Eastern Willets are looking snazzy with nice barring. With Greater Yellowlegs.
Garbled Modwit
Greater Yellowlegs
Black-headed Gull - I thought maybe I saw him again just fly by but it was not until I looked at my pics again that I confirmed.
Wilson's Plover
Wrightsville Beach has a very healthy rabbit population.
A short business trip to Boston had me checking online to see if anything rare was hanging out in the area. I had two options, a Great Gray Owl in New Hampshire about 2 hours drive from Boston or a particularly photogenic King Eider in the Cape Cod Canal only 45 minutes from Boston. I decided on the sure bet and closer distance. Besides, I kind of want my first Great Gray to be in Zax Zim Bog in super cold temps.... The eider was easy to find. It was hanging with a flock of about 200 Common Eiders in a section of the Cape Code Canal which bisects Cape Cod from the rest of Massachusetts. They were all sticking close to the shore and swimming up the channel in a train. So all I had to do was sit next to shore 50 yards up stream and they streamed right by me.
I never really noticed those horns on the back until now.
I took about 4 bajillion pictures, but tried to narrow it down to 1 bajillion for you.
Red-breasted Merganser
Now that I look i can see even the Common Eider has those back feathers sticking up too, but they are white and harder to see.
Quite conveniently there was a female Tufted Duck hanging out only 5 minutes away.
Tufted Duck on left side of frame with female Greater Scaup for comparison. The Tufted is darker, more petite and does not have the more conspicuous white patch at the base of the bill.
You can just make out the tuft.
Tufted Duck with Greater Scaup
With still a little time to kill before my flight, I stopped at a grassland spot where diurnal Short-eared Owls have been known to frolic.
American Tree Sparrows are still around.
Dark morph Rough-legged Hawk. This photo obviously sucks, but I kind of like it. It's art.
There was two Rough-legged working the fields. One dark morph and one light morph. It was cool to watch them hover like a kestrel or kite.
Plenty of Harriers too. The white patch on the Harrier is on the rump where the white patch is on the tail for the Rough-legged.
Light morph Rough-legged Hawk.
Back in Wilmington I just had to go check on the returning Yellow-crowned Night-heron couple down at Burnt Mill Creek.
Parulas love Burnt Mill too.
Saturday was so gorgeous, no real rarities but just an awesome day with a loop of Greenfield Lake, the Battleship, Lake Sutton and then my favorite spot in Brunswick County - Lee Buck Rd.
I initially thought this was an Alligator Snapping Turtle but now that I look online, the smooth shell leads me to believe it is a Common Snapping Turtle.
What a beast!
Northern Rough-winged Swallows abound at the Battleship.
Little Blue Heron at some random retention pond at Lake Sutton.
Blue-gray Gnatsmasher at Lee Buck.
After scrutinizing Jeff Pippen's dragonfly and damselfly page, I think this is a Lancet Clubtail based on the yellow on P9 - the last segment. However, glad to field any detractors.
Spring has sprung!
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