Spring, Interrupted

 

People who have met me in person know that I love complaining about birding around Washington DC. It's too far east for the good warblers breeding in the Appalachians, too far west for interesting coastal birds, too far south for good wintertime ducks, and too far north for Southeastern specialties like spoonbills or anhingas (vagrants notwithstanding). That said, the one time where it really does stand out is during migration time. We seem to be enough inside the major flyways that practically every bird that breeds in eastern North America will make its way through, including rare stuff like Connecticut Warblers, Cerulean Warblers, and Bicknell's Thrushes. 

Naturally, it seems like every year I manage to be outside of DC for the best migration periods. That happened last year when I arrived too late in the spring, and then spent most of the fall gallivanting around Southeast Asia. And, well, it happened again this year, when I headed out for yet another extended Southeast Asia trip in mid-April, right as migration was starting to heat up. Perhaps this is why I complain about birding there? 

I did still have some time to get out birding in the spring and see the beginning of migration, which I very much appreciated. On March 10 I had a fun but very cold and windy morning of birding at Kenilworth Park with Atima, George, Vikas, and Cassie. There weren't any migrants besides possibly an Eastern Phoebe, but it was still a good excuse to get out and re-familiarize myself with American birds after getting back from Costa Rica.

Song Sparrow

Eastern Bluebird

Green-striped Grasshopper (Chortophaga viridifasciata), the only grasshopper active during the winter months

The next weekend Will (who I had known for many years online but never met in person) was in town to visit Cassie, and the six of us made another trip to Kenilworth. It was still cold and windy, but there were a couple of early migrants just starting to trickle in, including my first of year Tree Swallows and some Myrtle Warblers. Red-winged Blackbirds were starting to sing loudly, and the Eastern Towhees were vocal and unusually conspicuous, and I even got some decent pictures of one. The biggest surprise was a small flock of Pectoral Sandpipers in the tidal lagoon, a personal first for DC and one of just a few records from this year. It was great fun overall, and a good excuse to get outside and spend time with good birding friends. 

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Towhee

If you squint you can tell these are Pectoral Sandpipers

Eastern Bumblebee

American Field Pansy

On March 31 I made a solo trip to Kenilworth Park after several birders reported Wilson's Snipes, which I needed for my year list. I dipped on the snipes of course, but I did have good looks at a nice male Eastern Bluebird and an overwintering Hermit Thrush. The local pair of Red-shouldered Hawks was starting to build a nest, but the only migrants were the usual Tree Swallows and Myrtle Warblers, along with a single semi-resident Orange-crowned Warbler.

Eastern Bluebird

Hermit Thrush

Pond Slider

I thought this was a queen ant of some sort when I saw it, but it turns out it's a Short-winged Blister Beetle (Meloe angusticollis)

Common Blue Violet

Ground-Ivy

In early April, just as the weather in DC was starting to get pleasant and migration was getting interesting, I decided that that wasn't for me and instead drove all the way up to Vermont for the weekend where it was still cold and snowy. Upon Andrew's advice I stopped along the way at Raritan Bay in northern New Jersey, where there are occasional reports of Little Gull. There were no Little Gulls around (though there may have been one or two in the extremely distant flock of Bonaparte's Gulls), but there was a very vocal trio of American Oystercatchers that was fun to watch, along with some wintering Brants and some very pink-looking Laughing Gulls. It was mostly a nice excuse to get out of the car and stretch my legs on a very long day of driving.

American Oystercatcher

Brant

Laughing Gull

Fish Crow

Bronzed Tiger Beetle (Cicindela repanda)

The beach at Raritan Bay, looking decidedly non-springy

As always, my visit to Vermont was more about visiting people and enjoying the scenery than it was about birds (if it had been for birding, I certainly wouldn't have gone in early April). Most of my birding was incidental as I stopped at various mountain ponds and marshes to add to my Vermont list. The one exception was a visit to some random office park next to I-89 where there had been a number of Bohemian Waxwing sightings, a bird I hadn't seen since 2018. Sure enough, there was a big flock of waxwings, mostly Cedar Waxwings but with a few Bohemian Waxwings mixed in feeding on the shriveled crabapples. It was great to finally get close-up looks at these, as waxwings (and their other strange relatives) are some of my favorite birds anywhere in the world.

Cedar Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing

Random Vermont scenery

The real reason for going to Vermont at that time was, of course, the total solar eclipse that passed through on April 8. I don't have the writing talent to fully express the magic of watching an eclipse happen in real time (and others have already done a much better job anyway). For those who have not yet had the privilege of witnessing one in real life, I will say that no matter how cool it seems like it might be, it's exponentially cooler. As someone on Twitter said, I get religion now. 

Turns out a telephoto lens has a variety of uses

The eclipse was entirely worth it, which is a good thing because the trip home to DC took almost 14 hours, including 5 hours of traffic jams in rural Vermont. I got home at 4AM that night and had to go to a doctor's appointment at 7, but I'm apparently still young enough that I was only a zombified wreck for a day or so after that. 

On April 13 I made a quick afternoon visit to the LBJ Memorial Grove, which got me a quick look at my new year bird Pine Warbler as well as nice looks at a White-breasted Nuthatch and a Hairy Woodpecker. Migration was just barely picking up, with lots of Chipping Sparrows and singing Myrtle Warblers.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Hairy Woodpecker

On April 14 I visited Theodore Roosevelt Island with Vikas, Atima and George, the first time I'd been there in almost 3 years. It was a truly excellent morning of birding and the first time I really started to feel like migration was starting: 52 species, including my first of year Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Purple Martin, and American Cliff Swallow along with a surprise Sora (a major rarity for DC) that Vikas spotted darting into the marsh and we later heard calling. We had amazing views of a pair of beautiful Wood Ducks, and the highlight was a trio of fledgling Barred Owls that I found sitting sleepily on a big branch near the boardwalk. It was a great reminder of why I need to get out there more often.

Wood Duck

Red-winged Blackbird

American Goldfinch

Palm Warbler

I had much better pictures of the baby owls but I accidentally deleted them so this will have to do...

Of course, just as migration was starting to get good I up and left the country. I'm currently in the Philippines, and while I return to the US in a few days that will be just in time for the best migration to have passed us by. Not that I'm complaining too much, as the last few weeks have included some absurdly good birding, including one of the best and most surprising birding finds of my life. More on that later...