2018 was a great year of birding. I got to see some amazing birds. With that said, there were some lows. I had unreal luck with rarities. My first chance was in January with a Red-throated Loon and American Black Duck at White Rock Lake. I got the duck, but not the loon. Dipping on a rarity happens, especially when you're at my level of experience. I did get Tundra Swan in Fort Worth later in the month. It was miserably cold but I got 3 of them. It was a birding highlight of the year.
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| American Black Duck at White Rock Lake |
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| Tundra Swan at Fort Worth Nature Center |
Another chance at hard to find birds occurred in the Davis Mountains and South Llano River SP. There Alex and I missed Golden-cheeked Warbler and Montezuma Quail. I expected Montezuma Quail to miss but missing Golden-cheeked Warbler was irritating. We were in the place to see them, and we just missed it.
In November I missed Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Sugar Land. I had to be somewhere during the 24 hours it was seen. I got back in the middle of a storm and the bird was never seen again. That hurt a lot.
December hurt the most for rarities. I already detailed the crushing miss of Great Black Hawk in Maine. I was in the city and there was nothing I could do once it had been found. 20 minutes later I would miss Snowy Owl, a grail bird of mine, at the best place in the state to see it. On Galveston Island on Christmas Eve I missed Prairie Warbler, despite it probably seeing me. A week later I would miss Tropical Parula in Houston at Edith Moore Sanctuary.
Sounds like birding is just a disappointment, but that's far from the truth. The highs always make up for the lows.
In San Francisco I was exhausted after birding the entire city. I was walking out on a pier to look at grebes and I saw a Common Murre just chillin right by the pier. I knew I they were in the area, but I didn't even consider seeing one. A lot of rare birds (which this wasn't) are stumbled upon. You have to be at the right place at the right time. I was in the right place at the right time and I got lucky.
In May at South Llano River it was hot and Alex and I were exhausted. We went out at the wrong time to bird. To be fair, we were just stopping briefly at the park to look for the endangered Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. Vireos are hard for me to find an identify. Sweating profusely, we saw the BCVI fly into a tree. We saw the black cap. We drove the remaining 5 hours to Fort Davis more energized than before.
Sounds like birding is just a disappointment, but that's far from the truth. The highs always make up for the lows.
In San Francisco I was exhausted after birding the entire city. I was walking out on a pier to look at grebes and I saw a Common Murre just chillin right by the pier. I knew I they were in the area, but I didn't even consider seeing one. A lot of rare birds (which this wasn't) are stumbled upon. You have to be at the right place at the right time. I was in the right place at the right time and I got lucky.
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| Common Murre in San Francisco |
Later on in that trip we were feeder watching at sunset. The birds were stunning. Black-headed Grosbeak, Western and Hepatic Tanagers, and a flash of...pale blue? We had seen plenty of Blue Grosbeak, but this was baby blue. I nearly jumped through the ceiling. Someone had been studying their field guide, and even though it was the tail end of migration, it was undoubtedly Lazuli Bunting. This was one of the last few flying through and we got a brief glimpse at it. I would have given our chances at seeing it at 5%, and we got it!
Right before I started my job I got to spend some time in Dallas with my family. I got what would be my last shot at Golden-cheeked Warbler. I drove to Dinosaur Valley State Park, which is full of the perfect Ash Juniper habitat that they are exclusively found in. I hiked all day but didn't find one. I heard a few calls, but nothing showed up. Safe to say it was demoralizing and frustrating. But as I descended towards my car I heard the buzzy call of what sounded like Black-throated Green Warbler, except that bird would be very rare in late May. And guess what bird sounds exactly like it! Sunburned and dehydrated I sprinted to where the sound was coming from. There wasn't just one Golden-cheeked Warbler, there were 4 or 5! I went from nearly passing out to feeling energized. What an amazing feeling.
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| A not so great pic of the Lazuli Bunting |
As I highlighted in my last post the disappointment of missing Great Black Hawk and Snowy Owl was negated by the high of seeing Snow Bunting and Razorbill in the span of 5 minutes.
The last high of the year was at Galveston Island State Park. Palm Warbler was a lifer for me, I was unsure I'd be able to find one due to inexperience. 30 minutes into my walk I saw a bird flitting around with yellow near the rump. I figured it was the abundant Yellow-rumped Warbler, but I was wrong. A spitting image of the field guide, Palm Warbler. While locally common, this was a big win for me after Maine. I used to miss a lot of locally common birds because I had no clue where to look. Normally I'd look for Palm Warbler in the tall trees, but I knew to look lower for them. It's a small win that was particularly motivating, just like when I found Louisiana Waterthrush at Bear Creek Park in August.
But that wasn't the only high in Galveston. Rails are all over the marshes down there, but they're crazy secretive. They live in tall grass in and run instead of fly. In fact, they can be so hard to see that the ABA started to allow records of "heard only" because of birds like rails. The most notorious is Black Rail, and few if any are seen in a year. I didn't see Black Rail, but I did get amazing looks at 2 different Clapper Rails on the trail. 2 runners scared one off before I could get a picture of one, and my slow movement to grab my camera scared the other off, but that was after I froze and looked for a few minutes. So much for bad luck, right?
The last high of the year was at Galveston Island State Park. Palm Warbler was a lifer for me, I was unsure I'd be able to find one due to inexperience. 30 minutes into my walk I saw a bird flitting around with yellow near the rump. I figured it was the abundant Yellow-rumped Warbler, but I was wrong. A spitting image of the field guide, Palm Warbler. While locally common, this was a big win for me after Maine. I used to miss a lot of locally common birds because I had no clue where to look. Normally I'd look for Palm Warbler in the tall trees, but I knew to look lower for them. It's a small win that was particularly motivating, just like when I found Louisiana Waterthrush at Bear Creek Park in August.
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| Louisiana Waterthrush at Bear Creek Park |
Birding is never a bad time. The unexpected makes every trip an adventure, and usually there's something cool lurking around every corner, even if it's not the most stunning or sought after bird. The highs outweighed the lows by far, and despite the disappointment of a dip you bet I'll chase the next big rarity with gusto. I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store, and lets just say a few massive moves are in the works.
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