tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-301033022024-03-07T14:21:13.477-05:00beginning to birddguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.comBlogger691125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-45254139666467409622018-12-16T17:17:00.001-05:002018-12-16T17:17:44.680-05:00Lifer #459Bird 459: Evening Grosbeak!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4agqqovrm1cgoayyyz81ZJd7YPNhyphenhyphenNMqf8kFfCx8I5oRlTrxCK7eQFLNKMMjOxVQe19u-eg4bmprB63AOe3lmKGNWiSbS7cueaOIx7O0XR6Xj0eDu05jTjCBF9f2NjnHOufbc_Q/s1600/17AC24F4-B8E8-42B6-B740-6471752AEAD6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4agqqovrm1cgoayyyz81ZJd7YPNhyphenhyphenNMqf8kFfCx8I5oRlTrxCK7eQFLNKMMjOxVQe19u-eg4bmprB63AOe3lmKGNWiSbS7cueaOIx7O0XR6Xj0eDu05jTjCBF9f2NjnHOufbc_Q/s320/17AC24F4-B8E8-42B6-B740-6471752AEAD6.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-41964488423649868422018-08-15T15:04:00.003-04:002018-08-15T15:04:43.108-04:00This blog: A new hope?It's been over 2 years since I've posted anything in the bloggy; Facebook pretty much killed blogging a long time ago. Still, whenever I need to find some highlight or signpost from the old days, I always check this bloggy first, and it never disappoints.<br />
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Perhaps I'll start entering posts here again, mostly in an effort to motivate me to get out there and bird more. Life has taken quite a busy turn of late; I'm now married with a son, and that little man takes up a lot of time. He's only 7-1/2 months old, so he needs us an awful lot. Between work, him, my blacksmithing (yeah I do that too now), rockhounding (yup, that too), and my woodworking and spoon carving (don't do that nearly enough anymore either!), birding has taken a hit. About the only time I'm sure to be out there is when I go on a trip because #everytripisabirdingtrip!<br />
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Does Blogger even recognize what a hashtag is? Clash of technologies!<br />
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Today, I stand at 457 lifers. My last bird was the famous Great Black Hawk that hung out in Biddeford, Maine, for a few days early this month. I happened to see him on his last day: I cut out of work for a "long lunch" and drove the 35 minutes to the intersection of Fortunes Rocks Road and Lily Pond Avenue, right on the coast. A lot of posh homes and rocky beaches, highlighted by the presence of a very flighty GBHA! I saw him within 5 minutes of my arrival, which was quite exhilarating. I followed him for a bit, and I even managed to get a horrible photo of him on my iPhone. Why didn't I bring my camera!?<br />
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See him? No??? Well, let me help you.</div>
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Zoomed and circled here, the hawk is facing left. </div>
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It was such a thrill to see this visitor from Mexico and points south; I'll likely never seen one again, which makes me a little sad, but I'm SO GLAD I took that long lunch! Later that afternoon, only hours after I'd seen him, he flew out to sea and was gone.</div>
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That's one crazy bird. <a href="https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/blog/2018/08/14/great-black-hawk-texas-maine/" target="_blank">This article</a> explains that the consensus is that this is the same bird as was seen on South Padre Island, TX, in April of this year. The crazier thing is, as someone quoted in the article points out, GBHAs don't migrate. So why this bird chose to fly to Texas and then to Maine is really anyone's guess, so Darwin might say he has a death wish; he's not likely to survive very long unless he heads back home, wherever that might be. Perhaps he's following in my footsteps.</div>
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Meanwhile, I've been doing some Excel-and-eBird obsessing/planning for future work-related trips (Orlando, FL, in Feb 2019; National Harbor, MD, in July 2019; and Nashville, TN, in Feb 2020), and I realized that I hit 400 lifers in 2013. </div>
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<i>That was 5 years ago! </i></div>
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It's taken me 5 years to get 57 birds! And that includes the infamous <a href="https://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2013/09/if-youre-friend-on-facebook-you-know.html" target="_blank">puking pelagic trip</a>, as well as two trips to SE Arizona (one in September 2013 and one in February 2017, not exactly high migration), a trip to Big Bend and western Texas (and my first Painted Bunting, among other things), and a San Antonio/home trip involving a Golden-cheeked Warbler! </div>
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That's a lot of miles for 57 birds.</div>
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At any rate, the planning for future lifers continues. That Orlando work trip may well yield 19 lifers, and that's just going to involve driving from Orlando and staying somewhere on the Space Coast! If I were to really branch out and go down to Ding Darling or even the Everglades, that number would go up 28 possible lifers. Of course, never count your lifers until they're spotted.</div>
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So there are birds out there. Hell, I still haven't even seen a Spruce Grouse up here in Maine, and my friend and potter <a href="https://www.bonnemapotters.com/" target="_blank">Garrett Bonnema</a> tells me he practically trips over them on his mountains hikes out in western Maine near Bethel (where my in-laws live). And there are American Three-toed Woodpeckers and Black-backed Woodpeckers (up in Baxter State Park, about 5 or 6 hours away) to see here as well. At least I got my Bicknell's Thrush on Mt. Washington last June.</div>
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There's still plenty to write about, too.</div>
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-24130080489541226382016-05-06T16:17:00.000-04:002016-05-06T16:17:01.167-04:00Springtime at PophamPopham Beach is lovely this time of year, if a little cold. Last Saturday, AB and I took a long hike over Morse Mountain and onto Sea Wall Beach, which is connected to Popham. It was about a 5-mile hike, all told, and my little muscles were tight after that.<br />
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Sea Wall and Popham are great places to see an endangered bird, the Piping Plover, in all its cuteness--and to hope to catch a glimpse of their ridiculously precious babies. I didn't see any babies yet (it's probably a little early), but I did see some adults and some other birds, in their fresh breeding outfits, looking to get lucky.<br />
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A Yellow-rumped Warbler, looking very dashing.</div>
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A whole lot of Glossy Ibises looking glossy.</div>
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The aforementioned Piping Plover, looking cute.</div>
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The same little plover, scratching an itch. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!</div>
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I do so love living so close to the beach. Popham is about 40 minutes away, but the actual coastline is only about 5 minutes down the road. But Popham--or in this case, Sea Wall Beach, is lovely. At low tide, it's an enormous stretch of sand--which is a bit of a rarity up here on the rocky coast of Maine.</div>
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Looking to my left, toward Popham.</div>
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Looking to my right, back toward Brunswick.</div>
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This afternoon, I sat out on my deck and watch Pine Warblers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and Black-capped Chickadees eat suet and seeds from my feeding station. It was a thrill to see the Piney stand on the very metal hook that I forged myself a couple of weeks ago! I wish I'd gotten a photo but I wasn't fast enough and I was too awestruck to care.</div>
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You can keep your 95-degree spring days, Texas. I'll take my 57-degree days up here anytime (as long as the sun is shining--otherwise, it's nippy!).</div>
dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-55190060975371014302014-08-11T19:10:00.002-04:002014-08-11T19:10:07.903-04:00National Moth Week blowout?How can I possibly write a post on my amazing week of mothing during National Moth Week when stupid Blogger won't upload any photos?????dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-46009156073770017122014-06-20T14:09:00.001-04:002014-06-20T14:09:29.555-04:00Almost time for National Moth Week!And boy, is the mothing heating up around here!
Just in time for NMW2014, I'm starting to get some real moths out in the yard. Temperatures have warmed into the 70s and sometimes 80s in the day, and it's as warm as the 60s at night--which has brought out the moths!<br />
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The last two nights I've gone out, I've been putting my sheet on the front of the house (perpendicular to the street) instead of on the shed out back, and WOW--moth city! Who knows if the location is contributing, but the warm temps have definitely helped.<br />
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A few examples, including my first giant silkmoth!
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Callosamia promethea</i> (Promethea Moth) </span></td></tr>
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One that really stumped me:</div>
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<i>Macaria transitaria </i>(Blurry Chocolate Angle Moth) </div>
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There was a lot of back and forth on mothy facebook page I belong to, but that's the consensus on the species.<i> </i>Moths are sooooo much more variable than birds, and with four wings to work with, the field marks are still harder to figure out. I'll think, "okay, reddish head, three spots on the leading edges of the wings, some stripes barring across the wings..." and then come up empty after staring at my Peterson's moth guide and the Moth Photographers Group website for like an hour and a half. Thank goodness bird IDs are not this hard! This blog might've been titled "forget those stupid birds!" But somehow I find the patience.</div>
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The other day, AB asked me how long I'd had this desire to classify and identify; did it start with birds, or was it always there? I remember separating out my Skittles by color on a sheet of paper, and then drawing a circle around the groupings of each color, and then labeling each color. </div>
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That was in college.</div>
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I guess it was always there. I always liked butterflies, though I wasn't as concerned with their names as I was with seeing as many as I could, up close--observing their colors and shapes, comparing them to each other. Way back when, my big brother had to put together a collection when he was in junior high, so he recruited my little sister Mary and me to get the required "specimens." I enjoyed that, though not so much the killing of them.<br />
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I know I tend to be quite meticulous and ultra-focused when I like doing something; I can do one thing for hours at a time without looking up. (AB also marvels at my ability and desire to play game after game of Rumikub or SkipBo.)</div>
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So I guess it was just natural that I'd see a bird that sparked my desire to see more and more birds, or I'd see a moth that sparked my desire to see more and more moths. And then the little anal retentive part of me that needs to have names for things just kicked in, and I began to search for names for each of those birds or those moths.</div>
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And I am now starting to compile a lifemoth LIST. AB just sighs and says, "I guess I'll be going to bed alone again tonight...."<br />
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But enough of this introspection! Back to the moths! There was this little powdery-soft beauty:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-5kg6JpyeY4YBF1CSDwiuioKI9azV97IgRN4vdgPAc2OMnYjcuG4tJzEIGyQbzN1HP7SlCK6UmS0d_Cy3SdyOA5xaHJacl-2GKv3SlZDH0mZgjbiJ-xiIt-UiCeGLBCFJAw3Ww/s1600/Antaeotricha+schlaegeri+Schlaeger%27s+Fuitworm+Moth+%231011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-5kg6JpyeY4YBF1CSDwiuioKI9azV97IgRN4vdgPAc2OMnYjcuG4tJzEIGyQbzN1HP7SlCK6UmS0d_Cy3SdyOA5xaHJacl-2GKv3SlZDH0mZgjbiJ-xiIt-UiCeGLBCFJAw3Ww/s1600/Antaeotricha+schlaegeri+Schlaeger's+Fuitworm+Moth+%231011.JPG" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Antaeotricha schlaegeri</i> Schlaeger's Fuitworm Moth</div>
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And for the first time since waaaaay back in July 2008, I got a Luna Moth!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCR8luu-06vtAMeCNNhvJNy59vH43w6plRlKSjwOLztiMyDuqr4aDh-YY6_sq7m0n0_6xi_sUDHfi9KiD6QBq54dbGdhbY9sUDILh1IDLRJ46ZjzsL-GsvU2IDkFLYPIwTw185g/s1600/Actias+luna+Luna+Moth+%237758+(ME).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCR8luu-06vtAMeCNNhvJNy59vH43w6plRlKSjwOLztiMyDuqr4aDh-YY6_sq7m0n0_6xi_sUDHfi9KiD6QBq54dbGdhbY9sUDILh1IDLRJ46ZjzsL-GsvU2IDkFLYPIwTw185g/s1600/Actias+luna+Luna+Moth+%237758+(ME).JPG" height="400" width="340" /></a></div>
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<i>Actias luna</i></div>
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When that big moth flew in, I thought it was a bird! He was so huge and so fluttery, whipping around in the hostas and bumping into everything. He never landed, but he did pause just long enough for me to snap this picture before he fluttered off again. Most of the pics were just blurry shots of the grass or the house. In the three or four years I've been mothing, this Luna and the Promethea are the first two big moths I've ever gotten at the light. Pretty exciting!</div>
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An interesting thing about mothing here is that I'm seeing very few of the moths I saw back in Maine. Most of the moths I've seen up here have been new to me; I never saw them in PA. I guess I'm really a lot farther north, and I'm no longer near the mountains. Lots more trees in the vicinity of my light rig here too. I do miss seeing my PA regulars--things like <i>Hypoprepia fucosa</i> Painted Lichen Moth or <i>Xanthotype urticaria</i> False Crocus Geometer Moth. I saw those all the time back in PA.<br />
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Here, though, I get a lot of these:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTpLg0mfl8UwPxidqvFQ8Y-W1go07D6BmGzLBt4HBqGRdsrutA2mO3382gP87_5O-sCtFY-83GA0Z0t-0eBQpRXARWqO4F6JOb1BfVdyNFWSsdCUmE2zEkmQfVvFvMLClatdw9w/s1600/Caripeta+piniata+Northern+Pine+Looper+%236864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTpLg0mfl8UwPxidqvFQ8Y-W1go07D6BmGzLBt4HBqGRdsrutA2mO3382gP87_5O-sCtFY-83GA0Z0t-0eBQpRXARWqO4F6JOb1BfVdyNFWSsdCUmE2zEkmQfVvFvMLClatdw9w/s1600/Caripeta+piniata+Northern+Pine+Looper+%236864.JPG" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Caripeta piniata</i> Northern Pine Looper</div>
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and these:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ozV8eW5RuX_-9Tm3H2ZtN3QGTqP24SyQdxcIQa77Jk_2p3oaTl-H8hihev3V2AhOB3y023mrSn017Ch6LMUt-CVwrkwqB24zQFpFGncVAngfslwptTNayFrJBigisdQUwBah5A/s1600/Cherry+Scallop+Shell+Rheumaptera+prunivorata+%237292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ozV8eW5RuX_-9Tm3H2ZtN3QGTqP24SyQdxcIQa77Jk_2p3oaTl-H8hihev3V2AhOB3y023mrSn017Ch6LMUt-CVwrkwqB24zQFpFGncVAngfslwptTNayFrJBigisdQUwBah5A/s1600/Cherry+Scallop+Shell+Rheumaptera+prunivorata+%237292.JPG" height="275" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Rheumaptera prunivorata </i>Cherry Scallop Shell</div>
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I also get about 20 moth species that I can't identify. I have folders of literally hundreds of unidentified moths (similar to Mitt's binders full of women? You decide.), and it takes hours and hours of looking online at moth pics, looking at my Peterson's, etc. to figure them out. That's IF I figure them out.</div>
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It's only viable to moth in the summer up here, though--so at least AB will have me back in the fall, when the nights get chilly again and the winter begins its inevitable return.</div>
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Until then--MOTHS!</div>
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-47401965195400342352014-05-20T22:10:00.001-04:002014-05-20T22:20:46.419-04:00Return to Moth Mania, Maine-style!It's been an entirely different experience mothing here in Maine, as opposed to the salad days of mothing in Central PA. For some reason, I just haven't had the success here that I had in PA, but I keep trying!<br />
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A couple of weeks ago I went to Lowe's to buy a mercury vapor bulb, but I found out you need a special ballast (insert electrician mumbo jumbo here), and of course they didn't sell that. I went home with a 175-watt flood lamp, completely forgetting about how I needed the UV light that only the MV bulb can produce. Results with the admittedly blindingly bright flood lamp? NADA.<br />
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I then did a little more reading online and found a mention of "self-ballasting MV bulbs"--NOW they tell me! So I ordered one online, knowing that spending $45 on a moth lamp wasn't going to go over too well with AB, but she was cool, of course.<br />
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I've tried the new lamp three times. Here's the sheet on the first night:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_qZjUceHNe8G0GsTyvc9g8gw__4niiuzSiuiv03L33mMaJJ4BOksYxrVjiutEdhzUK7OgThzr6GyXPQB5FD1hoIt0kTzZ3jqI1i_cq6IeDMFKTwGSd6z50HzorlKNU6NsQY-Jg/s1600/P1190451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd_qZjUceHNe8G0GsTyvc9g8gw__4niiuzSiuiv03L33mMaJJ4BOksYxrVjiutEdhzUK7OgThzr6GyXPQB5FD1hoIt0kTzZ3jqI1i_cq6IeDMFKTwGSd6z50HzorlKNU6NsQY-Jg/s1600/P1190451.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
That's right: ZERO moths. Still, you can see my little light standard I made, as well as the white cloth hanging on the shed out back.<br />
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In the next few nights (lots of rain and cold temps have foiled me), the results did get better, though it's still pretty slow. Nights have remained quite cool here; even when day temps climb into the 70s, night temps can be in the 30s. Not exactly conducive to moth success.<br />
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Still, I have had a few moments:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqVABTu49lQU_qEY9ZYdbxA3wkn7waakzqh2Erc9oDFZTxQnN8L62ENIAJvG8c_YR4cDxkZAfJIzMUAyrLFy8jvG73bWFH5WmiXuZ68BjjeBwIl64uhEpbjJUCe2vQvy0qcBCKQ/s1600/Caenurgina+erechtea+%25238739+Forage+Looper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqVABTu49lQU_qEY9ZYdbxA3wkn7waakzqh2Erc9oDFZTxQnN8L62ENIAJvG8c_YR4cDxkZAfJIzMUAyrLFy8jvG73bWFH5WmiXuZ68BjjeBwIl64uhEpbjJUCe2vQvy0qcBCKQ/s1600/Caenurgina+erechtea+%25238739+Forage+Looper.JPG" height="400" width="325" /> </a></div>
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<i>Caenurgina erechtea</i>, Forage Looper</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gy_KqbrsBTx0t2RozLNnojds0BNZUKGizTZDVnDlRFClDL7b1GQ2-rbXQYJZAxsCCRBTLw93UisNdD3hwaeViOFFVNavuRTs9xhe3kTVnYPhnwCiaWwglciVJn_K3GOQ9DHoOQ/s1600/Diacme+adipaloides+%25235143+Dark+Diacme.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gy_KqbrsBTx0t2RozLNnojds0BNZUKGizTZDVnDlRFClDL7b1GQ2-rbXQYJZAxsCCRBTLw93UisNdD3hwaeViOFFVNavuRTs9xhe3kTVnYPhnwCiaWwglciVJn_K3GOQ9DHoOQ/s1600/Diacme+adipaloides+%25235143+Dark+Diacme.JPG" height="355" width="400" /> </a></div>
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a new favorite, <i>Diacme adipaloides</i>, Dark Diacme</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMO3Tak4j5lyJyrSfXqolXEr4KRr7ibHLvIT8RPPJWbwPo2dERRUIHovtcaYioO4eYhSPCmDfjTqeoinpTTd40BPsTdgGiQS5yh6NJ1QeBLDWxxQU99fI_uRDgZilIhTwGo7RiBw/s1600/Argyrotaenia+mariana+Gray-banded+Leafroller+%25233625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMO3Tak4j5lyJyrSfXqolXEr4KRr7ibHLvIT8RPPJWbwPo2dERRUIHovtcaYioO4eYhSPCmDfjTqeoinpTTd40BPsTdgGiQS5yh6NJ1QeBLDWxxQU99fI_uRDgZilIhTwGo7RiBw/s1600/Argyrotaenia+mariana+Gray-banded+Leafroller+%25233625.JPG" height="400" width="303" /></a></div>
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<i>Argyrotaenia mariana</i>, Gray-banded Leafroller </div>
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Of course, there were another couple that I couldn't ID, but that's pretty much par for the course. I got these three! (with help from the Mothing and Moth-watching Group on facebook)<br />
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A couple more beauties from other nights:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggueW77iWyfq5rQeRUVTFhX1fwnwGvB3n-twpn5LgupZqXdeFJwSvXN3EFbv4t7av2jrNEW4m4B3f9hE7ushEAwpmJg4qx3yisFSR_h5YLZDa-banQR3CwpnnM0i6AG-LWp0v8oQ/s1600/Cladara+limitaria+Mottled+Gray+Carpet+%237637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggueW77iWyfq5rQeRUVTFhX1fwnwGvB3n-twpn5LgupZqXdeFJwSvXN3EFbv4t7av2jrNEW4m4B3f9hE7ushEAwpmJg4qx3yisFSR_h5YLZDa-banQR3CwpnnM0i6AG-LWp0v8oQ/s1600/Cladara+limitaria+Mottled+Gray+Carpet+%237637.JPG" height="400" width="322" /></a></div>
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<i>Cladara limitaria</i>, Mottled Gray Carpet (I think)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz5-Q2P4ejDzxXx-Wz5sfES4-tXGBLwGkJ5uJ8kjNS0fZCaCZsRey0B_AXWDsUswo1G_pQmQaewpFsSf0pHpa9Vc9MYpPs9L2K1hAUOPOQGUZLkeCY05U3s3Jc3mEycT3Mpw29A/s1600/P1190561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz5-Q2P4ejDzxXx-Wz5sfES4-tXGBLwGkJ5uJ8kjNS0fZCaCZsRey0B_AXWDsUswo1G_pQmQaewpFsSf0pHpa9Vc9MYpPs9L2K1hAUOPOQGUZLkeCY05U3s3Jc3mEycT3Mpw29A/s1600/P1190561.JPG" height="346" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Morrisonia confusa</i>, Confused Woodgrain Moth (what a great name!) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo8M6fpcwaD5QtOyHD-VHS1Qytu2k-TWh6v0jLCnCAs7RbwF1klw5awc5NHnO_7ZUbkg9fLC1v0h42FNXadUIVCTnzqv5JdhOrdEaNyjMzJHMapRphbXXWzpn4DcV3N4u4xTEMw/s1600/P1190680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo8M6fpcwaD5QtOyHD-VHS1Qytu2k-TWh6v0jLCnCAs7RbwF1klw5awc5NHnO_7ZUbkg9fLC1v0h42FNXadUIVCTnzqv5JdhOrdEaNyjMzJHMapRphbXXWzpn4DcV3N4u4xTEMw/s1600/P1190680.JPG" height="400" width="296" /></a></div>
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Not even a tiny clue. Help?</div>
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So of course, now that I have my long-cherished bulb, I feel like my camera is now the weak link! (It's always SOMETHING.) The macro just isn't that good! I got the camera waaaaaaayyy back in 2010, so it's a good 4 years old. Isn't that like 30 in human years? It's like an antique! I'm surprised it's even digital!<br />
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The sell job on AB will begin soon.... (rubs hands together) Wish me luck!dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-9432331262708711092014-04-26T16:23:00.003-04:002014-04-26T16:23:25.583-04:00Trying again... Success!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_3ZRUyDGNG4PLVwb4Rvl30W5CeDv8lh7KlUdXhT1p5e_-hjjFrNaJrJnS2a4Z4ciot6MJ12DWEYTW5nKdNWI11NdOxMaLV3OgmyoAnaZ17LgnU5NtI9n6qS-vyS7uUh-jes8oA/s1600/Golden-cheeked+Warbler.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_3ZRUyDGNG4PLVwb4Rvl30W5CeDv8lh7KlUdXhT1p5e_-hjjFrNaJrJnS2a4Z4ciot6MJ12DWEYTW5nKdNWI11NdOxMaLV3OgmyoAnaZ17LgnU5NtI9n6qS-vyS7uUh-jes8oA/s1600/Golden-cheeked+Warbler.JPG" height="283" width="400" /></a></div>
I DID IT! I posted a photo! This crazy Blogger. This time, I obsessively clicked the "Upload" option on the left and then hit the okay button. This seems to help, though it's still taking a few times of doing it to make it work. Sheesh. But hey--here are some pics from my trip to Texas!<br />
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Anyway, this is a photo of my Golden-cheeked Warbler! I went to San Antonio to visit my parents for a while, but I resolved I was only going to bird locally so I could spend more time with them. (Usually, my sister Mary and I head down to the Rio Grande Valley for a few days to get some crazy lifers.) Dad's had some health issues of late, and I just wanted to be with him and my mom. Got to see all my siblings except for my baby sis who lives in Ohio. A great trip!<br />
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Still, Mary and I did get out a few times, and we scored the Golden-cheeked. We went to Friedrich Wilderness Area near town. We'd gone there a few years ago but had no luck. This time, we nailed it! I was also hoping for Black-capped Vireo, but no such luck on that one. Still, it was pretty exciting.<br />
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Saw some other western birds:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzygqAI0h0h5K3ScBjCr1rF6Sq5uDWS61LDP2WZOH-FMiHfLVxvLMQDdklrxIRcLjZdSFejAn4lLOaqk7UFqzfntco-4nnoEEO33_8xnvjPdLh_wlILAtwqIJLxZmZKpRGrtNvA/s1600/P1170522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzygqAI0h0h5K3ScBjCr1rF6Sq5uDWS61LDP2WZOH-FMiHfLVxvLMQDdklrxIRcLjZdSFejAn4lLOaqk7UFqzfntco-4nnoEEO33_8xnvjPdLh_wlILAtwqIJLxZmZKpRGrtNvA/s1600/P1170522.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
A nice Lesser Goldfinch, almost in full breeding plumage. His back isn't quite all there. His cousins the American Goldfinches were still a ways from their spring coats:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKz1FMBqSc-30WLbxML5nfd_KNQAWxa2R4xMppDf2O0wpSUHr6CVuGIhGtCAIznulDik3rSbsghRzOWu0Pu9b_6tkLlAXsa8AfwQmjYGiYi8cfNEy-ylT5i38UZkF_glFNJ_PJg/s1600/P1170565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKz1FMBqSc-30WLbxML5nfd_KNQAWxa2R4xMppDf2O0wpSUHr6CVuGIhGtCAIznulDik3rSbsghRzOWu0Pu9b_6tkLlAXsa8AfwQmjYGiYi8cfNEy-ylT5i38UZkF_glFNJ_PJg/s1600/P1170565.JPG" height="283" width="400" /></a></div>
I love how they're in midair there, but I think someone else was a little annoyed:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hwXVpSzDkzc8o8q0r-ckwI0rLk8c2Owvdtri6oV_NUFvJmM_lGb8QYq5nQ0k8HArrANtGJuIObTxyommSAUSDIW3oIbh5NdsAm0WaayvFRRhwQzivjXnDVObCSzDIizxwBNz1A/s1600/P1170566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hwXVpSzDkzc8o8q0r-ckwI0rLk8c2Owvdtri6oV_NUFvJmM_lGb8QYq5nQ0k8HArrANtGJuIObTxyommSAUSDIW3oIbh5NdsAm0WaayvFRRhwQzivjXnDVObCSzDIizxwBNz1A/s1600/P1170566.JPG" height="400" width="307" /></a></div>
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<i>Get off my lawn!</i> </div>
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We also saw some nice sparrows:<br />
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A bad pic of a Lincoln's Sparrow! This was at Crescent Bend Nature Park in Schertz, near San Antonio.<br />
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And a good pic of a Savannah Sparrow, taken at Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory near Austin. (I flew into Austin and then we drove to SA.)<br />
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Also seen at Hornsby, my FOY peeps:<br />
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A bunch of Least Sandpipers and the obviously bigger Pectoral Sandpiper. He's a giant among the little guys.<br />
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Also saw this Funereal Duskywing:<br />
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and this Red Admiral:<br />
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Up in Maine, I haven't seen any butterflies and only one moth. And it's been rainy and cold today. But spring is here, because it hasn't snowed in two whole weeks! (holding breath)<br />
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Here's an Eared Grebe. One of these days, I'll see a male in breeding plumage...<br />
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This day was cool and overcast, so the lighting was terrible. But we found a great new spot to bird, <a href="http://tx.audubon.org/mitchell-lake-audubon-center" target="_blank">Mitchell Lake Audubon Center</a> in south San Antonio. What a great place! A lot of ponds, some elevated paths (better looks into the treetops!) and great birds.<br />
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Black-chinned Hummingbird--this is the best pic I could get:<br />
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<br />Great looks at a Verdin, though the photo is awful:</div>
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I was so proud of myself for recognizing the song. After I obsessed over them last year at Big Bend National Park, I guess that song stuck with me.<br />
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Also had some Ruddy Ducks, but no one with a blue bill:<br />
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These Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were everywhere:<br />
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But can you ever get enough of such a bird?<br />
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Sadly, this is as close as we got to seeing my nemesis bird, the Painted Bunting:<br />
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Grrr. Just a little too early. But I didn't see one when we went in June last year either!<br />
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Some Northern Shovelers at Hornsby: <br />
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These guys were feeding nonstop. I never saw their bills!<br />
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Well, this has taken about two hours, and it's time to go to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZWVMXRAlqE" target="_blank">Reny's</a> (a Maine advenchah!). I couldn't find one with a Mainah accent, but you MUST click on this link to see what life in Maine is all about!<br />
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A picture of a framed photo of my wonderful parents, on their wedding day! dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-35173071872625005072014-04-24T21:33:00.000-04:002014-04-24T21:33:32.206-04:00AnnoyedI've been trying from time to time to post new stuff, but for some reason Blogger refuses to upload my pictures. That's why I haven't posted in forever. I've tried switching from Firefox to Google Chrome, and even Explorer (Explorer!), but it just won't upload the photos. And without my often horrible/sometimes identifiable bird photos, this blog is pretty much a boring narrative of my eBird checklists.How will you know how bad a photographer I am, all while looking at amazing birds? dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-36386994883397523462013-12-29T22:45:00.000-05:002014-01-16T20:36:15.822-05:002013: The year in reviewSo it's almost the end of 2013, and it's been quite a birdy year!<br />
<br />
According to eBird, I've seen 220 birds this year, with 127 of them from Texas, 121 here in Maine, and 19 in Canada (during the <a href="http://www.beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2013/09/if-youre-friend-on-facebook-you-know.html" target="_blank">pelagic puking trip</a>). There are duplications in those figures (between states) of course, but (unless a miracle happens and I get to go birding before the new year) I'm finishing the year with 415 lifebirds. Wow.<br />
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So how many lifers for 2013? Let's review:<br />
JANUARY<br />
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Harlequin Duck (finally!), Dyer Point, ME<br />
Glaucous Gull, Bath Public Landing, Bath, ME <br />
Ah, the month I got my concussion while working. Sigh. It's always nice to get a lifer gull; it's never easy, as gulls are so incredibly hard, but Glaucous and Iceland gulls hang out in Bath every winter, and that day I got lucky. As gulls go, these two are easier to spot because they're "white-winged" gulls, so all those Herring and Ring-billed gulls disappear when you see the blazing white. I'm hoping to see Iceland Gull in January 2014.<br />
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FEBRUARY<br />
Down the entire month with a concussion. No reading, no TV, no writing, no nothing. Though I will confess that I sneaked outside and played in the four-foot snowdrifts (over two feet of fallen snow):<br />
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Do I look a little dazed here? I was pretty out of it. I shouldn't have been outside, but I had cabin fever and AB agreed to let me go out for a little while. She still shakes her head at this.<br />
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MARCH<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Phainopepla</i></div>
Prairie Falcon<br />
Clark's Grebe<br />
Canyon Towhee<br />
Montezuma Quail<br />
Black-chinned Hummingbird<br />
Mexican Jay<br />
Phainopepla <br />
Scott's Oriole<br />
Black-chinned Sparrow<br />
Rufous-crowned Sparrow<br />
Green-tailed Towhee<br />
Plumbeous Vireo<br />
Bell's Vireo<br />
Brown-crested Flycatcher<br />
Red-naped Sapsucker<br />
Black-throated Sparrow<br />
Lucifer Hummingbird<br />
Scaled Quail<br />
Black-throated Gray Warbler<br />
Verdin<br />
Canyon Wren <br />
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<i>Black-throated Gray Warbler</i></div>
The annual big trip to Texas yielded all sorts of amazing goodies, as sister Mary and I traveled to the Big Bend (her favorite part of Texas). So much greatness there; I'd love to spend a full year there, just to rack up the lifers and experience that gorgeous desert and those mountains in every season. Still, it gets pretty hot there, so we went early in the year!<br />
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And look at that list--probably my favorite (that I got a photo of, anyway) was probably the Black-throated Sparrow. Or the BTGray. Or the Verdin. Or--<br />
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APRIL/MAY<br />
Nothin'. I did see a Chukar, a probable escapee from someone's flock (raised for hunting, sadly), but of course he didn't really count. Still, he was beautiful! He hung around for most of the summer, squawking from the tippy-top of the neighbor's chimney!<br />
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(dangit, Blogger is in a bad mood and is suddenly not letting me post photos)<br />
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JUNE/JULY<br />
Northern Beardless-Tyranulet<br />
Groove-billed Ani<br />
Wood Stork<br />
Yellow-billed Cuckoo<br />
Least Tern<br />
Least Bittern<br />
Magnificent Frigatebird<br />
Red-crowned Parrot<br />
Gray Hawk<br />
Nelson's Sparrow <br />
Back in Texas for my high school reunion and dealing with the HEAT! Another great trip to the birdiest state in the union, with all those great birds except for the Nelson's Sparrow, which I saw at Scarborough Marsh here in Maine.<br />
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AUGUST<br />
Nothin'. That month was spent moving into our newly purchased home! No time for birdin'.<br />
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SEPTEMBER<br />
Atlantic Puffin<br />
Razorbill<br />
Pomarine Jaeger<br />
Manx Shearwater<br />
Sooty Shearwater<br />
Great Shearwater<br />
South Polar Skua<br />
Leach's Storm-Petrel<br />
Wilson's Storm-Petrel<br />
Northern Fulmar <br />
Need we discuss the puking? Let's just focus on the birds I managed to see, NOT the ones I slept/puked through and missed.<br />
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OCTOBER<br />
Nothin'.<br />
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NOVEMBER<br />
Snowy Owl<br />
My Thanksgiving owling paid off again, as I got my first Snowy!<br />
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DECEMBER<br />
Nothin'. <br />
I tried to get a Barrow's Goldeneye today but found only Common, which are beautiful of course--but I wanted a Barrow's. AB was with me and we were supposed to be headed to Bath to go shopping at Reny's, so after two separate stops (New Meadows Marina and the Sabino Rd. Town Landing in West Bath), I figured I shouldn't push it and ask her if we could go and look for Iceland Gulls at the Bath Landfill. I know--who <i>wouldn't</i> want to check out the dump?<br />
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Not a bad year! That's 45 lifers--fewer than last year, but still a decent haul. Next year, because we're getting married, there won't be a big trip to Texas (gotta save money!). Still, maybe we'll get some good birds in the spring migration, and who knows what the rest of this winter will bring.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-13167148531196035682013-11-29T17:38:00.002-05:002013-11-29T17:38:51.319-05:00Lifer Snowy Owl!We've been having quite the irruptive year for Snowy Owls here on the east coast, and a bunch here in Maine. After going into a food coma yesterday and missing out on my Thanksgiving Day birding, AB and I went down to the shore near the Biddeford Pool (about an hour away) to look for a Snowy that had been seen there last week.<br />
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We went out to the shoreline at the end of Orcutt Road:<br />
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It wasn't anywhere this green out there (image is a screen capture of Google Maps). You see the little island there in the right corner, the one on the left? That was easily visible from Ocean Avenue, where I parked. I walked a little path through the brush to the rocks, my eyes fixed on a white blob on the rock.<br />
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Once I got to the rocks, I set up my little scope, focused, and BAM:<br />
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I know this is an awful photo, but that white shape on the rocks is a SNOWY OWL! Bird number 415!<br />
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We watched him for a while, and we were joined by others looking for the same owl. After seeing some Ruddy Turnstones (beautiful!), Common Eiders, a Horned Grebe, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, and a lone female Harlequin Duck, we headed home.<br />
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Sweet success!dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-44576165028343058402013-11-24T14:06:00.001-05:002013-11-24T14:06:35.458-05:00FINALLY! A Brown Creeper photo!I've been compiling a lifelist since 2006, and sometime after that point (when I got a camera) I started keeping a lifephotos folder as well. It took many, many sightings, but I finally got a good photo of a Brown Creeper for my file:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZibQcoJvoB_O5yIE6Xyop-43agIfCS3D1W0oikQtg5A_jjuE7osYTx5nxaWwn0-u3al-MVEDifJpr__QbIAOtDirvKTq6IN8ck4u6XQHpvSFXb4xzJgfpEIiBtQIAqOE-gJunqw/s1600/Brown+Creeper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZibQcoJvoB_O5yIE6Xyop-43agIfCS3D1W0oikQtg5A_jjuE7osYTx5nxaWwn0-u3al-MVEDifJpr__QbIAOtDirvKTq6IN8ck4u6XQHpvSFXb4xzJgfpEIiBtQIAqOE-gJunqw/s320/Brown+Creeper.JPG" width="234" /></a></div>
What a sweet little bird! He's up here in the frozen north, though I would think he'd have headed south by now. The weather's awfully chilly today (24 degrees, with gusty winds up to 28 mph; windchill in the low teens), so I hope he's okay.<br /><br />dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-39116967850352612762013-09-22T21:53:00.002-04:002013-11-18T10:37:34.661-05:00Pelagic puking trip!If you're a friend on Facebook, you know that I finally went on a pelagic trip. I was so confident that I would see tons of birds, a whale or two. And I wouldn't get sick! Of course not! I was going to take Dramamine or Bonine, AND I was gonna wear some of those Sea Bands.<br />
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It was all going to be fantastic, and I was going to see lots and lots of lifers! Amazing birds I couldn't see on shore, birds that all look alike but are different! Shearwaters and skuas and petrels and storm-petrels and I would see them all!<br />
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BIG PAUSE.<br />
Big.<br />
Pause.<br />
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So I did see a few lifers: <br />
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Northern Fulmar</div>
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Great Shearwaters--so many they were trash birds by the end of it</div>
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Razorbills! I love them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsk-M1LNBb3BwhkvV5NYpW_alwKFZM_Q32aC62xDwCaMEgWKhr3Ejlj_vuTfauSMmrQZ6sSit8oNsRmQXlO7TZKmaQ_-DP9KXDdsVpNPvRhBwE5fXi2cghUxvowckbbtiCVPt/s1600/Great+and+Sooty+Shearwaters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsk-M1LNBb3BwhkvV5NYpW_alwKFZM_Q32aC62xDwCaMEgWKhr3Ejlj_vuTfauSMmrQZ6sSit8oNsRmQXlO7TZKmaQ_-DP9KXDdsVpNPvRhBwE5fXi2cghUxvowckbbtiCVPt/s320/Great+and+Sooty+Shearwaters.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sooty Shearwaters were mixed in with the Great Shearwaters</div>
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and Puffins! Atlantic Puffins! We saw three of them, and I managed a photo. </div>
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I say "managed," because most of the trip--all eight friggin' hours of it--I was puking my guts out or I was lying down, praying to be BACK ON LAND. Oh my sweet god, I can't even describe what it was like, other than THE WORST time of my life. I mean, I've been concussed, I've been sick, I've had broken ribs. But this... this was <i>just awful.</i> The most awful part was that I was TRAPPED. Trapped on that rocking rollercoaster ride from hell for <i>eight hours</i>. That little whte baggie is one--only one!--of my sick sacks.<br />
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Gretchen and Laura were on the boat as well. I will only say that one of them threw up even more than I did, and one threw up less than I. But suffice it to say that we were SO INCREDIBLY GLAD TO GET BACK ON LAND.<br />
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Okay. That's enough of that. So I did get some lifers. I didn't get many pictures because I was too dizzy to take pictures. Lifers:<br />
Northern Fulmar<br />
Great Shearwater<br />
Sooty Shearwater<br />
Manx Shearwater<br />
Wilson's Storm-petrel<br />
Leach's Storm-petrel<br />
Razorbill<br />
Atlantic Puffin<br />
Pomarine Jaeger<br />
South Polar Skua<br />
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I wish I could've gotten photos of all the lifers, but like I said--it wasn't possible. And I missed some others: Great Skua, Red-necked Phalarope, Parasitic Jaeger. And two Humpbacked Whales. <br />
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So I got ten lifers. Ten lifers for eight hours on a boat. Ten lifers for four sick sacks.<br />
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I'll take it.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-73245230516484143242013-07-15T22:58:00.004-04:002013-07-15T22:58:56.719-04:00High school reunion birding: Part 4, wrap-upAfter the big dinner-dance on Saturday night, there was only one more reunion-related event to attend: the memorial walk on the beach, which featured big photographs of our classmates who've passed. It was a cool idea, well executed. Sadly, AB and I were a little late AND we went to the wrong spot so we missed most of the people who came, but we did see the photographs and some friends, and AB got to dip her toes into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time ever.<br />
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As we walked onto the beach on the Schlitterbahn boardwalk to get to the walk, however, we lucked out yet again:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXpvIIp4f3pBWJkUUx82Nvj29oHGilSq2PSleQEvBjN4nSeRMKOgJ_et62-QCuY_-JNtj3JVXBEMcC2RQ0Wyg48G0H4OpYcGZRySQHgTWkclbom4SIa7YwDVm9hX5miA8xzCw/s1600/Magnificent+Frigatebird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXpvIIp4f3pBWJkUUx82Nvj29oHGilSq2PSleQEvBjN4nSeRMKOgJ_et62-QCuY_-JNtj3JVXBEMcC2RQ0Wyg48G0H4OpYcGZRySQHgTWkclbom4SIa7YwDVm9hX5miA8xzCw/s320/Magnificent+Frigatebird.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4TjgE6w6baVzHhRcwyW05sVcrUpM88pwk2SmoIne6qFDH5kOjBd4WSzvmQdjKIXF17b6YnJ4q8yN3epm4xo5ZhQdBAGzeVrZFlgfIZLY7a0lDSNvWb14Van3w6i4E2haoLcU/s1600/Magnificent+Frigatebird+silhouette.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4TjgE6w6baVzHhRcwyW05sVcrUpM88pwk2SmoIne6qFDH5kOjBd4WSzvmQdjKIXF17b6YnJ4q8yN3epm4xo5ZhQdBAGzeVrZFlgfIZLY7a0lDSNvWb14Van3w6i4E2haoLcU/s320/Magnificent+Frigatebird+silhouette.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A beautiful Magnificent Frigatebird! Lifer 402! It was getting crazy now; my giddiness was almost out of control. I had not expected to see one of these birds this far south; all the eBird sightings were farther north, but we got lucky AND I got photos! That silhouette (cloud cover = terrible backlit photo) is unmistakeable. So cool!<br />
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So after some farewells to the good old friends I'd been lucky enough to see again this weekend, AB and I went to the sand flats north of the Convention Center, a great staging area for lots of shorebirds back in the winters I've gone to Texas. As usual, the Valley delivered.<br />
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Here's a Caspian Tern somehow managing to gulp down a huge fish he'd just caught in the Laguna Madre -- apologies for the low-light low-quality images:<br />
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3QPQ9gkaYUKG3gSkH1hu9ICoglHU9Q-P5ayZGub3zp9O-ZTuwjB6Wlq_wilP4GCNvTrJHxYBfBLm4pYpxKK0x1LRX32tOvUe378qC47XDt6YhVbVuAS9p4pCgSp8XL8URbh1/s1600/CATE+with+huge+fish+flying.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3QPQ9gkaYUKG3gSkH1hu9ICoglHU9Q-P5ayZGub3zp9O-ZTuwjB6Wlq_wilP4GCNvTrJHxYBfBLm4pYpxKK0x1LRX32tOvUe378qC47XDt6YhVbVuAS9p4pCgSp8XL8URbh1/s320/CATE+with+huge+fish+flying.JPG" width="258" /></a></i></div>
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<i>Check out my catch!</i></div>
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<i>Okay, I'm ready for this... I'm so ready for this....</i></div>
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<i>Oh. My. God. It's like I just swallowed a pillow. </i></div>
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<i>Please, digestion, PLEASE begin now.</i></div>
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Also found among the many Caspians were these two (I think?) Black Terns:</div>
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I'm guessing that's an adult molting out of breeding plumage on the left, while the one on the right seems to be hanging onto his cool outfit, per description in Kaufman.<br />
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Lots of Wilson's Plovers were being cute and giving us the stink-eye: <br />
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And the Least Terns were practically dive-bombing us and screaming at us. We were at least 25 yards away from where several of them were sitting on the sand, but I'm guessing that was still too close so we backed off. <br />
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<i>GET LOST. Beat it. Scram. I mean it. Boys, GET 'EM.</i></div>
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We left!</div>
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We hit the Birding and Nature Center once again, hoping to get pics of the Least Bittern -- which I showed you last post, pathetic though they were! -- and we also saw the regulars:</div>
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Tricolored Heron in full regalia</div>
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Snowy Egret, just after snagging a tasty morsel </div>
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a terrible but ID-quality photo of some Cattle Egrets, </div>
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birds I grew up calling "cowbirds" because they were </div>
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always hanging around the cows</div>
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Pied-billed Grebe, apparently not so common here in </div>
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the summer; this was the only grebe we saw the whole trip -- </div>
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no Least Grebes, so no temptation to scoop one up and put</div>
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it in my pocket! I was sad AB didn't get to see one of those. </div>
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Black-bellied Whistling Duck baby butts</div>
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I'm guessing this is a Mexican Ground Squirrel, a common sight in South
Texas:<br />
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His (her?) markings aren't as impressive as the images online, but I can't find any other similar mammal match for the area.</div>
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And, as always happens when I go to the Island, I just HAD to try for the Aplomado Falcon. Longtime readers of this bloggy KNOW <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-texas-birds-and-tale-of-woe.html" target="_blank">my tales of woe</a>, my years of frustration and <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2012/02/texas-2012-day-3-curse-of-aplomado.html" target="_blank">getting stuck in the mud</a> and arguing with my sister (oh wait, I spared you that story)... and yet, I couldn't NOT go for it, you know? </div>
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AB and I looked. And looked. And looked at TUVUs, at seagulls. At cactus. At the non-muddy road. No Aplomado. No nothing.</div>
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Again, I assert that, like the Unicorn, the Aplomado Falcon <a href="http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/unicorn1.html" target="_blank">is a mythical beast</a>, and all sightings of him are merely the rantings of those who could use a stint in the booby-hatch.</div>
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Sigh.</div>
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I also engaged in my other usual Texas activity -- trying to make a common bird into something exotic, because it's TEXAS, dangit! -- . This trip's entry:</div>
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Try as I might to make these youngsters into Cassin's or even Botteri's Sparrows (which have been reported in this area, Old Port Isabel Hwy) , I'm guessing from the size, shape, and beak that they are baby House Sparrows. Any input? You can be honest. I refuse to devote any more time to it!<br />
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We had several Swainson's Hawks:<br />
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Western awesomeness.<br />
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At this point, it was Sunday evening, and I had one more potential lifer to chase: Red-crowned Parrot, seen near a Baptist church right in Harlingen. We'd tried on Thursday night but hadn't seen anything, but this time we doodled until right at sunset. I took AB to see the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKEmt7XIPEA" target="_blank">Iwo Jima memorial</a>, and while we were out on the loop we saw this: <br />
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I can't begin to tell you the emotions that went through me when I saw this sign. It was just so amazing to me. See, when I was a kid, growing up in the Valley, the worst insult you could hurl at someone was "faggot." (It still IS in many places, I realize.) I didn't even know what the word meant, but I began to see a few limp-wristed guys in the movies or on TV that everyone laughed at as girly guys to be laughed at; I didn't even connect the whole "gay" thing with anything sexual; I was that naive. I was raised by pretty strict parents who took us to church every week, and I didn't know a lot about the world. I won't bore you with the details, but I didn't figure things out until I was well into my adulthood, and there was a LOT of angst during that process -- a LOT of angst and heartbreak and drama. Coming out was tough for me; the time I grew up, in the place I grew up, this kind of stuff <i>just wasn't discussed</i>. </div>
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So... to see this sign, an official state sign, in Harlingen -- well, I gotta tell you. I almost cried when I saw it. And to have my fiancee by my side... well, it was just pretty special.</div>
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After that, only a lifer would do! So we went out and got us one:</div>
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Now remember, I told you it was around sunset -- so the lighting was bad. I tried a flash and that helped, though I doubt the parrots enjoyed it much.<br />
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They were so raucous and loud! It was so great! I was now at a ridiculous (for me) 403 lifebirds. Life was good. We could leave Texas now.</div>
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-65531555873582759122013-07-14T11:23:00.004-04:002013-07-14T11:24:25.720-04:00High school reunion birding - Part 3Our trip to Texas seemed to flash by in an instant, though it didn't feel that way sometimes when the sun was burning down on our little heads. Still, as with every trip, the clock started out by going at its regular pace and then sped up as Monday (departure time 1pm) approached.<br />
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At this point, I needed two more birds to hit 400 and we hadn't yet gone to South Padre Island. The SPI Birding and Nature Center never fails to disappoint; I knew we'd see some great birds.<br />
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There were five Marbled Godwits (a number eBird questioned, but I had all five in my sights at one point) hanging out in the shallows of the Laguna Madre, along with this American Avocet:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z9JvJf_JQLAoiLe8rjdi394oLWifwDbM4i1jYe52kzJBm2hAV3AReuxhRgXZWrz7Ah2JQZSYqZdPSv26JHDy4ORw1OP2AKXTgadbmHv07xo99OA3n1kZhyvlSUj5oJEaLLHe/s1600/American+Avocet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z9JvJf_JQLAoiLe8rjdi394oLWifwDbM4i1jYe52kzJBm2hAV3AReuxhRgXZWrz7Ah2JQZSYqZdPSv26JHDy4ORw1OP2AKXTgadbmHv07xo99OA3n1kZhyvlSUj5oJEaLLHe/s320/American+Avocet.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This was a neat bird, as I'd never seen one in breeding plumage. Beautiful!<br />
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That's when we started hearing a distinctive sound and this guy appeared:<br />
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Clapper Rail! Number 399! I had a video of him calling that somehow I deleted, dangit. Oh well.<br />
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We moved on, and we saw a flash of color -- LEAST BITTERN! I would not get good photos of this bird on this day or the next, but we definitely saw him! It's like every time he appeared, we saw him clearly, both with and without bins, but I never got my camera up in time. He was nothing like the LEBI in that <a href="http://blog.aba.org/2013/07/meet-matt-daw.html" target="_blank">Matthew Daw</a> video (in which the LEBI is upstaged by a Rufous-necked Wood Rail, the photobombing of the century), who posed cooperatively down in New Mexico.<br />
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Here is the best I got when we came back the next morning:<br />
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What, you can't see him? Okay -- I understand. Here he is: </div>
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See him there? He's moving left to right. In the next shot, he's almost vanished into that black gap in the cattails:</div>
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That's his little bum there, circled. Difficult to photograph, but oh-so-easy to ID with those crazy distinctive colors. </div>
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NUMBER 400! I was so giddy that AB was just laughing at me; I was SO glad she was there for this accomplishment. On all of my previous big birding trips AB has stayed behind (to preserve her sanity, quite honestly), so she's missed a lot of the big moments. This time, she was right beside me -- and it was perfect.</div>
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She was such a trooper, dealing with the heat and the bugs and the almost-constant bird fixation, but at times she had a lot of fun. She fell in love with the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and who can blame her?</div>
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They were everywhere: perched on a phone wire in town (awkward!), flying overhead, hanging out with their buds:<br />
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One of the neatest things was seeing all the babies. Here's a Mottled Duck and three of her ducklings:<br />
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I wish that cattail leaf hadn't blocked the adult's eye. We also saw this Black-bellied Whistling Duck family:<br />
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Look at those crazy markings! Hard to believe they'll grow up to look like their parents, but they will!<br />
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Not only would I get 400 at SPI, but I'd start on my way to (gulp!) 500 with this Least Tern:<br />
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I love that little black tip. These terns were flying all around at the birding and nature center, but I got this pic the next morning on the sand flats next to the Convention Center. So there we were, me with my 401 birds, when we had to leave to get to the big dinner/dance on the Island for the reunion.<br />
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What would Sunday and Monday bring? Stay tuned for the final part of our Reunion Birding trip story!<br />
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<br />dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-83920957868145518722013-07-09T10:30:00.000-04:002013-07-09T10:30:08.472-04:00High school reunion birding Part 2There's nothing like the prospect of having to pack the whole house to motivate me to do OTHER things. Things like blogging, sleeping, getting a root canal... anything to avoid the packing!<br />
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So here we go on Part 2 of our reunion/birding trip to the Rio Grande Valley. We stayed at a hotel in Harlingen so we'd be centrally located between the farthest west point, Bentsen RGV State Park, and South Padre Island. This turned out to be a good tactic, though I bet staying on the Island probably rocked really effing hard. Still, after spending a hot morning at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, and then having breakfast at a place where I had to stumble through ordering food in probably the worst Spanish that waitress had heard since the snowbirds were around last winter, we decided to brave the heat and hit my favorite winter birding place, Estero Llano Grande State Park.<br />
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The heat was already stifling, but a good application of Deep Woods Off kept the bugs to a minimum. There were very few birds, probably due to the fact that all the ponds had been drained for summer maintenance. Still, we saw a few Black-necked Stilts, a yellowlegs of some sort (felt like Greater), a zillion Purple Martins, and this lizard:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG37m9b-QF7HrhyphenhyphenBhoiV9Rh0nkHAyAI_3CosxPgZAzSdi02P365bquqlxLd51vNQ9jMelMK0PwwyB_Q0MdL7QxDm3npvEPVynU7O5rboa2aRQ3cYLBvQEw9KsXcSXb7A9AHEU/s1600/lizard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG37m9b-QF7HrhyphenhyphenBhoiV9Rh0nkHAyAI_3CosxPgZAzSdi02P365bquqlxLd51vNQ9jMelMK0PwwyB_Q0MdL7QxDm3npvEPVynU7O5rboa2aRQ3cYLBvQEw9KsXcSXb7A9AHEU/s320/lizard.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
He was gettin' some air on his parts, I think.<br />
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After not seeing much, other than Great-tailed Grackles, we headed back out of the park. As we drew up to the sidewalk behind the visitor center, a short snake wriggled off the sidewalk and into the bushes. I was able to get this shot of his patterning:<br />
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Texas Ribbon Snake, maybe? He was probably two feet long, kinda fat (at least an inch across his girth, so over an inch in diameter). So I don't know.<br />
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Three lifers, and it wasn't even lunchtime! Throughout the trip, we saw so many butterflies that it got a little ridiculous. Here are a couple of highlights; click to embiggen!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I haven't even had time to ID them. The second one looks like a very pale version of a Hackberry Emperor, but I wouldn't even know where to start on the IDs.<br />
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AB was really the eyes of this trip, spotting the morning's Groove-billed Ani in characteristic fashion: "What's that big black bird out there? It's probably nothing." Previous AB chestnuts include, <ul>
<li>"Is that just a plastic bag out there in that tree?" (Bald Eagle)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> "See that white thing out there? Probably just a plastic bag." (Snowy Egret)</li>
</ul>
She's got great eyes, even when she's <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2012/01/christmas-in-texas-part-1.html" target="_blank">knirding</a>. She also spotted the Northern Beardless-Tyranulet that morning. I love birding with her because she'll just be walking along and then she'll see some tiny molecule or something and it will turn out to be a great bird!<br />
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The next day, we headed out early for Bentsen RGV State Park in Mission, hometown of Tom Landry.<br />
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Bentsen is one of those birding hotspots that I've only visited once before; it's so far west (about an hour an a half from Harlingen) and so huge that I have a tough time appreciating it as much as I should. That morning, we braved the 100-degree temps and high humidity to chase after the Yellow-billed Cuckoo that had been seen there recently, as well as any other treats we might find.<br />
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First thing off, we saw another Groove-billed Ani and this time I was able to get a snap:<br />
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Not a very <i>good </i>snap, but a snap nonetheless! It was a bit overcast and those pesky twigs pulled the autofocus right onto them. So annoying. <br />
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One of the coolest things we saw was this courting display from a male Bronzed Cowbird to a rather disinterested female:<br />
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This dance was elaborate: He fluffed and vibrated his wings and walked back and forth in front of herr. He then pulled out all the stops and flew up about a foot-and-a-half off the ground and hovered there for at least six or seven seconds! I was so amazed that I didn't even get a photo; I wish I'd gotten video. He came back down, did another little pirouette or two, and then the lady LEFT. AB offered that she might be beckoning him to follow her to someplace more private, given the gawking humans standing there (at a respectful distance, mind you!), but she flew one way and he flew off in another direction. <br />
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Love is so hard. Sigh. Thank goodness I didn't have to perform such a difficult dance to get AB. I did, however, bring her a gift of a worm or two. (Kidding!)<br />
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After getting lost on the trails and walking about a mile more than we had to, observing almost NO BIRDS most of that way, we finally figured out our way back. We saw a bird blind along the way and though none of the feeders were filled, we entered for a few moments of precious shade.<br />
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Lo and behold! As if by magic, the object of our search appeared!<br />
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo! LIFER! He posed so courteously for me, though I didn't get to hear his <i>keeyo!</i> call at all. Still -- LIFER! What a beautiful bird. Look at those huge soulful eyes!<br />
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We were now so close to 400 I could almost taste it! I needed just two more birds! <br />
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And speaking of those two more birds: Although we saw no Gray Hawk or Lesser Nighthawks, both of which had been seen regularly at the park, we did get a lifer and photos out of Bentsen. It was just too hot to explore the whole park, especially after our missed left turn at Albuquerque, so we headed home for a swim in a sun-heated, bathtub-temperature pool at the hotel.<br />
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Stay tuned for Part 3, in which I hit 400 birds and AB dips her toes in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-36363022642480874972013-07-02T23:47:00.001-04:002013-07-02T23:47:08.469-04:00High school reunion birding! Part 1For the first time ever, I attended my high school reunion this year--30 years! That wasn't the only first: it was also the first time I'd gone to Texas during the hot months since about ten years ago. I usually go in February or March. Further, it was the first time I'd seen many of these people since graduation day back in May of 1983.<br />
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This year, though, I had the time and the opportunity to do some warm-season birding in the Rio Grande Valley, AND see some old friends -- WIN-WIN! Plus, AB had never been to the Valley (only to San Antonio), so this was a chance to show her where I grew up, went to school, lived, etc. -- my formative years. She was a great sport, never once complaining about the hundred-degree heat, the super-high humidity, or the non-stop birding and reunion-ing.<br />
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So on to the memories and the birds!<br />
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Here I am with drama peeps Laura and Lisa Beth (from right), and that's band pal Hoss there in the background on the left:<br />
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LB, Laura, and I logged many an hour doing children's theatre, UIL speech competitions, and general mayhem-causing in our classes together. I hadn't seen either of them since my days back at Taylor Trade Publishing in Dallas, circa 2000, and we had a great time catching up.<br />
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Here I am with the HHS Cardinal and college roommate Chris, who somehow managed to look BETTER than she did back when were young and strong! How DOES she do it? We had met senior year, and most of our memories were from our time at Texas A&I University in Kingsville; whoo-ee, did we do some drinkin' back then! We repeated some of that said drinkin' this weekend!<br />
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Also in attendance were old band buddies Freddy:<br />
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and Roger: <br />
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both of whom were super-cool drummers! (I was a nerd and played clarinet.)<br />
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Dinner, dancing, and bad karaoke ensued and, thanks to Chris' stuffing the ballot box, I placed in the karaoke contest despite my not having actually performed! Woo-hoo! The MC, former drill team standout Elena, came over to organizer Melissa (who happened to be standing near me) and was totally confused by the fact that I had taken second place! "Did she even sing????" Melissa looked at me, and I was busted -- Elena said there was no way I was getting the prize money, which I of course deferred to the actual second-place winner. However, she agreed to announce the fact that I'd gotten enough votes for second, which made the whole thing hilarious -- especially to a couple of semi-drunk old college roommies! I am the champion, my friend!<br />
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So in between a couple of reunion night activities and a memorial walk for classmates who'd passed away, we managed to get in quite a bit of birding. OHMIGOD it was hot! We arrived Thursday afternoon and began birding Friday morning at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a place I'd only been once before with sister Mary a few years ago. We got lucky: as we searched for birds, a Wood Stork flew over!<br />
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Yes, that blur is the Wood Stork -- but check out the tack-sharp focus on the tree branch there. Yeah, that.<br />
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I also managed to ID a Northern Beardless-Tyranulet, horribly backlit, by his sweet little call:<br />
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I upped the contrast and highlighting on this to a ridiculous degree so you could see the bird; it was like a FAVOR to you, wasn't it?<br />
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Then, while we looked out over this little marshy (or it would be if they'd had any rain lately) area, we saw a Groove-billed Ani!<br />
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He was here! I had enough time to focus on him with my bins, ID him by his enormous schnozz, and then watch him fly away while I grabbed at my camera. Sigh. But I would get more chances at the photo; just wait and see!<br />
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Also had the usual South Texas specialties like this Plain Chachalaca with youngling:<br />
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That baby was the cutest little thing, hiding under Mama's (or Daddy's?) protective tail all the time. We would see several baby PLCHs, as well as other young birds. Is there anything cuter than baby birds?<br />
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So the lifer count had stood at 394 after my Big Bend trip; now, after a couple hours at SANWR, the total had risen to 397. Exciting! Stay tuned for more hot-weather birding!<br />
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-30694211869606967682013-06-11T21:32:00.001-04:002013-06-11T23:14:03.429-04:00Photo uploading problems! Oh wait -- resolved!I've been trying to upload more photos from my Big Bend trip, but blogger is not cooperating.<br />
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And of course no sooner do I say that than I am able to upload pics: <br />
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Lifers on parade!<br />
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Not a great photo, but my best photo of one of the many Mexican Jays we heard and saw -- lifer!<br />
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Lifer Lucifer Hummingbird<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrl-cJFRR9UqOrKxQ-UgA3yyrtbZ6knSHYHZPh_Fm2BP6KQSgGFqKqYvvEhzmzp5YauL3XuX24xksA25oB4tg5hSG4fsXLJiboZ6vZ4zWQndPckw3W4Lu-0EtRp7FnyH8M3k0/s1600/Brown-crested+Flycatcher+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrl-cJFRR9UqOrKxQ-UgA3yyrtbZ6knSHYHZPh_Fm2BP6KQSgGFqKqYvvEhzmzp5YauL3XuX24xksA25oB4tg5hSG4fsXLJiboZ6vZ4zWQndPckw3W4Lu-0EtRp7FnyH8M3k0/s320/Brown-crested+Flycatcher+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A terrible photo of a lifer Brown-crested Flycatcher (ID'd by voice)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSGgE2iSM5Yz0Tow7Bq-AQbMqi_vmqTBrjvPDSHM9CVJXkfBlegc5vPHtdW8uyN_1Hbahuy0vLbBW15IToQtVaUEdu0G59MjpI7PVda2LeKYMyE_UWuABCYU7ivOYh64rEx7W/s1600/639+Red-naped+Sapsucker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSGgE2iSM5Yz0Tow7Bq-AQbMqi_vmqTBrjvPDSHM9CVJXkfBlegc5vPHtdW8uyN_1Hbahuy0vLbBW15IToQtVaUEdu0G59MjpI7PVda2LeKYMyE_UWuABCYU7ivOYh64rEx7W/s320/639+Red-naped+Sapsucker.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lifer Red-naped Sapsucker</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4HFFM1Kbqo5zfvMxYLEWBx8UWHIuZCxqS2gks_sbytRLJR0VJ8lvub8b_5_plN14W72MtbWQH_4YMgzKNjLR0ktyYvd5KfHMR9qytdJa74PWE93X69d_swk7g9dXUTDBduCb/s1600/1039+Black-throated+Sparrow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4HFFM1Kbqo5zfvMxYLEWBx8UWHIuZCxqS2gks_sbytRLJR0VJ8lvub8b_5_plN14W72MtbWQH_4YMgzKNjLR0ktyYvd5KfHMR9qytdJa74PWE93X69d_swk7g9dXUTDBduCb/s320/1039+Black-throated+Sparrow.JPG" width="247" /></a></div>
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Lifer Black-throated Sparrow</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVAAL2aGM_ct76-NmOwekwMSkRMEWWqlFr2BtcqYWpYJ6c4X_ZgZ_fvPitAlaY3Lcw3Ebp_f_1HJByZ-J6NMRhedbV31N7OZ2Buh39OOCakTDwUp31gXyyy_bRi-1Kahs_tUO/s1600/Mary+and+Santa+Elena+Canyon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVAAL2aGM_ct76-NmOwekwMSkRMEWWqlFr2BtcqYWpYJ6c4X_ZgZ_fvPitAlaY3Lcw3Ebp_f_1HJByZ-J6NMRhedbV31N7OZ2Buh39OOCakTDwUp31gXyyy_bRi-1Kahs_tUO/s320/Mary+and+Santa+Elena+Canyon.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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Tiny Mary in Santa Elena Canyon</div>
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At this point, I'm not going to bore you with stories. Suffice it to say we had a great time, and the weather was fabulous. But I'm just going to tell you the lifers I got -- besides those above, and the ones I shared with you in previous posts. Plus some other cool photos. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSVeOWYKhn2pwptunLKDXRs3TU65TTmXBmCk9EkFShsDJ_q6TWsY93ciMSxRB57wR9xKtZfgmmgvj5eD9WnIJHl57nCLtJZQ72ia7V_9t37hguIAbnDpz27bIENCxYfYCRwn9/s1600/537+Greater+Roadrunner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSVeOWYKhn2pwptunLKDXRs3TU65TTmXBmCk9EkFShsDJ_q6TWsY93ciMSxRB57wR9xKtZfgmmgvj5eD9WnIJHl57nCLtJZQ72ia7V_9t37hguIAbnDpz27bIENCxYfYCRwn9/s320/537+Greater+Roadrunner.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Not a lifer, but my best photo of a Greater Roadrunner, one of my mommy's favorite birds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIebUu28TR13z5a-gikgv_F6ey-tqaoPMWdk0tJRZiS2IeJnKIHRioFh1WWqB-iXg84cmPlKZz41N0iqEpvanprcSw2U6sM_x0n2qJmHpkCMXQ0WPSebuGaDw2bpBr8phZfx7/s1600/992+Black-throated+Gray+Warbler.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIebUu28TR13z5a-gikgv_F6ey-tqaoPMWdk0tJRZiS2IeJnKIHRioFh1WWqB-iXg84cmPlKZz41N0iqEpvanprcSw2U6sM_x0n2qJmHpkCMXQ0WPSebuGaDw2bpBr8phZfx7/s320/992+Black-throated+Gray+Warbler.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Black-throated Gray Warbler -- lifer! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC7F4S08_2m-yTz4IoLeEwAlZ35ks2YaCkPIZgKICZHk69xncUCbj1cuUu-axvlBLYNW-1aeHe0vQfDYsj3_bZKwvN5eAoHJFbXm4lIALI-eElMX5we-gsoTqZ3dVZJFzS-W5/s1600/790+Verdin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuC7F4S08_2m-yTz4IoLeEwAlZ35ks2YaCkPIZgKICZHk69xncUCbj1cuUu-axvlBLYNW-1aeHe0vQfDYsj3_bZKwvN5eAoHJFbXm4lIALI-eElMX5we-gsoTqZ3dVZJFzS-W5/s320/790+Verdin.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Verdin - lifer!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZQTi6PTpQofxVD8QG_2h2tahbX1J4PDLziWk3TZkIx8DCF49fFGMYkwuVfxfxIc-r3O3EFX6k-GpKhFuL5WLtSE_QfUFUdNAneA8PUKtAXr0CnrsMSIIbfnmFLTeUqQgO7Ql/s1600/Franklin+Coyote.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZQTi6PTpQofxVD8QG_2h2tahbX1J4PDLziWk3TZkIx8DCF49fFGMYkwuVfxfxIc-r3O3EFX6k-GpKhFuL5WLtSE_QfUFUdNAneA8PUKtAXr0CnrsMSIIbfnmFLTeUqQgO7Ql/s320/Franklin+Coyote.JPG" width="254" /></a></div>
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Coyote--lifer mammal!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0WjqyPvj5-PkP_F1gvtMKU0tK5t8yOUgWOielIqDlLIZ3OxCpkTCpXjou7hvZ6cwsCuLzyQWlSQx4MAUh5Eu_FbQR3wc0Vw_3RlLJHmzBj9e3wOyGUZj8WgN0LO9UNNbMhLi/s1600/72+Scaled+Quail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0WjqyPvj5-PkP_F1gvtMKU0tK5t8yOUgWOielIqDlLIZ3OxCpkTCpXjou7hvZ6cwsCuLzyQWlSQx4MAUh5Eu_FbQR3wc0Vw_3RlLJHmzBj9e3wOyGUZj8WgN0LO9UNNbMhLi/s320/72+Scaled+Quail.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lifer Scaled Quail! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KXYNM7hQ6ZQSJ34v4tzJnT15GTpWk_Wzobh9G2Tri9D0eEdPFBQ7zKRseSvKmx0YWJoKWMaEj3otU_E7tq9XNjelqwC5YlnNgXVv7ucboYiDADc5uET-SJb89GCn26IGxCCt/s1600/807+Canyon+Wren.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KXYNM7hQ6ZQSJ34v4tzJnT15GTpWk_Wzobh9G2Tri9D0eEdPFBQ7zKRseSvKmx0YWJoKWMaEj3otU_E7tq9XNjelqwC5YlnNgXVv7ucboYiDADc5uET-SJb89GCn26IGxCCt/s320/807+Canyon+Wren.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lifer Canyon Wren! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYocOKrzva5gQ8Nz0s_ZoMWwmtnchxJuxsoEHNpr_-MlG246Gidji8op5rElaI5a0qNja4zyRhnR80X-bePkqVGUENNsz-CixB-g3c1gDmv4AeqcPcvlB_pGlSVXdoesKFrq5/s1600/240+Turkey+Vulture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYocOKrzva5gQ8Nz0s_ZoMWwmtnchxJuxsoEHNpr_-MlG246Gidji8op5rElaI5a0qNja4zyRhnR80X-bePkqVGUENNsz-CixB-g3c1gDmv4AeqcPcvlB_pGlSVXdoesKFrq5/s320/240+Turkey+Vulture.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>"Hello. Vernon Vulture here. This is a boring post -- </i></div>
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<i>all photos, no stories. But then again, the lack of stories </i></div>
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<i>might make it less boring than normal. I am just saying."</i></div>
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One of the disappointing things about the trip was how much the drought has changed things, especially the hotspots pointed out in the <a href="http://www.aba.org/siteguides/rgv.html" target="_blank">ABA guide to the Rio Grande Valley</a>. We would go to a place that was supposed to be a birding hotspot, and it was no longer open or it was just dried up. No water = no birds.</div>
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This happened at San Felipe Springs, which has been co-opted by the city of Del Rio for municipal water supply and thus is not even open to the public anymore. This sign and lots of fencing and razor wire told the story.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtEE93bDc69uaD11crZmv1UEDxsEL_udrWxtarHI49t-MLDPtuPdxEv4JpDF1L6FmxsXDsWJlMgQb7hiM7McK3W8d42asqH1C-EJ6gwhaf1MTSWTcYCarIP1vUxjii3JrT7yF/s1600/San+Felipe+closed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtEE93bDc69uaD11crZmv1UEDxsEL_udrWxtarHI49t-MLDPtuPdxEv4JpDF1L6FmxsXDsWJlMgQb7hiM7McK3W8d42asqH1C-EJ6gwhaf1MTSWTcYCarIP1vUxjii3JrT7yF/s320/San+Felipe+closed.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had also tried stopping near the Lake Amistad reservoir, but there was no water where the book said there used to be: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnZeMEVmhns_wvHE45M2RlO0XaIldqgVZtQAaoPkwyIgorTEauTVn4c-Xj3kbxCyPQ-ce8IrwwkxuRP03uEqfgq_Vczw19VWZn8ysgy6Bvg1jo5PDpcnxfXMwsZO8AXuvUyYU/s1600/where+the+reservoir+was.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnZeMEVmhns_wvHE45M2RlO0XaIldqgVZtQAaoPkwyIgorTEauTVn4c-Xj3kbxCyPQ-ce8IrwwkxuRP03uEqfgq_Vczw19VWZn8ysgy6Bvg1jo5PDpcnxfXMwsZO8AXuvUyYU/s320/where+the+reservoir+was.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The campground there was abandoned too. The whole place looked like a ghost town. It was pretty sad. I know Jeff Gordon; maybe I should email him and tell him the guide needs to be updated. On the other hand, they are getting some rain down there; maybe the drought is ending and these places will come back to life again, for the birds and for birders.</div>
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So those were some of the lifers I saw; I didn't get a photo of the Virginia's Warbler we saw, but that was also a lifer. We also got a look at a Scott's Oriole, Bell's Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo (heard only, but heard repeatedly for hours), a Green-tailed Towhee, a Gray Flycatcher, and a Rufous-crowned Sparrow -- but no pics. Most of those were seen at the Cottonwood Campground, which is a hotspot that is DEFINITELY still hot! It was probably the best place we birded. We did not get to see the Common Black Hawks that nest there (but we saw the nests!), dangit.<br />
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On the informational side, here's a list of the spots we birded, from start to finish, along with the lifers we saw there:<br />
Rest Area before the Iraan/McCamey exit heading west on I-10 (Prairie Falcon flyover)<br />
Lake Balmorrea near the store where you get your day permit (Clark's Grebe)<br />
Davis Mountains State Park campground (Montezuma Quail)<br />
Davis Mountains SP Indian Lodge area (Canyon Towhee)<br />
Davis Mountains SP Montezuma Quail Trail (Black-chinned Hummingbird)<br />
Pond on Hwy 118 near McDonald Observatory - hotspot described in the ABA guide<br />
Chisos Mountain Lodge (Mexican Jay, Phainopepla, Scott's Oriole, Black-chinned Sparrow)<br />
Cottonwood Campground (Bell's Vireo, Plumbeous Vireo, Red-naped Sapsucker, Green-tailed Towhee, Gray Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Virginia's Warbler -- although eBird doesn't show this bird as possible and I didn't get a pic so I didn't report it, I know what we saw)<br />
Santa Elena Canyon<br />
Christmas Mountain Oasis (Scaled Quail, Black-throated Sparrow, Lucifer Hummingbird)<br />
Rio Grande Village behind the store (Verdin, Black-throated Gray Warbler)<br />
Dugout Wells (lifer jackrabbit!)<br />
Gage Gardens in Marathon, TX - Mary remembered that she'd seen tons of hummers and feeders here a few years ago, but there were no feeding stations and only a scant few birds this time<br />
Langtry, TX - Judge Roy Bean's courthouse (Canyon Wren)<br />
Seminole Canyon, Windmill Trail<br />
Lake Amistad, San Pedro Flats Campground (dry, nothing but a few House Sparrows)<br />
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So my total for the trip was 23 lifers -- some birds I doubt I'll ever see again unless I go back there. I wish I'd gotten photos of all of these birds, but luckily all of these were confirmed by sight, sight and voice, voice only, and/or by other birders who were present.<br />
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I did have several mystery birds for the trip, but I've let those go. My goal of 400 didn't get met on this trip, but my next trip -- a bit of a quickie long weekend -- will be my first time in the Rio Grande Valley during the height of breeding season! I'm taking AB to my 30th high school reunion in Harlingen (Go Cardinals!) the last weekend in June. My total is currently 394, so I'm six birds away from the magical mystical 400.<br />
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Will I hit 400 on our South Texas blitz? Who can say?<br />
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Between reunion activities, I'm planning to hit South Padre Island (hoping for Gull-billed Tern and Franklin's Gull), one of the inland spots like Estero Llano Grande SP or Bentsen SP (I'm being realistic and not thinking we can do both), and maybe maybe maybe Laguna Atascosa.<br />
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Will I try once again for my nemesis, the Aplomado Falcon?<br />
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We'll see.<br />
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-52780538753600960202013-04-22T22:07:00.000-04:002013-04-22T22:07:15.399-04:00Big Bend birding, Days 2 and 3It's been tough to find the time to catch up on posting here, so I'll do my best to get the highlights of what was a magical trip!<br />
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Day 2 found us waking up super early... because I woke up, looked at my still-on-eastern-time clock and woke Mary up at like 4 in the morning. Oops! We went for a walk under the stars and then went back to the room for a nap!<br />
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Later, we went walking down the road trying to find Montezuma Quail -- when I realized I'd forgotten to put the SD card into my camera. My sweet sister went back to the lodge to get it for me and OF COURSE that is when I heard the sound: I heard the Montezuma Quail! He called two times, and that was it. I only heard him, but it was DEFINITELY him! Lifer #4 sort-of!<br />
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By the time Mary got back, no more sounds. Still, we decided to walk the actual Montezuma Quail Trail, hoping to see or hear more. No go. We did, get another lifer for me, however:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNXWFf8xQ2mMm4JhnM3Qmyd_L5cxNQGqIp-gnD9FHnW6RyDMZ0EgzDzJF4V69QnBZydCGMwcwFuujZNcX0bAdLYl_yVu21vlmTBGv-2Qk5sCU6we3Xh3ojtBmtF6Box2ka5id/s1600/Black-chinned+Hummingbird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNXWFf8xQ2mMm4JhnM3Qmyd_L5cxNQGqIp-gnD9FHnW6RyDMZ0EgzDzJF4V69QnBZydCGMwcwFuujZNcX0bAdLYl_yVu21vlmTBGv-2Qk5sCU6we3Xh3ojtBmtF6Box2ka5id/s320/Black-chinned+Hummingbird.JPG" width="254" /></a></div>
It's a terrible photo, but it was the best one I got of this Black-chinned Hummingbird! I'd never been to Texas late enough to see that many hummers, so it took me this long to get to see this fairly common western hummer. Lifer 5!
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The view from the trail:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVkw-sUdKdeK7l4X50MDykMXiUUW0iff26muUrK84d8cZa0qO0kDcyaEOgZcthGg_QOcsoeKQqIL0gDPPmrjw1dr9Kv846HnBxCsiP4UYWxSOaP81X4Gbhc9X5gKreCCmkV3z/s1600/from+the+MOQU+trail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVkw-sUdKdeK7l4X50MDykMXiUUW0iff26muUrK84d8cZa0qO0kDcyaEOgZcthGg_QOcsoeKQqIL0gDPPmrjw1dr9Kv846HnBxCsiP4UYWxSOaP81X4Gbhc9X5gKreCCmkV3z/s320/from+the+MOQU+trail.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also got a better picture (for my Lifebird Photos collection) of a Bushtit:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyRjq2YCIm6F5qsg_Aotvrr7bneaGH-eKuZ8fcAf1pcHc9-fsWw33Ntex0Xj3YRvq0PwjkDW1yGUOFrdN8NLRqVHq9d12ODACag1Zs7XwPcGLkOmYz2cOSuCdWdQTFnlHb95C/s1600/793+Bushtit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyRjq2YCIm6F5qsg_Aotvrr7bneaGH-eKuZ8fcAf1pcHc9-fsWw33Ntex0Xj3YRvq0PwjkDW1yGUOFrdN8NLRqVHq9d12ODACag1Zs7XwPcGLkOmYz2cOSuCdWdQTFnlHb95C/s320/793+Bushtit.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So that was nice.
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Still, no MOQU. Oh well. We also saw some nice cactus and agave plants:
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The agave floral stem grows about one FOOT per day! Sadly, we didn't get to see it in full flower. But just think: in a few days, this bud will be about fifteen feet tall, covered with yellow flowers, and buzzing with hummingbirds. And then the whole plant will die. It lives about 25-50 years, sends up its flowering part, and dies. Wow.<br />
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Claret cup hedgehog cactus in flower: <br />
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A very sweet little Oregon Junco: <br />
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A Common Raven that I kept trying to make into a Chihuahuan Raven for Mary because she's never seen one:<br />
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After hiking around for a while, we had lunch and decided to check out the Mount Davis Observatory. Here's the view from Mount Locke, on which the observatory can be found: <br />
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Here's Mary in front of the building that houses the smallest scope: <br />
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And here's an unfortunate piece of signage: <br />
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Mary looked at it and said, "That's one <i>very special employee</i>."<br />
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Here she is with the big scope behind her:<br />
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It was cool to be up there, but it was sooooo windy and we were sooooo tired (thanks to my 4 a.m. wake-up call) that we called it a day. <br />
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The sunset from Skyline Drive in the park (there was so much dust in the air from the wind that it wasn't much of a sunset).<br />
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Day 3 took us from Fort Davis down through Alpine and into Big Bend State Park! Along the way we caught this awesome Golden-crowned Kinglet:<br />
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Not a lifer but check out that crown!<br />
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And in my quest to secure possible splits to the official AOU bird checklist, here's a Myrtle's Yellow-rumped Warbler:<br />
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Check out this crazy cactus; it's more thorns than cactus! <br />
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As you enter BBNP, you drive through a Badlands-like area: <br />
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Although the creosote bushes give it away as NOT being in South Dakota.<br />
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We got closer to the Chisos Basin and saw the "ghosts" after which the mountains are named: <br />
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It was a beautiful place, all creosote and ocotillo and cactus, mountain peaks and mesas.<br />
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We checked into our room, got our stuff settled, and went out for more birds! As soon as we walked out of our room, we saw this cooperative (and obviously used to people) Cactus Wren: <br />
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Not a lifer, but I'd never seen one so close up! Creepy red eyes!<br />
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Then, not two seconds later, this guy shows up:<br />
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LIFER 6! Phainopepla, baby! More creepy red eyes and crazy crest. Sooooo sweet. We hadn't even left the parking lot yet.<br />
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We hiked the Window Trail and got lucky again!<br />
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A terrible photo but it's a Black-chinned Sparrow! We got good looks at him.<br />
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The whole time on the trail, the giant Casa Grande rock formation loomed overhead and behind us:<br />
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After a long hike with several frustrating mystery sparrows that are probably just Chipping and other common sparrows, we watched the sun set in The Window, this gap between two mountains: <br />
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It had been a long day, but I had a date with my first Chicken-fried Steak in about fifteen years so we birded until dark, went to the restaurant, and went to bed!<br />
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This was the closest we got to a Mountain Lion: <br />
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Dangit.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-48635668097913169882013-03-31T21:13:00.001-04:002013-03-31T21:14:39.706-04:00Birding in the Big Bend, Day 1, en route to the Davis Mountains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U_KkoaiCVlibIDXkvFkO1sikeYjrv7cKy-t_H9nyGbShZUSVk5croBI8r4fYNcDJ8cC3Spye9ihjLhStpp2ZGb5dXX3PPRpm6yvQ7OoyM6lltlZPGqjL9vddR9eC89oZJjRN/s1600/P1130257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-U_KkoaiCVlibIDXkvFkO1sikeYjrv7cKy-t_H9nyGbShZUSVk5croBI8r4fYNcDJ8cC3Spye9ihjLhStpp2ZGb5dXX3PPRpm6yvQ7OoyM6lltlZPGqjL9vddR9eC89oZJjRN/s400/P1130257.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>scenic view north of Fort Davis</i></div>
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I've just returned from a week and a couple of days in Texas: my annual Texas birding trip! This time, however, I chose not to go to the Rio Grande Valley, but I did stay close to that river. My sister Mary and I spent five days in the Big Bend of Texas! Life-location!<br />
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We started out in Davis Mountains State Park near Fort Davis and the McDonald Observatory (where, by the way, the sexy-voiced <a href="http://stardate.org/" target="_blank">Sandy Wood of Stardate</a> fame does NOT hang out).<br />
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Heading west on I-10 out of San Antonio and away from my sweet mommy and daddy's house, we first hit Lake Balmorhea near Balmorhea and just west-southwest of Fort Stockton, Texas. I'd read that the Clark's Grebe makes regular appearances at the lake, so we hit it and struck lifer gold!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH8b9WnEHDZP9zehO02OzJU4w4tAatRwNNbYU-R66wyPZFvYFQjn88d8zjzhgROf8AesIycz597DCkbaqnP1Tsy2G8StMfRO-mMF9apRDDMe9kUPMDNk4VD59xENKx58wuKXb/s1600/Clark's+Grebe+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH8b9WnEHDZP9zehO02OzJU4w4tAatRwNNbYU-R66wyPZFvYFQjn88d8zjzhgROf8AesIycz597DCkbaqnP1Tsy2G8StMfRO-mMF9apRDDMe9kUPMDNk4VD59xENKx58wuKXb/s400/Clark's+Grebe+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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We saw three CLGRs on the lake, along with an Osprey, several generic gulls, and this mystery gull:<br />
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Not a great photo, but note that he has no white on his tail -- no white on his wing feathers folded back. What kind of gull is he? He had a yellow bill with a black tip, like a Ring-billed Gull, but no white on the rear portion. Am I over-thinking it? The only commonly occurring gulls there are the Ring-billed and (less often) the Bonaparte's Gull. Must just be a RBGU.<br />
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Also present was this cooperative Pyrrhuloxia:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcUW3KhkEqEV8M38Msk8I17I9khJVG8vQzQu3IWKNE_z5zUoeLAeqoEbntJcqY8JoxXgd_E2tXFMP1sXE0veOr-qEZTMZ2zEI4QBvCQqXTlA2ISdoaJ30mJvLVo7ZwYywu3ier/s1600/Pyrrhuloxia.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcUW3KhkEqEV8M38Msk8I17I9khJVG8vQzQu3IWKNE_z5zUoeLAeqoEbntJcqY8JoxXgd_E2tXFMP1sXE0veOr-qEZTMZ2zEI4QBvCQqXTlA2ISdoaJ30mJvLVo7ZwYywu3ier/s400/Pyrrhuloxia.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anyway, on we went to the Indian Lodge in the Davis Mountains, and on the road we saw my second lifer, a Prairie Falcon. Sadly, I did not get a photo, but it was unmistakeable: the accipiter shape, the size (like a giant American Kestrel), the brown barring on the wings, belly, and tail. I wish I'd gotten a photo, but we were driving and by the time we pulled over, he'd flown.<br />
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Also seen on the road, on a rock in front of that beautiful view from the top of this post, was this interesting lizard:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4kK2_ZBsVnz3KuqkyVsLLodIMrXdgOYJfxKxKXnYWfOmfopsik2xwZaRNhkX2ZtSAqcnDlthncBQnto7oCngbsB6YVhTk5KJyahS__qgxglQ-VSj3F4PzUc7JuBECkPm1woQ/s1600/Blue-tummied+lizard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4kK2_ZBsVnz3KuqkyVsLLodIMrXdgOYJfxKxKXnYWfOmfopsik2xwZaRNhkX2ZtSAqcnDlthncBQnto7oCngbsB6YVhTk5KJyahS__qgxglQ-VSj3F4PzUc7JuBECkPm1woQ/s400/Blue-tummied+lizard.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
I couldn't find anything online that matched him. Any guesses?
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The Indian Lodge was nice, a cool adobe building constructed in the 1940s by the Civilian Conservation Corps: <br />
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In the parking lot and green (I should've used air quotes on that) areas around the lodge were several Canyon Towhees, another lifer!<br />
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So that made three lifers so far. My goal for the trip was 24, based on repeated sightings of potential lifers at various spots in the park over the previous days. I had a long way to go, but I was happy to be in a place I'd never been. </div>
dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-86937050524154388862013-02-08T16:20:00.001-05:002013-02-08T16:20:08.884-05:00Aurora BorealisAfter wanting to see the northern lights ever since I was a child, I finally saw them (it?) last night!<br />
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I was awakened by Cornelius (of course, the pig wanted food), and when I came back up the stairs after feeding him and the other babies I glanced out my office window. Even without my contacts or glasses, I saw a bright flashing outside to the north. I ran and grabbed my specs and looked out to see a strange glowing in the sky, vertical stripes of brightness, one of them pulsating brighter every couple of seconds or so.<br />
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Thanks to night mode and a tripod, I was able to capture it:<br />
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Here, you can see the whole scene; the brighter part to the right was flashing. <br />
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Off to the left was one single shaft of light, barely visible here: <br />
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And here is the main part, flashing again: <br />
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What a thrill! I watched for about a half hour, awestruck by the spectacle.<br />
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Today, we're having to wait for Nemo, the big storm that's supposed to dump a couple of feet of snow on us tonight. The weather people have been hyping this up for the last couple of days, so I hope we see some real snow. Of course, it's easy for me to wish for this, as I'm still out on medical leave from my concussion, suffered last Monday. I mentioned it on Facebook; I just slipped on some ice and fell, bouncing my head on the ground. I am slowly recovering my ability to focus, after doing NOTHING for about a week. I was not allowed (by my doctor) to watch TV, play online, or even read a book. And of course, watching TV was completely overwhelming and headache-inducing anyway. I posted on Facebook after it happened, and then I was out after like five minutes.<br />
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I'm now able to watch TV, but I can't multi-task yet. Normally, I would be writing this post while watching TV and maybe having a conversation with AB. Not anymore, at least for a while. I am only able to do one thing at a time. No watching TV while playing Spider Solitaire on the iPad; no reading a book while mapping stuff on the computer and taking some notes on a notepad. I've only been allowed back on the computer (and online) for the last couple of days, though I get tired pretty easily.<br />
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Like now.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-84082193218918623822013-01-22T20:05:00.002-05:002013-01-22T20:07:53.837-05:00Lifer Gull!?! Me? YES!Yes, folks, I got a lifer today, and it was a GULL! After careful study and a tip from a local birder about the presence of a Glaucous Gull over in Bath (conveniently enough, where I am working!), I was able to score a lifer gull!<br />
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Normally, I don't really look at gulls because -- let's face it -- they're ridiculously difficult. Every once in a while, I have been able to spot a different-looking gull and, usually with the aid of other more experienced birders, I am able to confirm an ID. This time, I knew where to look and had studied enough to find the different gull!<br />
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Can you spot it (despite my lame digi-binned images)?<br />
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Hint: he's near the bottom of the frame!<br />
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How about now: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEz6_bH-xxFMSDV7_TywTzBDCY53Z2-GnzAgN23qr-aTYIgGoXkf6cB5LQXWsrb91DyEEOQwVMJIY28dyqZHZRglv7YYV7fsdMpySKFmws2MwpMdn8Pc3BXR_L4mOOhgmF5CxJ/s1600/446+Glaucous+Gull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEz6_bH-xxFMSDV7_TywTzBDCY53Z2-GnzAgN23qr-aTYIgGoXkf6cB5LQXWsrb91DyEEOQwVMJIY28dyqZHZRglv7YYV7fsdMpySKFmws2MwpMdn8Pc3BXR_L4mOOhgmF5CxJ/s400/446+Glaucous+Gull.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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No? I don't blame you -- it's the crappy photo. How about NOW?<br />
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YES! An immature Glaucous Gull -- pink bill
with black tip, pink legs, not a speck of black on his wingtips, and
pale brownish wings!<br />
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Here he is, flapping his pale pale brownish wings!<br />
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Never mind that guy to the left -- look at him!<br />
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Lifer!<br />
<br />
That's 373. My slow climb to 400 continues!dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-59645002429623570642013-01-13T20:17:00.000-05:002013-01-13T20:17:56.467-05:00Coastal field trip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeBhAiGcJuxPeb9iPf1QQGTa4kIJmJCvAJbhBKDQFF3BzgT1KpDdxoD_o1I2ABaUut0YfDfFwZAV7jcU67BMRDNWEMjQqDglF4VVIZFKUaMraoZbBTCjTqHDBE5rUwPMacnya/s1600/P1130026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeBhAiGcJuxPeb9iPf1QQGTa4kIJmJCvAJbhBKDQFF3BzgT1KpDdxoD_o1I2ABaUut0YfDfFwZAV7jcU67BMRDNWEMjQqDglF4VVIZFKUaMraoZbBTCjTqHDBE5rUwPMacnya/s400/P1130026.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This morning, my New Year's resolution of "live more, sleep less" was severely tested as my little duck-quack alarm went off at 7:30, but I knew I had potential lifers to see! Birders have reported a King Eider, Harlequin Ducks, Lapland Longspurs, Purple Sandpipers and more down at various South Portland locations like Dyer Point on Cape Elizabeth and the Cape Elizabeth Middle School. We went to Dyer Point once before before with Baby G and got <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-beach-more-birds.html" target="_blank">Great Cormorant and Northern Gannet back in October</a>.<br />
<br />
So I pulled myself out of bed and checked my camera (battery charged, memory card in!), packed my bins, grabbed a little notepad, layered on the wool sweater and coat, and off I went. Part-way there, I noticed the Birding 'Baru was almost on EMPTY; no problem, I thought; I'll gas up somewhere in Portland....<br />
<br />
So I'm on Beach Road, headed down the cape, and I see a gas station so I pull over.<br />
<br />
NO.<br />
<br />
WALLET.<br />
<br />
Crap.<br />
<br />
I was able to scrounge around in my car and come up with about two bucks; this would have to take me the rest of the way down the point and all the way back to Brunswick. Ay carramba.<br />
<br />
Long story short: only one stop was in the cards for me, Dyer Point. I'd have to try for the LALOs another time. I didn't want to get stranded too far from home and make AB drive all the way to SoPo to rescue me; I figured I could make it to Brunswick and have her meet me at the Cumby Farms for gasoline.<br />
<br />
So -- sigh -- it's always something.<br />
<br />
Still -- birds were seen!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuo14knrrze9UtGMPJ9_mAsQs3JHl6ZzBussAiTV3I20yxXuYV1-J_aqTQXuPfrtqeJk44ycj7gH3-APBLI4SH982CcatEK6JifwgPmFJIOOVFfRbiwSCxHDZJ1xaLIbqIuI13/s1600/P1130047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuo14knrrze9UtGMPJ9_mAsQs3JHl6ZzBussAiTV3I20yxXuYV1-J_aqTQXuPfrtqeJk44ycj7gH3-APBLI4SH982CcatEK6JifwgPmFJIOOVFfRbiwSCxHDZJ1xaLIbqIuI13/s400/P1130047.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXgoTyMBZ9yiQRdx0f-2nqgkBQlZzeMvP8sigZWXKk7NI-Xurs-GjUmrhbC69pv1bXBTyR7zifdHTw6C41-aaEKrdWz1EGa6WgasHq7yGa83YoAn-KZfAQCb3CRh7VgSKAsYn/s1600/P1130017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXgoTyMBZ9yiQRdx0f-2nqgkBQlZzeMvP8sigZWXKk7NI-Xurs-GjUmrhbC69pv1bXBTyR7zifdHTw6C41-aaEKrdWz1EGa6WgasHq7yGa83YoAn-KZfAQCb3CRh7VgSKAsYn/s400/P1130017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjnGXllu35kzrgE-GhgPDfOcF-wg9fONJV8wZ2fEyHb75FlYsTQ8tCJE6dOVUTLW-h6GmkS0A6OlZDG3ghllRX40isFGYIots1yeWiwQLfwnaye2NgsIxu8qfA7up3jrzE7qK/s1600/P1130014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
Harlequin Ducks, Lifer #372!!!! They have to be one of the cutest ducks out there; they stayed close together in a little raft, and when one would dive, the rest would go under like synchronized swimmers. Then, when one would pop up, the rest would pop up right after, in rapid succession. It was the coolest thing; I stayed and watched them for a couple of hours, especially because all the eiders turned out to be Commons, no King. Darnit.<br />
<br />
One crazy bird out there: an American Pipit! One of the other birders got great photos; I only caught a glance of him. Hadn't seen one of those since my first trip to the Rio Grande Valley! <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2010/02/rio-grande-valley-birding-day-1-report_03.html" target="_blank">Remember</a>?<br />
<br />
The Common Eiders were in high breeding plumage, though -- impressive with their lime-green on the backs of their heads and their pinkish breasts. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAXH7h86m9ewj8u1FVieIge5cfbkxRaOZbBbwDRzNVjaalAmfWenlX0xszWy7EbquzdEYlTVAe8I4gOj5JZn0aYfy5amXExWhD7TD70eyi14fIiijipEeLVRr25DmLScOCyQW/s1600/P1130008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAXH7h86m9ewj8u1FVieIge5cfbkxRaOZbBbwDRzNVjaalAmfWenlX0xszWy7EbquzdEYlTVAe8I4gOj5JZn0aYfy5amXExWhD7TD70eyi14fIiijipEeLVRr25DmLScOCyQW/s400/P1130008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
I didn't get great photos of them; I was too pumped about the Harlequins.<br />
<br />
So I hung around, checking every eider for the big orange nose, but no go. After two and a half hours, I figured I'd better start my precarious gas-shy journey back home.dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-70170174796291753802012-12-30T15:48:00.000-05:002012-12-30T16:15:33.060-05:002012 in review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiounroUcKWm-Flhg06SfnSwLhNv_mg5Rm7pQijBP_n0fFaQp7Yfn62WYxHYlkn-MB23cFaSE4MMj_shSBtvJuIo6BbkUYxBM7Yg_dgi4LNIcPhLqGZ3mNdMmubsnTSzvWPPVgQ/s1600/871+Mountain+Bluebird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiounroUcKWm-Flhg06SfnSwLhNv_mg5Rm7pQijBP_n0fFaQp7Yfn62WYxHYlkn-MB23cFaSE4MMj_shSBtvJuIo6BbkUYxBM7Yg_dgi4LNIcPhLqGZ3mNdMmubsnTSzvWPPVgQ/s320/871+Mountain+Bluebird.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Mountain Bluebird, Badlands National Monument, South Dakota </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I saw a facebook update on someone's "year in birds" and realized I
hadn't really done any tallying of how 2012 went for me bird-wise. When I
did do a tally (thank you, eBird), I was pretty darned impressed!<i> </i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFgDs3ENA8eU3LntE869MBT45psbG9rIba5ScPHrNHjYqkqRXFV8fHCZkEw7s301L_NKpqYiY28E8hlE5g5i8kT1tItE1Gl_RSRxZb1riZT-qsLRPsaQhrv7jP9wf9lSnHu8U/s1600/1104+Bronzed+Cowbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFgDs3ENA8eU3LntE869MBT45psbG9rIba5ScPHrNHjYqkqRXFV8fHCZkEw7s301L_NKpqYiY28E8hlE5g5i8kT1tItE1Gl_RSRxZb1riZT-qsLRPsaQhrv7jP9wf9lSnHu8U/s320/1104+Bronzed+Cowbird.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Bronzed Cowbird, near Donna, Texas </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-miA2ECOuXd5t2DEQwe-b2LruzdtRp6p0AG06z960BLjCt0I7irjJDlHuRpXEoNmSY_L5OSJ0cxe4R6InzvlmZOHl1t_UnPb-6R8M40kFNNX1hjSswDo-Ok3byEKhhCYdfJv/s1600/552+Northern+Hawk+Owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-miA2ECOuXd5t2DEQwe-b2LruzdtRp6p0AG06z960BLjCt0I7irjJDlHuRpXEoNmSY_L5OSJ0cxe4R6InzvlmZOHl1t_UnPb-6R8M40kFNNX1hjSswDo-Ok3byEKhhCYdfJv/s320/552+Northern+Hawk+Owl.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Northern Hawk Owl, near Fryeburg, Maine</i> </div>
<br />
Here are my numbers:<br />
<b>North America (USA) Lifelist total: 371 (updated after a counting error)</b><br />
<b>2012 total birds: 282</b><br />
<b>2012 lifers: 52!</b><br />
<br />
FIFTY-TWO! I had no idea! That's what happens when you visit seven different states in a year, baby! A big trip west, a big trip to Texas, and my move to Maine: keys to birding success.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LiWm-pTWPlCB8e_2rdWusnl2DcQWkA-V4NQg3mvNwU8uNsMyya3XqIypGwA2LqNfU7Vs8YA5fOZcx_tlzIav4yMfD4ed4KMEaXlbxVo3VZ3iMFBeorawgk5XW4Hyn5O49CfA/s1600/734+Brown+Jay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LiWm-pTWPlCB8e_2rdWusnl2DcQWkA-V4NQg3mvNwU8uNsMyya3XqIypGwA2LqNfU7Vs8YA5fOZcx_tlzIav4yMfD4ed4KMEaXlbxVo3VZ3iMFBeorawgk5XW4Hyn5O49CfA/s320/734+Brown+Jay.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Brown Jay, Salineno, Texas
</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHa4uZr6cJKY_V71BF_wPsHY3-gXL8R_m0zjQKPkPjgi_NZ4vYDaHcG7d3PMcFvzPA-Us6_eUrw5ws7a7a5wZ1Apfzqrj7LRd8JPJiQ1FP5HabGc8zsmnNjqRl5GQHZR6uJiXW/s1600/556+Burrowing+Owl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHa4uZr6cJKY_V71BF_wPsHY3-gXL8R_m0zjQKPkPjgi_NZ4vYDaHcG7d3PMcFvzPA-Us6_eUrw5ws7a7a5wZ1Apfzqrj7LRd8JPJiQ1FP5HabGc8zsmnNjqRl5GQHZR6uJiXW/s320/556+Burrowing+Owl.JPG" width="241" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Burrowing Owl, Badlands National Monument, South Dakota
</i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 366px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 13385; mso-width-source: userset; width: 275pt;" width="366"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 275pt;" width="366">Greater
White-fronted Goose</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Common Eider </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Greater
Sage-Grouse</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Red-necked
Grebe </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Eared Grebe </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Great
Cormorant </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Ferruginous
Hawk </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Whooping Crane </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Upland
Sandpiper </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Whimbrel </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Hudsonian
Godwit </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Marbled Godwit </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Glaucous-winged
Gull </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Black
Guillemot </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Green Parakeet </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Northern Hawk
Owl </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Burrowing Owl </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Barred Owl </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Short-eared
Owl </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">White-throated
Swift </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Broad-tailed
Hummingbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Rufous
Hummingbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Acorn
Woodpecker </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Western
Wood-Pewee </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Dusky
Flycatcher </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Western
Kingbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Philadelphia
Vireo </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Brown Jay </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Clark’s
Nutcracker </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Black-billed
Magpie </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Chihuahuan
Raven </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Violet-green
Swallow </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Mountain
Chickadee </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Chestnut-backed
Chickadee </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Rock Wren </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Mountain
Bluebird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Sage Thrasher </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Yellow-throated
Warbler </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Yellow-breasted
Chat </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Cassin’s
Sparrow </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Brewer’s
Sparrow </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Lark Sparrow </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Crimson-collared
Grosbeak </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Yellow-headed
Blackbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Rusty
Blackbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Bronzed
Cowbird </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Hooded Oriole</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Altamira
Oriole </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Audubon’s
Oriole </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Pine Grosbeak </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">White-winged
Crossbill </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;">Common Redpoll</td><td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"></td><td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"></td><td class="xl65" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6CPIVuXqhkzFwMROpl5qvbjPOfKwDo7fgQ-nk7CD0YTw14O28b7TbWlNgrh87Ap2GktloW1DBNSCJhbgXt5GY2b_iU4nGg-5hH7tHxi16c5-wGZRyWasJJSkOlGZAQqJQOdc/s1600/373+Hudsonian+Godwit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6CPIVuXqhkzFwMROpl5qvbjPOfKwDo7fgQ-nk7CD0YTw14O28b7TbWlNgrh87Ap2GktloW1DBNSCJhbgXt5GY2b_iU4nGg-5hH7tHxi16c5-wGZRyWasJJSkOlGZAQqJQOdc/s320/373+Hudsonian+Godwit.JPG" width="283" /></a></div>
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<i>Hudsonian Godwit, Pine Point, Maine</i> </div>
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Some really special moments on this list: the trip down the West Coast and across the northern plains, going up the Rio Grande to Salineno, moving to Maine and going to the beaches. Who knows what 2013 will bring?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOt0mP1cZDhTwXozMVRUHIcOPibiuWtmYoIXofySunedam6Sc668FXyi9C7dqcBwQrhkTPV_ibMpkFmY5vuVsTWQV4BcSSYVxnSgz-Y6AsWBX5alQ9eryq7vq0AoVRZfN4yMoa/s1600/1076+Crimson-collared+Grosbeak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOt0mP1cZDhTwXozMVRUHIcOPibiuWtmYoIXofySunedam6Sc668FXyi9C7dqcBwQrhkTPV_ibMpkFmY5vuVsTWQV4BcSSYVxnSgz-Y6AsWBX5alQ9eryq7vq0AoVRZfN4yMoa/s320/1076+Crimson-collared+Grosbeak.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Crimson-collared Grosbeak, McAllen, Texas</i>
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So how did your year go?
dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-29894743223636699782012-12-29T19:28:00.001-05:002012-12-29T19:28:26.328-05:00Snow, snow, snowIt's been snowing like crazy up here! Here's the view from the porch:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNf5vqnqDj0tuLd40m2Vnj6-ZSMz2jPM_cEIbMV4xFU81BzbhYlrSCcwrwTPGhUCO5y9zM9qFJf63kI7NuuTpHF68Dr51fxZQhChoD8pTvBMCr51XTDUPFdIZQFApLNVipA7V/s1600/snowy+yard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNf5vqnqDj0tuLd40m2Vnj6-ZSMz2jPM_cEIbMV4xFU81BzbhYlrSCcwrwTPGhUCO5y9zM9qFJf63kI7NuuTpHF68Dr51fxZQhChoD8pTvBMCr51XTDUPFdIZQFApLNVipA7V/s320/snowy+yard.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We had to park out by the storage garage way back there on the left.<br />
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Look at it come down!<br />
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It was so beautiful that I wanted to go out to Wharton Point to see it fall on the sea water. It seems so crazy to watch snow hitting the ocean, or in this case Maquoit Bay:<br />
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Here's what it looked like back then:<br />
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This is the same place I saw all those little Least Sandpipers back in September:<br />
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dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30103302.post-15378271930962546372012-12-08T18:01:00.000-05:002012-12-08T18:01:28.004-05:00Anticipation: sneak peek at the spring birding trip!Every year for the past three years I've traveled down to Texas to visit my parents and see new birds, and 2013 will provide a new twist on the trip: sister Mary and I will be going to Big Bend!<br />
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Usually, I go to the Rio Grande Valley, my birthplace and home until I went to college. Mary, however, has been lobbying for a Big Bend trip after spending time there with her hubby, professional drummer and all-around cool guy <a href="http://www.cornellhurdband.com/HTML/The%20Band/drummers.htm" target="_blank">Jim</a>. So this time around, we'll be headed for the Chisos Mountains and points west!<br />
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So far, my research indicates we'll be seeing some crazy new specialties like Phainopepla, Scaled Quail, and more. We might be a touch early for the featured bird, the Colima Warbler, but I like heading down there in February or March. Why so early in the year? because I grew up in Texas and know how hot it gets even in February! Next year, I'll head down for the last week in March.<br />
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You'll recall previous trips from <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2010/02/rio-grande-valley-day-1-report-1.html" target="_blank">2010</a>, <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2011/03/texas-day-1.html" target="_blank">2011</a>, and <a href="http://beginningtobird.blogspot.com/2012/02/texas-2012-day-1-action-packed.html" target="_blank">2012</a>. This time around, it'll be Mary and me, "roughing it" in <a href="http://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/upload/bibemap2.pdf" target="_blank">Big Bend National Park. </a><br />
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Can't wait!dguzmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01811101661607351661noreply@blogger.com2