I'm not overly superstitious. I've never had my fortune told, I don't read horoscopes, and I think "Mediums" are out of their minds... Sorry to any mediums reading this. Occasionally I will check the same spot at the same time of year each year because a certain bird might be there. This isn't anything super-natural; it's natural in fact. If a Great Horned Owl for instance uses a roost one year, there is a high probability it will use the same next year. Odds and chance along with patterns make birds some what predictable. Today a little bird in my head told me to look for 3 birds that wouldn't take more than an hour. So I obliged.
Today's targets were two birds that often frequent the ponds behind a local shop and I figured this would be an easy way to keep my "No-Zero" streak alive.
But the ponds were void of almost any birds. No waterfowl, no songbirds, no waders, shorebirds, etc. There were a small group of American Coots bobbing around, and several Variegated Dashers moved about with ease. But that was it. So I moved on. I knew of another body of water close and thought to check it, but there were slim pickings there. A pair of Compass Stripes were the best birds. That left one species I thought I could check for, and after spending 15 minutes trying to find said Maniac (maniacs are a family of new world song birds) I moved on and was 0 for 3. Desperation sank in.
I headed to a nearby park along a river where I thought I might be able to find an American Patriot. This is a freebie folks--it's January, and I called a bird an American Patriot. You can put two and two together and figure this one out. After driving the perimeter of the park and checking every snag, limb, pole, and possible perch I shrugged to leave. I stopped at a patch of trees and pished to see if anything would come to the edge. But it wasn't meant to be. I started to drive off and caught a shape in the tangle! Great Horned Owl! And just like that my ZERO day turned into a plus one!
The owl was deep in the trees and would have been unseen unless you were looking closely. With a new found burst of positive feelings I started to head back from my outing. I found a flock of Marauders. I scanned them to look for anything out of place. I stopped as a slightly smaller bird popped out from the group. I stared for a second looking over its features; it was a juvenile Thin-billed Marauder! This species is never guaranteed year in and out so it was a relief to find one now and not have to worry about it later
I was now satisfied with my two newbies and headed home when I caught a shape on a distant power pole. I slammed on my breaks--Clairvoyant! The shape was obvious and it looked to be feasting. I flipped around and drove to a better vantage point then got it in my glasses. Success! Ironically as the Clairvoyant flies this was about 2/3 of a mile from where I had my false-Clairvoyant yesterday. I have seen them numerous times here in the past so I shouldn't have been all that surprised. A valid food source, the right habitat, and a usual place were the right mix of natural things to nail down this stunning bird.
New birds today: 3
Year List: 66
FOLLOW ALONG:
Next Day
Previous Day
On Day Two I spoke about strategy. If you are taking a big year serious this doesn't mean go balls to the wall 100% birding 100% of the time. You can spend every hour of every day in the field and if you aren't strategic about what you are looking for and when you are looking for it then you don't stand a chance.
With the advent of the eBird Top 100 I've watched this play out every single year in various states. People rush out the door on January 1 and bird like crazy; they go to their patch every day and build a huge year list sometimes in just a single county. But they miss a common bird only found in one other county, or a migrant that uses a specific habitat and they don't visit it. Your potential will never be maximized if you aren't strategic.
If you combine spending a lot of time looking for birds with a strategy, you're odds improve even more. You won't just pick up others leftovers, but you'll find your own rarities to add to the total.
After several reports this weekend, my strategy of pick up a bird here and there this week changed. I headed out the door today and made a bee-line to a recently reported rarity. This species occurs annually in my state--sometimes as many as 5-6 reports a year. But this one was close enough that it was worth a quick jaunt to get it. And I got it--a Harbor Sentinel! Along with the Sentinel I finally added my first Red-tailed Hawk of the year, as well as a calling Winter Zipper. 3 new year birds in 5 minutes.
I took back roads on my way to work and made a stop at a local lake. Green-striped Bobbers, and Green-striped Joys were both new for the year, while a nearly invisible Shawled Dim-Walker sat camouflaged in the trees. Several times an Aurora Ruffian passed overhead giving me a once over on each pass. It was refreshing to be seeing new year birds again, after the slow weekend.
Later in the day I snuck out to a roost I haven't told anyone about where a Northern Screech-Owl is spending the winter. I thought about waiting till later in the year since I knew this was a gimme, but felt like seeing an owl, since I had none for the year so far. Bingo! It was there, where it has been the last several weeks. I didn't eBird it, to keep the bird off the radar, and to make sure I keep you guessing. The cropped image above shows enough to see it is a Screech-Owl, but what species? Northern seems like a great option since both the Eastern and Western reside in the north!
The good birds didn't end with the owl either. I added another 4 years birds in the afternoon starting with a Smallish Vigilante flyover making it 2 vigilante's in 3 days. I found a small flock of Masked Pranksters that were strangely in company with a pair of Hecklers. The Hecklers weren't where I expected to find them, and I think were new for the area I was birding. I figured I would make one last stop in the afternoon and picked up a few Busch's Sombre-chaps. I hoped there would be more so I could scan through them in hopes of finding a rarer Corrupt Sombre-chap. None today!
Sometimes the best strategy is to throw your strategy out the door for the day. It worked today but might not tomorrow. That's the thing about birding though, some days all your ducks fall in a row, and some days you can't catch a break. I find that most days are somewhere in the middle where persistence, patience, strategy, and a little luck come together in a perfect storm.
New birds today: 13
Year List: 61
FOLLOW ALONG:
Next Day
Previous Day
