hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull - quickie

At mid day today (9 Jan 2015) there was an adult hybrid Lesser Back-backed x Herring at Quidi Vidi Lake.  It dropped down to the watering hole at  the Virginia River. There were four other birders there who wondered why I identified it as such and wanted to see some pictures, so here they are. The bird was fairly close but not present long.  This is a regular hybrid combination during the winter in St. John's with a couple or three or more adult individuals present but only this one so far this winter.

This bird was dark as a paler LBBG but the heavy Herring Gull like structure and pinkish-yellow legs were the signals that mean hybrid LBBGxHERG.

These two shots above show the Herring Gull like character of the bird.

The wingtip pattern pretty well annihilates any arguments this could be a pure LBBG. LBBG show more extensive black on each of the outer six most primaries and never (?) show the white tipped tongues visible on the upper side of P 7 & P8.  

Compare the underside of the wing tip pattern of the LBBGxHERG hybrid (picture above) with the shot below of the domesticated adult LBBG that lives at the west end of Quidi Vidi Lake. The more extensive black running up the primaries especially P7-P9 creates a fuller hand on a LBBG than a Herring Gull and this hybrid gull. The same is true for the upper side of the wing.

adult Lesser Black-backed Gull Quidi Vidi Lake, Dec 2014

Happy Gulling. We are back into that season where gull watching is just about the last place to mine for winter rarities.

P.S.  Very disappointed at how the mantle colour of this gull changed from a steely bluish gray in my files to a mud gray after the downloading to this blog. I often notice a significant loss of colour and sharpness when the pictures are displayed on this blog. Guess there is nothing that can be done about this but it is more than a nuisance when shades of gray matter.

hybrid Ring-necked Duck X Scaup and a RNDU x TUDU preview

Yesterday (5 Jan 2015) Alvan Buckley posted photos of a hybrid aythya at Burtons Pond, St. John's,  Upon seeing the photos I realized I had seen this bird a couple of times since Xmas but assumed it was a drake Ring-necked Duck on the way to reaching breeding plumage. When you stop to take a second look and see the faint vermiculation in the back then it suddenly becomes obvious this is not your ordinary solid Ring-necked Duck. Now the funny head shape and very faint pale spur on the side add up to a hybrid and not a temporary look due to the state of moult. Alvan's conclusion that this was a hybrid Ring-necked Duck x Scaup make perfect sense.

This morning by chance I stopped at Quidi Vidi Lake on the way to work. There were some 75 aythya present in the constricted open water.  Exactly fifty of those were Tufted Ducks. Not sure when I noticed the Alvan hybrid but when I did I knew it was the same bird he'd seen at Burton's Pond 3 km away. I immediately started taking pictures with the 300 f4 lens with 1.4x converter but was wishing I had my 600 mm with me.

Conditions were harsh with west winds gusting to 90 k/hr and -7 C temp. No doubt this bird will be with us for the entire winter and there will be endless opportunities for microscopic views & photos. Below are photos taken during the excitement of getting to know this bird.

When served up on a silver platter this hybrid Ring-necked Duck x Scaup appears rather obvious.

But when merged with a mixed flock of Tufted Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks and Greater & Lesser Scaups in various states of moult all within a week or two of reaching full breeding plumage, it can easily be overlooked. I know you can pick out the hybrid duck. It is in the middle of the frame.

Here the hybrid duck is between a drake Tufted on the left and a drake Greater Scaup on the right. You can see how the blend of the solid black back of a RNDU and the vermiculated back of a Scaup back might look. 

More comparison shots.

The bright white wing stripe stopping abruptly where the secondaries end and the primaries begin is a signature of the Lesser Scaup.  Odds are strongly in favour of this being a Ring-necked Duck x Lesser Scaup hybrid.

How could this happen? Ring-necked Duck is a common breeder throughout Newfoundland and the southern third of Labrador. Lesser Scaup is slowly increasing as a fall and winter bird on the island of Newfoundland.  It has long been known to nest in the richer wetlands of Labrador. There are no breeding records of Lesser Scaup for the island of Newfoundland but more birds linger longer into May each spring in St. John's. It seesms right that Lesser Scaup should be exploring nesting real estate in Newfoundland.  A new bird risking starting anew in Newfoundland might have to find a related species to be friendly with in a pinch when May rolls around.

Another hybrid aythya.  This is a Tufted X Ring-necked Duck.  It has been present each winter at Clarenville, Newfoundland every winter for at least five years.  This picture was taken during Xmas holidays 2014.

Jaunt to Cape Race

With the end of the Christmas holidays frighteningly near I woke up at 3 am realizing that if I was going to fit in a Cape Race trip it was going to have to be now. Weather forecast was not ideal. Heavy wet snow and drizzle until noon. The two hour drive on slushy roads turned into a longer drive meaning I wasn't going to make it to the lighthouse to start the seawatch at dawn.  So I made use of the dawn time to bird along the Cape Race road.  Intriguing were the small flocks of robins flying over the snowy barrens. They has been nearly no robins this winter due to a complete lack of dogberries. Scouring robins during a winter of severe scarcity greatly improves the chances of finding a Euro Turdus. Kind of like concentrating the flavour of ice wine by freezing grapes to rid the fruit of rift-raft. Every robin got looked at in triplicate. I'd like to do it again. Surely there is a Redwing to be found down that way.

The day was OK. As always it fills good to be on the Cape Race road. Seawatching was a bust due to poor viz through the huge wet snow flakes. Two immature King Eiders just off the lighthouse were so typical of this location. Cliff's feeder at the lighthouse was a little oasis of juncos and goldfinches. An American Tree Sparrow was a nice bird for the January list.

The day extended to Biscay Bay and Powles Head. There were plenty of Purple Sandpipers, lots of Common Eiders and guillemots, all three scoters, two species each of grebes and loons. Overall an enriching day in spite of two thirds of the day lost to wet snow.

This Dickcissel has been hanging out with House Sparrows at Portugal Cove South since November. The immature bird has never known the warm winters of the tropics that his cousins are enjoying today.

As always there are a few American Pipits to be found through the winter at select locations along the Cape Race Road.

The sun popped out around Daley's Cove on the way back showing off this Snowy Owl (one of two for the day) that was active by the road at midday. 

Driving home over the Cappahayden Barrens I stopped to look at a group of four Gray Jays hunting by the road. I threw out pieces of Christmas cake (dark and light with icing) for them. It was ignored.  I am always amazed at how Gray Jays survive through the winter in spruce, larch and fir trees. I am sure it is documented in the scientific literature.   

Christmas 2014

May your Christmas Holidays include some of these....

Townsend's Warbler # 19. They Keep On Happening - Why!?

There are practically no rare species on the Newfoundland bird list of just 400 species that an ardent student of vagrancy can not see a pattern of vagrancy in agreement with the general pattern for Eastern North America. Newfoundland has a strangle hold on the North American occurrences of some Icelandic species. You wouldn't necessarily expect to see a reflection of European Golden Plover, Common Redshanks. Common Ringed Plover and Black-tailed Godwits that have happened over time in Newfoundland in the rest of North America since we are so close to Iceland and the migratory path of these European species. That makes sense. But the occurrence of one bird continues to absolutely baffle everyone. It comes from western North America.  The species has to fly over eight Canadian provinces to reach Newfoundland. Newfoundland gets a good share of the autumn Dickcissels, Lark Sparrows and Yellow-headed Blackbirds that head east each year but no province or state in the eastern half of North America can come close to matching the NINETEEN TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS that have been recorded on the eastern most peninsula in North America - The Avalon, Peninsula, Newfoundland.

On 5 Dec 2014 Clifford Doran photographed Newfoundland's 18th Townsend's Warbler on the west bank of Northwest River, Trepassey. Today, 6 Dec 2014 ken Knowles, John Wells and I went to Trepassey, arriving at dawn, to look for this warbler and any other birds that might be present in this worthy rarity hunting grounds.  Warblers are never a given. To shorten an interesting but long story. John Wells re-found the Townsend's Warbler # 18 while Ken and I were looking at Townsend's Warbler # 19 about 750 metres away. We were in contact by cell phone while each was watching their respective TOWA. Absurd in every way but not so out of line with the occurrences in Newfoundland.  We've seen two on the same day once before. And these two birds making a total of three for the fall of 2014 is matched by another year back there in the 1990s.  

I have no theories. I've scratched my head raw trying to figure out this virtual abundance of Townsend's Warbler on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland. Other western warblers have a sparse history with just one each of Hermit, Black-throated Gray, Virginia's and Audubon's.  No MacGillivray's .

Attached are photos of Newfoundland Townsend's Warbler #19. There could be more out there. Tomorrow is a Sunday. 

Prepared with a 300mm f4 lens I was ready for a record shot no matter how difficult the conditions. I could carry the lens all morning. as it turned out the light was bright and there were no branches in the way. I would have benefited from the 1.4x converter. 

Townsend's Warblers never get old in Newfoundland!

Snowy Owl Echo Invasion - Here We Go Again

On Wednesday (26 Nov) I was surprised to see two Snowy Owls at Cape Spear. Cape Spear gets only small numbers of Snowy Owls. It is almost an event when one actually shows up there. Two on the same day usually means something is up. But there had been no hint of a Snowy Owl influx this fall. That is until I realized that Diane Burton saw five Snowy Owls at Cape Freels on the same day.  This confirms that something is up but it was still odd not to have any warning such as a few single Snowy Owl sightings prior to group sightings. There was of course a couple of single Snowy Owls that over summered at Cape Race and St. Shotts area and these were being seen regularly through September and October.

On Saturday I knew I had to check out the Snowy Owl scene at Cape Race. Cape Race at the south east end of the Avalon Peninsula and Newfoundland and Canada is a major collection area for Snowy Owls on the move. They have to stop here or head out over the water to never-never land (some do).

It was a perfect morning for counting Snowy Owls. Light winds, mostly cloudy and no snow cover. The white owls stick out for kilometres on the flat open tundra-like barrens. I was predicting double digit numbers. Maybe in the low teens but was prepared for 50 or more. It turned out to be 38 Snowy Owls.  The birds close enough to reveal details were heavily barred as expected for birds of the year. One bird was strikingly white and small and was likely an adult male. Only a handful were close to the road. Since I was the first vehicle down the road at dawn I got the good looks.

After last fall/winter's mammoth invasion of Snowy Owls in which we know many suffered from starvation and died at Cape Race, it was with mixed emotion that I enjoyed looking at these beautiful birds again. They were looking fat and round and alert unlike the memories of some of the pathetic, barely alive, birds hanging on in January of this year.

We will see where this goes. The peak numbers may be yet to arrive.  NW winds last night and NE winds tonight followed by more NW winds might help pile up more of them on the Avalon.  There is meadow vole sign but could it ever be enough? There are plenty of shrews but they are not more than snacking on jelly beans to a Snowy Owl.

A fresh and alive looking Snowy Owl beside road to Cape Race, Newfoundland on 28 Nov 2014. It was continually looking around in all directions.

That Snowy Owl could be reduced to this!  This is the remnants of a Snowy Owl photographed today that died at Cape Race last winter.  In spring Snowy Owl skeletons with wing feathers attached were an all too common sight on the Cape Race barrens. There was some evidence of cannibalism. No carcass is wasted in desperate times.

In the theme of white, this Great Egret at Portugal Cove South could nourish a Snowy Owl within the next couple weeks as it is unlikely to leave now and is destined to freeze soon after the freshwater does.

Eastern & Western Willets - SOS

This blog has nothing to do with current birding. There has been a drought in my blog postings due to a November-long sentencing to a ship off eastern Newfoundland where the birding has been monotonous.  Here is a filler posting until my release after which more frequent blog entries should occur. 

In early May 2013 I took a ten day holiday in southern Alberta for general birding and photography. The prairies are another kind of ocean supporting a rich and varied bird life - all of it novelty for a Newfoundland birder.  

All birds were fair game for the camera including Willets. I knew prairie Willets were larger and paler than east coast breeding Willets.  I do not get a lot of exposure to any Willets.  There are only a few pairs of Eastern Willets breeding in Newfoundland.  And except for occasional trips to Alberta during summer I basically see no other Willets.  Below are a selection of Western Willet from Alberta early in the breeding season.

Western Willet  8 May 2013 near Medicine Hat, Alberta

Western Willet 7 May 2013 at Lake Pakowski, Alberta - still not in full breeding plumage?

Western Willet 8 May 2013 near Medicine Hat, Alberta (more heavily barred than average)

Western Willet 8 May 2013 near Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Western Willets in a wrestling match 7 May 2013 at an isolated cattle watering hole in the middle of no where southern Alberta.

Soon after returning to Newfoundland with images of many Alberta Willets fresh in my mind I saw a member of the returning pair of Eastern Willets at Renews Beach, Avalon Peninsula.  I was instantly blown away at how small and heavily marked it was.  It had squat little legs and a short bill. Surely a different species.  At least as different as Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Then the alarm bells went off. I was breaking my own rule of Save Our Subspecies - SOS.

The Renews, Newfoundland Eastern Willet in June 2009 above and 2011 below. Probably the the same bird in each picture and possibly the same bird I saw in 2013. So different from the Alberta Willets. 

The recent rash of splitting hairs and creating full species out of perfectly good pairs of subspecies has been an irritation for me. It was the creation of Bicknell's Thrush that pushed me over the edge to start a movement of one person to Save Our Subspecies (SOS).  The Bicknell's is even a poor example of subspecies in my books let alone a pathetic excuse for full species. In the same league was peeling Saltmarsh Sparrow away from the Sharp-tailed Sparrow complex.  Yes there is an interesting selection of different looking Sharp-tailed Sparrows from an interesting range of breeding habitats.  All kissing cousin, all one species in my books.  

Cackling Goose is another sick species in the SOS rule book.  When visiting Saskatchewan during fall Whooping Crane season amid masses of migrating geese, I noted the local birders didn't bother with Cackling Goose even though it was numerous and sometimes was in pure flocks among Ross's and White-fronted Geese and no regular sized Canadas.  Now the splitting of Winter Wrens! And talk of splitting White-breasted Nuthatches.  Why? What is the point? Instead of being close cousins supporting each other as a strong species unit, they are being separated into weak species. What is wrong with a species having groups of within exhibiting different dialects, different shades of the same colour?  Look at Europe. All those little countries jammed into together. They've been there long enough for people to have developed different languages and identifiable physical features - yet they are all the same species. Why not the same way of thinking for birds.  Save Our Subspecies.  I could go on and on here with irritant species.

On the other hand there are some birds I'd like to see be officially made into a full species in North America.  I am so glad we were given back the Bullock's and Baltimore Oriole.  Waiting for the return of Audubon's and Myrtle Warblers.  Pet wants for splits involve Eurasian vs North American pairs.  Whimbrels with white rumps should be split from the North American Whimbrel.  And the teals. Look at the picture below taken in St. John's, Newfoundland on 1 March 2011.  Don't you feel a spark of excitement seeing all those European ducks in a North American pond.  They just feel like a different entity. That is good enough for full species status in the Save Our Subspecies society.  

Common Teal and one Green-winged Teal 1 March 2011 at Mundy Pond, St. John's, Newfoundland. Don't you feel the urge to tick something good here?