I'm bad at moving home

 

On May 22, I returned to the US for the first time since 2021, for work of all things. The plan was for me to transfer from the Philippines to the US, and my expectations before arriving were to get there and start looking for a place to live- you know, moving. Of course, practically as soon as I arrived, I found out that I was going to be sent back to Asia for an extended work trip- meaning that I spent barely two and a half weeks in the US before jetting off once again for several months. Really, it felt more like a quick visit than it felt like moving. Still, if nothing else it was a good chance to reconnect with friends and family, and ease into my inevitable return to the country.

I was able to secure an AirBnb in Alexandria, Virginia for the duration of my stay in DC- and luckily enough there was one right next to Four Mile Run Park, one of my favorite birding destinations back in the day when I lived there. I arrived there on a Sunday afternoon, and considering I was jet-lagged as all hell and had just come off a 13-hour flight, I figured it made sense to drop by in the hour or so I had remaining before sunset. It proved to be an excellent time of year to visit Four Mile Run, as the whole park was carpeted in a layer of shining-white Foxtail Beardtongue and the migrant birds were still in. This was, of course, my first time in the US all year, so practically everything I saw that evening was a new year bird for me- even European Starlings and American Robins were (briefly) exciting. A Killdeer was busy screaming on the exposed mudflat, and Willow Flycatchers were calling all throughout the wetland walkway. I had a lot of fun trying to get pictures of the many Chimney Swifts swooping in front of me to catch bugs of the surface of Four Mile Run, and even came away with some keepers. The best was that since this was technically the same calendar day as my morning in Japan, they all counted on the same day list for me, making for a truly unhinged combination of birds. 

Killdeer

Willow Flycatcher

Chimney Swift

Foxglove Beardtongue

Carolina Crane's-Bill

The wetland trail at Four Mile Run Park

Can't be that many times that all these birds have shown up on the same day list...

Jet lag had me wide awake by 3:30 AM the next morning with no chance of falling asleep, so I headed back to Four Mile Run Park to watch the sunrise and get some birding in before starting work. I tried my hand at some artsy pictures of the beardtongue as the sun rose, and the local Song Sparrows were nice enough to pose amongst the flowers for some glamour shots. To my surprise there was a Northern Waterthrush hanging out at the edge of the water, and Willow Flycatchers and Yellow Warblers were singing up a storm in the trees. Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, and an Eastern Wood-Pewee all posed nicely, and a Lincoln's Sparrow was another nice migrant for the day. On the way back a beautiful male Red-winged Blackbird was displaying in a flower-filled field, and I did my best to get some flight shots. 

Sunrise at Four Mile Run Park

Song Sparrow

Artsy Foxglove Beardtongue shot

Northern Waterthrush

Willow Flycatcher

American Robin

Yellow Warbler

Grey Catbird

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Lincoln's Sparrow

Male Baltimore Oriole- not as nice as Old World orioles, but still pretty nice

Female Orchard Oriole

Female Baltimore Oriole

Territorial Red-winged Blackbird

Once I started physically going into my office, the quickest way to the metro turned out to be directly through Four Mile Run Park. This obviously made my commutes a little longer than they would have been otherwise, but it was a great excuse to get some morning birding in before being shut in an office all day. Of course I would only do so with binoculars and no camera, which proved to be a huge annoyance one afternoon when I happened to glance up on the way back from work and see an Anhinga circling above me! These are stupidly rare birds this far north, and in fact this was the first-ever record for Alexandria County, at least on eBird. Alas, I was only able to get blurry digibin pictures, which only IDable in the most general sense, but it was still an amazing bird to have on my DC area list. 

I promise this is an Anhinga

The weekend of May 26 was Memorial Day weekend in the US, which meant that I had a long weekend and a chance to visit home in Michigan along with my sister. It was a much-needed chance to catch up with family, play with dogs, and in general see the spots I'd been missing for years (because, if we're going to be honest, I missed Suttons Bay quite a bit more than I missed DC). It was, of course, mainly a family weekend, but family weekend means that mornings are free for birding, which of course I did.

Saturday morning I headed out along the Leelanau Trail to the local sewage ponds, my birding patch when I'm home and/or sheltering from pandemics. It's pretty much always good for birds, and May is probably the best time to visit. This time was no exception, and I racked up one of my best lists for the spot, numbers-wise at least. Migration was just starting to trail off, but birds everywhere were singing, gathering nest materials, or even fledging (like the baby American Robins just outside my house). A Bald Eagle flew over as I got on the trail, and the marshes were full of singing Swamp Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, and Yellow Warblers. Tree Swallows and Sand Martins were swooping over the ponds, and one of the ponds was host to many Wood Ducks, including tiny, fuzzy Wood Ducklings. I added a singing Least Flycatcher to my year list, and on the walk back had a nice Northern Waterthrush and some Chipping Sparrows. It was a really lovely morning, even if it was the first time in years I'd felt properly cold. 

Baby American Robin

Bald Eagle

Swamp Sparrow

Indigo Bunting

Hairy Woodpecker

Tree Swallow

Red-winged Blackbird

Pleased to report I now have a "Red-winged Blackbird exhaling steam" picture, even if it's not as good as the ones that always win photography awards

Common Grackle

Yellow Warbler

Northern Flickers kind of fly under birders radar, but having not seen one for years I was shocked by how gorgeous they really are

Common Yellowthroat

Least Flycatcher

Wood Duck and Wood Ducklings

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Northern Waterthrush

Red Columbine

Trail scenery

The sewage ponds can look surprisingly scenic in the right light

That morning I made an early morning trip out to Sleeping Bear Point, possibly the best birding spot in the whole county and one of my personal favorites anywhere in the US. It was a lovely, frigid morning and I had fun watching the warblers singing from the stunted pines as I tried to get my fingers to work. During peak migration the trees there can be practically dripping with warblers, and while this was just a bit past the usual peak there were still lots of them- Magnolia Warblers, Myrtle Warblers, Bay-breasted Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, and Common Yellowthroats for the most part. 

Magnolia Warbler

Myrtle Warblers look so much better in breeding plumage it's not even funny

Grey Catbird

Walking out to the beach I had two surprising birds- a beautiful "grey ghost" male Northern Harrier, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker, the first one I'd seen at this site. This is apparently a very good year for Red-bellied Woodpeckers, as they've been showing up in lots of spots they're normally not supposed to, but it was still a great new year bird for me. Out at the beach there was the usual screaming Killdeer, but the highlight of course were the Piping Plovers- the females already hunkering down on their nest, and the males pootling about on the beach being generally adorable. Spoon-billed Sandpiper may be my new favorite shorebird, but Piping Plovers will always hold a special place in my heart. Back by the parking lot, I enjoyed an Eastern Wood-Pewee and an extremely cooperative Red-breasted Nuthatch before heading back toward home and family breakfast.

Northern Harrier

Red-headed Woodpecker

Killdeer

Ring-billed Gull

Common Merganser (including the classic shit shot)

Piping Plover

Blue Jay

Young Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Wood Pewee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Morning at the dunes

The original plan had been for me to drive back to DC from Michigan, so that I could have my car with me once again. However, now that I was leaving the country again in short order and didn't have an apartment to park at yet, I realized it didn't really make sense. Instead I booked a flight home on Monday, driving down to Chicago with my sister and flying out from there. In fact, writing this I'm now two and a half months later I'm back in DC but still sans apartment and car, but so it goes... I'll properly move eventually I guess. 

Back in DC, the remainder of my time was mostly spent working. My one remaining weekend in the country I did a morning trip to Kenilworth Park in DC, which was as always a great morning with lots of birds. Carolina Chickadees were nice and active at the aquatic gardens, along with Willow Flycatchers and Eastern Kingbirds. A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks perched on a dead tree was a crowd-pleaser, along with a Great Egret showing off his breeding plumes. In the woods were singing Indigo Buntings, Carolina Wrens, and Warbling Vireos, along with an Orchard Oriole collecting nesting material. In the meadow I missed the local specialty Grasshopper Sparrows, but did have some House Sparrows (yay?) and a singing Blue Grosbeak, which was a nice addition to my year list. 

Carolina Chickadee

Eastern Kingbird that appears to have caught an unfortunate dragonfly in the process of pupating

Red-shouldered Hawks

Great Egret

Indigo Bunting

Having a missing eye didn't seem to stop this little Carolina Wren from singing his heart out

Orchard Oriole with nesting materials

House Sparrow- invasive but admittedly pretty good-looking by sparrow standards

Blue Grosbeak

Appalachian Brown

Common Whitetail

Some sort of ichneumon wasp (Lissonata sp.)

Some sort of sawfly (Taxonus sp.)

Clouded Sulphur

Deptford Pink

Lasioglossum pilosum on a Chicory

Pickerelweed

And that was about the sum of my time in DC this spring, as on June 7 I flew to Indonesia and was in Asia until the end of July. Of course that's just how I liked it, and I find myself in a similar situation now, a couple months later: hanging out in DC, still with no car or apartment, counting down the days until my next trip to Southeast Asia. It is, of course, inevitable that I'll have to move here for real sooner rather than later, but for now my crazy, travel-filled 2023 continues apace.