Are We Paranoid, Or Basically Ok?

A big line of birds moving north (puta madre!). Probably a mixture of Turkey Vultures, Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks. 

Well.

North Dakota, your weather is really bumming everyone out. It's cold. It's raining.  Many birds can't nest in their usual spots, due to high water levels. The unseasonal wetness can't be helping the birds that can nest in their usual spots. I am constantly covered in ticks...which probably isn't weather-related, but it warrants some bitching. 

Mexico, unsurprisingly, had better weather, so here's some more pictures from Chavarrillo.

This week we start the official Piping Plover census. Everyone is predicting very small numbers of birds this year, due to the atrosh weather I've been....piping about. For example, I surveyed the lake that had the most nests out of anywhere on the refuge last year. How many plovers were there? Zero. Cero. Zip. Nothing. Nada. Brutal.

My Año Tranquilo is going along swimmingly...I reckon I'm perched right at 450 bird species in 2011, over 100 of which are life birds (mostly from Mexico). The grand total will reflect where I wind up this fall, as I have no winter plans as of yet, aside from forcing different factions of my social life to hang out together.

I still haven't seen a Baird's Sparrow. It is my North Dakotan grail bird. Rather than seek out some kind of sparrow wizard, I reckon I can find one on my own....but it's been a weird, weird, weird year it seems for birds all over the continent. But the refuge I live in is legendary for its Baird's, so perhaps I will become a sort of Ammodramus Obi-Wan. 

Allegedly, "Ammodramus" translates to "sand-runner" in Latin...so that's something to think about.

Right. In other news, I saw the Aurora Borealis last night for the first time ever, and it was preposterous.

One of the local Roadside Hawks.

Great-tailed Grackles on parade. They often gathered here in the late afternoon and did grackle things in grackle formations.

Blue-gray Tanager. Looks like it made a decision and went with blue today.

This picture speaks for itself.

A "vortex" of Mississippi Kites (in Mexico, there are no kettles, only vortexes). When they get going really fast, they open a wormhole into another dimension. Truth.

Inca Dove, looking scaled back.

A Chavarrillo sunset.

A Brand New Food Chain

Black-billed Magpie. It's a great looking bird. Admit it.

It's Memorial Day Weekend. Even I, a lowly biotech, have a 3 day weekend. It's pretty sweet. This North Dakotan weather has got to quit though. It's not good for anyone, least of all the Piping Plovers. The last thing they need is more wind and rain. I'm in the same boat as the plovers. How am I supposed to bird in this weather? It is crucial that I bird. There's nothing else to do here!!!

In more positive news, the Human Birdwatcher Project will bring you another riveting/repulsive interview next week. It will open your eyes and make you hold your nose.

Grub's wetlands. The weird phantasm thing above the stream is steam.

Beware the bellowed "whit" of the Gray Flycatcher.

A couple clues as to the interview subject. He is incredibly narcissistic, has a mouth that can only be described as "reckless", and has an indelible reputation as one of the finest birders of our time. I think that's enough for now...I'm not exactly being cryptic here.

I got a little bit of birding in this morning. Not too much in the way of migrants...Tennessee Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, redstarts, Traill's Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrushes. A pale Northern Waterthrush was nice, and Chimney Swift was a year bird. I also bought beer and ice cream. Why not?

Today's photos are all, as you can tell, from Mono Lake. I've talked enough about it already so I will leave it at that....except those Sage Grouse below were life birds for me and it was a powerful experience. Go there. Bird it. Take the Grub tour. Go swim naked in the lake with the locals...if that's what you think is best.

Greater Sage Grouse. Obviously this is not a good picture but I was stoked. Thanks again Joel.

Mono Lake. Tufa. Eastern Sierras. You can't go wrong.

Since I've had almost no diurnal entertainment for the past 3 months, I've been birding a lot. Taking a lot of pictures. The backlog of bloggable photos is getting too much for me to handle...what do you want to see next? Idaho? North Dakota? Mexico? California? The BB&B photostock is anything but depleted.

I'll post another blog on...Monday. Rage!

The Empire's Death Stars didn't work out for them so they started building Deeth Starrs instead. In Nevada.

Where Would We Be Without The Songs That We Love?

Snowy Egret. Martinez, CA. Just thought you'd like a Snowy Egret.

Hey kids. Seagull isn't here today. It's me....Felonious Jive. Goddamn, it's nice to have that son of a bitch out of here for a change. Dude gets on my nerves. Anyways...BB&B is proud to announce it's very own Seagull Steve has a blog up at the American Birding Association's page. You can look at it here. It's a true story, filled with fear and loathing and all that good stuff Seagull is going on and on and on...and on about.

If youre a nonbirder (yes, Seagull knows those people, somehow), I should explain to you what the ABA is. Seagull writing on the ABA blog is like some dumbass baseball fan getting to write on ESPN's blog about how the Angels are going to take it all this year (they obviously will not). It's like your redneck uncle who claims Obama was born in Kenya and immigration should be illegal is suddenly given his own show on CNN. Its like your friend's crazy hippie mom who prescribes weird herbs for every possible malady suddenly becomes a neurosurgeon. What I'm saying is that he doesn't belong there, he's out of his league...yet, there he is.

That's about all I've got to say. Oh, I'm also a better birder than he is, and way better looking.

Love,

(The Great Ornithologist) Felonious Jive

It's A Pretty Good Night For A Drive

This Red-tailed Hawk is super dead. According to my sources its been hanging from this tree for over a month. What do you think? Was it shot? Or did it fall to the talons of the Great Horned Owl family that was a stone's throw away?

North Dakota. I live in North Dakota. Like several of the places Ive found myself living in the last few years, I am faintly surprised to find myself here. It's not somewhere I've thought about much. The prairies are not known for their breathtaking scenery (although I am very partial to them so far), for their interesting culture or amazing weather. The birds, however, have been great, as my previous post can attest to.

But to get here, I had to go through some other places first. Now you too can bear witness to the world seen through the eyes of The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive.

California Gull. Indirectly responsible for the continued existence of Mormons. Birders have mixed feelings about them. Have you forgiven?

Crowley Lake. Mono Lake's fresh southern little sister. Almost as good-looking. 

Today was my first day of work here at Lostwood National Willife Refuge, in northwest North Dakota. Culturally, it reminds me a little bit oh the Somerset/Donegal area of Pennsylvania where I worked a couple years ago except a bit more rural. The landscape is like nothing I've ever seen....but I'll tell you about that later. I have been brought in to focus on the Piping Plovers that lurk throughout the region...but I'm not sure how thats going to work out, considering the incredibly high water in all the wetlands they would normally be found in. Most of their nesting places are under water....so what's good for the ducks is bad for the plovers.

More to come. Bird relentlessly.

Look at this robin. It chopped a worm in half and is eating it. If this doesn't say "spring", then I don't know what does.

"Why am I at a beach? And what is this mound of weird shit I'm sitting on?" - Gray Flycatcher on a tufa lump, Mono Lake.

Connecticut!!!!!!!

Let's face it people. I've done a lot of bad things in my life. I did not grow up to be the person I thought I would be. I'm not as honest I planned on being. I'm not as good of a person as I should be. Steve from only 5 years ago would be surprised at the Seagull he finds today, and probably not in a good way. I didn't get married at age 27, which my 9-year old self had prophesized. "27. That's a good marrying age", thought young Steve. Well, I'm glad he was wrong about that.

Despite my evil deeds and many shortcomings however, I must be doing something right. There is no other way to explain the male Connecticut Warbler I found today, next to my trailer in western North Dakota.

It is, of course, a life bird. It took me 17 years to see one. They are infamous as being the skulkiest American warbler. They are adept at living unseen. Even where they are supposed to be, people have the worst time finding them. They have been the cause of thousands of ulcers and stress disorders of birders over the years. I couldn't believe I saw it, let alone get pictures of it. Afterwards, I wanted to teleport to the bow of the Titanic, throw my arms in the air, and scream "I'm king of the world!", DiCaprio style. I shit you not. So there must have been some kind of strange magic in the air to explain this bird, which is at its western limit of its normal migratory route.

There are two (2) reasons that could explain how I found this bird. The first is, as you all know, I am the Number 8 birder in all of California. That means I'm really, really good at stuff. Secondly, I must have done something to deserve the blessing of the Connecticut Warbler. I did survive The Rapture, after all. But what could it be? I guess I can only go on living the life of blasphemy and bird wizardy to find out.

Today is my first day of work since September 31 of last year. So long, funemployment!

The Birds of Chavarrillo

Every once in a while, I think people need to be disturbed. This is the one-eyed turkey that lived next door to us in Chavarrillo. It actually had more room to run around than this picture makes it seem, but the turkey was continually having the shit kicked out of it by the yard rooster and the hen turkey (I assume this is why his eye is gone), so often he took to taking shelter in this nook. What's even more complicated is that the hen would occasionally let old Tom here mate with her, which makes things awfully complicated. Talk about an abusive relationship. It was very strange to see Tom strutting around, all proudly puffed-up with wings dragging, only to be fleeing his prospective mate in terror a few moments later. Anyways, if you keep any birds, for my sake don't litter their feeding areas with garbage, its just not classy. Watching Muscovy Ducks hungrily eating plastic is not my idea of fun.

But we are not here to talk about abused turkeys or deranged ducks today. I am posting my Chavarrillo bird list, so anyone going to work at Swainson's Hawk Bird Observatory in the future will know what to expect, and to try to motivate some non-Mexican birders to find their way there. It's not really in taxanomic order and I might have some names wrong, but I think its complete. Birds in bold were new for me. All photos were taken in or adjacent to Chavarrillo.

Least Grebe
American White Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Grey-necked Wood-Rail
Osprey
Mississippi Kite
Swallow-tailed Kite
Hook-billed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Swainson's Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk (pictured above)
Zone-tailed Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Common Black-Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
Bat Falcon
Merlin
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Jacana
Solitary Sandpiper
White-tipped Dove
White-winged Dove
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Inca Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Red-billed Pigeon
Rock Pigeon
White-crowned Parrot
Red-lored Parrot

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (pictured above)
Vermiculated Screech-Owl (heard only)
Mottled Owl (heard only)
Tawny-colored Nightjar
Vaux's Swift (it is possible Chimneys were observed as well)
Greater Swallow-tailed Swift
White-collared Swift
Golden-olive Woodpecker (conspecific with Bronze-winged Woodpecker now, right?)
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper
Ringed Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Little Hermit (again...anybody know the current taxonomy on this species?)
Wedge-tailed Sabrewing
Azure-crowned Hummingbird
Green-breasted Mango
Green Violet-Ear
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Canevet's Emerald
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Squirrel Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Keel-billed Toucan
Gartered Trogon
Blue-crowned Motmot
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (pictured above)
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Greenish Elaenia
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Couch's Kingbird
Tropical Kingbird
Western Kingbird

Masked Tityra (pictured above)
Yellow-green Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Barred Antshrike
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Brown Jay
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Rufous-naped Wren
Band-backed Wren
Spot-breasted Wren
House Wren
White-bellied Wren
Clay-colored Thrush/Robin
White-throated Thrush/Robin

Long-billed Thrasher (pictured above)
Blue Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Greyish Saltator
Black-headed Saltator
Rose-throated Becard
Blue-winged Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Tropical Parula
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
American Redstart
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Rufous-capped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Grey-crowned Yellowthroat
Slate-throated Redstart
Yellow-breasted Chat
Northern Cardinal
Crimson-collared Grosbeak
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Varied Bunting

Painted Bunting (above, with a Green Heron. Weird mixed flock.)
Western Tanager
Summer Tananger
Yellow-winged Tanager
Blue-grey Tanager
Lincoln's Sparrow
Rusty Sparrow
Scrub Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Melodious Blackbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Altamira Oriole

Montezuma Oropendula (pictured above)
Yellow-billed Cacique
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Blue-black Grassquit
White-collared Seedeater
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow

167 species, almost all within walking distance from the observatory! Pretty snazzy. For the record, this was from February 24 thru April 28, 2011. Someone who has more free time in the future could easily rack up some more.

Other observers also recorded Yellow-headed Parrot, Black Swift, White-bellied Emerald, Northern Bentbill and Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, among others.

I promise, whether you like it or not, more Mexican content in the near future. I will also officially announce that I am settled here in North Dakota and I seem to have internet access, so it will be a long, bloggy summer. Tomorrow is my first day of paid work since September 30. Sick.

The Dirty Sunlight Shines

Somewhere south of Bishop...

I'm sitting here in Billings, Montana, drinking truck stop coffee and listening to Journey. Considering the dumping rain outside, this feels like the best thing I can possibly be doing. The weather is unrelenting. I accomplished almost no birding today, although I did get my year Red-breasted Nuthatch. At one point I thought I passed what I thought was a Golden Eagle on a power pole, took the next exit, and came back to it going the opposite way...it was a Turkey Vulture. How embarrassing. Of course, I didn't realize the next exit was so far back that it would take almost 20 minutes to get back to where this whole debacle started. Again....how embarrassing.

I did see a real Bald Eagle though.

Sage of the sage. Horned Lark.

Today's pictures are all from (more or less) California's eastern Sierra(s), which I just left a couple days ago. The west side, which features celeb parks like Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, generally get all the glory...but I'm a big proponent of the east side. The birds are a bit different (the Great Basin essentially comes right up to the base of the mountains), there's less tourists,  and everything is just sort of bizarre. Anyone who's spent much time by Mono Lake knows this...you should see for yourself. It is a desolate, salacious, majestic, obscene part of the world. In search of the area's birdlife, you may find yourself freezing to death on the high peak of Mount Whitney, or being savagely devoured by the brine shrimp of Mono Lake. 

But a word of caution...apparently everyone drives drunk in the Mono Basin, so be an offensive driver.

Photo taken from the same spot as the first.

A male Yellow-headed Blackbird at Grub's wetlands. Yes, The Grub is (allegedly) solely responsible for maintaining water levels at a freshwater marsh. 

The Grub in his natural habitat. An earlier attempt at establishing a coastal population of Grubs is generally regarded as a failure, although with more potential mates the outcome could be different. If you are not acquainted, Grub was the subject of the last Human Birdwatcher Project interview, which can be seen here. The next HBP interview is coming shortly.

Right. I've been chased by storms for almost this whole road trip...although I haven't yet been snowed in, and there are no tornadoes here, so maybe I shouldn't complain. I was planning on going up to Medicine Lake tomorrow, but maybe it will be the long haul to North Dakota instead. Damn you rain gods!!!

At this point it would be good to make some sort of joke about the imminent rapture that is happening this weekend, but I think we just need to remind ourselves that anyone who believes this will happen is truly, profoundly, stupid. If you are unfortunate enough to know any of these people, feel free to ridicule them mercilessly. It's ok because they have smugly been thinking that you are going to hell this whole time.

Pine Sisken...er, Dandelion Siskin.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Western Scrub-Jay. Ventura, CA, May 2011.

May has always been a turbulent month for me. I'm always going from one bizarre place to another, usually with very little time to catch any shows or see any friends (though I was lucky this year!). 

Today I drove from Lee Vining, California, all the way to Wells, Nevada, in and out of the huge storm that's encroaching on the west. This is after a late night of losing at poker (twice) and cheap beer and yelling at some racist dude from Baker. It's been a long day and a long drive, although it featured some unreal scenery and a few new birds for the year (Lewis' Woodpecker, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Mountain Bluebird). I'm too beat to unload my usual scathing wit and irresistible charm on all you loyal readers out there so here's a few snapshots from some of the more recent Mays I've had. Birders may be inclined to double-click on the auklet picture...

Tomorrow is Idaho, or maybe even Montana. Word.

Crested Auklets. Buldir Island, AK, May 2010.

White Tern chick. Midway Atoll, May 2009.

Stilt snoozes at Mary Jo Ballator's. Ash Canyon, AZ, May 2008.

Bird professionals. El Centro, CA, May 2007.

Peak molluscing. Near Hyampom, CA, May 2006.

I Remember This And That

One of the resident Short-tailed Hawks that can often be found kiting over Chavarrillo.

Birders. Nonbirders. How's it going? I've got some more Chavarrillo pictures for you to wipe up the week with. The hawk and flycatcher are common residents throughout eastern Mexico, with the grassquit a little harder to find. Go forth, and observe them.

So I'm writing this in a suit and tie, getting ready to rush off for a wedding. I am debating bringing binoculars. The ceremony and reception is being held in a nice patch of oak woodland in Santa Barbara, California...but who am I kidding? There will be too much champagne flowing and I will be busy with my groomsman duties.

Since I will be at least ear-birding the whole time (that's not something I am capable of turning off) and there will be a couple other decked-out bird-sympathizers there, I have to ask...why are all birders so homogynous looking? I'm not talking about race (this time), I'm talking about garb. Or, if you prefer, plumage. Do we all have no pride in appearance? I know there is something to be said about only dressing practically (or even not caring at all), but that's so.....boring. It's one thing if its the dead of winter and youre freezing to death, but luckily the entire Lower 48 is blessed with less than arctic conditions most of the year.

A male Yellow-faced Grassquit asks "Why don't you buy shade-grown coffee, pendejo?".

Finishing Lynn's homemade pizza. From left to right: Pilar (feliz), Roberto (amable), Carlos (enojado), Lynn (que la chinga?).

But I'm jumping into a subject that deserves more time and effort. Indeed...this is a job for the Human Birdwatcher Project, and HBP coordinator Felonious Jive isn't in the office today. So the hot and controversial topic of birder fashion will have to wait.

Tomorrow I set off for Mono Lake. I recommend you seize the weekend. It's one of the best weekends of the year for birding in much of the country, and, as always, for drinking and procreating. Who knows what this wedding will spawn...

Later dudes.

Social Flycatcher, known in Mexico as Luis Gregario. So next time you meet a Luis, please acknowledge his flycatching roots.

What the fuck is this bird? At first I thought it was a Canevet's Emerald, but the bill appears far too short.

Try To Stop Us, It's No Use

Check out this merciless Franklin's Gull.

Good Wednesday to you, birders of the world. How are you today? I have returned safely from my beloved San Francisco, getting my Y2K11 Bullock's Orioles, Olive-sided Flycatchers and Yellow-billed Magpies in the process...there is much catch-up to do from  and am now in full-blown wedding preperation phase. Some old buddies are getting hitched on Thursday in Santa Barbara, and I don't even have my groomsman suit yet. Balls!

Everything is changing very quickly. San Francisco was a scene of carnage...marriages being announced, relationships ending, abundant awkward situations, alcohol seemingly flooding the streets. But it was a really good trip overall...I knew it would be when I parked next to the old Sunset Space Station...upon stepping out of my car, I realized I was directly under a big bulky Bushtit nest. Talk about an omen! So between seeing Frank Turner (England's best export) play a rousing set (thats what the music critics say, yeah?), seeing lots of old friends and being one of the stars of "the olive oil incident", everything was great. And although I made no attempts to bird, it was hard to ignore the singing Pacific Wrens and the hundreds of Cedar Waxwings causing trouble across the street from the Space Station...we are in the midst of Spring, after all. 

Hundreds of them were flying north along the coastline at Alvorado, south of Veracruz. They significantly outnumbered Laughing Gulls, which was disturbing on some level. Good shit.

After the wedding, I am setting out for Mono Lake and beyond...there will be much birding to do and catching up with Neutral Drew and The Grub. I will try my best to get as much blogging in as possible before I arrive at my summer home, Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. There are rumors of "The Internet" being found out there, so hopefully Lostwood will be the unofficial host of many a BB&B post...

After leaving California, I'll be going through Nevada, Idaho and Montana...there will be some time for birding, but not a lot. Much distance to cover, in a short amount of time. Railer. But, since the Dakotas are not famous for any cultural hubs, I think there will be plenty of time for birding over the summer...

A formidable formation of Brown Pelicans.

Black-bellied Plover. A distant shot, but its such a slick looking bird...the Oreo of plovers.

All of these photos are from the coastal Veracruz area, when I had a couple free days after I left Chavarrillo and before I left the country. Jesus, what a birdy area! Circumstances prevented searching for Crane Hawk, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Pinnated Bittern and Double-striped Thicknee...and we dipped on Black-collared Hawk...but we did see a ton of other sweet, sweet birds and I got my lifer Grassland Yellow-Finch, so I don't have much to complain about. That's an area I really want to bird again....but it will have to wait a while.

It was fun San Francisco! Can't wait to do it again. Things might never be the same...

This flood control channel in Veracruz was packed with an amazing variety of birds. Everything from Black Skimmer to Northern Waterthrush, and too many shorebirds to fully grasp. Not the most scenic of sites, but the birds will take what they can get...Mexicans enjoy draining and destroying wetland habitats just as much as us gringos do. 

In the channel were gaggles of preposterous-looking Northern Jacanas. GAGGLES.