Sanderling.
Northern Gannet
Usually Gannet are fairly far offshore feeding past the breakers in the ocean. However these were actually feeding inside the intracoastal waterway.
White lightning!
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser family unit.
Handsome devil.
Forster's Tern - Any other time of year these can be more difficult to separate from other terns. However this time of year they are the only ones with a black oval around the eye.
Hello again,
ReplyDeleteI continue to enjoy reading about your NCBigYear Photo efforts! I bet you lost a lot of days this week due to the weather. I managed to get a walk at Lake Lynn on Monday. This is a one-mile-long, 1/8-mile wide, "duck pond" (mostly shallow and muddy throughout), the result of damming a small stream to provide some flood control for the suburbs (total trail is 2 miles). Very few people "ebird" at Lake Lynn, which is a shame, since it's a good place to see "the usual suspects" and typically one or two surprises. Look at the hotspot under: http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L616540 and you can see my checklist under: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16536650 and YES... I DID see a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, sleeping in a small raft of Ruddy Ducks! I thought I was hallucinating, but sure enough, this large, healthy-looking male scoter was "chilling" on a duck pond, several hundred miles from the coast. Go figure. And YES, you could have gotten a great shot of this bird, as he was quite close (I recognized him without using binoculars). Would have seen land in the background of the shot, too, which would be highly unusual. I told some of my photo-friends but the weather kept them from getting to the lake this week.
Tomorrow (Sat 2/1) I am either going to Lake Crabtree County Park to join the "Birding With Vernon" walk; or I might head out east again (from Raleigh) with Jeri S to try for that Say's Phoebe, and visit the "Sparrow Fields" on the east side of Lake Phelps. I think Jeri will bring her camera, so I will let you know if we have any success. Sparrows are tough for me, but I at least can recognize the basic ones. Having a photo-birder with me really helps, as we can confirm the identity later on.
Maybe we will join you for a round of birding some day! About six of us will be in Holden Beach for a weekend in late April - actually, a very good spot to get close shots of Whimbrels and Painted Buntings. We also saw Clapper Rails and other shorebirds, just a few yards from our car. The marshes among the rental homes in HB have a lot of birds that are used to humans, I guess. We also drove up to the Green Swamp Preserve, a short drive from HB, and we were treated to a half-dozen singing/perching Bachman's Sparrows. We also saw Wood Ducks perched in a tree, and a Bobwhite Quail charged at us from the ground. Good birding! L. Erla Beegle
Hello Lynn, did you name your own lake? I haven't posted anything because I have been in Arizona on business, but I managed to get some birds while I was there. I hope to post some pics tonight. Now off to get some of those crazy Woodcocks at Oak Island.
DeleteHello again from Erla. Jeri and Phil (from the UK) and I had a good time birding on Saturday. Want to tell you an excellent spot to get closeup photos of American Woodcock. We parked at Cypress Point in Pettigrew State Park. The parking area has yellow hazard tape across the entrance, but you are allowed to park at the entrance, as long as you don't block access for park workers. (They put the tape up to keep cars out, not birders!) Walk in and look along the sides of the short trail before you get to the dock on the lake. There should be Woodcocks just a few yards off the trail, feeding among the icy leaves and mud. Jeri Smart got great photos and almost had trouble because the birds were too close for her lens! We thank Don Rote for showing us; we ran into him at the Pocoson "sparrow fields" (which were a bust) and he escorted us to the area and pointed out the two Woodcocks (he saw four earlier in the day). Hope you get some more pictures and stories up on your blog soon! My checklist, showing location, is http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16756579 #ErlaBirder
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