Superbowl Birding

So, I'm not a football fan, but watched the superbowl anyway. Only one bird was seen, a starling flyover as the camera zoomed out. Also learned that "The Who" have forgotten how to sing-they were horrible! Birds seen around the Neuse River include a few Fox Sparrows, two Wilson's Snipe, and two Lesser Scaup.

Atlantic Beach CBC

Northern Gannet
Wilson's Snipe
Sandhill Crane
Brewer's Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Bittern

This past weekend, I was able to go to the Atlantic Beach, NC, trip of the Carolina Bird Club. I rode there with Pat and Herb Amyx on Thursday, and we did a little birding before getting to the hotel. Hiking a trail that was located behind the local Bojangles, we saw a nice variety of shorebirds, Palm Warbler, and other expected land birds. On Friday, the winds were rough, and my scheduled trip to Cape Point was cancelled. Instead, our g\]roup, lead by Ricky Davis, went to Harker’s Island, North River Farm, and Open Ground Farm. Harker’s island was slow (Monroe Pannell and I nearly froze to death out on the dock), but NRF had pipits, harriers, and meadowlarks. On a hedgerow, we found my nemesis American Bittern. Also saw a few Bald Eagles, Gray Catbird, House Wren, and a bucket load of Yellow-rumps. Afterwards, Mr. Davis talked us into OGF, a hard to access farm , and I got my lifer Brewer’s Blackbirds, six in all. That night, I asked Mr. Davis and Mr. Fussell about the possibility of seeing Razorbill, and they told me to watch out from my balcony and I might see one. So, the next morning, Mr. Davis and I crammed ourselves on my tiny hotel balcony and proceeded to count 110 Razors. I saw more at the pier, and pushed my count up to 610. Other good birds included a pair of Red-necked Grebes, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, and a million Gannets. By 1pm, the seawatching got slow, so Harry LeGrand and I decided to head off to Fort Macon. There, we met Josh Southern and his group, but didn’t see much. The fort itself was pretty cool though. All of us went to Calico Creek, where we found a pair of Rusty’s Blackbirds and some Green-winged Teal. Mr. Southern’s group decided to leave at that point, and Mr. LeGrand and I visited John Fussell’s place, seeing about 5 Baltimore Orioles, a RT Hummingbird, and a Yellow-breasted Chat-all great winter birds. On our way to the hotel, Mr. LeGrand saw an Osprey, and we veered off the road to watch it. That night, Lynn Baker gave a great talk about her 2008 big year, in which she saw 723 birds. This record was the 3^rd best ever, bested only be both of Sandy Komoto’s big years. Also the best total for a Women Big Year. However, the fact that Attu is now closed likely prevented her from crushing the previous record. This morning, Mr. LeGrand, Mr. Davis, Mr. Tove, Mr. Amyx, and I attempted seawatching, but action was slow. Soon, we learned of a Sandhill Crane flock behind Beaufort Elementary School on Highway 17 east. I got in the car with Mrs. Barber and Mrs. Gallitano, with Mr. Tove closely behind. To our dismay, they were not there. Ricky Davis told us he was going to look for them again, knowing only one shred of information: they flew north. Although he said refinding them was “next to nothing”, we got a call ten minutes later from Mr. Davis giving us directions to this field in the middle of a subdivision. About midway out in the field, I got great looks of three cranes, state birds for me! We came home to a snowy Raleigh, and I saw more Orioles at Mrs. Gallitano’s yard. Although the weather was, as said by Mr. Piephofft, was “horrendous”, I had a great time and got 3 lifers and 3 state birds.

Big Day Jan 2010

Big Day Jan 2010 was a big success! We got 126 species and I got a new state bird-Long-tailed Duck. Here is Brian Bockhahn's email about it.

David Lenat, Matthew Daw, Ali Iyoob and myself did another big day yesterday along our route from Lake Phelps to Pea Island. With warmer weather we did good on landbirds coming to the coast with a good list, but no scoters, no coastal sparrows and low tide causing shorebird flocks to be distant was a hindrance. We only had about 20 cormorants all day, they must have left with the scoter flocks.

Anyway from 420am to 820pm we tallied 126 species.

Bird of the day was a Long-tailed Duck under the last few pylons of the new pier being built just east of whalebone junction.

Common Merganser at Lake Phelps, Common Eider at Oregon Inlet, Brant with injured wing flushed off the middle of the OI jetty, Purple Sandpiper at the end of the jetty, white pelican at N end of north pond, Pergerine Falcon hunting over south pond, Virginia Rail at Bodie Island, and locally uncommon a Black Vulture circling Roanoke Island.

Other woodland misses were Fish Crow, Pine Warlber, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing and Red-headed Woodpecker. Heck we almost missed Golden-crowned Kinglet, only heard one all day!!! No bufflehead, but nearly every other duck.

Nutria, Coyote, White-tailed Deer, gray squirrel, gray fox, raccoon, opossum, eastern cottontail, hispid cotton rat and a tiny little gray mouse with big ears in the dunes around oregon inlet. Zero insects.

Snow Goose

Brant

Canada Goose

Tundra Swan

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Wigeon

American Black Duck

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Common Eider

Long-tailed Duck

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Red-throated Loon

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Northern Gannet

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Tricolored Heron

Black-crowned NHeron

White Ibis

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

Peregrine Falcon

Clapper Rail

Virginia Rail

Sora

American Coot

Black-bellied Plover

Killdeer

American Avocet

Willet

Lesser Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Marbled Godwit

Sanderling

Purple Sandpiper

Dunlin

Wilson's Snipe

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Forster's Tern

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Eastern Screech-Owl

Great Horned Owl

Barred Owl

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Blue Jay

American Crow

Tree Swallow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Carolina Wren

House Wren

Winter Wren

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird

Brown Thrasher

European Starling

American Pipit

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Rusty Blackbird

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Sanibel

Over Christmas, our family again went to Sanibel, Florida, home of Ding-darling NWR. Last year, my trips there were limited to 3 drives through the wildlife drive with my parents. This is OK for seeing all the big wading birds, but made me miss photo opportunities for a lot of passerines and shorebirds, and didn’t give me time to sp end hours at a time on individual birds. This time around, my parents agreed to drop me off there every day from 7:30-4:30. In doing so, I got tons of great pictures, a few bird lifers, and many butterfly and dragonfly lifers. In all, I spent about 40 hours at DD.

When we got to Ft. Myers, I was already expecting the huge array of wading birds on the side of the road, but still didn’t stop me from getting excited over the Wood Storks, Ibises, and Herons everywhere. I even saw 2 flyover Sandhill Cranes, an overdue lifer I somehow missed last year! When we got to the hotel, it was already 2pm, and I figured that I should just hang around the hotel grounds. As soon as I got out of the car, a large butterfly flew up. Grabbing my camera, I perused it until it landed. I snapped a few shots, and identified it as a Monk Skipper. Also around were Brown Anoles, Great Pondhawks, and a Cattle Egret hunting for the anoles. I also saw a dragonfly I couldn’t identify, dispite good looks and fairly decent photos.

At Ding-darling the next day, I saw lots of great birds, including Spoonbills, all the Egrets, Herons, and shorebirds. Over the course of the week, I got to see things like Mangrove Cuckoo, Common Ground Dove, Short-tailed Hawk, all 3 falcons, Phantom Darner, Zebra Longwing, and Queen. One day, I was able to get a ride with local birders to a swamp in Ft. Myers, and saw Limpkin, Common Moorhen, and Snail Kite. I brought home an Apple Snail shell that was under the kite’s feeding post. Here is my list of birds, with the rare stuff in bold.

> Mottled Duck - Anas fulvigula 15

> Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors 30

> Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 2

> Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator 4

> Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps 10

> Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus 4

> American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos 100

> Brown Pelican - Pelecanus occidentalis 20

> Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 30

> Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga 100

> Magnificent Frigatebird - Fregata magnificens 3

> Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 10

> Great Egret - Ardea alba 20

> Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 30

> Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea 20

> Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor 20

> Reddish Egret - Egretta rufescens 20

> Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis 30

> Green Heron - Butorides virescens 5

> Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax 3

> Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - Nyctanassa violacea 8

> White Ibis - Eudocimus albus 50

> Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus 2

> Roseate Spoonbill - Platalea ajaja 40

> Wood Stork - Mycteria americana 5

> Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus 15

> Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 30

> Osprey - Pandion haliaetus 10

> Snail Kite - Rostrhamus sociabilis 1

> Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 4

> Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 1

> Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus 1

> Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii 1

> Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 3

> Short-tailed Hawk - Buteo brachyurus 1

> American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1

> Merlin - Falco columbarius 1

> Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus 1

> Clapper Rail - Rallus longirostris 1

> Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola 1 (was photographing a wood stork. When the stork flushed, he snapped a stick and flushed this guy below)

> Sora - Porzana carolina 1

> Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinica 1 (seen in airport runway with lots of Moorhens)

> Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus 40

> American Coot - Fulica americana 20

> Limpkin - Aramus guarauna 4

> Sandhill Crane - Grus canadensis 2 (OK, not rare, but a lifer)

> Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola 30

> Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus 20

> Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus 1

> Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 3

> Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius 2

> Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca 5

> Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes 20

> Long-billed Curlew - Numenius americanus 1

> Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa 1

> Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres 8

> Red Knot - Calidris canutus 3

> Sanderling - Calidris alba 10

> Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri 5

> Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla 50

> Dunlin - Calidris alpina 1000

> Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus 20

> Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla 10

> Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 30

> Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 4

> Lesser Black-backed Gull - Larus fuscus 1

> Caspian Tern - Hydroprogne caspia 2

> Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus 30

> Sandwich Tern - Thalasseus sandvicensis 10

> Black Skimmer - Rynchops niger 3

> Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 10

> Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto 10

> White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica 10

> Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 10

> Common Ground-Dove - Columbina passerina 4

> Black-hooded Parakeet - Nandayus nenday 2

> Mangrove Cuckoo - Coccyzus minor 2

> Eastern Screech-Owl - Megascops asio 1

> Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris 1

> Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 4

> Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 4

> Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius 1

> Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus 9

> Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe 1

> Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus 1

> Loggerhead Shrike - Lanius ludovicianus 5

> White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus 1

> Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 2

> American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 1

> Fish Crow - Corvus ossifragus 2

> Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 1000

> Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 1

> Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris 3

> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 3

> Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 2

> American Robin - Turdus migratorius 2

> Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 7

> Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 1

> Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum 1

> European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 20

> Northern Parula - Parula americana 1

> Pine Warbler - Dendroica pinus 1

> Prairie Warbler - Dendroica discolor 1

> Palm Warbler - Dendroica palmarum 10

> Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia 1

> Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla 1

> Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 2

> Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus 2

> Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis 1

> Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 3

> Painted Bunting - Passerina ciris 1

> Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 2

> Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 1

> Boat-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus major 10

Leps

Mangrove Buckyeye

Common Buckeye

White Peacock

Monk Skipper

Queen

Zebra Longwing

Red Admiral

Gulf Fritillary

Cassius Blue

Ceraunus Blue

Orange-barred Sulfur

Barred Yellow

Great Southern White

Giant Swallowtail

Tropical Checkered Skipper

Dorantes Longtail

Odes:

Phantom Darner

Wandering Glider

Twilight Darner

Roseate Skimmer

Great Pondhawk

Blue Dasher

Hyacinth Glider

4-spotted Pennant

Red-veined Pennant

I'm adding shots continuously to my flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/longspur

and have some FL ones on there now.

2010

Today, I went around the neighborhood, where my first birds were as follows: N. Mockingbird, RB Gull, RS Hawk, Carolina Chickadee, Bufflehead. I came back from a great trip to Ding-darling NWR, and will post about it in a few days. It'll take a lot of typing!
Ali

Western Grebes

Today, Dave Bergum and I chased a pair of Western Grebes in Greensboro, NC. I got great scope views and even got some good pictures.

Big Day, December!!!

Common Eider


Purple SandpiperBlack Bear


On Thursday, Matt Daw, Brian Bockhahn, and I went on a December North Carolina big day. We smashed the existing record by 42, and I got 2 lifers (Rusty Blackbird and Common Eider.) Here is Matt Daw's summary.

Hi all,

Yesterday (Thursday) Brian Bockhahn, Ali Iyoob and myself did a North Carolina big day, following the same general route as our last one. The official ABA record for December was formerly 89, but we easily topped that, finishing with 131 species.

Here is an overview and list:

We started early again at Pettigrew, the weather was again very windy, making it very hard for listening. We made it through dawn without many misses though. We found an Orange-crowned Warbler at sparrow field and a LINCOLN"S SPARROW in the same spot as last time. A BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER was another good find just down the road from the sparrow field. Most of the woodland birds came easier, the only surprise being a pair of Rusty Blackbirds in a wooded thicket by the campground access.

The trip to the coast was uneventful for the most part, we topped the former record around noon with a lost rooster on Roanoke Island (marked this one back off the checklist later). After getting some hummingbirds on Roanoke, we drove towards Bodie Island, finally getting Rock Pigeon on the way, a small group flying around Bodie were the only ones all day.

We walked out on the Oregon Inlet Jetty, the Harlequin Duck was not seen unfortunately, but we did find a female COMMON EIDER, as well as LBB Gull, PURPLE SANDPIPER, Black Scoter, and some others. We picked off our shorebirds here and North Pond at Pea Island, and had quite good luck with ducks and waders at Pea Island, where we stayed till dusk. Also at Pea Island was a group of American White Pelicans and lots of BC Night-herons. We stopped at Alligator River NWR on the way back and tried numerous locations for Barred Owl, but struck out, although we had a good number of bears.

Big misses included Black Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, American Avocet, Barred Owl, RH Woodpecker, WB Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, Common Yellowthroat, Sea sparrows, and a number of others. Better weather could have resulted in a higher total, but I think we managed pretty well considering the curcumstances.

Here is a full list:

Snow Goose

Canada Goose

Mute Swan--2 @ Pea Island

Tundra Swan-- huge numbers

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Widgeon

American Black Duck

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback--lake phelps

Redhead--one @ Pea Island seen only by myself

Greater Scaup--Pea Island

Lesser Scaup--Pea Island

Common Eider--1 female by the Oregon Inlet Jetty

Black Scoter--2 Oregon Inlet

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Wild Turkey--seen only by Brian Bockhahn

Red-throated Loon

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Northern Gannet

American White pelican--a number at Pea Island

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron--good numbers @ Pea Island

White Ibis

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

Clappper Rail

Sora

American Coot

Black-bellied Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

Willet

Lesser Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Marbled Godwit--Pea Island

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper--one at end of Oregon Inlet jetty

Dunlin

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowither

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull--Oregon Inlet

Great Black-backed Gull

Royal Tern

Forster's Tern

Rock Dove--almost missed them

Mourning Dove

Eastern Screech-Owl

Great Horned-Owl

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Tree Swallow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Carolina Wren

House Wren

Winter Wren--a number singing constantly at Lake Phelps

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird

Brown Thrasher

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Orange-crowned Warbler--1 @ sparrow field, pettigrew SP

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler--1 about a mile down from sparrow field

Pine Warbler

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow--1 about a mile down from Sparrow field in the exact same spot as last time.

Fox Sparrow-- a number singing at Pettigrew

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Rusty Blackbird--2 near the campground access @ Pettigrew

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow