I Love New York! (Western Reef-heron)

As the great Chico Escuela might say, "New York been berra, berra good to me."

I have made 6 birding trips to New York locations this year and I've come away with 5 life birds. Not too shabby! On the flip side, I have gotten ZERO lifers in New Jersey. The most recent NY life bird came this morning on a trip to the now-famous Calvert Vaux Park where a Western Reef-Heron has been seen on and off since Sunday. Beth and I missed it yesterday, but upon hearing about its return, we immediately headed there for a great look at this very rare vagrant bird.

The other life birds I have gotten in New York in 2007:

February 26 - Ivory Gull
June 8 - Henslow's Sparrow
June 9 - Bicknell's Thrush
July 10 - Monk Parakeet

The one trip where I didn't get a lifer was when I tried to see the almost-mythical Smith's Longspur at Jones Beach which basically everyone except Corey and me saw.

500*

A Western Reef-heron, a rare vagrant from Africa and the Middle East, was found in Brooklyn near Coney Island on Sunday. Interestingly, one had been seen in NJ several days before, but was only a "one-day-wonder." The location is only a short jump over the Verrazano Bridge and about 45 minutes from me. New York has been very kind to me this year. I've had 3 life birds there. What a nice 500th ABA bird this would make!

Monday came and many birders got to add this bird to their life lists (those who hadn't seen the one in New Hampshire last year). I felt guilty about leaving work, so I decided that I would wait until Tuesday morning to look for the bird prior to going to work. With eager anticipation, I crawled quietly out of bed at 5:30 while Beth slept. I donned some zip-off pants and laced up my boots when Beth popped out of the bedroom, fully dressed, and with a smile said, "Can I come?" She wanted to be with me when I got my 500th ABA bird. I'm a lucky guy!

We stepped into the muggy morning, hopped in the car, and headed east. Traffic wasn't too bad and we easily found the Home Depot parking lot where birders had already congregated. We trekked down a narrow path through some trees and mugwort, snuck through a homeless person's camp (luckily no one was home), and were greeted with a mucky, polluted cove. I scrambled down the slippery rocks while Beth stayed a little higher up with the scope. Despite the pollution, this cove held lots of birds – Black-crowned Night-herons, a Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Common and Least Terns, a Snowy Egret, Spotted Sandpiper, and even a fly-by Black Skimmer.

I scanned the shoreline looking for the Reef-heron. Nothing. The tide was going out and mudflats were beginning to expose themselves. The Night-herons were feasting and "KWOK"-ing at each other. Time passed and more birders appeared all along the shoreline. No Reef-heron yet! A loud squawking rang out from some trees across the shore from us. It took me a second to make the connection, but I realized that it was the sound of parakeets. I scanned with my binoculars and saw a pair of Monk Parakeets circle around and land in some trees. Thoughts circled through my brain… "Wait a second… I've never actually seen Monk Parakeets… I knew they were in NY, but are they countable on my ABA list? Why hadn't I come to NY before to see these?" I said to Beth, "If those parakeets are countable, I think I just saw my 500th ABA bird."


Shortly after seeing my 500th bird

Unfortunately, the Western Reef-heron never showed and I had to get to work. When I got home, I immediately emailed my NY birder buddies – Corey and Mike. These two gents confirmed that I had just added an introduced species as my 500th ABA life bird. Wow. I had really hoped my 500th bird would be something more exciting. Some people would say, "It's your life list, do what you want." But I like to follow the rules of the ABA, so I am officially counting Monk Parakeet as #500!

By the way, for you non-tri-state-area people, tolls for a trip to Brooklyn from NJ (45-min. one-way) are $17.70!!! Damn bridge tolls.

Approaching 500...

I am quickly approaching a major bird listing milestone - 500 ABA-area birds (the US and Canada - minus Hawaii). I'm excited about this milestone, but I'm a little concerned about #500. Not that every bird isn't special, but I want it to be something extra special. I have nemesis birds that annually occur in NJ that could be #500 such as Cackling Goose, Cape May Warbler or Roseate Tern. Do I want these to be #500? Maybe... or should I wait for some mega rarity to show up? Does anyone care besides me? Probably not.

This milestone also gives me the chance to reflect on birds that I haven't seen that could have changed what #500 was. What if I had counted that terrible look at a Harris's Sparrow in October? What if that darned "sure thing" Ferruginous Pygmy Owl showed up in Texas? What if I waited an extra 10 minutes at the feeder in Arizona where the White-eared Hummingbird showed up immediately after I left? Why didn't I go out and see a Cackling Goose when there were many reports this winter? Why haven't I put a huge effort into finding a Barn Owl? What if I went on more pelagic trips? I guess I could look at the "what didn't happens" and sulk or I could think back to all the wonderful experiences I've had birding. Regardless of what #500 turns out to be, it's been a great journey getting there. My trips to Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and the Adirondacks in NY have yielded wonderful birds, beautiful nature, and fabulous comraderie. Here's to #500, #600 and beyond!