Re: [MDOsprey] Marshall Iliff scores in TX!
Miliff@aol.com
Tue, 19 Oct 1999 21:41:37 EDT
MDOsprey,
Just returned from a week of shore leave that I spent knocking around TX with
Brian Gibbons. The Blue Mockingbird was nice, as were a few other scattered
birds (Tropical Parula at Falcon Dam, locally rare Brown Thrasher and
...surprise...Red-breasted Nuthatch, an inland Reddish Egret, a Least Grebe
with 3 piping chicks), bugs (major invasion of the less-than-annual Malachite
butterfly, possibly due to heavy rains from Hurricane Brett, a Guava Skipper,
and a few other lifers), and herps (2 Gopher Tortoise, a Loggerhead Sea
Turtle seen from the Padre I. jetty, a Common Checkered Garter Snake, several
Gopher Snakes, and best of all, a Plains Blackhead Snake, a very rare, tiny,
ground dwelling snake that is really tough to see). On my last day on the TX
coast the front passed through and a large fallout of OC Warblers and
Nashville Warblers occurred, along with several other species (Mourning Dove,
Lincoln's Sparrow, Indigo Bunting). Three Whip-poor-wills in Corpus Christi
were a highlight. All in all the TX trip was a good one, and I do enjoy that
section of the country immensely. I am now back out on my LA platform,
enjoying the leftovers of what was a MAJOR fallout on nearly every one of out
ten platforms, also yesterday, with the frontal passage. At least here
though, it seems that there was a different component, as I have NO
Orange-crowns, Nashvilles, or Lincoln's Sparrows here, but do have Magnolia
Warblers and White-eyed Vireos...
In Cameron Parish on the way down (Oct 13) migration was fairly slow
but I enjoyed the 5 different Lesser Black-backed Gulls (3 ad, 2 2nd-year) on
Rutherford Beach, 10 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and a Wood Stork.
My long Sept-Oct stint on the platform ended with a bang. Thought some of
you might be interested in one of the most exhilarating birding experiences
of my life...
After 5 weeks on the platform, which were generally slow but punctuated by a
few good migration events, I had come down to my last day before the break.
At 7:30 am I was rounding a corner I talked with some workers who told me
about a dove they had just seen. A minute later I saw a bird flying in
towards the platform and immediately assumed it was the dove. As I was
raising my glasses I realized something wasn't right though, and by the time
I glassed the bird I realized it was a small owl!!!! Instantly it was lost
from sight as it went in to land on the level above me. Taking the stairs
four at a time, I dashed up to refind it but my frantic searching was
fruitless. Trying to control my nerves, I set about on a more careful,
systematic search of the area but still came up dry. Finally, I started
preparing mentally for an all day, top-to-bottom search of the platform. My
mind was spinning with the excitement of the hunt, the fear that I wouldn't
refind it, and from trying to see the myriad roost site choices through an
owl's eyes. I sent emails to a small truckload of people asking for advice
on roost site choice owls. I xeroxed several posters which read:
"REWARD $20.00 FROM THE BIRDMAN -- This morning a small owl (6" tall) flew
into the Production Deck, West Side" If you find it and show birdman it is
worth $20.00. Don't try to catch it please. It will probably be sitting
_high up_ on an I-beam or tube. You may also see it fly out and return to
the platform"
Finally I began the first in what I expected would be a day-long series of
searches. I tried to leave no nook, crevice, corner, or beam unchecked -- no
easy task with the mazes of pipes and beams. Finally, once I returned to the
location where I originally thought it flew in, there it was. My lifer
_Flamulated Owl_ staring me in the face. Time was 10:30 and I spent the rest
of the day taking notes, photos, and enjoying it. By 20:00 it was gone...
Amazingly, one of the other observers, Brian Gibbons, had seen a Flammulated
Owl on his platform a day earlier. That one had also been seen flying in on
the lee side of the platform, but Brian had considerably longer looks and was
able to ID it as it flew straight towards him by the brown eyes. It landed
on a beam right next to him and he was able to take several digital photos
which he immediately emailed to all the other observers, with the subject
line "Go with the FLOW" [FLOW is the 4-letter banding code for FLammulated
OWl]. I went to bed that night with dreams of Flammulated Owls -- lo and
behold....
My bird constitutes Louisiana's 3rd Flammulated Owl, and Brian's the 3rd (?)
for the TX Gulf Coast (they breed and are regular migrants in west TX). The
only other record away from regular areas is from the Gulf Coast of FL, and
interestingly, one each of the TX and LA records are also from platforms.
Considering the paucity of birder coverage on these platforms (two falls with
one observer, last fall with 5, this fall with 10) the number of Flam Owls
seems pretty shocking. Granted they are hard to detect onshore, but they are
pretty hard to detect even on these platforms. Lucky for me and Brian that
we saw our owls fly in!
Just thought I'd share this one with y'all -- it was certainly one of the
birding highlights of my life. The absolute panic I felt at having my best
bird of the season (and an owl at that!) slip through my fingers, followed by
the rush of finally discovering it (and not having to shell out 20 big ones!)
will live long and vivid in my memory.
Good birding,
Marshall Iliff
Iliff***************************************************************************************
**********Marshall J. Iliff
Currently on Mobil Green Canyon 18A
110 mi south of Morgan City, LA
Migration Over the Gulf Project www.transgulf.org
miliff@aol.com
www.transgulf.orgmiliff@aol.com*************************************************************************************************