O O

Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
(Atrocious record shot of a truly spectacular bird...
it only showed briefly in dim, backlit conditions...)

Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis

Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus

Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus

Harris’s Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus

Concrete

Towhee Road

Sketchy

Tiptoe through the trilliums

Technoparc, May 4, 2021

  Been a while since I’ve seen the Technoparc. It’s a site that has, I believe, the highest species count recorded on the island. The work crews were out busily developing/degrading the spot, as usual.

  The trip was ostensibly to twitch a lovely oxblood-breasted male Orchard Oriole. We got lucky with it, and only spent a few minutes with it. The rest of the afternoon was spent on a lazy wander of the site. It’s bigger than I remembered.

  It was very birdy — 48 species in a few hours, without hitting any of the major swampy bits. With a few more hours spent, and more corners visited, that total could easily have been a good deal higher.

  Eight Sparrow species were seen, if we’re counting Juncos and the Towhee. Are we? Are we? “…and their allies…” in any case. We even left three ‘easy’ sparrow species on the table (Lincoln’s, Swamp, White-crowned), because you gotta leave some for next time.

  Four species of warbler were logged (Palm, Black-and-white, Yellow-rumped, Yellow), with many other species seen there in the past few days. Yay warblers.

  It was raptory! A Rough-legged Hawk gave off wintry vibes, and a pair of Northern Harriers were seen doing straight-up aerobatics, in display. We’re talking Immelmans, hammerhead stalls, barrel rolls, etc. — it was impressive.

  A falconer at the edge of the airport came by to scare off some Canada Geese with a drive-by Harris’s Hawk. The geese were like ‘Meh,’ so the hawk jumped back into the back of the car, and the falconer fired off three different levels of firecrackers at the geese. That worked. Apparently the Harris’s Hawk got loose the other day. Do raptors with jesses count on eBird? Single tear. Anyway, cool to see one up close.

  Was awesome to see a few Savannah Sparrows along the airport fence. They really remind me of the emberiza buntings of Korea, in appearance, metallic ‘pink’ calls, and habits. I get a phantom pain when I look in empty ditches here…in my mind they oughta be teeming with buntings. And Vinous-throated Parrotbills, for that matter. Savannah Sparrows actually end up being spotted in farm fields in Japan in the winter, by birders chasing cranes (the birder effect). I always looked hard for them in Korea’s winter fields.

  Late in the afternoon, an odd-yet-familiar rising ‘metallic House Sparrow chirp’ call alerted me to the presence of a cracking Eastern Towhee. It was fossicking through the leaf litter along the fence that borders the golf course, about halfway between the airport and the big radar ball. Always a fun bird, and I’d forgotten how big they are.

  Seems every birder I know in Korea has been getting out to the islands lately, and has been seeing good stuff. I'm super jelly. Get 'em!