This week was my big birding trip of the year. I was hoping to go to Colombia on the CBC trip but that fell through so when Greg and Harry mentioned the OBX for a week, I jumped at it. Due to the short notice, I was not able to completely get away from work. It ended up being a kind of stressful checking my email and voicemails constantly type of endeavor, but it still was an amazing trip none the less.
Monday morning I woke at 3 am and could not sleep so I worked until sun up and then jammed down to Ft. Fisher to see if I could re-find the Harlequin Duck Greg got for the Southport CBC. No luck on that but some good birds as a consolation.
The Hooded Merganser is stunning if you remember to not take it for granted.
Marsh Wren - it took me forever to get a picture last year. Now they are everywhere.
Monday evening I picked up Harry and Greg and we headed out. First stop was Lilliput Pond in New Bern. Thousands of ducks but a common theme for the whole trip was that the light was bad. I am going to try to make more of an effort in the future to think about sun positioning before I visit a spot. The only real vantage spot at Lilliput is a clearing facing into the sun at sunset.
Greg trying hard to get me a Eurasian Wigeon.
After dinner at Frank's in Washington, which by the way is a great cheap place to eat on the way, we tried for Barn Owls in some places I have had luck in the past. Not fated for this trip.
In the morning we headed to Pungo Lake hoping to see the large Snow Geese flocks that congregate and roost there.
Tundra Swans.
If Al Roker himself told me it would be snowing at Pungo, I would not have believed him. However, it was snowing ------ Geese. The white spots on the lake were Tundra Swans, the ones in the sky are Snow Geese, maybe 100 thousand of them. I regret not taking some video. Not only was it visually amazing, but you could here the flock surging back and forth. Everyone should witness this spectacle at least once.
Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk.
Bald Eagle - what a honker for a bill.
Next stop was Mattamuskeet.
This GBH is a regular fixture at the first pond on the left when entering Mattamuskeet. His Black-capped Night Heron friend was there but was not in a mood to be photographed.
Song Sparrows were everywhere.
I was extremely annoyed that the back half of the refuge (what a misnomer) was closed for a hunt. We were planning to visit the impoundments for White-faced Ibis and a spot I know for Lincoln's Sparrow but that was scrapped due to the hunt. Why call it a refuge if they allow hunts? It should be called gameland. And why call it a hunt? It should be called a bloodbath. There is no hunting involved in pulling up to an impoundment and shooting a bunch of sitting ducks. I can tolerate hunting except when it is done on refuge lands. You are basically conditioning birds to come in and feel safe, then just when the birds have settled in you call in the hunters and let them shoot the place up.
The lake itself was still as could be, barely a ripple. However there was little to no birdlife.
Next stop was Alligator NWR. We were driving the connector road from Buffalo City to Milltail Rd checking the impoundments again looking for Eurasian Wigeon. We had a good candidate but before we could get pictures the flock took off. Scared by one of the many eagles that were congregating. Then Greg said in a very matter of fact tone "Golden Eagle". Now if you know Greg, you know that he will say stuff like that all the time as a joke. So Harry and I were skeptical but got on the bird Greg was looking at. Then all hell broke loose because it was in fact a Golden Eagle!!
Golden Eagle - This shot is taken through the windshield of my truck. Completely dark eagle with exception of shaggy golden nape. The light was reflecting off the nape so we had to really scrutinize it before we agreed it was certainly a Golden Eagle. For those non-birders reading this, a Golden Eagle is a very good find and usually is a fleeting moment of a soaring bird. In this case we had one sitting there about 30-40 ft. up in a pine right in front of us! Keep in mind in addition to me shooting this through my windshield (which was filthy) I have cropped this photo so the quality is not great but I think diagnostic.
Here you can see the buffy shoulders and nape a little better.
The reason we were shooting through the windshield is that we did not want to scare him off his perch so Harry could shoot him. Harry was in the back seat and struggling to get his huge camera ready. He leaped out of the back and set up his camera and monopod and clicked the shutter ...... nothing. His camera was jammed!!! Harry has been hunting a shot of a Golden Eagle for 20 years and his damn camera was jammed. So Greg and I got out too so we could shoot it while Harry was wrestling his camera. That of course scared the bird off his perch or maybe he just decided it was time to go hassle some of the immature Bald Eagles, so that is what he did.
This speed blur shows the Golden attacking an immature Bald which was perched in a nearby pine tree. The bird on the left has a buffy area at the tail base and buffy shoulder feathers (sorry for the non-scientific terms). These are both good marks for an adult Golden Eagle or at the very least a second year bird.
This was probably the best shot for diagnostics. Here you can clearly see the buffy undertail and golden nape.
Horrible pic bit I am posting even the bad ones as I think this is one of the first photographed Golden Eagles for quite some time in North Carolina.
By the time Harry got his camera operational the bird was gone! We tried our best to relocate it but it was not in the cards.
That is when we switched our focus to Short-eared Owls in the fields next to Milltail Rd.
Northern Harrier
We stayed until dark and checked all the mowed fields to no avail. So then we headed to Bodie Island for the other bird Harry has been trying to photograph for years - Northern Saw-whet Owl.
The sunset at Bodie Island was fantastic! These are iPhone pics. It is truly sad that my iPhone takes better pics than my main camera.
After sunset we joined forces with Peggy E who happened to be there and she showed us where the owls had been heard last week. Then it started! We had 2-3 different birds tooting on both sides of the road. However, they never came in and we had to be satisfied with calls only. After Peggy left we tried a spot further down the road and had another 2 birds tooting. We think there was at least 4-5 birds and maybe more.
Harry D - Why he is smiling after the Golden Eagle fiasco I have no idea. This man is solid gold and I am not referring to his puffy jacket although now that I think of it was quite snazzy.
Wednesday morning dawned beautifully albeit cold.
We ocean watched in front of the hotel and saw some good birds but I missed the best ones during a conference call. Greg spotted 4 Dovekie.
We started with the usual spots on Pea Island.
Blue-winged Teal at Bodie Island.
The bird blind at North Pond just happened to have a large flock of Snow Geese and Avocets. Only time I have ever seen the blind have birds in front.
American Avocet.
The little pond at Cape Hatteras Point was chock full of Redheads.
We tried Cape Point and South Beach for the Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting but despite a long hike we could not turn them up.
The resident Yellow-crowned Night Heron at the Nags Head causeway.
We headed back to Alligator in the afternoon hoping to try for the Golden again now that Harry had his camera working.
The best sighting of the day came at the little gas station just east of Alligator NWR.
Me and the resident goat - Billy the Goat.
Greg loves a good goat. I had to pry him away.
I was on a conference call for work when this Red Wolf showed up at Alligator which is why I did not get any good pics. Harry got some awesome ones.
He looked at us for a while and then when he decided Greg was not a threat (all bark and no bite) he sauntered across the mowed field. The evening ended without a Golden or a Short-eared Owl.
Thursday dawned as one of the coldest days I have experienced in NC. It was 25 degrees and felt like 5 with the wind chill.
The ocean watching was much better, birds were moving everywhere.
Jeanette's Pier was the first stop. We had lots of Bonapartes but could not turn up a Little Gull or Shearwater or even a Jeager.
I acknowledge that this photo is not worth posting, but I wanted to give you an idea of why I am not a big ocean watch birder. Our best sighting was a pair of Razorbills that looked like black spots without proper magnification. I just hate seeing a bird that far out. However last year I never was able to get a picture of a Razorbill so here it is. If you zoom in all the way you might be able to see the diagnostic short stature and black and white patterning. I will not count this bird in my photographed tally.
We scrutinized many loons but they all turned out to be Red-throated Loons. Some were quite dark like this one and some even had a hint of a "chin strap" but we could not find a definitive Pacific Loon.
Killdeer at Pea Island Visitor's Center.
Black-bellied Plover
Ruddy Duck
This American Coot was wishing he had followed his friends to Florida.
A small area without ice for the Northern Shovelers to swim in. Almost the entire North Pond had frozen over. The guy in the Visitors Center said he had not seen that in a long time.
American White Pelican
Hermit Thrush at Bodie Island.
We tried Alligator again in the afternoon but neither the Owls or the Golden Eagle would cooperate.
Friday morning I could not sleep, so at 3:30am I decided I would go chase the Lapland Longspur again at the Cape Hatteras Campground Beach. I got to the campground at around 5am and worked on my laptop until the sun started to poke up. I was on the beach just South of Cape Point and started walking South hoping to see the Snow Buntings which would key me into the Lapland. My reasoning was that Cape Point had trucks driving back and forth so I was better off working the beach to the South which was closed to ORVs. Also that is where some folks had indicated the birds had been seen. Snow Buntings usually work the wrack line on the beach for tasty morsels and considering their white coloring you theoretically can easily find them just by walking a good deal on beaches where they are known to hang out. However, if you have ever been to South Beach you will know the beach is huge and there are plenty of white objects to throw you off like shells and discarded plastic things.
Looking South from Cape Point
After about 4-5 miles and no Lapland and/or Snow Bunting, I called it quits and headed back.
This deer looked at me and said "you should have been here last week buddy". Well apparently the deer and I were both wrong, I just noticed the Lapland and the Snow Buntings were seen that very morning at Cape Point!!!! ARGGHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh. They were the real reason I came up to OBX. The Lapland would have been a life bird for me. That means the birds were about a quarter of a mile up the beach from where I started my trek. Oh well, something to live for in the future.
Eastern Meadowlark in the campground.
I love a bird that sings in such a frequency that I can hear.
American Kestrel - AKA Sparrowhawk.
On the way back to the hotel to get Greg and Harry I stopped at South Pond when I saw a nice flock of Snow Geese.
I did find one that had no rust staining on the bill and the bill was way shorter and smaller than the other Snow Geese. I believe this bird is a Snow Goose/ Ross's Goose Hybrid. However, hybrids don't count for anything on my lists so I moved on.
America White Pelican - unlike their Brown colleagues, the Am. White Pelican does not plunge dive. They feed while floating.
First stop on the return trip was Alligator again to check for the Golden. Negative on that. Then we headed to Pettigrew State Park with the intent to get Canvasback and Common Merganser. The wind and sun was wrong so we turned around at the dock and started to head out. Thats when I spotted this baby.
Ash-throated Flycatcher!!!! Ed Corey sent me an email to let me know there was a bird in this exact spot 2 years ago to the day!
Myiarchus flycatcher with gray throat and very subdued yellow belly compared to other Myiarchus. Any myiarchus this time of year is a good bird.
This Swamp Sparrow was pondering his reflection in the ice or maybe he was trying to figure out how to get some water.
We drove over to the sparrow fields on the West side of the lake but there was too much wind for sparrows. However the Cypress viewpoint on the lake was much better in the West wind than Pettigrew had been.
Common Merganser - this fly by was the only one I saw. Greg saw some others in the distance but lost them. Normally I would have liked a better more diagnostic picture but on this lake Common Mergs are way more common than Red-breasted.
American Crow - how do I know? Because it sounded like American. It was a much harsher call than Fish Crow.
I hate to end the post on such a horrible photo but who knows when I will see another Canvasback. There was 30-40 Canvasbacks several hundred yards out. I tried digiscoping but was not having great success.
Altogether a wonderful trip and really good times with my good buddies Greg and Harry.
Now back to work!!!
Superb photos - yes, keep 'em coming!
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