Back to Montezuma

   I recently visited the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. I was hoping to find some birds there that I probably wouldn't find around here. As it turned out I just missed seeing a major migration of shore birds. A few days earlier, least sandpipers and dunlins alone had numbered into the hundreds. There were still flocks of shorebirds at the refuge when I was there, but not as many as there were previously and they were too far away for me to identify with just my binoculars. Never the less I was hoping I could at least find one or two shorebirds wondering around closer to the road and within range of my visibility. Even though the bird population at Montezuma was much lower than when migrants come through we had a good time hunting for birds and found a few new birds for my birding list for this year.

    The pond by the visitors’ center…wasn’t. It had largely dried up. Except for puddles of water here and there the pond was a field of grass with Canadian geese walking around in it. The bird houses by the visitor's center were swarming with purple martins. That was good. I needed to find purple martins for my list for this year.

   As we drove down Wildlife Drive the first pool on the left had Canada geese and mallards in it, nothing all that exciting. Then I noticed a small dark bird near the edge of the water. When I focused my binoculars on him I could see bright red on the forehead, a moorhen! Now that’s more like what I was hoping to find here. It was a great way to start the day.

   The water was drained off of the main pool exposing lots of mud. The ducks and shorebirds were concentrated on the water that still remained in the central part of the pool, but at that distance it was not possible for me to tell exactly what the birds were. There were plenty of mallards about and we spotted some pied-billed grebes in the water that filled a ditch by the road. A duck was walking along the shore behind some reeds. It took me a while to get a good look at it. I finally figured out it was a female wood duck. Great blue herons seemed to be everywhere. An osprey was fishing in the canal near stop number four where huge numbers of carp could be seen crowded together in the water trying to get into the main pool from the canal. Red-winged blackbirds were spotted here and there among the cattails.

   As we rounded the corner I spied two little ducks in amongst the reeds. The one duck had a crescent on his face. They were a male and female blue-winged teal. I would spot the only shorebird that I was able to see at the refuge here along the shore. It was a solitary sandpiper. It was a disappointment not to be able to see any more of the many shorebirds being reported by other birders.

   From Wildlife Drive we went to Tschache Pool. I could see nothing out on the pool except Canada geese.  Then I noticed something white at the far distant side of the pool. I could make out that it was a swan when I looked at it through my binoculars, but it was impossible to tell anything more about it than that. As we stood around by the pool two large white birds flew over the pool. Terns! I think they were Caspian terns. They provided some great entertainment. The terns would hover over the water then pull their wings into their sides and dive bomb into the water with a huge splash that sent water spewing up into the air..

   We went from Tschache Pool to May’s Point. I had read that a red-headed woodpecker had been spotted in that area. Finding the bird was no problem at all since we passed three people lined up along the road with their scopes and cameras pointed at it. It was a lifer for me.

    I wish I could have spent more time exploring other parts of the refuge, but time did not permit it. Maybe I’ll be back to try to find more of those shorebirds another time

A Big Day Of Birding

I’ve been birding for about five years yet I continue to refer to myself as a beginner. Sometimes it seems the more I learn the less I know. Or to put it another way the more I learn the more I have to be confused about. I spent yesterday birding and I’ll still find myself staring at little brown birds in front of me wondering which little brown birds they are.  

I went birding at several places yesterday starting with the pond on Oneida Street. I was hoping to find a lot of waterfowl there, but I didn’t see much of anything except a few canada geese and a great blue heron.

After that I drove to the fishing area off of the I88 access road from Oneida Street. Water levels in rivers and streams everywhere seem to be low exposing more of their bank and shore. There was a sandpiper wondering around along the muddy shore line of the stream. So which sandpiper was it? It would have helped if the sandpiper had spots, but it didn’t. I was wondering if it might be a spotted sandpiper that still had its winter plumage (dark bill and lighter colored legs as this one) but it seemed to me that a spotted sandpiper would have changed from its winter plumage by now. This bird also wasn’t acting very much like a spotted sandpiper. It was bobbing its head rather than its tail. Hmm…a mystery.

Most of the birds I found at the fishing access were common birds. There was another mystery bird, a small warbler skirting among the tree leaves so I could only get glimpses of what appeared to be a dark topside and a streaked bright yellow underside.

I next drove to the DOAS sanctuary. Most of the birds I had seen up until now had been fairly common for this year, but that was about to change. As I walked along the trail by the pond the female hooded merganser jumped out of the nesting box and sailed down among the reeds in the water as she always does when I pass by there. I always feel bad about disturbing her like that. I didn’t see the male this time. He is usually in the open water at the back of the pond. I hurried along the trail in order to give the birds some space. Then from the opposite side of the pond I heard “who, who cooks for you” repeatedly. Was that a barred owl? I wasn’t sure if they were active at this time of day, but it had to be one. I had only heard a barred owl at the sanctuary once before and it was very distant.

I followed the red trail down to the blue trail and stood there trying to decide if I wanted to take the blue trail all the way back into the woods or not. There could be something different in there, so I figured why not. As I walked down through the woods I could hear ovenbirds calling “teacher, teacher” all around me. I considered trying to follow the sound to see if I could track down this elusive bird. I’d already tried unsuccessfully to do that once this year. As I walked along two birds suddenly came flipping and flapping by me. The birds were actively engaged in behavior that would help to ensure the creation of another generation. They flew down to the ground in front of me then one flew off while the other remained. It was an ovenbird. I watched it walk along a log actively displaying the bright orange crown on its head. Ovenbirds, sheesh, just when I’m convinced I’m only going to hear them, but not see any, it seems like they practically fall into my lap.

A little further down the trail I thought I heard a blue headed vireo. There were three little birds flitting around in the pine trees in front of me. I got out my binoculars to see who they were. I saw a black throated green warbler. Well that’s a good bird, but not the blue headed vireo I thought I heard. Fortunately the birds weren’t going anywhere. They flitted back and forth while I fumbled around with my binoculars until I could clearly see the blue heads of the other two. Usually blue headed vireos stay high up in the trees, but once in a while I will get lucky and find them lower. Going down the blue trail had been worth it.  Blue headed vireo, black throated green warbler and ovenbird, were three species I needed for my list of bird sightings this year. I was pleased. Could it get any better than this? Oh yes it could.

As I was heading out of the forest I saw a large bird fly across the trail in front of me. A turkey maybe? It seemed a little small for a turkey. I peered around a tree and there on a branch sat a barred owl. Holy cow, I never expected that. It’s a lifer for me. The bird looked at me and I looked at him then he flew back in front of me and higher into a tree. I walked down the trail trying to get a better view. The bird took one more look in my direction then flew off. How cool was that!

I spotted one more bird of note as I was heading down the hill toward my car. A black bird flew up onto the roof of the shelter at the hawk watch. It was back lit so it appeared black, but when I looked at him through my binoculars he was actually blue, brilliantly blue. It was an indigo bunting. I stopped and listened to him sing his song. In my opinion the mnemonics I had learned for the song, “fire, fire, where, where, here, here”, don’t fit the song that well. I’ll have to try to come up with something more appropriate.

My next stop would be at my favorite birding spot along Charlotte Creek. The hummingbird was back at his prized spot atop the tallest dead tree in the field. I get a kick out of seeing this little tiny bird perched up there and he’ll take on all comers who try to usurp it. Two brown headed cowbirds were also in the tree, no doubt searching for a nest in this warbler rich area. The weather had turned hot and hazy. The birds were chirping and singing loudly, but few were actually where I could see them. There were a lot of songs I recognized, but also a lot that I didn’t. I can’t help wondering how many birds I miss because I don’t know their calls. I spotted a magnolia warbler in a bush. After looking at that bird I believe that the mystery warbler I had seen earlier was also a magnolia warbler. That was one mystery solved. 

The road loops around to the creek and back. I spotted a couple of female common mergansers on the water as well as two canada geese. As I turned to go a sandpiper flew up onto the muddy bank of the creek. It looked just like the one I had seen earlier at the fishing access. I was still unsure of its species. I studied the bird. It looked like it had a faint white curl or crescent by the shoulder like a spotted sandpiper. That white crescent is a good indication of a spotted sandpiper winter or summer. I thought that might nail this bird’s identification, but when I looked up other sandpipers in my field guide the solitary sandpiper can also appear to have something similar near its shoulder. Looks like I need to do some more research.

I stopped for a lunch break then headed over to Riddell Park. All those muddy banks along the creeks and rivers from the low water levels were proving to be perfect habitat for attracting sandpipers because I saw a spotted sandpiper here. There was no mistaking this sandpiper with the big brown spots all over its belly. Maybe those other two birds were solitary sandpipers.

I found a few more birds I hadn’t seen that day. Finally as I was walking up to the bridge over the swampy part of the trail I heard an insect like buzzing coming from a clump of bushes. Could it be? It definitely was a bird and not an insect. I followed the noise as the bird made its way through the bushes. If I was correct this was a worm eating warbler. That would be a lifer for me. The song sure sounded like what I had been listening to on my recordings of bird songs but I would have to see those black head stripes for a positive ID.  The bird emerged from the bush undetected by me and sat facing me for a few moments until I noticed him. Yes, it could be a worm eating warbler, the bird was a dull yellowish color, but from this angle I couldn’t see any stripes. Oh no, come back. The bird flew up into the tree above me. I was still in the wrong position to see the head. The bird sat there for a few minutes, enough time for most birders to get a look at him. As I was fumbling with the focus on my binoculars he flew off. Agh! As exhilarating as it was to see the barred owl it was equally devastating to think about this one that got away. I would probably not get another chance like that again, not around here anyway.

At the end of the day I had 49 species. (Now I wish I’d driven through the supermarket parking lot to find a house sparrow so I’d have an even 50.)