King of the Battleship (16-18May2016)

This week started out fairly routine.  Early morning and late afternoon birding before and after work.

A report of a Black Rail calling in the middle of the day at Fort Fisher had me out on the spit one day after work.

What I believe to be a Long-billed Dowitcher although I will never claim it until the genetic testing comes back.

Dowitchers and Black-bellied Plovers.  I never did find any Black Rail.

Breeding Plumaged Red Knots

I have diligently checked thousands of BB Plovers but the American Golden still eludes me.

Have you ever heard the Sonic Boom of a Common Nighthawk?  If not, I strongly suggest you seek one out.

A very early morning sojourn to CB State Park for migrants netted me the usual suspects which is pretty darn good when the usual is a Painted Bunting.

Painted Bunting

And finally a late evening trip to the Battleship downtown during my sons soccer practice ended up being a blessing.

I usually don't see Spotted Sandpipers in breeding plumage with well defined spots, so despite the poor light I made my best effort to photograph this bad boy.

Snowy Egret

Clapper or Kling?

Then this member of royalty showed up.

In all the years I have been going to the Battleship I have been skeptical of reports of Kings because I have not seen any among hundreds of Clappers/Klings.  I know in the past there were lots of Kings here but it seems they are being hybridized out of existence here.  This is probably a direct result of salinization in higher reaches of the Cape Fear River as a result of climate change?  Makes sense to me.

This guy was all hot and bothered and it was not me!  His attention was focused in front of him.

He was puffing up and making himself look big.  You would think this was some mating display, but no......

The object of his attentions was this Boat-tailed Grackle.

Obviously not a happy bird.  I wonder if the Grackle was messing with his offspring/eggs.

When the Grackle few, he went back to his daily grind.

Look at that tail!

Here is an adult bird with a bunch of Black Rails....... Just kidding, those are baby rails!  So cute.

My pelagic bird trip post will be next.  It was a doozy so stay tuned.

Getting Low at Skeet Skeet Skeet (10-16May2016)

If you don't recognize the Lil John reference in the title, you are probably better off.  I am just going to jump right in to the pictures because I am not feeling loquacious or glib today.  The following pics were leading up to the grand finale at Mattamuskeet on Sunday. Hence the title of this post.

Rocky at Greenfield Lake.

Bloated corpse of a giant Snapping Turtle

Young Brown Thrasher

Acadian Flycatcher - Lee Buck Rd.

On nest!

Cattle Egret or prehistoric murderer?

Indigo Bunting also at Lee Buck Rd

Don't you love it when Sandpipers are exactly what they look like?  Least SP at Federal Rocks

Semipalmated SP

I have been checking the pond at Ft Fisher to see if the Purple Gallinule from previous years has come back but this gator probably not helping in attracting him.

Bobolink!  Ft Fisher Spit

Bobo Female

Glossy Ibis also on the Spit

American Avocet at the Spit

Yellow-breasted Chat - Catfish Lake in the Croatan

Swainson's Warbler also at Catfish

Horrible photo heavily cropped and lightened but I assure you it is an Eastern Wood Pewee.  I will get better photos but I wanted to get this out of the way now so I can remain laser focused on the harder birds.

First thing when we pulled up to Lake Landing at Mattamuskeet on Sunday we heard the distinctive call of a Black-billed Cuckoo.  It did not take long to find him.

Turns out this was only one of two birds hanging out together and giving the impression of a breeding pair!  Hopefully folks will respect their privacy and not overuse tape.  It is a small area surrounded by impoundments, so I would think relocating them without playback will be relatively easy.

The rest was just icing on the cake and I was not even miffed that the Little Egret and Ruff were no shows.

Black-necked Stilt

Practicing Kung Fu

Stilt Sandpipers were everywhere.

We saw a couple Bank Swallows but taking photos of feeding swallows is never easy.  I managed some poor record shots.

You can see the "necklace" here. I hope to get better photos later but this will do just in case.

We saw several puddle ducks that were presumably injured by hunters.  I am tempted to go on a rant but I will hold my tongue.  This Ring-necked looks relatively healthy except for the fact that he was not flying.

Ruby-throated HB drinking from Milkweed?

Prothonotaries never get old.

Next weekend - pelagic slayfest!