A Hint of Things to Come (10Apr2015)

I made it to my favorite nearby (relatively close) spring migration spot today - Howell Woods.  I had about 6 species of warbler but it was still fun and is a perfect primer for when things really heat up in a couple weeks.

Hooded Warbler  - they really should be called bearded warbler.

Eastern Garter Snake?

Prairie Warbler

This might have been one of the same Palm Warblers that I saw in Eleuthera.

Hope I can get to do some birding this weekend.

Cheers.

Lee Bucks and WB (08Apr2015)

I was able to get out before and after work yesterday to see what Spring has sprung.

In the morning I headed to Lee Bucks for warblers and migrants.  I was able to get several Ovenbirds and a Wood Thrush but most of the others have not come in yet.  I thought maybe I heard a Kentucky and a Worm-eating but my birding by ear skills still suck and probably always will due to my poor high frequency hearing.

Wood Duck at the retention ponds on Shipyard blvd on the way.

Barred Owl on Lee Bucks.

Least Tern - At WB in the afternoon there was new activity in the shore birds dept.

Sandwich Tern and Forster's Terns

Plenty of Black Skimmers

Wilson's Plover

Greater Yellowlegs I think - longer bill, although not as much barring as I would think.  Any other guesses?  Hard to compare size when solo.

Least Sandpiper - yellow legs is a dead giveaway.

For some weird reason I have not had many close encounters with Dunlin this year.  So I was happy when I saw this relatively late grouping.  They did not let me get very close.

 Dunlin in flight

Greater Yellowlegs?

Clapper Rail - the clappers at WB are some of the most obliging I have ever met. I guess they are used to the crowds tromping through the marsh.

Hoping to get to Howell Woods tomorrow.

Until next year my friends (03-07Apr2015)

With mixed emotions I said my goodbyes to my Bahamian avian friends which I had come to know much better this year.  Although I did not add any new birds in my final days in the Bahamas, I saw the same cast many times and learned some new things about their behavior and habits.

Red-legged Thrush - very unafraid but little reason to come out in the open.

Plenty of Fiddler Crabs on the dried up lake at Calypso for Clappers.

I will have no problem identifying Cape Mays anymore.

White-crowned Pigeons got more confiding as the week progressed.

Greater Antillean Bullfinch - loves the native Lantana berries as much as the Kirtland's.

Cape May Warbler

Thick-billed Vireo - ever present and very vocal.

Great Lizard Cuckoos are the Don Juans of the bird world.  They are always bringing offerings to their mates even if it is as insignificant as a leaf.

My dad has tied orchids and bromeliads all over the property and this Phalenopsis was blooming it's head off.

La Sagra's Flycatcher - I saw several of these over the course of a week.

Black-and-white Warbler - hard to get them to stay still.

Horrible photo but the first Sora I have seen in Eleuthera.

Now back to North Carolina birds and it is full blown migration to boot!  First stop was Holly Shelter yesterday evening after work.

It did not take long to find this Bachman's Sparrow.

There was plenty of recently burned Long Leaf Pine habitat.

It helped that it was signing like crazy.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker - I found a nice group of them mixed with other WP species.

I stayed until dark hoping for Nightjars but had no luck.

GLC and Kirtland's (30Mar2015)

Yesterday was a good day.  In the morning I walked Calypso hoping for one of my three remaining target birds (Great Lizard Cuckoo, Key West Quail Dove and Kirtland's Warbler).  It took a while but I finally found one of them.

Black-necked Stilt - two for one.  Calypso pond.

Clapper Rail - very vocal individual.

Black-faced Grassquit

Then finally......

Great Lizard Cuckoo!!!  I followed this bird around the property for over an hour.  He did not mind a bit.

Look at that tail! I was trying to get an underrated shot with him perched but I never got an opportunity.

Here he is attacking an unsuspecting lizard or maybe a moth.  In the hour that i watched him, he found and devoured 2 huge moths and 2 lizards.

Has to me one of my favorite birds.

In the afternoon after some calls, I drove my family to look for shells on a beach near Tarpum Bay.  On the way I swing by the lakes at Double Bay and scored with 5 White-cheeked Pintails.

White-cheeked Pintails.

After dropping off my family, I made a short drive to a side road that looked really good for Kirtland's Warbler.  The Kirtland's Warbler is the most endangered of the North American warblers and just so happens to call Eleuthera home for the winters.  It likes successional habitat and more specifically loves White Lantana.  Well this little road I could see from the Queen's Highway looked perfect.  I pulled over and tried a couple chip notes and right away Bingo!!!

Kirtland's Warbler

Actually when I first saw her, I thought it was a palm warbler because she was flipping her tail up and down.  However, once I got a good look it was obviously not a palm and obviously was a Kirtland's.  Yellow belly with fine streaking and broken eye-ring.

I say her because she did not have the dark lores of a male and was not a very bright yellow.

Then if that was not enough I saw my 2nd and 3rd GLC of the day.

Great Lizard Cuckoo

I went to go pick up the family on the beach and just as I met up with them we witnessed a huge shark chasing something in the shallows.  It had to have been at least 14 feet.  The dorsal fin was sticking out about 1.5 feet out.

What a day!