A Second Look at the Flycatcher

In mid-December eBird Rare Bird Alerts came in daily with reports of the Ash-throated Flycatcher at Halibut Point. I'd gotten a nice photo of it during its first appearance in early November, and decided to feature it in a blog posting. Additional pictures and experiences would have been nice to broaden the story. I dutifully roamed the perimeter of the Park meadow once or twice a day encountering a fair number of other pilgrims who'd seen it, or hadn't. Thursday evening's publishing deadline came and went with my bonus sighting wish unrequited. Friday morning I made one more unrewarded field trip and went to press with what I had at noon, as you've seen.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Friday was a beautiful day, worthy of a nice relaxed afternoon visit to the Park. I set up the camera for a Little Sit at the edge of the woods. Darned if the flycatcher didn't land promptly on a branch overhead. The rufous highlights on the afterparts of its otherwise light coloration made a clear announcement.*

After darting off for a bit the bird returned to perch right at eye level for some exquisite poses. With the tripod in place I was ready to record the moment.

Of course this had nothing to do with its intention to compensate me for all those days of disappointment.

The flycatcher was finding winter survival food in the fruits of a bittersweet vine.

Hopefully it will continue its resourceful ways here as seriously cold weather challenges even the hardiest creatures.

* In the last posting I should have mentioned its close relative the Great Crested Flycatcher as also having rufous coloration on its wings and tail. The latter species appears regularly at Halibut Point as a summer resident that favors the treetops. Several mid-to-lower canopy flycatchers, including Phoebes and Peewees, have entirely gray and white plumage, sometimes with a yellowish cast on the breast.

An Adaptable Flycatcher

Since early November this far-ranging bird from Western North America has attracted quite a stir among Essex County birders who have flocked to Halibut Point to admire it.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

The bird, an Ash-throated Flycatcher, is extraordinary not only because of its rarity in these parts but because of the name given to it by the ornithological world. It seems that poetry has stumbled over too many good intentions requiring an extra breath in the middle of the mouthful. 

Well, ask any of its pursuers, it's been worth the sight. The warm rufous plumage on its wing and tail edges distinguish it from other local flycatchers, all of which had long since departed for sensible southern climates. 

Early in its residency six weeks ago when insects still supported it on sunny days, this flycatcher sat still on a promising perch until it spotted prey in the air. Then it flew out in pursuit with a butterfly-like flutter or, more aptly, like a bat that also catches bugs on the wing. 

The season has turned chilly and bugs are scarce. One observer reported on eBird this week that he watched the flycatcher "consuming fruits of both Oriental Bittersweet and Multiflora Rose, two hated (by fanatics) but ornithologically very beneficial non-natives." 

Halibut Point is well-stocked with those berries. Last night brought our coldest spell yet. The adaptable Ash-throated Flycatcher was out foraging again this morning.

The Buck Stopped Here

Despite all the cautions for a deer in the wild, Halibut Point State Park has been a hospitable  home this year for a doe and her fawn who have become increasingly comfortable with human encounters.

Speculation naturally arises as to the whereabouts of the fawn's father. Is he a visiting swain only during rutting season? Does he leave his offspring to be single-parented through the trials of youth and coyotes? Or is he around, invisible, masterful, protective, enabling?

Early last month, damage to tree bark at shoulder height confirmed that at least one antler-rubbing males is in the area. It's mating season.

The other day the doe loped out of the woods and crossed Gaffield Avenue into the meadow. I waited with camera ready, in Big Sit mode.

Soon a very differently proportioned deer emerged onto the road to size me up. I was looking eye-to-eye at an eight-point buck. It scrutinized me and my equipment. Inborn caution made it wary of a man squinting through a scope.

The doe waited at the far side of the meadow. In these uncertain circumstances the buck crossed the field to join her, white-tailed signal fully erect.

It turned to face me again, it's masculinity on full display, senses and limbs quivering. Its attention focused completely on decisions of life and death importance.

For just a moment the buck stopped here. Its eyes surveyed the world around it. They gave a lens into the beast and its ancient lineage. Those dark pools looked variously black, or bronze, or purple, or verdigris.  I stared into their intelligence and life force.

The Stakeout and The Big Sit

Recently a good many birding enthusiasts were drawn to a spot at Halibut Point where an unusual sighting was reported several days in a row, at precisely the same place. This led to frequent gatherings of hopefuls who wanted a lifetime glimpse, or maybe extended communion with a rare treasure.

Western Tanager

The subject of desire was this Western Tanager. The bird was not always easy to see. Sharp eyes and patience were premium qualities. The observers waiting at this singular place were on a Stakeout. 

American Robin

A Stakeout is not so different from a Big Sit, except that it has a specific central character. Once rooted to the spot an alert observer may enjoy a variety of species passing through.

Cedar Waxwing

There in the same cedar tree a small flock of Waxwings stopped to forage berries. A photographer already set up in the Stakeout was better prepared to capture the moment.

Fox Sparrow

Meanwhile an elusive Fox Sparrow emerged from the wood line, tolerating the presence of several still figures on Stakeout.

Song Sparrow

The full appreciation of bird life meant keeping on eye on the adjacent meadow during the Tanager Stakeout. This Song Sparrow was emboldened to come up in the canopy of spent flower stalks for a look around.

Hermit Thrush

Stillness also encouraged a pair of Hermit Thrushes from their secret foraging in the tall grass.

American Goldfinches

Peripheral vision sometimes detects the motion of birds on the fringes of the Stakeout area. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

At that first signal we can pivot to (try to) focus on the details of another (unwitting) subject for admiration.

Bald Eagle

A Stakeout becomes a Big Sit when scanning and swiveling extend to the whole sphere of observation.

Western Tanager

 

Western Tanager

Excitement pulsed through the Eastern Massachusetts birding community this week when a Western Tanager appeared at Halibut Point. Reports on eBird brought scores of folks to the Park for a chance to enjoy this vivid rarity, and perhaps to add it to their lifetime sighting list.

Surrounded by grapes

The tanager was seen reliably in the same spot over a four-day period, high in the canopy of a pear tree where the desiccated fruit of a grape vine provided good forage.

In the cedar tree

Alternatively it hunted insects in an adjacent cedar tree. It often made fluttery loops out to catch bugs on the fly.

Range map for the Western Tanager
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

We can only guess how this bird had strayed so far from its traditional range. Speculations on the subject occupied thoughtful conversation immediately after the initial delight at seeing a beautiful novelty.

The tanager and a goldfinch

One online source giving aids for identification of the species suggested a comparison with the American Goldfinch, which is similar in coloration but considerably smaller. Obligingly a goldfinch posed alongside the tanager in this picture.

Quite likely a juvenile male

Onlookers were curious about a fuller description of the bird. This photograph seems to show some characteristics of a male in winter eclipse plumage and some of a female, although the coloration is brighter than that expected for a female. Consensus settled on an immature male. For advanced birdwatchers the challenges of identification through each species' seasonal plumage changes and life histories adds a sporting element to the quest. 

A male Western Tanager in breeding plumage
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology website

Anyone seeking the full spectacle of this bird when it's feathers blaze for procreative privileges will have to reverse the travel of our migrant visitor and scout its western homeland in the spring.

Proclamation

This past third Sunday of the month started out like so many over the last twenty years at Halibut Point with an early morning birding walk led by Peter Van Demark. But it was a special occasion in that Peter is departing on a five-month sabbatical and the Park staff had a surprise for him.

The birding flock, November 19
Peter Van Demark fourth from left

A Proclamation from the Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo was waiting at the Visitors' Center, along with coffee and cake for a gathering on the deck. The outdoor setting was just fine for the many well-wishers who had been bundled up for the two-hour bird-watching excursion.

An excerpt from the Proclamation

Ramona Latham reading the Proclamation

State Park Visitor Experience Supervisor Ramona Latham organized the tribute to Peter based, she said, on the "Birding and Brownies" program held on their first meeting in 2003. She commended his 'Leadership Extraordinaire'  in every kind of weather no matter how many or few show up. "He is popular," Ramona noted, "for sharing his knowledge, passion, and joy. He is a natural educator and our visitors have expressed their gratitude over the years."

A longtime friend zeroed in on Peter's special gift to the participants. "Thank you for being the antithesis of the competitive birder, for always being  more interested in the mysteries of nature than in the number on your life list. 

"And for patiently explaining the Abc’s of birding to all of us beginning and more experienced birders, month after month, year after year.  We’ve all learned from you, about birds, and about what happens when you just show up.

"For the past twenty years, Peter has been the mailman of Halibut Point, delivering the good news about nature to all who would listen."

A Mini-Arboretum

The Halibut Point parking lot has developed into one of the Park's more fascinating areas during fall foliage season. Many of the woody plants in the traffic islands are looking particularly handsome right now. It's something of a compensatory grace after the destruction of so many tree and shrub specimens a few years ago during the landscape renovation.

Silver maple

The backbone of these plantings are silver maples, fast-growing trees originally from moist environments that also tolerate urban conditions. They were once regarded as a replacement for the majestic, blighted American elm but fell out of favor because of their brittle wood.

Silver maple

Silver maples and their close relative red maples, which are common  elsewhere at Halibut Point, are the only maple species that produce fruit crops in the spring instead of autumn. Presently they are adorned with brilliant and variable fall foliage.

Fothergilla

Fothergilla shrubs have been used extensively in the renovated traffic islands. Their leaves turn a seemingly rainbow combination of bright yellow, vibrant orange, and wine red. This member of the witch-hazel family also produces showy white bottle-brush shaped flowers in the spring.

Sweet fern

Sweet fern has been liberally planted in such a way as to colonize the traffic islands with lustrous foliage on 2-4' high woody plants with no botanic relation to herbaceous ferns but sharing the name because of the deeply lobed pinnate leaves that give off a sweet fragrance when crushed. This member of the bayberry family is quite tolerant of poor dry soils and successfully occupies parts of the granite landscape elsewhere in the Park.

Tupelo

Tupelo trees thrive indigenously in Park lowlands and along the edge of quarry ponds. The ones pictured here around the parking lot are prospering in moist grassy areas, as distinct from the traffic islands. They are among the most vividly colored of woodland plants in the fall.

Witch-hazel

Native witch-hazels are the last shrubs to flower. They produce exquisite strap-like petals in October and November at the same time that the nut-like fruit from last year's flowers are maturing on the branches.

White oak

White oaks make up one of the preeminent hardwood components of eastern North America. The foliage of this sapling is not as colorful as many others of its type scattered through the Park, but itshighly textured bark makes an interesting feature. Given open space on the outer perimeter of the parking area it should develop into a massive broad-topped specimen.

All these plants originate in East Coast ecologies, although not necessarily in Essex County. They have been well chosen to link the arrival area with its surroundings and provide enduring interest to visitors.

The Big Sit, Part 4

A woodland curtain surrounds the meadow. Where they meet makes an interface between two environments. Such places provide rich bird-watching opportunities. The little mown path leading along this border hosts my Big Sit. That's where I try to keep an eye out for quick movements in both venues.

Eastern Phoebe

Some birds like this Phoebe, a type of flycatcher, use the fringe as a survey and launch station for pursuing insects over the meadow.

Least Flycatcher

Its relative the Least Flycatcher is more at home hunting mid-canopy through the trees.

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireos spend most of their time in the upper crown. Something unusual brought this one down to my eye level.

Blue-headed Vireo

The typical songbird plumage on the wings and body of a Blue-headed Vireo shifts into a slaty backdrop for its bizarre eye rings with a tropical touch.

Eastern Towhee

The Towhee's plumage brings that exotic look to Halibut Point all spring and summer.

Dark-eyed Junco

Juncos, on the other hand, are seen primarily early and late in the year, usually in sparrow-like flocks on the ground. Their simple feather pattern and pert yellow beak make a smile-worthy sight at close range.

Indigo Bunting

Male Indigo Buntings, one of the spectacles of the breeding season, spend the rest of the year garbed in sensible earthy hues.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warblers similarly tone down their appearance except for that eponymous blaze on their rear ends.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wrens can be counted on to warm the woodlands year round with their thumb-sized flashes of color and out-sized vocalizations, "Teacher-teacher-teacher."

Hermit Thrush

The names of the preceding birds give clues about their characteristics and habits. The Hermit Thrush, a bird of dense forest understory, may be named for its retiring though not secretive ways. A few of them will stay in the area for the winter, switching their diets from insects to subsist on berries, in the manner of another cold-hardy migrant, the Yellow-rumped Warbler. This versatile adaptation gives the species a boost as well as added pleasure to the all-season ramblers of Halibut Point.

Discovering a Hermit Thrush in winter isn't as likely to come from holding to a stationary observation point. That kind of rewarding bird observation will shift to a Big Sit on the shoreline where the winter ducks are arriving.