Birding is a very diverse activity, and birding is what you make of it; plus it varies personally as to how you emphasize the aspects of birding you enjoy most. During this premier period of songbird migration, we encourage you to step beyond your yard and take a walk in the woods – a wooded city park, a local grove, or along an area trail. At the same time, there is a great opportunity coming up on Friday to join a "Walk in the Woods" presentation being conducted live online at 2:00pm EDT (11:00 am PDT).
During this year's Global Big Day, May 9th turned out to be another exceptional record-breaking celebration of spring among birders! Although the final count is not yet complete, as of Tuesday afternoon as we went to press, no less than 8,043 different species of birds were reported worldwide on eBird! As usual, Colombian birders led the species counts with 1,568, and American birders recorded 745 species, which ranks 11th among the 203 nations and regions with reporting birders. Canadian birders were 24th in total species recorded with 409 species, but ranked second in numbers of birders participating, with American birders ranked first in participants.
Most Birding Festivals held across the United States and Canada have a long and successful track record, with some continuing for more than 2 decades and a few prospering more than 4 decades! Each year, new communities and interested groups continue to start their own Birding Festivals to serve local and state birders, while also engaging the community. It seems that birding fests are destined to grow year after year with local citizens, businesses, and wildlife groups finding a sense of community in the events, while visiting birders generate impressive economic benefits.
Last Wednesday through Saturday were especially impressive days for finding a variety of first of spring species, starting with 36 American Golden Plovers, a Red-headed Woodpecker, and a flock of Cliff Swallows. Thursday's new sightings were 3 Ruddy Turnstones, 3 flocks of Black Terns, 4 male Bobolinks, 2 Eastern Kingbirds, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, and the first Sanderling. New species in Melody's Grove Friday morning included Baltimore Orioles, Warbling Vireos, Gray Catbirds, Western Kingbirds, Eastern Kingbirds, and the second-ever Yellow-breasted Chat I have ever seen in North Dakota!
When it's time to add a spotting scope to your trusted choices of birding equipment, the exceptional new Leica Televid HD Spotting Scopes deliver the world's best level of brightness in their class, provide outstanding image quality and the best natural colors. The new Leica HDs include 2 inspiring models: A full-sized Televid HD Spotting Scope with an 82mm objective lens, or if you prefer a compact model, the Televid HD with a 65mm objective lens is for you. You can select the new Leica models as a Kit with the body and eyepiece combination of your choice.
With Memorial Day Weekend coming up, check in with L.L. Bean for outdoor clothing and footwear, as well as camping equipment and other options for women, men, and children. Find clothing and equipment that reflects your personal birding style, or create one at L.L. Bean online or at a store near you. Birders will also be thrilled to access the helpful L.L. Bean "introduction to birding" site, where anyone can pick up some useful tips about equipment, birding techniques, and getting involved in the birding community. It's almost summertime; are you ready?
If one jelly cup isn't enough for the orioles that have found your jelly feeder, the inexpensive Clear Dome Baffle Oriole Jelly Feeder from Heath Outdoor Products provides the option to fill 4 glass cups with jelly and spike a sliced half-orange to the base of the hanger to attract a variety of orioles, tanagers, and thrushes (including robins and catbirds), plus House Finches. The large clear dome's height is adjustable, so it not only protects the feeder from rain and weather, but the dome also helps deter ants and small mammals from reaching the feeder.
During this period of May, it’s especially important to devote as much time to checking on local hotspots for new arrivals, especially birds that may only stop for a couple hours – if that – during their extensive spring migration that may have been initiated in the most southern nations of South America. Spending time at a shallow marsh with a bare shoreline, you may be surprised to see how some birds may make only a 15-minute visit to drink and possibly bathe after feeding in on bugs and worms in nearby field. And any day, any moment can suddenly reveal a rare or sought-after species that was far from your wildest thoughts, until – bam – a flock of Black-bellied Plovers stand before you! And that’s exactly what happened as I began my Saturday afternoon birding drive.
A flock of 22 Black-bellied Plovers were a welcome Saturday surprise that completed the Big 5. Whenever photographing flocks of birds, it's best to try to keep as many in sharp focus. Therefore, with ample sunlight I dialed an expanded f-14 aperture that still provided plenty of shutter speed to photograph the resting plovers (600mm zoom lens, f-14 aperture, 1/1250 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
After urning east along a little used gravel road 4 miles south of my office, about a quarter-mile in front of me I could see a flock of birds standing in a line that spanned the road from north to south. Gulls and terns often loaf on this road that bisects a large marsh, and considering the size and black head and underside of the birds at a distance, they initially looked like Black Terns. But as I approached the flock I realized they were plovers, and a quick look through binoculars provided their true identity: Black-bellied Plovers! I have only seen this species in full alternate plumage 3 times before in Dakota, so this was an especially surprising and eventful sighting. In fact, the first time I sighted Black-bellied Plovers was in this very spot when I found 2 adults, which made this encounter all the more unlikely – but there they were, not 2, but 22 Black-bellied Plovers!
While they were in resting and even sleeping mode, the Black-bellied Plovers attracted a variety of other shorebirds, primarily sandpipers; but the 2 Ruddy Turnstones were with the plovers throughout the thrilling photo session (600mm zoom lens, f-14 aperture, 1/1000 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
Black-bellied Plovers made my “quintfecta” complete for this spring, having seen all 5 of the rarest Arctic-nesting shorebirds I’ve ever encountered during spring migration – American Golden Plovers (Wednesday) with 4 Ruddy Turnstones, and 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper; 2 Hudsonian Godwits (Friday), plus 28 Ruddy Turnstones (3 groups) and 22 Black-bellied Plovers (Saturday)! Last year was my first year of finding and photographing the Big 5 of distinguished shorebirds, and it was my first spring to see American Golden Plovers during spring migration Similarly, it is only the third spring to see the other 4 species (not during consecutive years). Hence, each of these Arctic-nesting shorebirds is especially rare during certain flocks’ brief migration stopovers.
Sometimes a good portrait, especially a sharp one, is worth a hundred words and a warm feeling in your birding heart that the bird was trusting enough to walk in your direction and leave you with a lasting impression (600mm zoom lens, f-14 aperture, 1/800 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
Among the gathering of resting Black-bellied Plovers were 2 Ruddy Turnstones and 9 Long-billed Dowitchers. Intent on hoping to photograph the plovers, I could see they were noticeably tired and some slept for periods as I moved my mobile blind (car) ever closer. Actually, I stopped for a few minutes to photograph, then pulled ahead a few more feet to let them get used to the white car. Eventually I could photograph them at relatively close quarters in the best light of the day (now about 5:30pm at this latitude). The turnstones on the other hand were actively foraging for newly hatched flying insects along the road and meandered around the resting plovers in the process. Other flocks of shorebirds flew in and out of the assemblage including 16 White-rumped Sandpipers and a few Baird’s Sandpipers that were also headed for the Arctic.
In contrast to the above Ruddy Turnstone portrait, this lakeshore image shows a little action in a more likely habitat to encounter feeding turnstones with other species of shorebirds (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1000 shutter speed, 1600 ISO).
Back to Ruddy Turnstones, that morning I photographed a surprising flock of Ruddys on the narrow sandy beach on the southeast corner of Carlson Lake, about 6 miles north of the office. As I photographed the turnstones as they foraged among many Sanderlings, their numbers changed and steadily increased – from 5 originally to 10, to 15 and eventually I made a high count of 21. Photographing them was great fun and it was hard to break away after a half-hour. I also managed to get some nice flight photos of mixed flocks as the 2 species periodically took flight for no apparent reason, as flocks of shorebirds tend to do.
Obviously, the flock of American Golden Plovers was the most wary of the Big 5 species encountered, but they still provided a nice image that shows 3 plovers in stages of molting (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
Carlson Lake also hosted the first of the big plovers to appear last week: I thought I saw the silhouette of a medium-sized plover as I passed along the east side of Carlson Lake on my way to Fargo last Wednesday morning. I questioned turning around, but did, and when I passed by again I saw 3 plovers that turned out to be 3 American Golden Plovers! As I approached the birds a small flock of 6 more Goldens was assembled nearby along the rocky shoreline – how exciting! I pulled onto the shoulder, parked, and walked toward the shore, where I realized there were many more plovers that expected, 36 in all, and they were alerted.
Even so, the exquisite Golden Plovers permitted me to take quite a few photos from a distance, and I extended the area that would be in focus by changing the aperture setting to f-11 before the Goldens repositioned downshore. That move prompted me to return to my drive and leave the rarely encountered shorebirds during their migration stop between their wintering range in southeast South America to some part of their Arctic nesting range that extends from northern Canada to northwest Alaska. I sure hope to see more, but I’ve only seen them during 1 spring migration before – last spring.
It's always a thrill to see and photograph Hudsonian Godwits. Each of the 2 pairs of Hudsonians observed to date have been in similar stages of molt and were feeding furaciously in deeper water than usual (600mm zoom lens, f-10 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
I was especially happy to be photographing a variety of shorebirds late Friday afternoon, starting with a pair of Hudsonian Godwits, and I repositioned forward only to see the first trio of Ruddy Turnstones was positioned near the extended shoulder of the road. During that photo session, a sudden sighting of a distant Buff-breasted Sandpiper excited me as it made its way along the opposite shore of Bobby’s Bay, 2 miles north of my office. At one point I saw the rarely encountered shorebird stand high and cup its wings forward, a classic display of Buff-breasted Sandpipers, although it was mostly facing away from my position.
The rare chance to photograph a Buff-breasted Sandpiper during its brief migration stop was a highlight in the midst of a week of birding highlights (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
As it reached the closest point across the Bay, the lone male Buff waded into the water and began an extended bathing session complete with 2 wing-flapping actions to clear water from its plumage. The wing flaps provided a couple interesting photos that show the Buff raise above the water surface. There is something about Buff-breasted Sandpipers that is especially attractive to me (and many other birders), probably because of their interesting displays that are most inspired when in the company of females.
Rising out of the water while flapping after bathing, the lone Buff-breasted Sandpiper sighted so far provided some nice long-range photos that were cropped to increase the magnification of the bird (600mm zoom lens, f-10 aperture, 1/1250 shutter speed, 400 ISO).
It is still early in the period when Arctic-nesting shorebirds , including the 5 species that appeared during the 4 days described last week, so I’m hoping this string of sightings and photo opportunities continues, including much better (closer) photo ops of Buff-breasted Sandpipers. I should have 2 weeks to relish any other chances to photograph the Big 5: American Golden Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, Hudsonian Godwits, Ruddy Turnstones, and Buff-breasted Sandpipers!
