Wandering Priest » Birding

Birding in the Arabuko Sokoke forest areas

Doug — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:52:54 +0000

I was fortunate to be able to travel to both Thailand and Kenya in the first two months of the year. In each area I managed a little time to do some birding, and used a local guide each time. If one really wants to see and identify the birds, using a local guide is very important for one who is not that familiar with the birds. At the Arabuko Sokoke forest, we were guided by the birding legend, David Ngala. There is no doubt that the 64 lifers I got would have been a fraction of that number had not David been there. (The same can be said about the 63 lifers I got in Thailand at the Doi Inthanon National Park).

I won’t bore you with a list of the birds I saw, but will mention some of the favorites: Amani sunbird, crab plover, Sokoke scops-owl, and Sokoke pipit. We took a side tour on the way to Malindi from Nairobi to the Taita Hills where we were able to see two of three endemics, the Taita thrush and the Taita white-eye. The one we missed was the Taita apalis.

My friends, Keith, Jesse and Jonathan, were great company. We stayed at a place on the beach, but to Robyn’s disgust (she was in cold, cold Indiana) I did not even put my toe in the ocean. No indeed, this was a birding trip, not a restful stay at the beach!

Snowy Owl

Doug — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:32:21 +0000

Every few years, often when the lemming population is sparce, the Snowy Owl makes a foray southward from its home in the Arctic. It goes searching for food and has been spotted in places as far away as Alabama and Georgia. It’s journey is called irruptive, and birders often wait to see unusual visitors from the north.

The Snowy Owl is the heaviest of all the owls, weighing in at four pounds, compared with just over three pounds for the Great Horned owl. The wingspan of the Snowy Owl is five feet!

About ten days ago a Snowy Owl was spotted at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, formerly known at the Mt. Comfort airport. I have birded at the airport before; in fact I got my first view of the Upland sandpiper at this airport. I learned of the bird at the airport on Sunday evening, so by Monday morning I was there, in the rain. Nobody else was, and I did not see the owl. But I went back in the afternoon and was able to see it. The next day I was there again, and the owl was sitting on a nearby building. Twice in the next several days I went again, and yesterday (Saturday) the owl was sitting in a field and I was able to get the other photograph.

Here is what John Stott wrote about the Snowy Owl when he finally got the opportunity to see one. “How can I capture in words the excitement of sitting in a hide, or blind, for hour after hour only a few yards from the bird of my dreams?! . . . It was a fantastic experience to eavesdrop on the domestic life of this majestic but elusive bird. She stared at me (although of course she could not see me), and I stared back. I could even watch mosquitos crawling on her feathered face until she blinked and shook her head vigorously to dislodge them. One of her eight white eggs had hatched, and another followed two days later.” (taken from The Birds Our Teachers: Biblical Lessons from a Lifelong Bird-watcher, page 32).

The Snowy owl—a great Christmas present to be sure.

Rest in peace, John Stott

Dan Leinbaugh — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:17:27 +0000

Like many others, I was a fan of John Stott. The first I knew of John Stott was when I was a youth minister at the Trent Church of Christ in Dexter, Oregon. I was attending Northwest Christian College and had come across his book Basic Christianity. The text was a great one to use in preparing lessons for the youth.

Then in 1973 (and also in 1976) I went to the Urbana Missions Conference where Stott was the Bible lecturer. His lectures were fantastic! In 1974 Stott helped write (he actually did most of the writing) the influential Lausanne Covenant. He wrote commentaries and he wrote books on missions.

The September 2011 issue of Christianity Today paid tribute to John Stott, and I wanted to share a quote from the article by Tim Stafford. Stott “relished the world around him in all its variety. Perhaps nothing showed this so obviously as his lifelong love for birdwatching, which biographer Timothy Dudley-Smith says bordered on an obsession. In his later decades, Stott spent a great proportion of his time traveling, much of it in third-world (he called them “majority world”) countries. Time for birds was always included.” One of my favorite books is the one written by Stott on birds and the Bible.

Stott was a proponent of holistic mission. He did not separate the Great Commission from the Great Commandment. They go hand in hand. To do one without the other is to ignore much of the Bible.

Rest in peace, John Stott.

Failure to Launch

Doug — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:23:42 +0000

Due to a “failure to launch,” there have been no blog entries for over a month. Not that I did not write some entries, but due to a computer problem that is not yet worked out, nothing I entered stayed, if you can follow that. So let me back up and try again (for the fifth time) this entry.

I was in Oregon the first week of August for the Winema Week of Missions, an annual gathering of hundreds of people on the beautiful Oregon coast. The weather was spectacular, with people saying “the best in twenty years” for the conference. The conference is for the entire family, with the whole week dedicated to missions. Five missionary speakers and one Bible lecturer constitute the program. Each speaker talks with various groups (children, youth, adults) about seven times during the week.

Those participating this year (besides me) were Bible lecturer Mark Moore (Ozark Christian College); Marsha Miles (Pioneer Bible Translators); Steven Carpenter (CMF missionary to Mexico); Rick Jett (International Disaster Emergency Services); and Doug Lucas (Team Expansion).

I went out a few days early to see my folks and to go salmon fishing. The ocean was not Pacific and boating was not allowed. So I went to central Oregon to do a little birding with my friend Terry O’Casey. I was able to get a couple of lifers – the gray jay and the pinyon jay. We were east and north of Lapine, driving all over looking for the pinyon jay, only to be told (thank you, friend) by another birder we happened across that the pinyon jays were right outside of his house in Bend. We drove to where he directed us, and sure enough, got the noisy bird.

After the Week of Missions, I stopped on the way to my aunt and uncle’s house at the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge where I picked up a third lifer, the Vaux’s swift. The bird is common; I just had not been in the right place at the right time. This bird roosts in chimneys by the thousands. In fact, this last week I got an email from my cousin in Oregon about hundreds of these swifts roosting in their chimney in Woodburn, Oregon.

This week Robyn is in California for a family wedding, leaving me a confirmed bachelor. She gets home and then two days later I leave for a trip to Kenya.

Top Ten Lifer Birding Spots (North American zone)

Doug — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:44:18 +0000

In case you are wondering, I am not using the word spot in a geographical sense, but as in spotted with my own eyes. All birds mentioned were lifers for me.

10. Limpkin, in a water purifiying area near Ft. Lauderdale. And since I also got a purple gallinule there, it was a great morning.

9. Colima warbler. It was a long hike in and a long hike out, but the bird sighting made it all worthwhile. Plus, on the same day, got the canyon wren. My wife spotted both of them before I did. Big Bend national park, Texas.

8. Chesnut-backed chickadee and hermit warbler. Outside of Vancouver, Washington, with new friends Sherry and Arden.

7. Northern bobwhite. This was the bird that got me back into birding after fifteen years. So, it deserves its rightful place in my top ten list. Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, IN.

6. Western bluebird and pygmy nuthatch. In the mountains in eastern Oregon. Another special memory that day, calling up a cow elk with a blade of grass as a whistle.

5. Northern saw whet owl in the mountains out of LaPine, Oregon, with my friend Terry O’Casey. He helped me get the American dipper the day before.

4. Red-cockaded woodpecker, north of Houston. We followed the directions from the book, got to the place an hour early, and sure enough, got this endangered species.

3. California condor in the Pinnacles National Monument, California. I got up early, hiked the trail, and came upon the condor still sleeping. I watched it for 45 minutes before it took off.

2. Whooping crane. OK. It didn’t take much work. Just get on the boat and let them take you to the area where they live in the winter. Rockport, Texas. But this bird was down to some 18 individuals before they started making a comeback, slowly but (hopefully) surely.

1. Three short-eared owls near Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was daylight, and the reason this makes it my number one spot is that the three owls were buzzing a coyote and making it run away from the area it was prowling around. Who would have thought the owls would take on a coyote.

Best day: pelagic bird trip on Monterrey Bay with Debra Shearwater. One dozen lifers.

Most recent lifer? Wrentit, at Canyon Cove State Park, near Corona Del Mar, California.

Most surprising? Guinea fowl seen in both Tennessee and Montana. I couldn’t believe my eyes since I wasn’t in Africa. Too bad they don’t count on an official listing.

Next lifer? Perhaps Vaux swift, Laysan albatross, or marbled murrelet, on my upcoming trip to Oregon.

NIOSA

Doug — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:14:47 +0000

Robyn and I just returned from a week of vacation in Texas. We rented a car and drove to San Antonio and the surrounding “hill country.” While there we learned that it was fiesta time, and that if we returned we could participate in NIOSA. We had no idea what that meant, but learned it stood for Nights in Old San Antonio. What a blast!

The festival has been going on for 95 years, and celebrates the diversity of San Antonio. Robyn says it was like a combination of the state fair and Mardi Gras (though we have never been to Mardi Gras). The area of the celebration is on the famous river walk. The main thing you do at NIOSA is listen to live bands/singing groups; eat (there were some 240 food vendors); and watch the capacity crowd.

Besides the expected Mexican and frontier areas, there were Irish areas, French areas, Chinese areas, and bayou areas. We did not sample food in each area, but we did eat more than we should.

Robyn had gone on Priceline to get a hotel for us. It was called Hotel Indigo, and it was only a half mile walk to the festival. What a special hotel, wonderfully decorated and exceptional service. If you are ever there, try the Hotel Indigo.

Of course we also went on the nationally known river walk and took in the Alamo, which was a first for Robyn. I would not be quite truthful if I didn’t say that we also took in some time for bird watching and hiking … well, actually a lot of time. I won’t bore you with the details, except to say that the “close to extinction” lesser prairie chicken has now been added to the lifer list along with six others.

We attended the Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston along with Dr. Suzie Snyder, then returned to Indy on Monday. A good part of our vacation was that thanks to an airline a year ago overbooking, we took the option to go on a later flight in exchange for two free tickets to use at our convenience; hence the airfare was free.

Kenya Trip Birds

Doug — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:15:07 +0000

As promised, here is a list of the lifers I recorded on my recent trip to Kenya. One bird was seen at an elevation of 7200 feet. Several were seen at about 4500 feet. Most were at lower elevations, in the Turkana desert and in the Magadi basin. Special thanks to my birding buddies, Jesse and Keith.

Abyssinian scimitarbill

African swallow-tailed kite

Black-headed lapwing

Black-necked weaver

Black-winged stilt

Chesnut sparrow

Chesnut-banded plover

Chin-spot batis

Eurasian hoopoe

Hunter’s sunbird

Isabelline wheatear

Montagu’s harrier

Northern wheatear

Pied wheatear

Red-backed shrike

Red-capped robin-chat

Schalow’s wheatear

Somali golden-backed bunting

Southern grosbeak-canary

Speckle-fronted weaver

Taita fiscal

Three-banded plover

Tiny cisticola

Von der Decken’s hornbill

Wattled starling

White-bellied tit

Being a Contributing Editor

Doug — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:57:10 +0000

Several years ago I was asked to join the team of contributing editors to the news magazine, Christian Standard. This magazine is the longest contining magazine in America, approaching its 150th year anniversary. The capable editor is Mark Taylor, a good friend to many people. Mark is joined by Paul Williams, another friend. Each year the contributing editors get together for a meeting to discuss the magazine, ideas for improvement, articles and themes.

Our meeting is going on right now, and we are in Florida. Today’s discussions have been a good time of free-for-all talking. We have not minced words. None of us have been offended by comments, nor have we been angered. We all want the same thing — for the magazine to be the best that it can be. With a diverse group of contributing editors, there are lots of ideas!

I rented a car in Tampa and visited the Generations Christian Church in New Port Richey. Before arriving at my host’s home (thanks for having me Greg and Becky) I was able to visit a park and actually scored two lifers for my American Bird List: the Eurasian collared dove, and the Monk parakeet.

I am to return to Indy tomorrow afternoon, but word out is that some 6 inches of snow are due, so we’ll see if I make it or not.

Feed the Birds

Doug — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:42:07 +0000

For the last fifteen years we have lived in a condominium. That means we have no yard to speak of. We grow a few things–tomatoes, hot peppers, basil–in containers that sit on a slab of cement. A few years ago we added a pergola, though it is probably not spelled that way, from which we hang a container of bird seed and sugared water for hummingbirds. We have another bird feed for goldfinches.

We’ve not had much luck in attracting the birds. We forget to freshen the hummingbird feed, run out of bird seed, and so on. But this year we decided to do better. Lo and behold, the little guys are visiting us regularly. Last night we saw four hummingbirds (ruby-throated) around the feeder. We had a flock of (pesky) house sparrows that steal the sunflower seeds from the cardinals and mourning doves. We have had goldfinches hourly is seems, and a white-breasted nuthatch has been a regular visitor.

For those of you with a backyard and lots of feeders, I know this isn’t much. But for us, it has been a record year and we have enjoyed our feathered friends. To date, I’ve not seen a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned hawk fly in and make an escape with a meal, but I expect that time will be coming.

RBA — Rare Bird Alert

Doug — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:55:02 +0000

Birders are aware of something called a Rare Bird Alert, which means exactly that. Birders like to share their ‘finds’ with others, and if a birder sees a bire rare to his or her area, he or she puts out a Rare Bird Alert (RBA). RBA’s can go out to selected friends by telephone. For example, “Hey Joe, I’m over at Fort Harrison State Park on the Fall Creek hiking trail and I’ve just seen a Canada warbler.” (I once did). Joe might reply, “Already seen that, but thanks for letting me know,” or “Exactly where on the trail did you see it, cause I’m on my way over right now since one seldom sees a Canada warbler in the park.”

The more usual way of putting out an RBA is through the internet. In fact, there are RBA sites that you can join for regions of the country so that you receive daily emails from what is being seen in Massachusetts or Iowa. I’ve joined a couple of these, for the East (because I mistakedly thought Indiana where I live would be in the Eastern zone), and then later for the Central area of the US. When I see an RBA for Indiana, I look to see what and where the action is. If it is something I am looking for, if it is close by, or if I can get away, I might zoom off to go looking for the bird.

If you are a really serious birder, and an especially rare bird (called ‘accidentals’), you might just race to the airport to catch the first flight out to the area. I am serious. People do this. Ever read the paper about a unique bird in an area and seen the photos of the many birders congregating to get a look. It happens, more often than you would think.

To tell the truth, I have only followed up on a couple of Rare Bird Alerts. Once was in Oregon when I was visiting my parents. I love to go driving with my parents when I am out there, so Dad and I went driving from Eugene to Corvallis to see if we could see the Crested Caracara that had been spotten near the airport. That bird is very very unusual for Oregon. Alas, we were too late.

Another time I heard that was a Roseate Spoonbill a couple of hours south Indianapolis. It had been in the area for several days at a reservoir. I read this in the paper on Friday and so drove down on Saturday. Nice drive, enjoyed the birding, but did not see the spoonbill.

Not to worry folks, I’ve seen both the Caracara and the Spoonbill in Texas. But had I seen them they would have been added to my Indiana list.

Tomorrow I am driving to Goose Lake, a restored wetlands area here in Indiana. Maybe there will be a rare bird in store for me? If there is, I’ll send you an RBA via this blog.