So I made the best of it and spent most of the day at Cape Point. It ended up being a good day for my year effort and actually for my NC Life List.
I am terrible with snakes, anyone?
A very pale looking Roseate Spoonbill had been seen the day before at Salt Pond and it did not take long to find it.
This young bird was almost a nicer looking bird compared to the typical adult because the face was missing the nasty facial skin that an adult has. Kind of the opposite from humans where the teenagers have the nasty facial skin.
The mighty call of the Spoonbill will knock you down if you are too close.
Black Tern on the far side of Salt Pond.
Dunlins look snazzy this time of year.
Black-necked Stilt
Gull-billed Tern
The Roseate had moved down the point and was loosely associating with a Snowy Egret.
My third Bank Swallow for the year flew by at Cape Point.
One of these days a White-winged Tern will show...
Sandwich Tern
Roseate Tern!! A NC life bird. Note the red legs, black bill and tail streamers extending past the wing tips.
Common on the left, Roseate in middle and I think the one on the right might actually be Forster's but could just be a Common with wings washed out in the light.
Roseate on the left.
I initially reported this as a Brown Booby but the photos are horrible so I changed to Sulid sp. Dwayne from the mountains was there with me and he also thought Brown Booby. We did not see any white rump when it banked, but it is possible the light was playing tricks on us.
Later in the afternoon I went up to Pea Island and saw about 20 White-rumps in different spots, but no Baird's.
This silhouette in the heat shimmer had me thinking Ruff, but it was hard to get any detail in the bad lighting.
This view confirmed it was a Red Knot! Ruff would have white underwing.
King Rail at the campground.
Yet another Bank Swallow in amongst the Barns.
Immature Gannet.
I camped out at the Cape Point campground and had Chucks calling when I woke. This time I was early for the boat!
We knew we would have Jaegers with the east wind and the first pelagic species ended up being a Pomarine Jaeger chasing an Audubon's Shearwater. I thought we would have tons of Audubon's later so did not try too hard to get better pics but this ended up being the only one... Never the less, you can see the white lores which distinguishes it from Manx.
Also the long tail in this pic.
SKUAAA!! This South Polar Skua came in fast and checked us out for a couple passes then left us as quickly as he came.
We had a ton of the two regular large Storm-petrels in Band-rumped and Leach's.
Leach's SP - evident from the forked tail.
Leach's SP - heart-shaped rump patch.
Wilson's SP
Leach's SP
Ohhhh Chocolatey Pomarine Jaeger!
Another Pom
This pic makes it look like the Pom was chasing the Black-capped but it was actually the other way around.
Wilson's
Another Leach's
Band-Rumped SP
Band-Rumped are getting easier to identify as I learn behavior. They will alight on the water more than Wilson's which hover more and they have more deliberate and snappy wing beats.
The Black-capped seemed to be all molting.
Band-rumped
Arctic Tern!
This poor bird had a bum leg hanging while it flew.
The first of two Trindade Petrels we had fly by. You need to be ready for this species because they typically pass by very quickly and do not linger around the boat.
Wilson's SPs rafting.
Sooty Shearwater!
El Diablotin as they are called in the Caribbean where they nest.
The second Trinidade Petrel of the day.
Cory's Shearwater
A great day out on the water. It kills me that the next boat on Saturday got two species of Tropicbird and some other good year birds, but you can't win them all. I hope to get out again in June sometime.
Great photos and a very entertaining story, although the rough start was so disappointing. Glad you said it was all going to work out... except for the missing money. I think a half-off coupon to any future pelagic trip would be a nice offer, but business is business.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: where you planning on taking two pelagic trips? Or did you schedule the second trip once you missed the first one?
BTW, I set TWO alarms -- either two alarms 15 minutes apart on my cell phone (or in a hotel, an alarm on the phone and on their alarm clock). Just in case.
I had a good week, too, despite the mostly-lousy weather. I spent a week in Florida visiting my parents in Daytona Beach and birding all over Volusia County (plus a couple of other counties). Usual routine was to get up really early and be birding by sunrise, then spend the afternoon with my father in the nursing home and the evening with my mother at their house. I managed to locate 113 bird species and submit 39 checklists in eight days (and that includes two days for driving north and south from Raleigh to FL).
Photos are not my forte but I managed to get a few good "snaps" of Limpkin, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Anhinga, Florida Scrub-Jay, and a very cooperative Magnificent Frigatebird.
Main thing is I recorded and uploaded 40 sound files to ebird... and five of them were "Sound Life Birds" for me! So my total is now 117 "Species with audio". Some of the audio birds included: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Limpkin, Northern Bobwhite, Black-necked Stilt, and Anhinga.
The only bummer of my trip was my Nikon ED50's eyepiece has moisture inside from all the rain. I've been trying to dry it out, but "waterproof" also means that once water gets in, it won't come out. I guess I have to send the eyepiece in for repair or replacement. The scope head is fine but a foggy eyepiece is a deal-breaker.
Looking forward to your next entry!
Erla B in Raleigh NC
Pretty outstanding! Tropicbirds would be phenom. but this pelagic looks super productive!
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% sure, but it appears that the snake in the first couple photos might be Cottonmouth. The banding looks spot on. You know what they say, "If you don't know what species of snake it is, go pick it up to have a closer look".
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, I actually did that and after it bit me I dropped to the floor with convulsions and foam coming out of my mouth. Does that help with the ID?
DeleteThe fang marks on your neck might be a dead giveaway. The snake's hemotoxin might burn for a few minutes. Next time just rub some dirt on it.
DeleteHi again Jamie,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've heard that "get close" method for snake identification - for rattlesnakes you need to see if the eye's pupil is round or upright-diamond shaped, and that means getting pretty darn close or having binoculars.
Anyway, I sent your blog link to Jeff Beane of the NCSM and he identified the snake as Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - a fine picture and a fine specimen!
Sorry for the delay in answering, as I had that answer quite a while ago, but I was in the NC Mountains June 1-2-3. Well, actually, I had to cancel the first part of my trip (morning birding on June 1) because several sections of the BRP were closed and steady rain in the forecast was discouraging. I worked four hours at my job instead, which made my required 40, saved the vacation day, and started west from Raleigh at 11:30. I took I85 west and I26 north, which sounds out of the way, but it really isn't when my target was Hendersonville. Arrived by 4 pm.
Funny thing: I got to Hooper Lane at 4:30, which is in Mills River, not far from Hendersonville. THat's where they see all sorts of weird birds for inland, including a long list of shorebirds and even BBWD showed up this past week. Well, the road was CLOSED for flooding and I didn't know how to get to the other side. My GPS was not cooperating. So I drove to my church retreat in Kanuga, resolving to return to Hooper Sunday morning on my way out.
I get back to Hooper Lane Sunday, find the other entrance, and guess what: NO SHOREBIRDS. The land had drained enough and they had all dispersed. Argh!
Other than that double disappointment, I had a good time birding (in between church activities). Birded at the Pink Beds and the campground at Mt Pisgah and those two took all of Saturday. I hiked at Kanuga (lots of trails) and I picked up a few birds on the way home... total was 68 species, 3 new for the year. (Red-breasted Nuthatch and Chestnut-sided and Blackburnian Warbler). I am working on recordings that I took that weekend.
Say, can you check on a recording? I have NO IDEA what this could be, other than an incredibly talented Song Sparrow. I recorded it singing in a rhododendron thicket at the Mt Pisgah Campground hotspot, close to the end of the trail where it opens to the picnic area (mile 408). Checklist is https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46244458
Yes, you need good speakers due to the background noise of the road. Scroll to the bottom of the list to "passerine" to hear the two recordings. It is a LONG song and as complex as a Winter Wren's. I sent the link to the guys at the NCSM and hope they can figure it out.
Talk to you soon! Erla B in Raleigh