A Trip to the OBX (27Jan-03Feb2025)

Looking for Woodcocks has been my focus lately but more recently I have given up getting a photo.  Most of my efforts have focused at Carolina Beach State Park.  I have seen them multiple times this year but always running away into the undergrowth before I could get a pic.  No worries, I will get one up in the mountains as they continue to display into April-May up on the Parkway.

 Dwarf Bayberry 

On the 27th, I noticed that I missed my iNat submission on the 26th, so I submitted two.

This Redbay was infested with galls so I looked it up and it is usually caused by a Red Bay Psyllid!  So interesting how certain species of insect are so specialized and paired with certain plants.  This is why the ecosystem is so interconnected and it is dangerous to think losing one plant does not cause a ripple effect.

Red Bay leaves show the reddish color on the flip side and the twigs are "hairless" whereas the similar Swamp Bay has "pubescent" twigs with little hairs on them.

The wood of Red Bay has been used in woodworking and the leaves can be used in a similar way to what you may see in your spice rack marked as Bay Leaves but is actually from a mediterranean Bay Laurel tree.  I think they are distantly related.  This is also an important host plant for a couple species of Swallowtail Butterfly (Palamedes and Spicebush).  

Meanwhile back at Airlie Gardens the Hooded Mergansers are almost always confiding even when the rest of the world is falling apart.  I am forever grateful to them.

Tufted Titmice are also blissfully unaware of geopolitics but I can sense they don't like the leaf-blowers almost as much as me.

The Fatsia Japonica at Airlie are not native but they are still beautiful.  They apparently produce a sap that can cause contact dermatitis which means I probably will never plant one in my yard.  I already get a horrible blistering rash from Confederate Jasmine.  In their native Japan, they are called Yatsude which means "eight fingers".

At Mason Inlet we still have a contingent of Black Skimmers hanging on through the cold snaps.

The Dunlin on the other hand thrive in these conditions and number in the thousands in these areas.

Short-billed Dowitchers are a little less numerous but fit right in here just as the Dunlin do.

Back at Mi Casa, this Creeping Fig is showing some wear and tear from the recent cold snap, so I may have to trim it back a little in the spring when it recovers.

Here it is again growing in a trained way over my garage just after our most recent snow storm.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - Back at Mason Inlet the next day, still hoping to find the Heermann's.  The LBBGs have been increasing in number here over the past few years and it is not uncommon to see over 100.

It feels a little weird to know that our wintering Ring-billed Gulls were hanging out around Niagara Falls just a little while ago.  I wonder if they compare the beauty of the falls with Wrightsville Beach when they are sitting on a san bar killing time with their buds.

Carolina Laurelcherry - When the leaves are crushed they can smell like Maraschino Cherries..  Weird, I will have to try that next time.  Birds apparently love their little cherries they produce which can last through the winter.  The leaves are considered deer-resistant mainly because they break down into Hydrogen Cyanide and are toxic.

This Great Horned Owl was sitting on nest at CB State Park, making it my second find for the year.

I was on my way out to my truck after looking for Woodcock and scanned the river in front of the Marina.  

Glaucous Gull!  The light was poor but this bruiser sticks out like a sore thumb.

Several people have re-found him on the same low tide sand bar over the past week.

Although House Sparrows can be easy to find all across the US, you need to know where to look.  Airports and large warehouse stores are the best places and the parking garage at Shell Island works good too.

The parking area at Shell Island is also good for Japanese Cheesewood!   This asian ornamental is a favorite around the beaches here in Wrightsville Beach.  This particular one is a variegated variety.  Here is an interesting tidbit from Wiki:

"In Japan and China, where it is native, it is known as tobera (トベラ) and hǎitóng huā (海桐花) respectively. Its Japanese name, tobera, comes from "tobira no ki" which roughly translates to "door tree". This is because the plant emits a foul odour when leaves or branches are cut and so it was hung up in doorways during Setsubun along with the heads of sardines."

Apparently the found odors scare away evil spirits and bad fortune.

It was time for my trip to the OBX for a winter pelagic.  I was originally planning on leaving on Friday and starting some birding early on Saturday in more northern counties hoping to pick up some year birds, but my Volvo's tire pressure light came on and force me to turn around and stay home another night.  So I ended up leaving Saturday with my old truck and struck out looking for Greater White-fronted Geese in Aurora.  I could see the goose flock way out in a field but I wasn't interested in ticking a bird that was a mile away.

These Wild Turkeys were my consolation prize.

I decided to check out the Pungo Lakes area to see what was around.

A massive flock of Sandhill Cranes were chilling out with a million Tundra swans in an impoundment.  I counted 25 but maybe there were more.

Tundra Swans usually have a little yellow color on their bills.

Some have more than others.

And about 10% have no yellow at all.  This one had me thinking Trumpeter for a little while and I took a zillion photos but I finally came to the realization it was just an odd Tundra.

The black area near the eyes didn't pinch like they do on the other ones, but that might have just been an illusion because it was all black.

American Kestrels were on the wires all over while I worked my way north to Pettigrew and Lake Phelps.

An adult male Northern Harrier also known as a Gray Ghost worked the fields.

At the visitors center boat ramp, I scanned the lake for Common Mergansers and saw a large flock of ducks and gulls working bait fish.

Zooming in I realized they were all Common Mergansers and Ring-billed Gulls!  I counted about 1100 Common Mergansers which is crazy because usually it's difficult to find one.

Zooming in all the way, you can see a male Common Merganser taking flight here, with its white body, black head and red legs.

I repositioned myself further down the lake shore and accessed the lake from one of the few places where you can.  It was heavily backlit but I was able to get a couple marginally better shots.

Drake Common Merganser

Some females.

I wanted to try for Owls at Alligator so I hit the road again but was distracted by a large flock of Canada Geese in the Roper area.

A couple of the Geese made me do double-takes but I couldn't find one that was a slam dunk Cackler.

This dark one was interesting, it had a very restricted chin-strap.

I did make it to Alligator National Wildlife Refuge before sunset and managed to see some Short-eared Owls way out, but photos were not in the cards.

In the morning I was kind of shocked that Brian didn't call off the trip despite some continuing rough seas and strong wind.  I knew I was going to be in for a ride.  I don't typically get seasick so I wasn't worried about that, but I also know photographing good birds is tough when the boat is bucking like a bronco so I was secretly hoping to get a rain date.  However, once we got out past the bar at Oregon Inlet, it ended up being manageable.

Red Phalaropes

Atlantic Puffin - we had tons of these comical alcids.

Dovekies were also plentiful but we had little else.  Even the Razorbills were scarce.

But if you are stuck with only a few species on a trip, I suppose Dovekies and Puffins are good to be stuck with.

Some of the Puffins looked like they had just climbed out of someone's chimney.

Razorbill fly-by.

Northern Pintail in Alligator as I headed homewards.

I made it as far as Williamston and couldn't go any further.  Pelagics really sap me of energy so I posted up at the Hampton Inn with some points.

I had heard about Short-eared Owls hunting in the day light at the VOA site in Bear Grass so I decided to try first thing before heading back to work.  Unfortunately it was like pea soup out there and if there were any Short-ears, they stayed out too far to see.

Many Northern Harriers did materialize out of the fog.

I had to make up for missing my iNat submission from the previous day's pelagic so I did two entries from the VOA site.

Gallberry also known as Appalachian Tea is a small shrub mainly of the coastal plain in NC but also growing in similar habitats at higher elevations.  It is an important food plant for birds but apparently the Native Americans used to brew tea out of roasted and dried Gallberry leaves.  Gallberry Honey is a highly coveted honey from bees that visit this plant's flowers in the spring and summer.

If only birds would let you study them so closely.

Winter Bentgrass is an interesting name for this grass that is all over the VOA.  

When it gets older, it flops over and shows why it is called Bentgrass.

I couldn't find much on this plant but I think the sparrows feast on its seeds.

That's enough for today!  I am writing this post from the airport getting ready to fly to southern France for a work function but I have a long layover in Amsterdam and have rented a car.  Hopefully for my next post I will be able to share some cool pics of exotic Geese and other birds that enjoy the winter in the Netherlands.