A Trip to Sweden - Part 1

Our trip to Sweden began in the most southernmost point, Falsterbo.

Falsterbo is a birding hotspot for European birds during migration. As you can see on the map, Copenhagen was a perfect place to schedule our arrival flight. 

Our time in Copenhagen was limited to one day but we certainly learned that it is a city where getting around by bikes rules!

The view from our first stay overlooked a recently harvested field.

Blackbirds, hooded crows and jackdaws were the first new birds for us. They loved the open fields.

Why Falsterbo? It is a migratory haven but we we arrived a few weeks too early.

The interesting part of this spot is that you need to walk through a golf course to get to the nature trail leading to the premier birding. I, of course, have never done this before. When I innocently stopped to look for birds along the way, Swedish golfers were waving their arms and whistling to us to get out of the way of their flying golfballs. You need to know some etiquette before entering this area.

Although I loved this spot, I wish I was here a little later in the season to enjoy the magnificent migration that will occur in September. One lesson to share with you, don't assume the identity of birds before truly looking at the details. At first glance, we thought these sparrows were house sparrows but we discovered they were tree sparrows. 

Content and photos by Robin Roberts

Click on photos to enlarge.

Summer in the Mountains

No alligators in our mountains but lizards are everywhere! While hiking on my favorite USFS road which leads to the South Ridge trailhead, this Great Basin whip-tail lizard, Aspidoscelis tigris, popped out of its hideout.

Yesterday, I caught this granite spiny lizard,Sceloporus orcuttii,  with a mouthful. Any guess on the unlucky insect in its jaws?

Plenty of hikers have been surprised by rattlesnakes this season but this harmless gopher snake,Pituophis catenifer, is the only snake I've encountered so far this summer.

So why am I writing about lizards and snakes instead of birds? They all tie together. This red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, probably has his eyes on some of the lizards, snakes along with other rodents that I have seen for its next meal. The best "bird walks" also include looking for a wide variety of species. They are all part of a healthy ecosystem.

The pale swallowtail,Papilio eurymedon, and male and female Melissa blues,Plebejus melissa, are a few of the butterflies that are still around. The colorful wildflowers of spring have been replaced by summer blooms.

 I don't often see dragonflies since we have little water but I did find this brightly colored red rock skimmer,Paltothemis lineatipes, recently. I am not an expert on dragonflies so let me know if I am incorrect. From my research, it is a red rock skimmer instead of a flame skimmer due to the black stripes on its abdomen and thorax. Plus, it perched on its favorite resting spot, a rock, after patroling its little creek.

Our wet spring has turned into a hot, dry summer. If you are searching for birds, find water. A rivulet of mountain water is still trickling down my favorite road. It has become a special place for Lawrence's goldfinches, Spinus lawrencei, to congregate the last 2 weeks.

Today, this band-tailed pigeon,Patagioenas fasciata, demonstrated how to take a birdbath in a drizzle of rain - one wing at a time.

Remember, you can help the birds out by providing a refreshing place to drink and to bathe.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.

References: https://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/FieldGuideAction.get/id/47463

  http://www.californiaherps.com/

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Papilio-eurymedon

Searching for Birds among the Alligators

One of our very favorite places to bird is also home to alligators! Welcome to Harris Neck Refuge in southeast Georgia. These alligators lie motionlessly at the bottom of trees with their mouths open wide in hopes of nestlings falling out of their nests. This seems to be contradictory if you are trying to protect species but they help prevent nest predation by other wiley predators like tree climbing raccoons.

I fell in love with "birding", the act of searching for birds, on my first Atlanta Audubon field trip to the coast of Georgia years ago. These herons that were present then are still returning to these ponds today.

The first time I came to this refuge, I was totally in awe of the mixed rookery of wood storks, great egrets and snowy egrets. It is a scene out of a David Attenborough special. When I go to special places, I try to identify a couple of birds that I want to find and then, everything else is "icing on the cake or pie" depending on your country of origin. My "target birds" were the painted bunting and roseate spoonbill.

Success! A small flock of roseate spoonbills let me get a distant "dreamy or hazy" photo before flying off to the distant forest. I wish I had a better look and photo but I was thrilled to see them even though if was for a brief moment.

Luck was on my side! Look at this brilliant colorful bird! It appears that I am in the Amazon right? It is a painted bunting, Passerina ciris. Sadly, this beauty is being caught and sold illegally in Mexico and the Caribbean where it resides in the winter because of its spectacular colors. Evidently, this isn't anything new. In 1841, John James Audubon reported thousands of these birds being shipped from New Orleans to Europe. UGH!

The wood stork has a pretty ingenious way of keeping its nestlings cool...they regurgitate water over their nestlings. I learned that fun fact from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If you haven't tapped into their expertise and knowledge, now is the time!

Any birding trip worth going on involves other parts of nature. So I must introduce you to one of my favorite critters, the green anole. They have this special talent of camouflaging themselves to their surroundings. One moment they are bright green after hanging out in the grass, the next they turn brown to match the bark of a tree.

This unlucky anole didn't miss the sharp eyes of a red-shouldered hawk! I can't believe I caught this action myself!

A trip to the southeastern coast wouldn't be complete without a trip to the beach. Laughing gulls and black skimmers were the highlights for me. Remember when you visit these special places, that we are the visitors but the wildlife that we see depend on these spots for their survival so respect their space and "tread lightly".

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.

Rare Bird Sighting

How can you add adventure, excitement and discovery to your love of hiking in the mountains, camping or backpacking while helping conservation efforts? 

Pack a pair of binoculars to your gear and go birding.

Watching birds from your own backyard is an excellent way to get started but if you want to increase the level of excitement and learn more about your feathered neighbors, you need to start "birding" which is the active pursuit of birds found outside of your small familiar patch.

This week, we dedicated two days to surveying birds along a preselected route for an ongoing research project on Black Mountain. We were able to combine hiking and camping to this pursuit.

Violet-green swallow, Tachycineta thalassina

Female Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana

White-headed woodpecker, Picoides albolarvatus

It isn't often that you get a clear view of birds and when you can see them, hear them, and get a photo, it is pretty fantastic.

However, when you find a rare bird, the excitement quadruples. The Hepatic Tanager, Piranga flava, is a resident as far south as South America with its northernmost range in Arizona and New Mexico. It prefers breeding in open pine or pine-oak forest at moderately high elevations. Occasionally, it ventures off into other nearby states but it is not a common event. Black Mountain fits its requirements but is there a male with this female? We didn't discover the male but perhaps, they are breeding in our mountains without our knowledge.

Thanks to Adam's sharp ears hearing only call notes, we discovered a rare sighting of this bird. This is a perfect example of studying the details. At first glance, someone may call this a female western tanager but there are subtle physical differences as well as song differences.

Moments like this are not planned and rarely duplicated so it's best to enjoy the bird as long as it lets you before it takes flight.

After the moment ends, get on eBird and report your sighting. This will help further knowledge of researchers on your sightings.

Happy birding in your patch of the world!

Click on photos to enlarge
Photos and content by Robin Roberts
Recording by Adam Roberts

Reference

Eddleman, W. R. (2002). Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.655