We arrived at the Bottoms at about 1:30 to find the marsh bustling with bird activity. We stopped at the observation tower just inside the entrance to get our bearings and scope the marsh a bit. Our search turned up no large dark birds other than Great Blue Herons, Ibis, and Cormorants. The Jaeger should have stuck out like a sore thumb. We did, however, notice a couple of vehicles stopped beside the road up ahead. After leisurely checking the swallows perched nearby for Cave Swallows (there had been one reported) we made our way toward the parked vehicles. After a short conversation with the owners, who happened to be Tom Ewert and Dave Klema, we discovered that the Jaeger had just disappeared out of sight over a dike about a mile out on the central lake. If only we had hurried over there sooner, we would probably have seen it! No matter, it could probably be seen from the other side of the dike, and thankfully the road went around the lake giving a view of both sides. We headed out around the lake, stopping briefly beside a wounded Ring-billed Gull to snap a few pics, and scanning the air and water for a large dark bird (other than Great Blue Herons, Ibis, or Cormorants). We did; however, manage to find a Neotropic Cormorant, posing nicely on a weed not far off the road.
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| Ring-billed Gull: photo by Bryant |
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| Neotropic Cormorant: photo by Andrew |
Part way around, we met up with Edward Raynor, who had just refound the Common Gallinule (another rarity reported recently). He offered to try to help us refind it, as well as the Jaeger, and we took him up on it. We followed him to look for the Gallinule, all the while keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of the Jaeger. We found neither, and soon headed back around the lake check back where we started. We had stopped to scan the water, when Andrew said, "I think I've got it!" We all trained our binoculars on the distant speck. It looked promising, but unfortunately, it was heading the other direction and soon disappeared from sight. With our limited views- it was over a mile away- we weren't able to make a positive I.D. although we were all fairly sure that it had been the Jaeger. Close call number two!
We continued back around the lake, stopping occasionally to scan. While we did find a Least Bittern, several Buff-breasted Sandpipers, and two Sanderlings, all good finds; the real prize eluded us. And our time was running out! It was about 3:30, and we needed to leave by 4:00. We stopped again (we were now back to where it had first been seen) to talk to some more birders, who told us they had seen the Jaeger about an hour ago from the same place. It had been back while we were gone around the lake! While I was still talking to them, Andrew, who had been scanning the lake, sounded the alarm. Sure enough. There it was in all its glory, floating on the water about 3/4 of a mile off the shore. We soon had Edward's scope focused in on it, giving us beautiful looks. It even took off for us several times, allowing us to see the diagnostic Pomarine paddle-shaped tail.
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| Pomarine Jaeger: photo by Andrew |
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| Pomarine Jaeger, notice the odd paddle shaped protrusion for the end of the tail: photo by Andrew |
What a great finish to a twitch! It was very gratifying to finally see the crazy critter after several near misses!
Bryant
