This summer break our family was finally able to arrange a trip to America. We were there mostly to see family members, some of whom we hadn’t seen in four plus years! But besides visiting family and friends, me and my dad spent a good chunk of our time birding. We were able to see thirty-plus lifers, and one hundred fifty nine year-listers. We also submitted thirty four e-Bird checklists in July, which meant we qualified for the July Challenge. In the next few blog posts, I will be sharing the fun experiences I had, and I hope you guys will enjoy it.
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| Canada Goose in a pretty meadow |
We landed in America on July 10th, and on the very next day, I dragged my jetlagged body out of bed, and with dad, embarked on our first American birding trip. We decided to go to Steigerwald, one our favorite places to go birding the last time we were here. Grandma had told us Steigerwald was under construction a while back, and had changed quite a bit. Sure enough the original entrance wasn’t there and we walked on a levee that I don’t remember being there before. At first the birding wasn’t great, maybe because it was still early for the birds.When dad was scanning the wetland, he saw these two big birds, which I thought were just swans. When they turned, their huge bills came into clearer view, confirming that dad was right, they were American White Pelicans! We had only seen them once before, so we considered it a rare treat. While I was taking pictures of the pelicans, I noticed a sudden flurry of wings, and the loud flapping noises that ducks make when they take off. I swung my gaze a little higher and saw the national bird of America, the Bald Eagle. It was perched regally on a tall tree, like a mighty king gazing down on his peasants. After that encounter, the birding was phenomenal. While we were walking on the levee, I saw some rustling in the grass to the right of us. When I picked up my binoculars, I cast my gaze upon one of the most beautiful birds of North America, the Lazuli Bunting. It was a male bird, with a stunning blue head with the blue extending all the way to its tail. It also has a chestnut breast and a distinct white wingbar. The only disappointing thing was that he was at a distance, so my photos weren’t able to do him justice. A couple hundred feet down the levee, we saw another amazing thing.
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| female Common Yellowthroat |
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| Song sparrow |
I didn’t see the first owl, but I definitely saw the second one. While I was taking my sweet time, strolling on the levee, Dad, who was already ahead, had seen an owl fly across the trail. When I was about to get mad at myself, another owl flew out of the forest, with a kestrel close on its heels, trying to chase the owl away. I was so stoked I didn’t even pick up my camera! But we had enough time to tell it was a short-eared owl! It had an obvious face disk, while lacking ear tufts, and had some streaking on its chest. After that, we saw some birds we couldn’t identify, mainly because of the distance, but since it had been so long since we visited America, many birds and bird songs were very unfamiliar. None of them were more memorable than our first birding mistake in America. We were already off the levee, on a little trail that cut through a meadow when we saw the cute Common Yellowthroat. There was also a Song Sparrow perched on a branch singing (hence the name). While we were looking around, we saw this bird with a yellow breast, and a gray back, which we immediately thought was a Yellow-breasted Chat. Someone else had reported it at Steigerwald recently, making it seem likely. Back at Grandma’s house, while we were uploading the pictures, I noticed the bird didn’t have a white eyebrow and was smaller than a Chat, but I didn’t give it a second thought. A day later eBird sent an email informing us it was a female Common Yellowthroat, not a Yellow-breasted Chat. The Chat now belongs on my new “temporary Lifers list’, with many more to follow.
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| Lazuli Bunting |
~Article and photos by Isaac Lang
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