But first, let's review some of the birds from earlier in the week.
Red-shouldered Hawks never get old. This was at Empie Park.
A very pale Red-tailed Hawk
An early morning trip to the Holly Shelter Marina trail had my blood racing. Unfortunately not due to birds. After I pulled into the parking lot, a deranged looking man walked in from no where carrying a large pole with a 12 inch blade fastened onto the end of it. He walked towards my truck and asked me for a cigarette in a gruff manner. I had to turn him down since I don't smoke and he walked off in the opposite direction of the trail. So I thought the coast was clear and got out of my truck and started walking down the trail. If any of my dear readers have been to this trail, they will know that is is essentially a dyke between a swamp and the Cape Fear River. So when I hiked down 50 yards and turned to see the crazy looking guy with the home-made medieval torture tool heading down the path towards me I was a little uneasy.
I had three options. 1. Jump in and swim for my dear life. 2. Run away down the trail away from my truck. 3. Face my assailant with my bare hands and 400mm camera barrel.
I chose #3 and it turned out the guy was not crazy at all. He was an out of work guy down on his luck that lived in a trailer about a mile away and he did this hike pretty regularly to stay fit. The Pike was a defensive weapon because he had seen bear on this trail and like me did not like being stuck on a narrow trail with no where to go. He was quite nice and in fact every time I stopped to look at birds he stopped and kept chatting. In fact it was a bit annoying because I had specifically come to look for 2 birds missing from my list: Brown Creeper and Winter Wren. It was very difficult to find these birds and simultaneously have a conversation with this guy. He ended up following me for 2 miles! In the end I saw a Winter Wren but it was not cooperative at all.
I can't seem to go on one birding walk without running into a Blue-headed Vireo. Not a bad problem if you ask me.
This Song Sparrow looked kind of deranged too. Maybe just working on a molt. I almost was tricked into thinking Fox Sparrow.
Of course I have still been making my rounds early some mornings to Wrightsville Beach.
It's been another good year for Razorbills. Or at least a good year for seeing them, probably not good for them. Incursions of northern birds can't be a good sign. It probably means they are not finding food up north.
Red-throated Loon - I would give my right leg to see one in breeding plumage.
Common Loon
Brown Pelican
At Fort Fisher the birding was slow, but I did run into an early migrant.....
Blue Grosbeak! It was sunset so I was lucky to come away with a recognizable shot.
The Horned Grebes at Masonboro Inlet have multiplied and some are changing into breeding plumage. Some have even been tricking me into thinking Eared Grebe. Like this bird on the right. However the bill shape and head shape just are not right.
Brown Thrasher
American Oystercatcher
Finally, we have reached the Triangle Trip. I had 6-7 target species but really only 4 of them were must see targets because they would either be leaving for the North soon, or were vagrants that could leave at any time especially with the upcoming warm weather. Brown Creeper and Winter Wrens being the former and Calliope and Rufous Hummingbirds being the latter. My first stop was Mason Farm Biologic Reserve. What an awesome place.... Half way through the loop trail I hit my first mixed bird flock...
Brown Creeper!!! It was early morning, cloudy and in the forest so please forgive the horrendous pics.
Picture taken through a thicket of branches. He never cooperated fully, but I will take it. In fact I rarely ever get decent shots of Brown Creepers.
In the last section of trees on the loop walk I thought I was definitely going to miss Winter Wren when this little ball of enthusiasm popped up between some fallen logs.
Hello dear sir, I have been missing you this past year. Winter Wrens are known to be one of the best wrens in NC and when a confiding one appears you must spend some time trying to crush them.
About as close to a crush that I will get for Winter Wren. If the sun was out I could have done better, but if the sun was out, maybe he would not have been.
Even this pissed off looking Towhee could not dampen my mood at this point.
Now the Calliope and Rufous are being seen at a nice retired couple's house West of Chapel Hill. I introduced myself and they were so nice and gracious. Thank you for letting all of us crazy birders to share your yard Mr. and Mrs Malinski!
The Calliope showed after only 30 min of waiting.
Calliope Hummingbird - I think the Malinskis have a name for him, but I christened him Alfalfa. Look at that cow lick! Apparently he is a young male in molt and the cow lick is the crown feathers molting. On his right side, there doesn't appear to be much a gorget.
However on his left you can see some of the tell-tale gorget feathers which have much larger "scales" than it's cousins. The short square tail is also a good field mark.
I went over to the back of the house and waited for the Rufous. She showed fairly quickly but I had to wait an hour for a decent shot.
I believe Susan confirmed this is a female Rufous banded in previous years. I was thinking immature male due to many gorget feathers, but in the right light I could see these were green on the sides whereas a male would have red gorget feathers on the side. Rufous females will also have red gorget feathers in the middle. Allen's Hummingbird is eliminated in this bird because the upper back is clearly rufous instead of green. Some Allen's/Rufous can be tricky to ID if they have an all green back.
Red "central spot".
Thank you Susan for banding these jewels and thank you the Malinskis for sharing them with the birding community!
This weekend I will be in Myrtle Beach for Luke's soccer tournament, so no NC birds for me. However, I might just make it to my favorite Carolinas birding spot - Huntington Beach State Park. Have a great weekend my devoted readers.
A calliope and a rufous in the same yard! What is the Malinskis' secret?
ReplyDeleteYou has me worried for a moment with that pike-bearer!
Excellent post, both images and writing.