FLAMING HOT

I awoke this morning to Canyon Towhee babies hopping around the car. And, more importantly, no Black Bear attack. I'm hiking up the Pinnacles Trail to Boot Canyon today. I did this in May (see here.) The hike is very steep, and very, very hot. That's why I told myself, "I'm never doing this again." With several expletives mixed in to really stress the sentiment. Apparently my short-term pain memory apparently doesn't even last 8 weeks!

Here we go again!

The views up are incredible, but I'm more single-minded than last time. I hike to the top of the Pinnacles in an hour - stopping for no bird or view. A 10 minute rest for water and Mexican Jay viewing...

...and I'm off to Boot Spring in Boot Canyon.

I only realized there was an actual boot here after reading Hans de Grys' post (see here) 

- must pay more attention to scenery in future!

I arrived at Boot Spring to find it alive with birds: Black-headed Grosbeaks, Acorn Woodpeckers, Colima Warblers (an adult and young bird), and a beautiful Painted Redstart:

But no Tanagers - except a Hepatic Tanager that got me briefly excited!

The Flame-colored Tanager male has been reported most frequently just past the intersection with the Juniper Trail. It's often seen associating with a female Western Tanager. That's not unusual - these two species do interbreed, and hybrid birds are encountered - most recently in Southeast Arizona. Anyway, looking for 2 birds should be easier than 1, and the one I'm interested in is bright orange. How hard can that be? Actually, quite hard! I spent 3 hours in this exact location in May and never saw the bird (but did, frustratingly, see the Western Tanager!)

As I'm waiting trying to identify the female and young hummingbirds buzzing past me, I spot two birds chasing each other out of the corner of my eye. Chasing is good! Even without binoculars, I can see one of them is bright orange. But I lose them in the upper canopy and don't get better views. While this may sound good, it's pretty agonizing - I'm sure the orange bird is the Flame-colored Tanager, chasing the Western Tanager. But I didn't get a good enough view to positively identify (and thus tick.) So I'm in birding limbo - having  seen the bird, but not really seen the bird.

I spend the next few hours hoping for a repeat performance of the Tanager chase. This time I have enough water, and there's a cool breeze blowing through the canyon that it's unusually pleasant up here. But I can't get too comfortable: in  the back of my mind is the hot 90 minute descent and the 7 hour drive to Austin - I can't spend the whole day here waiting. 

At noon I suddenly start hearing soft Tanager calls. I spot the female Western on the other side of the stream. And as I'm watching her, a bright orange bird flies in...Flame-colored Tanager! (Phew!)

The Odd Couple: female Western Tanager (left) and male Flame-colored Tanager (right)

The male really is stunning in his flaming orange plumage. The birds stick around, high up, for about 5 minutes before chasing each other away.

In this shot you can see the large gray bill and white wing bars.

Male Flame-colored Tanager. Notice the dark auricular (ear) mark on the face. A better photo would show the two "teeth" on the bill - the Latin name for the bird is Piranga bidentata.

My second attempt and cumulative 6 hour vigil finally paid off. And what a stunning bird! Maybe I can even promote the Big Bend from my "never, ever (*ever*) again" list of places, to "that's a fun hike with great birds." Or maybe no - half-way down the baking 100F descent I remember why it's so painful. But the memory of the Tanager sure makes it a lot easier.

I'm flying back home to Boston tomorrow morning. Despite all the driving and hectic pace, I've had an incredible week: Red-billed Tropicbird in Maine, Yellow-green Vireo and Flame-colored Tanager in Texas. All life birds for me, and ones I really didn't expect to see this year. June has been an amazing month - from the freezing temperatures and sea ice of Alaska, the boreal forests of New Hampshire and Vermont, the buggy bogs of Minnesota and North Carolina to the tropical south in Texas.  I've seen some great birds, and had some wonderful shared experiences, especially with Hans, Abe and Gerri.

Bring on July!

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BIG YEAR LIST: 652

NEW YEAR BIRDS (1): Flame-colored Tanager

FEELING YELLOW AND GREEN

I'm sitting in a rental car, it's 1am, and I've just driven 1,040 miles in one day. I'm about to recline my seat and convert my vehicle into my hotel. This is the level of insanity / stupidity to which this Big Year has devolved. Oh, and did I mention that my car is parked at a trailhead at Big Bend, TX? A place to which I'd sworn recently never to return. And I've just seen a Black Bear outside…

Big Bend at night.

I'm half-way through what is (hopefully) the most physically demanding trip of the year. Here's the itinerary:

MON: Wake up at Vinalhaven, ME. Ferry to Rockland, ME. Drive 4 hours home to Cambridge, MA. Shower, feed / say hi to cats, pack, head to airport. Fly to Austin TX via Charlotte.

TUE: Arrive at Austin at 12:45 am. Rent car. Drive 6 hours through the night to Brownsville, south Texas. Look for Yellow-green Vireo at Resaca de la Palma. Drive 10.5 hours to Big Bend. *Sleep*

WED: Hike 11 miles up and down the Pinnacles ("death march") Trail to Boot Canyon for Flame-colored Tanager (for the second time this year.) Drive 7 hours to Austin. *Sleep*.

THU: Fly home, shaking from all the buckets of (probably very bad) coffee I'll have drunk. But hopefully with 2 new birds.

The Flame-colored Tanager has been haunting me ever since I hiked up Big Bend in mid-May and missed it. It's been seen more regularly since, and appears to be breeding with a female Western Tanager. The Yellow-green Vireo has been around for almost 2 weeks. Both birds are pretty rare (code 3), and I've been reading the reports with a  growing sense of unease, knowing that I should probably go. So, here I am, on a 1,500 mile, 2 day, double-rarity chase in Texas. In the summer. I already know exactly how I'll feel if I miss them.

With a couple of (stationary) naps on the drive, I made it to Brownsville in one (heavily caffeinated) piece this morning. As I arrive at Resaca de la Palma I meet one of the park rangers, Jade, who shows me on a map where the bird was last heard. It's a mile away on the tram route… which, of course, isn't running today. I team up with 2 other birders who've just arrived, and we walk out to the location. It's a hot and sticky 100F.

Resaca de la Palma - recent host to a Yellow-green Vireo

Two hours later and we're all very hot, tired, and have a collective list of exactly zero Yellow-green Vireos. To add to the frustration, the local Mockingbirds are confusing us by singing parts of the vireo song - they clearly were exposed to this visitor and incorporated aspects into their own song. Mockingbirds are mimics, the ultimate cover artists among birds - their repertoires are based on other songs they've heard, and presumably thought - "Hey, that's a cool song, I'll add that to mine."

As the two other birders decide that this is no longer fun (technically, this point was reached after only 20 minutes) and leave, I stick around reviewing my options. The longer I stay here, the later I'll arrive at Big Bend. I absolutely need to sleep - I'm exhausted already, and the hike tomorrow will be hell. The bird clearly isn't here - Yellow-green Vireos love to sing, and will often sing all day, so we should have heard it already. I then remember there was a recent report at a different location in the park. It's another mile further into the park, and it's getting hotter. But I know I can't face the long drive if I haven't tried everything with this bird. So - I head off to the Yellowthroat Trail, wishing I'd brought water (yeah, right - I thought this would be a quick 30 min bird!), and trying to avoid the snakes…

I hear it immediately as I reach the trail. A cross between a House Sparrow and a Red-eyed Vireo. It's noon, and the bird is singing persistently. Yellow-green Vireo! The relief is palpable. Some part of this whole boondoggle now seems worth it! Here's the song:

Song: Yellow-green Vireo with images of my feet!

These birds are real skulkers, and tough to spot. They'll sing from deep within a tree or bush, have a ventriloquial sound, making them hard to locate. And they tend not to move, so looking for movement isn't helpful either. Eventually, after staring at a tree for 10 minutes, I spot the bird. It's big, and is indeed yellow and green, as advertised:

Yellow-green Vireo - large vireo with long bill. 

Notice the yellow hues, especially on the flanks and undertail coverts.

As I walk back to the car (where my supply of water is very inconveniently located) I'm reminded that I was on this very trail back in May, during migration. The place was hopping with migrants back then - including my only Philadelphia Vireo of the year. But thinking of this Vireo double-whammy is about all my brain can process - my head is close to the point of sublimating, or at least melting…

I'm not looking forward to the grueling hike tomorrow (note to self: remove water from car and put in bag), but I'm very happy that I have at least one of my target birds. 

I'm turning the light out now and hoping this crappy Nissan rental car is bear-proof...

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BIG YEAR LIST: 651

NEW YEAR BIRDS (1): Yellow-green Vireo.