birding

Jan 09 2016

New and improved “Hotspot” pages for South Dakota

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Screen Capture - LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge - Hotspot Page

Here’s a screen capture of part of the new “hostpot” page for LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge. The Google Map is clickable, allowing a user to see information and ground photos for actual locations within LaCreek. At the bottom of the hotspot page (not shown here) are also actual bird photos taken from the hotspot. All hotspot pages have been updated, and new pages are coming!

While I am continually adding new bird photos to my website, I admit I do often neglect to update the other pages on my website.  One set of pages that has long cried for updates are the “Hotspot” pages.  These are pages devoted to describing some of my favorite birding locations within South Dakota.  The pages I had contained a lot of information, but for a guy whose JOB it is to spatially map things, I was pretty far behind the technology curve on my hotspots pages.  The location maps and other maps were static screen grabs from maps I’d constructed in photoshop.

Time for an upgrade!  What I want to do with my hotspot pages is not only highlight a location on a map, but allow a viewer to “drill in” to actually look at ground photos for specific locations in and around a hotspot.  Using Google Map tools directly on the hotspot pages certainly allows for a much more dynamic and interactive environment than my old hotspot pages.  I’ve updated all my existing hotspot pages to include interactive Google Map tools. The main hotspot page provides an overview map of South Dakota, with little owl icons marking some of my favorite birding locations.  Clicking on an icon will bring you to a page devoted to birding information for that hotspot.

On each individual hotspot page is another interactive Google Map, showing specific areas of interest in and around the hotspot.  For example, for the hotspot pages for the Big Sioux Recreation Area, the map provides 8 more little owl icons, each of which depicts an actual ground photo from that spot.  The new pages thus allow a user to not only find the location of some of my favorite birding locations, but also allows a user to actually see ground photos of the area.  Each individual hotspot page also highlights a number of bird photos that were actually taken at that hotspot.

I only had 9 “hotspot” locations listed in my old pages, and I want to start adding many more of my favorite birding locations.  One new one that I’ve just added is a hotspot page for LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge.  It’s a long drive from my hometown of Brandon (about 300 miles!), so I don’t get there all that often, but I do just love birding at LaCreek.  Nothing beats curing the winter blues than going to LaCreek and seeing a number of massive Trumpeter Swans.

Hopefully this is just the start!  I plan on doing more augmenting of the hotspot pages in the coming days and weeks, with a specific focus in the short term of now adding additional hotspot locations.  I hope you find them useful!

Jan 08 2016

End of the Kiskadee

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Great Kiskadee - Pitangus sulphuratus

Great Kiskadee sitting on a roosting box the landowners built.  Alas, even such heroic efforts weren’t enough to save this tropical bird from a South Dakota winter.

Not exactly surprising, given its normal habitat, but the Great Kiskadee that was found hanging around a farmstead near Volga, South Dakota since at least August, was found dead yesterday.  The landowners first noticed one, and maybe up to three, in August.  They weren’t aware of how rare a find it was, so it wasn’t until November that the birding community found out.  One Great Kiskadee was once found in central Kansas.  A few have been found in Oklahoma.  But South Dakota? In winter?

The bird hung on into the new year, which is by itself a minor miracle for a bird of the tropics.  We’ve had a very snowy winter so far, but the Kiskadee survived thanks to the heroic efforts of the landowners who fed it mealworms, minnows, catfood, suet, and anything else it would eat.  In the end though…it’s damned hard to expect a tropical bird to survive a South Dakota winter.  It hasn’t been THAT cold, but no matter whether the bird had food to eat, there are basic physiological tolerances that were no doubt exceeded.

Bummer…I do feel bad for the family who tried to keep it alive.  They were very proud of “their” bird and did a nice job keeping it alive as long as they did.  People from all across the region got the chance to see this incredibly rare tropical visitor, right in the heart of a northern Plains winter.

Jan 03 2016

Fish in a barrel…

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

A mature Bald Eagle hanging on a tree branch overlooking the Missouri River, below Gavin’s Point Dam on the Nebraska/South Dakota border

I usually spend part of New Year’s Day birding.  I admit one of the reasons?  Often my Nebraska Cornhuskers are playing in a bowl game that day.  In recent years (decades?) they have been too stressful to watch, particularly in a bowl game.  Hence, going birding gives me a reason to avoid seeing/hearing about the game. (Yeah, I know, that’s messed up..).

I missed New Year’s Day this year, going a day late!  I don’t go down to Gavin’s Point Dam on the Nebraska/South Dakota border all that often, perhaps once a year.  But it is a good place to bird in the fall and early winter.  The most obvious attraction are Bald Eagles.  Taking photos of Bald Eagles at Gavin’s Point Dam in winter truly is like shooting fish in a barrel at times.  Not only are there good numbers around, but they’re often perched in a strip of trees that’s squeezed in between the Missouri River and the road, on the Nebraska side.  With the steep bluff and cottonwoods lining the steep shoreline, the eagles like to hang out on branches that overlook the water, giving them an opportunity to swoop out and capture a fish (or sometimes unfortunate waterfowl) found right below the dam.

I have a lot of Bald Eagle photos,as they truly are a pretty easy to find species in South Dakota, but I would guess that about half of my photos are from the Gavin’s Point Dam area.  I didn’t stay long yesterday, only hanging around the dam area for about an hour or so, but as always, I was able to get a few Bald Eagle photos.  There were about a dozen hanging around, along with a few very big groups of ducks in open spots on Lake Yankton below the dam.  A nice first birding trip for 2016!

Jan 01 2016

Wrapping up Birding 2015

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Green-throated Carib - Eulampis holosericeus

A Green-throated Carib, one of 24 new “lifers” for 2015. This was in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

I told myself 2015 would be a “big year” kind of year for birding.  I started well!  I had intended to see how many species I could see within South Dakota during the year.  I started early, getting all the winter birds you could reasonably expect around here, then really hit it hard in spring.  During spring migration I did a lot of birding, and had reached 200 species in the state by mid-May.

And I ended with 221 species.  Part of it is the obvious…that it gets harder and harder to find new species as the year goes on. Part of it was health.  Starting in June, I started having all kinds of eye issues, and birding just wasn’t at the top of my priority list.  221 within South Dakota is still a nice year though.  Throw in a trip to Arizona in November for work, where I took a couple of personal days to bird, plus a week in the Virgin Islands on vacation, and my yearly list was closer to 300.  A mere 5800 or so fewer than Noah Strycker saw on his year-long quest to set a new world-wide birding record.

For the year in South Dakota, I only saw a handful of new species.  I’m not even sure how many I have lifetime in the state. Overall there have been about 435 species seen in the state.  For 2015, new ones included the incredibly strange Great Kiskadee that was found in November near Brookings, Violet-green Swallow (I don’t get to the western part of the state much), Gray Jay (see previous comment about traveling west), and a Black-necked Stilt.  Only the Kiskadee was a life bird, as I’d seen the others before out of state.

Photo of Lawrence's Goldfinch

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, another 2015 lifer.  They can be tough to find, even in range.  Sometimes they move into Arizona in winter, and I was lucky in finding several in Tucson in November.

Thanks to my birding in Arizona and the Virgin Islands, I did have several new lifers for 2015 other than the Kiskadee.  24 in total, with the new ones for 2015 including:

  • Elegant Trogon (Florida Canyon south of Tucson – HUGE highlight for me, particularly finding one in November when they’re tough to find)
  • Scaled Quail (SE of Tucson)
  • Hammond’s Flycatcher (Florida Canyon south of Tucson)
  • Plumbeous Vireo (Florida Canyon south of Tucson)
  • Lawrence’s Goldfinch (Within Tucson itself, a really nice one to pick up given how hard they can be to find)
  • Cassin’s Sparrow (SE of Tucson)
  • White-tailed Kite (SE of Tucson)
  • Rufous-winged Sparrow (SE of Tucson)
  • Hepatic Tanager (Madera Canyon south of Tucson)
  • Black-whiskered Vireo (Virgin Islands)
  • Caribbean Elaenia (Virgin Islands)
  • Magnificent Frigatebird (Virgin Islands)
  • Scaly-naped Pigeon (Virgin Islands)
  • Mangrove Cuckoo (Virgin Islands)
  • Zenaida Dove (Virgin Islands)
  • Green-throated Carib (Virgin Islands)
  • Lesser Antillean Bullfinch (Virgin Islands)
  • Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Virgin Islands)
  • Gray Kingbird (Virgin Islands)
  • Pearly Eyed Thrasher (Virgin Islands)
  • Bananaquit (Virgin Islands)
  • Black-faced Grassquit (Virgin Islands)
  • Antillean Nighthawk (Virgin Islands)
Dec 22 2015

Getting my Gyrfalcon fix

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Juvenile Gyrfalcon - Falco rusticolus

A juvenile, gray-phase Gyrfalcon flying over the Fort Pierre National Grasslands.

When I got my first SLR (film then!) camera in December of 2000, I took a lot of “nature photos”.  This included many bird photos, but I wasn’t really trying to shoot more birds than other subjects.  I certainly didn’t consider myself “hooked” on birds, birding, and bird photography early that winter.  That changed on a trip up to the Fort Pierre National Grasslands in the central part of South Dakota.  Local birders were seeing a Gyrfalcon, calling him the “Pheasant Farm Gyr” because of his hangout near a farm that raised pheasants for release (and hunting).  I really didn’t understand what the big deal was about a Gyrfalcon, until reading about it more, and hearing about them from a couple of local birders.  I decided to make the trip to try and see and photograph it.

It couldn’t have been easier, at least in terms of seeing the bird.  I showed up at the location where the bird was said to be hanging out, saw one of the local birders, and asked if he’d seen the Gyrfalcon.  He pointed to the top of a nearby telephone pole.  Just like that, I had seen my first Gyrfalcon.

I still think that was what sparked my interest in birds and bird photography, because from that point on, I almost exclusively shot birds.  Gyrfalcons are such special birds, very difficult to see in the lower 48 states.  Central South Dakota is definitely a hot spot though.  Despite it being a 3-4 hour drive, I’ve tried to make about 2 all-day birding trips to the area every winter.  I’ve seen my share of Gyrfalcons (including one magical day when I saw 5 individual birds), but it’s quite hit and miss.  In my dawn-to-dusk birding adventures in the area, I’d say I probably end up seeing a Gyrfalcon about 1/4th of my trips, so it’s still a nice treat to find one.

Juvenile Gyrfalcon - Falco rusticolus

The same Gyrfalcon resting on top of a telephone pole for a minute before taking off again. Love seeing Gyrfalcons, but I do wish they’d choose more photogenic perches! Seems like pretty much every perched bird I see is high on a telephone pole.

I took the day off today with the sole purpose of trying to find a Gyrfalcon.  It’s been a while since I’ve gotten good looks at one, and there have been some reported on the grasslands south of Pierre.  I struck out trying to relocate a couple of recently sighted birds, but while on “County Line Road” south of Pierre, I came across a juvenile gray-phase Gyrfalcon.  This by far is the most common age/color that you see around here.  I’ve only seen one Gyrfalcon that wasn’t a gray/intermediate phase (a dark phase from a number of years ago), and have never seen a light/white bird.  Of the Gyrfalcons I’ve seen in South Dakota, probably at least 3/4ths of them have been juvenile birds.

This one was semi-cooperative for photos.  When I first spotted him I thought it was a Rough-legged Hawk, because I saw him hovering near the road from a distance.  Rough-legged Hawks are one of the few big raptors that actually hover, hence my initial ID, but as I got closer I saw it was a Gyr, holding the same relative position in flight thanks to the strong 30-mph winds.  As I got closer, he flew down to a nearby telephone pole, where I was able to watch and photograph him for a minute or so.  He then took off and headed south across the grasslands, ending the brief 2-3 minute encounter.

Any birding day is always a success if you see a Gyrfalcon!  A nice day for other raptors as well, but it was definitely nice to end a relatively long Gyrfalcon drought and get my Gyr fix.

Dec 02 2015

A very lost Great Kiskadee in the great white north

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Great Kiskadee - Pitangus sulphuratus

A quite lost Great Kiskadee, casually hanging out on a post on a sunny day in “warm” South Dakota.

A couple of weeks ago, the South Dakota Ornithologists Union (SDOU) had their fall meeting in Brookings, South Dakota.  As the meetings were going on, the folks in attendance became aware of an incredibly unusual sighting in the area.  A landowner near Volga had reported seeing at least two Great Kiskadees in her yard, stating that they had been hanging around since at least August.  Great Kiskadees normally are found in Latin America, as they are warm weather birds with a range that just reaches into the United States in far southern Texas. In the U.S., there have been a handful of sightings outside of Texas.  Of these, there have been several in Oklahoma, a handful in Louisiana, and one or two in Kansas and New Mexico.  The one found in central Kansas was incredibly unusual in its own right, occurring hundreds of miles away from the next closest sighting.  Hence, a Great Kiskadee?  In South Dakota?  In November?  The SDOU attendees were understandably skeptical.  The skepticism vanished when a conclusive photo was provided, and most people attending the meeting got a very exciting treat, making the short trip to the farmstead where the bird (birds?) was seen.

I was out of town on travel at the time.  When I got back, I told myself that maybe if the bird were still hanging around, I’d head north to try and see it (and photograph it).  A couple of weeks passed, and I managed to make excuses not to go.  In other words, I was being lazy!! Honestly, I rarely have any luck chasing single birds like this.  However, today, serendipity struck.  I was walking in the hall at work this morning, and passed my friend Pat, who is also a birder.  He had seen the Great Kiskadee, and we started talking about it.  He noted they were still seeing the bird relatively recently, and it got my mind wandering, in the way that a mind sometimes WILL wander on a Wednesday at work.  After several days of gloom and snow, the sun was finally out.  What was better, sitting in a windowless office, or going out searching for a mega-rarity?

In no time I grabbed my coat, headed home to grab my camera equipment, and then started north towards the area where the bird(s) was being seen.  There are two farmsteads adjacent to each other, and the Great Kiskadees had been seen at both.  Having been told the south farmstead had an extensive feeder setup, that’s where I headed.  With a big snowstorm ending just the day before, I thought surely the bird would be hanging out by the feeders.  I called the landowner and asked permission, and ended up walking around her land for an hour, and hanging around her feeders for another hour.  No luck…no bird.

Great Kiskadee - Pitangus sulphuratus

Snow. That’s a Great Kiskadee, sitting in a pine tree covered with snow. I would bet there haven’t ever been too many similar photos taken.

Par for the course, when I chase a lone bird!  I got back in my car, sent a quick note to the South Dakota “listserver”, informing birders that I had tried, unsuccessfully, to re-locate the Kiskadee.  Perhaps the snowstorm was too much for a tropical bird, I thought.

That’s when our digital, instant-communication world saved the day.  “KC” replied almost immediately to my email to the listserver, telling me that he had seen the bird just this morning.  I spent nearly all my time at the southern farmstead, but he said the bird was now hanging out almost exclusively at the northern farmstead.  I was only 5 miles away when I noticed his message, so I turned around and headed back, this time going to the “right” farmstead.

It only took 2 minutes of looking before I saw the bird.  The landowners had set up special feeders just to try and help the wayward Kiskadee, with suet and mealworms provided for it.  Within 2 minutes of walking around, a lone Great Kiskadee came flying into the feeders, along with some of his new buddies, 3 Blue Jays.  What a gorgeous bird!  A bright splash of yellow isn’t exactly a common sight for a birder in South Dakota when there’s a foot of snow on the ground!  The recent snow doesn’t seem to have hurt the Kiskadee.  He seemed fat, happy, and was feeding very well.  I ended up watching and photographing him for about 45 minutes as he flew back-and-forth between the feeders and the surrounding trees.  He wasn’t shy, either, ALWAYS a very welcome development for a bird photographer.

When I awoke today I was expecting the same old grind at work!  Thanks to bumping into Pat in the hall, and thanks to my own TRUE talent at finding excuses to get away from work, a normal work day turned into a truly once-in-a-lifetime birding day!  A Great Kiskadee in the snow and cold of South Dakota in December!

Great Kiskadee - Pitangus sulphuratus

Nov 13 2015

Madera Canyon and Santa Rita Lodge in the “off-season”

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Phot of magnificent hummingbird

A male Magnificent Hummingbird soaking up some rays at Santa Rita Lodge.

May 7th.  It always within a day or two of May 7th when the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird shows up in our yard. While there are no confirmed breeding records in far southeastern South Dakota, there’s little doubt they nest there. I have birds in my yard all summer, and by July sometime I start to see immature birds. After a great (but short!) summer flitting about our yard, they’re gone by the end of September. That’s less than 5 months, with the “hummingbird off season” consisting of 7+ months of cold weather and absolutely zero hummingbirds.

It’s the “hummingbird off-season” where I am this week, in Tucson.  After peaking in August here, where up to 15 hummingbird species may be sighted, numbers and variety start to dwindle. By this time in November the slow season is definitely underway. There’s just a WEE bit of a difference in the Tucson off season compared to South Dakota. Here in the Tucson area, you can still find plenty of hummingbirds, but “only” 4-5 kinds (typically).

Photo of Costa's Hummingbird.

A male Costa’s Hummingbird, not commonly found at Madera Canyon in the winter.

There are some extremely famous hummingbird locales that attract birders from across the world. Madera Canyon south of Tucson is world famous for many birds, but it’s the hummingbird feeders at Santa Rita Lodge that are the big attraction for many. In the non-work part of my trip I twice visited Madera and Santa Rita Lodge, and I’d be hard pressed to call it the “off-season”. No, there were no Plain-capped Starthroats, Violet-crowned Hummingbirds, or other U.S. mega-rarities that make southern Arizona famous. For the week I “only” saw and photographed five different species, with all five being seen at Santa Rita Lodge (and some species also found elsewhere).

From a photographers standpoint it’s really nice taking photos at Santa Rita Lodge. Until 1:00 or so you have the sun at your back, and most of the feeders are out in the sunlight, making it easy to get beautiful photos of hummingbirds with their gorgets “lit-up”. The ever-present Mexican Jays, Bridled Titmouse, and Wild Turkeys are there to entertain, and you never know what might show up to feed on the suet, fruit, and seeds that are also available. Hepatic Tanagers have an extremely limited U.S. range, but they are pretty reliable in Madera Canyon. Despite it also being the “off-season” for them, I did find a pair at Santa Rita Lodge and was able to add the species to my life list.

Hepatic Tanager

Hepatic Tanager, a southern Arizona specialty.

Santa Rita Lodge is also the only place I have ever found Arizona Woodpeckers. Acorn Woodpeckers are also always around, while the Niger seed feeders typically have a bunch of Lesser Goldfinch and Pine Siskins. Checking the trees around the feeders can reveal all kinds of interesting songbirds, and even in this slow season, I saw Black-throated Gray Warblers, Hutton’s Vireo, Yellow-rumps Warblers, and more. I also got a nice surprise by standing by the one big berry-laden bush in font of the feeders.  A Red-naped Sapsucker flew in and landed literally 2 feet in front of me and started feeding on the berries. A newcomer to the Santa Rita Lodge, a pair of Canyon Wrens started nesting under the building recently, despite the uncharacteristic habitat

Not a bad “off-season” visit!  And this doesn’t even touch on the Elegant Trogon or other birds you can find in the Canyon.

I enjoyed birding this week all around the Tucson area, but in terms of “birdy-ness”, nothing beats a trip to Madera Canyon and Santa Rita Lodge.

Photo of Canyon WrenRed-naped SapsuckerBroad-tailed Hummingbird

Nov 12 2015

I hereby declare, “new” bird to be named for my father!!

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: 1 Comment
Photo of Lawrence's Goldfinch

A new species for me! In honor of my achievement, I hereby name this species “Lawrence’s Goldfinch” in honor of my father!!

This morning I bravely ventured out in search of a “new” species.  I heard rumors of a mysterious creature wandering Tanque Verde Wash on the northeast side of Tucson.  With nothing but a camera and my wits, I ventured forth, braving frigid morning temperatures (hey, 35 degrees at dawn is dang cold in Tucson!!) in search of the elusive creature.  Others of my ilk (aka, “birders”) have ventured forth in search of this rare creature, only to come back empty handed.  For example, a nameless colleague who has birded his whole life…let’s just call him “Jim” for the sake of argument…has tried…and failed…to find this mythical creature.

Would I be deterred?  Would I fail?  I WOULD NOT!!  Despite overwhelming odds, despite the incredibly harsh weather, I found the elusive creature foraging in the shrubs at Tanque Verde.  How shall I commemorate this historic achievement?

I SHALL TAKE THE FIRST RIGHT OF NAMING!!  I HEREBY DECLARE that from this day forward, this species shall be called “Lawrence’s Goldfinch”, in honor of my father.  In the words of Ramses II (From the movie “Moses” anyway)…SO SHALL IT BE WRITTEN!  SO SHALL IT BE DONE!!

Already, I hear a revisionist history being whispered by those jealous of my mighty achievement.  I hear vague rumors that others have seen this species long before I had.  I hear whisperings that “Lawrence’s Goldfinch” has LONG had that name, and that it has nothing to do with my father.

LIES!! DAMNED LIES!! Curse the jealous mob who cannot appreciate my achievement!  As for you, casual blog reader, believe what you will!  But in my heart, whenever someone utters the words “Lawrence’s Goldfinch”, I shall think of my father, and remember this historic day!!

 

Nov 11 2015

Who you calling ugly? Throwin’ some love to Sparrows

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Cassin's Sparrow

The “plain” Cassin’s Sparrow. That’s alright little guy, don’t let them get you down with those kinds of harsh words. You “plain” sparrows DO have some fans.

I had another great time birding south of Tucson today, with some great looks and photos of some truly gorgeous, colorful birds. It was a 5 hummingbird species day, and with the ever present Tucson sun, I got some very colorful photos of male hummingbirds with their gorget “lit up”. I had great looks (but not so great photos) of a Painted Redstarts, one of the most brilliantly colored birds you can find. I had a Red-napped Sapsucker feeding right in front of me in a bush full of bright red berries, with bird itself flashing its complex color pattern.

With all those colorful birds…why am I posting photos of a couple of sparrows? I’ve said it before…I DIG sparrows!! They may not have the splashy colors of other birds but the variety, and yes, subtle beauty of sparrows is outstanding. In the Southwest there are a number of sparrows I haven’t seen or photographed before, so despite all the gorgeous colorful birds flitting around, I’ve been targeting a few sparrows missing from my “list”.

Rufous-winged Sparrow

Another “plain” sparrow, this one a Rufous-winged Sparrow. I think he’s a handsome fellow, with the bright rufous shoulder patch and that crown.

It’s not an ideal time for some of them, as they’ve already moved to different areas for the winter, but there is still a wonderful variety of sparrows here at the moment. One of those that is supposed to have largely moved on from here by now is the Cassin’s Sparrow (top photo). In a lot of birding guides they’re described as “plain” birds. I beg to differ! Buck up little buddy, I think you’re gorgeous! It must get depressing when people, even birders, pass you by and scoff at the “little brown job” of a sparrow, without trying (or caring) to even try and identify what kind of sparrow.

The second bird is a Rufous-winged Sparrow, so named for the little reddish-brown patch you see on his shoulder. They are a quite common species around here, but given their proclivity for hiding in grass and shrubs, they’re not one I’ve gotten great looks at before, and not one I had photographed. It was nice to have one pop out into the open for a bit.

Throwing some love your way, sparrows! One more day to bird, and hopefully I can find some more of your kind.

Nov 09 2015

Holy $hit!! An honest-to-goodness Trogon!

Author: DakotaBirder • Discussion: No Comments
Photo of Elegant Trogon

Serendipity strikes! This gorgeous Elegant Trogon flew in like a dream and landed right in front of me this morning, while birding at Florida Canyon south of Tuscon, Arizona.

Better lucky than good!!  I had a work trip to Tucson, one of my favorite places on earth to bird, so I took a couple extra days of personal time to bird. I had a number of “target” species I wanted to try and find (and photograph). This wasn’t one of them.

Elegant Trogons are dang tough to see in the U.S. They’re only found in a few spots in far southern Arizona, near the Mexican border.  In November though?  Nearly all Trogons move south for the winter, so you’re not likely to find one this time of year.  I started birding this morning in “Florida Canyon”, a place I’d checked out through eBird.  Painted Redstarts, Hepatic Tanager, and several other “new” species to me had been seen there recently, henc my decision to start there.

Florida Canyon certainly didn’t disappoint!  I saw a gorgeous Painted Redstart right away, and later, a male and female Hepatic Tanager.   It was very “birdy”, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what happened next.  As I was watching a tree seemingly filled with Hutton’s Vireo and other birds, this very big, brilliantly colored bird came flying in. My first thought as it came in over my head…Magpie, as it was the big long tail in flight that reminded me of a Magpie. But this certainly wasn’t a magpie!!  There in front of me was an absolutely brilliant Elegant Trogon!

Over the course of the next half hour, I watched and photographed the Trogon, with it making a couple of short flights and changing perches in that time. Getting a clean shot was a challenge, but I finally did find a good vantage point.

Great morning!  One of my biggest thrills as a birder!

%d bloggers like this: