Cover photo: a comically bad, blurry capture of one of the coolest spectacles I’ll probably ever see!
I went to see the eclipse this year, fulfilling my 2 years out AirBnB reservation and my resolution after seeing the Great American Eclipse! I decided it was worth it to get to the longest totality in the US this time, and get some birding in to boot. I hiked up the Hillview Natural Trail and through the paved trail (4/6) at Eisenhower Park (San Antonio, TX) to get a glimpse of my lifer golden-cheeked warbler!
To kick off spring fest with an absolute bang: Josh Gant found an incredible record of common swift at the Meadows, during the spring festival (5/17)! What a crowd-pleaser, to say the least!
I was thrilled to go to my first AOS meeting in years (actually one could say my first ever because the last time I went, it was AOU)! On our last day in CO (10/6) we got to see a flock of white-tailed ptarmigan at Medicine Bow in Rocky Mountain National Park!
My true bucket list experience this year, though, was yellow rails and rice festival…and good gracious did we luck out. On my first night there (10/30) I did the rope drag, and it was unreal. I had of course been studying (for a long time…) to see a yellow rail in flight, and thought the ID between that and sora would be pretty tricky. One of our trip leaders said of rails in flight: “if you have to think, it’s a sora. If it’s a yellow rail, you know.” We proceeded on to flush many yellow rails throughout the night, while we joined up with the other group twice to see their black rails (there isn’t room for enough exclamation points on the page, so I’ll leave it right here with an understated period). The first time I saw the “you’ll know it’s a YERA” phenomenon is when one flushed later that night, and I followed it with my spotlight. The next 2 days were rained out(!) so on the final day (11/2) we were really treated with the true festival experience. While riding on an ATV behind a combine, we saw a yellow rail flush and fly back (in our direction) giving great looks in a decent length flight trajectory. It was then that I got that first “telltale in flight” looks during the day. The bird landed in the rice, and knowing generally where it was, we went to stand in the field nearby. Then, on another pass harvesting that section, the combine flushed the yellow rail almost directly 10 ft in front of me. It was unbelievable! I watched its somewhat startled, fluttering flight and saw even better how white they are under the wing. Our trip leader’s words held true indeed! Then after it was flushed again and the rice was all harvested, we encircled it where it landed in a cut rice patch. We all watched in awe as it wandered around, foraged, and eventually flew over us out of the circle. It really could not have been better luck, and was a high point among many this year.
Goodbye 2024, and thanks for all the birds! Onto starting a new list tomorrow!