In addition to adding to my waistline due to my desk (see first post), working in finance
gives me the wonderful bonus of having Jan 1st as a work-free holiday.
For several years now, I have taken the opportunity to use that as a launchpad
for my birding year. 2019 was no different.
But first, a little flashback.
A rarity showed up in Duval at the end of last year – a
Smooth-billed Ani. These birds aren’t too uncommon down in the South Florida
area, but up in Duval it caused quite a stir. Not knowing much about their
habits or likelihood to stick around I was frustrated at having to wait until
the weekend to try and find the bird, but in time Mandy and I trekked out to
Little Talbot Island SP and the we saw the bird barely a handful of steps from
the car.
 |
| The Smooth-Billed Ani was not very cooperative, but good enough here to show his stonking beak |
The Ani is officially[1]
my 396th life bird and it really is a great bird. The large bill and
striking shape made it instantly recognizable. It also called, albeit briefly,
and it’s a wonderful sound. If you have an opportunity to see one, I would heartily
recommend it.
Ok, present day again.
Birding can be an odd hobby depending on how you approach
it. Some birders keep no lists besides having an idea of what they have and
haven’t seen in their heads. Others are avid listers, driven by a Pokémon-esque
need to see them all. Every birder is different and I firmly believe that (assuming they are being ethical in their approach) every type of birding is right and valid.
I am very much a lister. I didn’t know how true that was
until I upgraded to a smart phone a few years ago and had the ability to use the eBird app to
list in the field. Those who know me know I have an awful memory. First of all,
that sucks. I forget birds I’ve seen sometimes and I hate that. But now I can carry with me a list of all the birds I’ve seen[2]
in the entire world.
I’ve got lost on a tangent here, not really a surprise.
Anyway, my point is, Listers usually aren’t just focused on their total bird
count forever and for everywhere – they can get really down into the nitty gritty
with specific lists for counties, states, countries, days, months, years… Many
birders I’ve met will track life and year lists in general, while county birding
seems to be increasing in popularity thanks to eBird.
All of that to say, January 1st we headed back
out to Little Talbot Island SP to try and see the Ani again. Why? Because 2019
is a new year with no Anis listed until I see one again. Yes, technically I saw
the bird on the 15th December, but that was 2018. That’s sooo long
ago. In addition to the Ani, another rarity had been spotted on the north side
of Jacksonville, so a plot was hatched to get two birds with one outing.
There’s a lot of places to look at birds in Jacksonville,
loads and loads. I think I could visit a new one every day from January 1st
and not hit them all by December 31st[3].
Either way, we couldn’t just drive to the spots where we knew certain birds
were supposed to be – we wanted to get a decent number on the first day of the
year.
The first stop off of note was Perdue Pond, a relatively
unremarkable looking pond which attracts ducks and geese. You can rarely
guarantee birds anywhere, but there’s often something at the pond and while
nothing highly unusual was there, we enjoyed what was on offer.
 |
| Canada Geese taking off. I love the splashes in this pic! |
On the road to Little Talbot Island SP there are a number of
other good birding stop-offs, including the Heritage River Road Wetlands.
Long-time AvAd viewers may remember that name as the location of spoonbills and
friends. Despite a desire to locate the Ani we decided to stop in at the Wetlands.
The stop was very much worthwhile and lifted our spirits after the
disappointing dip[4]
earlier in the day. 17 minutes there resulted in 15 species seen, including the
spoonbills at very close range.
 |
| Roseatte Spoonbills - not sure I'll ever get tired of seeing these smiley birds |
Our next major stop was Little Talbot Island SP in search of
the Ani. We ran into another local birder, David F, who advised us that the Ani
would likely be hanging around for weeks if not months. There was plenty of
food around and plenty of suitable habitat, so why leave? This came as a relief
for us, as we feared it may not stay long. We could not confirm whether or
not the Ani would stick around, however, as it refused to show its face for us
that day[5].
We licked our wounds and headed further
north to Big Talbot.
Big Talbot Island SP is a strange place really. There’s an area
to the north called Spoonbill Pond that tends to get all the birding attention,
but there’s a lot of park south of that that birders typically don’t spend as much
time birding. Who knows what’s lurking in there away from prying eyes?
Waders abounded at Spoonbill Pond. We spent around an hour
there, picking through the waders and looking for odd-ones-out. I have never
been very confident with waders and Western Sandpipers specifically have
bothered me. I’ve never felt good about saying I have seen one without someone
telling me that’s what I was seeing. Here, however, there was little doubt –
and that was very refreshing. Semipalmated Sandpipers are very similar in
appearance, but they aren’t expected at this time of year. Dunlin are a little dumpier and have longer,
droopier bills. Sanderlings are smaller and paler. Least Sandpipers have dull,
yellow legs. To quote Sherlock Holmes and Spock, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth. Therefore, Western Sandpipers are now
confidently on my Duval list.
 |
| Western Sandpipers - dark legs, dark back and neck and pale underneath, shortish bill |
Having now dipped on our two targets, but still at 66
species for the day, I suggested stopping back at the alleged hotspot for the
alleged Western Who-Made-Him-King-Anyway Kingbird, just in case. I’ve said it
before and I’ll it again – always make one last stop. Rarely have I regretted adding
a little time to check a spot just in case.
We arrived at the road around 4pm, tired from a lot of walking
and birding. We were rewarded for our efforts very quickly, though in not so
good light initially.
 |
| Western Kingbird - on south side of road so not showing the color fully |
 |
| Now on the north side of the road, though further away, the color is vibrant and striking |
Thankfully the bird cooperated and flew across the road so
we could get pics with the light hitting its stunning yellow belly. We were even
treated to a little feeding display. I think this marked the fourth time I have
specifically taken a trip to see a Western Kingbird, but the first time I had seen
one. Lifer 402 on the books.
After a couple of small detours on the way home, I ended the
day on 78 species and Mandy on 81[6].
We tried to remember if we’ve gotten that high before in a single day, and
neither of us were sure if we had. Without a doubt we were convinced that a
100+ day could be achieved in Duval alone, and sure enough while we were
running around town getting around 80 birds, two other birders accumulated 106
species visiting many of the same spots. 106! I think hitting 100 in a day is now
on my to-do list – but maybe not any time soon – it takes a lot of planning and
effort and I’m tired!
With Mandy away at a conference this weekend, I decided to
try another big(ish) day in Duval and see if I could track down the Ani (yes,
again!) as well as yet another couple of rarities that showed up in town.
I set out to Huguenot Memorial City Park, another stop on
the way out to the Talbots, with one bird front and center in my mind. As I
arrived I realized that much of the park was under construction, meaning I would
either have to drive on the sand in my not-suitable-for-sand vehicle or walk a
long way. I opted for walking. Thankfully, as I got prepped by the car a birder
stopped by and said the bird I was looking for was out in the lagoon right out
at the start of the beach. I hurried out there and was not disappointed.
 |
| Red-necked Grebe - not exactly a diagnostic picture to be honest. I thought I'd got a better pic, but it was diving so frequently it was hard to get good pics with the face and bill showing |
Ok, I was disappointed with my shoddy pics, but the bird
delivered. Lifer 403 on the books. Sadly, just after I took this picture a fisherman
waded out almost exactly where the bird was feeding and I lost sight of it. I
decided that I had enough to be getting on with and pushed out to rest of the
park, hoping maybe to track down a Purple Sandpiper associating with some Ruddy
Turnstones. Spoiler Alert – I didn’t find it. I saw maybe 30 turnstones, but no
sandpipers with them. Ah well, gives me a good reason to go back there soon.
Huguenot also provided first of the year looks at several
gulls and terns as well as the spectacular Black Skimmers.
 |
| Black Skimmers coming in to land with other skinmers, gulls and terns. They have long lower mandibles to help them skim through the water and scoop up food. It's really quite something to see. |
After successfully seeing my first target bird, I went to
Little Talbot Island SP with a metaphorical spring in my step[7].
No sooner had I arrived than I ran into David F again, this time with Marie C
in tow. We chatted while looking without success for the Ani, so left for the
beach to see if we could get a good look at the Northern Gannets who had come close to
the shore to feed.
Inevitably the gannets had moved back out to deeper
waters by the time we got out there, but FOY Red Knots were welcome, as was an unexpected
bird spotted along the horizon by Marie. Swooping up and down was a dark bird,
pale underneath built like a gull but very much different looking. We followed
the bird for a while before it met up with a second bird matching the same
description.
I will openly admit to being somewhere between awful and
crappy when it comes to identifying birds in these situations, but thankfully I
was not alone. Marie initially identified the birds as a Jaeger based on the
patterning and flight, with David narrowing it down to Parasitic rather than Pomarine
based on the shape of the chest. My first and only sighting of Parasitic Jaegers
was in Iceland in 2016. I am very grateful to both Marie and David for helping
me add it to my US list. Alas, I have no pics due as it was all I could do to
keep up with it flying along with horizon, also the pics would have looked
atrocious and almost certainly not diagnostic.
After seeing watching the seas for potential loons or
scoters, we headed back to see if the Ani would come out to play. We ran into
Pierre A, who joined us in looking for the elusive Ani. As I was preparing
myself to surrender once more, the bird emerged suddenly behind us, flew up the
road and then vanished as quickly as it appeared into some dense shrubs. Again,
I have no pictures because I am a mere human and there was no chance to see,
bring up a photographing device and take a picture before it disappeared.
With the Ani under my belt I headed back up the road to try
and look at the waders at Big Talbot after reports of Avocets and Marbled
Godwits. I was both disappointed and incredibly angry to see not one single wader
in Spoonbill Pond due to some idiotic youths walking and smoking on the mud
flats where the waders like to hang out. I am usually a very even-tempered
person[8]
but I was utterly livid about this. There are literally miles of beach in Duval
County, but these morons felt the need to traipse through this important
habitat area… I could go on. I will resist.
The only birds hanging out at the pond were a group of
Hooded Mergansers and assorted egrets who were apparently following a school of
fish around the shallow water and a rolling feeding frenzy ensued. I don’t know
that I’ve seen anything quite like it before. The birds obviously scared the
fish into movement, but then happily followed them everywhere they went, the
fish not standing a chance as they were scooped up by egrets, the smaller fish
swallowed by the diving mergansers.
 |
| Great Egret leading the assault on the poor fish, accompanied by Snowy Egrets and Hooded Mergansers |
Given the near absence of birds to view at the pond itself,
I walked down the road (using the appropriate paths as provided for such travel,
mind you) and onto the riverfront beach. I was able to track down some waders
there, but only a fraction of what should have been hanging out on the pond. Also
at the river’s edge was a Greater Black-backed Gull with a large fish. It was
quite content to peck away at the fish which was a little larger than its head
and neck combined.
 |
| Greater Black-backed Gull with a young Ring-billed Gull flying in. I can tell you with 100% certainty that Ring-billed got 0% of the fish unless the GBBG was done with it |
I made a couple of brief stops on my way home from the
Talbots: M&M Dairy (home of the Western Kingbird) and a shopping center. At
the Dairy I did not see the Kingbird again, although that was not my reason for
being there. I hoped to get lucky and see a Vesper Sparrow (would be a lifer
for me). Instead I got lucky and saw a group of blackbirds. I was able to grab
this not so good but I believe diagnostic pic showing at the very least one male
Rusty Blackbird. Rusty Blackirds have been seen there by folks looking for the Kingbird, so I knew it was a possibility and that always helps.
 |
| Rusty Blackbird - note the slender beak, yellow eye and relatively short tail. |
The second stop was at a pond at the back of a shopping
center. Hanging out with a group of Canada Geese was a single Snow Goose.
 |
| Snow Goose - you can just make out the 'grin patch' on the bill which helps rule out Ross' Goose, as does size relative to the nearby Canada Geese (not pictured, obviously) |
I’m not quite sure why s/he is there, but it was nice to see
one again. Back in NC we were able to see some 50000 or more Snow Geese coming
in to roost. The sky was filled with geese and honking. As impressive as that is,
it’s also nice to be able to see one up close like this.
And that, dear readers, was the first week of 2019. This was
insanely long, and for that I apologize, sort of. I think I’m just going to write
however I feel like writing because that’s just who I am. I have no doubt that I will have far
shorter posts over the coming twelve months because surely not every week will be this
action-packed. Surely?
I sincerely hope you enjoy the post and accompanying pics.
I am now two birds closer to achieving Operation 500. That’s
two down, ninety-seven to go!
If you are in the Duval County area and want to do some
birding together at some time, please let me know!
Phil
P.S. For those who are interested, I’m will be attaching
eBird checklists for major locations and/or significant sightings.
Jan 1st:
Perdue Pond list
Heritage River Road Wetlands list
Little Talbot Island SP list
Big Talbot Island SP list
Jan 5th:
Huguenot Memorial City Park list
Little Talbot Island SP list
Big Talbot Island SP list
M&M Dairy list
River City pond list
[1] ‘Officially’
should be taken with a pinch of salt. In this instance it means ‘as listed by
eBird’.
[2]
Again – only the ones I’ve seen since I discovered eBird plus two old lists
from England pre-immigration.
[3]
Please don’t fact check that. I’m concerned it may not be true.
[4] Dip:
birding terminology meaning to miss out on a target bird. “Unfortunately, we
dipped on the Great Gray Owl but were rewarded with a consolation Snowy Owl”
[5]
Just for the record, the bird was seen consistently that day, both before we
arrived and after we left. It’s hard not to take things like that personally.
[6] I
have an unfortunate habit of looking down at the wrong time and missed three
birds that she was able to see. I think I have managed to see them all since.
It took me until the 5th to see my first Rock Pigeon of the year
though.
[7] It’s
actually quite difficult to have a real spring in your step where carrying a
heavy tripod and scope on your shoulder. It’s also impractical to imitate such
a gait as it would likely cause the weight to shift uncomfortably.
[8] At
least I think I am…
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