Bird Finding 201, Class #2: The Importance of Time

Howdy, friends! Dr. Sayornis here again, to open the Thermos of your mind and pour in a steaming hot cup of extra-strong, grade A java, and then seal it up tight so the brew stays nicely hot.

It's about time! I mean, as in the subject matter of today's lecture, not "finally". And if you were looking for the lecture about thyme, then you should head to the next building over for the "Six Shocking Things You Didn't Know About Common Herbs" class.

Let's start with a deep thought: Time Matters, Or Sometimes It Doesn't.

Shall we unpack this a bit?

Like you, birds have a schedule, a routine, a bit of semper idem, if you will. (And note that all good Professors must inject a little Latin periodically, to show our general superiority to the student.)

So, knowing the habits of a particular bird can both help bring it into view and save you a pile of your own time not spent looking when the bird is not then. (speaking in deliberately obtuse sentences, +1 General Superiority)

Examples, you ask? Quippe ubi. (+1 GS)

In my last adventure, I wanted to find a Crissal Thrasher. These secretive birds of the Southwest lurk about in thick thickets of mesquite, and are easiest to find when they are calling. When do they call? Usually at dawn or dusk, so I started hiking at Catalina State Park near Tucson shortly after dawn and wandered through mesquite-y areas until I found one perched at the top of a tree, singing its brains out.

Night is a good time for Poorwills, other members of Caprimulgidae, and Owls. But do you have to stay up until the sun peeps above the horizon to find one? No! Capri's will often start calling just after dusk, when they begin to go about their night's activities. For instance, in Cave Creek, on the east side of Arizona, I saw a report of a Mexican Whip-poor-will. That evening, I drove to the site of the report at dusk, stepped outside the car, and waited. Within 15 minutes after sunset, the bird started calling, called for a few minutes, and then stopped, and I didn't hear it the rest of the night.

Now, in some cases, time matters less. Some birds are active all day around where they live, or perch in particular places. So, to find a Rosy-faced Lovebird, I went to a Phoenix park where they were known to reside, and even though the temperature was a sweltering 95F and the time was around 2PM, I found them flying from tree to tree, squawking loudly, within 10 minutes.

That said, finding a bird still requires good fortune, although you can amplify your fortune by how often you try. I have been birding for 15 years, spending untold hours in the field and hiking uncounted miles of trails, and until last week, had not seen a Mountain Quail. That drought ended when, standing in a remote desert canyon near an oasis at dawn, a momma quail and her three quail-lets flew down from the nearby hillside to forage nearby. The more time you spend in the field, the more likely you are to find what you want.

To recap, our prior lesson explained the importance of knowing WHERE a bird is likely to be, and this lesson teaches the importance of knowing WHEN it's likely to be there, and that looking MORE OFTEN increases your chances of success.

Mathematically, then, the probability P that you will find a bird can be expressed as:

A = P(a bird is absent)
B = P(a bird is hidden)
C = Number of times you attempt to see the bird

P(Finding a bird) = 1 - (A*B)^C    (gratuitous use of math, +1 GS)

Live according to this formula, and finding birds will be that much easier.

One-minus-A-times-B-to-the-C, y'all!

-- Dr. Say

Bird Finding 201, Class #1: The Importance of Place

Estimados estudiantes,

Thank you for attending our free, three-part series on Advanced Bird Finding techniques. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to locate more birds than you ever thought possible! (Note that identification of those birds will require our Advanced Bird Identification series, available soon for only $99/class)

Our syllabus is:

• Class #1: The Importance of Place
• Class #2: The Importance of Time
• Class #3: The Importance of Paying Attention

At the instructor's discretion/whim, there may also be a final examination, which must be passed in order to receive your diploma. Probably not, however, as he's kind of lazy.

With that, allow me to introduce our instructor, Dr. Sayornis. Doc Say, take it away!

Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Listen up, as I ain't gonna say this twice! 

Identification of a bird requires that you be near the bird, the bird provides some distinctive clues as to its nature, and you process those clues to arrive at identification. Like the Kardashians, many birds make themselves very visible and have clearly distinctive markings, so this is often a straightforward process.

The challenge is that many species are much more "Where's Waldo". They skulk about dense brushy undergrowth, or lurk high in the leafy treetops. The Proper Birder respects their desire for privacy, yet sometimes idly considers whether starting a small fire in that bush might indeed be the only way to get the bird to pop out.

To further deepen the problem, these birds are often relatively few in number and live in VERY specific places. Like a musician with a 20-page rider, the birds just won't be there if the candy jar contains anything except for green M&Ms.

Allow me to cite a few recent, personal examples of this from a recent trip through Arizona:

• A rare Five-striped Sparrow had been reported somewhere in Chino Canyon. After a long, teeth-jarring drive to the general area, all was quiet, and we became disquieted. Splitting our party into three, one walked north while the second walked south. The third, smartest member consulted our well-worn Sibley app: "found where dense brushy vegetation covers steep slopes above permanent streams". She stopped at the first location matching Sibley's description, waited quietly, and found the bird within 30 minutes. The other two struck out, but did get much more exercise.
• After nearly two weeks hoping to see an elusive Virginia's Warbler, we heard that one had been found in our campground! After walking back and forth along the creek, straining our necks from staring high into the leafy trees where we thought a warbler might live, we finally read Sibley's description of the bird's habitat: "dense brushy undergrowth with scattered trees on arid slopes". We ran to the other side of the camp, started climbing the steep hill, and found the bird within 15 minutes.
• The next day, we went  in search of a Gray Vireo. Having learned our lesson, we consulted Sibley before leaving the car: "Rocky arid hillsides with widely scattered junipers, oaks, or mesquite, with patches of bare ground in between". Ignoring other kinds of habitat, we quickly arrived at a likely area, and found our Vireo within 10 minutes of our second stop.

The moral of these stories is that while some birds are very picky, a good Bird ID book is more than just a collection of pretty pictures, and actually reading the book is often essential to success!

In our next lesson, we'll talk about how, sometimes, even being in the right place just isn't enough.

Until next time, I am

Your Professor

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Queridos pandas felices,

As we rolled into town, past the new El Pollo Loco and the old and still earthquake-battered downtown, we were surprised to be greeted by a Welcoming Committee including a high school marching band playing John Phillip Sousa's rousing "Washington Post", green and white confetti thrown by throngs of admirers, and a rose-festooned parade float. A true hero's welcome!

Actually, there was no Welcoming Committee, but after 54 days and nearly 10,000 miles driving, we're glad to be home anyway.

We arrived Friday evening to a pair of quail standing unmoving in our driveway, apparently confused as to why a car was driving down their road, chest-high grass in our yard, and three separate piles of coyote poop on our deck. Ah, home, sweet, home.

Since the last update, we birded around Tucson and Sedona, attempting to find desert-loving birds that would be impossible or hard to find in California. Thanks to hard work, being in the right place at the right time, and a knowledgeable friend, we picked up 14 more birds in the past week, bringing our total to 557 for the year.

When we started the trip, we had 371, and told ourselves that adding 100 new birds would be OK, 125 would be great, and 150 would be almost unthinkably wonderful. So, I'd say we're pretty happy with our final total of 186!

We're home for the next few weeks, before we depart in mid-June for a visit to Alaska. Until then, I've got a couple posts queued up that describe some of what we learned on the trip, so check back soon for that.

Now, off to fold laundry and pull weeds...

Me

Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes Frazier!

Estimado campeones,

Or should I say, "Down goes Rufous-capped Warbler! Down goes Rufous-capped Warbler!", for today is a fantastic day!

The bird we've searched for at least ten times over five years, each time requiring a steep hike and/or bushwhacking, has finally been conquered! This bird is a rare visitor from Mexico, having never been recorded in Arizona before 2008, and there are currently only four birds known in the entire US. And, they prefer to skulk in underbrush instead of sitting on tree branches where they would be easy to see. So, they're fairly tough to find.

We rose this morning around 5am, and after a drive and hiking 3/4 mile with a 600' elevation gain, we arrived at the spot marked on eBird in Hunter Canyon at around 7am. We spread out, to cover more territory, watched, and waited.

Now, we've tried this on other occasions, and usually we wait, and wait, and wait, and nothing ever happens aside from the sun rising high in the sky, as another day of our lives slips away. This time, however, was different.

Only about ten minutes after we arrived, a pair of RCWA's appeared! We were able to watch them for about 15 minutes and heard them call before they disappeared again into the brush.

As part of my Reverse Psychology attack on the warblers, I did not bring my camera so didn't get my own photo. But, here's a pic somebody else took, so you can stare, slack-jawed, at this sexy little number:

From Arizona Field Ornithologists

What a relief!

Relieved,
Me


p.s. In case you don't recognize the title reference:

Yep, George Foreman has not always been a grill salesman.

Quality Over Quantity

Let me tell you,

In life, there are things worth doing, and things not worth doing. For instance, eating a well-balanced breakfast is usually worth the effort; watching paint dry, not so much. Unless you're paid for that kind of thing. In which case, watch on!

A challenge with Birding is that the Return On Investment (ROI) for a particular activity can be hard to determine in advance of actually doing that activity. Tools like eBird and email digests can help to predict the potential Return, and the Investment can be assessed through understanding the known amount of effort (e.g. how far is the mountain, how high is the climb, etc.) and the unknown (e.g. how much time have others spent to find the bird).

Ultimately, though, success depends on the bird cooperating with you, and only the bird can decide whether you are worthy of her time. Depending on how hungry or tired or threatened she feels, she may decide to lay low, and no amount of effort on your part will encourage her to show.

For example, the past few days here in Arizona have been very windy, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Birds tend to hate wind, as they abhor being blown about like moths, so blustery conditions can make them harder to find.

So, despite our extensive efforts, the birds have mostly said, "Not today!", and thus we're falling off our pace a bit.

That said, the "R" has still been greater than the "I", as the few birds we've added have included a local Arizona specialty, an unusual visitor from Mexico, and a threatened species!

First, our Arizona special, the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher:

Awww.....cute!

Our unusual Mexican visitor, the Flame-colored Tanager:

Awwwwwwwww...cuter!

And, foe of loggers everywhere, the threatened Spotted Owl:

OMG HE'S THE CUTEST AND SO CUDDLY (minus the talons)

Tomorrow, we will take one more run at one of our Greatest Nemesis Birds! He is the Joker to our Batman, the Magneto to our Xavier, the Vader to our Skywalker. Who is he? Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Me

Are You Experienced? Part 5

Estimada gente impaciente,

Yes, yes, I know. Updates to the blog have become rare lately. So rare, in fact, that like the Great Auk, they haven't existed recently. For this, I blame a lack of cell coverage, long days spent birding, and possibly tequila.

Now that we're clear it's not my fault, and I still love you, allow me to lay down some education.

We are currently in Ramsey Canyon, AZ, near Sierra Vista. Recently, we have spent 3 days around Madera Canyon, 1 day around Patagonia, and then arrived here at RC last night. The birding highlights of our past few days have included finding a Five-striped Sparrow with our friend Alex, and also attempting to hear another rarity, the Buff-collared Nightjar, with him. Let's hear more about that...

The Birding Experience: Seeing a Buff-collared Nightjar
So, you'd like to be one of the lucky few to encounter a rare Mexican visitor, the Buff-collared Nightjar. You've heard that a Buffy is hanging out near Madera Canyon, and was heard not-too-long ago. What do you do?

First, drive to the location where it was reported, arriving about 30 minutes before dusk and shortly before your friend.

As you climb the last hill and pull off the road, you will notice several people already present. A rather large group, in fact. Maybe 20 or so people?

Most of them will be young men, about 16-18, and all wearing hats. About half have knit caps, and half have straw hats with brims. The Amish contingent is In Da House!!! Oh, and somewhat creepily, all will be staring at you.

The next thing you'll notice is that you are parked directly behind two Border Patrol trucks. This will become important in a moment.

When your friend shows up, then you will, like all good stake-out birders, retrieve a few cold beers from your cooler and crack them open. You will do this as quietly as possible, as the Amish will look inquisitively your way when they hear the hiss of a cap being popped. Verrrry inquisitively.

As darkness falls, the non-Amish will leave one-by-one, for some reason announcing their next destination loudly: "Welp, I'm going over to Box Canyon, they had some Poorwills over there." Umm... why are you telling me this? Good luck?

After the Poorwills start calling and the Nightjar refuses to join them, the Amish group will march en masse into the dark. To somewhere.

Now, it gets weirder.

The Border Patrol guys and their tracking dog will show up. They will ask that you move your car soon, but no rush, as there are Drug Mules in the hills (oh, really? you will say, nervously) and they have another officer tracking them, but he won't be down for a few minutes. On cue, you will see the light from his flashlight as he hikes down the hill.

Shortly thereafter, the officers will start chatting. The officer with the dog will apologize to the other for not being around the day before when something interesting went down, but his dog had to go to the vet because the dog came down with diarrhea. Apparently, our officers could be at risk because the guard dog ate some bad roadkill?

After the officers leave, you will realize that the night is getting late, and the Nightjar hasn't called yet. And, your beer is gone. So, you will decide to call it, and try again another day.

And this is how you attempt to hear a Nightjar. Just remember, failure is educational.

Until our next time,
Me

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!

Estimado cocos,

Greetings from Key West, Florida, the center of the Conch Republic!

As our latest adventure is one bird and a few Piña Coladas short of wrapping up, I thought I might dip into The Mailbag to answer a few reader questions. This question is from Mallory, age 8, of Madison, Wisconsin:

Hey, Mr. Expert Bird Travel Planner,

I know I'm only 8, but someday I'll want to be a big-time bird finder like you. Can you tell me the best way to plan these trips you go on?

Besties,
Mallory

Great question, Mallory!

Instead of telling you how to successfully plan a trip, let me tell you how a pro like me does it:

Step 1: Figure out where you want to go, as this makes planning travel much easier. Let's say you want to go to the Dry Tortugas National Park, near Key West, FL.

Step 2: Reserve your plane tickets well in advance, at least 4 weeks to save as much $$$ as possible. (And Mallory, you may not know it yet, but you will soon learn to love $$$)

Step 3: A few days in advance, book all your hotels and ferry trip. Be sure to make the hotel reservation non-refundable, also to save $$$.

Step 4: A day ahead of your flight, check the weather. There's a good chance that the weather is going to be terrible for the day of your ferry trip. So, now you reschedule everything! But remember, it's non-refundable!

Step 5: Call the hotel for the first night, politely ask that they move your non-refundable reservation to later in the week. Get told that the night clerk doesn't have the authority, so you must call back in the morning. Unfortunately, the manager doesn't arrive until after you have to leave for the airport.

Step 6: At the airport, call the manager. If he's nice, he'll tell you OK, but he may take one of the two days you paid as a penalty. Of course he will. But at least you get half back.

Step 7: Now you can reschedule your ferry, which you must do before you board the plane, else the window to change without fee will pass. Of course, you will get connected to a brand-new operator, so the call will take much longer than you expect.

Step 8: Upon arriving at your destination, you may reschedule everything else. Meanwhile, the Weather Gods dump buckets of rain on your heads for the next couple days, and you pat yourself on the back for remembering to check the forecast! (although maybe we'll check it a little earlier next time...)

And that, Mallory, is how to have a smooth and stress-free trip to the Dry Tortugas.

Isn't it worth it for a couple (thousand) of these beauties?

The Brown Noddy is yet another bird that goes a little heavy on the eye liner (may need to click the pic to see this), see also Oystercatcher.

And when you manage to find a rare Black Noddy in the group of maybe a few thousand Brown Noddies, then it's especially worth it!

The Black Noddy has the bright white head and is perched just to the right of center. If you click the photo to open it, you can see the very blurred birds in the sky. Either the blurring is due to heat waves, or the birds are Ghost Noddies. You decide.

Now, to the Coladas! Bottom's up!
Me

Too Much Birding #firstworldproblems

A mi bandada de codornices,

Four months in, with 310 checklists submitted to Ebird and birds reported from 13 states, we are starting to hit a wall.

We break through the wall on the first day in a new area, where the excitement of racking up 10-20 new species helps us power through. But days that follow are starting to drag a bit, and our patience wears thinner.

Noise from passing Harleys, gnats flying into one's eyes and ears, and beginning birders blocking a trail while they study their books are always somewhat annoying; the past couple days have turned those irritants downright homicide-inducing. Not really. Well, mostly not really.

We do find energy in little scenes that happen around us. Some of the more fun moments from the past few days have included:

• While standing in Sunny Flat Campground in Cave Creek at dusk, waiting for owls, an ornithology class of college students from the local research station showed up. With them, we watched Blue-throated and Magnificent Hummingbirds chase each other, and also chase two of the women wearing red. Later, we saw an Elf Owl peek her head out of her nest hole, and walked away from the noisy chatter to hear our first Whiskered Screech-Owl.
• In the truck on the way to Tucson, I read out loud the description of the Greater Pewee's call: "Song a clear whistled Jo-se Ma-ria" No way, we said, it couldn't sound like that! The next day, walking a trail on the slopes of Mt. Lemmon above Tucson, we heard this (scroll down and click the Play button; I couldn't figure out auto-play)
• At our campsite in Tucson, baby antelope squirrels scampered about outside our trailer (not our video, but gives you an idea of the Cute Factor):

Monday is time to dig deep, as we start a new phase of the journey. We're taking a week to fly to Florida, to revisit the Keys for their spring arrivals. A boat trip out to the Dry Tortugas is also in the offing, although a series of thunderstorms (what is up with thunderstorms this year???) is threatening to rename the island.

Then, back to AZ to continue the road trip part of our journey! Phew!!

Until Florida,
Me