Friday, March 27, 2015

Oh Moma Mia, Moma Mia!

     Quoting Freddie Mercury and Queen can only mean one thing. Well I guess it could mean 3 things... 1. Some sporting team just won a championship or they are "rocking" someone. 2. Its time to party. 3. Bohemian. Waxwing..... Since this is a bird blog its safe to say that this post will be about the third option with a little bit of the second, and really a tiny bit of the first as well. I mean it is March Madness after all but I digress. Back to the action and what has me singing. My Sunday started out like most Sundays, that is until about 12:00pm when I my phone started ringing. Hmmmm Jeremy is calling, this must either be rare bird related or he crashed his car again. Luckily it was the former. The dialog went something like this:
    Jeremy, "Bro, Bohemian Waxwings!" 
    Me, "What?!?!? Where, who?!?! Its March dude!" 
    Jeremy, " Doreene told Leslie to tell to tell Alex to tell me. Its at Lake Erie Bluffs. I'm going. I'm turning around and going!"
   Me, "Doreene is spreading the word? Must be good. Do you even know where the Bluffs are?"
   Jeremy, "No idea but I'm going!"
   Me, "haha! Its faaaarrrr!! Like close to 4 hours far. Screw it come pick me up and let's roll!"

     
2 of the 5 very sexy Bohemian Waxwings. For face melting pics
by Chris Collins of these birds, see the link below!
Be warned, your face might melt.
     We are off by 1 pm. Only about 3 hours and 45 min before waxy goodness. We stopped in Columbus to pick up Alex  who wanted to join the party. Off again! This long drive doesn't seem nearly as long due in part to the thrill of chase but more so just catching up with these fellow Rogue Birder members. (If you don't know what the Rogue Birders are, check out the blog on the right side of this page.) Jeremy had recently returned from Florida and Alex literally just got back from the Rio Valley so they had lots of fun bird stories to tell. Next thing you know we are 20 min out and I get a text from Doreene, "We have the birds". Perfect! We roll up in the parking lot, rush out to where the 20+ people are and look through a scope set up on the birds. Bang that was easy! Less than 30 seconds later however they all flew off. So we wait for about 20 minutes and they all come flying right back. All 5 of them and their Bohemian goodness. We snap a few distant pics and watch them until they fly off again. Amazing birds!

     After the BOWA, we decided to make a pit stop in Shaker Heights to try for the Fish Crows that nest there. These would also be an Ohio lifer for me. I always feel weirded out just driving through neighborhoods really slowly, over and over, for hours looking for birds. But that's what we did until we finally come on to 3 crows. 1 for sure spoke American, the other looked big and probably also spoke American but the third, smaller bird must have been a mime cause it just would not speak! We followed these 3 crows around for over 20 minutes and never heard a peep from the little guy so we couldn't call it a FICR. Stupid crows. Oh well. 3 more hours of driving and back home by midnight! 11 hour trip for Bohemian Waxwing and it was worth every second!

     The next morning Chris made the almost 8 hour round trip up there, hid in some bushes and got the greatest BOWA photos in the history of the world. Seriously you should check them out. Face Melting BOWA pic!  It was also his 300th Ohio Life bird so a BIG Congrats to Chris on that great accomplishment!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Urban Birding in the CLE

Urban Birding - Ducks and Construction
     Sunday I decided to try my hand at a little Urban Birding and hopefully make my way out of Dip City. The whole Urban Birding concept is a good one to attempt an increase of birders in more urban, big city (not dip city) areas. It has been a great movement so far and my good friend Jen Brumfield has been a fantastic ambassador and leader for it, especially in her town of Cleveland. Unfortunately Jen is now serving the people even more by working tirelessly for the Cleveland MetroParks which means less birding for her. Chuck Slusarczyk (yes I know that name is impossible) has been following Jen's lead and been a very active member for the Urban Birding effort in the Cleveland area. His spot of choice recently has been Scranton Flats, a nice urban area full of construction along the mighty (less polluted) Cuyahoga River. He has been birding there putting in many hours of work to improve his gull skills. Not an easy task and I think he has gotten better but of course he will be the first to tell you that he still has a long way to go. I believe that hard work should be recognized from time to time, good work dude and keep working. (Jen is still the zen master of gulls though haha). Ok shout-out complete, back to birds. Ducks have been good there recently and gulls have been even better. Rare/uncommon gulls were my "targets" of the day but really the goal was to have fun and just enjoy the birds again.



We have lift-off!
     I made the 45 min trip north and met up with Chuck to bird along the river. The morning brought some clouds but the temp was WAY higher (33 degrees F, scorching!) than the previous few weeks combined! The number of Red-Breasted Mergansers along the river was quite impressive. I'd say 5,000+. There were a few other species mixed in the bunch, Canvasbacks, Redheads, the other 2 Mergs, both Scaup, and even a cute little Buddy Duck (Jen's term). Gulls seemed scattered along the river which would make things a bit difficult to find the ones we were looking for. Chuck and I walked along the river to where the action was and start sorting. The gulls started to feed and come in closer, awesome. Then 2 uhhhh, guys (word choice here should be more vulgar) arrive and jump on some paddle boards and make their way down the river. Of course this flushes everything just when it started getting good. I guess that's the risk of Urban Birding, never know what's gonna happen. It did make for an impressive sight of RBME flights and flight shot opportunities so not all was lost.

I guess Thayer's is a thing...
     Since the "guys" kinda ruined the birding at this spot along the river, Chuck and I decided to check out a few other spots and check out Almighty Erie to see if anything is going on. Not much at Jefferson Rd. except my FOY Horned Grebe. Nice. The Lake didn't show much, still pretty frozen but we did cruise by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was cool and quite 'Urban' of us. In a last ditch effort we decided to head back to Scranton with the thought the birds would have returned by now. We were right! Back to the gull watching platform, which in reality is a construction thing of some sort but hey, urban birding yo. Andy and John were still there searching through the gulls. So far they had an Iceland, a good sign. Unfortunately Andy is running out of time and Thayer's has yet to be seen, but like any good birder he gave it the ole "5 more minutes" routine about 3 different times. Finally it pays off for him as we get on a Thayer-ish like bird. It's in the air and slowing making rounds around the water so we can get good looks and nail down the ID. Bingo! Great looks at this bird and an Iceland Gull were excellent but being outside in the sun and warmth was definitely the highlight. Things are finally looking up here in Ohio. What a great fun packed day with a good friend. Thanks again Chuck for the help! Urban Birding, get out and get you some.


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Dip City

       A place nobody enjoys visiting yet we have all been there again and again and again. A place where the people are bitter and sad all the time. A place where the people who reside there are simply known as Dippers, even if they are just there for a visit. A place that leaves all who visit in great pain and anguish. So why do we continually visit this terrible place that every single person hates? Its simple, we can't help it. It's inevitable, even for the best of birders. We just tend to get lost chasing something down and wander into Dip City. Every time we find ourselves wondering, how in the world did I end up here in this god forsaken town? This wasn't on my route or GPS when I left this morning. Sometimes its our own fault, we make a poor tactical decision like waking up late or being hesitant on leaving right away. I'm sure most of us have done this a few times and found ourselves in Dip City due to our own stupid fault. Other times we arrive there because of an uncooperative bird and its their stupid fault! Whether its a MEGA or just a needed county bird, we just drive around searching until we eventually end up in Dip City. Of course after some journeys you might find yourself deeper in the city than others but no matter where you are it still flat out sucks.

     Some are more fortunate than others and have only seen the city and felt the heart ache a few times. Others visit much more frequently and I feel deeply for those lost souls. There is only one way to cure the pain after visiting, keep on driving through the city until you get out and to the promised land. There is that Holy Grail on the other side if you can make it out! Now once you get out and taste the sweetness from the grail you forget all about the pain and suffering Dip City has caused you. In fact, you sort of forget Dip City even exists so the next MEGA that shows up you don't even think about the cursed city. That is until you wake up and find yourself right in downtown Dip City! It is just a vicious cycle of pain, elation, forgetting and repeat. Spending too much time in the city can weaken even the greatest of birding warriors. If you find yourself there, do everything you can to get out as quickly as possible. Even the smallest drop from the Holy Grail's magic nectar will be enough to cure some of the pain Dip City has caused and will allow you to continue on your birding quests. It is a slippery slope so find victories in the little things after being a big dipper. Missed the state first Gyrfalcon and find yourself in Dip City? Go get that county lifer Fox Sparrow to get yourself out of that evil place.


White-Winged Crossbill Feeder with no Crossbill
      As for me, I've found myself living in Dip City for almost a week now and its about time I get out! Back to back misses on a Yellow-Headed Blackbird in my home county and a terrible tactical choice (sleeping in) led to the miss of a gorgeous male White-Winged Crossbill. These have left me here in a territory I don't like and luckily have spent relatively small amounts of time in. Even after only 6 days of being in the city, it has begun to take its toll. I write this post as a warning to all who find themselves in Dip City. Don't stay for long and whatever you do, DO NOT become a permanent resident. If you do then that'll be the day you hang up the bins for good. What a sad, sorrowful time that would be. But one must always remember, you will end up in Dip City at some point (probably on multiple occasions) but you must be prepared to get out and live to quest another day. There is always that sip from the Holy Grail on the other side to keep us going and quench our thirsts even if only for a little bit.