So now I had some time, and for me it was a no brainer on what to do and where to go. I still had not seen the Rough-legged Hawk up in Alleghany County AND there was a Goose Trifecta (Canada, Ross's and Greater-white Fronted) in Mills River, NC. So I concocted a crazy plan to drive at 2am in the morning to get to the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Mills River before the geese left their roost for the fields and that would give me plenty of time to head to Alleghany County for the Rough-legged before looping back around and driving home. I am embarrassed to say how many miles and how long this drive is so I won't even say it.
Besides the fact that it was Friday the 13th, there were many flaws in my plan as is the case with most last minute plans. First flaw was that I did not research the birds like I usually do. I had recently received an eBird Alert with the geese so I figured they were still there, although I neglected to see the date on the Alert. Turns out the last day they had been seen was several days before. I really should have picked up the phone and called Wayne F, a local who could have saved me a trip.
Second mistake was a mistake I make way too often, I bit off more than I should chew. I should have picked one of the two locations and devoted my time to that. However, I make irrational decisions when it comes to seeking the "birder's high". Has anyone ever called it that? It seems appropriate to me. Runner's have a "runnner's high" so I don't see why birders should not have one.
Last mistake was not bringing one of my birding buddies with me. Greg or Harry would have tempered my crazy ambition and reeled me in to some goal that was more obtainable.
Anyway, suffice to say that I missed all of my targets including some bonus birds I was hoping for. I am fairly certain I actually did get the Rough-legged but the looks were very quick and I got no pictures so I am not even putting it in eBird so I don't lose the alerts for that species. The following photos are some very small consolation so I don't have to count this trip as a complete failure, but it still stings that I wasted my time and money so badly yesterday.
This Snowy Egret picture is from earlier in the week. Him and some of his avian friends were huddled under the dock in bad rainy weather until he had enough and jumped out long enough for me to take a pic.
First stop on my crazy adventure yesterday was the Mills River Wastewater Treatment Plant. I got to the pond and my heart almost stopped. NOTHING!!!! Not even a Canada Goose or a gull or something. The pond was empty. I calmed myself and reasoned that maybe they are in some nearby fields so I starting driving around. Still nothing...... I was besides myself with rage at this point. Let me say that not only was I using some of my precious time away from work for this trip, but without going into too much details, I also was treading on thin ice with Melissa. She was not happy about this particular trip.
I had a TC to lead at 10am so rather than drive straight to Alleghany County which is what I should have done, I decided to have the call and walk around looking for some bonus birds. Many folks had been reporting White-crowned Sparrows at Hooper Lane and also the Siskin invasion was in full force. However, after walking around the library loop I saw zero of those species. I did see Snipe and I am pretty sure I saw some female Purple Finches but I did not get pictures of the finches and so I did not count them.
Wilson's Snipe flushing from the drainage ditch.
Beautiful bird, its a shame they don't sit still out in the open much.
So well camouflaged, can you see him in center of frame?
Zoomed in for you.
These Savannah Sparrows were also very camouflaged.
Savannah Sparrow
So after my call I got in my truck and decided to make one more tour of some of the nearby fields. I turned randomly into a neighborhood and found a nice flock of blackbirds. After combing through I did find a Rusty Blackbird mixed in which reduced the sting of my initial failure a little but not much.
At first after seeing it's pale white/yellow eye I thought maybe I had a Brewer's BB but once it turned in the light I saw the rusty edges to the feathers which were almost worn off but not completely yet.
If you zoom in on center of frame, you can see some of the rusty edging. He was hanging out with Starlings, Brown-headed BBs, Red-winged BBs and some Common Grackle.
Rusty BB in center frame.
I stopped at Starbuck's to refuel and a huge Rock Pigeon flock had a white one in the mix so I snapped a couple photos. I love a white pigeon.
Rock Pigeon
Not 100% white but very nice.
So I tend to do when I have a big miss, I started thinking "How can I salvage or justify my trip up to the Henderson County area now that I missed my first target?". Well, I have always wanted to see the Mandarin Duck at Lake Tomahawk even though it is not a countable bird, and it was on the way to Alleghany County, so that's were I headed. Lake Tomahawk is in Black Mountain which is a great little town East of Asheville. Suffice to say my luck or lack of it continued, the Mandarin was no where to be seen.
A small consolation was this very obliging Green-winged Teal. Is there such a thing as domestic GW Teal? I have seen many this year but this was the first offering such great views.
Then he proceeded to jump up and shore and pose for me!
GW Teal.
Finally I hopped back in my truck and drove to my last destination: Cheek Mountain Rd in Alleghany County. I have been in this area before. I took the family to Stone Mountain State Park which is only 4-5 miles away as the crow flies. What a beautiful part of North Carolina. I should have taken more scenery pics but as I have said I was in a funky mood from missing all my targets.
Dark-eyed Junco
Field Sparrow - so OK it's nice to get this bird but this is not a bird I will have trouble getting later in the year so it was no big consolation.
Then I saw a hawk sitting atop one of the Xmas trees that this area is known for!! Could this be the RL?
It was lighter in tones and size was close to what i was looking for and it was sitting atop a Xmas tree. However, I could see pretty quickly this was an immature Red-tailed Hawk.
When it took off it's perch I received confirmation, no "Wrist patch". RL Hawks have a pretty definitive carpal bar whereas RT Hawks just have a thin "comma".
I stayed in the ridge area with the Xmas trees for 2 more hours and the light started to fade so I started exploring some of the nearby roads including Doughton Mountain Rd. Finally in between Cheek Mountain Rd and Peach Bottom Rd I caught a decent look up the ridge line at a hawk flying with a more buoyant flight than I am used to from a RT Hawk and I saw a quick glimpse of dark wrist patches and low belly band before it disappeared into the trees. However the look was fairly far and quick and through my windshield. Certainly not what I had come for. If I did not know a RL Hawk was up here, I would not have called that bird, so I decided not to count it on my list.
So now that I am sitting back in my house with the sounds of my boys playing Wi in the other room, I realize how stupid I was being yesterday when I was in a very foul mood. Although the trip was a wash and I missed my targets, I should count my blessings and appreciate the few non-target birds I did get and some of the beautiful scenery I saw. It's also amazing that I made it home that same night in one piece considering I had been up for almost 22 hours.
Now for some family time and see if I can salvage the love of my beautiful and understanding wife.
Cheers.
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