California and Arizona - February, 2011: part 8

February 19 and 20, 2011 - Los Angeles area
February 21 and 22, 2011 - San Diego and the Salton Sea
February 23, 2011 - Phoenix, Tucson, the Santa Cruz flats and Madera Canyon
February 24, 2011 - Madera Canyon, Patagonia, and the San Rafael Grasslands
February 25, 2011 - Cave Creek Canyon, Barfoot Canyon, drive to Ventura, CA
February 26, 2011 - Kern and Santa Barbara Counties, CA
February 27, 2011 - Santa Cruz Island
February 28, 2011 - Los Angeles, flight home

February 28
Unfortunately this was our last morning in southern California before flying back to cold and snowy Ontario. We had several options of what to do, but it essentially boiled down to two target species: Try again for the California Gnatcatchers which we still hadn't seen, or try to find the Spotted Doves in downtown L.A. Since we were a little short on time, the doves seemed the best option.

After a harrowing rush hour drive into Los Angeles, we finally arrived near Huntington Park. I think it took about 2 minutes before we laid eyes on one of the introduced doves.

Spotted Dove - Los Angeles

This ended up being our only new trip bird for the day since we needed to get for our flight. It was a fantastic trip, and here is a species list.

1                    Greater White-fronted Goose

2                    Snow Goose

3                    Ross's Goose

4                    Brant

5                    Canada Goose      

6                    Gadwall    

7                    American Wigeon 

8                    Mallard     

9                    Blue-winged Teal

10                Cinnamon Teal

11                Northern Shoveler

12                Northern Pintail    

13                Green-winged Teal

14                Canvasback

15                Redhead

16                Ring-necked Duck

17                Greater Scaup

18                Lesser Scaup

19                Surf Scoter

20                Bufflehead

21                Common Goldeneye

22                Red-breasted Merganser

23                Common Merganser

24                Ruddy Duck

25                California Quail

26                Gambel's Quail

27                Scaled Quail

28                Red-throated Loon

29                Pacific Loon

30                Common Loon

31                Least Grebe

32                Pied-billed Grebe

33                Red-necked Grebe

34                Eared Grebe

35                Western Grebe

36                Clark's Grebe

37                Lesser Flamingo (not actually countable)

38                Brandt's Cormorant

39                Double-crested Cormorant

40                Pelagic Cormorant

41                American White Pelican

42                Brown Pelican

43                American Bittern

44                Great Blue Heron

45                Great Egret

46                Snowy Egret

47                Cattle Egret           

48                White-faced Ibis   

49                Black Vulture

50                Turkey Vulture     

51                Osprey

52                White-tailed Kite

53                Northern Harrier

54                Cooper's Hawk

55                Sharp-shinned Hawk

56                Bald Eagle

57                Red-shouldered Hawk

58                Red-tailed Hawk

59                Ferruginous Hawk

60                Clapper Rail

61                Sora

62                Common Gallinule

63                American Coot

64                Sandhill Crane

65                Black-bellied Plover

66                Pacific Golden-Plover

67                Snowy Plover

68                Killdeer

69                Black Oystercatcher

70                Black-necked Stilt

71                American Avocet

72                Spotted Sandpiper

73                Wandering Tattler

74                Greater Yellowlegs

75                Willet

76                Lesser Yellowlegs

77                Whimbrel

78                Long-billed Curlew

79                Marbled Godwit

80                Ruddy Turnstone

81                Black Turnstone   

82                Surfbird

83                Sanderling

84                Western Sandpiper

85                Least Sandpiper    

86                Dunlin

87                Stilt Sandpiper

88                Short-billed Dowitcher

89                Long-billed Dowitcher

90                Wilson's Snipe

91                Bonaparte's Gull

92                Heermann's Gull

93                Mew Gull

94                Ring-billed Gull

95                Western Gull

96                Yellow-footed Gull

97                California Gull

98                Herring Gull

99                Thayer's Gull

100            Glaucous-winged Gull

101            Caspian Tern

102            Forster's Tern

103            Royal Tern

104            Black Skimmer

105            Pomarine Jaeger

106            Parasitic Jaeger

107            Common Murre    

108            Pigeon Guillemot  

109            Scripps's Murrelet 

110            Ancient Murrelet   

111            Cassin's Auklet     

112            Rhinoceros Auklet

113            Rock Pigeon

114            Band-tailed Pigeon

115            Eurasian Collared-Dove

116            Spotted Dove        

117            White-winged Dove          

118            Mourning Dove

119            Inca Dove

120            Common Ground-Dove

121            Greater Roadrunner

122            Barn Owl

123            Whiskered Screech-Owl

124            Western Screech-Owl

125            Burrowing Owl

126            Short-eared Owl

127            Common Poorwill 

128            White-throated Swift         

129            Anna's Hummingbird        

130            Costa’s Hummingbird

131            Allen's Hummingbird        

132            Rufous Hummingbird

133            Belted Kingfisher  

134            Acorn Woodpecker          

135            Gila Woodpecker

136            Red-naped Sapsucker

137            Red-breasted Sapsucker

138            Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

139            Ladder-backed Woodpecker

140            Nuttall's Woodpecker

141            Hairy Woodpecker

142            Downy Woodpecker

143            Arizona Woodpecker

144            Northern Flicker

145            American Kestrel

146            Merlin

147            Prairie Falcon

148            Peregrine Falcon

149            Hammond’s Flycatcher

150            Gray Flycatcher

151            Dusky Flycatcher

152            Pacific-slope Flycatcher

153            Black Phoebe

154            Say's Phoebe

155            Vermillion Flycatcher

156            Ash-throated Flycatcher

157            Cassin's Kingbird

158            Thick-billed Kingbird

159            Loggerhead Shrike

160            Cassin's Vireo

161            Plumbeous Vireo

162            Hutton's Vireo      

163            Steller's Jay           

164            Island Scrub-Jay   

165            Western Scrub-Jay

166            Mexican Jay

167            Yellow-billed Magpie       

168            American Crow

169            Chihuahuan Raven           

170            Common Raven

171            Horned Lark

172            Northern Rough-winged Swallow 

173            Tree Swallow        

174            Violet-green Swallow        

175            Barn Swallow

176            Cliff Swallow

177            Mexican Chickadee

178            Mountain Chickadee

179            Chestnut-backed Chickadee

180            Bridled Titmouse

181            Juniper Titmouse

182            Oak Titmouse

183            Verdin      

184            Bushtit      

185            White-breasted Nuthatch

186            Pygmy Nuthatch

187            Brown Creeper

188            Rock Wren

189            Canyon Wren

190            House Wren          

191            Winter Wren

192            Pacific Wren

193            Marsh Wren

194            Bewick's Wren

195            Cactus Wren

196            Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

197            Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

198            Golden-crowned Kinglet   

199            Ruby-crowned Kinglet      

200            Wrentit

201            Western Bluebird  

202            Mountain Bluebird

203            Hermit Thrush      

204            American Robin

205            Northern Mockingbird      

206            California Thrasher

207            Bendire’s Thrasher

208            Curve-billed Thrasher

209            Crissal Thrasher    

210            Le Conte's Thrasher          

211            European Starling 

212            American Pipit

213            Cedar Waxwing    

214            Phainopepla

215            Orange-crowned Warbler

216            Common Yellowthroat     

217            Yellow Warbler    

218            Pine Warbler

219            Yellow-rumped Warbler

220            Black-throated Gray Warbler

221            Green-tailed Towhee

222            Spotted Towhee    

223            Rufous-crowned Sparrow

224            California Towhee

225            Abert's Towhee

226            Chipping Sparrow

227            Brewer’s Sparrow

228            Black-chinned Sparrow    

229            Vesper Sparrow

230            Lark Sparrow        

231            Black-throated Sparrow

232            Sage Sparrow

233            Lark Bunting

234            Savannah Sparrow

235            Grasshopper Sparrow

236            Fox Sparrow

237            Song Sparrow

238            Lincoln's Sparrow 

239            White-crowned Sparrow   

240            Golden-crowned Sparrow 

241            Dark-eyed Junco

242            Yellow-eyed Junco

243            Hepatic Tanager

244            Northern Cardinal

245            Pyrrhuloxia

246            Lazuli Bunting      

247            Red-winged Blackbird      

248            Eastern Meadowlark

249            Western Meadowlark        

250            Yellow-headed Blackbird

251            Brewer's Blackbird           

252            Great-tailed Grackle          

253            Brown-headed Cowbird    

254            Purple Finch         

255            House Finch         

256            Red Crossbill        

257            Pine Siskin

258            Lesser Goldfinch  

259            American Goldfinch

260            House Sparrow      

The end of winter listing

Winter bird listing, or keeping track of all the birds seen between the dates of December 1 and February 28/29, has really caught on in Ontario and in some other Canadian provinces. This winter, I happened to get out a fair bit and my 2012-2013 Ontario winter list was getting up there, so a few weeks ago I decided that I would make a push to see how high I could get my list. The highest published single season winter list was the 163 that David Milsom managed to see in 2001-2002. There have been several birders who have since beat that record, but I'm not sure what the current record was.

Wednesday morning, I was sitting at 166 and there were a few species I still needed that were being reported. Cheryl Edgecombe emailed me saying that the long staying (but difficult to pin down) Eastern Phoebe was reported again two days ago, so I braved the slushy conditions and made the drive down to Burlington.

It only took about an hour of searching until I looked down at the creek, and there was the phoebe sitting on a snag above the water! I ended up watching it for about 10 minutes as it picked insects off of the surface of the water. A few Winter Wrens were singing already, and combined with the Song Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, and House Finches singing, it sounded like spring!

It was 3:40 PM, and I got the crazy idea to race over to Toronto and grab the Western Grebe that was being reported at Humber Bay Park West. I had already once tried for it earlier this year, on my way back from some work I had to do at the Royal Ontario Museum. I missed it then, but this time it was easy, even as the daylight began to fade. It was sleeping with a group of Long-tailed Ducks just offshore from the lighthouse. 168!

Western Grebe - Humber Bay Park, Toronto

A little closer...

Western Grebe - Humber Bay Park, Toronto

I was hoping to hit 170, and with one day left my options were limited. I still needed blackbirds: Common Grackle, and Rusty Blackbird. Chipping Sparrow had eluded my list, but a feeder in Delhi was reporting them. Ross's Goose was another hole, and there had been some near Rondeau. Other potential "longshot" species that were in various locations in Ontario included Boreal Owl, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Gray Catbird, Slaty-backed Gull, and Gyrfalcon.

I decided to meet up with Barb Charlton, who also wanted to finish strong on her winter list, and we set off to the Long Point area to hopefully add some species to our arbitary lists.

On our way to Delhi to look for the Chipping Sparrows, we stopped in a few spots to check bird feeders that we noticed from the road. While checking one feeder in Lynnville, I was surprised to see a Chipping Sparrow in a tree next to the house! A second Chipper joined it - that was easy!

Chipping Sparrow - Lynnville

Chipping Sparrows- Lynnville

Just like that, I was up to 169, needing one more species on the day to reach my goal. Hopefully I could pick up a Rusty Blackbird or Common Grackle near Long Point!

We spent much of the day exploring some areas to the north of Long Point. Old Man Winter's tight grasp was a little looser here in the south, and it was nice to see Tundra Swans flying overhead frequently. We had a Merlin, Field Sparrow, and some Common Redpolls before checking out Lakeshore Road.

Here we stopped to check out the Sandhill Cranes along the road. Pairs were doing their mating "dance"; flapping their wings and leaping to the air as they circled each other. This was the first time I had seen this behaviour so I took a few distant photos.

Sandhill Cranes - Long Point area

Sandhill Cranes - Long Point area

Several Killdeers were in the area as well; a newly arrived migrant. The first of many shorebirds to come in the next few months!

Killdeer - Port Rowan

After stopping in at BSC headquarters, we noticed a flock of blackbirds and so drove over to check it out. While we scanned the cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds (some which were even singing), I managed to pick out a Common Grackle. Finally! It was nice to hit 170, even if it was "only" with a grackle.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful birdwise as we saw a lot of the usual suspects for Long Point (Belted Kingfisher, many ducks, Snow Buntings, Purple Finches, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier) but nothing else that was new. 

It was a great day in the field, and a nice way to end the winter birding period. Now that it is March, I am looking forward to birding a lot less and preparing for an upcoming trip, of which I will have more details later.

A hint...