Where I’ve Been and What I’ve Seen (III)

My visit to Georgia passed way too quickly, and after a few hours enjoying the Barred Owls, Brown-headed Nuthatches, and Eastern Towhees in Alison’s backyard, it was off to the American Birding Association in Lafayette, Louisiana. ABA events are always great for getting together with old friends and making new ones, and I was doubly excited this time because not only would the Pelican State be a “life state” for me, but I would get to bird it with Richard Crossley, helping him out on field trips into the rice fields in search of shorebirds.

We sought and we found. Among the 23 species of shorebirds we were able to show the trip participants were American Golden-Plover, Hudsonian Godwit, Stilt Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Whimbrel, White-rumped Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and Wilson’s Phalarope. It was a bit like my midwestern childhood, with the notable difference that I was birding with one of the truly big names in shorebirding. Richard is not just a great birder, but an excellent pedagogue as well, and everyone in the van (including me, of course) learned a tremendous amount about these birds.

Busy driving, scoping, and occasionally gabbing, I didn’t take many photos on the field trips proper. Ann Hoff and I did sneak out Wednesday morning, though, and I managed a few shots of the commoner species, including Dunlin and Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpiper, always one of my favorites, is pretty scarce in southeast Arizona, and each day we were out I saw more than a year’s quota.

But it wasn’t all about shorebirds. The rice fields were great habitat for herons and rails, including King Rail. Little Blue Herons were ubiquitous, and our last morning out produced fantastic views of close-up Yellow-crowned Night-Herons.

Cattle Egrets were everywhere, including in a pasture with two American bison, a time-warp if ever there was one.

We never saw a major fallout of passerine migrants, in part because of the weather (beautiful the entire week, alas!) and in part because of our chosen habitat. Ann and I did run into a good arrival of Dickcissels and Sedge Wrens one morning.

With beauties like this singing away, who needs warblers?