The Human Birdwatcher Project Presents: Swallowgate

I have written of sketchy birders. I have written of stringers, assholes, liars, and the clueless. What the Human Birdwatcher Project has not covered are birders who take dishonesty to such a level that it is truly staggering. As the nation's #7 birder, you can bet the Global Birder Ranking System has me plugged deeply in to the national rumor mill. My little birds are everywhere, as Lord Varys would say, and they sing many songs to me. You would not believe what they have been telling me lately...

It all started out innocently enough...a young birder doing a Big Year in his home state. He set out to conquer the state's big year record, and he succeeded. There was press coverage, much fanfare, and glory. But very quickly, things turned for the worst...he tumbled from those lofty heights like a Snow Goose full of birdshot . His big accomplishment was nothing more than a vulgar display of myopic arrogance.

Let's set the stage. The year before he set out to shatter the record, he found a state first Violet-green Swallow, which was photographed...but no one else ever saw it, despite other observers rushing to find it. Of course, it is always suspicious when a single observer has a pattern of finding rare birds that otherwise go unseen...but if there is a photo, who can argue with that? During his big year, more than one of his self-found/single-observer rarities were photographed, so there was no real reason for concern.

The obvious problem with photos is that they can be faked...but no birder would ever do that...right? What would be the point? I can only see one...where you want to convince people that you are a hot-shit birder. You want that reputation, which ostensibly sounds crazy, but that is something that some birders find to be very, very important...perhaps because you have nothing else. In fact, for whatever reason, you want that reputation more than you care about watching birds themselves...which seems to defeat the whole idea of "birdwatching" in the first place, and violates the golden rule of birding: don't lie. You can be a dipshit, you can be unskilled, you can be a bad person, and birders will still tolerate you as one of them. But for god's sake, don't lie.

It has come to light that this birder has done just that...through some brilliant detectivework that make other bird police forces look sloppy and lazy by comparison, his state first photo was discovered to have been taken not in his state at all, but in Colorado. It was a farce, and he got caught...there was something amiss with the bird's tertial pattern, and data associated with the photo put the observer in the wrong state at the wrong time. My little birds tell me that after a period of complete denial that anything was wrong, he eventually claimed that the bird was real, he just thought that he could lubricate the record's passage by The Bird Police by using a decent photo. Of course, no one really believes that, and Violet-green Swallow turned out to not be the only rarity he documented with a photo of a different bird taken in a different state. The big year suddenly wasn't so big at all. State birders were plunged into a dark malaise...the light at the end of this tunnel was a long way off.

This is the closest thing one can get to "treason" in birding. With a fake state record and a fake record-breaking big year to claim as his, this birder is, for all intents and purposes, doomed. No birder will trust him for years to come...he will be haunted by the nightmare ghost of a Violet-green Swallow forever. His betrayal is known to many, and not only is he being actively shunned in his own state, but the entire American scene is taking notice. Instead of being a high-profile birder in his home state, his name is now in the toilet, and it will be for the foreseeable future.

Birders don't need this. Young birders do not need to have suspicions of stringing and lying cast upon them...hell, I'm in my 30s, and I still get doubted by old white birders who don't know they are dealing with #7. No birder needs to have the idea put in their head that they can do this and get away with it. Birders do not need to sacrifice a lot of time and money chasing after birds that exist only to serve as a "tick" on someone's fabricated list. eBird does not need fake data. Birders are hard to get along with as it is...if we can't trust what we tell each other, what do we have? Not anything that can be called a community, that's for sure.

And there you have it. Swallowgate. Take it to heart.

Todos Santos, Un Ornitólogo Grande, y 10,000 Aves

Felonious Jive, The Great Ornithologist, breaks down the bird scene at Todos Santos and southern Baja at 10,000 Birds. Much like the Brown Pelican hungrily devours discarded fish parts, Felonious greedily devours the birdlife wherever he goes.

Vireo Discomfort...Gull Fails...The Drought...This Is No Time To Panic

A birder once famously said, "I've been very uncomfortable with my vireos", but I've only experienced itching and mild irrittion. Blue-headed Vireo was a sight for sore eyes last month. This bird was my 11th (and probably final) vireo species I've seen in California. Rejoice!!! Harbor Park, San Pedro, CA.

January is moving at snail's pace here in the bay area...maybe I'm experiencing some kind of post-Baja hangover. Maybe its the fact that December was plagued with vagrants, multiple state birds, and other goodness, from LA County to Modoc. Motivation is hard to come by.

On the birding front, not much is happening other than gulls. Slaty-backed, Glaucous, Vega, Kumlien's and Lesser Black-backed have all put in appearances already this winter here and there but I have not been able to muster what it takes to see any of these species. Glaucous (the commonest of the lot) bugs me in particular, because I actually missed them entirely last year. So despite my own failures, the gulls are not disappointing everybody.

This Thayer's Gull is often found near the nature center at Lake Merritt. Look at that sexy orbital ring.

I stared at this bird for quite a while. Eventually, I realized it was yet another Glaucous-winged X Herring hybrid, or a backcross....or something similar. You east coast birders have it lucky...seeing hundreds of hybrids in a day (or more) is a trying experience. San Leandro Marina, CA.

If you are not from the west coast, you may not be aware that California is undergoing a drought. A bad drought. I am tempted to say it's "catastrophic" but since California is prone to drought once in while, its just extra shitty. But they say that this is the worst since precipitation records had begun being kept. A massive high pressure system has been sitting over the eastern Pacific for months now, and refuses to budge. Until it does, that means no rain for most of the parched state. Many local Christmas Bird Counts recorded both extremely low numbers of passerines and waterfowl this year (for the latter, even in areas with plentiful habitat), which is not surprising. It's nice to go outside to sun and warmth everyday, but it's also depressing at the same time.

A Townsend's Warbler surrenders, accepting the inevitable Crush. A cold snap at the onset of winter sent many insectivores in the state down to the ground, in desperate search for food. Carpinteria, CA.

Clapper Rails are not agoraphobes, unlike their cowardly brethren. Like the Red Sea parted for Moses, the Clapper Rail plies the canal waters effortlessly. Arnold Road, Oxnard Plain, CA.

The snail's pace of things is probably also being brought on by the annual cycle of the Perpetual Weekend...I'm beginning to get restless, and I do not have work lined up yet, although not for a lack of effort. The relatively slow birding (aside from gulls) isn't helping, although I find that beer and whisky do help revive me. That all said, who am I to complain??? This is no time to panic. In much of the country, the birding is poor poor poor poor compared to the species diversity and local abundance of what the bay area has to offer...so I guess I will keep on pounding gull flocks (a humbling and occasionally miserable experience, even for this #7 birder) and visiting the Tufted Duck that lives a few minutes away. They say that familiarity breeds contempt, so the duck and I will really be putting our relationship to the test. Selah.

Another familiar vagrant, here is everyone's favorite Gray Hawk. I would love to know where this bird spends its summer months. Also seen in Santa Barbara County on this day were Lucy's and Prairie Warblers, Tropical Kingbird, Vermilion Flycatcher...SoCal can be brimming with good birds in winter. Carpinteria, CA.

To Bird or To Rage? Todos Santos (Part 1)

Costa's Hummingbirds are the wee kings of cripple, tiny bastions of facemelt. Much sought-after by many birders, to find where they are truly common, one usually has to find oneself in the middle of some strange and random spot in the desert. For any birders who find themselves in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, any longings for Costa's Hummingbirds would be more than satisfied.

Baja California Sur. Most people go there with one thing in mind...raging. Cabo San Lucas is known worldwide for its rage opportunities and beaches (but mostly for rage). However, others go to BCS with something in mind besides forcefed tequila shots, and there is much more to see other than the debauchery in Cabo.

One such place is Todos Santos, just over an hour's drive northwest of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific side of the peninsula. It's not unknown by any means. Many gringos go there to both visit and live, as the town is known as a small art community and has an abundance of good food (which, to be fair, can be said of most Mexican towns). Birders make it there from time to time as well, and can get a decent fix while birding areas in and outside of town. Xantus's Hummingbirds, Gray Thrashers and Belding's Yellowthroats can all be found without difficulty in the pueblo, and many western migrants and desert residents lurk as well.

I almost felt bad crushing this fragile little gem...almost...

Of course, I have to point out the obvious fact that any birder travelling to Todos Santos is probably more interested in this hummingbird, the one found in Baja California Sur and no place else. Xantus's Hummingbirds (LIFER) are common in the lowlands in winter...and crushing them felt really, really good.

The avian community down in southern BCS is strange, at least for someone who has not been there before...a strange mix of species one would associate with California's coastal chaparral and the Sonoran desert, with some endemic passerines and a pygmy-owl thrown in. Crested Caracaras (above) are, thankfully, a regular sight in the desert and near the edges of town.

I was lucky enough to recently sample the BCS avefauna (truly, it was a sample, not a gorge), mostly while based out of Todos Santos. BB&B and 10,000 Birds (where the Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive will post) will have total coverage, and tips for any future visitors. It was a very interesting birdscape, and we did not even get into the Sierra de la Laguna or the sewage ponds at La Paz.

And for the record, I highly recommend both tequila consumption and debauchery, just do it on your own terms...unless you are in college, then all bets are off.

Mmmmmmm...another life bird, and a Baja endemic at that. Meet the Gray Thrasher, denizen of the peninsula's desert scrub.

We were lucky enough to have all three of the lowland Baja endemics lurking within walking distance of our house. Gray Thrashers were the least numerous of the three, which is kind of funny considering how globally rare the local subspecies of Belding's Yellowthroat is...more on them later.

Cactus Wrens roam around in small, raucous groups, bearing little resemblance to the smaller Troglodytes (that's wrens, not cave-dwellers) that are found throughout the U.S. Strangely, it was here in Todos Santos where I really got the feeling that these birds were behaving much like Rufous-naped and Spotted Wrens, other Campylorhynchus I've seen in other parts of Mexico.

I like this pose...the barred flight feathers melt easily into the barring on the tail. What is the significance? I'm not entirely sure, but a nerve has been struck.

Among the throngs of Common Ground-Doves in Todos Santos, the semi-aware observer can pick out Ruddy Ground-Doves as well. We saw two different birds on the trip, both along a random road in the north part of town. EBird has a couple of reports of substantial numbers of RUGDs in the area, so be vigilant.

Seemingly the most abundant bird in Baja California Sur, White-winged Doves are everywhere. They are thriving. They even invite American Kestrels into their flocks, for good or ill. It is worth mentioning that during our stay, we saw no Eurasian Collared-Doves in either Todos Santos or La Paz...in fact, eBird does not show any records for Todos Santos at all.

Behold, the White-winged Dove. Their wings may blind you in flight, but the face pattern allures.

It's been a while, so I am now dismayed to have the dishonor of presenting to you, yet again, a terrible photo of a good bird. This is a male Varied Bunting, photographed near Punta Lobos, just south of Todos Santos. These cripplers are uncommon in BCS, but not unexpected.

One afternoon we tried to get out into the desert to find a nice cactus forest to walk through. The road I chose was a poor choice (there was a lack of large cactus to admire), although we may have gotten somewhere interesting if our completely overpacked car had not overheated. Still a nice sunset though, despite the heaps of garbage and animal bones.

Carara National Park (Part II)

I didn't make it back to Costa Rica this winter, but I still have plenty of material from last winter...which I'm really falling behind on. Sorry about that, some lifers and tequila got in the way. And so we carry on...Scarlet Macaws are abundant in the Carara area, and can be seen sharing the sky with Magnificent Frigatebirds as you drive through Tarcoles, although they don't exactly form mixed flocks. Such crippling birds. Photographed at Carara National Park.

They nest in huge tree cavities like this one. A grandiose bird requires a grandiose nest site. Carara National Park.

Pale-billed Woodpeckers are fairly common and widespread in Costa Rica, and it's a bird you should plan on meeting if you will be birding there for very long. Listen for the infamous "double-knock", which their Campephilus cousins the Ivory-billeds are/were famous for. Carara National Park.

We were lucky to see Spectacled Owls more than once on our trip. I still can't really reconcile their sense of fashion with what northern owls wear. Carara National Park.

Part of the luscious rainforest canopy at Carara National Park. I'm pretty sure there were a couple of Turquoise Contingas somewhere up there, which besides being very good birds are pretty unusual for the area. Brutal "warbler neck" though.

Just north of Carara is the "waterfall road", which yielded some decent birds for us. It's best to just park and walk up and down the road at intervals of good habitat. In the field where the road meets the main highway, there were several Gray-crowned Yellowthroats wallowing in their just-barely-subdued glory.

Really cool birds, I wish they ventured into the United States more often.

Blue-black Grassquits were also present in numbers. You show me open fields and I will show you grassquits.

Further up the road was this Collared Forest-Falcon, which had previously eluded me in eastern Mexico and other parts of Costa Rica. This life bird was one of the Carara-area highlights for me, despite not being particularly rare or range-restricted. It's really cool to meet raptors that are completely unlike anything you've seen before.

Higher up on the road there are some nice ridges that are conducive to seeing soaring raptors. Aside from this Zone-tailed Hawk, we also had White Hawk and King Vulture. It is weird to mention seeing the latter two birds in the same area (and not lifering), since before this trip those had been close to Grail Bird status in my mind for years.

Many mixed flocks in the country contain Philadelphia Vireos. They are hard to avoid. You may try to convince yourself that you are seeing Warbling Vireos, but you would (probably) be wrong. Photographed on the Waterfall Road.

RISE OF THE STORM WIGEON

I first heard of "storm wigeons" from a coworker on a project in North Dakota. He was an obsessive hunter/fisher/trapper. He hunted everything you could possibly legally hunt, and unsurprisingly was made giddy by the area's abundant waterfowl.

If you are wondering what a storm wigeon is, this is it; an American Wigeon with a white head. Normally only the forecrown of an American Wigeon is white; on a storm wigeon, the white is much more extensive. Storm wigeons seem to be pretty rare (this is the first that I remember seeing) and are lusted after by hunters across the country.

Of course, I have no idea why they are called storm wigeons, but at least it's epic. But why do they exist? Some people think it's a rare variant of American Wigeon, some think it's more of a function of age (male and female Laysan Ducks, for example, get more white in the face as they get older). What do you think? At any rate, a very cool looking bird. Photographed at Bubbling Springs, Port Hueneme, CA.

Here is a more typical American Wigeon for comparison. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

The Pain Goes Away, But The Wound Stays Forever

"It's a rush that a lot of people will tell you is higher than any drug they've ever tried or even heard about, and maybe better than sex...which is a weird theory and often raises unsettling personal questions, but it is a theory nonetheless, and on some days I've even believed it myself.

But not really, and days like that are so rare that I usually can't even remember them...But when I do, it is like a nail in my eye. The pain goes away, but the wound stays forever. The scar never quite heals over - and whenever it seems like it's going to, I pick at it. I have some scars that go back 33 years, and I still remember how they happened, just like it was yesterday."

Who said that? It seems like something The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive would birth out of his twisted mind...some babbling screed about what it is like to be a depraved bird addict. And if he did say that, he would be right...perhaps we are all picking at our own scabs.

This Xantus's Hummingbird was photographed in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. Expect total coverage of this trip in the near future. And now that I look into it...it was Dr. Hunter S. Thompson who should be credited with that quote, speaking of being a guilty political junkie. But an addict is an addict...cold sweats, shaking and vomiting seem to be the normal withdrawal symptoms of any birder who is deprived of birding for too long.

Perhaps this comes off too strongly for you. You can't be sick with bird fever. Maybe it's all a joke. Don't believe me? Just try it. Stop birding. You will find yourself enshrouded in your own personal darkness, trying to remember what it was like to bask in the light of a good bird. The last thing you want is to find yourself reaching out to #7 for help in your most desperate hour...once you've crossed the Rubicon, not even I can help you.

A Stout Year

Resplendent Quetzal is one of the top contenders for Most Facemelting Bird of 2013...the mind reels. Photographed above the Savegre Lodge in Costa Rica.

2013 has come and gone...that was quick. There is no doubt other blogs in the Birdosphere have done some recaps of the year (Neil Hayward is the champ...Bell's and Sagebrush Sparrows...Rufous-necked Wood-Rail...Zino's Petrel birder politics and subsequent redemption...yadda yadda). Of course, you know all that stuff, so why rehash it? No, you came here for one reason...# 7.

For years now, I've been almost-enthusiastically year listing, more as a way to get out and birding and exploring new places than anything else...in other words, its fun but neither competitive or intense. It is a very good way to spend a Perpetual Weekend. In 2012 I finished with ~579 (birding in California, Florida, and Costa Rica), and this year it looks like I will be finishing with ~690 (Costa Rica, California, North Carolina). 690 is by far the highest year list I've ever had, and I'm pretty happy about that...of course, I could have gotten to 700 with just a little more luck (not dipping as much, having a better fall for vagrants in the bay area, one more day of landbirding in North Carolina).

700 will have to wait another year though, and I have a feeling it won't be 2014...but you never know. Without further delay, here is this leading birder's breakdown of 2013.

Number of new life birds: I don't know. Probably somewhere over 200? Costa Rica was insane.

Number of new ABA birds: 11 (8 in North Carolina, 3 in California).

Number of new California birds: 14 (including armchair ticks), with 4 in December!

Best lifer: This is hard. I saw so many. Copious lifers in 2013. Fork-tailed Flycatcher was something I'd yearned for for as long as I have been birding. Little Bunting was HUGE (not literally). Trindade Petrels brought the stoke. A rainbow of new hummingbirds were seen in Costa Rica. There's too many to choose from.

Best birder scandal: Although I really enjoy what is happening over here, it is no doubt the implosion of the San Diego birding scene (which resulted in the local listserv being completely abandoned for one operated by a different faction) and subsequent internet combat in San Diego, much of which went on behind the scenes. Remember "Todd Ingress", the fictional blind birder? Lines have since been drawn in the sand. WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON????

Bear witness to this vulgar display of endemism. Island Scrub-Jays were my constant companions for the spring and summer of 2013, even though I was not researching them. Santa Cruz Island (where else?), CA.

Best ABA bird: Little Bunting. I squeezed much satisfaction out of looking at this bird.

Best North Carolina bird: Trindade Petrel. Huge bonus bird.

Best California bird: Red-necked Stint on the LA River. Not the rarest, but it was number 500 for my state list. It was also number 500 for Officer Adam Searcy, who chased the bird with me. That makes us bird-married.

Best northern vagrant: Trumpeter Swans at Modoc National Wildlife Refuge (above). They are expected here in the winter so aren't vagrants per se, but the first time we saw them was an awesome experience. How to sum it up? State bird, majesty, spectacular sunset, serenaded by pleasant trumpeting, pleasant friends...followed by affordable beer and disgusting Basque food.

Best pelagic vagrant: Great Shearwater (off Half Moon Bay, in San Francisco County).

Best Siberian vagrant: I've already mentioned Little Bunting and Red-necked Stint...how about Arctic Loon? I was stoked to see the one wintering in Monterey (a state bird) after I returned from Costa Rica last January.

Best eastern vagrant: Hudsonian Godwit (Napa).

I have had a hell of a time photographing Gray Hawk over the years, despite living in southeast Arizona and spending a good amount of time in other places where they are easy to find (south Texas, Mexico, Costa Rica). I finally had some good luck last week with the bird in Carpinteria, CA...but I was robbed from the opportunity for even crushier shots (see below).

Best Central American Vagrant: Gray Hawk (first California record, Santa Barbara County.

Worst birder experience: A few days ago I was driving up to Oakland from SoCal and saw the Gray Hawk hanging out in its usual spot on Highway 101. The light was perf. I pulled over to crush it, making sure to give it plenty of space so it wouldn't flush into the side of a semi or something. As I got the bird in the viewfinder and was literally focusing on it, a black car pulled off the freeway and parked right next to the bird. You can guess what happened next, and the bird actually flew uncomfortably close to a moving truck that happened to be passing by. The car immediately left after flushing the bird. I was fucking pissed. To whoever you are, you are a dick, and I hope your year is filled with nothing but House Sparrows and feral pigeons.

I was really looking forward to meeting this bird in 2013...it did not disappoint. Fiery-throated Hummingbird is another candidate for Most Facemelting Bird of 2013. Photographed at Paraiso Del Quetzales in the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica.

Most facemelting bird: Fuck. I was in Costa Rica. Was it the quetzal? Was it Bay-headed or Speckled Tanager? Fiery-throated Hummingbird? I can't decide.

Worst dip: Dipping on "guaranteed" Masked Ducks in Costa Rica. Ouch. Dipping on Snowcap at one of the best sites for them in Costa Rica also wrought significant pain.

Worst overall miss: I did not see a longspur of ANY SPECIES in 2013. Sigh.

Worst birding experience: Breaking my birdcrusher for the second time in a year by having it detach from its strap and slam onto a sidewalk. This prevented an aggravating number of crushes in the subsequent weeks (Bald and Golden Eagles, Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Goshawk, Prairie Falcon, Trumpeter Swans, etc.).

Worst day of birding: Going to Outer Point Reyes in early September and seeing exactly one (1) migrant bird, a Western Wood-Pewee. Life was pain.

Best Raptor: The Black-and-white Owl at Cerro Lodge in Costa Rica.

Best birder experience: Watching "Stilt" break down into tears when she did not get to see a Streak-chested Antpitta that the rest of us got to see. It was incredible...and don't worry, she saw it a few minutes later. A very close second was Officer Jon Dunn telling me that I am not fit to serve on the CBRC (because I don't "support the committee", not because I suck). The kicker is that although he was talking to me, about me, he did not recognize me for the person he was talking about...who does that?

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel was one of many lifer pelagic birds off North Carolina last August. I was stoked to get so much boat time this year, off both coasts. Being a leader on Shearwater Journeys trips was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again next year. Oh, I got seasick and puked for the first time this year, that was cool.

Best hybrid: Not rare by any means, but I looked at hella American X Black Oystercatcher hybrids in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. It's good practice.

Best bourbon: As with every year, I tasted many a bourbon this year...but I think Broken Bell is one of my new favorites.

Best beer: There's a lot of quality beer out there...but right now I miss Yuengling.

Best album: Bad Religion's True North. "I'm just a petrel in the storm; my island can't protect me anymore."

Greatest Coup of Birding: Oscar Johnson's ridiculous Common Swift above a random patch of desert in Riverside County, CA.

Best birder meme: THERE ARE SO MANY!!! Anything involving inner circles and puppetmasters. "It's too far for you to see"..."Black-chins are still migrating"..."Does he really pronounce it Justine?"...

This year I finally found a convenient/reliable spot for crushing Yellow-billed Magpies, one of California's most interesting, desired, and even poignant species. Photographed in Monterey County, CA.

Best California yearbirder: Dipper Dan. He may not have the highest total in the field, but he won.

Best self-found bird: A Slaty-backed Gull in Marin County (CA) was a long-awaited defeat of a state nemesis.

Best dream bird (aka best bird seen in a dream): Runt Harpy Eagle in northern California.

There were too many great bird trips to count this year, with new and old friends alike. I'm stoked to have such a strong network of friendly dorks available in a pasttime that is littered with people that I would rather avoid, and a girlfriend who is sympathetic to me being gone for months at a time and has a high tolerance for raging nerds. I'm looking forward to meeting more great people and great birds in 2014. I do have a quick trip planned in the very near future that should produce some cool shit (and cool tacos), but aside from that I really don't know where 2014 is going to take me for work or birding trips...and so the Perpetual Weekend rolls on.