Palm Warbler at Greenfield. The migration in Wilmington has sucked! No real cold snaps or North West winds yet.
Fall plumaged Pine Warblers used to confuse the heck out of me, but I think I got them down now.
This Thrush seen at Burnt Mill Creek was so reddish I though Veery, but now I think the light was throwing me off. Maybe Gray Cheeked? Dare I say Bicknell's?
Update: consensus is it is a Veery!
Frontal view of the same bird.
Nice clear throat which would point to Gray-cheeked? The spotting just looked too dark for a Veery and it obviously does not have the buffy spectacles of a Swainson's. Although it did look reddish overall, the color was even throughout unlike a Hermit which has contrast in tail versus back.
Little Blue Heron at Airlie Gardens.
Red-eyed Vireos are everywhere and like most birds seem to like Poison Ivy.
Young Eastern Kingbird. I asked him if he had seen his Western cousin and he just cocked his head and looked at me like I had two heads.
House Wren at Burnt Mill.
Arggghhh..... I should like the challenge of a good Empid, but I am missing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher for this year and this one was one of those birds that had some features but probably not a good fit. Most troublesome was the lack of a very wide eye-ring.
Plenty of yellow on belly, but contrast between malar and throat was probably too great.
I took a million photos in case someone could see something I didn't. What do you think dear reader?
Probably an Acadian?
Update: Consensus is no one wants to venture an opinion on this one. Ha!!
I had one bush with 20 REVIs in it at Oakdale Cemetery.
Hmmm... Great Blue?
Black-crowned Night-heron at Airlie
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Hmm, BCNH carrying a stick? Isn't a bit late for making nests?
How much Wood could a Wood Duck Chuck if a Wood Duck could Chuck Wood
Have you ever seen such a sight?
White Ibis - a new yard bird. Actually I was viewing them from my front lawn but they were on my neighbor's yard. Does that count?
White morph Little Blue Heron which I think just mean's its a young bird.
Saturday was the long awaited Thrush Program at Brian P's house.
It was foggy as hell until 10am but then we found our quarry:
Gray-cheeked Thrush
This Bay-breasted Warbler still had hints of bay colors.
A very obliging Bay-breasted.
He has some spider webs stuck on his wings and was doing a weird dance to get rid of it.
Last year I would have had trouble with ID, but I am starting to feel comfortable with my tricky fall warbler IDs.
White-eyed Vireo
Brian has about 6-7 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks frequenting his feeders. This one had some color.
Jacob, Lucas and I bid Brian farewell and headed to Swift Creek in Wake County.
We promptly found more Gray-cheeked Thrushes - when it rains it pours.
Why I have more trouble getting Swainson's Thrush pictures than I do Gray-cheeked is beyond me. There were plenty Wood Thrushes too.
Last stop for the week was Yates Mill.
I found this immature Black-billed Cuckoo not too long after our arrival over by the second bridge in the willows. We hesitated a bit because young YB Cuckoos can have a darker bill. However, this guy had all the other marks good for an immature BB Cuckoo. Yellow orbital instead of the adult red, buffy throat, primary feathers lacking the rufous and the bill had no hints of yellow.
Bad picture but it shows the wings without rufous like the YB Cuckoo.
A half hour later we relocated it in the woods section eating it's staple caterpillar diet.
I think I am getting a bit spoiled because I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a Philly Vireo like the rest of the Piedmont birders this past week.
Altogether a great week of birding.
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