalculating" »

posted by Scrubb at 09:33 PM | permalink | stuck under lifers + other animals

Last Wednesday (the 24th) we left on what's becoming our annual winter trip to Gunflint Lodge in Minnesota. January 28th is Pole's birthday, so that's primary reason we make the trip. Unfortunately, we only had a full three days up here, so the whole trip was rushed, and a bit of a disappointment, really. The entire last day -- the 28th -- was spent driving the 1000 miles from Gunflint (basically the Canadian border) to Chicago. Happy Birthday, Pole.

Continue reading "if you could read my mind, we wouldn't be here" »

posted by Scrubb at 02:06 PM | permalink | stuck under lifers + other animals

Today was my birthday, and so we made it a day with a trip to Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. The most vivid memory is going to be all the dead snapping turtles on Rt. 49, the road that runs right through the marsh. Fresh kills, too, in pools of blood. Most of the carcases were on the side of the road, which means the killers are probably birders who aren't paying attention. It's a gravel road, so they probably don't even notice the sickening crunch. Though Pole was kind of freaked out, these senseless deaths bug me in particular because I have a special affinity for turtles. (You see, I keep my innermost self hidden deep inside an emotional shell. Oh, and I have a scaly, reptilian tail.)

Four new birds for Little Year, all of which we saw along the side of the turtle-strewn Rt. 49: a SORA, a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and a single female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. The best sight for me, though, was a Ruddy Duck, which I missed back in March. So now I'm only 11 birds behind Pole. Still sucks.

posted by Scrubb at 05:59 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + other animals + shorebirds

"Read more about me after the jump!"Today was devoted to Hiawatha National Forest, which is on the east side of the peninsula. The forest is laced with dirt and sand roads, and it's also supposed to be laced with birds. We found the roads all right -- they had beautiful names like FR3344 and FR3145 -- but the birds were no shows. It was a pretty place all the same, especially since we were the only people there. We didn't leave the car very often, though, because of the bugs. So I guess today was a typical Little Year day: beautiful scenery empty of birds. If we want lifers, maybe we need to go somewhere butt ugly, like Texas. The highlight for me, though, was the abandoned Raco Airport.

Continue reading "lost airport of the turtles" »

posted by Scrubb at 08:09 PM | permalink | stuck under lifers + other animals

If only my own mother were so tender . . .Just about 45 miles away from where we were staying on Michigan's Garden Peninsula is the gargantuan Seney National Wildlife Refuge. I've been wanting to go there for some time, but since it's only open from May 15th to October 15th, I've always just missed that small window of visiting opportunity. But not today, Seney will not be missed, no sir, Seney will not be missed.

Continue reading "seen at seney [260 - 264]" »

posted by Pole at 10:12 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + lifers + other animals

Soft focus makes the Kirtland's sexyAfter a long drive north, we made it to Gaylord, Michigan this morning at 1 am. We came to see the endangered Kirtland's Warbler, one of the rarest birds in the States. It only breeds in a small area in northern Michigan, so if you want to see it, this is where you come. You can only view its breeding grounds on official tours run by rangers, and we met ours this morning at 11 am at a hotel in Grayling, a little south of Gaylord. We had two guides, the master (Chris) and the apprentice (Sean). The viewing season started today, so Sean was just learning the ropes. There was just one other birder on the tour, so we made a three-car convoy to the site.

Continue reading "the kirtland's, feathered and plastic [245 - 249]" »

posted by Scrubb at 11:56 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + challenges + lbjs + lifers + other animals

Osprey with digitally docked tailFirst thing today, we checked out the South Padre Island Convention Center, which is supposed to be a good spot. It was. It's right on the water, and strolling in the sands we saw BLACK SKIMMERS and a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. It would have been nice to see a skimmer actually skimming, but we did see it actually being black (and white and orange), which is something.

Plenty of birders were ogling the shrubbery near the center, so we joined them, managing to see a BLACKPOLL WARBLER, a SCARLET TANAGER, and a TENNESSEE WARBLER. In a year or two, the convention center is going to become the World Birding Center, which sounds pretty highfalutin'. But what that means beyond a gift shop, I can't tell you. At present, though, they've built a nice walkway through the marsh to the water, and that's where I digiscoped the osprey. There's a large water tower nearby, and a nice old couple pointed out a small hawk perched high up on one of its railings. With a scope, it proved to be a PEREGRINE FALCON.

Continue reading "laguna del morte [192 - 205]" »

posted by Scrubb at 07:13 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + lifers + other animals

And don't forget the venomous ivyToday started as another driving day, this time from Rockport to South Padre Island. We paused at a rest stop along the way, and saw the amazing sign on the left. Never mind that they mean "venomous," not "poisonous," but what halfwit is going to walk their pet after reading such a warning? Only in Texas. Lots of boat-tailed grackles here, and this was the first time we heard their outrageous squawking. They can make the most hellish, unbirdlike sounds imaginable. That must be why they're called "niños del diablo." (I just made that up.)

We drove south on Route 77, a raptor hotspot, and sure enough, we spotted a CRESTED CARACARA and HARRIS’S HAWK in short order. Pole got to claim them first because she saw them longer and knew what to look for. But we saw more of both before long, so I got to check them off, too. In fact, the Harris's were all over the place.

Continue reading "like hell, but with sno-cones [179 - 191]" »

posted by Scrubb at 07:07 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + challenges + lifers + other animals + raptors

No, ma'am, we sure won'tLast night we drove south to Rockport. Most of the drive was in the dark, and we passed several refineries glowing in the night. Ugly places -- talk about your Dark Satanic Mills. Our first birding stop this morning was Goose Island State Park, which is on the Lamar peninsula. Before we entered the park proper, we stopped off to see the Big Tree, which is the Texas State Champion Oak, whatever the hell that means. It's a big ol' tree, and best of all, we saw a BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE in its branches, a lifer for us both. The area was different from most what we'd seen in Texas so far, since there wasn't garbage everywhere. The reason? The Lamar Women's Club. (See photo.)

Continue reading "playtime for turkeys [174 - 178]" »

posted by Scrubb at 08:02 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + lifers + other animals

Pole on High Island, resplendent in her birder plumageToday we returned to High Island . . . prepared. The day started out well because we got to check out of the odious La Quinta. We skipped their lousy breakfast, and headed straight to Gander Mountain. Pole wanted to get some of that new-fangled clothing that's impregnated with bug repellent. They didn't have it, so instead, we got long-legged, long-sleeved sunblock outfits (UPF 30) that we changed into at the store. Of course, with our sensible pants and shirts, we now looked like the typical dorky birder I ridiculed in yesterday's post. Pole is particular about how she dresses, and she wasn't happy about her outfit. And I was kind of disappointed in her, too. The good thing about birding with Pole is that if there are no birds around, I can at least look at her.

Continue reading "a blessed day, hot as hell [143 - 173]" »

posted by Scrubb at 07:52 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + challenges + lifers + other animals + shorebirds

Pole in Anahuac (on a tilt, as poles often are)Last Friday we left for a week-long trip to Texas. We drove Friday night and all of Saturday. Not straight through, mind you. We stopped in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on Friday and made it to Beaumont, Texas last night. So today -- Easter Sunday -- was our first day birding the Texas coast. And though today was our biggest day ever for birds, it may have been the worst day ever, too.

Starting with the worst, the hotel was a dump. It was old and run down and in the middle of an industrial area right next to the highway. I won't tell you its name, but let's just say it was a La Quinta Inn. We knew we were here to bird, so we got over that pretty quick. (Right.) So this morning we headed for the coast down Route 124 toward Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. It wasn't long before we saw some CATTLE EGRETS in a field along the side of the road. And the a BLACK VULTURE flying above us. Two lifers from the get-go. Then we hit it big.

Continue reading "awful, but it's where the birds are [107 - 142]" »

posted by Scrubb at 08:40 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + challenges + gulls + lifers + other animals + shorebirds

Today we made the year's first trip to Indiana. We went to Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, which is an old favorite, though we haven't been there for over a year. It's a 80-mile drive south of Chicago, through miles and miles of flat cornfields. Very dull. Very Midwest. In the past, we had luck at the area's Salisbury Rookery, a large marsh that was often full of ducks. But when we drove by today, all the water had gone: the rookery had become a soybean field.

Continue reading "first hoosier expedition [81 - 92]" »

posted by Scrubb at 09:14 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + challenges + lifers + other animals

Here's a picture of Gunflint Lake during a snowstorm. That little dot on the ice is a timber wolf. Obviously, I haven't figured out digiscoping yet. Seeing it was one of the highlights of the trip, though you'd never know from this sucky picture. I saw the wolf was just after dawn, and though Pole was up, she wasn't out yet. By the time I got her, the wolf had gone.

Continue reading "with this camera i shot the wolf" »

posted by Scrubb at 07:31 PM | permalink | stuck under other animals

Pole on the George Washington Pines Trail

Last night we arrived at Gunflint Lodge on Gunflint Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail. It would be nice if I could say it was in the town of Gunflint, too, but it ain't. Driving the trail at night, we saw two moose calves, and in the morning, lots of tame whitetail deer around the cabins. At one point I counted something like 16 outside our window. The lodge has corn so the guests can feed them, which means the deer become spoiled pests. A big doe actually stamped her foot at me when she thought I was going to mess with the corn I had given her. I stamped my foot right back at her, the ingrate.

Continue reading "more deer than birds [38 - 43]" »

posted by Scrubb at 08:26 PM | permalink | stuck under LIST + lifers + other animals