I’m probably one of the few people in the world who has birded at the southernmost dump in the world, in Ushuaia Argentina, and at dumps in the High Arctic. I guess you can say I’ve birded in some of the best dumps in the world. Or at least at the ends of the world.
When we got to Ushuaia, one of the first place we hit was the dump, it was on the way to another location we were headed to and it was our best opportunity to see White-throated Caracara’s. There were a myriad of birds there, gulls, Caracara’s and others, and I think a grand total of two White-throated Caracara’s. The birds were spectacular, the ambiance, um, a little less so.
Here at the Arctic Bay dump, you’re pretty much guaranteed to see Ravens, anytime of the year. Other times of the year Glaucous, Iceland and Thayer’s gulls are pretty common, but until a couple of days ago I never thought it would yield any surprises, and it turns out I was wrong.
I’ve a cinematographer staying here now and the other day as we headed out to the airport to pick up Leah’s sister Eunice, he headed to the dump to get some footage of Raven behaviour. He should have come to the airport because as we waited for the plane we watched a family of six Ravens breaking into baggage. Well just the adults broke into the baggage, the young ones squawked for food, alas for no avail. For although the adults got into two boxes in a matter of seconds they were chased off by the Airline staff before they could claim any prize.
Checking in with the client at supper, he mentioned that while the Ravens all left when he got there he did see a White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). Say What!! He said that shortly after he got there he heard one singing and watched it sing from the top of some old bedsprings.
Now White-crowned Sparrows, in fact all the Zonotrichia, are amongst my favourite birds. Their songs instantly conger up the Boreal Forest for me. But one here, would be a long way from the Boreal Forest. A very long way. The client however is an expert birder and did document it in High Definition glory.
So yesterday while I had a couple of free hours I headed out to the dump. Sure enough shortly after I got there and watched the Ravens play and chase each other I heard the first couple of notes of the White-crowns song ringing out clear and strong. I couldn’t find it out in the Tundra so I went to the area of the dump where he saw it singing and waited. Sure enough I could hear a bird’s call note and I wandered over and there it was, right amongst the garbage. It was hanging out with a juvenile Lapland Longspur, foraging for insects amongst the trash.
Unfortunately my point and shoot digital camera didn’t have anywhere near the zoom or resolution, but here is it’s picture anyway. Trust me, it’s right there in the trash.
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6 responses
Pleased that you got to see one of your favorite, uncommon birds! (BTW, there’s no “u” in favorite, Clare ;^)
And this is amazing!
Sure there is a “U” in favourite, and a “U” in colour, an “E” in grey, an “re” in litre, and “Z” is pronounced zed not zee. We just use different versions of the Queen’s english Amy.
🙂
And it is a pretty amazing bird, there may be a pair actually as I think I heard another singing when this was in front of me.
I heart the Ushuaia dump! When I visited there in 2000, I got fabulous views of the white-throated caracara as well as chimango caracara and crested caracara. A caracara trifecta!
Now I’ll have to plan an Alaska trip for dump symmetry.
Zonatrichids winter here in the bay area, amongst many places, and I always wondered where they spent their summers. I recall they were researched because of their circadian rhythms but never suspected they would take them there. They respond apparently to the photoperiodic induction of gonadotropin which tells them when to leave their nesting area. I bet all that day light messed them up. Here is an interesting story on the subject: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC449897/
Thanks for the link to the Article hawk. This wouldn’t have been a normal spot for them to spend their summer, the taiga far south of here would be about the upper level of their breeding.