I picked up three easy birds of the to end the week. I debated whether to add them at all or try and get better pics, but I want to make some progress so here they are. The first bird was on a Friday evening foray to try and get the continuing Western Kingbird at Fort Fisher and of course my nemesis bird of the American Bittern. The Kingbird was no where to be found and the bittern flew up briefly from the marsh but did not allow good looks and certainly not a photo op. So I had to settle for this Song Sparrow at the rocks.
Next up was a morning trip to Airlie Gardens with the boys while Melissa took her run. There was tons of waterfowl including large numbers of Gadwall and some American Black Duck and American Wigeon. Also, the big Live Oaks overlooking the pond were loaded with Black-crowned Night-Herons. However, the pics came out terrible. The only one worth posting was this Red-Headed Woodpecker.
Last bird of the trifecta was on Sunday morning before my flight out for business. I finally got the Western Kingbird. Although the pics are not the best, they clearly show the kingbird with yellow belly. The second picture clearly shows the white outer tail feather which distinguishes it from similar looking Kingbirds like the Cassin's Kingbird which has a white tipped tail. Who knows when I will see this bird again. To think that in Costa Rica these guys were one of the most common birds and caused us to be desensitized to any bird sitting on a telephone wire. However, here in NC, its always good to double-check the wires.
is it all that scrabble that's polishing your vocab to a sheen? Nice.
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