THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! An Unlikely Duo Goes Head-to-Head

The weather works in mysterious ways. Oregon is certainly in no shape for me to be rooting against a much-needed bout of rain, but with ambitious camping plans we booked for this weekend our fingers were crossed that the worst of it would hold off just a little bit longer. It was not to be; Oregon's southern coast will have to wait. We tried to find a last-minute alternative, but between the storms to the west of us, and the wildfires to the east, we decided it best to sit tight. The skies mostly cleared up in the afternoon, so we were able to fit our shorebirding in after all -- just much closer to home.

Shorebird flock - Western and Pectoral Sandpipers

The sweet lovers' embrace of a couple of star-crossed orthopterans

Damselfly glamour shot

We spent parts of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Ankeny NWR reveling in migrant Pectoral Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, and assorted peeps. Practically everything else we tried to turn into a Baird's Sandpiper, but we just couldn't make the name fit convincingly. The real highlight of the weekend, though, was a collaboration between two birds you'd never imagine seeing together, even while they share a home.

Semipalmated Plover

Pectoral and Western Sandpipers

Pectoral Sandpiper

I was crouched down inspecting a bug, when I noticed a form out on a muddy patch of shoreline that hadn't been there a minute earlier. "Rail… rail… Virginia Rail" I sputtered. We manage to (rarely) see these from time to time, but like any rail, they're more often heard than seen, and this was the most open we've caught one yet. A few seconds later and it was joined by another super secretive species, a Sora.

It's uncommon enough to see one of these skulkers out from behind their usual dense cover, but to see both side by side is practically unfathomable, like bigfoot sidling up to a unicorn. The two lingered together for nearly a minute, picking at the substrate like old friends. The Sora left first, and then came back shortly after for an encore. For all I know this was one in a long series of regular inter-rail check-ins, but truly it seemed like something that will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. In fact, I did hear from one researcher on Twitter who studies rails, and she told me that she's never seen a Sora commingle with a Virginia Rail. So there you go.

A Stroll Through Green Cay

On our most recent outing to Green Cay, we had lots of of great looks, but no real surprises. We did a bit of warbler-watching, and found Black-and-white, Palm, Myrtle, Yellow-throated, and Common Yellowthroat. We also found a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering by some cabbage palms, and a single Painted Bunting. But mostly it was a heron and duck day, which was alright with us.

Lots of ducks on the water. Among the Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Ducks was a lone Mallard hybrid. This was the first Mallard that I can remember seeing at Green Cay, which gave us cause for consternation, given it's proclivity for hybridizing with other species, particularly the threatened Mottled Duck. Hopefully he keeps to himself, but he seemed like a shady character to me. It looks like he already had a Blue-winged Teal playing coy with him.

We had one Northern Harrier sighting, which flew low over the marsh for a couple of minutes before disappearing behind a row of cypress trees.

Despite it's best efforts, we found this American Alligator lurking in some camouflage. He looked he might rise out of the water à la Apocalypse Now, but instead stayed put and waited for his avian Kurtz to come to him.

We found a Sora in exactly the same place that we found it previously, leading me to suspect that it's the same individual. Once again, s/he stayed close to the edge of the reeds for a minute, before running back inside.

The herons were especially photogenic. Maureen got lots of great shots as they posed for us both on and just off of the boardwalk. 

A Morning at Green Cay

It seems like we've been traveling so much lately that we've hardly had time to do any birding locally. A few weeks ago we decided to change that and spent a long morning on the boardwalk at Green Cay. Now, I love Green Cay, and it's certainly the most reliable location for wading birds within a half hour's drive, but we always have to face the fact that lots of non-birders also visit, and their interests are often at odds with ours.

Little Blue Heron

Occasionally, birds fly up and perch on the railing, giving everyone with a camera a golden opportunity for photos. But the boardwalk is dominated by speed walking senior citizens throughout the morning, and they stop for nothing. On this particular morning, a Wood Stork landed just a few feet away from us. As a group of walkers approached from around a bend, Maureen snapped away, mindful that it was only a matter of seconds before they came near enough to flush it. 

A little farther along, a Roseate Spoonbill prompted one of the most surreal conversations I've ever had.

Woman: Oh, look - a Flamingo!

Me: It's a Spoonbill.

Women (to me): Oh, it's a Spoonbill, not a Flamingo. I don't know why I believed you!

That's right - she attributed the words that came out of her mouth to me, and actually seemed annoyed. I didn't know what to say to that (and still don't), so I just gave her a nonplused look for several seconds and walked away, scratching my head.

Roseate Spoonbill -- NOT a Flamingo

It seems that most of the passing migrants have already made their way through, and more and more we're only seeing those warblers that we can reliably expect to see throughout the winter in South Florida. Among these was this Common Yellowthroat, but the Palms and Yellow-rumped (or is it Myrtle) Warblers were also out in big numbers.

Plenty of ducks were on the water, with a little more variety than just the Mottled Ducks, now that the Blue-winged Teal are back. We couldn't find any Green-winged Teal, although we'd seen them reported, but then, we've never never seen more than a few at a time at Green Cay, even when we have come across them.

As we approached the end of the boardwalk loop, we found a Sora that had ventured out of its hiding place in the reeds. Not long after discovering him, he disappeared back out of sight. It's nice to see the Soras every once and a while to reassure us that they're still around, even if we can't find them most of the time.