First some local birds....
White-winged Scoter in Banks Channel.
Surf Scoter at Masonboro inlet.
First year male Common Eider next to Masonboro's north jetty.
Common Eider and Surf Scoter
Female Common Eider in Banks Channel
Yellow-breasted Chat at Fort Fisher Aquarium parking lot.
Pied-billed Grebe at Burnt Mill Creek.
Greater Yellowlegs at Fort Fisher Spit
Marsh Wren at the Spit
Red-Shouldered Hawk - at a random spot on the side of the road in Wilmington.
Winter Wren on UNCW campus
I took my boys again to the campus in the afternoon to look for a Red-breasted Nuthatch and we heard him but couldn't get a visual.
This junglefowl was hanging out in the UNCW woods. Weird.
Anhinga at Ann McCrary Park.
A full moon this past week.
Northern Gannets abound at the end of Johnny Mercer's pier.
On Friday I took the day off work and started by looking for Barn Owls in Washington County. No luck.
Dawn the Rosy-fingered made her appearance at Pungo.
I spent a good 3-4 hours at Pungo looking for Trumpeter Swans and other goodies but failed to find anything compelling. However, the sheer amount of waterfowl was stunning.
Later at Mattamuskeet I thought for sure I had a Trumpeter but now I am second guessing. I never put it in eBird. Let me know what you think dear reader.
The lores were not pinched like a Tundra and had no yellow. However, the forehead did not necessarily come to a point like I would expect on a good Trumpeter.
Although the bill is all black and the eye is not pinched, the shape was just not totally convincing.
What do you think?
House Wrens love Matta.
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler and friend. At the time I thought Northern Pintail and I still do, but what the heck is going on with the green sheen on his head? Could this be a Mallard x Pintail Hybrid?
At Gum Swamp Rd I dipped on the Brewer's Blackbirds. Plenty of Brown-headed but no Brewer's. I left in disgust without taking any pictures.
Juvenile Bald Eagle on the way up past Engelhard, NC.
Most of the afternoon was spent scanning the ocean for Manx Shearwaters. The wind was strong off-shore so probably they were all out to sea. I should have known. ARGHHHHH....
Razorbill - "football with wings".
Female Common Eider
In the evening I made the drive over to Alligator NWR.
Horrible photo of a Short-eared Owl battling with a Northern Harrier. The Short-eared in center frame.
Next morning I dipped again really badly on Manx Shearwater so I began the trek home.
Based on the relatively heavy muzzle I think this is a Red Wolf and not a Coyote. It loped around like a wolf. I have noticed Coyotes have a more bouncy gait like they are prancing. Plus Coyotes have a fairly pointy snout. However, glad to field any detractors.
Young Bald Eagle
I dipped a second time at Gum Swamp on Brewer's BB and spent the rest of the afternoon at Pungo.
Shovelers and Tundra Swans.
Rusty Blackbirds and other BB species. I looked hard for Brewers but the females in this flock looked more like Rusty BBs.
An imposter! Trumpeter Swans have a forehead that comes down in a V while a Tundra has a U. The Tundra on the left clearly did not want to fit in and has a V but the yellow near the eye and the pinched area just before the eye give it away as a Tundra.
Some Tundras had all black bills and some had tons of yellow.
Its enough to make a man go mad looking for a Trumpeter. A couple times I thought I heard a Trumpeter in the crowd but I never ID things based on sound only.
Late in the afternoon the real show started with Tundras starting to take off and in the distance a huge flock of Snow Geese changed the sunny forecast to a snow storm.
Reverse Snow Storm - 50 thousand or more Snow Geese all taking off at once is a sight to see.
While watching the Snow Geese stream by I was able to pick out some different ones. Can you pick out the two Ross's Geese?
Look for the birds with shorter necks and smaller overall.
Another string went by and I think I found another Ross's.
Just under the middle of frame.
The symphony of Geese and Swans was a bit overwhelming.
Snow Geese and Tundra Swans.
Its weird how the "Blue" morph Snow Geese seemed to stick together. I guess even Geese are a bit racist.
Canada Geese sounded completely different so it was easy to pick them out in the mix. In this small flock I believe I had a Cackling Goose. Note the shorter neck on the top left bird.
Upper right - possibly Cackling or maybe just a Lesser.
Back home on Sunday I birded a bit with Luke in the morning.
Fish Crow - longer wings and tail plus it was calling like a Fish Crow.
Harlequin Ducks!
Best bird of the week and I could have stayed home!
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