kitemongoose's Favorites

A successful search for the reported Yellow-breasted Chat. Details follow.

Outing #1: With Nate. YBCH not seen or heard. Left around 11:30 AM, after birding for about 1.5 hours.

Outing #2 (two days later): With Bill George. (Unplanned—we arrived coincidentally around the same time and exchanged an introduction. He had recently returned from observing the Yellow-headed Caracara rarity in South Florida.)

Bill and Eric/Erik spotted the chat about 1 hour and 45 minutes after I photographed my first bird of the day. Unfortunately, I had wondered off and was on a different trail at the time 😤. I heard Bill call my name and rushed back to the red trail—missed it. The"skulker", as this bird has been called, only popped out briefly.

I was informed it would have been a good photo for me, as the bird came to the forefront of the dense thicket at the creek's edge. "It will come back out to feed in this same spot," Bill said with confidence. So, the waiting began. About an hour later, as predicted, it reemerged to feed on the red berries—and of course for its photo shoot.

Photo Caption: "You may not know this, but I'm kind of a big deal around here," says the chat.

Photos by me. Same individual. No calls heard.

Photographed during my 2-outing unsuccessful search that followed a report of 6 Rusty Blackbirds in the vicinity. I think this recent report may have been unconfirmed, but in March of 2023 there were two confirmed reports of them in this county (Nassau). So far, they've evaded me. 🙁

My favorite photo from the two outings was of this titmouse. We simultaneously surprised each other, and I was already on top of it at that point. Amazingly it didn’t flush, but as you can see it was quite busy.

My favorite species of the outings was a Sedge Wren, complete with super cute audio.

An upland sparrow banding trip with James Tucker, Reed Noss, Jill Aldredge et al.

We caught two Henslow's Sparrows!

The Wilson's Snipe was caught in one of the mist nets but it was let go unbanded after a minute or two of posing because the banders did not have bands large enough for snipe legs.

A successful search for the reported Ash-throated Flycatcher. Details follow.

Outing #1: I stayed in the car and turned around, preferring to return another day instead. Multiple busy birders. Incidentally, this was the first time I saw a "Spoonbill Pond-type camera" 🔭 at this location. Some impressive gear.

Outing #2: I returned two days later, and photographed a lot of Eastern Phoebes 😂. ATFL not spotted. One local dog-walker said he saw 19 birders the previous day! But on this day, as far as birders during this time slot, I had the place to myself. A different local stopped by to offer iced juice, after noticing I was still there following our chat two hours prior.

Outing #3: I returned the next day and to my delight spotted the ATFL on my way back to the car, after birding for about two hours. I lost sight of it at one point and squatted down, gazing across the clearing. I don’t ever squat while birding but felt I should stay there. After a little while it landed low on a branch in the distance, directly across from me. It looked right at me, then looked down and continued foraging. WOW. This was the 2nd most memorable moment in my birding history—the 1st being my interaction with this Great White Heron.

Shortly after I returned home, a knock on the door presented a short, somewhat older man with a jolly demeanor and binoculars around his neck. "I was told to ask if you’ve seen any unusual birds lately", he explained after politely introducing himself as a neighbor’s friend, visiting from Ohio. I felt honored, as people don’t usually ask me these types of things 😂. He certainly showed up on a good day! "You’ll have to come in", I replied with glee.

Speaking with him was a true joy. Amongst other bird topics, he recounted the sighting of his spark bird—a Bald Eagle, back when Bald Eagles were rare.

I was sorry to miss his next visit, as I was on route back from South Carolina. In addition to several pages of his own in-progress book, he dropped off his personal signed copy of The Big Year, with instructions to read and return, home address included. When I got back and opened the book’s cover, I saw his full name and a date, with a handwritten note that read:

To…
Maybe the oldest birder I know.
I know you will keep going on as long as you can.
Machs goot + blessings

Greg Miller

I remember thinking, "WOW maybe he’s famous, to be friends with Greg." Lol.

Anyway, as the saying goes, never underestimate an old guy on a bicycle! "He’s like the energizer bunny", my neighbor recounted. I wonder how many miles he rode this visit? 🚲

Though I don’t know him well, I would describe his personality as magnetic. I look forward to his next visit, and his next publishing as well.

Aripeka-Bayport Christmas Bird Count with Dave Bowman; iNat Stop 1 of 3. The weather at the start was clear and 54 degrees ("feels like" 53), with a light breeze. Don Fraser dropped us off at the gate and proceeded to Linda Pedersen Park, while Dave and I began the ~5-mile "marsh stomp" through the Black Needlerush (Juncus romerianus) salt marsh. We did well, finding American White Pelicans, American Bittern, 4 Reddish Egrets, 5 Clapper Rails, 11 Wilson's Plovers, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, and 7 Nelson's Sparrows. We returned to the gate at 1150 tired and exhausted. Don picked us up and we headed to Hernando Beach for a 2+-hour boat trip through the Hernando Beach boat channel courtesy of Sara Tunder and Freedom Boat Club.

Post-submission Note: Even though I had hoped that this was a Saltmarsh Sparrow, Jon Greenlaw identified it as a Nelson's Sparrow, which according to Jon, is known to sometimes show heavy black streaking along the flanks and limited orange or buff color.