Rain Check Pelagic (09Aug2014)

I have to say this past week was a bit discouraging.  I have been birding hard before and after work trying to get a couple species that are fairly rare but should not be giving me such problems.  The first is Buff-breasted Sandpiper and the latter is Swallow-tailed Kite.

Last weekend I missed Buff-breasted because I was too tired after Mackay Island and decided not to stop at American Turf Farm on my way home which proved to be a big mistake.  That day someone reported a Wilson's Phalarope and this is a bird I can easily miss this year.

I have been to Lock and Dam 1 and Oakland Plantation several times already this year trying to get Swallow-tailed Kite and shorebirds but this week I really went overboard.  I was in Brunswick and Columbus County almost every day after work.  My gas bill is starting to get a little too excessive. And unfortunately I have nothing to show except a crippled Great Blue Heron.  Don't get me wrong, I saw lots of birds and good birds but I have them already and they do not count for my big year.

This GBH had a broken leg and some weird thing sticking out of his joint, I think it may be the bone?  I wonder if a Snapping Turtle was the culprit.

Never the less, he was still a handsome devil.

In the mornings I was checking Ft. Fisher for Buff-breasted.  Greg had seen one in the fields on the weekend.  Nothing special turned up but this group of Bucks.  I have never seen such a big group of bucks with full racks.  I guess it pays to grow up in an area with no hunting allowed.

Harry took me out on the spit one day this week and we had some really good looks at Caspian Terns which was nice since my previously posted picture was horrible and barely diagnostic.

Caspian Tern - all the field marks are here: Red thick bill, dark underwing and fully black cap in August.

 
In terms of shorebirds, we had thousands, but could not turn up something rare.

My peeps.

On the way back from the spit on Friday I called Brian Patteson to see if there was any room on the pelagic on Saturday to make up for my rain check from last week.  Luckily there was.  I quickly got home and packed for the trip.  Melissa made me some sandwiches and out the door I went.  I really have to say how appreciative I am of my wife and kids for supporting my big year and letting me go chase birds last minute.  I did not get out the door until 8:30 pm and was very leery about my decision to drive 6 hours in the middle of the night knowing the boat was leaving at 6am the next morning.  That only left me with a couple hours sleep in a parking lot again!!!  Going on a 12 hour boat ride in the open ocean on 2 hours sleep is not a good idea.

Luckily this time although it was raining there was no lightning and the trip was a go.  We had a pretty big group of people this time and once underway the rain stopped and for the most part it did not rain again the whole day.

After a 2 hour ride out to the shelf, we started to pick up some of the usual suspects with Cory Shearwaters, Black-capped Petrels and Wilson's Storm Petrels.

Now my pelagic identification skills are getting better but they still suck.  So I told myself that this time I would only start taking pictures of storm petrels when I knew I was looking at a Band-rumped since that is the species I still need a picture of.  This trip provided to be a really good trip for Band-rumped, we had very good numbers and they came relatively close.

Band-rumped Storm Petrel - this picture is not particularly telling with the exception that you can clearly see there is no legs projecting past tail.  The carpal bars are more weak than a Wilson's.  However with his wings bent he almost looks like a Wilson's in this picture.

Band-rumped Storm Petrel - Although blurry, this picture shows better the profile of the bird.  Most notably no legs projecting past tail.  It glides more like a proper petrel.  It's also larger than the Wilson's SP but thats hard to see in this picture.  Brian described it by saying this bird can cover 4x more ground than the Wilson's in the same amount of time. The Wilson's SPs flight is more erratic and bouncing.  The Wilson's SP will patter on the surface with their long legs held down.

Band-rumped SP.

Black-capped Petrel - striking white rump patch.

Audubon's Shearwater - we had large numbers of these.

Now that I had my Band-rumped pics, I allowed myself to take pictures of the Wilson's SPs.

Wilson's SP - note long legs and white rump extends further under the bird.

Patter patter, note the yellow webbing in between toes.

Great Shearwater - pattern in "arm pits" is distinctive.

Cory's Shearwater - yellow bill is distinctive.  Also it's size, it is the biggest of the shearwaters in this area.

Wilson's SP.

Then somehow Jeff Lemons picked out this Bridled Tern in the vast ocean perched on a piece of flotsam.  I have to say that Jeff is really an awesome spotter, he is constantly scanning the entire trip and  I am fairly confident that when we go on a trip with him we are not missing any birds.

Bridled Tern - Bridled are much more likely to be perched on flotsam than the Sooty Tern.

His back is fairly black, but not as black as a Sooty.

By the way, how fitting that as I am writing this I am listening to Freebird by Skynyrd.

A little later Jeff spotted a far away flock of birds and Brian gave chase.  It turned out to be a really nice mix of Petrels, Storm Petrels and Terns with great looks of birds sitting on the water.

Black-capped Petrel.

Cory's Shearwater.

Sooty Tern - are you kidding me!  I paddled a kayak for miles in the Cape Fear River and now they are dropping out of the sky.

Sooty Tern - larger and darker.

Bridled Tern - smaller and lighter wings.  The white foreheads where also wider on these birds but its hard to tell from that alone.

Bridled Tern.

Sooty Tern - more black edging underwing.

Cory's Shearwater.

Bridled Tern.

I wish I had taken a photo of all fours bird together, that would have shown nicely the size difference. There was two of each and at times they were all flying in formation.

Cory's Shearwater.

Sooty

Someone mentioned a Sooty looks like a Swallow-tailed Kite underneath.  Wow, no kidding.

This is what happens when you use a telephoto to take a picture of something up close.

A Skipjack was a short distraction from the birding.  Brian will sometimes put out some lines while motoring around for birds.

Black-capped Petrels - Niel Hayward of Big Year fame told me on a pelagic that the Black-capped Petrel was his favorite bird to watch.  That is saying something when he saw over 700 species in his big year effort.  It may have been something he just said at that moment, but I tend to agree that they are extremely graceful fliers.

Although I only added two birds, it was a very nice trip.  The only problem was the trip home.  I felt fine the whole time on the boat, a little tired and wind/sun burnt but no sea sickness at all.  However when I got off the boat and started to drive I began to feel very ill.  I think the lack of sleep, the exposure on the boat and probably dehydration all were conspiring against me.  I had to pull over in Buxton and I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.  I awoke two hours later and although not tiptop I felt better and started the long drive home.  This delay was a big disappointment because I was planning to visit American Turf Farms on the way home but now I missed my window and it was dark as I passed the Creswell exit.

I did take some back roads on the way home through Washington County and saw a Barn Owl perched on a telephone pole in the dark but before I could get my light and camera on him he had flown.  This was a big tease, I have been hunting Barn Owls for a long time.  And this tease was especially disheartening because now I was on high alert and drove the rest of the way through Washington very slowly stopping many times to shine my flashlight. However, this encounter did keep me awake which was a good thing.  I did not get home until 2 am!

Great times.

Sandpiper Sunday (03Aug2014)

Harry and I took a trip down to the spit today at Ft Fisher and had some good looks at the usual suspects including good numbers of Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit and thousands of peeps.  We tried sifting through them all to find a Stint but no luck.

This breeding plumage Black-bellied Plover was nice to see.

I had some more time to kill so I drove around and checked some flooded ball fields with no luck and headed to the airport in Wilmington for the last hurrah.  I found a group of 5 Upland Sandpipers and so I stood stock still for 25 minutes while they inched closer and closer to the fence.  I was getting mauled by bugs but I managed to hold steady and finally was rewarded with some good shots.

Very cool bird with such a skinny neck.  Pretty cool that the camera was able to get these through the chain link fence.  Unfortunately I could not locate a Buff-breasted SP.

Great times!

Consolation Prizes (01-02Aug2014)

I was scheduled to partake in my fourth pelagic of the year this weekend but weather conspired against me.  However, I managed to squeeze the lump of coal I was given and turned it into diamonds.

Friday I made it to Mattamuskeet before dark and birded the impoundments but unfortunately couldn't turn up anything rare.

This Possum agreed with me that the weather was a total downer.

Great Horned Owl - seen off highway on East side of Alligator NWR.

I got to Hatteras at about 9:30 pm and although I was tempted to find a hotel, I knew they would all be pretty expensive this time of year so I sucked it up and spent a rough night sleeping in my truck.  Between the lightning, thunder, rain and garbage trucks I barely got a couple hours sleep.  Who knew that Garbage Trucks in Hatteras collect garbage at 2am.  Weird.

When Brian P showed up he confirmed what I already feared, the trip was off due to lightning risk.  Oh well, I was determined to make this drive worth it and headed to Pea Island to try for Stilt SP.

Forster's Tern I think - this time of year Forster's are difficult to tell from Common Terns.  This particular bird had just molted tail feathers so that did not help.

Caspian Tern - I am pretty sure I will get a better photo at some point as they are just starting to move through, however, I did not want to risk it so I am calling this one.  Bird had complete cap, bill was broader and more red than your average Royal and although its hard to tell from this photo the underwings had extensive dark feathers.

Black-necked Stilt - I love this bird, his head looks like a Ying Yang symbol.

There was plenty of shorebirds including loads of Yellowlegs but I couldn't find a definitive Stilt SP.  Although the birding was pretty good I was starting to get really dejected.  A 6.5 hour drive to Hatteras in the Rain and overnight stay in my truck only to find out the trip is canceled will do that to you.

American Avocet - eBird flagged the high number I put (60) but there definitely was alot.  There is about 30 in this photo alone and this was just a fraction of them.

Gorgeous with or without breeding plumage.

This one is probably an immature male.

Then I saw a duck that looked really out of place for this time of year. It was buffy color with a dark bill and black feathers in the wing.  It had my heart racing that maybe I had a Fulvous Whistling Duck which would be a very big deal in North Carolina.  However, pardon the pun but cooler minds prevailed and I used my winter birding brain to apply a process of elimination and determined it was an immature American Wigeon.  It caught me off guard because it was really too early for a wigeon.

Here is the view that clinched the ID.  White above dark in the wing is pretty much a lock for a Wigeon.

I love ducks in flight.  I can see why duck hunters are so cuckoo over ducks.  You have the variety and different behaviors (puddle versus diving) that is really a smaller world of what all bird watchers like in birding.  However, duck hunters are unfortunately mixing their love of shooting guns with their love of ducks.  Would be nice if they did them separately.  I don't mind hunters so much as long as they are responsible and only shoot what they eat but I feel like their is a ton of hunters out there that ruin it for the real hunters by shooting indiscriminately and not eating their catch.

 After Pea Island I thought to myself should I bother with Bodie Island?  Usually this time of year there is not much to see except a bunch of tourists.  However, I swung by on a whim.

In the flooded field in the middle of the turn around there was a nice collection of shore birds despite the motorcycles and traffic only 20-30 feet away.

Stilt Sandpiper!!!!!!!!  Just like that my foul mood lifted and I spent 45 minutes watching these beautiful shorebirds working away.  The bird in the foreground was a Pectoral SP.

Stilt SPs have a slightly downward curve to the bill and this time of year still have extensive barring on belly compared to a Yellowlegs which has a slightly upturned bill and mostly clear belly.  After watching them for a while, I could see why the behavior can also be a good clue.  The Stilt SPs were probing more erratically much like a Dunlin.

Pectoral and Stilt SP.

Yellowlegs in back, Stilt SP in middle and Pectorals in foreground.

This Stilt SP could get a job in a sweatshop sewing clothes.

Stilt SP - nice shot showing extensive barring on belly.  Also buffy supercillium and cheek patch.

Nice Pectoral shot showing "bib" with good demarcation.  Gosh I am such a bird nerd.

This is a bird that you question when you see Yellowlegs and Dowitchers sometimes but then when you see the Stilt SP you immediately think how could I have been confused before.  The "jizz" of the bird is distinct and when you see it you immediately know it.

Another nice comparison shot.  The Yellowlegs on top has much more brightly colored legs and a white rump.  The Stilt SP below has a speckled rump and much more muted legs.

This Killdeer was upset that I was focusing on the waders so much and insisted I take his photo.

Now that I was in a better mood I thought to myself why hurry home.  No sense in coming up all the way to North Eastern NC and not taking advantage of the day despite the bad weather.  So I did something I have been meaning to do for a long time.  I took the trip to Mackay Island NWR in Currituck County.  Robert Van Gundy (I think that's his name) had posted in previous years that this NWR was way under visited and was one of the best places in NC to see King Rails.  So it has always been on my short list of places in NC to visit.

Well it ended up taking a while to get there due to traffic issues.  There was a head on collision which had me at a standstill and in fact offered me an opportunity to read a couple chapters of The Emperor of Maladies which by the way is a very good book if you like that sort of thing (history of cancer).

However once I finally got there the weather cleared up or at least it stopped raining and I went out for a nice long hike.  What a beautiful park and Robert was correct that it was way underutilized.  I was there for 3 hours and only saw one other human.  This is despite the fairly busy road which is right off the park.  Everyone was heading to the OBX via the Currituck Ferry and spending hours in traffic to get there.  Little did they know they could have spent all that time closer to home in this beautiful park.

Red-wing Blackbird - I just can't say no when they pose for me.

The loop trail I took offered fantastic although far views of hundreds of shorebirds.  If I had brought a scope I might have turned up something good.

Glossy Ibis and some other waders - probably Yellowlegs.

Mr. Mushrat, have you seen any King Rails? Nope, just minding my own business.

On an overcast day, there is nothing more pretty than the silhouette of a Glossy Ibis.  Its not really black if you look closely but the silhouette makes it look like it is.  Black as night.

Here is a shot that shows if you had the patience and a scope you could spend all day here.  Dowitchers, Stilt SPs, Yellowlegs, Peeps, Pectoral SPs etc.....

Tricolor Heron - showing his colors.

Then I was driving out of the park and I saw this out of the corner of my eye!!!!!!

I know that rail chicks are black and most of the birds in this park are Kings so I slammed on the brakes and started to work the grass lines on the causeway.

Then this beauty popped out for only a second and I managed a surprisingly focused shot.

King Rail in all his (or her) royal splendor.  I was on top of the world at this point.  This bird was so obviously a King compared to the birds I have been seeing at the Battleship in Wilmington.  The breast is very rufous.

Then as if that was not enough, while I was looking at the rails I heard what I knew immediately was a Least Bittern.  I swiveled around and got my bins on him and confirmed it was a Least Bittern.  I was staring at it for a couple second as it flew by before I realized I needed a picture.  Sometimes when I am looking at a cool bird my brain takes a second to start thinking.  I managed a couple of distant shots before the bird landed in the dense marsh grass.

I am really trying to avoid claiming birds for my Photographic Big Year effort that are not easily diagnostic by looking at the picture.  However this is the first Least Bittern I have seen this year and could easily be the only.

In this horrible shot which is heavily cropped, you can see the warm buffy coverts and dark remiges (wing tips).  Also the legs are shorter than you would expect on the only on the bird of comparable size  that would be in this area/habitat (Green Heron).

After that appearance I had some more curious King Rails make an appearance.

Momma (or Pappa?) with two chicks.

Finally I packed it in and started my long drive home with a ride on the Currituck Free Ferry.

On the pier right next to the ferry there were two Osprey which I assume are juveniles that have not decided to completely leave the nest yet despite fully formed flight feathers.

My biggest mistake of the trip?  Not leaving a bit of time to get to American Turf Farms in Creswell.  Steve Shultz just posted a Wilson's Phalarope and Buff-breasted SP, both birds I need for my big year.  Oh well, I need to leave something for later.

By the way, my spell check is busted for some reason so pardon the poor spelling.

Great times.