Pandemic distractions chasing Cruisers

After the stay at home started in March 2020, I stuck close to home as much as possible.  It took us quite a while before we were willing to drive an hour or more to explore nature even though this likely would have been an acceptable choice for many.  We chose to be cautious, yet still got out close to home even though we knew others that traveled even less than us.  As months passed we traveled to extended family and created a small bubble of close contact (limiting interactions with others to only outdoors) in the summer of 2020 and continued with that for the next year until vaccinations.  For the first time in almost 16 months, this summer I rode in the car with others outside of my immediate family. This time away allowed me to more easily which interactions I enjoyed as well as those on the other end of the spectrum. One of the activities that I thoroughly missed was time with birding friends exploring small water sources searching for Odonata. Carpooling allowed us to share checklists, chat while driving rather than being outside listening for birds, and have extra sets of eyes and ears to catch movement and track the flying dragonflies. 

Back in 2018 I set a goal for the next year to add 100 new county records of a dragonfly and damselfly species to OdonataCentral.  I achieved that goal with the help of friends and traveling. Along this journey we even found the first record of Plateau Spreadwings for the state with Jeff Calhoun.  At the time, a picture was required to submit a record and there was a real challenge to photographing certain families of dragonflies. Since 2019, an update to the website allows for submissions without photos, but they simply aren't vetted. 

There are ten families of damselflies and dragonflies within Kansas. The Macromiidae family (Cruisers) is one that has been quite frustrating for me.  Of the first 10 cruisers I saw, only two perched and both were ones found by Kathy Carroll near her home.  All the others were flybys and of those only a couple did I get identifiable fuzzy photos. I find that patience is needed for these species. They often return to the same area while patrolling larger areas. I also need more practice of in-flight shots and that I should celebrate the successes rather than focus on the many that are deleted.  Here is a recent success of a Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis illinoiensis) flight photo from Wilson County Kansas this past weekend.  

A male Illinois River Cruiser.

We have the geogina subspecies of the Swift River Cruiser in Kansas as well. This poses an identification challenge to separate it from Gilded River Cruisers that overlap in range.  Hopefully more opportunities and more in-flight successes will allow us to fill in county records for these two species as well as other Cruisers (click this link for county level maps of all four cruiser species in Kansas).

Birding during a stay at home order?

Legality versus morality

A friendly "Is it Legal?" versus "Is it Moral?" discussion often will reveal similarities and differences among us. A congruence of ethics and laws is possible. Most people agree that murder is illegal and immoral while helping someone is legal and moral. The possibilities of illegal and moral or legal and immoral shed insight however.

I have friends that don't speed, yet many are okay driving over the speed limit.  This act is illegal and morally accepted by the masses. For the individuals that are law abiding, I doubt even they keep track of internet purchases that collect and don't collect sales tax to report on their annual tax forms. Current state level reforms on marijuana are following historical laws on "Medical Liquor" during prohibition. Some have predicted that federal law on this topic will reform, especially with the amount of research focused on addictive qualities of drugs, social norms, and individual of physical characteristics.  All of these are fascinating topics for public policy but I digress.

The combination of legal and immoral actions yields a set of interesting perspectives as well as examples. Killing a person during time of war is not something I would want to impose on anyone, yet it is legal. Breaking a promise or a contract is an optimal strategy in some cases, yet the value of your word likely will not mean anything for those that can remember or research an individual. I wonder how often people that own a casino, sell alcohol or tobacco, or sell guns wonder about the lives that their establishment have destroyed.  Cheating on a spouse, usury and payday loans, and using abortion as birth control are other examples. I offer no insight into topics that likely will garner response from thousands or millions, but instead pick a topic with a smaller base.

Before you read my thoughts about birding in today's environment; answer two questions for me.
1. Do you break promises made to friends?
2. Do your friends break promises made to you?

So should you go birding during stay-at-home and social distancing orders?

Male Surf Scoter (left) with Ruddy Ducks at Lone Star Lake in Douglas County Kansas

The stay at home order in Kansas issued over a week ago and in place for a week now. It seems some use the socially distancing in nature exception as reason to drive and actively bird away from home. Some states with stay at home orders have stricter rules, some states just recently imposed them and were hesitant of the restriction, and some states still haven't taken any action.  I hope the future deaths, number of illnesses, and effects on everyone's lives is minimal such that a debate over the appropriate response is possible in the future.

I believe it is in the best interest of public health (the benefit of society) if everyone stays at home if possible and am wary that localized lock downs might occur. I also realize the risk to the individual, to ones family, and to others is minimal as long as other guidelines are followed. The risks increase as less people adhere to the stay at home order though. Tragedy of the commons is a problem that most contribute to and don't feel the consequences from their decisions.

I fear the "it is legal" response justifying these actions are individuals that also turn a blind eye to the negative effects their actions have on others. So I went out last week, the last possible date where I didn't have to explain a caveat to justify my nonessential travel.  I knew in my heart it wasn't the moral thing to do. We stayed in the car the entire time and the only interaction was carryout pizza. Our first food away from home in three weeks as well. It was wonderful yet seriously disturbing.

We saw the lake full of people fishing. I wonder how far they drove to get there. I wonder if they have the opportunity to stay at home in the future or if this was their normal weekend activity. I wonder if they will follow the orders anyways. The intent of these orders is to stop the spread of the virus. Using legality and caveats to justify your getting out causes concern for me.  Does it for you?

Back to those two questions.  I doubt many want to be the disappointed person that has friends break their promises yet justifies when they need to break promises themselves. Why is this any different?

Central Kansas Trip Report

This past weekend I visited central Kansas with a Burroughs's Audubon Society field trip with approximately 20 participants. We focused on finding birds at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

A view from the road along the northwest side of Cheyenne Bottoms during a past family visit.

My first trip to central Kansas was five and a half years ago. I was the chauffeur with no prior knowledge, with no expectations, and merely an interest in visiting the locations that others talked about.  That initial trip with Mike Hudson and Nick Varvel created many wonderful memories. I added 5 lifers. I saw my first Massasauga on the trip (it is a snake for those that don't know). We camped under a family of Great Horned Owls and I could easily see why others hold these locations in high regard.

Sunrise over Pool 23 across from the Environmental Education Classroom at Quivira NWR..

Since that initial visit, I have driven the 4 hours one-way to return many times. I've taken family trips that are relatively laid back and less structured, one-day mad dashes with friends to get our fill of birds, and everything in between with stops at these locations on my way further west. Occasionally I take pictures (yes there are snake pictures linked here too) yet more often I don't. Sometimes I am alone, sometimes I am with a friend or two, and sometimes I am with large groups.

This past weekend was the third time I've organized and led an overnight field trip to these locations. The group of birders had a wide range of experience. For some, it was the maiden voyage to these locations and many of the birds we were about to see would be lifers. My simply strategy for the handful of cars was to drive until we found a pocket of birds, stop and get out of the vehicles, and scope everything we could see. I attempted to balance seeing as many birds as possible with a laid-back and relaxed agenda.  Here is a rambling account of this past weekend's adventure. 

 

Jill Bell's photo of Friday's Rock Wren (left) and a King Rail from a previous Burrough's Field Trip.

Early in the year I looked at the calendar and coordinated with Joseph Miller to set the dates for this trip. Little did I know that my work schedule, set 5 months later, would require a later departure than I initially hoped. I modified the initial itinerary and the field trip started at Cheyenne Bottoms late Friday evening. Not included in my great wisdom of date selection was any referral to hunting seasons. The Cheyenne Bottoms parking lots were full of camouflage wearing hunters scouting for duck opener the next morning. We pulled into the full campground with the intent of listening for Owls and left speculating what the hunters thought of birders (and mostly a group of women this night) stopping in before dusk. A Rock Wren was the at the Headquarters was the evening avian highlight.

Saturday morning we left the hotel and arrived at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge shortly after daybreak. Our first stop was unit 49 along 140th Ave. As we scanned the shorebirds, herons, and ducks a KING RAIL walked out from the reeds on the far shore. This little pond has been good to me as it held a Red Phalarope in 2016 as well! Our drive around the Wildlife Loop included a juvenile SABINE'S GULL flying close by and we found roughly 50 species in a couple of hours.

Field trip participants walking a field for Sprague's Pipits.

With the gracious assistance of the Millers, the field trip walked a private field and observed SPRAGUE'S PIPITS. The group was smitten with Joseph, Andrew, and Anthony and I think the trio have many new fans. The group enjoyed their friendliness, their knowledge, and their ability to hear and point out the birds. We said our goodbyes to the Millers and returned to Quivira in the afternoon. We scoped birds at Little Salt Marsh and heading back to Wildlife Drive and Big Salt Marsh. Sandhill Cranes flew in to roost north of 170th near the end of the day. We called it day after seeing over 80 species and went out to eat to enjoy new friendships and talk smart.

A different Barton County Clark's Grebe from earlier in 2019.

Sunday we visited Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. The wooded trail near the Kansas Wetlands Education Center contained a few passerines in the brisk calm morning hour. By the time we drove around the loop many of the hunters were packing up and the number of shots was significantly less than those heard at daybreak. Four SABINE'S GULLS, a leucistic AMERICAN COOT, and our only AMERICAN BITTERN of the trip were found near the north end of Pool 1A. In Pool 2 a large flock of Western Grebes contained a CLARK'S GREBE. With many miles to drive for most in the group, we finished the trip shortly afternoon and headed our separate ways. 

The trip contained many birds. I think we had more than our fair share of notable sightings (vaguely made up of unexpected species listed above) and many in the group saw multiple new species for the first time. The joy of the trip however was time observing birds with others. A huge thankyou to friends for land access and local guiding, for friends that drove and allowed me to hop between multiple cars, and for new friends that assisted in geting everyone on birds. 

A Perplexing Gull

On Saturday, November 11th, 2017 a group of us came across a Gull at the outlet tubes at John Redmond Reservoir in Coffey County Kansas that peaked our interests. Here are my thoughts on a bird that some felt comfortable with an identification, some took time to study and changed their identification, and where a consensus was not reached even by the people that felt comfortable identifying it. If you are not a fan of long-stories, then know that I am confused by this bird and do not feel comfortable identifying it. I also write this blog post to help me remember the thought process I went through trying to identify the bird. For reference, here are the parts of a gull. 

Observation 

The bird sat on the cement structures below the water outlet and occasionally stretched but it never flew in the time we were there. The sky was overcast and a light drizzle fell intermittently that morning. Initially observed at 225 yards we walked closer and were able to take a few photos and study it with scopes at 100 yards. 

The bird of interest is the bottom one. Adult Ring-billed Gulls are in the background for comparison.

There are a couple of characteristics about this bird that might lead us toward an identification. The bird is only slightly larger than the adult Ring-billed Gulls, it has a lighter head and neck that contrasts with a grey-buff colored chest and dark primaries and wing coverts, it has bright pink legs and a dark bill. Focusing first on size, the regularly occurring species in Kansas to consider are California Gull, Iceland Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, and Herring Gull.

A side profile offers insight into the structure as well as earlier characteristics.

Size might indicate that California Gull as a candidate species for identification. I feel safe that this bird is not a California Gull however based on the light head, all dark bill, and contrasting parts of this bird. With a 1st winter California Gull I would have expected a warmer brown color of the bird on the wing coverts and a clearly demarcated bi-colored bill with black tip and fleshy pink colored base. 

A 1st winter Iceland (Thayeri) Gull is potentially a better fit. Indeed this bird exhibits bright pink legs, an all dark bill and the size of the bird fits within the expected range. Additionally, the tertials are frosted and the coverts are fairly cleanly marked. So far so good, but there are a couple of characteristics about this bird that seem to go against the expected field-marks. The contrast between the warm chest, lighter head, and the darker primaries point away from an Iceland Gull. In addition, Iceland Gull’s tend to have a rounder head than the block-shaped head of this bird. Overall the contrast on this bird is not something I expect for a species that is often, on average, lighter. 

This leaves two likely possibilities. The small size, the all dark bill, the lighter head compared to the darker primaries and relatively patterned coverts had us thinking Lesser-Black Backed Gull. The warm buffy chest tones, the overall potbellied shape, and the dark but not black primaries were reasons toward Herring Gull. If the bird had flown we would have been able to examine the wings and tail in flight, but we left without seeing either.

 

Here are limited views of the wings and uppertail coverts.

I wish that I could deduce that there was something in these photos that led me to reach a concrete conclusion, but instead I choose to leave this bird unidentified and let it fall within that “interesting” category. The overall uniform gray/brown wash on the belly, shape, and unexplainable feel of the bird are sufficient that I believe this bird is most likely a Herring Gull but does that really matter. Perhaps I could exploit my instincts if I were a betting person with a definitive expert willing to ID this bird or perhaps I would loose so much money that I would give up birding and identification completely. An easier answer would be for me to have a greater knowledge based, as the details of the coverts and tertials might provide insight.  

So some that saw this bird in person or through electronic communications identified it as a Herring Gull, a Lesser-Black Backed Gull, a rarer Vega Herring Gull, and I even had thoughts of a Laurus genetic hybrid concoction initially. These photos are not as challenging as the mind-bending result of another mystery bird yet it is puzzling. Fortunately I like the ambiguity and opportunity presented by my apparent lack of Gull knowledge. At least that is what I tell anyone that believes me as a reason to get out more often.  

Why I bird

Someone I respect posed the following set of questions to a Facebook group "I'm always trying to understand other birders and what motivates them or why they are in this. We have seen such an explosion of numbers in the "birding world" over the last 15 to 20 years that I'm trying to understand why. Is it just being outdoors? is it the photography angle (due to the revolution in photography because of digital technology). Is it the competitive side or birding (listing), or is it "The Big Year" effect? Or is it something else completely that I'm totally missing?" There were more questions on the friend's post but the first set of questions is rich enough that I felt it most appropriate to answer these separate from the other questions.

A new blog?

While I could have simply responded on Facebook I thought it would be more appropriate as a blog post and the perfect time to separate my blog into one that focused on family and one that focused on birding. I will continue to post birding stories about the family on the other location, but hope to write my thoughts on this blog going forward. Blog post and Facebook response are different!

1. Threads on Facebook are extremely hard to find and get overwhelmed and buried with other threads. I expect that I will want to come back to my thoughts for future reference and see how they have changed. I posted a few years back about chasing. I find it interesting that I now regularly chase and that I did not foresee the a move to Kansas City changing how I bird so dramatically.
2. Any post that goes longer than a few sentences is not read even where long answers are expected on social media. By nature, blog posts are longer and almost everyone knows it. I don't pretend to know the reasoning for this observation, but at least this platform is designed to show the entire post. In addition this format allows for using paragraph formatting and indentations and wish that posts and responses were consistently at least at the middle school level.

Starting out as a bird watcher

My first memories of birds were with grandparents and parents. My grandparents had a large feeder setup in their backyard, my parents had a smaller one, and my father loved duck hunting. Growing up we would look at the birds out the kitchen windows while eating and playing cards. I hunted to be with dad, but in college I learned that hunting afforded me the opportunity to get out in nature. I soon got to the point where hunting success was not determined by bringing anything home, but rather the experience of being with nature. College and grad school slightly detoured my time in nature, but once our eldest (approx 11 years ago) was born it all changed.

My wife and I starting taking walks to get her to sleep. We had recently purchased a DSLR to take pictures of our daughter, but my wife also took photos of anything along the trails. Birds were a fun subject for her photos, as they seemingly changed more often than the flowers, trees, or sky. My spark bird was my wife's photo of a Song Sparrow, as this experience revealed that I nothing almost nothing about birds but was curious. I soon bought a handful of guides and attended a Madison Audubon Field-trip for the first time. With an extremely stressful @#$%y situation in grad school birds became a personal and family retreat from hypocrisy, politics, and human 2-sidedness that seemingly invaded many aspects of life.

I escaped self-imposed stress and personal insecurity with the frivolity of attempting to identify every species. I found being a new birder to be easy and carefree! I simply introduced myself to respect others, asked questions when they would be received, was appreciative of kindness, took care to try and recognize knowledge versus opinion of other bird watchers, and celebrated excitement regardless the reason. I had hopes of being able to identify all photos, but soon realized that it was more enjoyable to have a willingness to be wrong.

Over the next couple of years my wife or myself took photos of 200 species. Identifying birds in the field is a challenge and I was slow to learn this skill as I put in little time on the topic. Photos were easy for me and were weekend enjoyment away from school. I thanked others for pointing me in the right direction and would go look up information afterwards. While I loved the information and learning side of photos I soon realized that my photos and others were judged unwantingly. I saw the same hypocrisy of people saying one thing but thinking another, saying something different behind others backs, or acting and speaking in a way inconsistent with previous words. It is odd that I find the subject of the photos beautiful, the memories of the experience figuratively priceless, yet the photo is repulsive because of the human interactions and words of a few.

This Sandhill Crane family walked across a field on one of our first walks!

A transition from bird watching into birding

For work reasons I moved away from Madison three years after getting into bird watching. I struggled as an inexperienced birder having moved to a location with less people and almost no birders. I did not know where to go nor how to find many birds. I had to change tactics from following others to figuring things out for myself. I often considered myself a miserable failure for not see many birds, for not being able to identify them, and I foolishly compared myself to others. I occasionally gave up on birding endeavors even during spring migration.

At the same time something else happened. Within a month of moving I found myself at a local wildlife area and shortly thereafter started volunteering with them. I was reminded that my love for nature was fostered and returned to my personal beliefs on the educational component of bird watching! I did not devote enough time back then, nor now, to learn quickly. I accepted that I did not know as much about birds as I wanted to and got back to loving the journey of learning. So, I led nature and migration walks on campus. I completed bird surveys for the DNR and reached out to others in the area even though I did not consider myself anything more than a novice.

A fresh start as a newbie birder

For work and family reasons I moved again after 2 years in central Wisconsin. I loved seeing new species and common species, but the lifers were extra special. I joined another group and quickly volunteered with them. With the move to Minnesota something changed however, I fell into a couple of birding friends that expanded my view birding of convenience and beyond local patch birding. They were my personal introduction to the world of listing, big days, chasing, and big years. I like numbers for personal goals and because of my analytical nature. I like getting out to new areas and exploring even though my discomfort for being lost can be crippling. I like that competition with others forces me to consider my own methods and identify areas of personal deficiency. Even more importantly though, I felt the joy of birding with others and their friendship. I asked questions why they birded this way and part of me likes each of these reasons for birding because of them.

I was quite happy for a friend when his MN state list surpassed mine; a topic that I had not considered relevant or important before. We had met on campus when I sent an email based on an eBird report. Shortly there after we had went looking for a few rare local migrants together. I suspect that he might have skipped a class or two to do so and a friendship was formed. The state list is a fun topic of conversation between friends where I hold no animosity for lagging behind, yet know others that hold grudges and judge others based on the same numbers. He is an amazing wealth of knowledge and a genuinely great person; I love that he gets to share is passion with others regularly. State, life, or year list comparison between us would be for pure silly fun and good nature ribbing rather than any sort of ranking.

Moving as a birder and where I am today

Once again for work reasons I moved, this time to Kansas City. KC is an area where we have no family, had no friends, had almost no experience in the area, and where birds and birding was sufficiently different from MN and WI. Using all the past experiences I tried to reach out to KC, Kansas, and Missouri birders to learn from them on where to bird. My offer to volunteer locally fell on deaf ears and I ended up focusing my attention back on birding. Even though Kansas City has many green spaces, birding the areas often requires that I drive somewhere first. I suspect I drove more in 6 months to go birding around KC (I didn't go all that often even) than in the first 3 years of birding in Madison or 2 years in MN where I regularly when birding locally!

The identity I had in two previous locations was no longer easily available and I tried to find my niche in KC. I love birding and the beauty of nature, but also enjoy being part of something bigger than myself and being with others that share the same interests. The birding community seemed fairly small and surprisingly disjointed. There were distinct groups in the area and they seemingly didn't overlap all that well. The most active of these was a small FB group with a few active experienced birders on it but many were in the situation I found myself in just a couple years back. Expertise and knowledge was present in the KC area, but largely not on social media. There are so many positive aspects of social media and I am very grateful for the ability to connect with "friends" and share information quickly. I suspect unintended consequences of any group is the unwittingly classical conditioning that tends to have some individuals be identified as experts incorrectly and for personal image management savy individuals to be the focus of Brad Paisley's song.

So where does that leave the ardent reader that went through this entire post? The background information does little other than to explain my answer to the question "why do you I bird?"

1. My love of birds that is rooted in a love of nature with family memories.
2. I personally love that nature and bird watching reveal something new regularly.
3. I want to nurture a respect for nature in others and birds offer a great conduit for that goal.
4. My personal ability to meditate, find centering on creating and love, and hopefully avoid judging apparent hypocrisies of the world.
5. In as much as it is possible given the above answer, find friendship and spend time with others that accept me for the insecure quirk I am.

What's next

I have had the wonderful fortune of meeting many bird watchers, listers, and birders throughout the state of Kansas and country. I feel truly blessed to be part of a wonderful community and where I currently reside. My personal beliefs are often at odds with others regarding expertise and knowledge. Through many conversations I sense that many people want to be experts (perhaps more simply just listened to) but few are willing to be wrong enough to learn from their errors or listen to others. For that I am thankful for the few people that accept me as a relatively inexperienced birder with much to learn, as an individual with enough experiences to help some, and have the enough self-awareness to know the difference between knowledge and opinion.

So what's next? Perhaps I will birding alone or maybe I will with others. I will likely bird locally but may also chase a distant bird. I might take a photograph yet will often let memory go wild with creative formation and purely observe instead. What unfortunately has not changed over the years is that I will almost always avoid individuals that say one thing but do another; love and respect nature for any reason and perhaps we'll get some time to share outdoors together.