A Western Tanager was being reported over several weeks from mid-December. I had seen this species on my Arizona trips but had never seen it on the East coast.
So on January 2, 2020 several members of the local Audubon made the 3 hour trip to Bombay Hook NWR in an attempt to see the Western Tanager. It was a mild mid-winter day and drive was uneventful. We arrived around 10:45am to find the main parking around the visitors center full with lots of birders and photographers.
We parked, and started walking in the general direction of the visitors center and had only been there l/t 5 minutes when someone shouted...'there it is'.
Sure enough, less that 100 ft away feeding on some berry next the VC building was our bird - the Western Tanager.
We had great looks and after about 10 minutes it flew off, so we decided to drive the tour road as we had plenty of time before heading home later that afternoon.
On the tour road loop we had Long Tailed, Pintail, Black, Mallard, Ruddy, Green winged and several other duck species.
We ended the day with 43 species and started for home around 3:30pm - after another successful 'chase' for a rare bird species.
It was a great day and a nice start to my 2020 birding season.
Until Next time
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