First stop of course was Black Balsam Knob on the Art Loeb trail to look for the reported Mourning Warbler.
Despite having these two bird finding dynamos with me and some good overcast conditions, the bird never showed. In fact several other birders confirmed it had not been seen in several days.
The most common birds above 5000 ft were the following.
Cedar Waxwing - these were everywhere and kept throwing me off due to their habit of perching high in the spruce firs. I was looking hard for Red Crossbills and the slight reddish hue on these birds made me check every one but they were inevitably all waxwings.
Indigo Bunting - these were everywhere and singing like mad.
Dark-eyed Junco - easy to identify with the white outer tail feathers.
I think we explored every inch of the Parkway from Asheville to its terminus in Cherokee and even north as far as Mt Mitchell. The biggest issue was that I was only getting out in the afternoons due to work and I had the family with me. If you have ever birded with a 8 and 9 year old boy you will know what I mean. They are absolutely impossible to keep quiet.
My biggest target breeding birds for the week were Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ruffed Grouse, Red Crossbill, Alder Flycatcher, Vesper Sparrow and Black-capped Chickadee. Any rarities like the Mourning Warbler would be bonus. I ended up with 3 out 6 and no rarities.
One evening we were driving along the Parkway and I slammed on the brakes! 3 Ruffed Grouse on the side of the road!!!!
Wait a minute, those aren't Ruffed Grouse. They are Turkey chicks.
And here was Momma.
Later in the week I brought Melissa and the boys back to Black Balsam to hike some more and try one last time for the Mourning Warbler on the Art Loeb Trail. No luck but what a beautiful spot. It was my wife's favorite hike of the week.
Before leaving, we checked out the parking lot at the end and I walked down past the gate and found this Alder Flycatcher. I saw many empinodax flycatchers on this trip but the looks were brief and I only positively identified 2 of them.
Alder Flycatcher - large empi with wing bars, moderately long bill (longer than Least). I have trouble hearing Least Flycatchers due to the high frequency unless they are right on top of me. But I can hear the Alders and Willow pretty well. Up higher than 5000 ft if you see one that is good for a Willow/Alder, chances are its an Alder. Least has a shorter bill with a more compact jizz. This particular bird was not vocalizing due to the insect in his/her mouth. Probably saving it for the little ones back at the nest.
Canada Warbler.
I finally convinced the family one night to stay up on the Parkway late and look for owls. Devil's Courthouse is known as one of the best spots to reliably hear Northern Saw-whet Owls. Now getting a picture is not normally considered to be easy so I had low expectations.
We hiked up to the top of the Courthouse trail at dusk and just before it got dark my kids and wife headed down to the car while I waited. They apparently did not fancy walking down the trail in the dark. I waited until just about 930 pm and started to walk down the trail carefully. Not far down the trail from the top I started to hear some Toots. The Saw-whet song is very distinctive so I knew I was in the money. One bird was tooting while flying as the sound was moving from downslope to upslope. Then it started to get interesting, I had one bird fly just above my head making its rounds of the Courthouse trail which is really a tunnel of vegetation. They must use the route to hunt mice after all the tourists take off for the day. I posted up and waited being as quiet as I could. Soon I had a couple birds perching in close and checking me out. When I thought I could hear a bird land I would switch on my headlamp and bingo!
Adult Northern Saw-whet - notice streaking on breast.
Then I had a very curious bird perch without a couple feet of me.
Juvenile Northern Saw-whet. Obviously not the best quality picture as the head lamp was not the best lighting but it was the easiest way to light the bird and take pictures at the same time.
The birds were very curious and playback was not needed at all. I think the key is knowing when to turn on the head lamp. For this reason I think its best to look for these guys while there is still a tiny bit of light so you can see movement and know when to shine the light. There was no need to look for nest boxes and in fact I did not see any. I thought that maybe I was standing near one hence the juvenile bird sitting so close, but I moved down the trail 50 yards and I had more birds come to investigate me.
Obviously these birds are very sensitive to human activity and it would be a bad thing if tons of people went up there shining lights around. However, I think everyone should get an opportunity to see one of these beautiful birds at least once in their life and if you be smart about it and use common birding etiquette I think the impact would be minimal. So try not to use playback, it was not needed on this night, not sure if I was just lucky. Only shine the light if a bird comes to investigate, no need to shine it aimlessly around the forest looking for the birds. If they don't want to be found you never will find them. Don't hike off trail, that rule is important not just for the owls and other critters, but there is tons of sensitive plants in the Courthouse area. Don't stay too long. Although I was in awe, I only stayed about ten minutes. Of course it helped move me that my family was waiting at the car.
I know I am preaching to the choir about being a responsible birder, but I just wanted to make sure I was not giving the impression that I was using every method possible to get pictures of the birds I am trying to get for my big year. I love the birds I am looking for and the last thing I would want to do is disrupt their breeding.
After the Courthouse night, I was feeling great and when I heard a report of a rare bird seen in the middle of downtown Asheville so next day we went into town for lunch. It didn't take long to find the rarity, what a beautiful bird.
Ok its not a rarity and I didn't go into town just to find this bird, but if you can believe it I still had not taken a picture of a Feral Rock Pigeon until this trip. So chalk up this common city bird as #3 for my mountain trip.
My favorite of all the trips we took was a trip up to Clingman's Dome in the Smokies. The actual trail/road to the top from the parking lot was an absolute zoo with all kinds of people including Harley guys with leather chaps, some people that looked like they hadn't been outside in years and even some Goth teenagers. What a nightmare! But once we got off the main tourist attraction and headed out on the Appalachian Trail it was absolutely gorgeous and totally quiet with the exception of my kids playing American Ninja on the rock formations.
The target bird was the Black-capped Chickadee and Clingman's Dome is pretty much the most reliable place in NC to find them. It didn't take long for me to hear the trademark two note mournful song.
This bird was at over 6500 ft which is really mostly Black-capped habitat in NC but the clincher was the song. I made a recording on my iPhone too.
Here you can see the extensive white edging on the wings.
My bird finding (or scaring) crew.
Later in the week we headed back to Black Balsam for a nice long hike on the Art Loeb and Ivestor trail loop. 5 plus miles with the boys being troopers all the way up to mile 4 when they started to get mad at dad for bringing them so far. We saw more of the same birds and some Ravens and Broad-wing Hawks.
See the tiny people on top?
They don't call it the Blue Ridge Mountains for nothing.
My American Ninja Warriors in training.
Horrible picture but it was notable to see a Yellow-rump Warbler in NC in the summer.
At Graveyard Fields this juvenile Canada Warbler threw me for a loop.
Drink your teaaaaaaa! The most common sound on the Parkway, at least for my poor ears.
This Empi was giving the pip call note for the Alder.
Alder Flycatcher.
Alder - faint eye-ring, relatively long bill.
This Veery had an interesting tear drop tattoo.
So to recap, four new species for my big year was nice. However the Crossbills were a big miss. I spent tons of time in the right places and even went to Mt Mitchell twice. I hiked the Bald Knob Trail for 3 hours and didn't get anything despite Marilyn Westphall getting 5 Crossbills on the same day I went. The difference is Marilyn is a pro and can hear them well. I did finally see a Crossbill fly by from the Mt Mitchell Restaurant but I didn't count it due to the poor looks and no picture. The bird was the right size and color and had an undulating flight.
Well now I have an excuse to go back some time soon.
Great times!
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