Memorial Day Weekend

It's now the end of May. Most of the migrating birds have moved past, except for the occasional Blackpoll or Mourning Warbler. This past week, I had a Mourning Warbler in the yard, singing away. The male that showed up sang an unusual song. Rather than singing out the usual rolling song, this bird made a series of three whistled notes.

This Mourning Warbler was tough to
photograph, as it stayed in the densest brush

Other birds have already finished breeding here in Kunkletown. Barn Swallows, Eastern Phoebes, and Black-capped Chickadees have already successfully raised young this year. Other birds, such as Ovenbirds, Baltimore Orioles, and Eastern Bluebirds, have eggs in their nests.

For the past few days, the temperature has reached the upper eighties. This hot, humid weather has brought out more butterflies and odonates. The yard is filled with hundreds of Little Wood-Satyrs and lots of skippers. The pond edge is filled with several species of odes including my favorite, Calico Pennants.

Little Wood-Satyrs are, by far, the most abundant butterfly in the yard right now.

Finding a Pepper and Salt Skipper, like this one,
is always a treat. This one was found near a wooded seep.

This is a Unicorn Clubtail, one of the common clubtails this time of year.

This species was a bit of a surprise to find in the yard. Two Painted Skimmers,
like the one above, showed up in a wet meadow.

Ode photos

This afternoon, when the sun came out, I went photographing odes (dragonflies and damselflies) in my yard. Here are a couple of shots:

Aurora Damsel

Spangled Skimmer

Back from the World Series of Birding!

This afternoon, I returned from the 27th annual World Series of Birding in New Jersey. This year was my 4th year in the event. My team the Subadult Skuaz, consisting of Luke Seitz, Ian Davies, and me, finished with 188 species. This total was enough for us to claim first place in the youth division!

Although we had some misses, we had some good birds and had a great time.

Here is a picture of us at the Awards Brunch accepting the Pete Dunne Future Leaders of Birding award and advertising eBird.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5455499&id=337984317649


Finally, thank you to everyone who pledged for the team, drove us around (during scouting and on the World Series), and gave us scouting information!

As soon as I can, I will post a more detailed report of scouting and the big day.

World Series of Birding Scouting, Day 1

Today I started scouting for the 2010 World Series of Birding. This year, I am on the Subadult Skuaz team, which consists of three young birders from eastern United States. All pledges that I raise are donated to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. The event itself will be held on May 15, and this week, I am scouting for birds in southern New Jersey.

Early this morning, my mom and I left home at around 3:45am, and arrived at our starting location at around 7:00am. For most of the morning, we birded around many southern woodland habitats in areas such as Millville Wildlife Management Area and Belleplain State Forest. We drove around, stopping at any promising location and listened for birds. The extremely high winds made listening very challenging. Many birds were quiet and inactive. Despite the wind, we found territories for many of the "southern specialty" birds, including Orchard Oriole, White-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, and Blue Grosbeak.

In the afternoon, we headed to southern New Jersey. Our first stop on the Cape May Island was along Steven's Street. We were only here for a few minutes, but saw an immature Broad-winged Hawk fly over. From here, we went to Cape May Point State Park. Here, we walked along the ponds while watching the numerous swallows. Here we found six species of swallows, a few ducks, and watched several Osprey. In a small pond in the back, I noticed a smalls shorebird running towards me. I watched it come closer and soon realized that it was a Piping Plover, most likely one of the ones nesting on the adjacent beach.

Our next stop was "The Meadows" also known as the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge. Here we saw a large flock of terns and gulls. The majority of the flock was Laughing Gulls (80+) and Forster's Terns (90+), but there were a few Common and Least Terns and Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed, and Bonaparte's Gulls. In the water, there were several shorebirds, including several Least Sandpipers, both yellowlegs, and a Willet.

After birding Cape May, we called it a day and hit the sack. I finished the day with 98 species.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I cannot upload photos now, but as soon as I can, I will.

Backyard Big Day

The idea of doing a full-fledged backyard big day came to me on Friday night. Considering that there was most likely going to be a big movement of birds that evening, I decided that today, Saturday, would be a good day. I set my alarm clock to 4:30, and got a few hours of sleep.

At 4:30, I rolled out of bed and headed outside to begin my day of birding. I started by walking to the road, where I could listen for nocturnal migrants and any early-rising birds. The first bird of the day was a "chinking" Eastern Towhee, who for a short period of time was joined by a Song Sparrow, a Northern Cardinal, several Field Sparrows, a Chipping Sparrow, and a Brown Thrasher. The commotion lasted for about a minute, then stopped abruptly. In the silence, I was able to hear the flight call of an American Redstart.

Before long, the real dawn chorus began. The birds mentioned above, minus the redstart, again sang, and were joined by American Robins, Gray Catbird, and Wood Thrush. As the sky got lighter, small groups of Blue Jays started flying over, a sight that would not end until sundown. In the field, a couple of Eastern Bluebirds near the nestboxes sang, while a Common Yellowthroat "whichity-whichity"-ed from the scrubby edge.

As the air warmed, Ovenbirds and Black-and-white Warblers started singing in the woods. Once the sun rose above the Kittatinny Ridge, small flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers could be found feeding at the tree tops. These warblers were often joined by chickadees, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

male Black-and-white Warbler

As I walked up the ridge a bit, I heard the insect-like trill of a Worm-eating Warbler. I followed the sound, and found the bird on the side of the hill. I watched as it buzzed several times, then fly directly above me, allowing me to get some interesting photos. While watching the buffy warbler, I heard the song of a Hermit Thrush and the burry notes of a Scarlet Tanager.

Worm-eating Warbler

When I returned up the hill, I immediately heard the "boing" flight call of a Bobolink. While listening to the call, I heard several Zee-zee-zee-zoo-zees from the Black-throated Green Warblers, a couple Beer-beer-zeeeees from the Black-throated Blues, and a single Zeeeeeeee-up from a Northern Parula.

Before long, the sun had heated up the air, bringing the temperature to the upper-70s. Unfortunately, the heat caused the birds to stop singing. Fortunately for me, when the birds stop, there are always butterflies to watch! Butterflies were everywhere, but many seemed to be concentrated on a gas line cut which runs through the property. Along this strip, I found 17 species of butterflies, including some unusual ones: Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, White M Haistreak, Common Roadside-Skipper, Sleepy Duskywing, Eastern Pine Elfin, and Cobweb Skipper.

Around 2:00pm, the raptor flight picked up. I sat in the shade and peered into the scattered clouds, and was able to find four hawk and two vulture species. Mixed in with a group of buteos was a pair of Common Ravens.

When late afternoon arrived, the bird activity picked up again. Several Prairie and Blue-winged Warblers sang from the edge of the field, adding buzzy notes to the clear-noted chorus of Field and Chipping Sparrows.

Blue-winged Warbler

Finally, as the day wound down and the sun set, my list stood at 63 species. However, sunset does not mean stop birding. In the remaining light, I was able to pick out a pair of Rock Pigeons fly by, a species I had missed earlier in the day. Once the sky got dark again, I took a peek at the NEXRAD radar map. This is what I saw:

NEXRAD radar showing birds
(http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/)

That is a lot of birds!

Seeing the massive movement on the radar screen, I headed outside to listen for migrating birds. Before long, I got my 65th species for the day, a Gray-cheeked Thrush. Before long, another new bird for the day called, a Virginia Rail. This bird, which was flying over, is secretive during the day, but quite frequently heard by those who listen for nocturnal migrants. This bird was also a new bird for the yard.

Before wrapping up, I listened for a few minutes. I heard the flight calls of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Song Sparrows, Wood Thrushes, and an Ovenbird, all birds that I had seen earlier in the day.

What a great day! And if the birds keep coming in, tomorrow morning may be a good time to listen for more migrants!


Canada Goose 6
Mallard 2
Wild Turkey 4
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 13
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Virginia Rail 1
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 7
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Eastern Phoebe 3
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 86
American Crow 13
Common Raven 2
Tree Swallow 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 16
Black-capped Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 7
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
Eastern Bluebird 3
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Hermit Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 13
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling 1
Blue-winged Warbler 3
Northern Parula 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 45
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 12
American Redstart 2
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Ovenbird 20
Common Yellowthroat 1
Scarlet Tanager 3
Eastern Towhee 7
Chipping Sparrow 6
Field Sparrow 9
Song Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 3
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Baltimore Oriole 2
Purple Finch 4
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 7
House Sparrow 4

'M' is for butterfly...

Every morning, I wake up to the wonderful sound of the birds singing outside my bedroom window. These days, the chorus consists of the warble of the Purple Finch, the fast, cheery song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the nasal "inking" of a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and the harsh notes of a Brown Thrasher. Occasionally, I hear the White-throated Sparrow lamenting for Sam Peabody, but as the migration picks up, I hear fewer and fewer of these winter visitors. This morning I only found two in the yard, but warblers took the place of the missing sparrows.

In the woods this morning, I heard several Yellow-rumped, Pine, and Black-and-white Warblers. Once the sun warmed up the air, a few Blue-headed Vireos started singing. Although the focus of the migration is often on these colorful birds, many other birds have been moving. Quite frequently, I have seen Double-crested Cormorants, a bird usually associated with water, fly over the house. Also, twice in the past week, I have seen Wood Ducks fly over the yard.

With the temperatures in the upper sixties, more butterflies have emerged than the early-spring fliers, which include the Spring Azure and the Mourning Cloak. Two weeks ago, a walk through the woods would produce 4 species at the most, but now, I can find eight or more in a small area. Swallowtails have emerged during this past week, and are common throughout the woods. Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are fairly common, but the Spicebush Swallowtails seem to be ubiquitous this spring. Spreadwing Skippers, specifically Juvenal's and Sleepy Duskywings have also been flying. Here in Kunkletown, these two species seem to enjoy nectaring on the lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum) which is blooming on the ridge top.

The most exciting butterfly was one that I almost ignored. I saw a small butterfly fluttering along the ground, and assumed it was another Spring Azure. It landed in front of me, and took off when I got too close. When it flew, I noticed that the top of the wings were not the pale blue of an azure, but rather a deep, iridescent blue. When I bend down to get a better view, I realized that the little lepidoptera was a White M Hairstreak. This small butterfly is brown underneath, with a white "m" on the hindwing. There is also a small blue and an orange spot. The top is a dazzling blue color.



As a final note, a few "summer-like" animals have joined the yard. Just recently, the Gray Treefrogs started singing as well as the Pickerel Frogs and the Spring Field Crickets.

Costa Rica, Day 3

Day 3: March 8, 2010

We woke up early, around 4 am, and headed along the road to a large lagoon. Along the way, we heard several Common Pauraques, a Central American Pygmy Owl, and a single Spectacled Owl. When the sun rose, we were in the forest. We listened and watched as the birds woke up and started singing. While in the woods, we heard the distinctive call of a Green Ibis. Through the trees, we were able to see a pair of them flying above the lagoon. After seeing those, we found a White-necked Puffbird in a tree above our heads.

As we continued down the path, we heard the mournful notes of a Slaty-breasted Tinamou followed by calls of both Great and Little Tinamous. When we reached the lagoon, we immediately saw several Cattle Egrets in a tree over the water. With them, was an Amazon Kingfisher, which caught a fish upon our arrival. The water itself had very few birds, but a lone Pied-billed Grebe was a treat.

Passionflower (Passiflora vitifolia)

Although the water was fairly empty, the trees around were not. Along the water's edge, I spotted a Scaled Pigeon atop a small tree. The beautful pigeon sat in the open for several minutes before flying away. Hummingbirds zipped back and forth across the trail, primarily Rufous-tailed, but there was one Blue-chested Hummingbird which briefly sat on a flower. Most of the group headed into the woods a bit to find White-collared Manakins which could be heard from the trail. I decided to stay on the trail, hoping I could find more birds, and I am happy that I did. The trees were filled with interesting birds, including Common Tody-Flycatcher, Plain Xenops, Broad-billed Motmot, and some warblers.

Scaled Pigeon

When the group emerged from the woods, we heard a distant, but recognizable squawk--that of a Great Green Macaw. We rushed to a clearing, were we saw three of the gigantic birds fly over the trees. After the macaws, we headed back along the road, stopping a few times for Shining Honeycreepers, Squirrel Cuckoo, Blue Dacnis, and Bay Wren. Not long before reaching El Zota headquarters, my mom and I saw a large black mammal run across the road. The animal was a Tayra, an arboreal otter.

male Blue Dacnis

Squirrel Cuckoo

When we returned to the buildings at El Zota, I noticed a kettle of raptors forming overhead. The kettle consisted of about 20 Broad-winged Hawks and an Osprey. My mom and I watched as the birds streamed out and headed north. A few minutes later, while watching a male White-necked Jacobin flitting around at the top of a tree, I noticed another kettle. This one was much larger than the previous, but again, consisted mainly of Broad-wings. A few of the other guys got on the kettle, and we were able to pull out nine Swainson's Hawks and a Zone-tailed Hawk among the 80 or so Broad-wings.

Osprey and Broad-winged Hawk

Cinnamon Woodpecker at its nest

After lunch, my mom and I decided to walk along a road out of El Zota, the same one I had walked the previous afternoon. In the same spot as the day before, we found two Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrants, which were new for my mom. Along a small lagoon, we scared up an Anhinga and a Green Basilisk lizard from the shore.

Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant

male Uracis fastigiata

After the short walk, a few of the other birders set up mist nets along one of the trails. While setting up the nets, we noticed a male Black-throated Trogon sitting a few meters above us, so we called that species first. The bird responded immediately by flying down towards the net. Unfortunately, he did not go into the net. For a few minutes, the trogon flew around, at eye-level, providing incredible views of the brightly-colored bird. After a while, we gave up and tried other species, all of which got responses from birds, but unfortunately no birds flew into the net. During the mist-netting attempt, we heard/saw some neat birds, including Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Chestnut-backed Antbird, and Orange-billed Sparrow. We also watched several baby Spider Monkeys while waiting for tapes to call in the birds.

male Black-throated Trogon

After the failed atempt to catch birds, we walked along Sendero Swampo and did a bit more birding, but did not find anything incredibly exciting.

Sendero Swampo (translated: Swamp Trail) lives up to its name

After the hike, it was getting dark, so we set up a series of bat nets, much like the nets we used early to try and capture birds. During dinner, someone periodically checked them, to make sure no bats were left unattended. After dinner, no bats had been caught, but Dr. Whidden, a bat expert, set up a bat detector to get an idea of how many bats were flying around.

While checking the bat nets, we found
this Gonatodes albigularis (Yellow-headed Gecko)...

...and several Hypsiboas rufitela (Scarlet-webbed Treefrog)

We watched in amazement at the number of bat calls appearing on the screen, which showed the density of bats in the area. A little while later, while checking the bat nets, we noticed two small bats were caught. Dr. Whidden carefully removed them and brought them to a lit room for identification. This was a challenge, but we were able to determine that one was a fruit-eating bat, and the other a nectar-feeding bat.

Nectar-feeding bat (I'm not sure of the species)

Before I went to bed, I heard three Crested Owls calling from the forest.


March 8, 2010 list:

Great Tinamou
Little Tinamou
Slaty-breasted Tinamou
Pied-billed Grebe
Anhinga
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Green Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Laughing Falcon
White-throated Crake
Purple Gallinule
Northern Jacana
Pale-vented Pigeon
Scaled Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Olive-throated Parakeet
Great Green Macaw
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Red-lored Parrot
Mealy Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Crested Owl
Spectacled Owl
Central American Pygmy-Owl
Common Pauraque
Gray-rumped Swift
Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift
Bronzy Hermit
Long-billed Hermit
White-necked Jacobin
Blue-chested Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Violaceous Trogon
Black-throated Trogon
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Rufous Motmot
Broad-billed Motmot
Ringed Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
White-necked Puffbird
Collared Aracari
Keel-billed Toucan
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Chestnut-colored Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Plain Xenops
Plain-brown Woodcreeper
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Barred Antshrike
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Bright-rumped Attila
Rufous Mourner
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rufous Piha
Cinnamon Becard
Masked Tityra
Black-crowned Tityra
White-collared Manakin
Lesser Greenlet
Purple Martin
Gray-breasted Martin
Band-backed Wren
Bay Wren
Stripe-breasted Wren
Plain Wren
House Wren
White-breasted Wood-Wren
Tropical Gnatcatcher
Wood Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush
Tennessee Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Olive-crowned Yellowthroat
Buff-rumped Warbler
Bananaquit
Passerini's Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Palm Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Blue Dacnis
Green Honeycreeper
Shining Honeycreeper
Variable Seedeater
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
Orange-billed Sparrow
Black-striped Sparrow
Black-headed Saltator
Black-faced Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Montezuma Oropendola
Olive-backed Euphonia

Jaguar track

Tayra
Spider Monkey
White-faced Capuchin
Howler Monkey
Varigated Squirrel

Agouti track

Green Basilisk
Strawberry Poison Dart Frog
Black-and-Green Poison Dart Frog
"Brown" Spectacled Caimam