Birding Wicked Hard (08-09Mar2014)

Saturday I took the kayak to the South end of Wrightsville Beach again hoping to get a Glaucous Gull, Red-necked Grebe, Pacific Loon or maybe a Razorbill of the jetty.  I did see a loon that looked perfect for a Pacific but the camera was in the bulkhead.  Nothing special from the jetty but got some good Purple Sandpiper Pics.

A year ago I would have loved to get this close to a Purple Sandpiper, now its almost a "trash" bird.

Kind of clownish looking.

I checked all the Horned Grebe for a possible Eared Grebe, but no such luck.  Some of them like the above are starting to change into breeding plumage and it can be confusing, however the bills all looked good for Horned Grebe.

You can almost see the purple on the back of this one.

Sunday I went up to Holly Shelter to get my Red-Cockaded WP fix.  I was a little discouraged when I got there because there was a cacophony of guns sounding off.  Now I know Sundays are not a hunting day so I called the hot line to see what was up.  Well apparently even though its not even hunting season in Holly Shelter, people can go there for target practice.   So unfortunately there is no day of the week with guaranteed peace and quiet.  That is a crying shame if you ask me.  In fact for the first three hours I did not find one Red-Cockaded WP and I think the shooting might have had something to do with it.  I don't understand why they can't go to a real shooting range, seems safer and it would not bother people that are actually trying to enjoy nature as it should be.  Considering the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker is an endangered species it would be nice if they made the Eastern section of Holly Shelter a no shooting zone.  Anyway I was resolved to get my WP so I hiked around until about 5:30 and the shooters left and the birds promptly came out to play.

Brown Headed Nuthatch - The most plentiful bird of the day if you don't count the huge flock of Chipping Sparrows.

Song Sparrow - There were tons of sparrows but I could not scare up a Bachman's or what I really wanted was a Lincoln's.

I had trouble with this one.  It had features of a Lincoln's and a Song and even maybe a Swamp.  However in the end I decided it was a Song Sparrow. Some Song Sparrows do not have strong markings.

Pine Warbler - Probing nooks and crannies for insects?

Warbler identification is one of the most difficult of skills to master especially in Fall.  However, just like any bird, enough practice and it becomes second nature.  This time of year the choices are limited. If you see a warbler in a Pine, and it's yellow with a white vent, most times it's a Pine Warbler.

The trees with the two white bands are the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker nest trees.  If you look towards top of this picture, you can see a hole with sap dripping down.  This was actually not a completed hole. the WPs drill to make the sap run so that predators will be deterred from climbing up.

Brown-headed Nuthatch - if you see a bird going head first down a tree trunk, chances are it is a nuthatch.

Closeup of a Red-Cockaded WP hole.

Pine Warbler - extracting seeds for the pine cone.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker - note the diagnostic white ear patch.

Red-cockaded WPs are a social species so when you see one, chances are you will see many.  This group had 5 birds.

Great times!