My Sector of the Sarasota Christmas Bird Count December 30 2023

 

Totally by surprise was a Royal Tern flying overhead 6 miles from the ocean!  A first for my sector of the Christmas Bird Count

By Nicholas Atamas - Photograph taken with EF 70-200mm F/4 L on a Canon EOS300D at 200mm, F/6.3 exposed for 1/1600sec, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=678974

Here are the results from this morning's run of my 2 square mile chunk of suburbia inside the Sarasota Christmas Bird Count circle. 70 species plus the confusing Mallard/Mottled (here called Muddled Duck) Duck complex makes this the best year by 5 species for my count.  I now have 86 species plus the hybrid duck in my sector over 5 years.

New species for my sector included Pied billed Grebe, American Coot, Royal Tern  (complete surprise inland) Black-crowned Night-Heron, Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch (at the southern limit of its range here) Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler and Summer Tanager (heard first using its classic "pick-it-up" call)

Oh, yes, and the annual Cottonmouth with a shitty attitude was curled up by his favorite wetland in Deer Hollow.  I think that snake waits there all year long for me to show up so he can scare the trump out of me.

Major misses include Common Ground-Dove -- they nest in our development just haven't started to call yet.  White-winged Dove - there is usually one or two by Gecko's Restaurant wetland but nobody showed up today, and Glossy Ibis!! There were more than 100 of them in the area 1-2 weeks ago but they all disappeared today.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	21
Blue-winged Teal	3
Mottled Duck	8
Ring-necked Duck	1
Hooded Merganser	1
Pied-billed Grebe	1
Rock Pigeon	81
Eurasian Collared-Dove	6
Mourning Dove	8
Common Gallinule	9
American Coot	1
Limpkin	4
Sandhill Crane	2
Laughing Gull	1
Royal Tern	1
Wood Stork	2
Anhinga	3
Double-crested Cormorant	7
Black-crowned Night-Heron	1
Little Blue Heron	3
Tricolored Heron	1
Snowy Egret	1
Green Heron	1
Western Cattle Egret	11
Great Egret	2
Great Blue Heron	2
White Ibis	147
Roseate Spoonbill	1
Black Vulture	1
Turkey Vulture	18
Osprey	2
Cooper's Hawk	1
Bald Eagle (Subadult/Adults)	2/1
Red-shouldered Hawk	3
Belted Kingfisher	3
Red-headed Woodpecker	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	7
Downy Woodpecker	2
Pileated Woodpecker	1
American Kestrel	1
Nandy Parakeet	2
Eastern Phoebe	2
Blue-headed Vireo	3
Loggerhead Shrike	2
Blue Jay	37
Fish Crow	30
Tufted Titmouse	3
Tree Swallow	84
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Brown-headed Nuthatch	3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	5
Carolina Wren	2
European Starling	23
Gray Catbird	1
Brown Thrasher	1
Northern Mockingbird	11
Eastern Bluebird	1
House Finch	3
Eastern Towhee	1
Red-winged Blackbird	19
Brown-headed Cowbird	7
Common Grackle	37
Boat-tailed Grackle	117
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	4
Palm Warbler	44
Pine Warbler	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	31
Summer Tanager	1
Northern Cardinal	3
Total Individuals	854
Total Species	70
Total Party Hours	5.5
Party hours on foot	2
Party Miles on foot	2.7
Party hours by car	3.5
Party miles by car	11.7
Start time	655
End time	1230

Holiday Greetings from the Little Latitudes

 

A pirate ship passing Los Arcos, Cabo San Lucas, Baja Mexico, November 4, 2023 (Photo by Cathy Hayslett)

I remember as a child thinking that it took forever to pass from one duck hunting season to another.  Now in the not-so-golden years it seems like years pass by us in a flash.  2023 was no different.

As proof of the golden years, Cathy reached the age of enjoying all the benefits of Medicare, and Craig had his left knee surgically replaced. Recovery was amazingly quick and my knee is about 98 percent back to normal.  

Cathy's rambunctious grandson Channing spent about every other weekend with us when we weren't traveling.  At 6 1/2 years old (don't ever forget to add the "half" or you will instantly be corrected) he is growing up too fast.  Math and Science seem to be his preferred classes in first grade and I hope that continues as he becomes older.  Minecraft and the skate park in Sarasota seem to be his favorite forms of recreation although I continue to subject him to identifying birds whenever possible.

Living in the Hurricane Zone we had only one brush with nasty weather this year as the persistent drought continues to dry out South Florida.  In September, Hurricane Idalia passed by just offshore from Sarasota.  It caused the loss of one palm frond here but did substantial damage in the Big Bend Region of North Florida where it made landfall near Steinhatchee (pronounced "Steen-hatchee), one of only 3 "Old Florida" towns remaining in rapidly developing Florida.

Cathy and I began 2023 with a journey aboard the Norwegian Star cruise ship from Buenos Aires Argentina to Antarctica.  I thought it was going to be a once in a lifetime journey.  However a week after returning Cathy said she wanted to repeat the trip in 2024 so I dutifully called Norwegian Cruise Line and booked a return trip for February 2024.

In late April we flew to Honolulu (aboard Alaska Airlines of course) and did a 16-day cruise aboard the Norwegian Spirit to Southeast Alaska and the Inside Passage to Vancouver, British Columbia.  Then in late October we flew to Seattle and enjoyed a 21-day cruise from there to Miami via the Panama Canal. I have a newly found respect for and awe in engineers after experiencing the 12-hour transit of the Canal and its 6 humongous locks.

About the only other travel in 2023 was Craig's annual pilgrimage to Barrow, Alaska, to conduct a Breeding Bird Survey route there.  Sadly no Polar Bears put in an appearance this year as they have in 3 of the 7 trips I have made to my most favorite town in Alaska.

We have three big trips and at least two surgeries planned for 2024.  Three days after returning from Antarctica Cathy will have surgery to repair her right hand from the ravages of Dupuytren's Contracture, an insidious condition that causes fingers to become permanently bent in an uncomfortable position.  Five days later Craig is having his right knee replaced thereby removing some more osteoarthritis from his aging skeleton.  If nothing else I'm looking forward to another hospital-grade Fentanyl buzz before the Jackson Juice puts me to sleep for a couple hours.

In mid-May I am spending a week in North Florida conducting 4 Breeding Bird Survey routes and checking on the damage wrought by Hurricane Idalia.  There have been three wicked hurricanes here in the last few years.  Each of them (Irma, Ian, Idalia) begins with the letter I.  Perhaps in 2024 the National Hurricane Center will pass over I in its hurricane naming scheme.

In late June we travel to beautiful Reykjavik, Iceland, to reconnect with the Norwegian Star on a 12-day cruise from Iceland to Greenland, Newfoundland, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Nova Scotia and finally New York City.  From there we travel to New England for a few days, stopping to see friends in Newport, Rhode Island and near Portland, Maine.  Finally in late November 2024 we travel to Rome for the start of a 15-day repositioning cruise from Italy to Miami. Prior to the cruise we are traveling either to Malta or to Tunisia to add a new country to our respective country life lists!

Jimmy Buffett's untimely death on September 1 reinforced the words in one of his songs that go "As the winds of time pass over my head, I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."  Its a philosophy I prefer to follow as eternity quickly approaches. Part of that philosophy suggests to me that its pointless to hold on to old grudges and enjoy what little time we have left with friends and family.  

If your travel plans include Florida (they seem to for 99 percent of the population of the East Coast each winter) be sure to let us know.  It would be a pleasure to see you again.

Happy Holidays.

A New Pelagic Bird Book

 I made my first pelagic birdwatching trip in September 1978.  Our scheduled trip from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina was blown out by a hurricane so we scurried down to Wilmington, North Carolina and got on a deep sea fishing boat.  We made it to the Gulf Stream where I saw five species of seabirds (Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Great Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater, Audubon's Shearwater, and Bridled Tern) and I was hooked on pelagic birds and birding.

Since that first trip I have spent more than 300 days on the ocean looking for birds.  My first overnight trip was a 10-day excursion with Chris Haney aboard the University of Georgia's research vessel the M/V Bulldog.  We assisted a fisheries biologist studying tilefish, and Chris and I counted seabirds as part of his PhD research.

In subsequent trips I have traveled from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean to Australia, to Fiji to Chile and north in the Pacific Ocean to Alaska.  In the Atlantic I have looked for seabirds in the Southern Ocean at Antarctica, the Atlantic Ocean from the Falkland Islands to South Africa, to the Canary Islands.  In the Mediterranean Sea.  In the Baltic Sea (Sweden to Finland and Finland to Estonia) and in the North Atlantic in Iceland. The Arctic Ocean is the only one of the world's major oceans that I have not been out on looking for seabirds although I have watched them from shore at Barrow, Alaska.

Cathy and I have done two Transatlantic crossings on cruise ships.  One from Denmark to Miami, and the other from Barcelona to Port Canaveral, Florida.  I always chuckle on deck when we are in the middle of the ocean and someone points at my binoculars,, making a snide remark about looking for birds on the ocean.  Then a shearwater flies by and I show it to them and they say "I had no idea."

In the past I have hauled with me bird books for whatever nations I will be visiting to get an idea of which pelagic species are possible to find.  Some times I think I am going to exceed the weight limit of my checked baggage by the airlines just from my bird books.  That issue was recently solved when I discovered "Oceanic Birds of the World - A Photo Guide" by Steve N.G. Howell and Kirk Zuefelt.  This 360 page gem is crammed full of images of every known species of seabird anywhere in the world.  Also for some species like Wandering Albatross there are images showing the progression of plumage change over the period from being juveniles to becoming adults.  Many birds that have not yet been split by taxonomists are also included along with information about their known or suspected ranges.

We have a 16 day cruise coming up in late April and early May that takes us from a week among the Hawaiian islands then five days north over open Pacific Ocean to Southeast Alaska then down the inside passage to Vancouver, British Columbia.  In late October and early November this year we are on a 21-day cruise from Seattle to the Panama Canal, to Cartagena, Colombia and then to Miami.  I think with the discovery of this excellent book on the pelagic birds of the world I will only have to bring one bird book along with me on these and future pelagic adventure.

The Mass Shootings Network

 

I have decided to create my own television network. It will be called MSN - the Mass Shooting Network

For my on-air talent I will hire the same talking heads from CNN and MSNBC who ask the same meaningless questions of the same law enforcement and legislative consultants every day when there is a mass shooting.. Which, unfortunately, is every fucking day.

The recurring 24-hour format will include 10 minutes at the top of every hour showing the grisly scene from the most recent senseless killing or killings if its a really active day like most are. This will be followed by five minutes of insight from the paid consultants.

At 20 after each hour there will be 10 minutes of advertisement from the National Rifle Association, from the gun manufacturers, and maybe a brief talk with Jonathan Lawson from Colonial Penn to tell us about $9.99 life insurance.

At 30 after the hour there will be 8 minutes of video from the story at the top of the hour followed by 7 minutes of video from mass shootings yesterday and the day before and the day before and the day before that.

At 45 minutes after the hour there will be 10 more minutes of advertisements from the NRA and gun manufacturers and in this segment we will ask if you drank any water at Camp Le June North Carolina from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The final 5 minutes of the hour will be video of Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and other politicians in the pocket of the NRA sending their thoughts and prayers to the victims of the most recent senseless slaughters.

By creating this network I will take pressure off the main stream media who can then devote their air time to the size of tRump's penis, when he took his last shit, and who he most recently demonized in a Tweet. You know. The sort of news that's really important to patriotic Americans.

With the ad revenue I take in from my network I should be able to retire in five years to a place like New Zealand that takes gun control seriously. Sadly, the United States does not.

The Avocado Bears of the Los Padres National Forest

 

Unattributed photo from Wikipedia

Animals that eat meat are called "carnivores" and are referred to as being "carnivorous.".  Those that eat plants are called "herbivores" and are referred to as being "herbivorous".  Those animals that eat plants and animals, like humans, are called "omnivores" and referred to as being "omnivorous."

Geographic location of the Los Padres National Forest in human-infested Southern California

Encompassing more than 2 million acres of public land in Southern California the Los Padres National Forest above Ventura, and Santa Barbara, provides an abundance of habitat for carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.  Although not overly common, there are plenty of Black Bears in the rich forests of the Los Padres, and it pays to be aware of the sound of large animals crashing through the trees.  Most often it will be a deer but if you are lucky you might encounter a Black Bear or better yet a Mountain Lion.

The Los Padres National Forest provides habitat for an abundance of wildlife species including the endangered Red-legged Frog and the iconic California Condor.  Photo by US Forest Service

During the late 1993-early 1994 hunting season someone on the Los Padres National Forest encountered and shot a massive Black Bear.  After field dressing the bear and removing it from the forests, biologists estimated that its live weight was somewhere around 800 pounds which, for a Black Bear, is enormous.

When the hunter opened the bear to clean it he noticed a distinctive odor from the entrails and saw that the thick layer of fat under the skin was entirely green.  Concerned that the bear was ill, he contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and reported his unusual finding. A biologist, the one who estimated the live weight at around 800 pounds was baffled by the odor and the green fat.  Cal Fish and Wildlife took samples of the fat tissue and submitted it to both the National Fish and Wildlife Health Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and to a California state crime lab for analysis.

The conclusion from both scientific laboratories was that the green color of the fat and subsequently the strange odor of the entrails came from a chemical found in avocados. This set Cal Fish and Wildlife off on another investigation where they discovered from talking to residents living adjacent to the National Forest that Yogi Bear wasn't the only bear who steals from picnic baskets

A California avocado grove

Investigators discovered that there was a small cadre of Black Bears living in the Los Padres National Forest that had developed a healthy appetite for avocados.  Apparently the 800 pound Black Bear and probably partners of his had been traveling between avocado groves near the forest and gorging themselves on ripe avocados!  

One-half of an avocado (100g) provides 160 calories, 2g of protein, 8.5g of carbohydrates, and 14.7g of fat. So every time a Los Padres bear scarfed down an avocado it was consuming 320 calories. You can do the math for how many more calories were being packed on with each additional avocado.  Luckily for the bears, avocado are largely cholesterol-free so they weren't clogging their arteries.  But this bunch of laid-back Southern California Black Bears was consuming fat-producing calories at warp speed.

The Missouri Mule Hunter

 

Photo by Montana Department of Fish and Game

Just before my 14th birthday I went elk hunting with my dad and my great uncle in a mountainous area south of Bozeman, Montana. The area has now been desecrated by the Big Sky Ski Resort but in 1965 it was pristine mountain habitat

Where I hunted elk in 1965 has been "improved" and now looks like this

We camped by a rock-strewn stream, a tributary of the Gallatin River, where I caught my first cutthroat trout although most of our time was devoted to hunting. Each morning after breakfast and coffee I was given a topographic map and a compass, instructed on which ridge line to hunt, and told not to get lost.

The appropriately-named Cutthroat Trout. Photo by US Geological Survey

After a week in the mountains we left our camp empty handed although I did see my lifer Dusky Grouse. On the way back to my great uncle’s ranch we stopped at a Montana Fish and Game Department hunter check station to see if others had better luck than us.

There is a very good reason the colloquial name for Dusky Grouse is "Fool Hen".

As we looked at someone’s bull elk, a car with Missouri license plates pulled in. Attached to his roof was a fully dressed out hoofed animal containing a tag identifying his quarry as a cow elk. What he had shot and prepared to haul back to Missouri was a mule.

Nearly 60 years later I remain amazed that someone could misidentify a mule in a farm field and think it was a cow elk!

I wish Montana Fish and Game hadn’t told him about his mistake and instead let him take it home and cook a couple steaks. His view of eating “elk” likely would have changed