Snowy Owl in South East North Carolina

Last night I got an email through the listserv from John Ennis that a Snowy Owl had finally been seen in South East North Carolina at the East end of Sunset Beach.  Although I had conference calls lined up for the morning, I resolved that I would see this bird before it potentially flew the coop.  So I got up at 5am and drove the 1.5 hours down there.  I pulled into the last community on the island and parked. Before even turning off the engine, I spotted in the gloaming (been waiting a while to be able to use that word) a ghostly apparition fly by 20 yards in front of me over the dunes. Of course I was unprepared and fumbled with my camera and it was too dark anyway.  It was gone as quick as it came.  So I went after it, driving towards the houses.  After 15 minutes or so I located it on top a McMansion and again fumbled with my camera and it was gone again.  It seemed to be very alert and in hunt mode.  I drove around for another half hour or so and then decided to check the dunes on foot at the point.  There I met another birder/photographer Keith Green.  He had not seen it.  After walking around the whole point we came up empty and we split up, him on foot and me in the car.  On the way back towards the bridge, about half way in the middle of the island there the bird sat on top of an upper level summer home deck.  I snapped a couple hundred pics and soon Keith found me and he was able to get great pics too. Great times!

                            Here was one of the first shots where he/she was weary of my presence.

 After a while he/she ignored me and went back about her/his business which included mostly preening,  although in this shot it looks like he/she is having a good cough.

 She/he even was practicing a little Yoga, not sure if this is downward dog or what.

            Here she/he is posing for a glamour shot.

 I was watching the bird so long the weather actually changed and it became sunny.

 Thanks to Keith who let me take some shots with his lens.  However, I am not sure which ones were his.  He also gave me some good pointers on shooting with manual settings.  I definitely need to learn more about photography.

On my way out, I got this immature Bald Eagle and bunch of ducks at Twin Lakes.

Day 6 (January 6, 2014) - Back to Work

Unfortunately I am back to work for real.  The Holidays honeymoon is over.  However, Still managed to try early this morning for the Bittern at Ft. Fisher.  No dice, but the Common Goldeneye was there.  In the afternoon I went to pick-up the wife and kids from the airport and saw a shrike on the wire at the airport.  I just had to stop and photograph it. Did not want to break my streak of at least one photographed bird per day.

Day 5 (January 5, 2014) - Southport CBC

Hello birders, Today was the Southport CBC and we were assigned the Ft Fisher Spit.  Captain Harry Sell was at the wheel which is only appropriate as he is a Captain. Greg Massey and Shun Endo were in attendance as well.  Greg was in first Mate position with myself and Shun in the backseat.  We had a great time except Greg wouldn't stop signing an old song from the 60's - AlleyOop by the Hollywood Argyles.   I had to check it out when I got home to see what all the hype was about.  Apparently it was a hit in it's time, but Greg never seems to have let it go.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz6IpmmYSXA.  By the end of the car ride we were all singing it right along with him.
As for birds, Greg and Harry got the only really interesting bird (Razorbill) sea-watching while Shun and I were getting the three salt-marsh Sparrows (Saltmarsh, Nelson's and Seaside).  However, what we lacked in species we got extraordinary numbers.  Shun and I had at least 70-80 Seaside sparrows in a pretty small area.  Dunlin numbers were ridiculous, in the thousands.  Also good numbers of Dowitchers and Western Sandpiper with a few Red Knots and other usuals.
My nemesis bird for over a year now has been an American Bittern.  Shun has located one in a little honey hole by the aquarium in the past week.  So we checked in the morning on the way out to the spit with no success and then decided to check on the way in.  I started a little ahead of the group hoping that if it would be flushed that I would be the one to flush and see it.  Unfortunately as I was heading onto the path, the group decided to go another way and flushed it before I got there.  Oh well, at least I know where it is and we were able to add it to the count.
Unfortunately we were not able to relocate the Common Goldeneye or the Western Kingbird.  Here are a few of the better pics from the day.  I will have to go back out for Nelson's b/c my photos all came out poor due to light/distance.

Saltmarsh Sparrow - The buff on breast and sides was much lighter than face whereas on Nelson's the breast buff was almost same intensity as face.  Thats the field-mark I have found is most helpful.  However, there are others such as bill is proportionally longer, and streaks are more defined/darker.  I have found that the Saltmarsh Sparrows are also much more bold.  The Nelson's are difficult to photograph.

                                             Seaside Sparrow - these were all over.

                                                                 Ring-Billed Gull.

Black Scoter - Picture is poor due to rain, but I had to add it just because its not often you see a scoter sitting on the beach.  We thought he might be injured but probably he just walks funny b/c he is not designed to be on the beach.
Great times!

Day 4 (January 4) - Wilmington CBC

Hello Birders, today was the Wilmington CBC.  To be honest this was kind of slow for us in the Northern Brunswick Country group (Greg Massey, Shun Endo and myself).  However we did get a few good birds.  A male "Gray Ghost" Harrier put on a great show off Lee Bucks Rd although my picture did not come out great so I am not counting it in my tally.  Then we had a Bachman's Sparrow off of Dawes Creek Rd.  This one gave use great looks although it turns out the pics were not as crisp I would have liked, probably due to poor lighting.  We had gray skies most of the day. However we had a really good time, and I am looking forward to tomorrow when we drive the Ft. Fisher spit with Harry Sell.

                                                             Bachman's Sparrow

                                                                 Hermit Thrush

                                                           Golden Crown Kinglet

                                                              Northern Mockingbird

                                                         Eurasian Collared Dove

Day 3 (January 3, 2014) - Local Birds

After getting back late from the OBX, I was not looking forward to getting up early but a great local birder in Wilmington - Bruce Smithson had found a couple notable birds in the past couple days.  One Common Eider at the Coquina Overlook in Fort Fisher and a Common Goldeneye at the aquarium pond off the Basin Trail in Fort Fisher. Despite the nomenclature "common" neither of these birds are common in Southern North Carolina.  In addition there is a continuing Western Kingbird in the same area.  So I got up early to see if I could find them before work.  The wind was really strong - gusts of 30mph plus.  So I was not surprised to not find the Eider or the Kingbird.  However, the pond at the Aquarium produced the Goldeneye as well as some other nice birds:

                                                                        Willet

                                                                      Redheads

                                           Female or immature Common Goldeneye on left

                                                               Gadwall in Center

                     Mottled Duck - Note warm coloration on breast, clean yellow bill and no white in tail.

No rest for the wicked, tomorrow is the Wilmington CBC and Sunday is the Southport CBC.  Cheers.

Day 2 (January 2, 2014) - OBX

After a decent night sleep at a very poor hotel (Comfort Inn Nags Head) I got up early again to find a steady rain.  However, I drove all the way up so I was not going to let that get me down.  I tried the room coffee machine and it was terrible, so I went to the breakfast room and that coffee was even worse.  Finally got a decent cup at 7-Eleven.  One day I will quit coffee because I hate being so dependent on it.
First stop was the Bodie Island Lighthouse Pond.  This ended up being perfect because the viewing platform has a small roof and table that was perfect for setting up my scope.  There were several reports of Cackling Geese and a Eurasian Wigeon from this spot so I was hopeful that careful scanning would produce these species. However after a couple hours of checking every inch, I could not produce either.  And to be honest it did not get me down because I am trying to photograph them after all and I don't want some grainy digiscoped picture.  At least not yet.  Even with no rarities, this spot was good for a couple decent pics of birds I would not normally see so close up in Wilmington, so here they are.  Incidentally I met a nice young couple from Long Island, NY in the tower.  They were really stoked to see so many birds in such close proximity.  Not every day when you meet birders that are in their twenties.

                                                                 Northern Pintail

                                                                American Avocet
Next stop was Bonner Bridge and the Old Coast Guard Station for group of Harlequin Ducks.  This stop did not disappoint.  After looking on the wrong side of the bridge and finding some Purple Sandpipers, I traded off with another birder for the other side of the bridge.  Here the ducks sat resting on the bridge pilings and let me get very close.  Very cool.

                                                                 Purple Sandpiper

                                                                 Harlequin Ducks

On my way South down the long chain that is the OBX, at the South end of Pea Island, I saw a Snow Goose come in for a landing as I was driving.  I quickly stopped and jumped over them berm to the West of the highway to where I thought it landed.  It was raining pretty hard but there only 20-30 feet away was a group of about 15 Snow Geese.  I managed to get one poor picture due to rain and poor light.

Snow Goose - with telltale rusty coloring around face and neck that is rarely seen on the smaller Ross' Goose.  Also, this bird has a "grin patch" which was quite pronounced with binocs.

I spent the rest of the day hunting rare gulls at Cape Point and Snowy Owls in the dunes but was unsuccessful. However, I did find a group of Brant on an island just outside Hatteras on the ferry to Ocracoke.  The pictures are diagnostic but of poor quality.  I will keep them in the bank in case I don't get a better opportunity before years end.

The ride home was miserable and pouring rain the whole way but I felt satisfied.  The drive up is long but even with missing some birds, I did get the really rare ones.  I was also able to clear my head a bit which was much needed.

Day 1 (Jan 1, 2014) - Freebird

I began my day bright and early so I could get to Mattamuskeet at first light.  I was thinking that I would have a better chance of seeing bitterns early.  An extended version of Freebird by Skynyrd came on the radio and got me in just the right mood despite the long drive.  Its strange how a certain song, or food can make me feel right at home in the South even though I am really a Northern boy.  Skynyrd does it every time and although I will not be buying a Confederate flag any time soon, I was feeling good and proud to be in my adopted state of North Carolina.  Hopefully this big year will help me to really get to know my state so I can feel that way all the time.
Not too much to say about Mattamuskeet, you really have to see it to believe it.  Its really amazing seeing all those birds in such a relatively small area.  The birds are mostly concentrated in the impoundments, whereas the lake itself is pretty empty.  At least it seemed that way to me.  However those impoundments have tens if not hundred of thousands of birds.  Ducks, Swans, Geese, Raptors etc..  I did not see anything rare, but the shear numbers made it really impressive and worth while.  I saw one tree that had 3 bald eagles in it.  Nothing like Alaska where I saw up to 20 in one tree but impressive none the less.  Here are a few pics and the first birds to add to my photographic big year.

                                                                Great Blue Heron

                                        Double-Crested Cormorant - does that count as two?

The real stars of the show at Mattamuskeet are the Tundra Swans.  They are big and make a really curious sounding racket yet are extremely elegant.  There are thousands of them in the impoundments and of course flying by.  

The next stop was an agricultural field off route 64 near Creswell, NC where a Say's Phoebe was reported over the previous several days.  Well he was right where he was supposed to be and of course doing what a phoebe does which is flick his tail and flycatch.  Although it is really rare to see one in North Carolina, I have seen tons of these out West.  So I did not spend too much time here.  I also tried scoping the adjacent fields to pick out a Cackling from all the Canadian, but they were too far and although I could make out some smaller birds, none of them had a convincingly small/stubby bill like the cackling I recently saw in San Diego.

Say's Phoebe - Peach colored belly, Black tail which is flicked constantly like his Eastern cousin.

Then last stop for the day was Alligator National Wildlife Refuge.  Now this place is amazing.  Not many people know that there are big black bears in Coastal North Carolina not to mention Red Wolves. In fact the bears here can get bigger than any bears in the mountains because they don't waste their time hibernating.  Last time I was here, I had a monster cross the road in front of me and get up on his hind legs and rub his backside up against a long leaf pine.  It was a big tree and he had the whole thing shaking.  This time I did not see any bears which is good because I was walking around quite a bit.  My target birds included an Ash-Throated Flycatcher that had been seen over the past week, as well as Woodcock, Short-Eared Owls, American Bittern and if I was really luck a Golden Eagle that had been seen the day prior.  I ended up 2 for 4. Although I did see Snipe which is always fun.  No luck photographing those sneaky birds.

                                                                  Swamp Sparrow

Ash-Throated Flycatcher - rufous tail, gray/brown crest, wing-bars and much more subdued yellow than Great Crested or other Myiarchus flycatchers. Also call is distinctive and this guy was calling quite a bite.  It helps that a bunch of other birders found and confirmed this bird ahead of time.

The Short-Eared Owls were too far off and it was getting dark so photographs would not come out, however I got great looks with binocs.  They were much bigger than I thought they would be and kind of floated around like huge moths.  When they came out the Harriers left the fields.  The poor small mammals in the fields have no respite. First the Gray Ghost (light morph of Harrier) and his kin hunt them all day then the Owls take over for the night shift.

Although I missed some target birds, I did get all the rarities so I was content with my first day of the New Year.