Sunday was spent doing a survey on Topsail Beach.
This Great Black-backed Gull was a nice break from ten thousand Laughing Gulls.
I did see a Jaeger harass an Osprey into dropping a decent sized Bluefish which escaped and left both birds unhappy. I think it was a Parasitic. I didn't get a photo until it was a mile away.
I tried my hardest to make this Semi-palmated Plover into a Common Ringed, but my Jedi mind tricks weren't working.
I had one Glossy Ibis fly over the beach.
Later in the week I managed to get away for a quick trip to Wade Park.
More of the same breeding birds.
Long-billed Curlew??? Nope, just a Whimbrel with a piece of grass tricking me into thinking the bird had a super long bill.
This juvie Mourning Dove tricked me for a second into it was a Common Ground Dove.
The good news is I am going to the mountains for 3 days this weekend. I can't wait...
Cheers
Hello, Jamie,
ReplyDeleteAs always, I thoroughly enjoy your humorous and informative blog on birding in North Carolina. Most posts are of the Coastal area, so it was refreshing to see your NC Mts trip (one entry newer than this entry).
I got to New Hanover for a day trip on Saturday June 20 with three birder friends. We have a 2+ hour drive from Raleigh, and we know (from your blogs and our previous trips) that PARKING on Wrightsville Beach is problematic. So we left "the big city" at 5 a.m.! Two carpool pickups later, our Nissan Rogue arrived at Mason Inlet Waterfowl Management area at 7:30 a.m. Plenty of parking, and they don't start charging until 9. We quickly hiked out to the inlet, admired the birds, and got back to the car by 9 a.m. The "Parking Enforcement" vehicle was there, ready to ticket anyone using a spot without paying. The trick is to get out EARLY! We managed to find Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, and Sandwich Tern, among 30+ other species. (The Black-headed Gull and Snowy Plover have probabl been gone for weeks, so we did not expect them.) Here is our checklist for Robin, Jan, Jeri and Erla (me): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23987425
Hello, Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThis is part two of my comment on coastal birding on June 20. Next, our one car/four birder group headed to Masonboro on the south end of WB. What a difference it makes when you arrive early! We quickly drove the route and got the first parking spot on the angled area by 9:30. We recorded just 20+ species, as most of our attention was arrested by the baby terns and baby skimmers. We had a good talk with the NC Audubon volunteer watching over the birds; she told us how many nests, which I added to my ebird checklist under comments for each bird. We found the Green Heron nesting in that shrub at the fifth parking spot, just like last year! Here is our checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23987803
We finished by 10:30 (rush, rush, rush due to the heat), so we headed down to Fort Fisher area. Traffic had not built up yet, so we got to Federal Point -- The Rocks by 11:15. Alas, my calculations were incorrect: the Rocks were inundated by a New Moon high tide, so NO birds perched on the cutoff rocks. And the rocks that could be reached were covered by people fishing, so no birds there, either. Tried for Seaside Sparrow, but I guess those birds are inactive in midday and prefer the crepuscular times. We did, however, hear plenty of Clapper Rails, and we saw one flyover Black-necked Stilt! Checklist is: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23988166
One more comment on MY trip (sorry!). The fourth and last stop for the four birders on June 20 was The Basin at Fort Fisher (Aquarium area). We had a restroom and lunch break (tailgating), and we knew starting the walk at NOON meant very few birds. Fortunately, our trek out to the deck and back was rewarded with good views of Glossy Ibis, Black-necked Stilt, and the Surprise Bird: Common Nighthawk! What in the world? It flew past us at the deck (end of the Basin Trail), heading over the water at 1:30 p.m. ! It was flying low and came very close to us, so we had great looks (but no photo). We also heard five Painted Buntings and saw one female (she was at the parking area, across the road). Checklist is http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23989194
ReplyDeleteWe missed Gull-billed Tern, but we were DONE; 95F out there, so 2:30 was a good time to head home!
Thanks for your blog; looking forward to many more entries. - Erla Beegle
Enjoying your blog again on this 4th of July. I had a good trip to WB and FF with my friends on a recent Saturday. Our timing was good for parking at the two places on WB (Mason Inlet {North} and MasonBoro {South}), and we were heading down to Fort Fisher by 10:45. It was a hot day; got up to 95 as we walked the long Basin Trail! That trail was sparsely populated with birds, but we managed to get Glossy Ibis and Black-necked Stilt, so it was worth the pain. Whole trip got us about 50 species, and many of those were new for us Inlanders for the year!
ReplyDeleteI am heading back to WB with a fresh crop of birder friends on Monday the 13th. Hoping to hit the South and then the North "Mason" spots on WB and finish both by 11. What places do you recommend we try thereafter? We might make the trek to Fort Fisher, but if you think we could do better with a place closer to WB then I am willing to listen. Bad news is, it will be 11 by the time we get to the spot you recommend, AND we need to be back in Raleigh before rush hour. Two of us work that night!
Thanks,
Erla