Journey to 1000 bird species

     I've heard Chuck-will's-Widow a hundred times over the years, but never seen one. I felt I can try with a call playback and a torch. It took a couple of visits to Dick Nichol's Park to find their right general area. Call playback during daytime was fruitless. The first attempt at night gave me too poor a look to be satisfied. I tried again last Monday, and got a somewhat better, but still poor looks in the night. The bird would never perch on a playback. It would come to investigate over me and head back into the woods. This time I counted  Chuck-will's-Widow for bird 973 . I hope to eventually get better looks some day. Spring migration birding in the coast has a good chance to see them in daylight.       Empidonax flycatchers migrate a little later than the Warblers, Orioles and Tanagers. I needed Alder Flycatcher. The bird needs to call for me to be certain of the id. That's why I had not seen a confirmed Alder until now, which ...

Weekend of Apr 29: Saturday:    I checked Rettilon road after taking the ferry to Bolivar - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45074261 .  King Rail I checked Yacht Basin Road for Bobolinks and dipped. A Clapper Rail was clearly identifiable. Another Clapper Rail had less grey on the cheecks and had me thinking of a King Rail for a while - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45024993 . I checked Rollover Pass for Glaucous Gull and dipped - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45026686 . I wanted the gull badly to avoid looking for it in Oregon during winter in a future trip! Boys Scouts Wood at High Island was ok - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45033789 . Highlights were a lot of Wood and Swainson's Thrushes, and a look at a roosting Barn Owl in day light. I joined Tropical Birding group at Smith Oaks (High Island) for the 4 pm walk - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45043464 . Finally, I went to Anahuac NWR after seeing reports of King Rails in good numbers on...