Family Life versus Business Life versus Bird Life (24Apr-01May2016)

As many of you experience first hand, there is a fine balance between keeping your family happy, keeping your career on the right track and getting some birds in between.  The past week and a half has tested me to the utmost extreme.  I had a 3 day business trip in Boston where I didn't even bring binos and a 3 day soccer tournament in Charleston, SC where I didn't have time to bird. While all that was going on there was the CBC Meeting in the mountains, a Red-billed Tropicbird reported on the OBX and of course the NC first record of a Little Egret at Mattamuskeet.

Of course I always manage to find a few moments to bird.  The following pics from Lee Buck Rd and Governor's Rd in Brunswick County, NC.

Prothonotary Warbler

Black Vulture

Worm-eating Warbler - in the exact spot as last year on Governor's Rd.

Yellow-throated Warbler

One morning at first light I headed to Holly Shelter Game Lands from the Marina side.

Crisp looking Eastern Kingbird

Red-tailed Hawk

Plenty of Prothonotaries.

Least Bittern! - The object of my affection and target of my search.

He never came out of his hiding spot so I will have to take these substandard photos.

Palamedes Swallowtail

Orchard Orioles were everywhere.

We had a friend over for dinner and I know he appreciates birds so we decided to go out and try for Chucks at CB State Park with the kids.  Luke was on spotlight detail.  We did hear a Chuck but were not able to spotlight it.  However, we got smashing views of Eastern Screech Owls.

This particular Screech was the most obliging owl ever and allowed us to test different settings on our cameras.  Luke was very helpful with the spotlight despite being eaten alive by Mosquitos.

An old eBird Checklist for Greg at Oakdale Cemetery reminded me that it could be a great spot for warblers, so I headed over one morning before work.  I didn't find much in the way of warblers, but a strange call brought me to this guy.

Blueberry the Peacock!  Apparently this is an escapee from a small farm on Burnt Mill Creek and has been living in Oakdale the past couple weeks.  I spoke to a guy walking his dog that Blueberry has been cavorting with a Wild Turkey!  He mentioned that they can potentially interbreed but I doubt it.

The soccer tournament in Charleston, SC was a disaster.  My kids were on a ragtag team that was put together hastily and had not practiced together much which showed.  They lost all their games!  We were all in a bad mood as we headed home. Since we did not make it to the finals I decided that I might have enough time to jam up to Mattamuskeet to try for the Little Egret.  It was a hair-brained plan considering a 4 hour drive home from Charleston and then the 4 hour drive to Lake Landing and then I would only have a couple hours of birding before dark.  Who is better to participate in a last minute hair-brained plan than Harry S!  So I called him and he was in.  I dropped the family off at home and after a 5 minute bathroom break and wolfing down a PB&J, I jumped into my truck and picked up Harry.  The last hour of the drive up to Matta was worrisome.  It was raining and continued to rain right up to the point where we drove up to the impoundment at Lake Landing.  To top it off, as we trudged out to the impoundment we ran into a couple of birders that dipped on the Little Egret!!!  OMG!  8 hours of driving only to dip?  Of course we still headed out to scrutinize the egret flock working the impoundment despite the painful dip of the two other birders.  It only took me five minutes and I was able to pick out a different egret with two flowing plumes coming from the back of it's head.  BINGO!

Little Egret on left and smaller Snowies on right with a Glossy Ibis.

Two plumes off back of head and no yellow on lores makes this baby a Little Egret which is an African bird that has a tendency for vagrancy.  Despite this proclivity, it has never been found in North Carolina.  Thanks Lucas for finding this bad boy!

I would like to go back at some point for better pictures but I was happy to get the above from a distance.  Also, I thought maybe I had seen a White-faced Ibis but the photos were crap so I didn't count it.

But wait! The great birds did not end there!

King Rail only about 100 yards from the Little Egret spot.

I love when ID of a tricky species is made easy like this was. It was in the right habitat and the coloration was so rich that there was no question.  Also, it responded to tape with the exactly same call.

White-Rumped Sandpiper!!  Long tapered wings and larger size compared with nearby Least SP made ID relatively easy.

Least SP behind the White-rumped SP.

Little Blue Heron and Glossy Ibis

American Bittern

There was a tons of shorebirds in the impoundments and it was frustrating not having more time to sift through them.  I am sure there was a few species I don't have yet but the fading light made it tricky.  The above pic is a presumed Long-billed Dowitcher.   Harry said Long-billed always look like  they swallowed a tennis ball. Also the red coloration extended all the way down the belly and flanks.

On the way out we saw two different owls presumed to be Great Horned.  We tried hard for spotlighting some Barn Owls but no luck.

Finally on the way home we stopped at Catfish Lake in the Croatan and found 4-5 Whips singing and even spotlighted one that dive bombed us but they were too fast and we could not get one to sit in plain view.

What a week and a half!  I hope to make it the the mountains this week.