Desert Harrier Down Under

Louise and I have just returned from wonderful three-week trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Though this was not solely a birding trip, I did plan much of the route and destinations with bird watching in mind.  The following is the first of several posts describing this adventure from the standpoint of bird watching. Enjoy!

November 9, 2013 Saturday: Louise and I leave Tucson just after sunset. We are chasing the red glow to the west in a jet aircraft that appears to be designed for hobbits.  We have just embarked on an adventure we had been planning to take for several years.  After a short flight to and a long layover in LA we catch an overnight flight to Australia.  We leave LA just before midnight Saturday and arrive in Brisbane 8:00 Monday morning. This week we have no Sunday. Thinking about the time zone changes, crossing the International Date Line, and a fourteen-hour flight will make one batty or in my case crazy as a Laughing Kookaburra.

Our aircraft for the long flight.

November 10, 2013 Sunday: For Louise and I this day did not exist!

November 11, 2013 Monday: Louise and I arrive in Brisbane approximately on time, clear customs (long wait), find our luggage, and clear customs again.  I read that there would be Mangrove Honeyeaters feeding on the flowers at the Brisbane Airport. There well may be, they must have been at some other flowers since I did not see them while we waited for the Apex Car Rental transport to pick us up.  While sitting in the back of the Apex van, traveling at amazing speeds through a very urban section of Brisbane, I do spy my first birds for Australia; pigeons or doves, starlings, house sparrows, a large shorebird that I later identify (and see better) as a Masked Lapwing, and an Australian Magpie.  The attendant at Apex was unsuccessful in getting us pointed in the right direction for a natural food store. I drove and Louise held on tightly as I got acquainted with driving on the wrong side of the road. After a good forty minutes of searching for any kind of grocery store, I decide to get out of the city.  Urban driving is no way to learn to drive on the left.  

I had two objectives before we head north; one to get some groceries and the other take a walk after being trapped on a plane for so long.  So far no grocery store, however upon reaching more open parkway type road we come upon Boondall Wetlands. In my research I found this sanctuary and thought it would be a good place to stretch our legs and hopefully see some birds.  Three very nice ladies in the visitor center help to find a service center along the highway where Louise and I get lunch and some supplies.

Near the highway service center, we find a small lake covered with birds. Nudgee Waterhole turns out to be an eBird hotspot.  This becomes my first non-incidental birding in Australia. Most of the birds are Dusky Moorhens, Australian Ibis, and Pacific Black Ducks and all the birds were “lifers”. [eBird checklist]

Australasian Grebe at Nudgee Waterhole

After leaving the Nudgee Waterhole and as a result of a wrong turn (there were many of these) Louise and I drive out to Nudgee Beach Reserve.  Here we find a walk out through the mangroves.  The first bird I see is a White-faced Heron and the first bird I am learning the calls of is the Noisy Miner.  As I approach the heron, a Little Egret and then an Intermediate Egret distract me.  The Little Egret is very much like the North American Snowy Egret and the Intermediate Egret appeared slightly larger with a yellow-orange bill. Much of this trail is a boardwalk through and along the edge of the mangroves. While unfamiliar bird noises are frequent, sightings of these birds are not. The frustration of hearing so many unfamiliar calls but not seeing them is tempered by the thrill of finally seeing a new species of bird.  Totally unexpected while walking along the edge of a mangrove swamp was a shearwater floating in the bordering creek.  At first I thought it was a jaeger but after closer examination it was a shearwater [likely Short-tailed Shearwater].  I snapped a couple of pictures of the bird as it drifted up stream on the incoming tidal current while facing out towards open water. It looked like it was swimming backwards.  Where this creek opened up into a bay, there were a few Whimbrel, two Caspian Terns, and many Bar-tailed Godwits.  Wow, that’s three species I’ve seen before in North America.  Also present were numerous Silver Gulls. 

Little Pied Cormorant at Nudgee Beach Reserve

I had loosely picked three species of birds I wanted most of all to see in Australia: the Rainbow Bee-eater because it is so photogenic, the Willie-wagtail because of its cool name, and the Laughing Kookaburra because it is such a cool bird.   We come around bend in the trail where the mangroves open up into a sandy grassy clearing; I hear another new bird calling from a lone bush.  I am thinking I should be able to see this bird, one bush one bird.  I glance down at the sign next to me, Bee-eater territory.  Oh, maybe that’s what’s making the calls.  There it is, it appears on a snag above the lone bush and then flies down to the ground and disappears behind the clump of grass.  I’m thinking it will reappear shortly, picking up an insect or something.  Must be one tough insect to catch. 

After more than a minute, it reappears flying off and disappears into the mangroves a hundred meters away.  What’s going on? I check the sign again and actually read it.  Rainbow Bee-eaters dig borrows for nesting.  A few minutes later as we are approaching the car park, Australian for parking lot, I spot a Willie-wagtail.  Willie is bouncing around the top of a fence, not only does it wag its tail it wags its entire body.  This behavior proves to be a good way to quickly identify.  And locals refer to this behavior as “cheeky”.  [eBird checklist] 

Eventually we get back to Boondall Wetlands to walk some of the trails around the visitor center.  As we are driving into the car park, Louise sees several “wrens” along side the roadway.  After parking I run back to look for what she saw.  There are no true wrens in Australia but many species behave like wrens and cock their tails.  The first bird I see reminds me of a Rufous-winged Sparrow perched up on a fence.  Not wren-like in anyway and not like anything I remember in the field guide.  So I quickly snap a couple of images before it drops from view into the tall grassy area below.  Then the Fairy-wrens appear.  There’s two of them, then there’s six, no just three, maybe twelve, … I ultimately settle on at least six.  There are two males and at least four female/ immature.  I watch one of the females feeding a nearly identical plumaged immature.  The Superb Fairy-wrens are darting about the grasses and bushes, still only for a split second.  I manage a few acceptable photographs before the group moves off.

Pale-headed Rosella at Boondall Wetlands

As Louise and I walk back towards the short trail we plan to walk, an Australian Magpie and two Magpie-larks are harassing a Torresian Crow. Out on the trail we find a Fan-tailed Cuckoo, a few Gray Butcherbirds, and several Pale-headed Rosellas.  Since we wish to get to our lodging for the night before sunset, we turn back after a few hundred meters.  Then we see it, a large bird with a grotesquely large bill and oversized head.  It’s a Laughing Kookaburra.  Louise is the first to spot the Kookaburra.  Which is quite appropriate since she has wanted to sing to me the Kookaburra song since she learned we might see them in Australia.  I told her she’d have to wait until we actually found one.  While I happily listen to Louise singing, she spots more great birds, a family of Tawny Frogmouths.  I had not expected to see these birds sitting out on an open branch in the middle of the day.  These are nocturnal birds, related to nightjars.  While I am taking way too many pictures of these “so ugly they’re cute” adult female & two juveniles I spot the adult male perched in a tree about five meters away.  I rush to the visitor center to tell the nice ladies about our exciting find.  Though they know about the Frogmouth family, two of them are kind enough to come out and talk to us about them. This Frogmouth family nested a few meters from where the male was perched almost directly over the trail.  The ladies stated that the female and two young ones had moved several meters since they saw them earlier in the day.  I wish we could spend more time here, which is a wish I will frequently have throughout this adventure. [eBird checklist]

Laughing Kookaburra

Tawny Frogmouth - mom & youngsters

The drive to Rainbow Beach would have been uneventful if not for learning how to trust the navigation set and driving on the wrong side of the road at highway speeds. I managed to see a group of Black Kites soaring over the highway and one Australian Kestrel perched atop a bush.  We arrive at Debbie’s Place, our lodging for the night at sunset.  There are hundreds if not thousands of noisy Rainbow Lorikeets going to roost in trees across the street.  I hope to wake up early tomorrow and get some photographs of them before they leave.  We finish the day with dinner at a little Indian restaurant.

Blue-faced Honeyeater at Rainbow Beach

November 12, 2013 Tuesday: I get up too late to catch the lorikeets before they leave the roost.  Apparently the Lorikeets disperse for feeding prior to sunrise.  I walk around the block and nearby neighborhood. A few of the Rainbow Lorikeets are feeding in fruiting tree throughout the neighborhood, as well as a couple of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and at least one each Cockatiel, Crimson Rosella, and Eastern Rosella.  A small town park across the street from our lodging has many fruiting trees and bushes.  Feeding on the fruit and flitting around the bushes are Little Wattlebirds, Noisy Friarbirds, Lewin’s & Blue-faced Honeyeaters, and Australasian Figbirds. Foraging between the bushes and in more open areas are Magpie-larks and a pair of territorial Masked Lapwings.  Flying with the Welcome Swallows is at least one Eurasian Barn Swallow.  This Barn Swallow is apparently the same species that we have in North America and is very similar to the Welcome Swallow.  The Barn Swallow has a blackish breast band below the dark rusty throat, whitish under-parts including the under-wing coverts whereas the Welcome Swallow lacks the breast band and appears dirty grayish below.  Also hawking insects were several Fairy and Tree Martins. [eBird checklist].

Our host Debbie suggests we take the walk out to the "sandblow" before we leave town. She says this is a very scenic spot where one may see the rainbow-colored sands that give the area its name.  Even though this was a walk for scenery, I took advantage of the situation and birded.  Upon getting out of the car I learned where many of the Rainbow Lorikeet forage for the day.  The canopy of the Eucalyptus forest was full Rainbow Lorikeets with a scattering of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets.  I never saw the Scaly-breasted Lorikeets perched, just flying past.  The 600-meter walk out to the sandblow is through a Eucalyptus forest.  I find several Noisy Friarbirds, one of which is very cooperative from the photographic standpoints.  Noisy Friarbirds look like miniature vultures with the head and neck un-feathered & black. I also find a flock, probably a family, of Brown Gerygones, as well as a male Variegated Fairy-wren and a female Scarlet Honeyeater. Louise and I both hear rustling in the undergrowth.  It sounds like a larger creature and I begin thinking about a Brush-turkey. I’ll have to wait a few more hours for the Brush-turkey.  Louise finds the source of the rustling. It is a Goanna. Goannas are very large lizards and this one is huge by my standards.

Cockatoo upside-down

From out on the sandblow, between glimpses at the vista, I catch a view of an Eastern Spinebill and watch a calling Sulphur-crested Cockatoo fly back & forth across the open sand.  I am not sure what the Cockatoo was doing but I took the opportunity to take a few distant flight shoots of the bird.  While reviewing my photographs at home a few weeks later I find in one of the shoots the Cockatoo is flying upside-down.  How strange! [eBird checklist]

Our next stop is Inskip Point, which is about 20 minutes north of the Rainbow Beach and is a local birding hotspot for Black-bellied Buttonquail.  Bottonquail create shallow circular depressions in the in the leaf litter called platelets.  While we find plenty of platelets indicating the presence of Buttonquail, we do not see any.  We do see many other birds and have a great time walking through the forest and along the beach.  Louise & I walk and bird for two & half hours. Birding get more fun as both of us get more familiar with many of the more common species like Lewin’s Honeyeater, Olive-backed Oriole, and Australian Figbird.  Louise finds another Goanna, this one is huge at about two meters long. 

Though they look rather threatening we learn from a local ranger that unless the Goanna is cornered it is rather harmless and afraid of humans. We find Bar-shouldered Doves taking dust baths and sunning.  A female Leaden Flycatcher appears to be tending a young in her nest.  There are several family groups of Silver-eyes with the adults feeding their fledgling young.  Louise is the first to recognize the call of an Eastern Whipbird.  I see and manage a poor photograph of the male.  We find a Rufous Whistler and the first of many Eastern Yellow Robins.  In quick succession we find three birds that I am clueless to their identity.  I record verbal notes with Louise’s input and photograph them.  Later I learn that we had seen Brown Thornbill, Rufous Shrike-thrush, and Varied Triller.  A Rainbow Bee-eater poses for photographs in the same dead snag that a

Rainbow Bee-eater at Inskip Point

pair of White-breasted Woodswallow is allopreening. Out on a mudflat I see more Whimbrel, a Far Eastern Curlew, Red-neck Stints, Lesser Sand Plovers, and a pair of Red-capped Plovers.  In the distance I see gulls and terns that I leave unidentified.  We walk out on to the sandy beach and approach several of the gulls. Identification of the gulls is easy; red bill, legs, & orbital ring, white eyes with black iris, pale silvery gray mantle. These are Silver Gulls, one of only three gull species regularly occurring in Australia.  The other two species are larger and dark mantled. Before we get back to the car, we notice several small birds very actively flitting through the brush.  They turn out to be a pair of Red-backed Fairy-wrens.  While I am attempting to photograph the Fairy-wrens I find that there is a different species in the viewfinder.  Now I’m photographing a White-browned Scrubwren.  I leave the Scrubwren and cannot re-find the Fairy-wrens so turn back to head for the car. 

White-breasted Woodswallows

There’s a pair of Bee-eaters in my way and they alternate taking food to a nest borrow.  I photograph them from a distance that they seemed comfortable continuing to service their unseen young.  Their borrow entrance was about a meter from the edge of a road. Before we get a kilometer down the down we see a Willie-wagtail foraging along roadside.  Not satisfied with my previous photo opportunities I take many photographs of this wonderful bird as it dances around catching insects. [eBird checklist]

Before we start traveling to our destination for the evening, we stop for another walk.  I had researched several more places to bird watch in the Rainbow Beach area.  One of them, the Bymien Picnic Area trek to Poona Lake, seemed most interesting and doable with the little spare time we had.  This is a trek (Australian for a walk or hike) through coastal rainforest. We were greeting at the trailhead by several Australian Brush-turkey.  The thick undergrowth, closed canopy, and darkness of this forest sharply contrasts the forest we had just walked through at Inskip Point.  We hike for nearly two hours, hearing many birds but seeing very few.  We catch views of Pale-yellow & Eastern Yellow Robins, and a tail wagging bird that we identify from our notes and poor photographs as a Rufous Wagtail.  We hear but do not see Eastern Whipbird and Wompoo Fruit-Dove as well as many sounds that will forever be left unidentified.  There was one particularly annoying call that taunted us for the longest time.  We finally see the source of the noise, our first Green Catbird. [eBird checklist]

Australian Brush-turkey checking our tire pressure

The time has come for us to get on the road and head towards our lodging for the night, O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat about five hours away.  Like our previous stops near Boondall Wetlands, I wish we could spend more time in this area. More of my photos are being uploaded to my Australia Set on Flicker

Eared Quetzal in Madera Canyon

Thursday 11/7/2013:  It was six years, one week, and two days ago, that is 28 Oct 2007, that I found an Eared Quetzal on the Agua Caliente Trail in upper Madera Canyon.  Louise and I were hiking, enjoying the beautiful autumn afternoon, and not really birding when I began hearing a unfamiliar bird call.  After tracking the call down and getting a brief look at the bird, I determined it was an Eared Quetzal.  This was a significant day from a number of standpoints: personally, professionally, and for the birding community.  Though I had lived in Arizona for more than 8 years at this time, I was not part of the local birding community.  Up until this time I did not report any of my sightings, did not attend field trip, or participate on counts.  From a professional standpoint, during the following days the seed of becoming a birding guide was sowed.  And for the birding community, the “Patagonia Roadside Table Effect” occurred where birders searching for one rare species find more rare species. In a few days following my original quetzal observation a Crescent-chested Warbler and an Aztec Thrush were discovered.  Not to mention a few more observations of the quetzal.

Each fall since, in late October through November, I have made a point of searching the upper reaches of Madera Canyon for Eared Quetzal. Today was one of the days; I was hunting quetzal.  My intension was to checkout a couple of the Arizona Madrones trees that were full of berries along the Carrie Nation Trail.  The first such Madrone is just below the first stream crossing.  Last year it was host to a Varied Thrush.  This morning it was host to several American Robins and Hermit Thrush as well as a Red-shafted Flicker.  I continued my trek up the trail, past the second & third stream crossing, heading to a group of Madrones that were full of fruit last week and hosting a good number of birds.  Likewise this morning, however the quetzal I had dreamed about being there was not.  I watched these trees for thirty minutes or so, two male & a female Williamson’s Sapsuckers and my second Townsend’s Solitaire were probably the best birds among a few American Robins, several Red-naped Sapsuckers, and many Hermit Thrushes.  I continue up the trail enjoying the wonderful weather, the falling leaves, and my favorite view along this trail.  My mind begins to wander from my quetzal search; I begin thinking about an up coming trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Before my mind get anywhere near the land-down-under, I hear “kwreeee chunk” call behind me.  I turned around without seeing anything until I hear it again (2-3 seconds between calls).  Through a few twigs I got an obscured binocular view for about three to five seconds of an Eared Quetzal.  As I start reaching for my camera it called again and flies up the slope directly away from me. Two Steller's Jays also took off at the same time and generally headed the same direction.  I was originally about 100 feet from the bird when I observed it and the bird was about 50 feet off the trail.  I head back down the trail in the direction of where the quetzal disappears.  I listen for any sounds that might reveal the quetzal’s new position. After about twenty seconds I hear another call, it sounds distant.  I am not prepared for an off-trail scramble, plus I am alone and no one knows that I am up here.  It is not a good idea and probably futile to pursue.  

The quetzal is definitely not an adult male, I believe it is an adult female based on the darkness of the hood.  Though my view was somewhat obscured I could clearly see the transition from the dark gray breast to red belly without a separating white band, the under tail appeared unmarked white, and the shape was all quetzal (small head, thick body, broad tapered to a rounded end tail). In flight directly away, it looked dark; dark gray head & neck, dark green back, & blackish-blue rump & upper tail.  Only saw the white in the tail briefly when it spread its tail in a slight bank turn.  Coordinates: 31d 41.966m, -110d 52.584m. 

I try to send a text message to Andrew Core. Even though my phone is showing several bars, the text fails to go through.  I try several more times from different spots along the trail, no luck.  I decide to finish the trek and linger in this area again on the way down. 

Above the entrance to the Carrie Nation Mine, an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk seemed to be on guard.  For a Sharpie it allowed a rather close approach and a fairly long period for photo opportunities.  To the bird’s credit, it was backlit and in the shadows. 

Heading down trail, which is easier for birding, I linger in the area of the previous quetzal sighting.  No sight or sound of my quarry.  I loiter around the group of fruiting Madrones; many other birds but no quetzal.  I notice the time and remember that I have quite a few things to do before my departure in a few days.  I expedite my pace yet still enjoying what has turned out to be an especially wonderful day in Madera Canyon.

Back at the parking lot I get my message off to Andrew, only an hour and half after first trying.

Before leaving Madera Canyon, I stop at Madera Kubo briefly to check on a reported Blue-throated Hummingbird and at the Whitehouse Picnic Area for the Red-breasted Sapsucker.  No on the hummingbird, yes on the sapsucker.

SLATE-THROATED REDSTART - Yes Chase it!

7/24/2013 Wednesday:  I was spending a nice morning scouting Montosa and Madera Canyons for an upcoming client.  I heard and saw the Five-striped Sparrow in Montosa.  I saw the two Violet-crowned Hummingbirds at Madera Kubo however missed the suspected White-eared & Berylline Hummingbirds.  As I am walking from Madera Kubo back to my truck at the Amphitheater Parking Area I receive a message from Andrew, “STRE in Huachuca Cyn”.  Once I get out of the canyon I check email and find that Melody Kehl has reported a Slate-throated Redstart above the 1.7 mile parking area in Huachuca Canyon.  Andrew is not able to go, I have to decide whether I want to try on Thursday or head over immediately.  At 11:30 I turn right onto Box Canyon Road, every rabbit scatters and the dust cloud takes hours to settle. 

I arrive at the 1.7-mile picnic/parking area at 12:49 without speeding on any of the highways.  Mine is the only vehicle there, could I be the first to respond to the posting? I hike up the streambed and the jeep trail looking for the dam referenced in the report.  I have been to the dam before but do not remember exactly where it is.  I pass several trogons, two families actually, that had I taken a little time I could have had some neat photographs.  But there is something else destined to be photographed today.  At 0.6 mile above where I parked, I find another vehicle parked in a second turnaround parking area.  There Arlene & Doug Ripley are also searching for the Slate-throated Redstart.  Arlene informs me that we are not the first responders; a bunch of birders has already come and gone.  She also tells me about a bear attacking someone’s vehicle back where I have parked.  Nothing I can do about it now.  Arlene and I walk up the north side of the creek bed while Doug travels within the creek bed.  Upon reaching a second small dam Arlene spots a redstart foraging directly over my head.  I look up and through my binoculars witness the tail fanned with the pattern of the Slate-throated Redstart.  I try to raise the camera when it flies and then lands on the trunk of a Sycamore.  I snap off a half dozen images and it flies again.  All three of us get wonderful looks at the celebrated bird. We follow it for the next eight to ten minutes, watching and photographing it.  Then it disappears.  We probably could have re-found it had we not began chatting and simply felt very satisfied.  Doug & Arlene leave and I casually resume searching for the bird for several minutes.  I notice I have internet access so I post to the listserve and then begin the walk back down to my truck.  My head is in the clouds.  As I walk down the canyon, I hear trogons calling but do not give them much attention.  I watch a butterfly that seems to be leading me down the trail.  I try taking a few pictures of this yet to be identified butterfly, but again my thoughts are on the Slate-throated Redstart.  Another totally unexpected lifer that I missed a few months ago, my last North American Wood-warbler until we discover another one north of the border, and a really special bird.

Slate-throated Redstart - 7/24/2013 Huachuca Canyon, Cochise County, AZ

A few more images are posted at my Flicker site http://www.flickr.com/photos/64340965@N07/.

A Nightjar Family

Thursday 7/18/2013: This evening I headed back up to Proctor Road determined to see if the Buff-collared Nightjars has fledged young from the suspected nest site I had been watching for several weeks. On Monday night I had been to the spot with a client; we briefly heard clucking from one individual and I heard the male sing a few rounds at 20:19 a few hundred yards down the wash.  My feelings were that if the adult pair was successful, the young had fledged and had left the immediate vicinity of the suspected nest site. So I went to the bushes where I suspected the nest to have been to look for any signs. I hoped for a feather, an eggshell, or some whitewash.  The sun dropped below the Sierrita Mountains to the west, the moon stayed behind clouds, and I listened for any signs of the nightjar.  At around 20:30 I begin making my way back to the truck, diverting towards but not reaching each Western Screech-Owls I heard. 

As I was putting my binoculars, camera, & recording equipment back into the truck, a Western Screech-Owl begins calling fairly close.  I grab my camera and start heading towards the little owl.  Only a few feet from the truck, I hear the male Buff-collared Nightjar singing from quite a distance (time=21:11), I’m guessing a few hundred yards.  I start heading towards the nightjar at a fairly quick pace.  The nightjar continues singing for perhaps a minute before going silent.  I continue heading in the same direction fortunately not finding too many obstructions.  I reach a point that I need some reaffirming audio before continuing.  Another Western Screech-Owl provided the audio. I continue on towards the owl and before I can get into a position to try for a visual on the owl I hear nightjar “chucking” calls and more than one.  I end up at the edge of a wash with two birds calling from up the wash, one from straight across the wash, and one across & down the wash (time=21:50).  I scan the flashlight back & forth hoping to catch eye-shine but bushes & small trees obscure any viewing.  These calls are the same calls I heard when I saw both the male & female nightjar “popcorning” near the suspected nest site two weeks ago. Several times one of the birds (the one down wash) did the intro/windup of the song but without the follow through of the full song.  Incredible, I have a family of Buff-collared Nightjars feeding virtually in front of me (and I can’t see a single one).  I attempt to record the calls with my iPhone but all I capture is the crickets, I left my shotgun microphone back in the truck. I listen and search for about ten minutes before deciding it is time to leave.  As I make my way back out, two Western Screech-Owls begin talking to one another.  One is in front of me.  This owl pretty much ignored me, kept calling to the other and searching for prey, while I took several pictures. 

Western Screech-Owl - seen and photographed after hearing the family of nightjars

For several weeks I have suspected that at least one of the pairs of nightjars was nesting.  Without a photograph of nestlings, fledglings, or eggs this will probably end up as a probable breeding in the official record books.  But in my mind, the pair of Nightjars I most frequently visited has fledged young.  Perhaps in the next couple of nights with a near full moon I’ll be able to see the family.  

To Chase or Not?

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 8^th 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 9^th, 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.