ML646472422

Observation details

Known location, although it’s been several months since the last eBird report. Absolutely ridiculous experience that epitomizes what I love and hate most about birding. We almost didn’t come here because the last report was so long ago and people reported spending multiple hours looking for it, and we had maybe 45 minutes max. On our way here, Google maps took us on some insane roads that were the steepest I’ve driven in my entire life— it felt like the car was gonna fall backwards while going up, and we could smell the brakes burning while going down. Then we finally got to the stakeout spot, where we expected we were going to be able to casually bird from the road, only to find that the road is pretty busy with cars going fast and two horses were tied up at the place with best access to the area. It’s a beautiful area but this is the type of birding I hate most. There are two Scaly-naped Pigeons on a wire by the car, and a few other pigeon sp flying distantly. “We’re already here, so let’s just give it five minutes,” I suggest to Ross, “and let’s walk around the corner and see if we see anything.” After a couple minutes’ walk Ross realizes he left his phone in view in the car and turns around to get it. After 30 seconds more I say to myself “this is stupid, let’s get out of here and go back to the hotel for cervezas by the pool.” I turn back to the car. When I get there, there are now three pigeons on the wire, and the top one is bulkier than the Scaly-naped and has thin white wing edging. Yeah it’s a Plain Pigeon. Unbelievable. Just sitting there. I yell to Ross to get the camera and start documenting. Then chaos breaks loose. A woman stops her car and yells over to me in Spanish to ask what we are looking at. And then three people start walking over also peppering me with questions in Spanish. After I manage to explain that my Spanish conversation skills are poor, I get questions in English: “Looking for Plain Pigeon?” Yes, I explain, “and it’s right there on the wire.” Their response was polite: “We have been monitoring this population for UPR and Plain Pigeon hasn’t been seen in this area in quite awhile; there’s another very similar local pigeon that people often confuse it for.” Ok, I say, “but that bird is it, look at these pictures.” So needless to say everyone was pretty darn excited. We then had a really nice conversation for 10 minutes about the conservation challenges for this species on PR and about bird responses to hurricanes in general. And the pigeon was still just hanging there when we left. Pictures are pretty rough because of backlighting but sufficient for ID. Totally wild experience, all for a bird with the most dull name possible. :D