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Specialties of Florida, April 2017

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     Florida has a few specialty birds. That is, bird species that are found only in Florida within USA. I had seen three of them at Ecuador - Smooth-billed Ani, Short-tailed Hawk, Shiny Cowbird. I wasn't interested in the introduced birds that are ABA countable now. I had already seen Limpkin in a previous trip while I was kayaking near Orlando, but I decided to target it for better looks. I did not want to target the pelagic birds that breed at Dry Tortugas, and Antillean Nighthawk for this trip. So that comes to seven birds including Limpkin. I also wanted to see American Crocodile, which can reliably be found at Everglades NP. Looking at ebird, I came up with the following classification: Limpkin - easy  Snail Kite - hard White-crowned Pigeon - easy Mangrove Cuckoo - hard Gray Kingbird - easy Black-whiskered Vireo - hard Florida Scrub-jay - moderate      I kept one day each for the hard and moderate ones. I expected to find the ...
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California Birding, Dec 2016

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     I had vacations that were expiring by year end, which I wanted to use. It was Christmas time, and I had no plans. I looked at ticket prices to various places, and SFO had the most ecomical tickets. So, I decided to target the Gulls and shorebirds of western USA. When I made a list of birds that I can target, it became clear that multiple trips were required. I decided to go north from SFO until OR and find whatever comes my way. I also particulary wanted to see the central CA endemic 'Yellow-billed Magpie'. I got motels at various places along the coast, and one at Sacramento for the Magpie.      I found good pelagic birds reported at Farallon Islands in the past, and on googling I found a cruise that would take me there. At least that's what I thought. I called them up explaining what I wanted, and they claimed a naturalist knowledgeable in birds will accompany us, and we would see whales and birds. The tour was to Farallon Islands, and so I ass...
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Colima Warbler chase at Big Bend NP, Aug 2016

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      I got an annual pass to make trips to see Colima Warbler apart from other birds. I couldn't go to the park in April or May as my parents visited me.  April or May is the best time to sight them as they would be singing.  Then I got busy at work. I finally got a chance in August. 'Colima Warbler' spends the summer breeding at Chisos Mountains within the NP. It is found nowhere else in USA. I wanted to get three of the western hummers as well.       I was on my way to a private property for the hummers. Due to monsoon (thundershowers in AZ/NM/west TX from Jul to Sep) which is not as dramatic as Indian monsoons, the primitive road was slushy. My car got stuck at 12 noon, and I spent an hour getting out of two bad spots. So I gave up on the private property and headed to the NP. I got an idea to try a hummingbird feeder at Lajitas golf-resort. Except for Black-chinned which are common in TX, and a male Rufous (first time I saw a ...
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