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From: mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: vagrants
Message-ID: <47610@oliveb.olivetti.com>
Date: 6 Sep 89 03:24:38 GMT
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	On Tuesday I called the Rare Bird Alert to record the weekly
summary and find out what had been seen on the previous weekend. The
problem with finding out on Tuesday what had been seen on the weekend
is that if I wanted to see some vagrant, I would probably have to wait
for the following weekend. Sometimes the wait can be excrutiating. Will
the bird hang in there until the weekend? Will the work schedule allow
me to take some time off? My schedule and the bird's aren't always in
synch. Last year I lost the opportunity for a number of vagrants because
of this very reason. Come Saturday and the birds were gone. Long-Toed
Stint; gone. Spotted Redshank; gone. Bar-Tailed Godwit; gone. Sharp-
Tailed Sandpiper; gone. At one point I wondered if I would ever see
another vagrant.

	A couple of weeks ago I was faced with another decision when a
Mongolian Plover hit the tape. This time I took the afternoon off on
Wednesday and headed for Moss Landing. I spent the afternoon watching
the bird with a group of other birders, until it suddenly disappeared
late in the afternoon when no one was watching. We were talking and
shooting the breeze for about 15 minutes, and when we turned back to
look for the bird, it couldn't be found. It was not seen again. I was
very glad that I didn't wait for Saturday.

	A week ago Tuesday the tape again rang out with magic words;
a Bar-Tailed Godwit at Pescadero Marsh and a Little Gull at Pt. Reyes.
I had no commitments for the Labor Day weekend so the air was filled
with anticipation for the chase. Only the age-old question remained:
would they stick around until the weekend? I eagerly kept track of
their presence by calling the update tape. Thursday: godwit seen today
but no mention of the gull. I prayed to the god of godwits; "Please
make it blind so it can't leave". Friday: godwit seen today but still
no gull. Again I prayed; "Please make its wings fall off".

	Saturday morning found me at Pescadero Marsh. Pescadero Creek
finishes its trek to the ocean by flowing through a fairly large marsh
and welling up into a small lagoon about 100 yards short of its target.
I assume that the creek finishes its journey by seeping through the
sand, for the two don't make contact unless it's high tide or the creek
is running high. I walked around the shore of the lagoon studying every
godwit I could find. It's funny how, under normal circumstances, a quick
glance is all that's required to make a positive ID (it's just a Marbled
Godwit). Now, however, every godwit with a slightly pale appearance, a
little shorter legs, or a single feather out of line becomes the subject
of the most intense scrutiny (just what the hell does this thing look
like anyway).

	I continued past the lagoon and walked up the creek as far as
the path allowed. A couple of Wandering Tattlers and Lesser Yellowlegs
were of interest, but nothing that I had the guts to call a Bar-Tailed
Godwit. As I walked back, I spotted a friend of mine on top of the
bluff across the creek. He waved and shrugged his shoulders. I shrugged
back and decided to walk up a dike to where it intersected the creek
further upstream. After striking out up there, I figured that I would
cross the bridge and join my friend on the other side. I could find no
trail where I had seen him and started struggling through the coyote 
bushes. This lasted for a couple hundred yards when, sweating and covered
with sticky weed seeds, I turned back and headed for the beach. I checked
out what few shorebirds were there and then decided to give the lagoon
another try.

	When I got to the bridge, I met a couple who were coming across
it to the lagoon. They had found a trail on the other side that led to
where my friend and a number of other people had been watching the godwit
for the last hour! It had flown from there in the direction of the lagoon.
I joined them and we hurried down to the lagoon, along its shore, and up
the creek behind it. As we rounded a bend in the creek, a flock of godwits
took off and flew back towards where the others were. The guy that I was
with said that he had seen the Bar-Tailed in the flock. I looked off 
across the creek into the marsh and could see my friend standing there
waving and pointing to a spot below him that was out of my sight. This
was exasperating. It was probably over a half mile to walk back along
the lagoon, over the bridge, down the highway to a road, and down the
trail to where they were. But, if it had to be done, then it just had
to be done. I was only worried that by the time we got over there, it
might fly back to the lagoon.

	As we were heading along the shore of the lagoon, a couple of
godwits flew by, and the same guy said that he again saw the Bar-Tailed
among them. They had flown to the north, completely away from the area
that we were searching. Just as I was resigning myself to running after
them, a couple more godwits flew into the lagoon from the marsh. I knew
instantly that the search was over. As the godwits landed about 40 ft.
in front of us and started feeding, the Bar-Tailed stood out like a
sore thumb. I don't know what this other guy had seen flying off to
the north (probably his imagination), but I'm sure glad that I didn't
go chasing after it. For a full five minutes we savored the scope-filling
view before the bird flew off for the beach, where it spent the next
couple of hours.

	That evening I wondered what to do on Sunday and called the
update tape to see what was around. Lo and behold, miracle of miracles!
The Little Gull was seen again that day at Pt. Reyes! The next morning
I was off and running again.

	This chase was a great deal easier than the day before. A half
mile walk up Drake's beach brought me to Horseshoe Pond; a large 
U-shaped pool of water that was literally covered with Red-Necked
Phalaropes. As I stood on the dike with about half a dozen other people
scoping out the pond, the gull showed up in about a half hour and spent
the next hour or more flitting or sitting on the water right in front
of us. It was still there when I left.

	Pt. Reyes was pretty dead this day, for a place that can be
really jumping during migration. However, I did watch a wingless King
Eider (it was molting), added an Eastern Kingbird to my state list,
and found the largest flock of Baird's Sandpipers that I had ever seen,
10 (this is a large flock for a bird that is a rare migrant here).

	As I write this, I realize that it is Tuesday night. This means
that when I get home another weekly summary will be waiting for me on
the Rare Bird Alert. I can't help but wonder where it will have me 
running off to next weekend; or, more importantly, whether the birds
will run off before I do.

Mike