North River Sunday and Spit Monday (27-28Jul2014)

I awoke to my alarm at 3 am on Sunday and seriously questioned pulling the plug on my planned trip to North River Farms.  I have not been getting enough sleep and I just did not want to get up.  Oh well, I can sleep in 2015.  After a coffee and breakfast sandwich at the Corner Store near North River Farms, I was ready to go and the day started out very birdy and despite the humidity pretty nice.

This Water Moccasin was taking a morning dip.

"Come on in, the water's warm".

As usual John's amazing ears was hearing birds no one was seeing and then we would see whatever he called out as a confirmation.

"Upland Sandpiper" he said.  Then this one fly right over us.  Funny how their long necks are not so long when flying.

"Horned Lark" he said.  Then I saw about 20-25 in the road.  Looked to be mostly immature birds.

Horned Lark.

"Bobwhite" he says, then we see this guy down the road.

Northern Bobwhite.

After the farms we header to Cedar Island and walked the beach.  It got really hot and with the humidity I have to say I was getting to be in a bad mood.  Sometimes I seriously think about moving somewhere a bit cooler.  At least during the summer.  All of our binoculars were steaming up.

John called this a Caspian at first glance and for some reason I did not think it was. I think the bill seemed more orange and it just didn't seem big enough, but now that I have seen the photo despite the fact that it is not good, I think maybe this was a Caspian.  The cap was full which is not something you see much on a Royal this time of year.  I am hoping to get a better picture later, but if not I may have to go back an consider using this one.  We actually ended up seeing a Caspian later at Davis Impoundments but I did not get a picture.

Semi feral horses at Cedar Island crossing the channel. I don't think these are truly wild like the ones at Rachel Carson.

At Davis Impoundments we saw about 130 Gull-billed Terns on one sand bar.

Altogether a good day although I did not get any new species for the big year.

Monday after work, Harry and I were inspired by Ryan Justice's post and headed down to the Fort Fisher Spit to see if there were any Black Terns.

Juvenile Common Tern - black carpal bar is a dead giveaway.

Then I saw 3 Black Terns flying out by the breakers and jumped out before Harry could stop.

Black Tern - all black or dark gray with exception of white vent.

Not bad for a quick trip before the rains set in.

Tomorrow I have to fly to New York for work.  Usually I like to travel, but the Bronx is not my idea of a good trip.

Can't wait for my next pelagic on Saturday.  Should prove pretty fun.

Raceday Birding (26Jul2014)

Melissa had a race down on the border of SC and NC today called the Battle on the Border.  It was a 4.24 mile race on a farm called Indigo Farms which sits in both NC and SC.  The race was a competition between a running group that draws members from the Myrtle Beach area and the Wilmington Road Runners of which Melissa is a member.  Basically the top 16 or so finishers in both female and male count towards a running tally of places and the lowest group wins for bragging rights and a cool trophy.
Anyway, my hope was while watching the kids (mine and others) that I would spot a Swallow-tailed kite. That of course did not pan out.  Swallow-tailed Kite continues to be my nemesis bird.  However, there was some other nice birds.

This Wood Stork was using his wing to scare whatever he was eating into the direction of his bill.  Or maybe he was shading the water from the sun glare so he could see?  Whatever the case he kept fanning his wing in front of his while feeding.

This Canada Goose looked to have some Barnacle Goose in him.

What a gorgeous setting, it was really a nice farm.  They sell pies, jams, vegetables and other goodies too.  The kids loved the animals.

This Red-Tailed Hawk was definitely on the NC side of the border, I checked.  Believe it or not I still needed a RT Hawk photograph.

He had some prey item he was standing on.

After the race we headed over to Sunset Beach to get a Sunset Slush.  On the way I stopped at Medcalf and Twin Lakes.

Common Gallinule.

This little fuzzball was very cute.

Alligator at Twin Lakes, he said "looking for a Least Bittern?  I just ate one".

There were scores of Green Herons along the shore of Twin Lakes including mostly young fledglings.  You can see some of the down on top if this guy's head.

After slushes Melissa wanted to look at a community in Southport and I managed to work in a quick stop at Fish Factory Rd.  No Least Bittern but as usual some nice birds like this Little Blue Heron.

Then finally on our way home, Sherry Lane texted me to let me know there was 3 Upland Sandpiper at WIlmington Airport.  I had been over there 3-4 times already in the past week so I was skeptical but sure enough there they were.  Pictures are horrible because they were far and there was a quite a bit of heat distortion but good enough for the tally.

Upland Sandpiper in an uncropped picture to give you an idea of distance.

They were moving slowly much like a dove or chicken bobbing their heads while they walked.  However their necks were much longer and they had the coloring of a sandpiper.

They were slowly moving closer in but Melissa and the boys finally lost patience and I left those funny birds to themselves.

What a nice surprise for a day with the family.

Tomorrow I will go up to bird with John Fussell and friends in Carteret County.

Local Birding (22-24Jul2014)

Firstly let me say after speaking with some people that saw my swallow pics from Hendersonville a week ago, I have added Bank Swallow to my year list.  I hope to get a more definitive adult later but all the people I asked agreed the picture I had was a Bank.

Since the mountains trip I have been making some short forays around Wilmington to try and add a few birds that have been reported including Stilt SP, Pectoral SP and Swallow-tailed Kite.

First trip was down to Fort Fisher to try for shore birds in the Recreation Fields at the military vacation property.  No dice, the rains did not produce as I hoped.  So I headed down to the Rocks and got this consolation prize.

Clapper Rail.

Next evening after work I headed to Oakland Plantation Sod Farm to try for Stilt and Pectoral SPs and then Lock and Dam for Swallow-tailed Kites.  No dice on either account. There were plenty of other birds, but nothing new for me.

Dowitcher - probably short billed.

Loggerhead Shrike - picture is through my windshield.

Wednesday evening I met Harry, Greg and a new acquaintance for me John from Winston-Salem at the FF Spit.  Right off the bat we got a keeper.  Greg said hmm whats that floating out past the breakers and I knew immediately it was a Shearwater.  "Great Shearwater" I said and Harry about pooped himself.  He jumped outside the truck about as fast as a leopard and got his rig from the back.  The bird was 370 on Harry's North Carolina life list of Photographed birds. He has a much better photo but I got this one below.  High fives all around and we continued to the spit and saw a bunch of shore birds but nothing special.

Great Shearwater.

Today (Thursday) after work George (my youngest) and I headed back to Oakland Plantation in Bladen County and this time I got a mess load of Pectoral SPs.  There were some other nice birds including what I thought was a Stilt SP but the lighting was bad (glare) and I did not get any good pictures.

Pectoral SP - horrible pic but you can see the size difference compared to Least SP on right and also you can see the bib that is characteristic of the Pectoral.

Pectoral SP on left with Least SPs.

Lock and Dam again failed to please.  But this handsome devil was hanging out on the pier.

Great Times.

Sunday Spit Trip (20Jul2014)

Harry and I took a quick Fort Fisher Spit trip this afternoon.  It was super crowded and Harry usually doesn't go to the spit on the weekend in the summer for that reason but I am glad he made an exception.  There was a ton of migrants present despite the crowds.

The first bird of interest stuck out like a sore thumb amongst some Willets.  Usually I see Marbled Godwits fairly regularly but this year this was the first one I have seen.

Marbled Godwit.

A bad picture but I am posting it to illustrate the cinnamon underwing.  This bird was easily IDed as a Marbled Godwit for other reasons including it's general size and fairly uniform coloration but I wanted to point out that the best diagnostic for godwits is the underwing.  Bar-Tailed Godwits have a speckled gray underwing, Hudsonian Godwits have a black underwing and Black-tailed Godwits have a white underwing.

Next we pulled up on an extremely large aggregation of shorebirds at Cut 4.  The below shot just shows a fraction of the birds, there was many more to the right but I wasn't about to take off my telephoto lens to take the wider angle shot.  We spent a good 45 minutes scanning all the birds which included 6-7 more Marbled Godwits, Whimbrel, thousands of Dowitchers, peeps of 3 kinds, Oystercatchers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Black Skimmers.

In the below picture you can see "Old Baldy" in the background.

Cropped picture below with Godwits and Whimbrels.

Despite trying hard to find a Stilt SP or maybe a White-rump, we couldn't find any.  And then just like that they all decided to leave.  Probably the tide going out made them decide to get a snack before calling it a night.

Then driving back on the beach, we found this group that included a smaller bird we thought might be something interesting.  However, when it flew it revealed it was in fact a dowitcher.  Just goes to show birds can play tricks on you when they are standing next to different species.  We had just seen thousands of Dowitchers but then seeing this bird solo next to a Whimbrel and some Willet made us wonder.

Great times.  Thanks Harry!

Mountains Mania Part III or is it IV? (16-18Jul2014)

Greg and Harry were planning a trip up to the mountains to try for the Saw Whets I got a couple weeks ago and I just couldn't let them go without me despite having a fairly packed work week.  Luckily Harry volunteered to drive so I could keep working while we drove.  Have to love a job you can do from pretty much anywhere as long as you have 4G and a phone line.

We got to Hooper Lane in the afternoon but the reported swallows were not present in numbers.  A call to Wayne Forsythe revealed that mornings were crucial for getting the numbers we needed to get me a Bank Swallow.

So up we went to Devil's Courthouse on the Blue Ridge.  Harry has the NC record for pictures of the most species for his life list but he still needs a Saw Whet. He has seen Saw Whets flying over his head in the dark in the Outer Banks but has not gotten a real good look and certainly not a picture.

Greg also has heard and seen Saw Whets but he was looking to get a picture.

We got to the top of the Courthouse well before sunset and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  One of the best views on the Parkway.

Then just around 9pm Greg heard some fluttering of wings and found a nice juvenile Saw Whet checking us out.  We all shone our flashlights and tried to snap a few shots but unfortunately Harry's camera was not cooperating and would not focus on the bird.  I was the only one that managed a shot where you can see clearly its a Saw Whet.  Greg got a sasquatch style photo that he is going to try and work with but I thought it was a lost cause.  Greg heard juveniles begging but despite staying well past 10pm we were not able to get another look.

Next dawned as a beautiful cool day and we headed to Hooper to try for Bank Swallows again.  The swallows were out in full force this time with the majority of them perching on the tomato stakes offering good looks.

Barn Swallows were the most numerous with hundreds if not thousands.

Tree Swallows were a close second with loads of Juveniles causing diagnostic troubles for me.  Juvenile Tree Swallows can have a breast band that will trick you into thinking of Bank.  But the breast band is usually not complete and certainly not as well defined.  There are some other field marks like the framing of the auriculars and Tree Swallows have a nice crescent behind the wing.

Tree Swallows - Male on right and Female on left.

Bank Swallow or Tree Swallow?  Would appreciate my readers weighing in on this one.  The breast band was fairly well defined but it was still borderline.

In this shot the breast band is still visible, but the wing is maybe too broad to be a Bank?

This one is clearly a Tree.

The swallows were sharing the Tomato Stakes with Goldfinches, Song Sparrows and Mourning Doves.

Barn Swallow.

It was great meeting some good local birders in Wayne Forsythe and Steve Ritt.  The birding community in NC is strong with real good birders in which I am trying to learn from.

After a Teleconference for work, we hopped into the truck and headed up to Mount Mitchell via the Curtis Creek back road.  We were hoping for Ruffed Grouse but they did not show up.  First stop at the top was the Bald Knob Ridge Trail to look for Crossbills.  Marilyn Westphall and Marcus Simpson have been seeing Crossbills from this trail on a fairly regular basis.  I have tried and failed to find them on this trail 4-5 times now this year but this time I was confident that armed with Greg's ears we would get them.

We made it to the grove of Red Spruce where we thought our odds would be the best.  Then out of the woods materialized Marilyn and Marcus.  We were chatting away when I noticed a bird fly into a spruce.  Once on the bird I immediately knew and told the others "Crossbill!!!".  I guess if you really want to see Crossbills you just have to hang around Marilyn and Marcus and eventually you will see one.  We were treated to some excellent looks although my pictures are not so great.  A male and female provided good comparisons between gender.  The male is Red and Female is a yellow/green color.

Red Crossbill - male.

Red Crossbill - female.

This was the only shot I had where you could actually see the crossed bill.

Next up was the restaurant at Mt Mitchell for some eats.  Unfortunately the restaurant was packed and after a 15 minute wait on the back porch which is gorgeous, we decided we would call it quits and eat in town.  However, the birding gods were with us and not 50 yards down the road from the restaurant, I saw a dark shape in a field and shouted "woodchuck"!  Greg loves woodchucks so Harry slowed down.  Then we got a better look and both Greg and I shouted "Ruffed Grouse"!!!  I literally jumped out while the truck was still moving and was able to see a beautiful Ruffed Grouse with two or three chicks.  Harry was a trooper and directed traffic while Greg and I snapped away.  Harry already had grouse pictures in his bank.

Ruffed Grouse with two chicks which are getting big.

Seeing a Ruffed Grouse is like winning a mini lottery.  There is no sure fire way of finding one of these short of going to the zoo.  Its all about just putting in the time in suitable habitat.  I have put in days worth of time this year so it was just a matter of time.

Random photo of an upside-down Lily.

Here Harry is saying "I got you a Crossbill and Ruffed Grouse in the span of one hour, you better get me a Saw Whet picture or you are walking home".

We had some time to kill before a second shot at Saw Whets so Greg and Harry dropped me off at one of my favorite Parkway spots, Black Balsam Knob.  They took a nap while I took a short hike down a spur trail.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - this guy had 2-3 inch worms he was probably gathering for his growing brood.

Blue-headed Vireo

That night we met up again with Marylin and Marcus coincidentally and were able to get a tooting Saw Whet that was tooting pretty much the whole time we were there.  At one point it flew one foot above Marilyn's and my head and perched for a short second above us but alas Harry couldn't get his camera to pivot to the angle needed to get a photo.

Oh well, Harry still has something to live for.  He is already talking about next year.

We stayed one more night in Hendersonville and tried for a definitive Bank Swallow the next morning. Although we had seen a couple the previous day I still did not have a definitive picture. Greg had one that looks pretty good for a Bank but mine was still not convincing.

I did get this Cliff Swallow picture though as a consolation.  Too bad I have that bird already.

Great times.  I really enjoy birding with Greg and Harry. Greg's background as a Forensic Scientist (inside joke) and Harry's as a Ferry Captain provides for lots of good storied in between the birds.