Week 6 (2/10/19) - With the Ebb and the Flow, Ever It It So

The week started a little slowly, big shock I know. I continued with my daily strolls at work. I think I said something about trying to go for two walks per day again - totally didn't happen. But I can dream, right? I did get a snap of the dashing looking chap:

Red-Shouldered Hawk across the road on the church sign

These RS Hawks are near-constants around the office. I've seen them at the front of the building, the back of the building and cruising over the building.

On Saturday I traveled back north of the river to try and track down a couple of my bogey birds - Saltmarsh Sparrow and the almost mythical Purple Sandpipers. Based on the tides I again went to Spoonbill Pond first, but the wind was a-blowin'.

With the high wind there was very little activity down at the rocks next to the boat ramp. I spent a good 40+ minutes there and was rewarded for my efforts eventually.

Spotted Sandpiper - ironically identified by the lack of spots in winter

I also eventually started seeing some sparrows moving among the rocks, keeping low. I approached cautiously, eager to not disturb the birds. I was able to get a Seaside Sparrow in the scope but apparently took no pictures. While looking at that I saw more movement and adjusted to get a better view. I saw another sparrow, a smaller sparrow, a sparrow with notable contrast between the color of the face and chest.

At this point I should discuss my frustrations from last week. I thought for sure I had located a Saltmarsh Sparrow but alas, it was another Nelson's Sparrow. Thankfully I was given excellent information as to correctly differentiate between the 'Sharp-tailed' Sparrows. Thanks to that advice, I was able to tell that the lil guy who popped up in front of me was very much a Saltmarsh Sparrow. Here's a pic:

Oh well.

On Sunday, a crazy expedition was undertaken. Reports were submitted and then rapidly distributed across the web of an incredibly rare Code 5 Dark-billed Cuckoo in Delray Beach, about 4.5 hours south. To illustrate the rarity of this bird, only one other record of the bird on US soil exists, and that was a disputed TX record from decades ago. Literally hundreds of birders traveled across the country to see what could be a one-in-a-lifetime bird. Naturally I couldn't let the opportunity slide.

Leaving a little after 4, I hit the road and drove south, hurrying to make it down to Palm Beach County and join the droves of people hoping for a glimpse of a history-making bird. The drive was kinda long as you'd expect. As we arrived we ran into David F from Jacksonville and Sam K from Daytona. They had both been on the bird not long ago, so we felt optimistic. We spoke at length to several other birders looking for the bird or better looks at the bird.

The cuckoo had last been seen about 10-15 minutes before we arrived, so there was reasonable confidence it would be around. We scoured the woods and caught a brief glimpse of bird matching the overall giss (General Impression, Size and Shape) of a cuckoo. There were no other cuckoos reported in the area at that time, so in all likelihood that may well have been the bird, but we only saw it flying behind some trees and couldn't track it down at that point.

Hours passed. Over three hours passed with no sign of the bird. We spoke to Carl, a local birder with oodles of experience and something of a guide for this bird, having been keeping tabs on it since it's first sighting earlier in the week. He said that the prior day the bird had come out to feed in the afternoon, so there was still hope, but really we needed to get there at first light. This was not information we had gathered in our research. Clearly a little earlier and we might well have already seen the bird and could have started looking for other south Florida delicacies.

We went a grabbed lunch and tried to decide what to do. This was a major dip. A mega-rarity which had drawn in people from as far as California. After lunch, during which I picked up my first logged House Sparrows of the year (still missing for Duval), we drove back to the park and spoke with more birders, including Bruce. I didn't realize it at the time, but Bruce is the number one ranked birder in the Lower 48 (855 species, including the Dark-billed Cuckoo). Not only that, but he is listed as the 65th most prolific birder in the entire world (according to eBird records, with 4870 birds globally). He was wonderful to talk to and he gave good advice for an upcoming but as yet undisclosed adventure in about six weeks' time.

After another fruitless hour, we gave up. BUT, we didn't give up entirely. We drove home utterly deflated, but with a plan in place. Monday morning we would leave at 2am and drive down to be there at sunrise. The bird had been warming itself in the sun in the same area for a few days now, with little notice paid to the birders who had swarmed around it. The remainder of the trip falls into Week 7, though. So I will leave things on a cliffhanger for now.

Despite not seeing the Cuckoo in Week 6, I did add bird 405 in the form of the Saltmarsh Sparrow (would really like a pic for my personal records at some stage) so Week 6 was definitely not a failure. Who knows what Week 7 holds? Well, I do, because it's Sunday and it is literally the end of Week 7 as I type...

Big Talbot Island SP, Spoonbill Pond SP - list
Huguenot Memorial Park - list