Wrap-up of Kansas Birds

While birding the dusty backroads of Gray County, I was pleasantly surprised that there were actually birds in the open fields. One of the most common birds was the Western Meadowlark. If not the most common (probably Horned Larks), then they were the most vocal.


Vespers were up there in abundance. These 'little brown birds' are actually fairly good sized for sparrows. They would virtually disappear when they landed on the bare ground.


Trees were so scarce that there was pretty stiff competition for nest space. Here a Great Horned Owl and nestling keep a careful eye on me.


A Western Meadowlark got caught almost facing the camera. They seem to have a sixth sense about which way to face if I have a camera out.


A Vesper Sparrow sits on a barbed wire.


Wind turbines along the horizon, making use of the constant wind. A brochure I saw claimed that Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States.

Kankakee Sands BioBlitz 2012

This weekend was the Kankakee Sands BioBlitz 2012 in Newton County, Indiana. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the land, learn about the flora, and spend time with other biologists. The weather was good, sunny with a breeze; the ticks and other pests weren't too bad, and tons of flowers were blooming. I didn't take near as many pictures of some of the amazing flowers as I should have, but I spent a lot of time taking notes and trying to absorb it all. Of course, I did not force myself to stay focused on only plants.

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) was blooming abundantly in the wetter areas of the sand prairie at Unit D.

This Carrion Beetle (aka Burying Beetle or Sexton Beetle) caught my eye while walking through the sand prairie on Friday. These insects bury the carcasses of small animals. Apparently, they can release an awful smell when picked up, but I was not chosen. I did make sure it didn't crawl up my sleeve, though. This individual is possibly Nicrophorus marginatus.

Old Plainsmen (Hymenopappus scabiosaeus) was just about done blooming on the edge of the sand blow-out.

This strange little plant was something I had never seen before. Sand Jointweed (Polygonella articulata) was blooming in the sand blow-out.

I was taken aback when I spotted these Lark Sparrows Friday evening. Since these are prairie birds, I do not think of them in Indiana. I found out later from TNC staff that they breed on site.

We found a Fowler's Toad as we were heading in for the day on Friday.

I am pretty sure that this little fellow sitting in a willow clump is an immature Orchard Oriole.

The State Endangered Henslow's Sparrow welcomed everyone to the headquarters on US41. These birds serenaded us all day long, trying to get a song in edgewise with the Grasshopper Sparrows and Dickcissels.

Lobelia spicata confused us the first day when we found several plants in fruit, but not with flowers.

Great Basin Birds

Red-breasted Nuthatches were very common and friendly in the forest above 10,000 feet on Sunday morning. Several landed right next to me as they passed through the area feeding.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds got to Comins Lake just a little before I did this year. Here the sunset lights up a male near the lake.

Bushtits act like and hang out with Ruby-crowned Kinglets, combing the shrubs along Cleve Creek. It is very hard to get one to sit still for a photo.

Nestling Horned Larks beg for food out in the valley.

Again this year I spotted an Osprey in Spring Valley. Must be passing on through...

A Pied-billed Grebe patrols his part of the marsh at Comins Lake.

Marsh Wrens will sing incessantly from deep inside the bulrushes. This guy stepped out into the open for a brief second.

Western Meadowlarks didn't seem to prefer the open valley, instead they were usually on the edge of the valley where there were scattered trees.

Brewer's Blackbird

Thomas Mayo Brewer would have been proud of us today, I imagine, since we saw both of his birds. Brewer's Sparrows are very common now, and this afternoon a flock of Brewer's Blackbirds landed in the valley. The female (top photo) is not quite as pretty and shiny as the males.

Love that iridescence!

Colorado Birds

I got eighteen life birds on my Colorado trip, which is more a sign of a dearth of western trips than any great birding endeavor. Still, life birds are to be celebrated with great joy.
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera)
White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)
Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis)
Cordilleran Flycatcher (Empidonax occidentalisv)
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
MacGillivray's Warbler (Oporornis tolmiei)
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus)
Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)
Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus)
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte australis)
Always, there are the birds that got away. Maybe next time. ;) (Oh, the Sage Grouse on their lek, the Mountain Plovers, the Long-billed Dowitchers, the McCown's Longspurs that could have been, and many others.)

Green-tailed Towhee at Fish Creek Falls in Steamboat Springs. He sounded like a strange Song Sparrow to me.

Wilson's Warbler at Rabbit Ears Pass. These warblers seemed to be the most common warbler at times, even competing against Yellow Warblers. They do pass through Indiana, but I don't get to see them too much. I knew their song, and they would drive me to distraction when I would hear them. This individual was very cooperative, but unfortunately, my camera was not feeling cooperative and was out of focus on almost every other photo. Maybe the warbler knew this, and felt no fear of me that day.

Yellow-headed Blackbird was almost a lifer, except one blew in to Summit Lake, Indiana one year. Their song was subsequently burned into my memory. They were everywhere at Arapaho NWR.

The Colorado State Bird, the Lark Bunting. I drove to Pawnee National Grasslands to see these guys. They were fairly common there, but they seemed a little camera/binocular shy for me.

Dominican Republic Birds

Black-crowned Palm-Tanager - Common in the countryside. There is quite a variety of tanagers in the DR.

Palmchat - the national bird of the DR. These guys were fairly common, even throughout Jarabacoa. Not only are they endemic, they are the only bird in their family.

Least Grebe - This guy was swimming in the lagoon on La Isla Saona. This grebe made a Pied-billed Grebe seem to be as large as a Mallard.

Common Moorhen - in the lagoon at Saona.

Greater Antillean Grackle - Not too different from our Grackles.

Brown Booby - the birding highlight of the catamaran ride.

Gray Kingbird - the tyrant of the Dominican. These guys were the most common flycatcher. They sound like Eastern Kingbirds, too.

Tricolored Heron - This guy was hunting the area below a dam on the south coast. He was a very small heron.

A hunting technique.

Nutmeg Mannikin - at Tres Ojos.

Hispaniolan Woodpecker - They sound roughly like our Red-bellies. Very common and often in flocks. I had to work to get a picture that wasn't backlit.

Black-whiskered Vireo - I was hearing the song everywhere I went. I was sure it had to be a vireo, but I couldn't find the singer for several days.

Magnificent Frigatebird - These 'pirate birds' were everywhere along the coast.

Narrow-billed Tody - on the trail to Pico Duarte. There are two todies in the DR, the Narrow-billed in the mountains and the Broad-billed everywhere else. They are in the kingfisher family.

Broad-billed Tody - near Jarabacoa.

Bananaquit - These colorful little birds were very common, especially once their song became familiar. They are fairly tiny.

Yellow-faced Grassquit - cute, sparrow-like birds.

Antillean Mango - a very large hummingbird.

Vervain Hummingbird - the second smallest bird in the world. Very tiny, but very noisy, common, and bold.

I got to see 46 bird species in the DR. Other DR bird highlight and thoughts:

• Cattle Egret - might not be the most common bird, but surely is the most visible bird. There is always one or more flying overhead.
• Common Ground Dove - I had seen these guys in SC before, but they were in decent numbers around Jarabacoa. They are tiny, cute little doves that have nice rusty patches on their wings.
• Hispaniolan Parrot - at the headquarters for the National Park in La Ciagna, I looked up and saw a flock of parrots winging across the valley.
• Hispaniolan Lizard-cuckoo - I got to see two of these gorgeous cuckoos on the trail to Pico Duarte.
• Smooth-billed Ani - These cuckoos were decently common around Jarabacoa. Massive bills and round tails.
• Antillean Palm-swift - These small swifts were abundant, but I didn't even try to take a picture of them.
• Hispaniolan Pewee - The only other flycatcher I saw. I was a little surprised by this.
• Caribbean Martin - a pretty martin.
• Red-legged Thrush - I saw this attractive thrush about 10 times around Jarabacoa.
• Hispaniolan Spindalis - Just a brief look while driving.
• Hispaniolan Oriole - A very attractive bird.