Monday, January 18, 2016

The Frigid Northwest (Part 2)

     Ding ding ding!!! It was New Years Day!!! One of my favorite days of the year. The day when I look back upon all of the highlights from the previous year which seemed to be just a day ago (because it was). However, I was up in Idaho, and I had to continue birding hard!

Day 3: Chilling out...
 When I woke up early in the morning the first bird I saw in 2016 was my lifer flock of Bohemian Waxwings flying out in the distance! What a way to start the year! January 1st was one of the few days when we decided to take it easy and just do a little local birding. While the Noe family and I hiked around Post Falls along a scenic river, with a lake and some falls, I noticed some birds flush up out of the running water and onto a rock. I borrowed Walker's binocs and saw that they were our lifer American Dippers! The American Dipper is the only songbird in the United States that swims underwater.

American Dipper



Day 4: A triple owl chase!
Walker and I's birding luck lately hasn't been as good as it had the first couple of months we first birded together. The first time we birded we had a multi day trip in the Chiricahua Mountains and we got several lifers (including some clutch Mexican Chickadees at their nest!). The second time we birded we cleaned house and then some at Tres Rios and the B and M when we found a Painted Bunting, got the all-time high count of Yellow-billed Cuckoos for AZ, found a strange Bonaparte's Gull, some Caspian Terns, a Ridgway's Rail, and more! And our blessed birding continued on! However, our most recent birding expeditions haven't been nearly as good, so to make up for our slacking off we pretty much had to throw a hail mary and pray that it would work! Our hail mary was to wake up at four in the morning, drive to look for a Northern Hawk Owl that was four hours away, then look for day roosting Northern Saw-whet Owls, and then finish our day with a Snowy Owl search. So walker, Dalton, and I woke up long before first light and headed out the door praying for the best. To be honest, both Walker and I were nervous that the day was gonna be a total fail like our recent Snowy Owl search, but neither of us let each other know. A song that has strangely seemed like our good luck charm, The Final Count Down, was now playing and we were very anxious to see some owls! As soon as we turned off the highway onto Cassimer Bar Road we kept our eyes peeled for the fearless Northern Hawk Owl. We weren't exactly sure where the bird had been seen but we saw a car parked and hoped that they were looking at the bird. We then stopped and I spied a bird high up in a dead tree.


It was the bird!!! I yelled "GUYS UP THERE ON THE TREE!!!!!!" The Hawk Owl also put a show on for us as it actively hunted in the -5 degree weather!

Garth The Northern Hawk Owl!





Later on we said "Peace out Garth!" and he said "Peace out, good luck on your search guys!"

Peace out!

We named the Hawk Owl Garth because the name seemed to fit him well. Garth was fearless, tough, a little scary, and he did what he wanted, until the land owner shot him a week later! The whole story about Garth, the Northern Hawk Owl being shot and killed is a whole different story and I don't really want to get into it too much, but if you want to get into it just google "Washington Tweeters Northern Hawk Owl" and I'm sure you'll get enough drama for your week! Anyways, back to the story. While we were watching Garth the car that we thought was watching the owl drove up to us and a guy rolled down his window and said "Well we've been here since sunrise and haven't seen the Northern Hawk Owl yet, but we aren't done looking yet." We chuckled a little and pointed up to his perch and said the three best words "There it is." The man said "really?! Are you sure?! And then we let him take a look through my scope and we could tell that he was pumped. As a matter of fact, this was his 730th ABA bird I believe. After observing the Northern Hawk Owl for about a half hour we decided to look for a day roosting Northern Saw-whet Owl. Before long we parked at the large park that they had been seen at recently and started scanning the coniferous trees. However, after about a half hour of searching we started loosing hope. Could the Northern Hawk Owl be the only life bird I got that day? Could the rest of the day be a total waste? No, I couldn't think that way! I had to keep my head high and keep on searching. After another fifteen minutes we decided to leave, but just before we left a car of birders came in with the good news that they had just found a Northern Saw-whet Owl on its day roost! After getting directions we drove up to the tree that they described and started our search. We stood under that tree for a good five minutes before Walker said "Caleb, I see it!" I then walked over to where he was and the bird was only about eight feet from us! We named the Northern Saw-whet Owl Jimmy.

Jimmy the Northern Saw-whet Owl


Jimmy was a nice bird. Pretty much the exact opposite of Garth. Garth looked like he wanted to tare my heart out, Jimmy looked gentle and laid back. Garth kept his distance from us, Jimmy would have let us pet him if he weren't too high. And so on... Now the time was coming, the last target bird of the day, the Snowy Owl! As you would imagine we had mixed feeling for this chase. We were pumped at the thought of getting a Snowy Owl yet we were afraid that we'd end up spending the rest of the day searching for this bird without success, like we did the other day. However, you can't just pass up a chance at chasing one of the coolest birds in the world! This bird was what could possibly make the trip a total success.

There we were, on the road heading towards what could potentially be our best bird of the trip! Our hopes dropped though after we found that the fog was super thick. As a matter of fact we could barely seen 80 feet in front of ourselves! Our hope was fading with every mile we drove, at one point Walker asked me "Caleb, you wanna head back?" and I thought about it but we both came up with the conclusion that since we were close to the owl's territory we might as well try. However, once we entered the Snowy Owl's territory the fog had only gotten worse so we decided to pull over and just wait the fog out. Unfortunately the fog was only getting thicker so we started doing some research on where the owl had been seen most of the time. According to past reports the owl was usually scoped out from the road WAY out anywhere across its six square mile territory! The news only made us taste defeat even more. While Walker was doing research and Dalton was trying to catch up on some rest I starred out into the thick fog. I then noticed a large bird flying strait towards us! The bird's flight style was distinct and I proclaimed the sighting of our large white owl by screaming "OH MY GOSH!!! OH MY GOSH!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!! GUYS IT'S THE SNOWY OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"   The moment was so serial! But it only got better when the bird landed on a telephone poll directly above us! The Snowy Owl, which we named Bianca, just stood on the top of that poll proclaiming her amazingness!

Bianca the Snowy Owl!!!







 After watching this crazily awesome bird for nearly a half hour she decided to fly to a distant rock pile when we decided it was time to head back.


 Bianca, the Snowy Owl, was queen over the day and even the trip. But wait, The day wasn't over yet! We still had a couple of spots to stop by on our way back. On our way back we got some nice birds including a Ring-necked Pheasant, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, Chukars (lifer!), a Barn Owl, and an American Tree Sparrow (another lifer!).

Ring-necked Pheasant--female

Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, and Horned Larks


Chukar

Barn Owl

American Tree Sparrow


The rest of the trip had nothing to compare with our triple owl day and I didn't bother taking too many photos. However, I got some more lifers including Iceland Gull, Pine Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Red-necked Grebe, and Glaucous-winged Gull!

Man I still can't get over that Snowy Owl!!! Even now,nearly three weeks later, I'm still thinking about that awesome experience! All in all, seeing the Snowy Owl was a miracle! And for that I praise my savior Jesus Christ for blessing me with such an amazing bird and trip!

Overall, my Idaho/Washington trip was a HUGE success!!! Thanks Walker, Dalton, Emmie, and Mrs. Noe for having me over and birding hard with me! This trip was one I will never forget!


In the mean time, I hope to add photos of the scenery later on and maybe a few bird photos. Have an awesome week everyone!!!

God Bless and BIRD HARD!!!

Caleb

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Frigid Northwest! (Part 1)

     Here it comes! Birding With Caleb (BWC) has moved to Coeur D' Alene, Idaho for a week! "Why Idaho?" you might ask. Well my good friends, the Noe family, moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Coeur D' Alene, Idaho recently. I, of course, took advantage of this opportunity to bird new ground and decided to fly up to the north for a week and bird with my fellow "bird hard" friends, Walker and Dalton. In the past I had only birded in Arizona, California, and a very brief stop in the southwest corner of New Mexico (along with a trip to Alabama when I wasn't a birder, but I saw Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, and Pileated Woodpeckers, which were all lifers). So lo and behold, on December 29th I flew up to the Spokane, Washington Airport to start our week of bird hardness! However, because I wasn't flying up to Spokane until the evening I had to wait until morning to bird.

Day 1: Prairies and Lakes--December 30th
     After a good night's rest on the 29th I woke up to the frigid cold weather of the Northwest! Upon getting ready for our first birding expedition of the week long trip, I heard my lifer Common Redpoll calling, lifer #1 of the trip! We were then ready for take off and decided to spend our first day birding the prairies and lakes of Kootenai County. Upon reaching the prairies I spied my second lifer of the trip, a Rough-legged Hawk, perched high upon a telephone pole!

Rough-legged Hawk


Our #1 target for the day was the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Recently, there had been a flock that had been feeding on a few hay bales in the area.While we drove through the area I picked up my third lifer of the day, a distant Black-billed Magpie.

Black-billed Magpie--Distant but still distinctive!


Laugh as you might, northwestern birders, but lifers are lifers! After scanning the prairies for a good hour we decided to check the hay bales one more time for the rosy-finches, and as soon as we stopped I could see movement!

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches--Lifer #4 


In the rosy flock there were both subspecies. Hephburn's (gray-cheeked) and a Gray-crowned.

"Hephburn's" Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

"Gray-crowned" Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch


The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches were a lifer for all three of us and we were pumped to get one of our main targets! Birding the prairies is a lot of fun, because, you can never get everything in just one pass through the area, so the more you bird the area the more you'll get! While driving through a small town I spotted my lifer Northern Shrike perched on the top of a dead tree.

Northern Shrike


As you can see, the bird was distant and my views weren't too long but you have to take what you can get. The lifers just wouldn't stop! A few Ring-necked Pheasants and a Ruffed Grouse kicked up from the roadside to add to my chicken list.

Ring-necked Pheasant

 In the northwest there aren't nearly as many birds as there are in the southwest, like AZ for example, but the birds are super awesome and very rewarding to watch. After a half-day in the prairie we decided to bird Coeur D' Alene Lake. It took me quite a bit of scanning, but mixed in with the many Ring-billed, California, and Herring Gulls I found my lifer Thayer's Gull! However, the bird was way too distant for a photo so I will have to live without a photo of this gull, for now that is. While I was watching the gull I could also hear my lifer Black-capped Chickadee calling from high up the mountain side.

Day 2: Prairies for Snowy Owls--December 31st
     On our second day of birding we decided to spend the whole day looking for Snowy Owls around Walker's house and at a spot in Washington (a three hour drive!) where a pair had recently been found. While we searched the prairies around his house a flock of Gray Partridges flew across the road and provided distant scope views.

Gray Partridge--Yes, it is that brown lump

After getting the partridges we drove down to the desolate prairies in Washington. On our way to the Snowy Owl spot we drove through some good habitat and came out with the fallowing species plus my lifer Snow Buntings which flushed out from the highway road.

Gray Partridge


Black-capped Chickadee

Rough-legged Hawk

Before long we arrived at the Snowy Owl spot and I located a nice California Quail greeting us.

California Quail

We searched long and hard for the Snowy Owls and we spent the entire day scanning through the snowed in prairies but we couldn't find a single Snowy! We were pretty frustrated, because, we spent the whole day looking for one of our top targets but couldn't find it! And to put the icing on our cake, a couple of locals said that they had just seen one of the owls along the roadside the day before! I can't really put into words the way we felt after missing the Snowy Owls that day but we barely said anything driving back from our failure of a day. However, this young Northern Shrike put a tic down on our photo life list.

Northern Shrike--Juvenile

Don't fall asleep on me now! This was the more boring half of the trip, and I promise you the next half will be much more exciting! So stay tuned for my better half of the trip, all I'm gonna say is Garth, Bianca, and Jimmy, the three birds that made the trip!