These last two days a few things have peaked the radar. Fellow county birder Greg Jahner pinged a few friends that a Northern Pintail was present at the Grey Cloud Island Gravel Pit. This location is insanely productive, but about as non-viable as a spot gets for birding.
The very next morning at first light I found myself rolling over the small one lane bridge onto Grey Cloud Island. The gravel pit is down a serious slope and opens up in a large lake with a few sand bars. From the single viable roadside viewing point you have some serious distances with which to cope in order to view the entire area. Even then you will miss water zones with gravel equipment and small buildings littering the area. The depth of this man-made lake is impressive and is nearly always the very last piece of open water in the county besides fast moving river stretches or those immediately under large roadway bridges such as the bridge to Prescott, WI.
You set up scope from the road shoulder and have to look between some scraggly pine trees and often some remnants of tall grasses before seeing the gravel pit areas. The lake areas closest to you are often nearly impossible to see properly due to the sharp angles involved. My super power is often simply being 6'7" so setting my scope up as high as possible and then angling the eye piece down will allow me to scope with the objective lens well above my head. This proved advantageous since I eventually found a pair of Northern Pintail (County bird species #237 in 2017) preening on the shore almost hidden behind a small tan building and light pole. Friend Peter Nichols tried later in the day for these birds and was not able to find them. The light is also always working against you at this gravel pit with any sunlight at this time of year presenting impossible views. History is mixed at this sight as people used to be welcome to walk the ridge line and informational kiosks as still present on the entire stretch. Word is that a death on the property with a lawsuit ended such access for everyone not a worker at the sight. Extreme long term planning has this being part of a massive county park project, but that won't happen until such time that the gravel pit is closed to mining. It could be that even at the age of 41 I won't see such a thing come to pass in my lifetime.
Even with all that working against this location, it is a premium sight that with a solid scope and cooperating weather you need to check until it freezes. A day later all 3 of us were on sight hoping to get another sighting of the Northern Pintails for Peter Nichols and the light was even worse. At the far end of range hundreds of gulls lounged and even my top scope was worthless to verify anything beyond many Ring-billed Gulls and a handful of larger gulls being present. (Likely Herring.)
Earlier though today I was in the southern portion of the county actually looking for Iceland (Thayer's) Gull. Peter had found one lounging on the sandbar just down from the Lock and Dam #3 the previous day while I was on yet another northern lake circuit looking for sea ducks. This sandbar is squarely within Washington County and viewable at reasonable range from Dakota County using the boat launch parking lot. When I arrived I could see 6 Double-crested Cormorant and easily 75 gulls on the sandbar area. After several minutes I was able to pick out a bird that looked good for Thayer's/Iceland Gull.
This is pretty much where I reach the limit of my current skillset. Iceland Gull, especially in the Thayer's end of the spectrum is like reading tea leaves some days when trying to separate them from Herring Gull. This bird was adult in plumage had legs that seemed bright enough pink, had a moderate amount of mottled head and neck feathers and from a size standpoint was a closer match to the surrounding Ring-billed Gulls than would be expected from a Herring Gull. The one piece that didn't land very well was the lighter colored eye, though I did note the eye area wasn't a clear bright yellow, and was more dusky. While still studying for my initial thoughts on this bird it lifted and flew off towards the lock and dam to join the typical gull tornado that churns around the dam spillways. Minutes later a bird came in I had hoped was it, but turned out to be an easy Herring Gull with a more severe look, brighter eye, paler pink legs and large bulky head.
So I stood thinking to myself about the 2 birds. I know for certain the second is Herring and have zero doubts. Then I have the first bird that matches the details Peter related from a prior day sighting. So where does that leave a person? We are told often to not make gull identifications on single details. I used at least 4 and I know Pete did the same or more on his bird the day before. I really wanted a longer look at this bird so I could look more closely (70x zoom) to see about the underside tucked wings and the paleness they may show for Thayer's/Iceland. I also would have liked a bit of flight time with the bird to watch it in the air instead of it lifting when I looked away and then realizing it was out of my view. With the amount I have been out birding and plan to be looking for rare gulls I'm certain that another Iceland (Thayer's) will show up and I'll have ample observation time. This one is simply the first I've seen this year and it matters only personally as it is species number 238 in 2017 for Washington County. For the time being I'm comfortable with calling this bird an Iceland Gull (Thayer's), but hold no delusions that I'm infallible. In this, the most challenging bird category we have in the state it very well could have been a petite female Herring Gull, but for my experience level and the effort put into the bird I will leave it with my initial identification.
Gulls are hard people. Do your best, do your homework, and be open to being wrong.
I later found out that another bird is on the radar that I've been looking for a couple of times. A report came in from Afton of Townsend's Solitaire. (P Albin) I'll be making this bird a priority for the next week and trying to fit efforts in around work and Thanksgiving Holiday. That one represents #239 and I think with it being deep into November such a bird could be on wintering grounds using cedar trees for feeding. That to me gives it a good chance of being re-found at some point and coupled with a personal find in the same park last year with Peter Nichols and David Adair I think it's a strong possible add to the big year.
I really didn't think 240 was possible in a single year in the County, but here we are in crunch time just 2 species away from such a lofty county number. All my free birding time will be dedicated to pulling in those couple extra birds. It is a game of diminishing returns on adding new species, but it is a wonderful journey to explore a finite area to the absolute maximum possible to try and squeeze out every possible bird species.
I see hunts for White-Winged Crossbill, Glaucous Gull, Townsend's Solitaire, Varied Thrush, Black Scoter, Harlequin Duck, and potentially some type of dark mantled gull (Lesser/Greater Black-backed) all being viable searches. Maybe with the type of finch irruption happening also targeted efforts for things like Bohemian Waxwing and Pine Grosbeak wouldn't be out of the question. We have seldom visited winter spaces begging to be investigated if a good snow pack and freeze will allow before the end of year. I have my eye on some sights that need the core hunting seasons to close out first as well before I can look at snow shoeing in for a look. (Again assuming we get some kind of snow pack.)
No comments:
Post a Comment