My Brazil posts took so long its 5 months later and I have a backlog of random stuff from when I got back. I haven't been birding much really. A lot of working and tooling around in the garden.
The female White-winged Scoter at Johnnie Mercer was still around and this male also came in close.
Belted Kingfisher at Airlie Gardens.
Sam was nice enough to take the boys into Landfall again to see the continuing Eurasian Wigeon.
Eurasian Wigeon
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Hopefully this duck comes back next winter!
American Wigeon
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
By the end of February many of the gulls start to leave for breeding grounds further north.
Horned Grebe
A pretty nice flock of Common Goldeneye had been hanging around off the end of the fishing pier at the Air Force base in Fort Fisher. They stayed pretty far out.
Red-breasted Merganser
A Fogbow at the south end of Wrightsville Beach.
There were still a couple reports of the long continuing Lazuli Bunting in the Jacksonville area, but the homeowner was getting sick of people camping out at her house so I wasn't able to get up there until she said she would have me a couple weekends after I came back from Brazil.
My camera was working fine for the 2 hours I waited. Purple Finches and Goldfinches abounded but no Lazuli.
Even this Lincoln's Sparrow stopped in.
Female Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Then the Lazuli showed up on the feeder in front of the house for a couple seconds, too fast to shoot it. That steeled my resolve to stay and try for it.
It took another hour and I had repositioned myself to use my car as a blind in front of the house. The Bunting came and fed on the feeder and my camera was clicking like it was taking pictures but it was also not the usual click so I checked my viewfinder and none of the photos were coming through my card. I was panicking at this point and fumbled to take out my battery and reset the camera which usually works when it is malfunctioning. Somehow the Bunting was still there when I got it up and running and I managed literally one photo before it flew off.
Lazuli Bunting! State bird 424.
The rest of March flew by without much to speak of.
Snowy Egret - I always head to the Battleship at the end of March because this is where I get my Northern Rough-winged Swallows every year when I am looking forward to the Spring. They are one of the first breeders to migrate back.
It took a little but one solitary Northern Rough-winged Swallow perched on the steel cable holding the Battleship in port.
Northern Parula - I used to take more pleasure in making the drive into Brunswick County to drive Lee Buck and Governor's Roads, but it is getting depressing to see the forests constantly being cleared for wood pulp.
Swallow-tailed Kites are looking like they will be nesting on the section of Rice's creek on Governor's Rd.
Louie has stolen Melissa's heart and I fear there isn't much room left for me.
Least Terns are back in early April getting ready to breed.
Laughing Gulls are snazzier than ever in April.
Wilson's Plovers are working overtime to keep the hordes of tourists off their stretch of sand. I fear they have lost the war.
Nelson's Sparrows are around in April but become harder to see in May.
Saltmarsh too.
Black Skimmers seem to be around year long now.
A Mottled Duck had been hanging out in the pond next to the Aquarium at Fort Fisher in April.
Louie didn't seem to mind that the grass on my "lawn" was still horrendous. I can report it is much thicker and lush now as I write this.
In early May I headed to the new Greenway at Carolina Beach and was really impressed with the amount of birds.
Painted Buntings seemingly everywhere.
Breeding plumage Scarlet Tanagers are rare in our coastal counties in the spring.
Cameras generally don't like deep reds so I was happy enough to come away with these images.
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Mississippi Kite
In mid-May, Jesse gave us a heads up that a Black-billed Cuckoo and a Black-whiskered Vireo were at CB State Park so I jetted down.
Black-billed Cuckoo - this guy cooperated for me but flew before the rest of the gang got there.
Black-whiskered Vireo! A long overdue county lifer.
I had to get back to work, so didn't spend much time with it but was able to get back on the weekend.
In early June, Captain Anderson brought us out on his boat. We dipped on any good birds but the fishing was better.
Great Shearwater
Cory's Shearwater
I obviously need to learn how to pose with fish better, you need to hold it out way in front to make it look bigger!
Finally, in June a Garganey was found by my buddy Audrey Whitlock on a bird walk at Pea Island! I couldn't resist a chase for such a good bird and convinced Sam and Jacob to come with.
Garganey!! State bird 426!! 2026 is turning out to be good for state birds so far.
