From the start, it was obvious that the bugs were going to be the highlight of my visit. When I checked out the planting strip along the main road into the park, there were butterflies everywhere — hundreds of cabbage whites flittering between 2 large butterfly bushes and numerous other smaller flowering plants. I would estimate that each butterfly bush head 3 dozen butterflies, and one of the smaller bushes – probably no taller than 2 fee tall – was literally covered with them: probably 30-40 butterflies creating a cloud of life around the flowers.

I started at the small pond near the entrance, where several dragonflies were occupying the edges of the pond. Unfortunately, they were just a bit too far out into the muck to get any clear shots. I then started walking into the big pit, where I was greeted by a legion of different bees – dozens of large cicada killers and what seemed like thousands of smaller digger wasps buzzing around the sandy terrain looking for places to build their lairs. Strangely, despite all of these bees buzzing around, I never felt at risk from a sting – they seemed far too busy looking for each other than me. However, I did have an interesting moment when a red admiral landed on me — repeatedly, in fact — taking up position on my socks and hitching a ride for a while.

After an interesting but fairly birdless run around the pit, I started heading back toward the park proper, past the “warbler” pit which lived up to its name with several yellow warblers running around a mimosa next to the trail. Several other birds – notably catbirds – were also all over the place. In the air over the pit, I watched as a Cooper’s Hawk (which has a nest in the park) harassed a turkey vulture which must have passed too close to its nest. I’ve seen other birds mob hawks, but never seen a hawk take its turn.

As I walked along the trails in the woods, I was constantly mobbed by cabbage white and Red Admiral butterflies, with 3 more landing on me while I was in the woods (including two at once, one per leg). I’ve struggled to get any butterfly to land on me, but the vast quantities of red admirals (there must have been over 300+) must have made them more friendly. My mother-in-law had mentioned to me earlier in the day that the normally plentiful stinging nettle plants throughout the park were nearly stripped by the first brood of caterpillars born of the migratory red admirals in the spring — the evidence was all over the place; I don’t think I have ever seen the park as denuded of nettle as this. The number of admirals about was pretty good evidence, as well. Combined with the admirals were a large number of blue dasher dragonflies.

Eventually, I came to the back path that leads to the beaver pond near where I always see orioles. I wasn’t disappointed, as I saw a bunch of orchard orioles in the trees as well as a single Baltimore oriole flying across the glade. The mowed trail not only held birds along its edges but also had a ton of butterflies and dragonflies along the grassy path. In a short space, I saw wandering gliders, slaty skimmers, blue dashers, pearl crescents, common checkered skippers and several other skippers, monarchs and Eastern Comma. There were several others that I was unable to identify as they rapidly moved back and forth from the brush and flowers around the trail.

At the beaver pond, the dragonflies were more plentiful than I have seen in years. Strangely, it seems like both butterflies and dragonflies have had abundant population increases this year, particularly over the paucity I saw last year. As I investigated the phragamites along the sure, I saw my first-of-year Widow Skimmers, as well as a single Common Green Darner hunting the pond edge. Several skippers I haven’t identified were fluttering amid the reeds, but the pond belonged to the numerous (25+) dragonflies. On my way out, I stopped to look at the catalpa trees on both sides of the path. Some looked as though they had been ravaged by locusts, while others appeared nearly untouched by the annual population of catalpa moth caterpillars; however, at first glance I couldn’t see any of the caterpillars on the trees. Eventually, however, I saw some hanging on the undersides of the leaves, staying out of the heat. And most of them were in turn being affected by a second annual visitor to the park and a scourge to the caterpillars – braconid wasps who lay their eggs on the caterpillars in great numbers. Nearly every caterpillar I saw had a significant number of parasitic wasp eggs, although a few were ‘clean’.

Alas, it was getting toward noon and I needed to start heading out. But the park wasn’t ready to stop offering interesting tidbits here and there. An Eastern Towhee challenged me when I dared reply to his call, and an Indigo Bunting surprised me with a visit. As I was walking down the path toward the entrance, another pair of red admirals landed on me – one of my leg and another on my shoulder. The last one hung on for a while with me as I walked down, finally taking off as I approached my car.

Overall, it was a short visit — about 3.5 hours — but it was a good trip and a nice hike.

Bird List

While I saw quite a bit in a small wooded area across from Stanford Stadium, the light was tough. Still, I got to see a Spotted Towhee (first of year), a couple of Western Scrub-Jays, Chestnut-backed chickadees, oak titmouse and even a small flock of bushtits.

Eventually, it was time to move on – and the walk actually provided to be very birdy. Along the walk were more bushtits and titmice, and when I got to the conference I was able to have breakfast with a pair of Oregon Juncos who were jumping around the edge of the patio. While I was admiring them, I heard a unique call in a nearby tree. Of course I had to check it out, where I saw a pair of woodpeckers – a pair of Nuttall’s woodpeckers*, a new lifebird. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone and couldn’t get a picture of either species.

After the conference, my walk back to the car was also full of birds, including two species of hummingbirds (Anna’s (a new bird) and Black-chinned), more oak titmice, another towhee singing at the top of its lungs and several more scrub-jays, most of them flying around the buildings at Stanford. A trio of ravens (which I guess is a traditional resident here, even though they are uncommon in the area in general) were calling from the top of one of the buildings as a I walked past. I don’t often get to see them and even more rarely get a good luck so that was a nice touch.

So, all too soon it was time to head to the airport. But in addition to a nice conference (which I’ll get around to writing about soon), I had a lot of great birding in a short amount of time. You can see my entire set of pictures on Flickr.

Bird List

The next day, the conference began in earnest, but since I decided to walk from the hotel, I was treated to a short nature hike. In a short span I saw both red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks, acorn woodpeckers^, chestnut-backed chickadees and a small troop of bushtits^. And I heard a bunch of others I couldn’t ID by voice alone.

After the conference, my walk back was even more fruitful, as I saw many more birds, including my lifelist Oak Titmouse*. But I had places to be, as Patty had told me I was likely to see one of my main goal birds – Cinnamon Teal – at Radio Road, and I was quickly losing light between the hour and the encroaching clouds. Finding the place was pretty simple, but my apprehension was growing as I watched the golden afternoon light flitting in and out grim the clouds, finally I arrived and found that karma was giving me some dues.

Right in front of me – and bathed in a wash of golden light peaking through the clouds – was a gorgeous male Cinnamon Teal in breeding colors. He would turn out to be a single specimen, making it even more beautiful to have seen him at that moment. But he wasn’t alone in the grand scheme of birds in this little retention pond area.

Feeding close by were a few Black-necked stilts and American Avocets, far closer even than they were at the Baylands. Further out, numerous waterfowl including Gadwall, Northern Pintail and Northern Shovelers swam about eagerly eating the bounty in the shallow ponds. But a site in a second pond caught my eye, dragging me away from that gorgeous rust-colored duck – a Ruddy Duck, as a matter of fact. A single male with that unique baby blue bill was courting a number of females. Seeing his beautiful colors close up was great, but the real fun was watching the mating display. He would swim up toward one of the females, put his bill against his breast and then begin this stuttering call as his head jerked up like it was on a gear sprocket. He did this repeatedly though the hen acted as though they’d heard it all before.

After a short while, and numerous pictures, I decided to peer around to see if anything else was interesting. While there was nothing close by, there were a few cool birds, namely single canvasback and Lesser Canada Goose specimens. But it was the teal, avocet, stilt and ruddy duck that were the highlights of the visit.

Bird List

Our first stop was “Dennis the Menace” park which was probably the only miss of the day: only mallards, Canada geese and gulls (never got close enough to ID). From there we went to the Monterey marina and the fishery pier there. It was crowded with divers and made me think fondly on my days of diving (it’s been a while). Then as we walked up the pier, Al pointed out my first new bird of the trip – a Pigeon Guillemot*, which was also my first alcid. I followed them around for a while, struggling to get nice shots of the uncooperative birds in tough light. Actually, the light was gorgeous but not when you’re shooting down from a pier. We spent a bit of time there then moved on to see what else was lurking. Turns out that a LOT of sea lions like this area: there were dozens in this little cove alone, along with a smaller number of harbor seals.

I’ve seen both species before but never together and never in quantities like this (Al commented later that he had never seen this many pinnipeds in Monterey before). So I took quite a few shots of these neat animals, who were laying on buoys, rocks and even the occasional boat. A harbor seal came up below me, looking eagerly for a handout, according to Al. After a short time, it seemed to figure out that I was fishless and dove into the cerulean waters.

On our way back to the car, I had a chance to watch a half-dozen more pigeon guillemots in the waters just below the pier, including one who was showing off what I’d guess was mating behavior (noisy little buggers!) and a California Gull* An extra treat was yet to come – in the marina just opposite of the car, a single cormorant swam happily among the boats – a gleaming blue eye stood out from the black feathers: a Brandt’s cormorant*!  Life list entry #3.

Monterey Bay Coast Guard Pier

Our next stop was the Coast Guard pier, a wonderful place to see a number of cool things: hundreds of sea lions everywhere, timid enough for approaching close enough to touch, of all ages – it was a wonder to see and experience. They were of all ages, and the young ones were undeniably cute. Further along we were greeted by a few seals, another few Brandt’s cormorants and a small flotilla of divers all along the jetty (I have to admit, diving among the sea lions/seals would be pretty cool). But the big payoff was at the end of the jetty: dozens of sea lions, including a huge bull and a nesting colony of Brandt’s cormorants. I had the privilege of seeing mated pairs building their nests on the rocks out of colorful seaweed and other debris pulled from the sea. The male would return with the seaweed, do a short presentation dance, bright blue throat patch extended and glowing in the light.  Then he’ d place the materials gingerly at the feet of the female, where they nuzzled and worked together to put it in just the right place. Hard to describe how beautiful it was watching them work to make their nest in what seemed like a tenuous spot on the bare rocks amongst the huge sees lions.

Monterey Bay / Fisherman’s Wharf

Al was determined to help me find the other new cormorant for me, the pelagic cormorant, so after checking in with Patty, we walked along the bay toward Fisherman’s Wharf. Little did we know that this short side trip would actually be more productive than just the pelagic cormorant (which we never saw despite several false positives). Waking past the picnic area, I noticed a number of small birds flying back and forth among some trees and something made me stop. I’m glad I did, as those little birds were my first chestnut-backed chickadee*; a half- dozen of the little auburn-accented songbirds flitted in and out (and just out of sight) amongst the branches. But a few pssts later, I was rewarded by a couple of them coming out into the light on the end of some branches. A second bonus was when a couple of white crowned sparrows joined the fun. I’ve seen these tons of times but rarely in full breeding plumage, and I figured I’d try to get some shots. Turns out that these were a coastal sub species – Nuttall’s white-crowned sparrow*.

After this short sidestep, we continued on along the bay. The place was gorgeous, a meeting of jagged islets and bright blue green water, coupled with a gentle breeze that complemented the near perfect temperatures coming off the bay. We spent some time investigating several cormorants on a small rocky islet in a cove, desperately trying to make one a pelagic cormorant, to no avail. But my eye caught another shallow in the water nearby, which turned out to be a Pacific loon*, another new species (#5 so far, incl. the WCSP sub species).

Monterey Bay Aquarium

At this point, Al is getting a little bent at not having produced a pelagic cormorant for me (which wouldn’t be a lifebird, but would be my first GOOD look). In my mind, I was more than satisfied with what we HAD seen, so anything else would be gravy but he was determined, so we tried one last ‘can’t fail’ spot – the platform at the entrance of the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium. Along the way, I got to see Steinbeck’s famous “Cannery Row” and the rest of the nice town of Monterey. A first stop just short of the aquarium produced only Brandt’s cormorants and more pigeon guillemots, and we hurried to the aquarium. Sadly there wasn’t time to go into this landmark, but I was having a good enough time regardless.

We walked to the end of the canterlevered platform and quickly spied more Brandt’s cormorants and pigeon guillemots, but none of or target bird. Suddenly Al yelled,” There! With the green back!” I got a brief glimpse of an ebony bird with green accents, too fast to be sure as it sailed under the platform beneath us, but definitely leading. Sure enough, it or another bird came sailing out and this time I definitively saw the green tint and white patches on the wings that were defining field marks for a pelagic cormorant*. Now to get a picture, which was tougher as these seabirds moved quickly. After several near successes, I decided to see if I could spy one underneath the platform – and was surprised to find a male preening no more than 5′ from me!

It was a beauty in its own way, the green-black plumage iridescent in the sun, giving way to the bright red face of a breeding adult. The KALEIDESCOPE of colors was both beautiful and garish at the same time, brighter and more eye- catching than either the double- created or Brandt’s cormorants. Three only problem was that with my 300mm lens, I was actually too close to fit the whole bird in the frame! So I moved to the another side opposite of where I had been, trading proximity and optional light for a full-body shot.

A bonus moment was our chance to catch the attention of some other aquarium visitors (probably in part due to my hanging precariously over the railing to get the best angle). Al and I were able to interest two couples in the bird, explaining a little about it and maybe planting a little seed of interest in birding.

Pacific Grove

Now that I had my trophy shot of a pelagic cormorant, Al and Patty prompted me for anything else I might want to see. It took only a short moment for me to rattle off a short list: Heerman’s gull, black oystercatcher, black turnstone. It took them only a few seconds more to come up with just the place and off we went up the road to Pacific Grove. The drive alone would have been worth it for the breath taking views of the Pacific ocean, deep blue ocean crashing in frothy chaos against the rocks of the shoreline. I was captivated by the scenery, trying to capture it on my phone’s camera since my Nikon lens could never capture the breath of what I was seeing through the narrow aperture.

We then made our way to a particular pull off and Al and I trekked onto the rocks to search for the trio of birds I had mentioned. Sure enough, a pair of mated black oystercatchers* appeared on the small island just beyond the spit of land we were on, the black feathers seeming to absorb as much light as their bright orange bills reflected. And nearby wandered not the requested black turnstones but something just as nice: a trio of surfbirds* which had lingered past their normal migration date. Other birds we encountered included numerous western gulls of all ages, a single 3rd-year California gull, a whimbrel and a Caspian tern. No Hearmann’s gull but a responding success nonetheless.

Monterey Bay preserve

Our last stop before lunch was part of the Monterey Bay preserve near Moss’s Landing. Housing a marina and access to the ocean, it also turned out to be one of the best spots to see the nearly famous California sea otters – nearly 30 strong, these large (~3 – 4′ long) mammals were a sight to see laying out and playing in the bay near the sea lions and seals nearby. Lucky for us, there was even one otter on the beach sunning himself (I’m going to pretend that’s all he was doing and he wasn’t sick).

Seeing the otters was an unexpected pleasure, but hardly the only one as a Clark’s Grebe* popped up amidst the otters and gave me a good show as well. Then, after several minutes taking pictures of these magnificent and amusing critters, we were off to the locally famous Phil’s Fish Market for lunch, with a quick stop to take a couple pictures of a pair of otters (mother/child) who were lounging in the marina on the way. Sadly, it was then time to head back as I had a workshop that night, and we stopped only for Al to show me a Eurasian Collared Dove that he and Patty told me would be in a particular 50-square-foot parking lot; true to their word, there it was (with a second one) almost as though they had dialed in their order.

Overall, I had a GREAT time in the Monterey area – the combination of awesome weather, great wildlife, good food and good friends (who were GREAT guides) really made the day a pleasant experience throughout.

After getting into town and checking in, I immediately went out to the Palo Alto Baylands up the road to see some of the specialties there. I wasn’t disappointed.  As soon add I got there I saw two of my primary goals: American Avocets and Black-necked stilts, right up against the shoreline, closer than I’ve ever had the chance to be. Creeping up to the protective barrier along the road (I needn’t of bothered), I crept closer to a single stilt and a pair of advocates who were feeding peacefully in the beautiful afternoon light. Dozens more of both species lingered in the background, going on their noisy ways through the thin marsh. I was amazed at how closer they let me get and I snapped away happily. Another photographer caught my attention and motioned me over, then pointed out a nest with a pair of stilt chicks in it. Those fuzzballs were extremely cute, and evidently were ready to investigate their surroundings.

After spending an hour with the nesting birds, I wanted to move on. Crossing the road and heading toward the nature center, I was treated to the sight of an adult stilt leading around three juveniles, puffballs of a slightly larger variety who were seemingly oblivious to my presence. It was a thrill to get to see this species so closely and in such nice light. A nearby ruddy duck wasn’t nearly as congenial, only briefly peeking his head out, never long enough for me to get my first shot of one in breeding plumage.

Other birds were also in the area, but none that I couldn’t see at home so I moved along to the duck pond to see if anything interesting was hanging out. For the most part, the standard duck pond species were there: mallards, domestic ducks and hybrids, a couple of geese and pigeons. But a little bit of wandering revealed some hidden treasures in thus alcove of mundanity.

A pair of California gulls* (1 adult, 1 immature) flew in later, a black phoebe was checking out the mud flats across the parking lot, while several nesting snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons croaked at each other from the branches of a nearby tree. A one- legged ‘grackle’ sat on a part nearby, hopping occasionally in the breeze (it turns out that grackles are rare in this area – it was actually a Brewer’s blackbird). Across the street, I was surprised by a large flock of what I thought were dowitchers, but turned out to be willets and marbled godwits* (my second new species of the day).

All too soon, it was time to get some food – it had been almost twelve hours since I ate, so I decided to hit a California tradition: In N’ Out Burger.  It was good but I don’t know that I’d call it legendary – about the same as a Five Guys burger, I’d say.

Anyway, here are some photo highlights of day 1 of my trip:

Birding List:

We started the morning at Higbee Beach, then moved to the Beanery, the Meadows, CMBO and State Park before a late lunch, then headed back to Higbees for a short while before ending at the Heislerville WMA. We saw a total of 83 species of birds, plus 3 maybes that are going to require looking at some pictures to determine. Highlights (for me) were very close looks at a LOT of Yellow-breasted Chats and Indigo Buntings, 3 new lifers (Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Canada Warbler and Chestnut-sided Warbler) and just a general great day of birding.

I got there at about 7:30 am, and immediately stated the wildlife loop during a chilly, breezy period. Soon after I got onto the drive, though, the sun came out and cast its beautiful light on everything. The normal cast of characters was out: gulls, Forster’s terns, black ducks, Canada geese, numerous peeps, etc, but there were some highlights, too.

Had 70 species today – my highest count in over a year. Highlights included a face-to-face with an American Bittern, some GREAT looks at an immature eagle (and seeing two eagles fight over some food), and watching the mating dances of some willets. Oh – that and listening to the willets and ospreys yelling at each other. I never thought about how similar their calls were until they were shouting back and forth. Some of the other highlights

• Getting to see an American bittern close up for the first time (although it might have been sick or injured, though I hope not)
• Watching a Common Yellowthroat singing away with the morning sun
• Seeing the wild dances of mating willets, as they battled for the females’ attention
• The cacophony those willets made when they got agitated – and then hearing a pair of osprey responding with their own calls (I’d never thought about how similar the calls were).
• Seeing a third- year bald eagle swoop in to steal the lunch of a much larger adult…
• … then having that same eagle fly right over me
• Having a young black rat snake ‘rattle’ at me
• My first- of- year sightings of: blue grosbeak, whimbrels, black and golden plovers and more

The full list:

Unfortunately, the same can be said for the birds – usually spring migration its in full swing by now, but things are moving along slowly throughout the region (although a late report from Cape May on Sunday seems to show a burgeoning population of migrants coming into the area).

Still, the fact I was able to get out fort a few hours of hiking was much appreciated. The list:

The Pictures

Still, any time birding is a bonus and I did have the opportunity to get out more than a few times. Here’s a look back at 2009:

Birding

Total Species (overall): 421 species
Total Species (2009): 209
New Species (2009): 76

New Jersey

Total Species (overall): 225 species
Total Species (2009): 145
New Species (2009): 11

Highlights:

The year started off well, with 5 new species early in January, all relative rarities in my area: Green-tailed Towhee, Snowy Owl, Rough-Legged Hawk, Horned Grebe and White-winged Crossbill. Obviously, the Arizona trip was a major highlight – lots of new species (69, to be exact), great scenery and habitats, as well as a few lifebirds in the real sense – the Elegant Trogon, Flame-colored Tanager and White-eared Hummingbird. Seeing the Trogons was an amazing thing – especially since I got to see them mating, as well.

After a slow spring and summer with little birding, I was able to end the year on a high note with 2 more addition to the lifelist (Ivory Gull and Eurasian Wigeon), plus a new state bird (Spotted Towhee).

Overall, a slow year of birding – not many times out and not a whole lot of new birds outside of Arizona – but I’m still happy with what I got to do. Not sure how much I’ll get out in 2010 – but my goal is to top 450 species, but that will probably require a few day trips or some extra travel to get. Not that I mind that!

Pictorial Highlights

As always, you can see my Best of 2009 set on Flickr.

Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be for finishing up the bathroom: put in the tile, seal it, install the chair rail and do all of the other finishing work. Unfortunately, the drywall guy we hired did a piss-poor job and the walls were so uneven that we have to tear them out and redo them. At least he was smart enough to give us some money back.

But the good news was that it gave us some more time to get other stuff done: we got a new stock pot for making turkey soup, we made another turkey for turkey sammiches, we went to BJ’s for some bulk supplies, etc.

But the majority of my fun was from getting out to do something I have not done nearly lately: bird. Monday took me all the way down to Cape May in search of the four rarities there – IVORY GULL, SWAINSON’S HAWK, EURASIAN WIGEON and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. I ended up getting 2 of 4, so not a bad day. I followed it up by seeing another eastern rarity – a SPOTTED TOWHEE – at Palmyra Cove the next day.

Cape May

I got up early – really early – in order to make the trek down to the birding mecca of Cape May, only this time the mecca had some extra rarities to enjoy. My first stop was the Bree-Zee-Lee Marina where the IVORY GULL – a rarity normally restricted to the arctic – had made a lengthy appearance and was giving people a lot of chances to see it. I got to Cape May very quickly and had no problem finding the place, and I was treated by the fact that the bird was already there waiting. I wasn’t there more than 5 minutes when the bird decided to give us all a flyby and I got great looks at the beautiful white feathers that were starkly different from almost all of the gulls that normally habitate this area. After about 45 minutes, it disappeared and I decided to move on, but I had my first lifer of the day.

Reports on the hummingbird had been nil because of the cold weather, so I decided to give the hawk a try. Unfortunately, it – as hawks are wont to do – was flying to other places, so I missed that one. From there, it was a trip over the Cape May Lighthouse with some other birders that I met, where we went looking for whatever might be around, but most especially the EURASIAN WIGEONS, which I had missed a few times before. 3 drakes and a single hen had been seen there earlier, but there was only a single, young drake hanging out when I visited – but it was a enough. My second lifer of the day!

To follow up, I went back to the marina to see if I could get another look at the Ivory Gull — and although it took a bit for me to find him, when I did I was treated to some closer up views, such as the picture below. And then, it was time to drive back. Without even looking too hard, I was able to see quite a few species, including two lifebirds – all by about noon.

Palmyra Cove

The next day wasn’t as nice weather-wise – in fact, it was pretty cold – but the destination was literally right up the road, and Shari could join me. We wandered up to the area by the Little Pit where the SPOTTED TOWHEE had been seen, hoping we would make it’s 9:00 a.m. itinerary (the bird seemed to disappear about 9 a.m. every morning). Lo and behold, my luck held from the previous day and it was in it’s accustomed spot almost as soon as we got there. However, getting good looks at the little lady was a little tougher as towhees often enjoy the thickets of brush. But I was able to get a few shots. This wasn’t a lifebird for me – I’d seen them in Vancouver a few years back, but it was a first-of-state bird for NJ for me, and a lifer for Shari (not that she really keeps track). Still, 3 rarities in 2 days was a nice departure from all of the recent work.

Now I just have to look forward to my wife’s annual trip to Barnegat and Forsythe for my wife’s birthday.