After the successful Mountain Plover hunt on Tuesday, I had to work the rest of the week but I did manage some local birding before or after work.
Red-Shouldered Hawk at my son's soccer practice.
Common Yellowthroat that almost looks like a Nashville. - Fort Fisher.
Someone posted that there was a bunch of Greater Scaup at Carolina Beach Lake, but they all looked like Lesser Scaup to me.
Cedar Waxwings have to be the coolest looking common bird.
Chipping Sparrow
As I have said before, I will always post Blue-Headed Vireo pictures if I can get them. Lately I have been getting them everywhere. This one was at River Rd Park.
Horned Grebe
Saturday was my wife's day and she chose shopping with a friend. Sunday was my day and I chose more wisely. A trip to North River Farms with John and Jack.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Any volunteers to count these Green-winged Teal? We guessed 450 (there was some more outside the frame).
Turkey Vulture
North River specialty - Clay-colored Sparrow.
We tried hard for LeConte's Sparrow but it was windy and cold.
Wilson's Snipe - trying to shoot these with a camera after flushing them is fun but frustrating. We flushed 40-50 but I only got a few shots.
Swamp Sparrow
On the way home I stopped in Morehead City for a couple specialty birds.
I found a tree with 15 Eurasian Collared Doves.
My buddy the Nanday Parakeet was watching all the church goers coming out. For those of you that are not familiar with this bird, he is a fixture in Morehead City, literally. His home was in an old power pole, and one day the power company decided to replace the pole with a metal one. When the locals found out they had cut the Nanday's home down, there was an uproar. Long story short, the power company cut a section from the old pole and attached it to the side of the metal one. Now the Nanday is happy once again. Apparently he does not mind having no mate of his own species because he rotates a bunch of Starling females in and out of his bachelor pad. John says on cold nights he can bring in 3-4 Starlings. Such a stud.
Unfortunately he is not a countable bird because he was an escapee.
Next stop was a small pond on the side of Route 24. John said there was a bunch of Redheads and since it was't far off the side of the road I took a peak.
There were a few Scaup mixed in but I think they were all Lesser Scaup.
At Nine Mile Rd I turned off 24 and found a spot John said was good for Bachman's and Red-cockaded. I spent 2 hours stomping around a freshly burned area with no luck. I mean no luck at all. I couldn't even find anything let alone my targets. Finally I flushed a Woodcock which was cool but I wasn't fast enough to get a photo.
I was determined so I stopped at Holly Shelter on the way home... It took me about an hour and I finally got my birds!
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Holly Shelter was nice and quiet. A few joggers but no guns.
Worst picture ever of a Bachman's Sparrow but good enough for ID. It was getting dark so my sensor was not cooperating. I will get a better pic later. I love Holly Shelter and will definitely be back.
Today (Monday) was one of those days where the stars aligned. I went for an early morning check at Wrightsville Beach and not only did it not rain despite a dismal forecast, but it actually was partially sunny.
30 Purple Sandpipers!
Northern Gannet
My first White-winged Scoters of the year!
Black Scoter
At Johnny Mercer's pier I had another fly by pair of WW Scoters.
Razorbill!!! Year birds were coming easy today.
At Oleander Gardens, nothing new.
This Fish Crow nicely stood next to this urn which I measured. It was 10 inches, and the Crow never stood higher than the urn. Also the other crows were making the characteristic two note nasal call of the Fish Crow. I am not sure I can tell them apart based on wing and leg length. That is a subtle distinction. I will have to get my American Crow in the mountains were they don't have Fish Crows. I am not good enough to tell the regular caw call from Fish versus American.
I took a brief lunch break today to check Fort Fisher for the Ross's Geese reported yesterday and Bingo! my luck was continuing.
Ross's Goose
Three years birds on a work day, not bad at all.
This weekend is my B-day treat, a Patteson Pelagic. Some of the birds seen on the two pelagics that have gone out so far: Atlantic Puffin, Little Gull, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Dovekie, Great Skua, Manx Shearwater and Fulmar. I would be a happy man with three of those.
Wednesday I have to head to the Philly area for work and if I can get away for an hour, I will chase the Barnacle Geese that have been hanging out there at FDR Field.
Great times.
Great week! Continuing to be envious of your proximity to amazing birding locations. Our best local spot is completely flooded at the moment.
ReplyDeleteDid you visit Sam Hatcher Road off 9 Mile for the Bachman's? I've visited that spot twice in the last few weeks and it is such a strange place! It's so eerily still. The highest number of species I saw was about 9 I think - and that was with 2 hours of searching. I *might* have seen the Bachman's - there were a couple of fast-fleeing sparrowish birds, but there was no way to get a conclusive ID. Might have to hop down to your neck of the woods soon!
I'd like to take a pelagic trip one day, but I'm super paranoid about getting seasick.
Nice birds. The one you are referring to as a Ross's Goose appears to be a hybrid. Ross's X Snow Goose. Head shape and bill don't look right for a pure Ross's Goose.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering that myself, I will ask some friends to take a look at them. They looked good for me except a slight "grin patch". They certainly were Ross' Goose size.
ReplyDelete