Rarity: Groove-billed Ani

On November 19th a visiting birder found a first-county record Groove-billed Ani in an infrequently-birded park in Encinitas. Word got out quickly and many birders saw the bird that first day.

I had the opportunity to chase it before work on the next day. I arrived just before 7:00 am, birded around the exact location and then birded farther away, up to a couple blocks into the nearby neighborhood. At 8:00 am I received word that the bird had just showed up sunning itself in the exact place everyone had been looking for it during the previous hour. I was able to watch the bird for another half hour before needing to return home to get ready for work.

Groove-billed Ani. Encinitas, California. November 20, 2017. Greg Gillson.

The first thing to get out of the way is the pronunciation of the word "ani." According to an article in Birding magazine (Birding 1990) it is pronounced AH-nee and not ANN-ee or AY-nee. Okay. Good.

There are three ani species found primarily in tropical America. Two, Smooth-billed Ani and Groove-billed Ani, reach the United States. The photo above shows the grooves in the unusual deeply keeled bill.

Anis, like roadrunners, are in the cuckoo family. The loose plumage and floppy tail is typical. These birds fly weakly and wobbly, and often run and feed on the ground. Indeed, some photographers got great pictures of it eating a very large grasshopper on the ground. During the time I observed this bird, however, it was content to sit still, fluff up, and soak up the warm sun while looking around at all the birders about 25-30 feet away.

Groove-billed Anis (Wikipedia page here) are found from southern Texas and southern Sonora southward to Ecuador and Peru. During winter the birds in Texas and northern Mexico retreat southward. While rare, they are known to wander widely in fall, from Florida to California, occasionally very far north of the normal range (Minnesota, northern Ontario, New Jersey).

Of course, this close to Tijuana (where all kinds of birds are sold as "pets"), one must always ask about the origin of this bird.

Fortunately, while a first record for San Diego County, it fits nicely in the pattern of occurrence of other California and Southwest records from early September through December, with a peak in October.

There are 12 accepted previous California sightings reviewed by the California Bird Records Committee. Eight (nine?) of the sightings are for fall (13 September-16 November). In addition, at least twice California birds have stayed through the winter. The most recent three previous California records seem to be 2015, 1998, and 1995. So this is only the second record in 20 years.

And the bird is still being seen, so maybe it will spend the winter!

Baird's Sandpiper at Imperial Beach

Scratching an itch. Graphite drawing by Greg Gillson.

On August 27th I was able to locate a previously discovered Baird's Sandpiper on the beach at Imperial Beach, California. It was readily approachable or, rather, it fearlessly approached near me as I sat motionless and as it foraged among the beach-cast kelp on the upper beach. I was able to obtain many photos at close range.

Stepping into a depression. Graphite drawing by Greg Gillson.

One thing many birders noted about this bird was how unusually wide the body of this bird sometimes appeared. The breast feathers flared out widely covering the lower part of the folded wings. I have noted ducks give a very wide-bodied appearance like this, but never other birds. It's something I'll have to pay more attention to. If you think I surely must have misdrawn the proportions, please look at the reference photo below.

I was especially pleased to photograph and draw interesting postures that aren't depicted in bird books that usually show the rather uninteresting "field guide" pose.

"Field Guide" pose.

The identification of Baird's Sandpiper is rather subtle. At first glance it seems to match the field marks of the smaller North American "peep"--Western, Semipalmated, and Least Sandpipers. The bill is about the same length as the head as the Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers. The legs are black as the Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Baird's Sandpipers are a bit larger than the other three, however, if they are seen together.

One noteworthy identification mark is that the wing tips extend quite far past the end of the tail. This gives a very long attenuated look to the rear of the body. In general, birds that migrate long distances have long wings; birds that don't migrate have short wings.

Looking behind. Colored pencil by Greg Gillson.

In the fall of the year, juveniles, such as the one depicted, have rows of white tipped back and scapular feathers. These create a "scaly" appearance to the upper parts. Adults are not nearly as bold.

Baird's Sandpiper breed at the northern edge of land in the Arctic, from northeastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada, to northwestern Greenland. When they migrate south they may be found on ocean beaches. But it is not unusual to encounter them on mountain glaciers. In winter they can be found in the Andes of South America in Ecuador and Chile, but also in lower areas in Bolivia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela. Spring migration is through Central American and Mexico and north generally east of the Rocky Mountains in North America. They are a bit more widespread in fall migration, reaching all the way to the Pacific Coast in low numbers, as this bird.

Portrait: Baird's Sandpiper.

Snowy Plovers at the mouth of Tijuana River

From the end of Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach it is a mile south on the beach to the Tijuana River mouth. See site guide here. That's where the rare and endangered Snowy Plovers are found, year-round.

Here are some photos from July and August 2017:

Snowy Plovers spend much time just resting and hiding on the dry upper beach.

Often you don't notice a Snowy Plover until it runs from you.

A Snowy Plover blends into the sand by resting in a footprint or tire track.

A tiny little ball of fluff.

Snowy Plovers lay their eggs and raise their young on empty sandy beaches.
Human beach recreation and nesting Snowy Plovers don't mix well.

Snowy Plovers are the color of dry sand and blend in well on the upper beach.

Skimming along with a Black Skimmer

Black Skimmers are odd birds, as I've noted before, here.

I hadn't had opportunity, though, to photograph them in their eponymous behavior, that is, actually skimming!

But a few weeks ago I found a single Black Skimmer skimmering around in the mouth of the Tijuana River!

To feed, skimmers fly low to the water with wings raised mostly above the horizontal in deep, slow, mechanical wing beats. The head is held down, with the bill knifing through shallow water. When a fish is caught, the head snaps up and the fish swallowed.

Black Skimmer, Tijuana River mouth, Imperial Beach, California. July 16, 2017. Greg Gillson.

Even when not skimming the water the head is held below the body in flight.

eBird Tracks: What is it? What can it be?

eBird has added a new feature to their eBird mobile app. At this time it is only in Android, but they are working on an iOS version. I am really excited about the potential for this feature, called Tracks.

What is it?
eBird Tracks is a feature of the mobile app that creates a map with a track of your birding movements for each traveling checklist you make.

Screenshot: eBird Tracks of a recent birding hike I took on the Weir Trail at Palomar Mountain State Park.

What are the benefits now?
As stated, it came first on Android devices. So right now Tracks is only available on that platform. And right now the map track is only visible on the phone that created the checklist when you review that checklist. Not too exciting. The only benefit you get now is seeing on a map where you birded and having a very accurate measurement of how far your traveled.

What are the future uses for eBird Tracks?
This is really exciting for me to think about. Those tracks that only I can see now on my phone? They are captured in eBird and will be available for others in the future. Have you ever looked at the map for a rare sighting and found the Hotspot was a large area and you didn't know where in it the bird was? Well, with Tracks you'll at least have a map with the birding track on it. So you will know where to begin and what route to take.

When you visit the Hotspots section of eBird, you should be able to view the routes of recent birders to that location. This will give you a good idea of the route other birders regularly take, and maybe help you discover a new trail.

I also think that the eBird team should consider adding a feature to tag a specific bird's location. This function was available in the predecessor, BirdLog, and I've missed it for tagging exact locations in the comments section for certain birds.

The official announcement of eBird Tracks is here.

Transcript: Why birds? John Muir Laws

I found this little video on the Audubon California YouTube channel. It is so great I decided to transcribe it here.

It is just the last minute and a half of a talk by Jack Laws at Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary in September 12, 2012.

You can watch the original here.

Transcript:

“The last thought is 'Why birds?'

"I am continuously amazed and awed by birds. If you are interested in observing animals and you want to look at mammals, they all hide from you. So what do the biologists do—the naturalists leading the field trips? They're like, “Oh my gosh, there's some scat!” Right? And they get all excited about looking at animal scat because the mammals are all hiding. Nobody looks at bird scat—because the bird is actually out there in front of you doing their bird thing!

"People say, 'I can't draw that because they fly away.' Yes, that's the point. Because they can fly away, they can hang around, right? It's because they can fly that makes them such great subjects. They can take off any time they want. And they kind of go like, 'You going to catch me? I don't think so, you land-locked primate!' So they will be out there in front of you courting and feeding and preening and cleaning themselves and doing all these sorts of things.

"You want to see mammals? You can go to the zoo. You can look at a nature special. You can look at scat on the ground. But it's nothing compared to the opportunities to see the real wildness that birds give us every day.”

Channel changes at the San Luis Rey River mouth

The above normal rains we had this winter and spring, after 5+ years of drought, brought a lot of water down the San Luis Rey River in northern San Diego County. I visited once in March and found the river bed full with water rushing into the sea. The former lush beds of cattails and great birding habitat were strewn northward on the beach for a half mile or more.

I visited recently, and the area has not recovered. I have not observed the wash-out of this lagoon before. Perhaps someone who has been around longer will remember how long it takes to recover. At this point it is my guess that winter storms and tides will again pile up beach sand and block the river mouth from reaching the ocean directly and the lagoon will reform. It may then be a couple of years before it reaches a state where it was these past few years. Or, perhaps it happens faster.

At any rate, silt and sand has replaced mud and cattails. Sand smothers the former food-rich river bottom. I do not believe birding will be good this winter for ducks. I don't think it will be good for migrant shorebirds and rails in spring or nesting Black-necked Stilts, Common Gallinules, and Least Bitterns next summer. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. We'll have to keep checking back.

This location was my first birding site guide in San Diego County.

Fresh silt and sand temporarily replaced a healthy lagoon. July 28, 2017.

The San Luis Rey River is now flowing directly into the ocean. July 28, 2017.

Recent Birding in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico

An unexpected extra (paid!) day off from work in July allowed Marlene and me to visit my sister and family in Puerto Peñasco (also known as "Rocky Point," even though the direct translation is "Rocky Port"). This resort town on the Sea of Cortez is about 6 hours away (330-360 miles) from my home in northern San Diego County. Plus, there can be another hour line for crossing the border back into the US. [And I still think that my map navigation program incorrectly computes travel time in Mexico based on speed limits of 90 miles per hour rather than 90 kilometers per hour. So it always takes a lot longer to get places in Mexico than the navigation programs says.]

Known as "Arizona's beach," this seaside community is only 60 miles from Lukeville, Arizona, and a 3-1/2 hours' drive from Phoenix or Tucson. There's really no specific birding parks or trails here, unfortunately, surrounded for miles by sandy cholla desert. The best birding is on the private golf courses and some of the shallow bays, such as Cholla Bay. [This is also known as Choya Bay--I am so confused about the use of Spanish here. I think both are pronounced the same, with the first the predominant cactus of the area and the second means "head," or maybe "point"? So maybe it's a play on words, or maybe confusion that stuck? Or maybe both words refer to the cactus?]

My nephew, Manny, an event photographer, took me out one day to photograph birds at the Laguna del Mar Golf Course. It's a private golf course but Manny knew the right words to say to get in to walk the main road. He comes here regularly to kayak. It was his first time photographing birds. He enjoyed it, I think, but he wasn't converted. Here are my photos from that morning.

American Oystercatcher. Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. July 3, 2017. Greg Gillson.

It's been several years since I last saw an American Oystercatcher.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Don't tell this Osprey that hunting is not allowed!

Snowy Egrets were nesting in a tree along the road allowing some great flight shots as they slowed to land.

Northern Mockingbird

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird.

Really ratty plumage. At least it has 7 new outer primaries so it can fly!

About 15 frigatebirds were hunting over the golf course ponds. And here I was looking out to sea for them!

Great-tailed Grackle

Cactus Wren in the tree above me.

Black-necked Stilts

Coyote is not likely to get a bird. Better go back to hunting lizards!

Black-necked Stilt

Later in the afternoon Marlene and I joined Bob and Karen on the private beach at Las Conchas. While we enjoyed the company of two other couples that showed up, Marlene first had to go swimming in the warm waters.

I'm not much for swimming as I was when I was younger (before eyeglasses). But large birds were flying right along the shoreline for decent photos.

A relaxing afternoon at Las Conchas Beach.

Heermann's Gull

Royal Tern

Osprey

Brown Booby

Marlene enjoying a boogie board

Female Brown Booby

Caspian Tern

Brown Pelican. Who's photobombing whom?

Osprey fishing

Yellow-footed Gull

Long-billed Curlew

Immature Brown Booby

A page from my nature journal.