Rare Sighting Of A Numida meleagris!

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I was rambling through the woods the other day when I saw a couple of large birds that were partially obstructed by vegetation. What is that?! It's not a turkey or a pheasant, maybe it's something special! Then I got a better look at it and figured it must be a bird that wandered off of someone's property. I found it listed in Sibley's as a Helmeted Guineafowl or Numida meleagris .They like to eat ticks so that could be beneficial in a high tick area. They're common in zoos and farmyards but I can honestly say that I've never found one wandering in the woods before. That makes it a rare woodland sighting for me. Have you ever been fooled by a farmyard or escaped bird before?

Happy Earth Day 2013!

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Happy Earth Day!

Yeah, I know that Earth Day has already passed for this year...I guess I feel like there's a little bit of Earth Day in EVERY day. Or there should be.

I'm not going to get too heavy here. Just want to share some images and thoughts that remind me of Earth Day and how much I love being connected to nature. Like the plant fronds above. That's a shot I took on an island in the Philippines, where the natural resources are being exploited at a stunning rate. The endemic species there are disappearing... This image reminds me of a fossilized plant, which reminds me of coal and oil...and our consumption of same.

A double rainbow in fall, shot from our birding tower in southeast Ohio. Being up high like this lends us a perspective that we don't get from the ground. It shows the vastness of the habitat in some views, but it also reveals fragmentation and all the things that come with it. In our part of the world we're beginning to experience the impact of hydraulic fracking for oil and gas. I wonder if our beautiful vistas will be the same in 10 years.

Each spring I get to experience the miracle of the songbird nesting season on our farm. Monitoring our nest boxes is such a treat. To watch birds such as these Carolina chickadees go from eggs to hatchlings to flying tots in just a few weeks—well, it boggles the mind.

I took this image of Phoebe on Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine. It wasn't posed. She loved climbing out on the rocks as the tide came in and I couldn't resist the image. Maine may very well be the place that my kids connect most closely with the natural world because it is so very different from the habitat and landscape (or seascape) where we live. I'm just happy they're connecting.

And speaking of young people...one of the best things about Earth Day is all the various activities that are available for youngsters to experience—and to connect with—nature. But we don't have to wait to do that until Earth Day NEXT year. Why not invite a young person (or a whole classroom!) to go outside with you and your birding/nature club or companions. It's the very best way to keep the spirit of Earth Day alive.

Tomorrow morning I'll get up before dawn to lead a passel of people on a long hike down the New River Gorge in West Virginia. There will be nature fans of all ages—a few youngsters and a many young-at-heart bird watchers. I'll do my best to show them a good time and to let them know why I think this area is so wonderful and special. But, you know, that's true of anywhere, as long as it's outside!

Happy Earth Day!

C.A.T.I.E.

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We planned to visit the coffee and chocolate research centre in the main town (abbreviated to CATIE) after breakfast. It was a touch more overcast than normal though:

The cloud gave way to rain but having nothing better to do we headed down anyway. We also had a bit of a flap about petrol. It turns out being Catholic the country shuts on Good Friday, so no petrol stations open anywhere around us. Luckily we had enough for the round trip and a return to the town the following morning.

So given the rain and the cloud, we delayed our departure and took some pictures in the garden of Rancho, seeing Banaquit:

Black-striped Sparrow:

A Blue-crowned Motmot dropped in for breakfast:

And a damp looking Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer stayed under the cover of the overhanging roof:

Once the rain let off at Rancho we headed down to town. It rained the whole time we were at the CATIE, which limited movement and photography but we still did see some birds, including Northern Jacana:

A Cattle Egret in breeding plumage:

Golden-hooded Tanager on what looked to be a similar fruit to an apple:

A very wet Great-crested Flycatcher:

Great Blue Heron:

We were making the best of it but it really wasn't much fun so we decided to head back for lunch. On the way back the rain cleared again. A Broad-winged Hawk was drying itself off by the side of the steep path back to the lodge:

Back at the lodge we had lunch then went for a walk down the hill. On our little jaunt we saw a Summer Tanager flitting above:

And then another Long-tailed Tyrant, this one just above its nest I believe:

Back in the garden another of the most heard birds at Rancho, the Melodious Blackbird:

Was joined by Brown Jay:

Chestnut-headed Oropendola:

and Blue-Gray Tanager:

other birds included Clay-coloured Robin:

White-necked Jacobin:

A male White-lined Tanager:

a Banana stealing squirrel, whose antics were particularly amusing to watch:

Black-cheeked Woodpecker:

The balcony meanwhile had been over-taken by the photography group. It was sort of uncomfortable as the balcony included a double french-window/door entry to our room.

This was made-up for though when I was invited to join for twenty minutes to fill a spot which someone had vacated to check out the pools....

How Many Species Of Birds Are In Your Town?

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This year I'm taking part in what is called a Spring Census. The object is to make a list of all the bird species you see in your own town over the next 3 weeks. In this case it is April 26-May 19. This wasn't on my radar until last week when I was asked if I would like to participate.This is right up my alley because I already do most of my birding right here in Portland and you don't have to use as much gas that way either. I started my search at the Portland Reservoir which is now open to the public and has a marked walking trail.

I was able to find some Pine Warblers, some of which were feeding around White Pine trees that had fallen during a storm last year.

I found Louisiana Waterthrush near this stream but no luck getting a photo.

It looks like this Black and White Warbler picked up a little fast food to go.

We had great weather this weekend and the birding action was excellent. I was off to a good start with 70 species recorded for the weekend. Highlights included: 10 species of warbler, Bald Eagles and great Horned owls on the nest, Black Vulture, Wilson's Snipe, Blue-winged Teal, Green Heron, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Thrasher, and American kestrel. It said that a reasonable goal is to try to exceed 100 species in the 3 week period. We are not near the shoreline but should be able to pick up a few shorebirds.

I always thought the birding in Portland was pretty good for an inland town. This year, many birders have been visiting here due to reported sighting and then finding new birds to report as well. One of the things that makes an area a hotspot is not just the area itself. It also depends on how many birders are in that area reporting their sightings.

Do you have a similar event in your area this Spring? If you don't, I encourage you to give it a try. Just Keep track of the bird species you see in your own town over a 3 week period during Spring Migration. At the end of the 3 weeks add up your total number of species.

First full day at Rancho

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Harry, one of the two resident guides, met us on the balcony at 6am and then we headed on to the trail that heads out from the property. We walked a short way before breakfast and saw a few birds, then headed out again after breakfast.

On these walks among many others we saw Black-headed Trogon:

Plain-brown Woodcreeper:

Chestnut-headed Oropendola:

Mottled Owl:

White-crowned Manakin:

We headed out of the forest and up into some pasture where some fruiting trees were drawing in a lot of birds. Here we added Black-crested Coquette:

More Golden-hooded Tanagers:

A female Green Honeycreeper:

and then a male:

Green Thorntail:

and a Yellow-green Vireo:

On the walk back to Rancho (we couldn't risk missing lunch!) we added Olive Tanager:

Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant:

Tawny-capped Euphonia:

And the principle target bird for most birding groups visiting Rancho, the Tawny-chested Flycatcher, here building and then sitting on a nest:

And here in the open:

Unbelievably one of these birding groups were being shown their 'target bird' and the guide shone his spotting laser right on the bird in the nest. First, it can all too easily blind the bird, second, it puts them off from the location. I couldn't believe how selfish he was nor indeed unprofessional. He shouldn't be allowed to guide people or groups if in doing so he can harm rare birds in this way.

Anyway the walks were very productive. We spent the afternoon relaxing as the property started to fill up with other guests.

Back at the feeders the, a Green Hermit: