April Weekend in Tucson (Part 2)

A day in the Chiricahuas chasing a Redstart

So having picked up the Rufous-capped Warbler and the Sinaloa Wren we were at first not sure what to do on Saturday.  As luck would have it though word got out that someone had found a Slate-throated Redstart at Cave Creek Canyon on Friday.  This was a target worth chasing and would have been an ABA bird for both Rich Hoyer and for me.  The only problem with Slate-throated Redstarts is that they almost always tend to be short-staying, usually one-day-wonders, but if we had to chase and miss a star bird we couldn't think of a better place to do it.  Cave Creek Canyon is one of the best birding spots in the US, and a personal favorite that I fell in love with when I first visited it 22 years ago.  It was a long drive but definitely worth the risk, so another 4am start and I picked up Rich and headed out of Tucson to the SouthEast en route to the Chiricahuas.

After stopping to get provisions (we were committed to a stake-out) we pulled into the parking lot at around 8am and headed up the South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon.  The initial intel was good and we bumped into birders who had seen the Redstart on Friday afternoon, meaning it had stuck around for the whole day.  Reality set in soon enough though as we got to the area of the sightings and met more birders who had been looking since dawn and not seen the bird.  Still, we're both optimists so we plugged away at the canyon, birding hard for the next five hours hoping that this Redstart at least was stickier than it's kin.

Elegant Trogon - a star bird here, in fact most of the birders we met that day
were looking for Trogons and not for the Redstart.

Even though the Redstart was not cooperating, the birding was really very good.  We worked several large mixed flocks that had multiple warbler species (Hermit, Townsend's Black-throated Gray, Red-faced, Grace's and lots of Painted Redstarts) and had great looks at Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, Mexican Jay, White-throated Swifts and even an Olive-sided Flycatcher.  All really good stuff.

Painted Redstart - or 'Wrongstart'  as I took to calling it by the afternoon.

Gray-headed Dark-eyed Junco - one of those Western Juncos we don't get to
see in New York.

Hummingbirds were also in great form with Magnificent, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed all zipping about.  Overall we had 44 species within about a mile of the trail head - as I said, it's a really neat spot - but unfortunately none of them was a Slate-throated Redstart which turned out to be another one-day-wonder and thus true to it's kind.  Can't win them all ....

Magnificent Hummingbird

Perhaps the highlight of the morning though wasn't avian but rather two really special snakes that we found on the trail not far from each other.  The first was a large Black-tailed Rattlesnake, coiled and rattling by the side of the trail.  Then shortly afterwards we bumped into a truly beautiful Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake, a lifer for me, and certainly a memory that will make up for the Redstart dip.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake - not as close as it looks, I had my 300mm lens on.

Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake - Rich Hoyer is the hand-model.

So finally admitting defeat, and pausing only to catch up with old friend (former WINGS office manger and private bird trip organizing genius from my more rabid days) Greer Warren, we gave up and headed out over the top of the Chiricahua Range hoping to add a few more things on the way home.  The drive added a Zone-tailed Hawk, Stellar's Jays, Pygmy Nuthatches, Yellow-eyed Juncos and a spiffy 'Gould's' turkey (who knew turkeys could have so much white on them?).  We also got a lucky break when some Border Patrol agents pulled a fallen tree off the road in front of us - if they hadn't we would have had to retrace out steps and add another couple of hours to our drive home.  Soon enough we were back down in the desert and saying farewell to the magic mountains (note to self: come back soon).

Yellow-eyed Junco

Faced with another three-hour drive back to Tucson we decided to break it with a stop to look for water birds in Wilcox and were rewarded with a great selection, and 31 species, including shorebirds, Franklin's and Bonaparte's Gulls, Eared and Western Grebes, and lots of swallows.  A little drama was added when a Swainson's Hawk blindsided a Peregrine and stole it's prey item right in front of us, plus we got a little intrigue when we saw a Barn Swallow with pure white undersides (couldn't be, right? Cough).   Then back on the interstate and, after dropping Rich off, back to the hotel, and finally a night without a 4am start to follow ... shower ... room-service ... movie ... 8-hours of sleep ... priceless.

Long-billed Dowitchers - a good bird in the East, but easier here.

So that was that for Arizona, a great trip with 142 species, 3 ABA birds, and a Lifer Snake - we could have seen more bird species if we weren't so target focussed, but I was really happy with my two-day haul of birds I don't get to see often any more.  Many thanks to Rich for the eyes, the ears, and the snake-wrangling.  I definitely won't leave it so long before going back again.

April Weekend in Tucson (Part 1)

Chasing some potential ABA birds near Tucson

For once my business life and my birding life came together nicely this weekend when a Board meeting in Phoenix on Thursday gave me the opportunity to do a couple of days birding in SE Arizona over the weekend (schedules never work out this well).

4am on Friday morning and I was up and on my way from Phoenix to Tucson with no plans but birding for the next few days.  By 6:30am I'd picked up long-time birding friend Rich Hoyer at his house in Tucson and we were soon on our way to chase down some special birds in the canyons South of the city.  I was very excited to get back to bird some sites I hadn't visited in ten years and had a couple of target birds I really wanted to get.

First stop was Florida Canyon (pronounced Flor-ee-da) and we went straight up to the canyon proper passing quickly through desert habitat that had yielded a lot of life birds for me the first time I came here in 1993.  No time for thorough birding today though as we had two target birds that I really wanted to see and the first of them, Rufous-capped Warbler, had been seen recently up in the canyon. So we pushed on past Rufous-winged and Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Phainopeplas, Lucy's Warblers and other desert birds until we got to the parking lot and started our hike.

Hutton's Vireo - one of five species of vireo we saw to heard over the weekend
(the others being Cassin's, Plumbeous, Bell's and 'Western' Warbling)

Florida Canyon is a very special place with rough trails winding up through dense scrub along a tiny stream that surfaces then vanishes many times in the space of a mile or so.  The canyon is narrow and the scrub-covered canyon sides are relatively steep.  Perfect habitat for the warbler which likes both the steep scrubby slopes and permanent water nearby.

The canyon was really birdy this morning and was we picked our way up we saw or heard a lot of birds.  Migrant flycatchers were very much in evidence with Pacific Slope, Dusky and Hammond's all vocalizing along with resident Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Dusky-capped and Ash-throated Flycatchers.  There were also five species of wren (Rock, Canyon, House, Bewicks's and Cactus), lots of warblers, tanagers, orioles, etc., and even a fly-over migrant Townsend's Solitaire.  It would have been a wonderful morning of birding even without the target birds, but we were focussed and kept pushing up the canyon with our goal in mind.

Eventually, after passing through the area where the birds had most recently been seen (the lower territory?) we heard a really promising chip note and, after a bit of urgent scanning, found a pair of Rufous-capped Warblers on the slope across the stream.  They really are quite spiffy little birds and we watched them for 10 minutes as they flitted around in the dense scrub.  There are perhaps three pairs in the canyon, and perhaps a few other birds (pairs) in a couple of other canyons scattered across S.E.Arizona, and that is the total US population, definitely a scarce bird in the US.  Target number one down and so off again to search for the bird that I most wanted for the weekend.

Rufous-capped Warbler.  The first one I'd seen North of the Mexican border.

So after stopping to chat with Ken and Suzy Feustel (friends from Long Island who we bumped into in the parking lot), next stop was a stakeout near Tubac where a Sinaloa Wren had been regularly seen in recent weeks along a pretty strip of riparian woodland along the San Pedro River.  I'd watched daily eBird rare bird reports on this species all Winter and I really wanted to see this bird (like last month's LaSagra's Flycatcher which lured me to Florida).  We had good directions and quickly found "the spot" next to the power-cut where the bird was apparently regularly seen.  It was supposed to be a "gimme" and we were hoping for a quick sighting and actually started making plans for what to do next.  Of course, needless to say nearly three hours later we were still staring into the leaf-litter and had seen nothing more promising than a Bewick's Wren.  Oh well, time for Plan B.

So an hour or so of driving later we were handing our ID's the the uniformed soldier at the gate of Fort Huachuca (US Citizens only!) and then wended our way through the fort to spot where a second Sinaloa Wren had been heard, but not seen, recently.  When we arrived at the spot the news was not good; two birders from Nebraska were staking out the site and hadn't seen the bird in an hour or so.  Still, not being people to stand around and wait, Rich and I split up and started working downstream trying to find the bird for ourselves and, not five minutes later, Rich yelled that he had the bird.

Rushing over I followed directions and saw a small brown shape working through dense underbrush towards the stream.  I had a choice at this moment, bins or camera?  I chose bins and got a great look as the bird popped out into the open.  I also really regretted the choice as, by the time I got my camera ready, the bird was back in the dense scrub and, despite an hour of trying and plenty of glimpses of the bird, I never did get a clear photo.

Two of the worst photos of Sinaloa Wren ever published - expert photographer
I am not ....

Luckily, Rich was luckier (or more skilled) with his point-and-shoot camera and got at least one decent shot.  I was thrilled either way though having got the bird I really wanted for the weekend (plus a real rarity in the US, and a second ABA bird).  Happy but exhausted we raced back to Tucson where I dropped Rich off and headed to my hotel to grab a few hours sleep before an early start to chase a Painted Redstart that had been found that day in another part of the state.  Last bird of the day for me was a Common Poorwill at dusk at my hotel (the J.W.Marriott at Starr Pass).  Perfect end to a very good day of birding.

Sinaloa Wren - Photo: Rich Hoyer (Used with Permission)

As a postscript, a funny thing happened while I was watching the wren that day.  After finally getting some (not so amazing) photos I stepped back to take a break and felt my phone buzzing in my pocket.  It was Corey Finger texting me saying "Ptarmigan on Sunday?" which truly confused me.  My Facebook status said I was in Phoenix but did he think I was in Colorado?  Had he sent a text to the wrong person?  After a few minutes I texted back that I had plans to look for Slate-throated Redstart on Sunday, which I thought would clear up the confusion.  In response Corey texted "Boo" and now I was really confused.  I asked where he was to be looking for Ptarmigan ... Colorado?  And he told me that a Willow Ptarmigan had just been found in New York State ... only the second ever in the lower 48 (!) .  Ho hum ... can't get them all (the bird did not stick around to wait for me to come back) .... but you can read about Corey's adventure (complete with encounters with New York State Troopers) at 10,000 Birds here.

Photospot: Rosy-faced Lovebird in Phoenix

Had a few spare hours in Phoenix this weekend so decided to see if I could track down some Rosy-faced Lovebirds now that they've officially been added to the ABA list.  The population is apparently doing very well with over 2,500 birds in the Phoenix area.  They were also supposed to be relatively easy to see and the on-line directions sent me to Encanto Park, a landscaped little green space with picnic tables, fishing lakes, and lots of people.  Nevertheless the birds were very cooperative and I heard some within 10 minutes of getting to the park.  Spend a half hour watching them fly around, squabble with starlings, and perch in a variety of different types of trees.  A pleasant way to spend a half an hour and nice addition to my ABA list.

Rosy-faced Lovebird (3 shots)

The Lovebirds seemed to be returning to the same palm regularly and chasing
European Starlings around - competition for nest cavities?

New York's Fake Spring

Birds from Urban Manhattan at the very start of Spring ....

So March is a trying time for birders.  The temperatures start to warm, precocious Spring flowers poke up through the grass, bold trees start to think about budding, and there's a hint ... just a hint ... of migration.  Birders can feel Spring in the air and pour out of their 'cabins' (well you can go 'cabin-crazy' in an apartment too, and the average New York City apartment isn't all that much bigger than a cabin) and start birding like its mid May.  You can almost taste the warbler song to come, or feel the flood of migrants on their way.   But we do have a (long ... painful ... frustrating ...) month to wait, and the forecast is for more snow next week.  Early signs of Spring are just a tease, and this weekend we got plenty of them ... just enough to make sure that next week's scheduled snow storm will be doubly frustrating.

Spent a few hours in Central Park both days this weekend.  I was trapped in the City by work and a broken Range Rover that had to go to the car doctor (urban cars take a beating - provided in part this time by a homeless guy with a tire-iron).  I did manage to clear two mornings for the Park though and put in a bit of effort to see as much of the 'pre-migration' as I could.

Baltimore Oriole - Central Park, New York County, NY (March 2014)
Photo: Ryan Walker (used with permission)

Saturday was actually quite balmy and I went in early with hopes of seeing an American Woodcock (there had been many reported) and a Rusty Blackbird (at least one had been seen the week before).  I started near the Tupelo Field and almost immediately flushed a woodcock, getting no more than the traditional split-second, corner of an eye view.  Still, it was a year-bird and I was sure I'd see more.  I worked The Ramble for a couple more hours, enjoying the relatively mild (it actually wasn't snowing for once) temperatures and did come up with a few things.  A Swamp Sparrow was a year bird, and I did get a look at one of the two over-wintering Baltimore Orioles, but I never did come up with another woodcock and couldn't turn up a Rusty Blackbird despite checking all the likely spots.  The highlight of the day was an abundance of (Red) Fox Sparrows with several singing birds and a dozen or more hanging out at various spots around The Ramble.  After flogging the area, I decided to give up and go to look for the Red-necked Grebe that had been hanging out on the reservoir.  Red-necked Grebe is a good bird for New York City and this one was the first one seen in Central Park in perhaps thirty years.  I have the vaguest recollection of seeing one on the Hudson River back in the early '90s but my eBird records from back them as patchy and this promised to be a county bird in eBird.  The reservoir unfortunately was now un-frozen so, while folks last week had seen the bird at point-blank range in one of the few ice-free patches on the reservoir, I had to make do with super-distant views across the water.  The bird was described as 'transitional plumage' but it looked like a drab Winter bird to me, still I was glad to see it (and officially add it to the county list).  So I declared victory and headed off to do grown-up things ...

American Woodcock - Central Park, New York County, NY (March 2014)
Photo: Ryan Walker (used with permission)

Sunday was colder ... there was a storm coming and it felt very much like a Winter day with the promise of (the forecast) snow to come.   I got to the Park later than the day before but was almost immediately rewarded with a 'migrant' when I came across an Eastern Phoebe hawking for (microscopic) insects on the fence-line near one of the lawns.  Not long afterwards I did find a 'sitting' woodcock after an hour of scanning likely fenced-in spots (spots without fences are hopeless due to the army of dog-walkers who run their dogs through The Ramble every morning - yes, there's a leash-law, yes it's ignored) and sent a text to Ryan Walker who I knew really wanted to see one.  American Woodcock is perhaps one of my favorite North American birds - charismatic, cryptic, and comedic, especially when walking like a little clockwork toy - simply an awesome critter.  I simply never tire of them but eventually I pulled myself away, mostly worried about drawing too much attention to this bird for fear of others flushing it.  So on to 'the feeders' to see what was around while I waited for Ryan to come in to the park.  Central Park has a huge feeder operation; hardly a surprise for a city so stuffed with birders - there are probably more birders within a mile of Central Park than live in the average US state.  The dedicated volunteers put out quite a smorgasbord, filling tubes, coconut feeders, traditional feeders, and 'schmeering' suet and seeds on trees and on the ground.  Of course this gathers a good selection of birds and today everything cooperated.  In no time I'd seen a Pine Warbler, two Baltimore Orioles, a couple of Brown Creepers, and a Carolina Wren, in addition to the more traditional feeder birds.  Several tourists (they didn't have bins) came over to ask about the 'orange birds' and I have to admit, it is quite a spectacle.  Many thanks to the dedicated volunteers who keep it going.

Pine Warbler - Central Park, New York County, NY (March 2014)
Photo: Ryan Walker (used with permission)

Getting cold, and running out of time, I waited to make sure that Ryan got his American Woodcock and Pine Warbler before leaving for the office.   Luckily though, my 2pm call got moved to 5pm, so after a few hours I was able to come back and add Black-Crowned Night-Heron at the South end of the Park before heading back to the reservoir for another look at the Red-necked Grebe (yep, definitely a second bird) and a rare (for Central Park) American Wigeon.  Not a bad haul of birds for March.  Please let Spring come soon, this Winter has been way, way too long ....

Suburban Miami for ABA Birds and Exotics (Part 2)

More suburban Miami birding.

SATURDAY (continued)

From the Strip Malls in the morning to 'Disney Birding' in the afternoon ... at least that's what Carlos said.

Having hit our targets in the morning in suburban Miami we headed North into Palm Beach County in the afternoon.  There was actually an ABA bird for me to chase there, the recently accepted Nanday Parakeet, but we also planned to do some shameless year-listing at the 'Disney-like' birding spots in the county.

I don't love these places, the crowds of weekend birders on the boardwalks are a little ... hmmm ... awkward, and I've never loved places where crowd gather to wander and chat in a birding spot.  Still,  we had time to kill and we hoped to see some year birds while waiting for the parakeets.  First stop was the Green Cay Wetlands & Nature Center where the predictable crowds of birders over the age of 70 were strolling around the boardwalks causing traffic jams near every basking alligator or close great egret.  We did get good birds, adding Mottled Ducks, Wood Storks, Anhingas, Least Bittern, Purple Gallinule, and lots of Soras.  Best nature sighting at this spot was a very confiding River Otter which posed for photographs close to the boardwalk.  There were crowds, lots of chatter, and the whole place did feel like a theme park, but the wildlife was tame .... and close.  I won't post any point-blank photos of herons or egrets (OK, just a few) ...

Wood Stork (I feel bad for posting this, but it's Florida) ...

American Bittern (they look colder in New York) ...

River Otter (two shots)

Then on to Wakodahatchee Wetlands where we added some Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, more close herons and a surprise (for me) Neotropic Cormorant.  Apparently this bird has been around for a while and was overlooked for quite a while before being identified from photos taken by a New York birder.  Nice to see one in full breeding plumage, close to the ... cough ... boardwalk.

Neotropic Cormorant in full-on breeding plumage, close to the board walk.
Ignored by almost all the birders present that day .....

This spot also gave me an ABA bird.  We were supposedly killing time before going to see some Nanday Parakeets at a known roost site nearby, but while we were there we had some fly-over Nandays.  Just as well as it turns out as the roost site turned out to be a dud later in the evening.  Great add to the ABA list.

Nanday Parakeets, recently added to the ABA list.

SUNDAY

So back to the Bulbuls at dawn and back to walking the suburban street of Kendall.  I always feel awkward walking suburan streets and using bins to stare into people's gardens.  I'm always expecting to hear sirens but perhaps the folks in this neighborhood are used to strange people with bins wandering their streets.  Even so I'm almost manically friendly to anyone we encounter - cheerful 'good mornings' at uncomfortably loud volumes.  Amazed that I haven't been jailed.

Bulbuls however were not cooperating so we gave up after an hour and tried another area a little to the North.  We did add a few more warbler species in a truly tiny patch of native vegetation, and added another introduced parrot (by now you know I love them) when some Monk Parakeets flew over.  Still, after another hour of searching we were still drawing a blank, and then 'as if by magic' two Red-Whiskered Bulbuls flew silently over us (a few feet over our head) and flew on, vanishing into tall trees behind houses.  Crappy, but diagnostic, views (red vents), and even though we could have kept searching for better views I'd frankly had enough of the suburbs and it was time to move on.

Not a Short-tailed Hawk even though it showed a classic Short-tailed Hawk field mark - soaring
with Turkey and Black Vultures.   Turns out at Broad-winged Hawks winter in South Florida too.

So onwards and back to Matheson hoping for Short-tailed Hawk.  Perhaps they'd moved on already and, despite a couple of Broad-winged Hawks joining the vulture kettles, we skunked on that local goodie.  We did hear some Orange-winged Parrots but couldn't get a view as they passed over, and got another look at the La Sagra's Flycatcher, but we were running out of options and I pushed Carlos to bug a friend of his who was rumored to have Shiny Cowbirds at his feeder.  So Carlos made the call and, after a stop for excellent Peruvian Seafood (hey I was on vacation) we headed off to Homestead on a cowbird hunt.

Shiny Cowbird (hiding behind Red-winged Blackbird) in Homestead.

The cowbird hunt is detailed in a  previous post so I won't repeat but Shiny Cowbird was a good bird to add for the state and the ABA.  After that, I was starting to get fatigued (we aren't used to sun in New York) so after a quick stop for shorebirds (and a shocking number, 40+, of Lesser Black-backed Gulls ... who knew ... ) I called the trip and headed back to the hotel.  Great trip, good birds, great guiding from Carlos.  A very nice way to spend a weekend away from New York.

Suburban Miami for ABA Birds and Exotics (Part 1)

A quick trip for ABA birds in Miami

When I was in Miami in February I saw an Aaratinga Parakeet on South Beach.  The trip was most definitely not a birding trip, and I had to list the parakeet as 'aaratinga sp.' as I saw it from a cab and couldn't stop to ID it properly, but it gave me an urge to come back and do a few days birding in the Miami area looking for some of the local specialties.

It took me a couple of weeks to get back but on Friday the 7th of March I flew back to Miami and arranged to meet up with Carlos Sanchez (local birding expert) for two days of birding in the Miami area.

SATURDAY

An early start at the University of Miami Campus and a quick introduction that Miami is simply not like other cities.  Muscovy Ducks ("Florida Feral Type) loafed around the lake and a Spot-breasted Oriole sang loudly and obviously from a tree near the parking lot.  We also checked out local trees and bumped into a flock of Scaly-headed Parrots (not ABA-countable but apparently breeding locally in small numbers).

Muscovy Ducks are common and obvious in the Miami suburbs.  Technically countable
in the ABA area (perhaps a technicality) and certainly they seem to be doing well in Miami.

Spot-breasted Oriole.  More local and restricted (and ABA countable).

Scaly-headed Parrot.  Not ABA countable, but apparently breeding locally.

Buoyed by the easy oriole we headed off the the Baptist Hospital area in Kendall and a search for the local Red-whiskered Bulbuls.  Carlos has scouted the area a few days earlier and found a number of bulbuls, some even vocal, but we put a couple of hours in at the site and simply couldn't come up with one.  Oh well, we had another day to look so no panic at that point.  We did pick up more exotics though, adding Common Hill Myna, Mitred Parakeet, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, and Egyptian Goose.  None countable in the ABA yet but all clearly well established and perhaps on their way to countable status.

Mitred Parakeet.  Common and obvious in the Miami area but not (yet) countable
in the ABA.

Egyptian Goose.  Another established local (not countable yet).

Then on to a local office building to look for White-winged Parakeet (on the ABA list).  As we parked on a side street a few parakeets flew over us calling, and walking around the corner we came up to a breeding colony in ornamental palms around the entrance to an office complex.  The birds allowed close approach and plenty of photos so we dallied for a while.  I was liking the exotic birding thing.

White-winged Parakeet (two shots).  So much more obvious and separable from Yellow-chevroned
Parakeet in flight .  Why this one is on the ABA list and Yellow-chevroned isn't is a bit of a mystery.

And then on to Matheson Hammock to look for the long-staying La Sagra's Flycatcher.  I had seen this species once before in the Bahamas but I have to admit that seeing it every day on my eBird ABA Rarities update email had made me really want to get this individual.  This is a species that shows up almost annually in South Florida but it is a Code 3 bird and so many other birders had seen it this Winter, and I really wanted to add it.

Arriving at the park we split up to look for the bird but before we'd gone too far I heard the flycatcher calling back in the mangroves and we circled back towards the parking lot, zeroing in on the call.  Before long the bird got came in closer and eventually popped out on some trees in the open at the edge of the picnic area.  We had great views/photos and, this being the only time during the morning that we saw other birders, we were able to get some other flycatcher hunters on to the bird (why aren't there more local birders here?).  Very happy to get this one so easily, a very cool bird.

La Sagra's Flycatcher (2 shots).  Looking quite 'Pewee-like' in the first shot but more of a
classic look in the second.

We finished our morning in Miami with three more stops in urban settings for good birds.  We had a group of Bronzed Cowbirds in a strip mall parking lot, some Common Mynas in yet another parking lot, and some Purple Swamphens in a pond near a bigger parking lot of another shopping mall.  All fascinating species (the cowbirds at least are naturally occurring and not introduced) but all good countable ABA birds.  The variety in Miami is truly fascinating even if the birding locations aren't exactly a 'wilderness experience'.  We did spend a lot of the morning in parking lots.

Bronzed Cowbird.  A stop sign and a bicycle in the background at the parking lot where they
hang out.

Common Myna.  Out second Myna species of the weekend and another strip-mall specialist.
This one is countable though.

Purple Swamphen.  Who knows how these things got here (this is an Asian race based
on the grey head).  Regardless of how they for here though, they certainly seem to be
established.

Part 2 to follow ....

Postscript:  The ABA added Egyptian Goose to the official list in August 2014.

Photospot: Cowbirds ... Really? Yes Cowbirds ....

Had the rare privilege (at least in the ABA Area) of seeing three species of Cowbirds at feeders in Homestead, Florida on Sunday with Carlos Sanchez.  I don't spent so much time looking at Cowbirds in New York other than to scan flocks for odd blackbirds, but I have to admit it was actually pretty cool to have multiple species at the same place.  And they do give good iridescence ...

Brown-headed Cowbird.

Bronzed Cowbird - a good bird in the ABA area and they do really pop on the iridescence front.  We saw several in strip mall parking lots in urban Miami but also a few in suburban Homestead.  Another potentially invasive species that hasn't really been able to get far beyond the borders.

Another Bronzed Cowbird shot, this one from urban Miami ( a strip mall) on Saturday.

Shiny Cowbird (hiding behind the Red-winged Blackbird).  Folks thought that these things would be the next invasive species but they seem to have stalled and remain a (Code 3) ABA rarity confined to a few spots in Southern Florida.  Common in the Caribbean but they probably aren't going to make it in the US in any numbers.  I though it looked pretty cool - maybe rarity overcomes prejudices?