Risky and Embarrassing: Ten Years of BB&B

This is a 2008-quality photo. Clearly, it leaves a lot to be desired...but it's a Burrowing Owl that lives under a big shoe! Burrowing Owls are great. Taken somewhere in the Imperial Valley, CA.

In July of 2008, one strange and humble birder began a blog. A blog that was meant for birders, yes, but aspired to be something different. Now this wasn't the birder's first blog, he had actually blogged successfully before, and was told by more than one person that he was actually a decent writer. But he wrote about friends, about music, about politics, about gossip, about raging...the exact sorts of things that bird bloggers not only don't write about, the majority of them don't even seem to have any personal experience with these concepts. Well, to be fair, birders gossip ceaselessly, but the human element was (and is) largely absent from both birders and their blogs.

The birder was acutely aware that he didn't fit in with most of the birders he had met over the years. How many other birders had to regularly cancel birding plans due to hangovers? How many other birders found themselves constantly annoyed by other birders? How come 90% of bird blogs he came across seemed like they were written by the same person? Did any other birders worship Greg Graffin as much as he did? Were there other birders out there in the Birdosphere that he would like to get to know? To find both a love of birding and a sense of the absurd cohabitating within a single soul was rare then, and it still is now. These are some of the notions that the birder had running through his head when he embarked on the saga that is BB&B. The birder had an angle on things that he felt was shared by few others of his nerdy ilk. He would blog birds, but he would do it differently. It was a risky venture, not to mention embarrassing. Would anyone ever notice? Would anyone care? On his deathbed, a wise ancient with great tufts of ear hair had warned him..."Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny".

And so, in July of 2008, Bourbon, Bastards and Birds quietly hatched. For years the birder toiled in relative solitude, with only a couple dozen regular readers and some unremarkable camera gear to help illustrate his posts with. It was rough going, but rewarding. The birding got better as time went on...he took bird jobs at Midway Atoll, Pennsylvania, southeast Arizona, the Aleutian Islands, Mexico, North Dakota...he had a lot of good material to work with. He was getting a lot of lifers. He only had to work half the year; the rest of the year was spent on a Perpetual Weekend. That left a lot of time for both birding and blogging.

In the winter and spring of 2010, the birder spent a lot of time in eastern Mexico, where Aplomado Falcons still have a stronghold. He still didn't have great camera equipment to work with, but birding there changed everything for him. Things have never been the same. Photographed in Alvarado, Veracruz, Mexico.

Eventually, at a point he cannot identify (2012-2013 maybe?), the birder and his blog went from obscurity to...to whatever is slightly more noticeable than obscurity. Semi-opaqueness? He befriended other bird bloggers. Random birders he would run into while in the field would recognize him from his blog (which the birder has never gotten used to, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't talk to him). A couple years after that, it all finally came together...when Dipper Dan the Global Birder Ranking System upgraded his status to #7 birder in the whole country, the glory and fame peaked, along with the drug abuse (not use, definitely abuse), outbursts of violence, sexcapades, general depravity, attempts at becoming an artist, etc. Eventually, he was committing acts so bizarre and vile that the birder himself could not deny the fact that he had become morally bankrupt and rotten to the core. This carried on for quite some time, though he managed to keep birding and blogging through it all.

The BB&B saga took a couple of dramatic turns in April of 2016, when the birder impregnated someone named Billy, and in the same week (the same day?) officially brought his famously fertile friend (and vastly superior writer) Cassidy Grattan in to the BB&B fold. Coincidence? Impossible. Slightly over 9 months later, the birder found himself to be a father. Though no longer a surprise at this point, it was still an extremely interesting turn of events.

And here we are, at the dawn of 2018. If you are wondering, the birder is not Felonious Jive, it's me, Seagull Steve. The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive is now our only staff writer who is not a father, which is probably for the best considering he still does big fat rails of white stuff off his scope this time of year, and I'm not talking about snow! I don't think Annabelle will be doing Christmas Bird Counts with him any time soon.

Ah, the Iceland Gull...in 2017 we said goodbye to Thayer's Gull, effectively retiring one of the continent's most vexing ID problems. More than a few birders were unhappy about this lump made by the AOS, and the world's smallest violin got a lot of use for a few weeks. Lump or no lump, it's a bummer to not be close to the bay's classic herring run sites any more, but now I've got a huge gull roost within walking distance of Rancho de Bastardos.  Fingers crossed for a good gull at my patch in the next few months. Photographed at the Los Capitancillos Ponds, San Jose, CA.

Now on the other side of 2017, I'm happy to report that I'm somewhat settled into my role as a father. The constant exhaustion of the early months of raising Annie has morphed into constant distraction instead. Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds really does sum up much of my life now. Well, it always has, but now the definition of "bastard" has switched from the informal use to the strictest sense of the word...I spend most of his time with my lovely bastard girlfriend and our wonderful bastard daughter, and several times a week see my old friend Whiskey. My 2017 year list finished at 350 species (320 in California), which I figure to be the lowest total I've had since 2006, or some other year in the pre-blog daily binge-drinking era...The Ashtray is gone, but not forgotten.

Why such a low and embarrassing total? I had a baby, obvi. But on top of that, I saw almost no mountain birds (no Sierra trip this year), and had only a handful of dedicated birding days outside of California. That said, 2017's Lower 48 list (aka the whole year list) was actually better than 2016's Lower 48 list, and I got each and every expected "local" California species that I humiliatingly did not see in 2016 - Tundra Swan, White-winged Scoter, Sandhill Crane, Glaucous Gull, Prairie Falcon, Blackpoll Warbler. Eight new birds for the California list was a fantastic total though, and matched 2016's total of additions to the precious state list. I'm not optimistic that I'll be able to match that pace of state birds this year, or ever again.

Lifers were few and far between in 2017, but Great Cormorant finally ended up in the proverbial bag after all these years. This wasn't a nemesis bird by any means, but it was my easiest remaining Lower 48 bird. To me, Great Cormorant has one of the strangest distributions of any North American species...they are a cold water seabird on the east coast, but you can also see them in equatorial Africa, hundreds of miles from the coast. Weird. Photographed at Bass Rocks, Rockport, MA.

2017 will go down in my personal history book as the year Annabelle was born, and the year of the Ross's Gull - what is dead may never die! I could do a nice post to wrap up all my birding from this year, but let's face it...I'm hopelessly behind and time is of the essence. So we must look ahead. Cherish the birds of 2017, but don't cling to them. Try to process the daily horrors of a president that makes George W. Bush seem meek and innocent in comparison, of a soulless and revolting congress, of the tragedies wrought by the hurricanes in the Caribbean, of the catastrophic Thomas Fire that ran amok in my home county and is now the largest fire in California's history. To top it off, December saw a return of grim, drought-like conditions to the state...but will things turn around? How will 2018 be different?

How about this for starters...BB&B will be turning TEN YEARS OLD. Can you believe it? I can't. We will be celebrating. We will be birding. We plan on bringing you lots of special content...more interviews, more features from The Human Birdwatcher Project (the original birding project), and plenty of the classic birding and birder coverage that has kept you coming back all this time. I may not be able to effortlessly churn out 1-2 posts a week anymore, but BB&B intends to not finish 2018 with a swan song and a death rattle, but with the violent and victorious bellow of a well-oiled blogging machine! Or something along those lines.

Thanks to everyone who has read us over all these years, see you again soon!

Great Glorious Gulling in San Mateo County

You knew it was coming...it was unavoidable. I don't think I've done a gull post since 2016. Is a full-blown Larid post in July appropriate? Not in the slightest, but here it is and here you are reading it. Don't worry, this should be better than a photo study of Ring-billed Gulls or some similar garbage.

The winter of 2016-2017 was quite good for California gullers. While the Ross's Gull was undoubtedly the undisputed highlight, a close second was the Black-tailed Gull that was seen in Monterey County (where Billy and I dipped the day the Ross's died) and then again in San Mateo County. That is what brought me to the mouth of Gazos Creek, where I found Terrills, Michael Park and other unidentified birders, but no Black-tailed. At least there were kittiwakes though.

Last winter was tremendous for Black-legged Kittiwakes in this part of the state, being seen from shore with regularity in many places. This was another bird I had missed entirely in 2016, but they were easy to find early this year. Seeing pelagic birds on shore really feels like cheating.

This was the second time I had dragged Billy and Annabelle (the first time in fetal form) out to dip on this Black-tailed Gull. Hopefully this event won't repeat itself again.

Luckily, kittiwakes were not the lone highlight of the day. This Lesser Black-backed Gull in Princeton Harbor (Denniston Creek Mouth) was a very nice consolation rarity. Despite their abundance in some parts of the continent, this is still a very rare bird in most of California. To give you an idea of how good the gulling was around this time, there were a minimum of 3 individual LBBGs in San Mateo County; in eBird, there is only one record in all prior years.

On another day, I lurked across the bay down to get my usual punishment at Pilarcitos Creek Mouth...this is a legendary gull spot where I have failed to see anything interesting year after year after year. This newly-arrived Allen's Humingbird was next to my car when I got out; a good omen?

I bumped into Ken Schneider, who let me know about a Glaucous Gull at the creek mouth. I arrived just as the bird peaced out to the northeast, possibly to visit one of the inland reservoirs.

I stuck around for a while, hoping something else of interest would stop in; this roost site is well-known for its high turnover of gulls. I felt the old familiar presence of rarities...but where were they? This attractive Glaucous hybrid (presumably Glaucous x Herring) dropped in to the flock, but that was not what I had on my mind.

Finally, a Vague Runt worth writing home about materialized...Laughing Gull! Like Lesser Black-backed, this is a Salton Sea specialty in California. Show me a Laughing Gull anywhere else in the state, and I will show you a damn rare bird.

Ok gull nerds...what do you think the bird in the center is? This is not a quiz, I honestly don't know. Note the bright red orbital ring, red gape, eye color, bill shape and pattern (see below as well). It superficially resembles a Herring Gull, but there are things "wrong" with it. Those are Mew Gulls in front and to the right, and a Western Gull on the left for comparison. The primaries are the typical four-year gull black with white apical spots. I did not see leg color, the bird disappeared almost immediately after I found it, flushed by wankers.

Lots of conflicting weirdness here.

You may have noticed a theme in this blog post so far...no, not the gulls, I'm talking about the shitty photos. Here is a decent kittiwake to help redeem myself. Speaking of shitty photos and redemption, let me betray a photographer's secret to all you noobs (n00bs)...if you want to convince everybody that you were born with a camera in your hand and that you are god's gift to nature photography, don't post shitty photos. Only post good ones. It's that simple. Fortunately for you and me both, I don't pretend to be a photographer, I just take photos. Some are good, most are not, but I will show it all...gross.

This kittiwake was bellowed at by an asshole Western Gull. Luckily, no harm was done.

This kittiwake demonstrated the classic pleasantness and unobtrusive nature characteristic of the species. The kittiwakes that morning were the most confiding I've seen south of Alaska.

It is also worth mentioning that at this site alone, over a couple different visits, I witnessed birders string Laughing Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Glaucous Gull. I appreciate that trying to identify rare gulls is an exercise in self-harm for many, but let's be careful out there friends.

After the unambiguous victory at Pilarcitos Creek (a first for me), I returned to Princeton Harbor to scour the Denniston Creek flock. Unambiguous success quickly turned into ambiguous success though when John Sterling and I got on this nice "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull. Note the lack of a tail band, which the bird was happy to display repeatedly.

The identification of this bird was actually not the ambiguous thing for once - it even has the dark "arrowheads" on the primaries, which don't tend to persist with a lot of wear. It was the classification that was problematic. At the time, rumor had it that Iceland Gull and Thayer's Gull were to be lumped in some fashion, a rumor which proved to be true...the AOS not only lumped them, it smashed the Kumlien's subspecies into oblivion. So, instead of this being a kumlieni Iceland Gull (a Bird Police species in California), officially this bird is now considered an intergrade between the thayeri and glaucoides subspecieseseseseseseses of Iceland Gull.

That's it on the left, showing the tail and wing pattern one would expect on a kumlieni thayeri x glaucoides intergrade. So for now I have put this bird on the shelf, no point in sending it to the Bird Police.

Here is a somewhat bleached Iceland Gull (formerly known as Thayer's...crap, this is going to take some getting used to) with a very white base color, but still showing the contrasting dark secondaries and darker primaries typical of thayeri.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I spent a great deal of time looking for Slaty-backed Gulls in February and early March without success, but at least I had some other good birds to show for it. The San Mateo County coast offers some of the best gulling in the Lower 48, hopefully next winter can come close to matching the glory of the last. 

Imperial Bellow, Old World Bellow, Imitation Rail Mellow

Of course, it wasn't always all about yardbirding for Seagull Steve. Believe it or not, he used to venture forth to look at birds outside of the friendly confines of his yard all the time. On this occasion, he walked by a flock of Snowy Plovers, a local and beloved species. Pilarcitos Creek Mouth, Half Moon Bay, CA.

Some color band combinations are easier to read than others. Spending time with the soothing plover flock here is always a nice consolation when walking back to your car after dipping on rare gulls, at least for Seagull Steve.

When Seagull Steve is birding here, it is typically a lowly, disgusting, gull-oriented endeavor. Here is a Herring Gull with Pillar Point in the background, which makes this image slightly less lowly and disgusting. Steve excels at not seeing rare gulls here; usually Slaty-backed, though Kelp also comes to mind.

Seagull Steve has to keep posting Thayer's Gulls while he still can! This might become an Iceland Gull next month.

After mild success at Pilarcitos, Seagull Steve ventured north to once again see the Emperor Goose wintering on the golf course at Sharp Park in Pacifica. The Emperor was still crippling and still seemed to be doing typical goose things, but not for long. "Rise, my friend," he bellowed to his dark and powerful protege, a nearby Common Raven.

Answering The Emperor's bellow, a Common Raven flew in to attack a nearby Canada Goose, much to The Emperor's delight. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," said The Emperor, cackling with glee. "Your work here is finished, my friend. Go out to the municipal pier and await my orders."

However, not everything was going according to The Emperor's plan...the solemn leader of the Canada Goose Alliance told the other geese, "The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come." With the raven distracted, the geese turned on The Emperor, sending him reeling.

And much like when Vader betrayed The Emperor in Return of the Jedi, the imposing Common Raven then joined the fray, taking wing to put an end to The Emperor once and for all.

The Emperor was unwise to lower his defenses.

But this is not Return of The Jedi, and The Emperor escaped unscathed. "Young fool...only now, at the end, do you understand." Fuck you Common Raven, and fuck you Canada Goose.

While it is appropriate to nurse grudges against the giant resident CANGs, there is no place for such feelings when CACGs are involved. Seagull Steve crushed this enthusiastically loafing Cackling Goose at Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline, in Richmond, CA.

This is also a dependable location for Eurasian Wigeons in winter. Female Eurasian Wigeons (right, with the head that does not contrast with the upperparts) are one of those birds those birds that can hide right in plain sight, if there are enough American Wigeon around. And if you are scanning through wigeon in bad light, you can forget about finding one of these (though it is a great time to string one!). It's just something you have to accept. Seagull Steve has accepted it, and he is the Global Birder Ranking System's #7 birder in the country. You would be wise to do the same.

Seagull Steve would not want to be on the receiving end of this mighty Old World bellow!

Bald Eagles are pretty sick. Seagull Steve had a pair of adults fly over at Benicia State Recreation Area, in Benicia, CA. Why was he there? For Black Rails, obvi. He heard three of them, and there are few things more comforting than the sounds of Black Rails...but one even more comforting sound does come to mind: a Northern Mockingbird imitating a Black Rail! Incredible! Yes, he heard a mockingbird imitating a Black Rail that morning. Unbelievable.

And no, I don't write in the third person now, I'm just filling in for Seagull today. He may or may have not overdosed on something last, shhhhhhhhh. - Felonious Jive

Squid, Scum, Styrofoam, Scavengers

It's May. Not much birding lately...except from my exceptional yard. So far this month, I have the best yard list in the entire state, in eBird anyway. What else do you expect from #7? I'm not fucking around over here. Yardbirding has suddenly become very serious. But more on that to come...

Though I haven't been slaying lately, I did bird a great deal this winter and earlier this spring, so let's dip into that, starting with a Squid Crow. I've seen American Crows eat a great many different things, but this is the first one I've seen with a squid. The novelty is compelling; the ramifications are still being fully ascertained. San Leando Marina, San Leando, CA.

This first cycle Herring Gull was pleasantly typical. Novelty may be something worth seeing with Corvids, but not with large gulls. Revel in the simple gulls such as this that do not leave you wanting to reach for the bottle. San Leandro Marina, San Leandro, CA.

Soon, Thayer's (above) and Iceland Gulls may become much less of an identification headache. We are now in the calm before the shitstorm of butthurt that will come ashore when these birds are lumped. Get you shitjackets ready. San Leandro Marina, San Leandro, CA.

Anyone know who is putting field-readable bands on Western Gulls in the last few years? The banded birds from the Farallones typically just have an unnumbered color band as far as I know. San Leandro Marina, San Leandro, CA.

I'm sure something ended up scavenging this hapless scaup. Life is pain. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

Is this what the future of birding looks like? Scum, styrofoam, and a mopey Mew Gull? Perhaps. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

This Glaucous-winged Gull* has beady black eyes. Trippy. It looks possessed. Look away, nothing novel to see here. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

*Not sure if Olympic Gull can be ruled out, but at the very least it presents as a GWGU.

Here is a more typical-looking Glaucous-wing. Not novel. That is fine. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

We get a lot of birds that look like this in the bay in the winter. They aren't very big, and at first glance they look like a good candidate for a Herring or a pale-eyed Thayer's. In fact, with a second or third glance, they still like one of those two. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

Take a look at the orbital ring...it's almost colorless. A grayish pink? It's not what you would expect on either a Herring or Thayer's. I reckon this is a Herring X Glaucous-winged that looks mostly like a Herring. Oh, and it did not show a Thayer's pattern on the underside of the primaries, if you are wondering.

Since we may be saying goodbye to Thayer's Gull, here is another one. So long, old friend. Pacifica Pier, Pacifica, CA.

Few species in the world have had poorer reproductive success than Heermann's Gulls in the last few years. HEEGs drew the short straw as far as fledging chicks goes...we in California can tell because juveniles have suddenly become rarities. Not mellow. Pacifica Pier, Pacifica, CA.

There are a few places around the bay area where Common Ravens are extremely tame. Though abundant and generally bad for nesting birds, they are pretty impressive up close. Look at that profile! Those cankles! Pacifica Pier, Pacifica, CA.

2017 AOS (AOU) Proposed Lumps and Splits

Western Willets (above) have long been considered to be distinct in a number of ways from Eastern Willet, and can be told apart in the field with some practice. Will this be the year of the great Willet split?

The proposals are in...there are an obscene number of splits and lumps proposed for birds under the American Ornithological Society's purview this year. There is the potential for a lot of huge shakeups...of course, who knows how many of these will actually become Bird Law? Maybe none at all! In any case, we can expect a lot of butthurt birders after news of these splits and lumps (or lack thereof) is released. Perhaps these decisions will all be warranted, perhaps not, but regardless of what happens there are a lot of sweaty palms out there right now, and almost too many splits/lumps to keep track of. For your sake, beloved readers, I have gleaned all the splits and lumps from the three rounds of proposals that are out. No rearranging of families or genera to sort through, no simple name changes, just the meat and potatoes - the splits and lumps.

Split Willet into Eastern Willet and Western Willet.

Lump Thayer's (above) and Iceland Gull. Thayer's Gull would become a subspecies of Iceland, and the kumlieni subspecies would lose its status and be considered a hybrid swarm. Birders are coming out of the woodwork to make their opinions known about the Thiceland Gull proposal, some of which don't seem to be informed by actual facts. This one, as predicted, really struck a nerve. 

Recognize Northern Harrier and Hen Harrier as different species.

Split Magnificent Hummingbird into two species, Rivoli's and Admirable Hummingbirds (northern and southern populations).

Split Emerald Toucanet into a bunch of different species.

Split Guatemalan Flicker from Northern Flicker.

Recognize Northern Shrike and Great Gray Shrike as different species.

Split Least Vireo (above) from Bell's Vireo. Drab western birds like this one would become Least Vireo, the more colorful eastern birds would remain known as Bell's Vireo. Simple.

Split Grayson's Robin from Rufous-backed Robin.

Split Nearctic Creeper from Brown Creeper; or perhaps split Brown Creeper into Nearctic Creeper and Neotropical Creeper.

Split Nashville Warbler into two species, Rusty-capped Warbler and Calaveras Warbler.

Split Yellow-rumped Warbler into three species, Audubon's, Myrtle and Goldman's Warblers.

Split Guerrero Brushfinch from Chestnut-capped Brushfinch.

Split Yellow-eyed Junco by recognizing Baird's (endemic to Baja California) and Guatemalan Yellow-eyed Juncos (endemic to Chiapas and Guatemala) as full species, but lump the other remaining Yellow-eyed Junco subspecies with Dark-eyed Junco. I don't see the lump portion of this proposal going through, but then again I am not a committee.

Split Red Crossbill into two species, elevating the "South Hills Crossbill" from "type" to full species status. South Hills Crossbill is endemic to mountain ranges in Cassia County, Idaho.

Lump Common and Hoary Redpolls.

Split White-faced Ground-Sparrow from Prevost's Ground-Sparrow.