St. Thomas, USVI

I had a short trip down to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands this weekend to help my parents out with their new condo. I have done a fair amount of birding in the Virgin Islands but I have a short list of target birds that I am still missing. Some of these are considered common but I can't ever seem to track them down: Caribbean Elaenia, Puerto Rican Flycatcher, Caribbean Coot, Adelaide's Warbler, Red-tailed Tropicbird, and Brown-throated Parakeet.

I was only able to located the Parakeet on this trip but I had a really fantastic hike along the Magen's Bay Trail. The trail passes through three distinct ecosystems; mixed-dry forest, moist tropical forest, and mangrove swamp.

Highlights other than the Parakeets were Prairie and Hooded Warblers, Wilson's Snipe, Sandwich Terns, and Gray Kingbirds.

Brown-throated Parakeets

Gray Kingbird

Green-throated Carib

Prairie Warbler

Ovenbird

and then today....

The female Painted Bunting reappeared at Evergreen Cemetery in Brighton. Lauren and I made a dash for the door at lunch and were able to locate the bird with a little help from Jeremiah. We were both struck by her bright green color. She was actively feeding on Fox Tail seeds in the same area she'd been seen last week.

Massachusetts Year Bird #244

Today in the middle of a Nor'easter, Lauren and I visited the Sudbury Community Gardens in search of a Blue Grosbeak that was sighted several days earlier. It took us about 45 mins to locate the bird. A lifer for her and a state bird for me. I was able to snap a few photos as the snowflakes began to fly.

Life Birds at Work

Had great looks at an Eurasian Wigeon at Parker NWR and two Yellow-headed Blackbirds in Salisbury while I was traveling for work today. I'd call that a good day!

One Piping Plover's Incredible Journey

On August 31, 2014 I photographed a banded Piping Plover at Bolivar Flat Shorebird Sanctuary in Bolivar, Texas. I submitted the band information and recently received word that this particular bird was banded on June 19, 2013 as a one day old chick on the East Side of Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota. Then seen in Florida in the winter of 2013-2014. That's a minimum 2,100 mile one way trip!  This 2 oz. bird that's the size of a tennis ball traveled roughly the distance from Boston to Salt Lake City in twelve months. It is a perfect example of why we should all have the utmost respect for nature.


My photo is on its way. This one is courtesy of Jennifer Wilson.

Year Bird #300: Sedge Wren

Thanks to the super accurate and helpful coordinates provided by Ryan D. I was able to relocate Anthony L's Sedge Wren at Dunback Meadows. A life bird for me, I was struck by how small the bird was. It popped up out of the marsh grass and perched in a shrub inquisitively. It made very little sound only occasionally "buzzing" as it cocked its stubby tail. It disappeared again into the grass and I headed off to work as large group was assembling to continue the hunt.

Texas Gulf Coast Birding Trip

“Who in their right mind would go to Houston Texas in August?!” This was a question asked to me by many of my friends and coworkers. The answer, of course, is to see birds!

My family was headed to Colorado for the long Labor Day weekend, so Travis and I devised a plan for a short trip to the Gulf Coast. It’s a little early for migration in those parts but there was sure to be no shortage of interesting species and Life Birds for me.

As is my way, I spent far too much time planning a route that would maximize the number and variety of species. Varying habitat was a sure way to see more species. We selected three major “target” locations: Brazos Bend State Park, Brazoria National Wildlife Reserve, and Anahuac National Wildlife Reserve. Our route would take us out of Houston, southwest toward Brazos, then southeast to Brazoria, and then east toward Bolivar and Anahuac.

I'll skip over all of the boring travel details which included a total car rental disaster at Hobby Airport. In short, avoid Priceline and Alamo. We arrived at Brazos Bend around 8:00am after numerous stops along the way to scope some interesting birds including my first Crested Caracara: 

Brazos was great. It has a lot a varied habitat ranging from grassland to swamp. Highlights were too numerous to list but I will say that a Mississippi Kite(a Life Bird for both of us) generated a lot of excitement, as did several close encounters of the American Alligator kind. Here's the ebird Checklist.

to be continued....