Upon stepping out on Saturday morning, the first birds we saw were swallows. Down low there were Barns and a few Banks, and in the next level up, Cave Swallows. We only watched for a few minutes, but we tallied a handful of Caves; the next morning we counted 75 Caves and then moved on. No telling how many Caves we could have gotten if we'd watched all weekend. The oddest thing about the swallow movement was that the birds were all moving east, into the full force of the wind. The conventional wisdom is that Cave Swallows vagrants are blown up to the East Coast by strong southwesterly winds. Recent observations such as ours challenge that idea.
The western flavor continued as we added Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Clay-colored Sparrows to our list. We also watched a Reddish Egret motoring steadily offshore from west to east, against the wind. For all of the wind, everything seemed to be moving eastward.
The next day was more of the same. At Peveto, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was almost tame (seen below with Phillip). It hadn't been detected the day before, which isn't saying much, but given the ease with which it was detected on Sunday, it's possible that it had recently arrived against the wind.
The next day was more of the same. At Peveto, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was almost tame (seen below with Phillip). It hadn't been detected the day before, which isn't saying much, but given the ease with which it was detected on Sunday, it's possible that it had recently arrived against the wind.
Here's another shot of the Ash-throated.
The best western bird of the day was found on Saturday. Tucked into the scrub was a Brewer's Sparrow, only the second record for the state, following the first state record by 59 years. The photos below show all of the field marks that separate Brewer's from Clay-colored Sparrow including the streaked nape, complete eyering, streaked crown with no central dividing stripe, weak facial pattern, and overall pale and plain plumage. Note also the tail with only two full-length feathers and the rest growing as a stub. The latter point fits in nicely with the idea put forward by LSU ornithologists Van Remsen, Steve Cardiff, and Donna Dittmann that proposes that many of our vagrants are in fact migrants with defects of some kind.
Among the other good birds found over the weekend was this Bewick's Wren, below, found by David Muth at Willow Island.
On the way back home I ran into Steve Cardiff and Donna Dittmann near Sweet Lake, where they were watching a flock of over 50 Scissor-tails. As we traveled on in the last light of the day, we tallied one more good western bird for the weekend, this one in Calcasieu Parish, a Say's Phoebe (below).
6 comments:
You and the other selfish "elites" (maestros of disrespect maybe) may want to consider involving the rest of the Louisiana birding community in your rare finds. If eight (8) birders can stroll around Hackberry Ridge ("private property in Johnson Bayou area"), then what difference does a few more individuals make...none whatsoever. Hopefully you're teaching those young children (at Ridge Elementery School) more common courtesy and respect than you show the rest of us, i.e. fellow birders and residents of Louisiana. And quit "trying" to portray yourself as a humble person on public forums...you're anything but humble, and we all know it. Give up the act, it's getting old and serves no purpose. Oh, thanks for sharing your photos.
Labirder,
In person, you're very polite and unassuming. I would go so far as to say that you come across as a nice fellow. Unfortunately, in the electronic forum a bitterness that's not very attractive emerges. It's really troubling and even a bit frightening that you joined the Google blogging community simply to vent bile in my direction. I can't speak to what makes you so angry any more than you know whether I'm humble or arrogant. We simply don't know one another that well. I suspect that since you don't know me personally that you mistake my accomplishments for my personality. Relative to the great achievements of others, mine are very minor. However, it would seem as though you feel dwarfed by--and even jealous of--the small things I've managed to do; apparently I'm either the person you wish to be or a reminder of what you're not. That's pretty sad. I would offer you this advice: address your inadequacies both personal and bird-related. Quit attacking birders statewide over their sightings and learn the basics about ID, distribution, and molt. When people point out your errors, start by listening and considering their viewpoints. No one is perfect; we all make mistakes. If you've made an error, own up to it and learn from it. As for the rest of your post, I see that you still have a lot of conjecture left over after a birding day! Btw, I'm an average birder at best. That's not a stale attempt at humility, just a fact. I'm sorry that you feel threatened by such a small shadow as mine.
Your reply didn't address anything relevant to my commentary. You brought up totally irrelevant subjects. Aside from this small group of "eiltes", the rest of the Louisiana birding community doesn't think too highly of your actions. Trust me, I've receieved emails from long-time Louisiana birders telling me to back off and because you're ill-tempered and unreasonable. If you want names, I'd be happy to inform you. I'm not threatened at all, just disgusted by your poor judgements and lack of skills, knowledge, and experience. And you're right, we don't know one another very well, so quit pretending to know me and my abilities. You've hardly left the state. You drive the same route every weekend hoping to get lucky. Try something new, branch out, and see how lucky you get. Any good birder would tell you that you need a broader perspective to even become a good birder...something you are lacking. Take a look. It's not me, it's you...take your own advice, please.
Jesus, Justin. chill the F*** out. Get laid or something, seriously.
Devin,
I feel like I'm being charged with battery for attacking your fist with my nose. I must be ill-tempered and unreasonable, indeed.
Let’s look at what is relevant here. You are. This has nothing to do with the rest of the birding community, or even with me. This is all about you, this is the Devin Bosler show. You say that sharing rarities is your main concern. You’ve reported three Review List species (Western Wood-Pewee, Townsend’s Warbler, and MacGillivray’s Warbler) in the past three weeks. One minor catch is that you waited until the next day to post the latter sighting, and at least 3 days to post the former two. Where was your love for the entire Louisiana birding community then? I was, as you know, only a few miles away when you found the pewee. I’m guessing that my “elitist” buddy, Dave Patton, called you to tell you about the Say’s Phoebe he’d found just minutes before, just as another “elitist” buddy, Mac Myers, reported the Townsend’s Warbler to Labird and credited you with the sighting.
Your great outpouring of love for me is clearly nothing more than personal anger. This isn’t about ornithology, birding, the entire birding community, or science. This is all about you, Mr. Devin Bosler, and your lists. Don't use the birding public as a human shield.
When you find a good bird, what you choose to do about it is up to you. If you choose to invite me to see it, that’s your prerogative. If you choose not to, well, that’s your decision as well. I have no right of any kind —period— to see your bird. It’s up to you to decide whether to make it public, private, whatever. Some people will always be unhappy with whatever decision you make. However, if your decision takes questions of public access into consideration, I will accept and respect your decision. It is entirely possible that your current job calls for confidentiality; does finding a rare bird trump a pledge of secrecy? If you find an Eskimo Curlew but have sworn not to divulge data, should I hate you for keeping mum? Whatever the case may be, I know that my desire to see a bird is strictly a personal issue.
Now we can deal with the irrelevant. Yes, I do travel. I birded across 5,000 miles of western North America this summer. In '10 I was taking too many classes to go far, but in ’09 I was able to bird through 14 states on the way to South Dakota and back. The two years before that? Northeastern U.S. and Nova Scotia, then Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island. I’ve been to the LRGV more times than I can remember, same for Big Bend, SE AZ, and the California coast. I’ve spent time in France a couple of times, birded Florida end to end when I lived there, and somehow found time to do some quality birding in Louisiana. And somewhere along the line, aside from pulling the legs out from under your argument about my provincialism, I learned how to identify Mourning Warblers.
Why don’t you know about any of that? I leave the self-publicity to others.
Btw, if birding the same old spots is such a sin, why have you been spending so much time at the same old predictable Cameron hotspots this year? Why are you embracing a lifestyle for which you feel so darn much contempt? The truth is, you want to find the good stuff, too.
Note: If you don’t see a good bird and you’re disappointed about it, lashing out in anger is not the right move. I’ve tried to give you good advice about making yourself a better person, and this is a good example. Including the name of the school where I work is a bit heavy-handed and can be construed as creepy or even threatening behavior. The phone calls I received from your brother’s cellphone at 1:41 and 1:46 in the middle of the night the other night are also somewhat creepy. This time, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume these calls were dialed by accident. He can easily avoid these errors in the future by deleting my number from his phone, pronto.
Note: Insulting me is no big deal. However, you might have used a little more foresight before you attacked Myers, Muth, Patton, Sorrels, and Wallace. However I might be perceived, those gentlemen deserve and have earned the respect of the entire Louisiana birding community. I believe you owe them all an apology.
And last but not least, if I lack broad perspective and good birding skills, what does that say about your own? How many egregious boners have you tried to insert into the body academic of Louisiana birding? Bad goofs on loon molt, plumage cycles, swan distribution, Yellow-headed Blackbird status, nesting status of White-winged Dove in Louisiana, overcount of G.I. Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Type A and B storm petrels… the list could go on if I felt like using more than one brain cell. How many of those gaffes has the present birder of narrow perspective and poor skills been the one to catch and counsel you on?
As for my skills, I’ve always said my greatest skill is luck. If you were as lucky as I have been, I somehow doubt you would have the modesty (or false modesty) to admit that.
Peace be with you, haunted one.
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