Achievement Unlocked: My First Mega!

How did you do on your goals for 2018? I managed to complete one of mine in the last few weeks of the year: to spot (and log on eBird) at least 150 different bird species. Yay! My 150th bird wasn’t exactly ordinary, either: a species that’s only been seen in the US one other time. That’s what birders call a mega rarity, or mega. Although I’ve been birding for several decades now, this is the first mega I’ve ever chased.

I’ve seen locally rare birds before, like the Snowy Owls that occasionally make their way south to the mid-Atlantic area. But megas are another level. The American Birding Association (ABA) classifies birds in six levels, or codes, of rarity for the U.S. and Canada.

• Codes 1 and 2: Regularly occurring North American birds.
• Code 1 species are widespread and usually numerous.
• Code 2 species are harder to find because their range is restricted, there are fewer of them, or they are very secretive.
• Code 3: Rare. These species occur in very low number, but show up annually in the ABA checklist area. Some are visitors, others are year-round residents.
• Code 4: Casual. These species are usually not observed every year, but have been recorded six or more times, including three or more in the past 30 years. That way a pattern can be discerned.
• Code 5: Accidental. These are species that have been recorded five or fewer times in the ABA area, or have fewer than three records in the past 30 years. Because of the infrequency of sightings, birds in this group don’t seem to have a pattern of when/why they show up in our area.
• Code 6: Cannot be found. Species in this group are probably or actually extinct or extirpated from the ABA area, or else all survivors are in captivity.

Of course, each bird species has its own range and preferred habitat, and that may not include all of the ABA territory. So a lot of code 1 or code 2 birds would be exceedingly rare outside of their normal territory, for example finding a code 1 Juniper Titmouse here in suburban Maryland. Generally, though, the higher code birds are harder to find.

The bird that put me at 150 species for the year, a Great Black Hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga), is in the coveted code 5 group. The first time one was seen in the US was in April, 2018, on South Padre Island in Texas. After that, one was found in Maine in August, then seen sporadically until it showed up in Portland in late November. At that point it settled into Deering Oaks Park, a small city park with a multitude of very well-fed squirrels. It even turns out that the Texas and Maine birds are the same individual, with an identical pattern of flecks on the underside of the bird’s wings, as described in BirdWatching.  Now that’s one far-traveling bird—from its normal range in central or South America to Texas, and then all the way up to Maine!

I know several birders who drove from my area all the way to Maine just for the chance to see this hawk. Seeing the bird wasn’t my primary reason for going to Portland this winter, though—I was heading up to visit family for Christmas.

Our trip almost didn’t happen, though. A week before we were supposed to drive up, I developed an extremely painful kidney infection. Ow! I had to go to urgent care while visiting my mom in Florida, and got put on some heavy-duty antibiotics. They couldn’t work fast enough for our next trip to Maine, though, I still wasn’t well enough a week later, when we had planned to drive up. I knew I was truly sick when even the thought of seeing such a rare bird wasn’t tempting.

But we did make it to Maine, only a few days late. I owe a huge thanks to my wonderful husband for doing all of the driving. Thanks, hon!

Anyway, we were busy with family celebrations all day on Christmas, but I kept checking the Cumberland county rare bird alerts, following other birders’ accounts of their sightings and hoping the hawk would still be there the next day.

My first try for the bird was not successful. Victor, my sister Cory, and I drove over to Deering Oaks about 10:00 am, late by most birding standards. We wandered the park, peering up into every tree and shrub, but no luck. A few other groups of birders were there too, some with really high-powered scopes and cameras. One birder pointed out a Red-tailed Hawk in some nearby trees, but nobody had found the Great Black Hawk. We decided to go elsewhere, and maybe try for the hawk again later.

I love that the city posted these signs all over the park, helping ensure folks treated the bird respectfully. The numbers to call in case you observed the hawk in distress are a nice touch too.

The second time we looked for the bird, after some lunch with my dad, luck was finally in our favor. The hawk had been found by others by the time we got to the park. It was easy to spot, by the huge cluster of birders admiring it from a short distance away. The hawk was perched in a tree beside the main road, and seemed totally unfazed by cars driving past mere feet away. A jogger even ran right under its perch, and the hawk seemed only barely curious. It probably had just eaten, and was still feeling the food coma. (Who knew birds got food comas like we do?)

Unfortunately, I had left my camera at home in Maryland. Arrgh! However, a very kind birder who was allowing passersby to look at the bird through his scope, also let me take a hasty digiscoped photo with my cell phone. It’s not the greatest, but hopefully good enough for proof.

The famous Great Black Hawk, perched about 15 feet above the sidewalk.

What a cool experience. Nobody knows how long the Great Black Hawk will stick around. Will Maine’s frigid winter weather be too much for this bird? If it decides to move on, where will it show up next? So much mystery still surrounds it.

If you want to see uncommon birds like the Great Black Hawk, you can sign up for rare bird alerts on eBird-- either for the whole ABA range, or just for a particular county, state or province. You'll need a free eBird account, easy to create if you don't have one already. Then eBird will email you daily or hourly (your choice) about any reported rarities in the area(s) you select.  Although I’d never chased a rarity before, I had such fun seeing this one I set myself a goal to see two more rarities this year. Wish me luck!

By the way, I finished my antibiotics a few days after seeing the Great Black Hawk, and am back to 100 percent.

Fabulous Purple Finches

One of the Purple Finches that arrived in my yard recently

Most winters, I spend hours peering at the birds at my feeders, in futile hopes of spotting a Purple Finch amid the throngs of House Finches. The two species look fairly similar, but while I have House Finches all year, the Purple Finches only come to my area in the wintertime. I suppose most people wouldn’t care which is which, or which one happened to show up from year to year. But I’m not quite like most people—I’m a birder.

Birding at the C & O Canal this summer

For me the thrill of seeing a new species for the year, for the season, or even the first time in my life can last for days. I use eBird to track the number of different species I see each year, as well as my lifelong sightings.

The reason I longed for a Purple Finch in my yard is their infrequent visits to my area. They’re not rare overall, but they don’t make it to the DC area every year, to say nothing of my own neighborhood & yard. I have house finches in my yard all year, including numerous youngsters begging food from their parents in the late summer. Purple Finches, however, spend the warmer months much farther north—in Canada and northeastern U.S. They only venture as far south as DC in the wintertime, if at all.

A White-throated Sparrow from last winter

Other birds also come to my area only in the winter, like Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows. But while these birds are regular and reliable winter residents, the Purple Finches don’t always show up here. Their winter movements depend in large part on the size of the cone crop in their Canadian breeding grounds. How good a year conifers like pines, firs, and spruces had affects the amount of food available if the birds stayed north for the winter. In poor years for conifer seeds, we mid-Atlantic birders have a much better chance of seeing uncommon winter visitors like the Purple Finch and Pine Siskin. Ornithologist Ron Pittaway makes an annual winter finch forecast to help birders know whether they can expect movements of these longed for species. The summer of 2018 was a poor cone crop, according to Pittaway’s report, and indeed Purple Finches have been seen all over the midAtlantic region, including my yard. For once, examining every finch at my feeders paid off!

The Purple Finches were pretty hungry when they arrived.

In fact, the Purple Finches arrived in my yard even before I saw many of my winter regulars like White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. The first thing I noticed about them was the bright white line over the females’ eyes, called a supercilium. Females are brown and streaky, much like the female House Finch. Males of both species are washed with pinkish-purple. They also have a more intense supercilium as well as a darker stripe down the sides of their chin (called a malar stripe). On the Purple Finch, these stripes are pink, while the House Finch's marks are brown. I had to double-check in both Peterson and Sibley field guides to make sure, but yes indeed, I finally had my Purple Finch! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project Feederwatch has a very helpful description of Purple Finch and House Finch field marks as well.

Female House Finch on the left, female Purple finch on the right.

That was my 137th bird species for this year-- tantalizingly close to my goal of 150! Will more uncommon birds visit my yard this winter? I sure hope so. Have you seen any interesting birds this fall? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

How A Rare Bird Mix-up Turned My Face Red

With spring nearly upon us, and the weather starting to warm (just a bit), the ducks that have wintered here are about to head north. That means, of course, that the time remaining to see them is dwindling. But it also means birders might luck into a few rarities that drop in for a few days of rest on their northward migration.

With that in mind, and having seen recent alerts from eBird about a Red-necked Grebe near the C&O Canal, Victor and I decided to bird a bit of the C&O this weekend. The weather was gorgeous when we set out—clear and sunny, a bit cool still but great for hiking. The grebe had been reported at both Violette’s Lock and Riley’s Lock, just a mile or so apart. We’ve seen huge gatherings of wood frogs near Violette’s Lock before, so started there, hoping maybe a few frogs would have ventured out of hibernation already. But the creek lacked any indication of mating frogs when we were there, so no luck on the amphibian front. On we went to birding.

I scanned the stretch of the Potomac for any interesting birds. Dozens of gulls studded the water (probably all Ring-billed, although I didn’t examine every single individual), but no interesting waterfowl could be seen. We headed downstream along the trail, stopping any time a break in the trees gave a good look at the river. Still, however, nothing but gulls. We encountered another birder heading upstream; he told us Horned Grebes and a Ruddy Duck were at Riley’s Lock, but he hadn’t been able to find the Red-necked Grebe. We wished him good birding, and kept hiking.

One of the many Ring-billed Gulls we saw that day

When we reached Riley’s Lock, we found that four Horned Grebes were indeed present and easily found. They only stayed above water for a few seconds at a time, though, frequently diving after minnows. This made close observation and photography tough, but thankfully Victor got some decent pictures. We left the lock and continued upstream.

Two Horned Grebes in between dives.

Soon I spotted a few nice songbirds in the trees—several Bluebirds and Yellow-rumped Warblers among them. I didn’t see any early migrating warblers (the Yellow-rumps are here year-round), but they were still nice ticks. We also found a few Gadwall and Mallards enjoying the sunshine in a pond.

 

One of the Eastern Bluebirds sits in front of a Sycamore tree's patchy bark.

This Yellow-rumped Warbler seemed to be examining us as much as I observed it!

A male & a female Gadwall on the muddy pond. The male's black butt is a handy field mark.

On our way back, the horned grebes were still at Riley’s Lock, and had been joined by a much larger bird. This new bird had a longer, heavier bill, and had more white on the front of its neck. Could it be my longed-for Red-necked Grebe? I convinced myself it was, and even logged it in eBird and told another birder we encountered when we were almost back to our car. I was so excited I neglected to check for other possible IDs.

The way this bird tilts its bill upward is one of the key field marks for the Red-throated Loon in winter. I should have realized that, if I'd bothered to think about other possible IDs.

Another view of the loon, still tilting its bill upward. The throat is only red in breeding plumage, seen in the summertime.

It wasn’t until I got home and checked our photos that I realized we had actually spotted a Red-Throated Loon, also listed as rare for our area this time of year. I had to edit my ebird checklist to correct my mistake. It’s correct in their data base now, but I still feel embarrassed about jumping to conclusions. Moral of the story: just because you wanted to find a particular species doesn’t mean you did! 

Always double check your ID and rule out other possibilities, before declaring you’ve spotted a lifer bird. I wish I'd done that before reporting the Red-necked Grebe on eBird!

So I never did spot the Red-necked Grebe that day, but I think the loon was a decent consolation prize. Kind of a funny coincidence that they both had “Red” in their name. It made my 91^st bird species for the year, and the Horned Grebes were my 90^th. I’m almost half-way to my goal of 200 bird species for the year! I know the more I get, the harder it will be to add a new species. I’m still hoping to make that nice fat number by December 31, though.

Are you seeing any interesting birds in your area as the spring migration gets started? I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Also, please let me know if you have any questions about birdwatching or birding equipment. I’ve been birding for most of my life, so I may have forgotten what it’s like to be a beginning birder. But I’d love to help you all get started or become more advanced birders!