Journey to 1000 bird species

Northern Jacana      After two weeks of travel, I wanted to relax at home on Sunday. I was watching IPL. During the innings break I got the second ebird alert of Jacana at Corpus Christie. The first one was on Saturday, but I thought I’ll take rest. I got news that the bird was co-operative and easy to see. Northern Jacana juveniles are seen once in a few years, if I’m not mistaken. Often the sightings are closer to the Mexico border requiring a longer drive. The current bird was not only closer but was the much more beautiful adult! I checked that the place was open until 6 pm and the drive was 3.5 hours. Time was 11:45 am, and I was on the road in 20 mins after taking some cardamom tea in a flask. I arrived at the parking lot of S. Texas Botanical Garden and noted a few other birders arriving. I paid the park fee and the receptionist knew about the bird. She gave me directions to its spot, and I met a few birders there who were yet to find it. Me and another birde...

     After making plans for SoCal in advance, I kept seeing reports of Sinaloa Wren in March end. Rarities in SE AZ kept increasing with Streak-backed Oriole, continuing Rufous-backed Robins, return of Tufted Flycatcher, sightings of Ruddy Ground-Doves here and there. This was tempting, and tickets to Tucson were cheap for the week after Good Friday. I decided to use the opportunity. The rarities are often hard to get, and multiple tries or hikes might be required. So, I thought I will give myself five days just for the rarities. If by luck I get them quicker, I could target other birds including Black-capped Gnatcatcher and a few migrants. Last visit I did not target Whiskered-screech Owl which is a SE AZ specialty. This is common, but I needed to see it to count it. In any case the rarities were the priority. The most important were Sinaloa Wren and Streak-backed Oriole. The next was Tufted Flycatcher, followed by Rufous-backed Robin and Ruddy Ground-Doves in that pr...

     The plan was to get whatever I could get in SoCal in the four days of the long weekend by covering multiple areas. Mountains for Mountain Quail, Lawrence's Goldfinch and woodpeckers, Desert for Bell's Sparrow and a couple of Trashers, coast for Ridgway Rail, Elegant Tern and Nazca Booby, Santa Cruz Islands for the endemic Island Scrub-jay. Wrentit, California Gnatcatcher and Allen's Hummingbird were seen commonly at multiple places, and I hoped to get them easily. For the Scrub-jay, I had to book a ferry from Ventura to Santa Cruz Islands of Channel Island National Park. I got the ferry tickets in advance, and chose to plan for the next day based on what I needed. Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/57507254@N04/albums/72157693460514991 Day 1: Elegant Terns      I took an early morning flight out of ATX, and was at LA at 8:30 am. I got a Mustang and headed to Appu's Cafe at Long Beach for breakfast, which I would highly recommend....