Sandpiper fun

So I received a call and the following screen captures from Randy last night, who was at Millenium Park looking at a sandpiper he thought might be a Sanderling. But he was not sure whether it couldn't be a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and asked to me help him work through the ID before announcing the bird to anyone (good gut instinct, man!). (Sidenote: Sanderling is a much-sought-after county tick for all of us Kent Co. listers as they don't often land away from the Great Lakes shores.)
My gut reaction when seeing these was that it was probably a Semi, but I had enough doubt given the strongly contrasting face pattern, attenuated look to the rear end, and the suggestion that the bill shape was being skewed to look skinny by some photographic artifact (both SAND and SESA have relatively blunt-tipped beaks so the photo couldn't be taken at face value), that I decided to check it out. Plus I received opinions from 2 birders that they felt the bird was probably a SAND based on what they saw in the photos. I did not find the bird at dusk last night, but did have it at the same location this morning at about 7:45AM. Upon my first scope view in the rainy, gloomy weather, I felt it looked like a pretty clearcut Sanderling, based primarily on the overall black and white patterning, frosty upperparts, and overall shape and jizz. So I made the phone calls to let everyone know (woops). But quickly upon getting better looks after the rain subsided and the light came up, I was troubled by the bird's size (too small) and the lack of an obvious wingstripe. So I checked the primary projection (primaries beyond tail substantially in SAND, even with tail in SESA) and the bird clearly showed a long projection, at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch, probably on the longer end of that range, as evidenced by these 2 photos:
This primary projection was apparent at all angles, and was symmetrical. I realized that some Semipalmateds (apparently females) do show a slight projection here, but this was so substantial that I felt it strongly favored Sanderling. Here is an example of the primary projection I am used to on normal SESAs. The Millenium Park bird has more projection than I've seen on SESA personally. But again, several things seemed at odds with this putative ID: the bird's upperparts seemed strange as SAND typically shows strong spotting along the mantle fringes, not just a pale fringe as in SESA. And a final nail in the coffin for SAND was that the bird clearly displayed hind toes (!), something which took me a while to document clearly:A final mark I wanted to check out was the wingstripe, which thanks to my new DSLR setup I was able to capture as it took flight. I guess the stripe looks pretty typical for a SESA, confirming my suspicion that the wingstripe was too dull for SAND.At this point I made all of the phone calls again (in reverse order) to recant my ID. All in all the bird seems OK for a juvenile SESA, though on the dark/contrasty side, and with longer primaries (both beyond the tertials and beyond the tail tip) than any other SESA I've personally seen. I do not know if this is in the normal variation for the species (if so I need to expand my definition) or whether some additional explanation would be necessary (extra primary? [something known from godwits in the literature], hybridism, etc.). This bird, if a pure SESA, would extend the Kent Co. eBird bar chart a week father into the fall than it currently goes. Apologies to Randy who has had yet another self-found county tick squandered away (ROGO being the other): keep trying man, one of them will stick! A final parting shot:

An update

I figured it was high time for an update since I've been out of it for so long. Things are beginning to settle down which should make regular posting easier.

First dibs goes to the 2 juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers Neil Gilbert found at Caledonia Sewage on September 13. I was unable to chase and assume I had missed them, but they were still there on the 26th (quite a layover!)
Back a ways, on 12 September I made a rare journey to Huff Park and was treated, as we often are late in summer, to both Sedge and Marsh Wrens side by side along the boardwalk. The Sedge Wren was actually singing his head off, despite the cattail/loosestrife habitat.

Marsh Wren:Sedge Wren:

A new blog worth mentioning

Excuse my "on again, off again" presence of late on this blog. I hope to be at a point soon where it is "on again, on again", but you know how life goes...

A friend of mine recently started a bird blog called "Avian Frontiers", and the first post really caught my attention. Admittedly, there are a few things missing from the map (ie. Kirtland's Warbler from Michigan, Florida Scrub-Jay from Florida, etc.), but it is extremely interesting nonetheless. It shows, for each state, which species of bird is represented by the highest percentage of that species' numerical population within the state boundary. Not only is this biologically interesting, it is also just a fun way to quiz yourself, and there are plenty of surprises on the map. Enjoy it:

http://avianfrontiers.blogspot.com/2011/07/map-of-statewide-bird-abundance.html

Long time no post

And not for lack of good birds- just for lack of time! I will not go into a ton of detail with this post, but just provide some bullet points for what has happened in Kent Co. the past 10 days or so.

First, a tight group of 16 young Bonaparte's Gulls with 3 Common Terns mixed in, which were present on Reed's Lake briefly this morning. All of the Bonaparte's are last year's young, which is not surprising given this very late date. After the flock flies behind the trees in the video, I never refound them. Trying to find terns in this county is very difficult b/c the few birds that make it rarely stick around for more than 15 minutes. This was my second observation of Common Tern in the county after getting my county lifer last week at the same location.


Next up are a group of Brewer's Blackbirds at a NEW location: some black earth celery fields in NW Kent Co., which I bumped into yesterday evening:


Next a brief diversion from Kent, a very-difficult-to-chase California Gull found by Tim Baerwald at Tiscornia Park. I was very lucky to arrive shortly before it left and was not seen for the rest of the day:




Next, one of my neatest Kent Co. listing experiences was had several days ago when I pulled up to one of the county's best fluddles (=flooded field X puddle, coined by Sean Fitzgerald), at 13 Mile and Berrigan Rds NE of Rockford. As I pulled up this is what I saw in terms of habitat (the best in memory):Note the bird flying over the mudflat (more in a second). There were LEYE, SOSA, and 3 Least Sandpipers working the mud's edge, literally the first arctic shorebirds I have had here all year! As i was watching these birds I heard the local Starling imitate a Black-bellied Plover perfectly. Then I heard another Black-bellied Plover whistle, but coming from overhead, not in the tree the starling was sitting in! Indeed, it was the real deal, but he wasn't stopping- the bird was beelining NE very high up, probably 400-500 m. So, I rushed back to the car, fired up the iPod and wildlife caller, and blasted the recording of Black-bellied Plover. To my astonishment, the bird, which was nearly 1 mile away, did a quick 180 and buzzed my head, briefly landing on the mudflat, then settling in across the street in a dry ag field. This is a GREAT bird for Kent Co. given our paucity of habitat, and several were able to chase it.




And two final loose ends. I have been chipping away at the less common breeding species in between targeted chases of the rarer life county birds such as Black Tern and Yellow-breasted Chat, and this also included the following two local breeders: Prothonotary Warbler (at the only Kent breeding location: the Grand River near Millenium Park):


and this cooperative Hooded Warbler (near Cannonsburg SGA) which I learned of through Jill Henemeyer via her recent eBird post):

Searching for Goshawks (& a surprise whip)

There aren't too many species of breeding birds I still need for Kent Co., but Northern Goshawk (NOGO) might be one of them. Problem is, nobody knows if they nest in the county. They prefer the largest possible stands of contiguous forest with very large bole trees for nesting, and Kent Co. is on the far southern edge of the breeding distribution, so the only solution to search for them is to systematically survey the largest single tract of large trees in the county: the Rogue River State Game Area. This several square mile tract is a gem, with acres and acres of large oaks which would purport to host this rare raptor during the nesting season. I learned from Michigan Natural Features Inventory staff that the best way to survey such a property is to break up the core areas into 1/4 mile grids, then hiking in and broadcasting the call of the NOGO for a minute or two and waiting for a response. Here is what I have covered so far:
In looking at this area as an ecological unit, it was apparent that several 'fingers' of suitable habitat extended outside the MDNR boundary:One that seemed particularly good is the Long Lake County Park, especially the forest that the public largely doesn't know about and which is WEST of Long Lake Rd. This was the part I wanted to survey today. It was tough going, as the forest was very flooded and swampy in :The habitat I was really interested in, and one which this site has in common with the Rogue River SGA, is that of tall upland deciduous trees:OK now to the point. I did not, and have not yet encountered a NOGO anywhere in these properties, and am seriously starting to doubt that they are present currently. (sidebar: it is still very plausible that this species nests occasionally but not in all or most years). But it is still very interesting to get off the roads and explore the varied habitats within these larger forests. Today I flushed a bird from the ground in the middle of the swampy forests which my brain took 10 seconds to fully process and identify. It was brown and about grouse size, so I immediately thought it was going to be a Ruffed Grouse. However, it flew silently and much slower than the grouse, with frequent glides and overall slow flight. Further, there was obvious red in the primaries, almost reminiscent of Great Crested Flycatcher or Inca Dove. The bird flew about 30 feet, cautiously and clearly out of its element, then landed on the ground. It finally hit me: Whip-poor-will! Or what is now known as Eastern Whip-poor-will, a species I have only recorded in eBird 7 times in my life, and had only actually seen a single time. I knew I had to track the bird down and try to get a good look and photo. It took some effort and another flushing, but I did manage to get on the bird and diginoc it. Here's the best I could do:


This is a magnificent bird, exquisitely blended to look like a log/leaves, and totally unflinching as it sat there watching me through the thin slit of its eyelid (like a potoo, it nearly completely closes the eyelid but keeps it just slightly open enough to watch for predators).

A final note: for anyone wishing to chase this bird, go at night to the main parking area at Long Lake County Park and listen to the west. I do have GPS coordinates for this bird but getting in there is a total pain and it's better not to disturb it from the day roost anyway.

Surf Scoters

I had the better part of the 2nd half of the day Sunday to bird Kent Co. for county birds, and it was a good one. I had thought the strong SW wind and warm temps would bring a strong hawk flight, but 30 minutes at Fisk Knob failed to produce any obvious movements, so I moved on to lake scanning. Targets were terns (esp. Common and Black) and Scoters. Scoters aren't often thought of as a mid spring bird, but the truth is that the inland counties have one of their best chances of getting these sea ducks in early May. Amazingly, while checking Reed's Lake at sundown (after checking at least 9 other lakes throughout Kent!) I indeed found a pair of Surf Scoters, a male and a female.

Light was very sparse, and these videos were all I could get.

In this video you can see the spots on the female's face, and the white nape patch of the male:



And in this video the male briefly puts his head up at the end of the clip, after 10 minutes of waiting! Lighting is so bad you almost cannot see anything! The other birds in these clips are Ruddy Ducks.

Another learning experience

I have long thought that the main way one learns moth worthwhile skills is by doing it the wrong way for a while. Birding fits this rule to a tee. Tonight I pulled the trigger and made all the phone calls for what I thought was an adult Common Tern (a decent bird for Kent Co. and one I and several other Kent listers still need). I had first scanned the lake for 15 minutes without seeing any terns, so I packed up my gear and jumped in the car to leave. At this moment I noticed a tern flying just offshore from my car, got my binoculars on it in flight, and easily saw that it had a dark wedge in the mid primaries, grading from blackish around p6 to gray at p10, plus a fully black cap. This combination of features struck me as unique to adult Common Tern, so I began calling right away.

However, I never got a scope look at the bird in flight, as it was halfway across the lake by the time I got set up. I watched it land on a green buoy at the far NW corner of the lake, then drove up and was able to get a look from 300-400 feet, where I took these shots (below). The photos show a bird which structurally is a dead ringer for Forster's Tern (large bill with strong gonys, long, thick legs, heavyset appearance). Plumage (except for the primary pattern) also looks good for Forster's and wrong for Common: no gray on the underparts, and lots of white above the gape and below the front of the cap. Look for yourself:








So, how to reconcile the apparently contradictory traits? First off, these photos are enough to put me entirely in the Forster's Tern camp, regardless of primaries. This bird's structure and head/underparts plumage cannot be shown by any Common Tern of any sex and age that I am aware of. So what is going on with this primary pattern? The best explanation I have heard (from Adam Byrne) is that this is a third calendar year Forster's Tern with outer primaries which are older than what they would be on an after third calendar year Forster's Tern, and resultingly darker from the more advance state of wear. In a nutshell, adult Forster's Terns breed in May-July, then initiate primary molt at P1 in a descendent wave, which pauses around p5-p6 in September for fall migration. Once arriving on the winter grounds, primary molt resumes at p6 and also restarts at p1 (aka. serial descendant molt, or staffelmauser). The outer wave proceeds most slowly and is not completed until late in winter. Contrast this strategy with a second calendar year Forster's Tern, which begins molt in the early summer (since it is not breeding) while the adults are tending young and holding off on starting molt. This gives them a jump start of perhaps 2-3 months on the adults. I assume that this could easily translate into an early finish to the outer primary molt wave, perhaps by early winter? This would mean that as of April, a third calendar year bird might have outer primaries as old as 5-6 months, whereas the adult would only have 2-3 month old outer primaries. This could easily mean the difference between fully white outer primaries (as are standard on all fully adult Forster's) and gray outer primaries. This is the best explanation I can think of for how a bird could look like the one I found at Camp Lake. I would be very interested to hear additional alternative explanations, or from anyone who has seen a bird similar to mine.

Take home message: an all black cap and mid-primary black wedge in April does not necessarily translate to a Common Tern...