{BIRD NOTES} ~ July 25, 2013
Bird Notes
Rufous-necked Wood-rail
Rufous-necked Wood-rail ~ (Google Images)
The sighting has prompted emergency plane reservations and impromptu road trips reminiscent of "The Big Year," the comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson that brought to life the annual competition among birders to identify the most species of birds in
It didn't take long for Jeffrey Gordon, president of the American Birding Association, and his wife to jump in their car and make the nearly seven-hour drive from
The phones have been ringing off the hook at Bosque del Apache since the bird, about the size of a small chicken, was first spotted on the morning of July 7. Matt Daw, a member of the Bureau of Reclamation's southwestern willow flycatcher survey team, was getting video of a least bittern at the edge of the marsh when the wood-rail decided to interrupt. Daw was so startled that he turned off the camera after a few seconds.
"The bittern literally got photobombed. This thing came running out of the cattails and the camera kind of shakes. It's really kind of funny," said Aaron Mize, the refuge manager. "In the birding world, they're saying it's the best photobomb in history."
Since then hundreds of birders have shown up at the refuge to get a glimpse and take the bird's picture. As the sun rises and sets each day, Mize said the boardwalk grows crowded with spectators wanting to see the bird strut out from behind the cattails and hunt for crayfish.
One of the nation's premier bird-watching spots, the refuge attracts tens of thousands of people over the fall and winter months as throngs of snow geese and sandhill cranes migrate through the
Refuge officials also recalled the story of an
"Serious, serious lengths," Mize said when asked about the efforts by some to see the bird. "It's a great thing for birders to be able to check this bird off of their life list where otherwise they would have had to travel to
"Birds, with their power of flight, do this kind of thing regularly and it's just one of the really cool delightful things about birding," Gordon said. "It's just like this super cool Christmas present when something like this turns up."
MERLIN ~ (Google Images)
A family of 6 MERLINS was reported from
The marsh at Allen Brothers in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please share your birding news with us.
Any new migrants or nesters?
What have you seen while on a trip?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Al Merritt
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home