Mokka mit Schlag » Birding

2009 wasn’t exactly a “big year”, but with 319 species it’s probably the biggest year I’ve ever had. Of course some of the species I ticked don’t really “count”. You can argue for Orange Bishop in California and Muscovy Duck in Louisiana, even if they are exotic; but Black Swan and Cockatiel are complete domestics. :-) I birded in five states and a dozen or so counties in three widely separated areas of the country. I took one pelagic trip. I got 18 countable life birds including the Verdin from Anza-Borrego, although I finished 24 short of my target goal of 500 birds for my life list.

My list certainly increased by birding both east and west coasts last year, though I did miss several easily chaseable life birds that showed up within walking distance of my apartment after I left Irvine: Mountain Bluebird, Green-tailed Towhee, and Bar-tailed Godwit, two of which I could have seen on my walk to work! I also neglected to chase a couple of Northern Wheatears that showed up within driving distance in Connecticut and New Jersey after I returned to Brooklyn. The BBC trip to Barnegat to look for Harlequin Ducks was canceled, and I broke my scope when I searched for them at Point Lookout. :-( I also missed the Barnacle Goose at Sunken Meadow State Park, though I did find the Pink-footed Goose. I also passed on a couple of Ivory Gulls that were reported south and north of me.

In 2010 I should finally be able to push my lifelist to 500 with just a couple of trips out of town. Harlequin Ducks are still regular at both Point Lookout and Barnegat. I’m still missing Mourning Warbler, and that’s regular in Prospect Park. (Opornis warblers are notoriously hard to find, even when they’re present.) Beyond that, if the TSA doesn’t get even stupider, I’m planning my first trip to the Caribbean in April which may just push me over 500. If that doesn’t, I’m looking at South Texas and Southeastern Arizona in the late summer and fall. See you next year!

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For birders the most important part of the solstice season is not presents under the tree or turkey (at least not domestic turkey) but rather the bird counts that end one year and start the next and that have done so for 110 years now. The annual Christmas Bird Count takes place globally for a couple of weeks around Christmas. You can usually find one near pretty much any significant human habitation. This year I did the Brooklyn count on the Saturday before Christmas, the Central Park count on the Sunday before Christmas, and then flew to New Orleans for the New Orleans East count on the Saturday after Christmas (and also to visit family, I feel compelled to mention). It’s especially fun to do bird counts in areas you don’t know all that well, because you’re virtually guaranteed to find something interesting and new.

On Saturday the interesting and new bird for me was an Inca Dove, or rather four of them I spotted in a Live Oak tree in a vacant lot along Hayne Boulevard across the street from Lake Pontchartrain. No photos I’m afraid. On bird counts I usually don’t bring a camera so I can concentrate on finding and counting the birds rather than on photographing them.
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This weekend I rented a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM zoom lens. This is the first L series lens I’ve used for any length of time. Unfortunately, yesterday was too rainy and overcast to give it a real workout; but today was much clearer and I got to the park bright and early around 8 AM. Wow. the difference between this lens and the lenses I had been using bird photography was like night and day. Just look at this House Sparrow:

With and without flash, the images were crisp, sharp, and more often than not in focus. I was actually able to start choosing which images to keep based on composition and the interest of the picture. I no longer had to select only the one or two sharp images out of 100. For the first time, I was able to take super telephoto pictures that came out as sharp as the images taken with my hundred millimeter prime lens.
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I spent a few hours in the park today, mostly just to experiment with the camera, but I still managed to tally 26 species including my first Buffleheads of the year:

• Mute Swan
• American Black Duck
• American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid)
• Mallard
• Northern Shoveler
• Bufflehead
• Ruddy Duck
• Great Blue Heron
• Black-crowned Night-Heron
• American Coot
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Rock Pigeon
• Belted Kingfisher
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Phoebe
• American Crow
• Tufted Titmouse
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Hermit Thrush
• American Robin
• European Starling
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• White-throated Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal

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I spent the morning in Prospect Park with the Brooklyn Bird Club, but apparently the action was in Central park where Starr Saphir’s NYC Audubon walk found a Sedge Wren on the Great Hill, a relatively rare bird for New York. I didn’t get the news until I got home around 2:00 P.M. but the bird was still there when I arrived at 3:45:

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I walked around the lake in Prospect Park today, looking to see if any of the old four banded geese were still around. No such luck. They may have moved on. However I did find a fifth banded goose from the sames series, NA49:

It has been hanging out since at least January of this year.