Beach, Again

Today Mac Myers and I ran the last of a 12-month series of beach surveys.  It was hot and bright, and there were no big surprises, but there were plenty of birds to look at all day long.  June is a great month on the coast, with a lot of migrant birds still moving through or hanging out, while many local birds are busy raising young.  Among the former group, there are still plenty of Black Terns and Common Terns around.  Many birders who've done June pelagic trips in the Gulf have learned that Black Terns can be surprisingly abundant out there; usually the first few cries of "Storm Petrel" turn out to be Black Terns zipping by.  Common Terns also seem to stay an uncommonly long time, especially younger Commons that are probably not ready to breed.

Like last month, we had a good handful of left behind scoters and scaup today as well.  Some birds which seem to be present every month of the year out there, like Long-billed Curlew and Whimbrel, were recorded again.

Breeders included Least Terns, as seen in the family portrait below,

     











and Willets, who don't like to be ignored.

Last month, I mentioned the bleached out Herring Gulls that can be found on Gulf beaches in summer.  This month, quite a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls joined them.  Most were fairly ratty, but this second cycle bird seems to be in pretty good shape overall.

Overall, a good day to be out.

Left Behind

It's the season of the Left Behinds on Southwest Louisiana beaches.  By now, just about every bird that spent the winter here should be back home, far from the heat of our harsh summer.  Those that haven't left yet have a hard reckoning ahead of them.  I'd like to respectfully disagree with Tolstoy that all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way; these poor fellows all seem to suffer from similar maladies.  Most of them simply can't fly, or at least, can't fly far enough north to do themselves any good.  

From scoters without flight feathers to Herring Gulls with skeletonized wings, these birds are washed up, washed out, and probably waiting in vain.  I'd say the chances are slim of many of them surviving for long.  

These birds were all found by Mac Myers and me as we surveyed beaches yesterday in Cameron Parish.  Finding beached Black and Surf Scoters and Lesser and Greater Scaup, and bleached Herring Gulls is an annual rite of late spring on these beaches.  While we hoped for a little unexpected variety, seeing 11 scoters and both scaup species was interesting.  

click on me...

Lesser Scaup always outnumber Greater Scaup in south Louisiana, so more Lessers are expected as laggards.  However, a few Greater Scaup usually turn up each late spring.  In the ragged state of most of these birds, I'm not sure I trust all of the field marks we normally use to tell them apart.  

More Black and Surf than White-winged Scoters turn up every winter, so more individuals of the former two species are typically found left behind.

No doubt more surprises (or more surprising species) await lucky finders on the Cameron beaches.  Good luck to those who seek them.  Bring sunscreen and plenty of water.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

 

David Muth, Mac Myers, Dave Patton, Dan Purrington, Curt Sorrells, Phillip Wallace, and I lucked onto this Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a first for the state, on Saturday 5/14, in western Cameron Parish.

What I've Seen in My Sleep the Past Two Nights

Red-eyed Vireos were abundant to the point of overdose over the weekend in coastal Cameron Parish.  The north wind grounded many migrants, including these vireos.  In single woodlands we had counts of 70 or so Red-eyeds.  Everywhere I looked was a Red-eye.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

This tired Gray-cheeked Thrush spent the entire day of May 14 in a little bare patch in back of the camp where I was staying.  It hopped and scratched, looking for food, and even shared space with the wild rodents who were doing the same.  When I approached, it didn't seem to mind, and even hopped my way.

Normally Gray-cheeked Thrushes are harder than this to get a good look at.  However, normally these birds don't migrate across the Gulf of Mexico into a cold north wind in the middle of May.  This bird was probably pushed to its limit, and upon arriving just needed to rebuild energy.

Cassin's Sparrow

Thanks to Terry Davis for finding this, the second state record of Cassin's Sparrow.  Terry found the first record, as well.
I went up to Bossier City this morning with Dave Patton to see the sparrow.  I was pretty knocked out by allergy pills, but was awake long enough to hear this bird sing and skylark.

Whoso List to List

I had a nice, spirited discussion with a good birding buddy on our way to Holly Beach a while back.  I shared my opinion that hardcore birding competition was something that I find pretty mindless, and that I wouldn't want to see it creeping into Louisiana birding.  My buddy scoffed, pointing out that I keep a list every year, that I keep lists for multiple parishes, and that I recently even designed a type of birding game based on points for calculating the quality (versus quantity) of a birder's year list.  And he was absolutely right; all of that's true. 

Many of us participate in year listing and parish listing games either among friends or, say, when the LOS sponsors such a game.  These reindeer games can be fun, and should be fun.  I recall the epic year-list battle between Charlie Lyon and Mark Swan a few years ago in which both birders racked up record year lists.  I also recall the LOS's great parish listing game that boiled down to a tilt between maestros David Muth and Phillip Wallace.  What I can't remember is who won either contest.  The real fun was watching the battles develop throughout the year.  What made both battles so much fun was that none of the birders involved played dirty pool; there was far more cooperation than competition all around.  Everybody enjoyed seeing the mutual respect between the parties involved.

My listing games are also designed for fun.  My state list is in the 390s.  Think I'll ever catch the all-time mark of 425+?  Not unless Mac Myers stops birding before we all start counting Muscovies.  My Cameron Parish list is at 347.  I take it pretty seriously.  As for the competition, well, I'm not sure who the competition is--I don't have a clue what anyone else's Cameron list is.

I have birding goals: 400 species for LA, 350 for Cameron Parish--and those numbers are my competition.  My yearly goal has always been 300 species. If I get some lagniappe, that's even better.  Saying that my goals are impersonal  may seem hypocritical or like a naive rationalization, but that's the way it is.

Yet Another White Bird

Bill Vermillion and I had this partial albino Stilt Sandpiper near Gueydan on 4/29 during the 2011 Shorebird Blitz.  This bird has a broad collar of white with normal color on the rear part of the body and a normal crown color.

Albinism seems fairly regular in shorebirds, although that may just be because it's possible to see and study thousands of shorebirds in a day.  I've probably seen half a dozen or more partially albino Stilt Sandpipers over the years, with the white usually located on the mantle and/or neck.

White Dunlin

          
              
Yesterday, while birding with David Muth, Dan Purrington, and Phillip Wallace, we spotted this all-white Dunlin on Gladu Road near the old Vincent mini-refuge north of Kaplan (click on photo to enlarge).  Though Dunlin are incredibly abundant shorebirds, I've never seen a pure white one.  As a matter of fact, although I've seen dozens of cafe-au-lait shorebirds or shorebirds with abnormal patches of white here and there, this is only the second all-white shorebird that I can remember off the top of my head.  A pretty exciting bird, I think.

Beach Surveys, 2/26/2011

Yesterday, Mac Myers and I conducted a set of LSUMNS-BRC/ABA beach surveys in Cameron Parish. The most notable aspect of the day was the persistent sea fog that rolled in and was especially dense later in the day.  Also noteworthy was the huge number of scaup offshore with a few scoters mixed in; we had several Surf, 2 Black, and a sleeping scoter that I suspect was a White-winged.  Gull numbers were so-so, although there were good numbers of Ring-billeds, a fair number of Herring, 2 Lesser Black-backed and some Bonaparte's.  There was also a Glaucous Gull  (photo above; click 1 or 2 times to enlarge) on the rocks of Holly Beach.  Note also the color of the pouches of the pelicans in the photo.  There's been some talk lately about the brown pouch color of Atlantic versus red of Pacific Brown Pelicans, and the fact that red pouches have been seen in Louisiana.  In this photo, one pouch is red, the other brown.