Veagle's 2009 List (1 Viewer)

[veagle]

Went to Bear Butte Lake in the morning, looking for Gray Partridge. Spent quite a while looking, then scanned the lake, finding Western Grebe, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, among others. Then walking around a small pond, I flushed a group of about 10 Gray Partridges. Been looking for them for a while.

October 17 - Bear Butte Lake, SD

266. Gray Partridge

 

[veagle]

Got a call yesterday from a friend who observed a Surf Scoter about 55 miles east of Rapid City, in the wonderful town of Wall (of Wall Drugs fame). Drove out early this morning arrived at the sewage lagoon at dawn, and there it was. An adolescent, this bird has only been seen in Western South Dakota four or five times. Other birds seen included Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead and Northern Shoveler. Drove the hour back to Rapid City, and was in my office by 8:30. Great way to start the day.

October 19 - Wall Sewage Lagoon, SD

267. Surf Scoter :t:

 

[veagle]

I have been getting reports of sightings of Harris's Sparrows recently, and have been totally unsucessfull in finding it until today. Ironically, I was watching some football on the TV, and looked out under our feeders, and saw an unfamiliar sparrow. Sure enough, a first winter Harris's.

October 25 - Rapid City, SD

268. Harris's Sparrow

 

[veagle]

In California for a few days, split between business and birding. A more complete account at http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1629375#post1629375.

October 27, 2009 Along the Palms to Pines Highway, California

269. Western Scrub-Jay
270. Acorn Woodpecker
271. Western Bluebird
272. California Quail
273. Oak Titmouse
274. Pygmy Nuthatch

 

[veagle]

At the Salton Sea, for a marathon day with Henry Detwiler from Southwestern Birding. A description of the day is at : http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1629375#post1629375

October 30 - Salton Sea, California

275. Anna's Hummingbird
276. Phainopepla
277. Abert's Towhee
278. Black Phoebe
279. Clark's Grebe
280. Gambel's Quail
281. Common Moorhen
282. Gila Woodpecker
283. Cactus Wren
284. Verdin

 

[veagle]

At the Salton Sea, for a marathon day with Henry Detwiler from Southwestern Birding. A description of the day is at http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1635157#post1635157

October 30 - Salton Sea, California

285. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
286. Brewer's Sparrow
287. Greater Roadrunner
288. Brown Pelican
289. Peregrine Falcon:t:

 

[veagle]

At the Salton Sea, for a marathon day with Henry Detwiler from Southwestern Birding. A description of the day is at http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=155532

October 30 - Salton Sea, California

290. Heerman's Gull
291. Yellow-footed Gull
292. Inca Dove
293. Common Ground-Dove
294. White-tailed Kite

 

[veagle]

At the Salton Sea, for a marathon day with Henry Detwiler from Southwestern Birding. A description of the day is at http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=155532

October 30 - Salton Sea, California

295. Greater White-fronted Goose
296. Sandhill Crane
297. Sora
298. Virginia Rail
299. Ross's Goose
300. Vermilion Flycatcher o

 

[veagle]

Had some first of Season birds this weekend: Bald Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, and Townsend's Solitaire. But the highlight was:

November 15 - Bear Butte Lake

301. Greater Scaup

 

[veagle]

I'm in Pierre, the state capital of SD for the weekend meeting of the South Dakota Ornithological Union. Had a short outing this morning - focused on locating a Red-throated Loon, that had been seen a bit north of here during the last few days, but maybe seen only half a dozen times in SD. A cold, blustery day, and the wind was making it difficult to scan the water, but shortly after arriving, several of us get a quick glimpse of the Loon, after wich we are unable to re-locate it. But we also see another lifer for me, as well as Eared and Western Grebes, and a Bald Eagle. Went back late in the day to try to re-locate the Loon. No wind, water like glass, but no luck. Good day anyway. Picture of the Grebe attached.

November 21 - Cow Creek Recreation Area, SD

302. Red-throated Loon
303. Red-necked Grebe

 

[veagle]

Today was the second day of the SDOU meeting. I drove down with a small group to the Big Bend Dam, south of Pierre along the Missouri River. Lots of gulls, and waterfowl, and a few surprises. Our first stop turned out to be the most productive, as we saw both Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls on the first visit, and picked up 5 Snow Buntings on the last stop of the morning. In between, we saw lots of Double-crested Cormorants, Bonaparte's Gulls, and Common and Hooded Mergansers, along with a handful of Bald Eagles. A nice morning.

November 22 - Big Bend Dam, SD

304. Thayer's Gull
305. Glaucous Gull
306. Snow Bunting

 

[veagle]

In New Jersey for Thanksgiving. After an early morning trip to Newark Airport, I headed down to bird a few locations along Raritan Bay, south of New York. An absolutely beautiful morning, with temperatures warming up quickly and no wind, the only negative was that I did not have my scope, which precluded identifying thousands of birds out of range. But...a good morning nonetheless. I found Common and Red-throated Loon, American Black Duck, Brant, Bufflehead, Double-breasted Cormorant, Herring, Ring-billed, and Greater Black-backed Gulls, and at a little point found Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Also found two new birds:

November 29 - Keansburg, NJ

307. Lesser Black-backed Gull

November 29 - South Amboy, NJ

308. Red-breasted Merganser

 

[veagle]

Well, its my last day in New Jersey before going to Boston for some business. Took my daughter to the airport very early this morning, then, as long as I'm already up, figured I might as well pay a quick visit to Conaskonsk Point, a terrific sight that I found last spring. Got there a little before dawn. Making my way out to the beach, there was an awful lot of water in the dirt road. Finally got to a point where I would have had to wade across about a foot of water. So I turned around, but not before scaring up a Sora and a Great Blue Heron.

So at this point, I decided to drive the extra 10 miles to get to Sandy Hook. Walked out a lot of beaches and saw ungodly numbers of Herring, Ring-billed and Greater Black-backed Gulls, Brant, etc. Finally took a long hike out to a beach were I found two Mute Swans, and off in the distance, in the water...

November 30 - Sandy Hook, NJ

309. White-winged Scoter

 

[veagle]

A cold overcast morning, which became snowy as we drove around Pennington County looking for Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting. Saw a number of Bald and Golden Eagles, which are always impressive, a likely Merlin, although we couldn't be sure, and maybe 65 Sharp-tailed Grouse. After driving around on gravel roads, we returned to a paved road, where we saw enormous group of birds, which judging from those near the road were maybe 90 % Horned Larks, and 10% Lapland Longspurs.

December 13 - Pennington County, SD

310. Lapland Longspur

 

[veagle]

Drove out to Lawrence county, near the Wyoming border early this morning, where I saw a Long-eared Owl, and later saw Black-billed Magpie, Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, and some wintering Red-winged Blackbirds.

Decemer 19 - Lawrence County, SD

311. Long-eared Owl

 

[veagle]

Well, Happy New Years to everyone who has read this list. This was my first complete year of birding, and an amazing year it was. I saw 311 species, out of my life list of 319. I had 155 lifers. I was lucky enough to bird in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Jersey, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, California, and my home state of South Dakota. Had some amazing experiences, including seeing the bird reserve in Cape St. Mary's, Newfoundland where Roger Torey Peterson began his journey across North America, and a great Marathon Day at the Salton Sea in California. I have enjoyed reading others lists as much as writing my own. And have started my 2010 list, which I'll publish in a few days. Thanks again.

Veagle - Dick Latuchie