Three Sisters Viewpoint | Fremont Hwy | Cabin Lake | Cascade Lakes Hwy 8/8-9--6 Year Birds

Cassin's Finch, Cabin Lake

As a tour progresses, it, of course, gets more difficult to add birds to the list. The last two days, operating out of Sisters, were spent looking for specific species. Dave has an amazing ability to spot birds while driving, so, as we drove to Cabin Lake, he spotted Black-billed Magpies along the highway and conveniently, there was a pull-off--Three Sisters Viewpoint (the three sisters are mountains)--and the whole group was able to see a half-dozen of them flying in and out of trees. About an hour and a half later, he spotted Mountain Bluebirds along a fence-line on Fremont Highway in La Pine. Both corvids were welcome additions to the list. 

Guzzler

Our destination that day was Cabin Lake. They have a very expansive definition of "lake" out there, because it was about the driest place we'd been the whole trip. The attraction was "the guzzler," which was not the water feature I imagined. I thought it would be some sort of permanent fountain to which birds would flock. Instead, it was a DIY waterhole. They provide the cement basin, you provide the water, dripping out of a gallon jug. There were a couple of blinds to watch the birds come in. In the half-hour that Shari & I sat in the blind, we saw lots of Cassin's Finches, a few Mountain Bluebirds, and one Clark's Nutcracker. Meh. 

In the background there was a crackling sound, as from a downed electric line. It was coming from the hundreds of grasshoppers in the brush. I wish I could upload the recording I made. 

Mountain Bluebird, Cabin Lake

We took a short walk along one of the trails and on the way back, Dave spotted a Gray Flycatcher which flew off for a bit, but we finally tracked it down. As you can tell from the name, not much of a bird to look at, but a year bird nevertheless. As we were driving out along a dirt road, Dave suddenly halted the van--the birds he'd been hoping to find as we walked the trail--Pinyon Jays--were making noise in the pines. The only other time I've seen Pinyon Jays, in New Mexico, was a similar experience--the guide slammed on the brakes (Dave gently rolled to a stop), yellow out "Pinyon Jays" and a flock of 6 flew over the road. This time we were luckier in that there was a huge flock--25 to 40 of them--and we able to get good few of them as they sat in the pines for a moment or two. Pinyon Jays are notorious for wandering--it is a classic case of their life lines intersecting your life line. You just have to be lucky. 

The last day of the trip the target bird was Three-toed Woodpecker. Dave had heard that they could be found at Elk Lake, but we dipped there, and we didn't see any at Hosmer Lake either, alas. That would have been a life bird. I suppose I could always go to upstate New York to search for one. The only year birds we added on the 9th were Sandhill Cranes in a field along the Cascade Lakes Highway and a few Pine Siskins flying overhead. 

After that, we made the long trip back to Portland. I imagine that over the 9 days of the trip, we drove well over a thousand miles. Oregon is now 4th on my state list, trailing only New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. 

Government Camp Rest Stop

Armchair Birds

California Scrub-Jay, Bodega Bay, California
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Every summer the American Ornithologist Union (AOU) revises its checklist, changing the taxonomical order of birds, revising nomenclature, placing birds or replacing birds in different families, but most importantly, to listers, splitting and lumping species.

Since "species" is a slippery definition, it isn't often clear if birds that look very much alike are sub-species of one another or actually different species altogether, or, the opposite, if birds that look different are actually the same species. A the dictionary definition of species, an animal that mates with another of the same species to produce offspring that in turn are able to reproduce, isn't really applicable in many cases. Many birds hybridize and their progeny are capable of reproduction--otherwise there wouldn't be any backcrosses to drive birders nuts. Every dabbling duck you see probably has some Mallard in it. With DNA now playing the major role in determining what is and isn't a species, and with lots of Ph. D candidates looking for a thesis, every year produces "new" species and every year birds get lost. The cool thing is to get an "armchair bird" on your list, one where a bird you have already seen suddenly becomes a different species, which is why it pays to pay attention to sub-species.

I haven't traveled enough to have this happen to me very often. The only example I can think of up 'til this year  is whip-poor-will. When we first heard the Eastern Whip-poor-will in our backyard I was excited because I thought it was a new state bird. We'd heard whip-poor-will in Arizona, years before. But when I went to enter the bird in eBird I saw that sometime since our trip to Arizona, whip-poor-wills in the west had become Mexican Whip-poor-wills, so not only was the whip whooping away dementedly in our backyard a state bird, it was also a lifer.

So I was pleased to read, this summer, that the Western Scrub-Jays we had seen in California and the Western Scrub-Jays we had seen in New Mexico, were, based on arcane DNA analysis, actually two species, the former California Scrub-Jay and the latter Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. Nice, I thought, number 778 on the list.

American Coot, Clove Lakes Park, Staten Island

But the AOU giveth and the AOU taketh away. Looking at my list after the taxonomical changes had been made by eBird (an arduous 3 day process to change literally millions of records) I saw that my life list total hadn't risen by one. Further investigation into the "losses" section of the AOU list, I was dismayed to find that the experts had determined the Caribbean Coots we'd seen many times in Puerto Rico were nothing but American Coots with white (instead of red) facial shields.

And for all I (or according to one theory I've read, ornithologists) know, the Eurasian Coots we saw in France are also the same species but since they don't migrate and the populations are isolated from one another we'll never know if they could mate with it each other in the wild. Isolation supposedly leads to speciation--but not necessarily.

So my life list stays at 777--I'm lucky it's that number because there was a lot of speculation that Hoary Redpoll was just a sub-species of Common Redpoll (their DNA supposedly matches in the high 90's) and would be lumped. Considering that I went to Minnesota and froze my ass off to get that bird it would be a big disappointment to find out that it was "just" a Common Redpoll in the end.

Seaside Road 11/9--Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird
Photos: Shari Zirlin

Sunday morning we headed south on the peninsula. Before visiting the larger birding spots, Scott took the group down a place called Indiantown, or at least to a crossroads near there, in the hopes of finding what he called "an East Coast regular rarity." Western Kingbird is not a year bird for us (we had a couple in May in NM) but it is still a cool bird, with it lemon yellow breast. Both vans drove around the area, picking up a few interesting birds along the way until Scott called us to say that he had located the bird, sitting on a wire. It was a quiet Sunday morning--I don't know if the residents of the house saw 13 birders creeping slowly down the road or what they thought we might be looking at. I was just glad they didn't come out on their porch with a shotgun or mean dogs.

12 species
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  5
Mourning Dove  25
Northern Flicker  2
American Kestrel  1
Western Kingbird  1    
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  5
Carolina Wren  2     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  5
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  10

May Birds

Cedar Waxwing, Whitesbog

May was by far the best birding month of the year so far. Of course, the New Mexico trip really boosted the numbers, but the month was bound to be great since it is the middle of migration and all kinds of warblers and shorebirds were flowing through New Jersey, most bound for more northern climes to breed, though a few others do stick around.

Highlights of the month, besides 6 life birds in New Mexico, were finding the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks calmly sitting on the shore of a little pond in Galloway Township, hearing a Great Horned Owl outside our door, and getting both Tennessee Warbler and Mourning Warbler within a few minutes of each other at the Oros Preserve, only a few minutes from the ancestral home. Ah, if only I'd been a birder when I was a kid, I'd have such a life list by now.

For the month I managed 202 species, quite a respectable number. I remember years ago a birder telling me at Jamaica Bay that he'd seen 200 species that month and the number just did not seem possible to me. Now, while it isn't routine, it is certainly imaginable.

Counties Birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean
New Mexico: Bernallilo, Los Alamos, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe
New York: Kings
Texas: Tarrant

Species                First Sighting

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck     Patriot Lake

Snow Goose     Brigantine

Brant     Island Beach SP

Canada Goose     Cattus Island County Park

Mute Swan     Brigantine

Tundra Swan     Brigantine

Wood Duck     Whitesbog OC portion

Gadwall     Brigantine

American Black Duck     Brigantine

Mallard     Cattus Island County Park

Greater Scaup     Brigantine

Bufflehead     Cattus Island County Park

Double-crested Cormorant     Cattus Island County Park

Great Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Great Egret     Cattus Island County Park

Snowy Egret     Cattus Island County Park

Little Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Green Heron     Whitesbog OC portion

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Island Beach SP

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis     Brigantine

Turkey Vulture     White's Bogs

Osprey     Cattus Island County Park

Northern Harrier     Brigantine

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Cooper's Hawk     FREC

Northern Goshawk     Santa Fe NF

Bald Eagle     Cattus Island County Park

Red-tailed Hawk     FREC

Clapper Rail     Brigantine

American Coot     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

American Oystercatcher     Brigantine

Black-bellied Plover     Brigantine

Semipalmated Plover     Brigantine

Killdeer     Prospertown Lake

Spotted Sandpiper     White's Bogs

Solitary Sandpiper     Butterfly Bogs

Greater Yellowlegs     Cattus Island County Park

Willet     Cattus Island County Park

Lesser Yellowlegs     Brigantine

Whimbrel     Brigantine

Ruddy Turnstone     Brigantine

Dunlin     Brigantine

Least Sandpiper     Cattus Island County Park

White-rumped Sandpiper     Brigantine

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brigantine

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brigantine

Laughing Gull     Brigantine

Ring-billed Gull     Patriot Lake

Herring Gull     Cattus Island County Park

Great Black-backed Gull     Brigantine

Least Tern     Double Trouble State Park

Gull-billed Tern     Brigantine

Caspian Tern     Brigantine

Forster's Tern     Cattus Island County Park

Black Skimmer     Brigantine

Rock Pigeon     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Eurasian Collared-Dove     Santa Fe River Park

White-winged Dove     Madrid, NM

Mourning Dove     Cattus Island County Park

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Colliers Mills WMA

Black-billed Cuckoo     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Great Horned Owl     35 Sunset Rd

Chuck-will's-widow     Brigantine

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Prospertown Lake

White-throated Swift     Bandelier NM -- Main Loop Trail

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Black-chinned Hummingbird     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Broad-tailed Hummingbird     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Belted Kingfisher     Cattus Island County Park

Red-headed Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Acorn Woodpecker     Bandelier Entrance Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER     Santa Fe NF

Downy Woodpecker     Cattus Island County Park

Hairy Woodpecker     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest

Northern Flicker     Cattus Island County Park

American Kestrel     Colliers Mills WMA

Peregrine Falcon     Brigantine

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Colliers Mills WMA

Willow Flycatcher     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Gray Flycatcher     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

Black Phoebe     Cerillos, NM

Eastern Phoebe     White's Bogs

Great Crested Flycatcher     Whitesbog OC portion

Western Kingbird     Cerillos, NM

Eastern Kingbird     Whitesbog OC portion

White-eyed Vireo     White's Bogs

Plumbeous Vireo     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest Rd.

Blue-headed Vireo     Cattus Island County Park

Warbling Vireo     Santa Fe River Park

Red-eyed Vireo     Island Beach SP

PINYON JAY     Pecos, NM

Steller's Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Blue Jay     Cattus Island County Park

Western Scrub-Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE     Santa Fe River Park

American Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow     Cattus Island County Park

Common Raven     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     Whitesbog OC portion

Purple Martin     Whitesbog OC portion

Tree Swallow     Cattus Island County Park

Violet-green Swallow     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Barn Swallow     Cattus Island County Park

Cliff Swallow     Cerillos, NM

Carolina Chickadee     Cattus Island County Park

Black-capped Chickadee     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Mountain Chickadee     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Juniper Titmouse     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Tufted Titmouse     Cattus Island County Park

Bushtit     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest

White-breasted Nuthatch     Cattus Island County Park

Pygmy Nuthatch     Santa Fe NF

Brown Creeper     Santa Fe NF

Rock Wren     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

House Wren     Whitesbog OC portion

Marsh Wren     Brigantine

Carolina Wren     35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     White's Bogs

AMERICAN DIPPER     Santa Fe NF

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Santa Fe NF

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Bluebird     White's Bogs

Western Bluebird     Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD     Cerillos, NM

Townsend's Solitaire     Santa Fe NF

Veery     William Warren County Park

Gray-cheeked Thrush     William Warren County Park

Swainson's Thrush     William Warren County Park

Hermit Thrush     Cibola NF -- Nine Mile Picnic Site

Wood Thrush     FREC

American Robin     Cattus Island County Park

Gray Catbird     Cattus Island County Park

Brown Thrasher     Cattus Island County Park

Northern Mockingbird     White's Bogs

European Starling     White's Bogs

Cedar Waxwing     William Warren County Park

Ovenbird     White's Bogs

Northern Waterthrush     Whitesbog OC portion

Blue-winged Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Black-and-white Warbler     White's Bogs

Tennessee Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Orange-crowned Warbler     Santa Fe NF

Virginia's Warbler     La Cueva Valley

MacGillivray's Warbler     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

Mourning Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Common Yellowthroat     Cattus Island County Park

American Redstart     Double Trouble State Park

Northern Parula     Whitesbog OC portion

Magnolia Warbler     Double Trouble State Park

Bay-breasted Warbler     Island Beach SP

Yellow Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Chestnut-sided Warbler     William Warren County Park

Blackpoll Warbler     Island Beach SP

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Island Beach SP

Palm Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Pine Warbler     Cattus Island County Park

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Prairie Warbler     White's Bogs

Black-throated Gray Warbler     La Cueva Valley

Canada Warbler     Island Beach SP

Wilson's Warbler     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Yellow-breasted Chat     Assunpink WMA--Navigation Beacon

Green-tailed Towhee     Santa Fe NF

Spotted Towhee     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Eastern Towhee     Cattus Island County Park

Canyon Towhee     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Chipping Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Field Sparrow     FREC

Savannah Sparrow     Brigantine

Grasshopper Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Seaside Sparrow     Brigantine

Song Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Swamp Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-throated Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-crowned Sparrow     Double Trouble State Park

Dark-eyed Junco     Santa Fe NF

Hepatic Tanager     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Scarlet Tanager     FREC

Western Tanager     Santa Fe River Park

Northern Cardinal     Cattus Island County Park

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     Whitesbog OC portion

Black-headed Grosbeak     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Blue Grosbeak     Prospertown Lake

Indigo Bunting     Assunpink WMA--Navigation Beacon

Red-winged Blackbird     Cattus Island County Park

Brewer's Blackbird     Pecos, NM

Common Grackle     White's Bogs

Boat-tailed Grackle     Brigantine

Great-tailed Grackle     DFW

Brown-headed Cowbird     White's Bogs

Orchard Oriole     Whitesbog OC portion

Baltimore Oriole     Lake Enno

House Finch     Cattus Island County Park

Pine Siskin     Delgado St, Santa Fe Feeder

Lesser Goldfinch     Cerillos, NM

American Goldfinch     Cattus Island County Park

EVENING GROSBEAK     Delgado St, Santa Fe

House Sparrow     Brigantine

Juxtaposition: New Mexico

Brigantine 5/18--Black Skimmer, Marsh Wren

Ruddy Turnstones (mostly)

I'd heard Brig was loaded with shorebirds and so it was, all except for Whimbrels, which I couldn't find.

The tide seemed to be relatively high when I got there, but plenty of mud was exposed for sandpipers. There were lots of Ruddy Turnstones in breeding plumage--always good lookers--plus even more Dunlins in their finery, red backs and black patches on the belly.

Dunlins

While I was on the drive I met another birder with whom I'd recently been on a trip with. He was walking the drive, something I'd like to do someday, but the conditions have to be right. It is 8 miles around and in the summer, with no shade available and the vicious green-head flies, it would be impossible. Sunday, actually, would have been a perfect day to walk the circuit, but the idea didn't even occur to me until I met Robert.

The disadvantage of walking, from a birding standpoint, is that you either have to lug the spotting scope or resign yourself to missing a lot of birds (or mooch off other's scope views). I told Robert that if he got tired and wanted a ride he was welcome to come in my car. By the time he & I met again at the observation tower (around where the turnstone and Dunlins could be scoped) I think he saw the advantages of 4 wheel transportation, so we rode together the rest of the way. Walking the wildlife drive is one of the few things I can think of that I'd like to do "while I can still do it." We'll see.

Black Skimmers

On the north dike we came across my first year birds of the day, 3 Black Skimmers--always a favorite in the Zirlin household.

They were in the area where terns and gulls like to hang out. I was looking for a Caspian Tern for Robert. I've seen them there the last few times I've been to Brig. Naturally, when you really want them, they aren't there.

Injured Snow Goose

Our only "rarity" of the day was a sad one: a Snow Goose with an injured wing has been stranded on the north dike since early spring. So far it has managed to avoid predation. How long it can continue avoiding eagles and hawks is an open question.

Instead of doing a 2nd loop as I usually do when I'm with Shari or a group, I decided to walk around the area, looking for passerines. I walked a little on the short Akers trail, walked around the picnic and children's area, went down the stairs onto part of what I think is the Songbird trail, walked down to the Gull Pond and after walking back from there wound up at the Leeds Eco-trail. I was picking quite a few birds all along the way, nothing new, until I reached the very end of the Leeds Trail at the gazebo where I heard the gurgling song of the Marsh Wren. I was happy to just hear the song when first one, then another sprang out of the reeds, tail pointed up, then dove back down. When they fly up, they look like they're bouncing off a hidden trampoline in the phragmites.

My list. I can't help but note that in one day I saw/heard just 20% fewer species than I did in more than a week in NM.
64 species
Snow Goose  1     
Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  4
Gadwall  1
American Black Duck  25
Mallard  5
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  30
Snowy Egret  10
Glossy Ibis  8
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  10
Bald Eagle  1     Gull Pond
Clapper Rail  2     Heard
American Oystercatcher  3
Black-bellied Plover  5
Semipalmated Plover  20
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Willet  35
Ruddy Turnstone  25
Dunlin  200
Least Sandpiper  3
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1000
Short-billed Dowitcher  50
Laughing Gull  25
Herring Gull  5
Gull-billed Tern  1
Forster's Tern  50
Black Skimmer  3
Mourning Dove  1
Chimney Swift  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     Heard
Northern Flicker  1     Heard
Peregrine Falcon  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  1     Heard, Songbird trail
Eastern Kingbird  3
White-eyed Vireo  1     Heard, upland portion
Blue Jay  1     Heard, picnic tables
American Crow  1     Heard
Fish Crow  5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  2
Purple Martin  15
Tree Swallow  10
Barn Swallow  20
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2     Heard
Marsh Wren  2
Carolina Wren  1     Heard, Songbird trail
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  6
Common Yellowthroat  20
Yellow Warbler  3
Eastern Towhee  2     Heard
Chipping Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  2     M&F
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Boat-tailed Grackle  3
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  5