I spent the Memorial Day weekend doing my annual hike with my brother Noah and his friend Paul. We are trying to section hike the Appalachian Trail but at the pace we are going it will take us 20 years. Anyway, we met up at Rock Gap which is West of Franklin and over the course of 3 days we hiked 30 miles and ended at the Nantahala River Gorge. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. My luxury item was my binocs which added significant weight to my already overweight pack, but it was worth it. I saw tons of birds. Black-throated Blues, Greens, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Worm-eating Warbler, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers and more of the usual suspects. Most of our hike was from 3000 ft to 5500 ft. I did see multiple thrushes but most were Veery with some unidentified that did not vocalize. I didn't have a good camera anyhow so I was not too upset that I continued dipping on Gray-cheeeked and Swainson's.
The highlight was easily the multiple Saw-whet Owls we had Tooting for several hours on the second night near Wayah Bald. Unfortunately my phone was out of batteries so I couldn't attempt to lure one in and photograph it. But I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them, at one point there was 2-3 sounding off from different directions. After about an hour it actually started to get annoying and I was having trouble getting to sleep with all the tooting. I think they ended up tooting for close to 2 hours.
In the end I did not get any new birds on the trail for my big year, but I did manage to get a couple on the way home.
A little North of Franklin on Route 28 there was a bridge that had Cliff Swallows!
Cliff Swallow - see light colored rump and forehead.
Then after dropping my brother at the airport, I swung by Greensboro's Bog Garden hoping for a Gray-cheeked Thrush. No luck in that department, but I had some other birds I have already added.
Willow Flycatcher - this was a previously reported bird and is easy to find. He was vocalizing like crazy and is right at the entrance to the Bog Garden if coming from the Bicentennial Garden.
Barred Owl - he/she was staring at a couple of Mallards that had 4-5 chicks swimming by but never pounced while I was there.
Charlie the Chipmunk.
This Song Sparrow would not shut up unless I took his photo so here it is.
After the Bog Garden I resolved to drive home, but about 1 hour in I started to fall asleep at the wheel, so I diverted to Mason Farm in order to wake myself up. Nothing gets me alert like adding a year bird. Unfortunately I quickly found out that Mason Farm Biological Reserve is not just a place you can go to whenever you want and directions are not posted as far as I can see. So instead I just hiked the trails in back of the Botanical Garden. I intend to bird the reserve one day but I did not have the time or patience to investigate further.
Just as I was leaving after seeing very little action I heard a waterthrush next to the creek!!! Pictures of the waterthrushes have been eluding me for over a month so I was determined this time. The song was definitely a Louisiana Waterthrush and then I saw it! Light colored, with an unmarked throat. It was a Louisiana!
Louisiana Waterthrush - see unmarked throat which is one of several field marks that is good for Louisiana, but really you want to hear the song to be sure. And this bird was singing its head off.
The lighting was bad in the understory but you can get the idea from this pic. Long super cilium, streaking below and bobbing like a proper waterthrush.
Seeing this bird did the trick and I was awake enough to make the rest of the drive home. And it is good to be home!
Cheers.
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