While I don't care much about the numbers, I enjoy seeing things I haven't seen before - particularly when it comes to birds. In recent weeks there have been two lifers found within relatively easy driving distance from home. An Arctic Loon and a Rufous-necked Wood-Rail. The Loon was discovered 31 May 2013 on Puddingstone Reservoir in Frank G. Bonelli
Regional Park. This is east of Los
Angeles and “only” seven hours driving from Green Valley. Arctic Loons are incredibly rare in the lower
forty-eight (typically along the west coast) and apparently rare in
Alaska. This is a species I did not see
on my two adventures to Alaska and I thought I would never have a chance unless
I returned to Alaska. The Rufous-necked Wood-Rail was a species I had barely heard of and never
dreamed of seeing unless I birded Central America. The Wood-Rail was discover at Bosque del Apache NWR on 7 July 2013. Bosque was a mere five hours away. The closest known location for this species
previously was south Sinaloa, Mexico.
I meet Ed Wetzel on Thursday 6/20/2013 night at 10:45
and by 11:15 we were driving through Tucson on our way to Los Angeles. Ed had come to Tucson to see the
Buff-collared Nightjar and hoped to find a Plain-capped Starthroat. Hours before Ed boarded a plane in Dallas, we
decided we would drive the seven hours to see an Arctic Loon and then drive
back in time for me to guide a client for the nightjar Friday evening. The drive back and forth from LA was
uneventful except for the traffic delay on I-10 east of Palm Springs where a
semi-trailer had overturned. We arrived
at Frank G. Benelli Region Park at 06:39 and within three minutes were looking
at the Arctic Loon in the scope. We
could have jumped back into Ed’s rental car and started the long drive back to
Tucson. Sore butts and the need to stretch
our legs kept us at the park for more than an hour. We watched the loon and birded the immediate
vicinity. I of course expended most of
my energy trying to photograph the loon.
A few other interesting birds for us included: a Ross’s Goose flying
with a flock of Canadas, a single Nuttall’s Woodpecker, and heard only Wrentits
& California Thrashers.
Arctic Loon - 6/21/2013 Frank G. Benelli Region Park, Los Angeles Co., CA
On Sunday 7/7/2013, a Rufous-necked Wood-Rail was
discovered at Bosque del Apache NWR and reported to the AZ/NM Listserve by way
of the ABA Rare Bird Alert Facebook page.
The Wood-Rail was seen again on the 8th and that evening I
text-messaged Andrew to see if he wanted to go chase. It turned out that Andrew was on his way to
Colorado, stopped at Bosque to see the bird, and replied to my text just after
seeing the Wood-Rail. Being that this
was a bit far for me to try alone, I put the idea of seeing the Wood-Rail to
the side. On the evening of the 9th,
Molly Pollock asked if I was willing to chase the Wood-Rail on Thursday or
Friday if it was reported again on Wednesday. The Wood-Rail was seen again on Wednesday and Molly & I met at
4am Thursday to begin the quest. After a very
non-eventful, full of nice conversation, 4 hour 22 minute drive Molly and I
arrive at the Marsh Overlook Trail at Bosque del Apache. We step out on the boardwalk, ask the first
person we approach about the Wood-Rail.
He began to say something about it just being across the way when he says
“there it is”. We watch it walk along
the mud between the cattails and water, I take several images and we could have
left in less than a few minutes. We both
decided to hang around for at least a few more minutes, I wanted some better
more close photos and Molly had seen some people she wanted to say hi to. We stayed at the Marsh Overlook Trail for 35
minutes, completed the Marsh Loop drive and were again on the road.
Rufous-necked Wood-Rail - 7/11/2013 Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro Co., NM
<see a few other images on my Flicker site>
Within three weeks I have chased and “easily” seen & photographed two very rare birds for North America. I don’t like gambling but the odds have been
working in my favor recently, maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket.
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