The 4th Olive-backed Pipit ever found in the Lower 48

Olive-backed Pipit lurking in Southern California

I occasionally tire of birding my 5MR. Even with all the habitat variety I have close to home, repeatedly visiting the same spots can get a little familiar. When the zugunruhe hits, I usually talk myself out of wandering further afield. But when news went out that a potential lifer was at a park in Fullerton, about 45 minutes away, I was excited. The bird was an Olive-backed Pipit. These small songbirds breed across Asia and Russia and winter in southern Asia and Indonesia. A few are seen in the  Aleutian Islands closest to Russia. For the lower 48 states, they are very rare. Before this bird, there were only 3 records — one in Nevada in the 60s, one on the Farralon Islands off San Francisco in the 90s, and a 2014 bird in Yorba Linda, California. Curiously, that last Olive-backed Pipit was just 8 miles from this new bird.

Since it was a weekend, I got up early and was at Gilman Park at sunrise. Already present were about a dozen nerds in REI adventure-wear with binoculars and long telephoto lenses. A few were set up where the bird had hung out the previous day. The rest were meandering. By the time the bird appeared at 7:45am, there were probably 40 birders around the park. We all headed to the spot, some more anxiously than others. Before I could get there and get my eyes on it, the pipit flew. It ended up right were it had spent the bulk of the day before: a dark, tree-covered patch of dirt.

Without a dirt background, the bird was easy to find. Otherwise, it could vanish before your eyes

The views of the pipit were clear, but not great. Indeed, the bird could disappear as it slowly worked its away along the ground. It eventually moved a bit around the park, and I was able to get some photographs in better light. The bird looks like our American Pipits, but its back is tinged olive, its belly streaking is darker, its legs are pink, and its facial markings are more distinct.

One of the delights of a major rarity like this is that it brings out all the birders. You get a chance to meet some new folks. Some are familiar names from eBird and message boards. Best of all, you get to bird with some really good birders. After a few of us had had our fill of the pipit, we decided to explore the park. It was a great spot for birds. It was full of a variety of tall trees and open areas of grass, with a little stream running through it. And the bird-detection was top notch. We didn’t find anything else extra rare, but did spot some other nice birds.