Over the past seven years I've been on some crazy adventures. Whether I've been up in the mountains or down in the tropics I had one goal in most of these places. To see as many birds as I can possibly see. I found my love for birds after taking a birds unit in a zoology class in high school. Going into the class I thought I knew everything there was to know about birds. I knew about the Northern Cardinal, heard about the Mallards, and have seen Blue Jays in my back yard. Little did I know I would be transported into a world full of warblers, waterfowl, and birds of prey.
After that class I have taken this hobby and ran with it. I have made it a ritual to go to the Biggest Birding Week in North America. I have traveled to see species to add to my life list. Heck, I even have bird feeders now to watch from my window. Once I got the DSLR and a 75-300mm lens you couldn't stop me from taking all the bird pictures I could take. While adding to my life list (which is mid to high 300s for the people wondering) I've had some crazy adventures to find these birds.
Now none of these are in order. I couldn't possibly put them in a top ten list because I treasure the moments I got to see these birds equally. Now some of these stories won't have pictures. Mind you I've only been shooting with DSLR/mirrorless cameras since 2015. Before that I had this little Kodak digital camera that would not keep up taking pictures of birds let alone zoom in enough. So here it is some of my favorite bird stories.
The Mysterious Noise: Ruffed Grouse
I figured I would start with the most recent story. When we were in Tennessee this year I couldn't ask for a better time to see wildlife. I got to finally cross seeing an elk bugle off my bucket list, get pictures of bears, and see a handful of species of salamanders. This bird happened to be an added bonus to all of that.
Ever since we discovered Charlie's Bunion Trail we have made it a tradition to hike it each time we go to Tennessee. This happens to be part of the Appalachian trail (and the only reason I could say that I've hiked a piece of the Appalachian trail). This trail is pretty remote, but honestly a biologists paradise. There was so many ecosystem changes on the way to Charlie's Bunion. This trail gives you an idea why people call the Great Smoky Mountains a temperate rainforest climate.
This time around the trail was easy to hike with cool weather. While we were hiking back to our car we heard a thumping noise. My first instinct was that it was either a wild boar or an elk behind us and I didn't want to look behind because of that. My boyfriend stopped and asked me if I heard it. I told him what I thought it sounded like, and he said it sounded like an ATV starting up. That wouldn't make any sense because of house remote the trail is and there is no ATV trails. After not hearing it again for a moment we decided to shrug it off and keep moving.
Then we heard it again. This time closer. This time I could hear what it was. Drumming of wings. My boyfriend was getting ready to speak, but I quickly shooshed him out of excitement. We heard it again. We were close. I started to find a way off the trail to find the culprit of the noise. It was like fate when I found the little trail right off the path. It was like fate when I saw the ruffed grouse perched on the log looking at us. My boyfriend was even impressed that I saw this.
We stood there and waited for a few moments. This was in September, passed breeding season, and for some reason this guy found the need to drum. You see this is what Ruffed Grouse do in order to attract a mate. They drum. I've heard of people in Ohio talking about hearing these guys in the woods near their house. I had never heard one. Not until now.
We were meant to see this bird. We were meant to hear him drum one last time. My boyfriend had his camera set to video and I had mine ready on sports mode. The ruffed grouse drummed one last time for us. Even though the drumming goes from slow to fast, I saw it in slow mo through my lens. I never thought I would ever get to witness this. It was such a gorgeous display. He stood there for a moment in pride before hopping off the log and going about his day. It was absolutely amazing.
The One That Got Away: Feruginous Pygmy Owl
Any one that knows me knows how much I love owls. I have a Barn Owl tattooed on my back for crying out loud. With this being said I've seen and heard some really cool owls. I've got to hear Great Horned Owls hoot by my house, have a Eastern Screech stop me in my tracks, and heard Barred Owls caterwauling on the side of a mountain. But one owl that I not only heard, but I really badly wanted to see alluded me on a trip.
While in Belize and staying in Succotz I would hear the Feruginous Pygmy Owl outside our camp. He was never super close, but close enough to hear. He also was never outside when we were out and about looking for Wildlife. While sleeping in our dorms we kept the doors locked, which is understandable being in a third world country and a dorm full of women. Our last night in Succotz I heard him again. He was closer. Like right next to our dorm closer. To this day I think the couple of girls I woke by trying to open the lock thought I was crazy. But here I was with the lock and door being the only barrier between me and this small owl. I never got to see it. I never even got the door open. As I was trying to jimmy the lock when the owl flew and was a little distance from the dorm. Then silence. It flew off before I could get the lock unlocked. I still am able to count the owl on my life list because I heard him, but man I wanted to see an owl on that trip.
The Great Rescue: Common Loon
Now before this story I have seen loons before. They come through Ohio during migration season and fall out for a bit before making the rest of their way to Canada. There is a watershed lake near where I live and near where I used to work. One night while I was working we had a super bad storm. Like so bad that I had a couple of girls in my dorm crying because of the wind.
The next morning while I was leaving work I happen to see a car with its flashers, and a man standing on the other side of the road looking in the ditch. Once I got closer I saw what he was looking at. There was a common loon sitting in the ditch. I stopped and put the hazards on my car so I could get a great look at the common loon. When I got out though the guy explains what is going on. He said he found the loon in the ditch and that it hasn't moved since he found it. He said it was injured and that he had a doctors appointment to get to and was hoping I might know who to call. So I called our local bird sanctuary.
I'll be honest I don't know much about loons. So when I told the girl from the local bird sanctuary that the man I just met said he was injure she asked if there was any blood. I informed her no, and she told me he was just stuck. Loons are built for water, not land. Their legs are located further to the back of their body than most waterfowl, making it hard for it to take off. She said that I would have to relocate it, but to make sure that I watch out for the beak. They like to go for the face.
So I called my coworker because he's had experience with birds of prey, and birds with sharp beaks. I went back to my work, picked him up, and grabbed one of our bird carriers. After us trying to pick this bird up I couldn't imagine me doing it by myself and trying to dodge that piercing beak of the loons. We were able to bring him back to work and drop him off in the pond on the property. This story has a tragic ending because something got a hold of the loon a couple of days after. I was so devastated. I was glad though that I was able to help is have a good last couple of days though.
The Stranger That Shouldn't Be There: Kirtland's Warbler
As I have said before I have been birding for seven years now. I started birding in high school when we did a bird unit in Zoology class, and went birding for the class. This was the class that introduced me to Magee Marsh. For any one that doesn't know Magee Marsh is home to the biggest birding week in North America. It's one of the biggest fall outs in North America bringing everyone from even all over the world to come birding to this hot spot.
My first year going to Magees was amazing. There was so many warblers on the boardwalk, three Great Horn Owlets, and even Wood Cocks. The one bird that was most amazing from that trip was the Kirtlands Warbler. Now if you are a die hard birder reading this I know what you are thinking. There is no way a Kirtlands Warbler could be in Ohio. They only live in one specific location in Michigan where they breed in a certain age of jack pines. This year happened to be the strangest year in birding, and I had front row seats.
We happened to have ventured off the board walk and onto a trail nearby. It was only us and a few families of Amish. Then all of a sudden we saw a bird. It caught our eyes and the Amish. That's when we heard it from some one. Kirtlands. It was a female that people thought happened to have gotten lost while migrating, or was young and didn't know that it was not supposed to be there. More and more people started venturing in to see the Kirtlands, and I just happened to be sitting right in front of it. This is just one of those happy accidents that I have not seen the last six years at Magees.
The Model: Black-Billed Cuckoo
This is an adventure I just had this past summer. I've got to hear a Black-billed Cuckoo before at a different park, but didn't get a good look at it because it was so far in a tree. I happened to hike a trail that day that one of my coworkers said he loved running. So I walked back there not knowing what to expect. I saw some cool ecosystem changes while walking this trail, and came across some one's tent that must have been camping as back country as Ohio gets.
As the mosquitoes tried taking me away the last part of the trail I saw a few birds. I was hunting down a Northern Flicker to try and get a picture of it. Soon I had lost its trail and gave up altogether on it. I decided at that point in the hike that it was time to maybe head out of the trail and head home. I was taking a drink of my water and happened to look over to my left on the last part of the trail when I saw it. This Black-billed Cuckoo that was so close to me. I about choked on my water as I watch it on this branch, and it watches me.
I slowly put my water bottle and back pack down to get my bigger lens out. It was patient and allowed me to do this task, and to install the lens on. It allowed me to take as many pictures as I could of it. It also allowed me to admire it for a moment before walking away from it completely. This was the first time I've ever really had a bird in Ohio this close to me besides Magees.
Now I have so many more bird adventures that I could talk about. Like the Canavets Emerald that only my professor and I got to see in Belize before church. The Ringed-Necked Pheasant we happened to see when my ex and I got stuck in a field. The Common Gallinule that happened to jot out by a trail in the Everglades. I could make a novel on it all, but here are a few of my favorites and I hoped you enjoyed.
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