Common Nighthawks are back. This one was flying near the Ft Fisher Ferry Terminal.
Burnt Mill Creek is my go to spot lately only because it is 3 minutes from my kids soccer practice. The Yellow-crowned Night-herons are still lurking next to the creek.
For the past three soccer games/practices a pair of Mississippi Kites have been flying around the fields. If you are interested, it is the YMCA on Market St.
Thursday afternoon after work I jammed up towards the mountains but wanted to get a little birding in before dark so I tried Colonel Francis Beatty Park in Charlotte.
Although it was a nice park, I got nothing but this Common Yellowthroat to show for my efforts.
I positioned myself for the night near Hendersonville so I could start bright and early on Friday, my day off. First stop was the Park at Flat Rock. There was plenty of common birds but nothing noteworthy. So I headed to the famous Jackson Park. Again very birdy for the first hour but it was very frustrating to get almost no warblers.
Solitary Sandpiper
Then I ran into some nice old ladies who mentioned someone had told them there was some Cape May Warblers up near the main parking lot near the ball fields. Well I like a Cape May as much as the next guy so up I went. That is when things started to turn out for the better.
The Jackson Park white squirrel!
This Cape May's stripes were so thick I almost mistook him for a Magnolia.
Warbler #3 for the trip - Yellow-rumped Warbler.
A snazzier adult male Cape May
A changing Summer Tanager
On the woods trail I had a nice Swainson's Thrush but my camera wasn't cooperating so I missed my opportunity. See if you can guess how many Frisbee Golf players I saw in the 2-3 hours I spent at Jackson Park? Zero! What a waste. They cut down tons of good woodland habitat for a Frisbee Golf Course that no one uses. I saw at least 10 birders while I was there. So they cut the trees to please no one at the expense of a bunch of birders not to mention birds.
At Mills River Park and Hooper Lane there was nothing of note. I was really starting to get down on myself as I was counting on tons of year birds and so far only had some Cape Mays.
Eastern Meadowlark
Beaver Lake in North Asheville also was relatively warblerless. I was starting to wonder if I picked the wrong weekend. The resident Mandarin Duck was also no where to be found.
Green Heron
This Mushrat asked me how Greg was doing and I told him that Greg had practically quit birding. The Mushrat reminded me that Greg probably had more important things to do like hang out with his family which really made me feel guilty. Nothing like a lack of birds and a wise Mushrat to get a man down. I got the heck out of there before I did something I would regret.
Warbler #4 - Palm Warbler
Unfortunately my favorite spot of Charles Owen Park and Warren Wilson College also was very slow. I walked the entire loop including the farm site had nothing!!! No Warbling Vireos, no Warblers, no Bobolinks or even White-crowned Sparrows. At this point I was almost ready to go home early. Surely there would be some warblers at Curtis Creek despite the afternoon doldrums? A checklist from a couple days back at 4-6pm had about 12 warbler species.
Again my plans were thwarted. I saw a Louisiana Waterthrush and heard an Acadian Flycatcher but neither helped me in my photographic year effort. Where were all the Black-throated Greens and Blues. I climbed and climbed up the winding road and got nothing!
Finally at the top in 30 degree weather with 25 MPH winds and snow on the ground, I found my quarry and everything was ok in the world of Jamie again.
Blackburnian Warbler at Black Balsam. Warbler #5 for the trip.
What a crippler!!
I usually always crop my photos so the bird is in the center, but looking at some pics of other good photographers, I noticed this is rarely done. So maybe I should try some off center shots?
It was really getting late when I saw this Red-breasted Nuthatch so this grainy photo will have to do for now.
I headed up to the restaurant and learned from the proprietor that they had 3 inches of snow on Thursday night. A light dusting remained.
A big bowl of Chili and some Hot Cocoa had me invigorated and I went to watch to sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It was too damn cold to try and spotlight some Saw-whets so I headed towards my next day's target which was Rich Mountain up near Boone. I made it as far as the Pixie Inn at the foot of Grandfather. What a great little motel. $40 for a clean room. Cash only and don't expect too much. However, I really love local places with history and this place had it. The lobby (if you can call it that) had a bunch of old political pictures on the wall so I asked the clerk and he told me the owner served on the US Senate for a number of years.
First stop outside of Boone - Meatcamp ESA. What a great little park. I think it is owned by a local birder that has opened it up for Appalachian State students and birders.
Yellow Warblers are thick there. Warbler #6 for the trip.
I had an American Bittern flush twice from the side of the trail.
Then I hit the jackpot at the next spot - Rich Mountain Rd in Elk Knob State Park or at least adjacent to it. The wooded section before it opens up into Golden-winged Warbler habitat was thick with year birds for me.
CheBeck! Least Flycatchers everywhere.
Veery
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
I had more birds there but I ended up getting better pictures later so I will spare you the bad ones.
Up the mountain the birding was even better.
House Wren
Golden-winged Warbler - this particular bird was so cooperative. He just didn't give a crap and posed for as long as I wanted. This was photographed Warbler species #7 for the trip.
I took a billion photos and was having a hard time picking the best so bear with me.
Of course there were other birds....
American Goldfinch
Chestnut-sided Warbler - warbler #8.
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Chestnut-collared Longspur...errrr... I mean Vesper Sparrow.
Vespers can be regularly found up at Elk Knob
Finally I headed to Lewis Fork to try and clean up some other warblers including Cerulean. I am pretty sure I saw a Cerulean but it was not cooperating and I never got a very good look so it remains off my list but I did get some other goodies.
Worm-eating Warbler - warbler #9.
Indigo Bunting drinking from a cliffside drip.
The same Phoebe pair from last year had a nest on the rock face in exactly the same spot as last year. It was like seeing an old friend.
Blackpoll Warbler!! Warbler #10.
I spotted a Ruby-throat sitting on this nest but she took off before I could snap her photo and I was too ravenous for warblers to wait for her return.
American Redstart. Warbler 12.
A young male Grosbeak
Black-throated Blue Warbler - I did finally see a BT Green too but did not get a picture. Figures that I ended up missing the most common Parkway warbler. Warbler #13.
Scarlet Tanager
Kentucky Warbler - warbler #14.
What a great time, but I head to start heading home. I wanted to get home in time for my son's soccer game at 6pm. Unfortunately Derb threw a wrench in the plan with his posting of the Violet-green Swallow in Davidson, NC north of Charlotte. So I had to make a little detour on the way home.
Ovenbird finished the warbler photographed list for the trip at #15. I had three species that I saw but did not photograph - BT Green, Louisiana and Northern Waterthrush for 18 warbler species for the trip which is good for me.
Behind Davidson Day School there was a nice trail through the woods that led to the overlook on the lake where a Violet-green Swallow had been found a few days earlier. There was plenty of swallows when I arrived but most were far out over the lake and difficult to ID. Most were Tree Swallows, Northern Rough-winged and Barns. There also were a few Purple Martins, at least one Cliff and a Bank Swallow.
The Tree Swallows were tough because the white under the rump can throw you off and make you think you are seeing the wrap around white rump of the Violet-green. However, look at how much dark color there is around the face and specifically the eye region.
A couple times I saw something in the distance with a whitish rump and what appeared to be whiter face but the sightings were quick and it was easy to lose the bird when it went over the water line into the distance trees on the horizon or when two or three birds intersected. It was frustrating to say the least. A guy named Monroe did get the bird in his scope but lost it before anyone else could get on it. So I began shooting at interesting candidates hoping I could check my photos later. Out of a hundred or so photos, I think I had my bird and although the photo is horrendous, I think it does show the marks.
Violet-green Swallow? I will tell you what I see here that convinced me and I would love to hear from my readers what they think. The left side of the bird is the head, note the white extends up and over where you could imagine the eye would be and appears to wrap around the eye in a crescent. On the top of the head you can barely make out the greenish hue reflecting the sun. You have to use your imagination here. On the back end of the bird, you can see the white extend all the way up and more importantly further back than you would expect on a Tree Swallow. That being said, the bird is somewhat turned to the right a bit so this could be an illusion but I would think you would see some dark on the top side if it were a Tree Swallow. The dark of the tail appears to kind of float out by itself. Of course this photo sucks so bad I would not blame anyone for telling me I was crazy if I listed this bird.
Here is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow just to show the face is all dark. A Cliff and Barn would not have the white face either. Only the Tree could really be confused and I think the white face of the above pic rules out tree.
Why couldn't the Violet-green just sit like this for a picture?
Last but not least, Derb and Harry found a probable Little Stint on the Spit, so I took a drive down yesterday and ended up checking the Federal Rocks area. A nice congregation of Peeps had me dreaming.
Hmmm, is that one leg black? Or just in the shade?
Nice comparison here.
Yet another puzzler, maybe this one was a Semi? But look at the rufous in the tertials? Is it a Least that stepped in black mud?
So many puzzlers.
I couldn't convince myself of anything.
Semi
Another Semi - with rufous in tertials?
Ahhhh White-rumped...
Least SP and White-rumped SP take flight.
No Butts about it!
What a great week!
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