Monday, July 13, 2015

I'm not Bittern (12-13Jul2015)

After 3 weeks without any real birding, I was finally able to get out for a full day on Sunday.  my main target was to get a picture of a Least Bittern since I missed my opportunity earlier this year at Mackay Island.  Since John and crew have been getting Least Bitterns galore at Cedar Island, I decided to make the trip up.  With a 6am start time that meant getting up at 2am so I could have my coffee and do my morning rituals before getting on the road.  

We started at North River Farms and had a Dickcissel and some other usual birds.  At the Cedar Island causeway, we stopped 3-4 times coming up empty and I was starting to get really worried.  But at the 5th stop we started to see and hear the Least Bitterns.  That being said, they were not posing for me.



Flushed Least Bittern - note dark back and rufous head/neck with black cap.  I took many photos but none were any good.  Diagnostic anyhow.


Another Least Bittern shot.


Seaside Sparrow - bad photo, but I wanted to post it to illustrate that juvenile birds can look quite light colored.  There has been quite a few Nelson's or Saltmarsh Sparrows this summer, but I am fairly certain they have been mistaken Seasides.


The large horse and cow herd at Cedar Island making the inlet crossing.


Glossy Ibis

Although the birding was good, we had nothing really rare and somehow I made it back home without falling asleep at the wheel.

Today I went for a quick trip to the airport to look for some Upland Sandpipers that have been reported.  As luck would have it, they were mowing...ARGHh..


To continue the theme of confusing juveniles, these Eastern Kingbird juveniles almost looked like Bank Swallows!


I have been messing around with my digiscoping rig, never in ideal conditions but I am still impressed with the possibilities.


This Ruby-Throated Hummingbird was digiscoped from my front porch.


Here is a photo from last week when I saw the Black Terns.

I can't wait to get this set up more dialed in.  Will be useful for that uber rarity that is sitting a mile away.

Cheers.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Jamie, Thanks for another informative and entertaining blog entry! This was the first year I've ever managed to see/hear Least Bitterns (all in Florida). I saw them in three hotspots on my week-long trip to Volusia County in June, but photos would have been almost impossible. Those birds are great at doing a quick popup, a low flight, or hiding among reeds. I hope you get one of those fabulous photos soon.
    I heard that North River Farms is now closed to most birders. It was always private land, but now the owners want notice and permission. Can you let us know how to do that? I've never made it there, but a few of my friends from Raleigh like to drive out a few times during the shorebird migration.
    Thanks and good birding to you! - Erla

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  2. Love that photo of the Black Tern in non-breeding plumage! Here's a strange thing: I saw two Black Terns in FULL breeding plumage on July 13 (Monday) at Mason Inlet Waterbird Management Area (the place just north of Shell Island Resort on Wrightsville Beach). No photos as I carry only a small digital camera for occasional digiscoping. And it was raining on and off and that camera is not waterproof! Anyway, it was so enjoyable to see the full black plumage of these interesting and small terns. They were resting on a sandbar with several Least, Common, Sandwich, and Royal, so I gave my three friends a lesson in tern identification and size order.
    On this same beachwalk/birdwalk, we saw the BLACK (dark morph) Parasitic Jaeger. It was as if the jaeger was dressed in a Black Tern costume! It really confused me to have two birds with black heads and breasts/backs... maybe I was misidentifying one of them, I though. But their size, shape, and behavior were very, very different. The Jaeger was about the size of the Laughing Gulls (16 inches); the Black Terns, only 9 inches. The Jaeger was dancing in the sky, low on the water, and zooming up and strafing Laughing Gulls, harassing them to give up food; the Black Terns were just hanging out on the sandbar. It really shows that people cannot just describe a bird in terms of color patterns; they need to study the bird, note what it is doing, and note the relative size and the shape of its body, legs, and bill.
    I wish you were there to take wonderful photos! That odd looking Jaeger was only a few yards off shore; a well-aimed rock (shell, anyway) could have reached where he was dancing over the water. Amazing what a storm will bring in when the winds pick up, the lightning strikes, and the non-birding people go away. - Erla
    http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24254831

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