Late at night on June 12th I got a text from Randy asking if I wanted to go hunt for Cerulean Warblers in the county the next morning. Most definitely the answer was yes. A Cerulean is not a life bird for Evan or me; in fact I had seen one just a couple days prior at Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in Savage. However, they are one of the coolest warblers out there because A) they are blue warblers that are beautiful and B) they are quite scarce and hard to find. I was eager to tag along with someone who’s been birding the county for 25 years and check his old haunts and hiding places.
We didn’t have any luck at our first stop, and honestly I wasn’t expecting to find a Cerulean this day – that’s how tough they are. Randy mentioned stopping by Sibley State Park to check some old spots, and then I mentioned to him that I had seen an eBird report of a Cerulean Warbler at Sibley a couple weeks ago on my Birding Across America website. But there was no specific information on its location. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Actually that would be easier than looking for a Cerulean in Sibley. Anyhow, Randy was encouraged by this news.
Randy first stopped at the park office to buy a vehicle pass, and he had the presence of mind to ask if they had received any reports of a Cerulean Warbler. As a matter of fact, they had! And they knew where to point us! A short, slow drive later with the windows down revealed the unmistakble rapid buzzy song of our target bird! And what a bird it is.
Cerulean Warbler at Sibley State Park
It was so much fun to watch this male sing on territory. Refinding a warbler during migration is a crapshoot, but a warbler on territory in the summer is pretty much a guarantee. I knew that we would be able to stop out and see it again and that Steve could finally get his lifer.
The very next day was Father’s Day and we went out for a drive in the northwestern part of the county just to do some sightseeing. Since Sibley was in the vicinity, we stopped out at the park so Evan could see the bird. Again, not a lifer for him, just a cool bird. It turns out Steve was there too trying to get his first look at this bird. I’m not sure how many more Ceruleans I’ll see in my lifetime as this declining species is losing habitat in both it’s summer and winter homes, so I’ll be sure to appreciate this one and check up on it next time we’re at Sibley for swimming or camping.
As Marin enjoyed the dangerous park, my ear caught the summer sound of an Eastern Wood Pewee. It didn’t take long to find it.
It was interesting to read in the field guide that these juveniles are commonly mistaken for Inca Doves. It was fun, nonetheless, to have this little learning experience, but I could have done without that second adrenaline rush of the day. Whoever said birdwatching was a lame activity for old people?
I continued to check out birds and photograph them while Evan played in the field.
It’s a good thing that Randy showed up to break up the monotony by joking around with Evan and letting him look through his scope at all the cool shorebirds.
I was glad to have Randy there too. We had seen Dunlin and Wilson’s Phalaropes in addition to the Ruddy Turnstone and American Avocets, but we didn’t even try to sort through the peeps. Randy’s been to battle with shorebirds for many years, so he was undaunted by the challenge. Within seconds he was calling out Least Sandpipers, Baird’s Sandpipers, and White-rumped Sandpipers. White-rumped was one we needed, so I told him to find us one. He would oblige and let us look through the scope to get our looks at this lifer. Then I’d try to relocate the one he’d found in order to photograph it. The way these things move around and how many different species there were, I think it would have been easier to win the shell game against a hustler. I gave up on photographing this bird that varies only slightly from a Baird’s Sandpiper. I decided to cheat instead by photographing a whole flock of peeps and looking at my pictures later. See the ones with the clear white rumps? Those are White-rumpeds.
Two days and five life birds for Evan and four for me with some great sightings of some other really good shorebirds as well. This was quite unexpected. Migration has been screwy this year. Normally we wouldn’t be chasing shorebirds after warblers. Now, though, it’s open season on these guys again. And I’m learning that shorebirds are still arriving in states to the south of us. Tomorrow is my first full day of summer vacation, so Marin and I will be hitting the few local shorebird spots to keep up on the action. There will be no rest for the weary.
All I could see were the peeps who are no bigger than sparrows. There were tons of them. It took my awhile but I finally located a phalarope. I certainly didn’t see 10. I zoomed in on it and showed it to Evan on the LCD. He was excited to get his Wilson’s Phalarope but then wanted to go right away. Birding doesn’t really compare to fishing to a 7-year-old. So I snapped a picture of this phalarope, just assuming it was a Wilson’s, the most likely species. Then I looked a little closer at the LCD and realized it was a male Red-necked Phalarope in breeding plumage! This was not a life bird as we saw a very drab version last August at the Atwater sewage ponds.
Now we had to stay for a bit because we hadn’t even gotten one of the two potential lifers there. I walked on the road to the view the north end of this pond, and I finally found the cache of phalaropes. These were definitely Wilson’s, so Evan got his life bird after all.
Then I spied some chunkier looking shorebirds that were bigger than the peeps but stockier than the phalaropes. The cloudy skies, distance, and strong wind buffetting my camera lens made it difficult to tell what they were. Were these our Stilt Sandpipers or a dowitcher of some sort? After looking back at my photos I could clearly see they were our Stilt lifers. It was interesting to read in the field guide, though, that they are compared to dowitchers in their behavior.
Three life birds for Evan, two for me, and a breeding plumage Red-necked Phalarope. I guess we better stay alert for a few more late migrants. As for the fishing report, Evan caught four Bluegill and quenched, albeit briefly, his thirst for fishing.
I raced home to get Evan. It was only 7:20, so I still had time to get him, get the bird, and get him back for bed at 8. I whipped into the neighborhood and saw all the neighbors and neighbor kids were outside hanging out enjoying this gorgeous night. When they saw me pull up curb-side and not bother to pull in the driveway, they all knew I had seen something good and was there to pick up Evan. No time for small talk. I told Evan to hop in because I found us the Western Kingbird. In seconds, we tore off going back to the wire.
And then I noticed a third warbler, the Yellow-rumped! Though none of these warblers were terribly exciting, it was a thrill to have them invade our very own trees. I wondered what else was with this mini warbler wave, but we had to get to scout camp.
I wanted to keep photographing this bird, but it gave me the slip while I was checking on Hercules.
Though not as much fun as playing with dead wood, I photographed a couple of the more common warblers.
A Cape May is a darn nice bird and after getting some shots I was pleased with, I was feeling everything would be okay again even with round 2 of the recital on the horizon.
Sometimes the most unassuming dancers can hold your attention, like this Lincoln’s Sparrow. It is no warbler, but it is arguably one of the best sparrows.
I had texted Steve and got him on the road right away. I knew that he’d probably want this one for his county list. While we waited for Steve, Evan and I kept trying to get good looks and photographs of this bird. I knew Evan was digging this new bird since he was with me the whole time in the chilly 42 degree weather of wind and spitting rain. A couple times we went back to the vehicle to warm up. When my fingers would thaw, I’d head back out again to try for better photos. I figured Evan had his fun and would just stay in the car, but when I was out doing my sneaking, I’d look back and see that he had left the comfort of the car for just one more look.
Who could blame him with a bird like this?
Several times I would sneak over the dike to try to get good photos. The bird would spot me, vocalize an alarm, and then fly out and land in the water about 20 feet from shore. It would then feed and work its way back to the shore.
As we drove on, Evan spied his own pair of Wood Ducks in a marshy little puddle on his side of the road. The kids and I watched them for quite a while as they tried to evade us in the thin cover. These two were more in sync with each other than the previous pair as they were at least heading the same direction in life.
Once we got home, the kids hopped out of the car to go play with the neighbor girl. As I was unloading my things I heard an awful noise, like a cat being murdered. It had been nearly a year, but I knew the sound and I can assure you that, indeed, a cat was not losing its life. It was the disturbingly cool croaking sound of a Yellow-headed Blackbird! In the yard no less. It didn’t take me long to locate it at the top of one of the trees.
