Dawn the Rosy-Fingered (credit to Homer's Odyssey) gracing NC for the first time in 2025.
Many celebrate the new year by getting drunk and partying. Some people go to bed early and head to the beach to ring in the new year. And others yet do both!
Ruddy Turnstone - I think this being my first bird of the year is becoming a trend.
Boat-tailed Grackle - looking normal.
The same bird huffed up on goofballs (hormones).
Rock Pigeon
Dune Marsh-elder - one of my New Years Resolutions is to use iNaturalist once a day to identify a plant or something other than a bird. This is one of the most salt hardiest plants in NC and is super useful as a dune stabilizer.
These pics are from the south end of WB.
Sanderling
Willet of the Western persuasion.
Must be nice being able to wade in freezing water. After a nice walk on the beach, I headed over to Blue Clay Bike Park and tried the sparrow fields. It was windy but a few sparrows posed for me.
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
After a delicious lunch at home and a game of Wingspan with the Fam, I headed over to Ashley High School to check the ponds.
Canvasback!
Redhead!
Ring-necked Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
This Lesser Scaup almost looks like a Greater with the green sheen and pretty rounded head, but I do see a little peak and the flanks are "dirty" and the "nail" on the bill is small.
This is a perfect picture to show why the old green means Greater and purple means Lesser is not a good field mark. In my estimation these are both Lesser Scaup. They both have a "peak" at the back of the head and otherwise look structurally similar. However the one on the left has a purple sheen and the one on the right has a green sheen.
Another Lesser.
Redhead
Meanwhile down at Carolina Beach Lake, I continues my clean up of the ducks which is noteworthy for Wilmington where you normally have to work hard at it.
Northern Pintail - yet another hen bird.
American Coot.
Moving a little down the coast to Fort Fisher, the evening light was perfect for a photo shoot.
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck hanging out with the Surf Scoter.
Is it just me or is the duck smiling? I know I was.
I invariably get the question, "are you doing a big year?" The answer is I always start the year out with a bang to see what kind of year it will be and then I will decide 3-4 months in. However, I would guess no because I haven't been motivated enough to chase the Calliope in the mountains or the multiple Bullock's Orioles in the state. However, I am leading a trip to East Shackleford Banks for the Carolina Bird Club meeting next weekend so maybe I will make a visit to one of the Bullock's while I am up there. 13 days in I have only been to New Hanover, Brunswick and a brief stop in Wake County when I dropped Luke off at school.
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