Humboldt
County Dream Birds Redux
(originally
published in Sandpiper May 2002)
Ken
Irwin found a White-eyed Vireo at Elk Head on June 10, 2001. He
followed up this feat by locating a Common Greenshank in the Mad
River estuary on August 27. Both species represented first county
records for Humboldt, which got me to thinking. “Wouldn’t it be
fun to try to predict which other species are likely candidates for
the next additions to the county checklist.” Then, I recalled that
others, including Gary Lester and John Sterling, had explored this
topic. To update their work, I polled several of the county’s most
avid birders to get their guesses for the next five additions to the
Humboldt list.
First,
with the gracious permission of Gary Lester, is reprinted his June
1988 Sandpiper
article.
HumCo
Dream Bird List
The
Humboldt County bird checklist currently has just over 400 species
listed. This total is the sum result of more than 100 years of
ornithological observations and birding. It may seem surprising that
there could be any more species to add to the list; with a solid 100
years under our collective belts, surely all the birds have been seen
that will ever occur in Humboldt County! Still, if not in this
month’s Sandpiper,
then
in the fall the Field Notes will add more new species to the list for
Humboldt County.
With
that thought in mind, I polled 10 of the most active County birders
to arrive at this “dream list” of species that could occur in the
County some day. I asked each person to list the five species he or
she felt were most likely to occur. To really appreciate this game,
play along and write down your own list. Cut these lists out and save
them; see who the real experts are over the years. Of course, the
critical part of the game is to get out into the field, to locate
that next addition to our ever-growing Humboldt County avifaunal
checklist.
Fred
Broerman —
Mongolian Plover, Eurasian Dotterel, Upland Sandpiper, White-rumped
Sandpiper, McCown’s Longspur
Linda
Doerflinger
— Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Black Rail, Purple
Gallinule, Upland Sandpiper
Richard
Erickson
— Little Blue Heron, Trumpeter Swan, White-rumped Sandpiper,
Connecticut Warbler, Mourning Warbler
Gary
Friedrichsen —
Spoonbill Sandpiper, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Catbird, White
Wagtail, White-winged Crossbill
Stan
Harris
— Spotted Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Yellow Wagtail,
Blue-winged Warbler, Black-chinned Sparrow
Mark
Higlev
— Smew, Eurasian Dotterel, Spotted Redshank, Spoonbill Sandpiper,
Black Skimmer
Gary
Lester
— Wood Stork, Great Knot, Common Ground Dove, Painted Redstart,
Pine Grosbeak
Lauren
Lester
— Gyrfalcon, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Greater Pewee, Lucy’s
Warbler, Eurasian Bullfinch
Ron
LeVallev
— Short-tailed Albatross, Little Blue Heron, White-rumped
Sandpiper, Gray Catbird, Great-tailed Grackle
John
Sterling
— Smew, Wood Sandpiper, White-eyed Vireo, Mourning Warbler,
Eurasian Bullfinch
Gary
reminded me that, as the author, he felt compelled to offer further
food for thought, rather than merely “parrot” the
high-probability choices of others. Therefore, it’s not valid to
compare his predictions to the “batting averages” of the members
of Team 1988. However, a “statistical lite” analysis reveals that
the collective batting average of the group was .360 (18 out of 50
correct guesses and 15 new species). Richard Erickson batted .800 (4
of 5 correct).
Now,
for the prognostications from Team 2002:
Jan
Andersen
— Arctic Loon, Short-tailed Albatross, Black Skimmer, Slaty-backed
Gull, Eurasian Dotterel
Stan
Harris —
Arctic Loon, Dotterel, Chimney Swift, Great Crested Flycatcher,
Gyrfalcon
John
Hunter —
Black Skimmer, Dusky Warbler, Black-backed Wagtail, Black-backed
Woodpecker, Short-tailed Albatross
Ken
Irwin
— Upland Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper,
Bell’s Vireo, Pine Warbler
Tom
Leskiw —
Arctic Loon, Eurasian Dotterel, Dusky Warbler, Upland Sandpiper,
Steller’s Eider
Gary
Lester
— Arctic Loon, Spotted Redshank, Black-backed Woodpecker,
Swainson’s Warbler, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch
Lauren
Lester
— Gyrfalcon, Upland Sandpiper, Red-headed Woodpecker, Blue-throated
Hummingbird, White-winged Crossbill
Ron
LeValley
— Short-tailed Albatross, Black Skimmer, White-rumped Sandpiper,
Arctic Loon, Manx Shearwater
John
Sterling —
Arctic Loon , Black Skimmer, Scott’s Oriole, Manx Shearwater, Brown
Shrike
Matt
Wachs —
Chimney Swift, Black Skimmer, Broad-winged Hawk, White-rumped
Sandpiper, LeConte’s Sparrow
As
we know, spring and early summer are likely timeframes in which to
find unusual birds. I, for one, am curious about how many additions
to the Humboldt checklist will be made between now and the next issue
of the Sandpiper.
Tom
Leskiw (April 14, 2002)