It's a shame that the mountains are so far from the sea in NC because if I had my way, I would spend my time in both areas equally. That's what I love about the west coast and Central America, you can spend half of a day on the coast and half in the mountains.
This Blue Dasher was in my back yard down on the coast. That is a piece of rebar, not a Tootsie Roll.
Least Tern at Wrightsville Beach.
Eastern Amberwing at Airlie Gardens.
A very late Common Loon at Mason Inlet.
Five-Lined Skink at Airlie. Apparently there are three different species that look similar within a grouping called Five-Lined Skink (Broadhead and Southeastern). I did not inspect this little guy's underparts so we will just leave the ID as Five-Lined Skink.
My buddy Robert down in Southport gave me a heads up on some Black-bellied Whistlers on his neighborhood pond and coincidentally I was planning a beach walk down on Oak Island so I made a short stop to see them.
Black-bellied Whistling-ducks.
Common Tern and Masonboro Inlet.
People are so clueless when it comes to birds or they just don't care. I don't know how many dogs I have seen off leash in the bird nesting areas in the past month but lets just say I don't have that many fingers and toes.
Last week we took a consolation trip up the mountains to make up for the fact that our Norway trip got canceled. The weather forecast was horrible but we had already paid up a couple weeks prior to we soldiered up.
The house/cabin we secured was awesome. The location was great, up near the TN border, but also close to Valle Crucis and Boone.
Dark-eyed Juncos were the most common birds up in the mountains.
This Barred Owl was hanging out in the forest behind the cabin/house.
One of the weird things about this trip is that COVID was making trips to town to get food a tricky proposition. While we waited for some curbside pickup and trying to avoid the crowds in Boone, we headed to Brookshire Park. What a great place, I would like to spend more time there sometime soon.
I am starting to get more comfortable with Traillii versus other empidonax flycatchers but still need vocalization to seal the deal within the Traillii complex (Willow and Alder). This one was doing the Wit call which is markedly different than the Peet call that alders do. Also, the habitat was much better than for Alder which prefers higher elevation.
In the morning I managed to convince the family to head to Camp Creek on the Blue Ridge Parkway for our first walk/hike. Melissa and Luke went for a run along the Parkway and George stuck with me for my primary target which happened to be the other Traillii flycatcher. Sam had posted several weeks ago Alder Flycatcher sightings at this spot and I remembered this spot from previous drives on the BRP. A really beautiful high boggy area surrounded by pastures and conifers.
Alder Flycatcher - this one was found quickly as I heard him singing immediately. I will post the audio on the eBird checklist. I have been making more of an effort to record audio which is helping me learn more.
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Many of the birds I found were carrying food to nestlings.
Wood Thrushes were singing their beautiful song and I got some recordings despite the incessant motorcycle traffic. The rain did not do much to discourage the motorheads. What in the world is the point of riding up to the BRP if your intent is to completely drown out the natural sounds with your engine?... ARGH... I have inherited my father's Misophonia. To save you looking up the word, here is the definition :
Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.
I have it bad! Motorcycles on the BRP are probably the biggest source of my anger response, but my poor son also triggers it when he eats his cereal anywhere near me. I feel like a really bad father when I yell at him to stop, but it makes my blood boil. My neighbors pool filter is another big source of annoyance. Maybe I need some medication. For now, birding is my solace.
This Scarlet Tanager was hitting the right notes and I was experiencing the absolute opposite of Misophonia, auditory bliss.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Once my wife and son made it back from their run, they made the suggestion to head over to Linville Falls and they didn't have to twist my arm too much. The entrance to the falls is only several miles from Camp Creek.
Black-throated Green Warbler
I need to start carrying a smaller lens for landscapes. This is the most pulled out shot I could get of the falls and I can confirm they are much taller.
Canada Warbler
BT Green
Canada again.
On the way home we stopped in Valle Crucis, one of my favorite towns in NC and specifically I love the community park. It was kind of wet and the light way bad but I was able to scout out a few good birds and the next morning Melissa and I went for a nice walk in the community park while the boys slept in. I was able to find all the birds from the previous evening and some more too.
White- Breasted Nuthatch - due to the rain, there was no one there which was quite nice actually.
This Frog was in heaven. Will ID it later.
Tons of Yellow Warblers were signing and flying around during a brief pause in the rain.
Then I heard the CHEbek call of a Least Flycatcher and it did not take long to find it. Note the short primary projection on the wing tips and the fairly pronounced eye-ring. I will post the audio to eBird too.
House Wrens were also very vocal.
Baltimore Orioles nest at this park and their song is one of my favorites. The notes are so rich and clear.
Breeding plumage Goldfinches provide some sunshine in an otherwise rainy day.
Once the boys were awake we motivated ourselves for a hike up the Grandfather Profile Trail in the north side of the ridge. I was worried about rain but the whole hike was dry and temps were nice and cool which is nice when you have 2000 feet of elevation change and a 400mm camera to lug.
Blue-headed Vireo
As were Winter Wrens.
We took a left off the Profile Trail and followed the ridge up to Calloway Peak which is the highest peak on the Blue Ridge. I guess Mt Mitchell is not technically on the Blue Ridge.
Love the tooting of a Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Yellow-rumped Warbler! One of the few holdouts of his clan that breed in NC.
Juncos also were looking for bread crumbs.
Luckily my wife took a couple of human pictures to document the arrival on the peak because you know I am horrible about scenery pics.
Can't believe Luke is almost as tall as I am now.
Melissa with her new Valle Crucis hat!
On the way down, the family went ahead and I took my sweet time stopping for some birdies.
I usually don't play with flash, but this Winter Wren was asking for it.
Canada Warbler
I think I heard about a dozen Winter Wrens.
Brown Creeper!
Wow, I thought I would get this trip in one post but its a ton of pics. Will finish with my next post.
Cheers
This Blue Dasher was in my back yard down on the coast. That is a piece of rebar, not a Tootsie Roll.
Least Tern at Wrightsville Beach.
Eastern Amberwing at Airlie Gardens.
Horace's Duskywing
A very late Common Loon at Mason Inlet.
Five-Lined Skink at Airlie. Apparently there are three different species that look similar within a grouping called Five-Lined Skink (Broadhead and Southeastern). I did not inspect this little guy's underparts so we will just leave the ID as Five-Lined Skink.
My buddy Robert down in Southport gave me a heads up on some Black-bellied Whistlers on his neighborhood pond and coincidentally I was planning a beach walk down on Oak Island so I made a short stop to see them.
Black-bellied Whistling-ducks.
Common Tern and Masonboro Inlet.
People are so clueless when it comes to birds or they just don't care. I don't know how many dogs I have seen off leash in the bird nesting areas in the past month but lets just say I don't have that many fingers and toes.
Last week we took a consolation trip up the mountains to make up for the fact that our Norway trip got canceled. The weather forecast was horrible but we had already paid up a couple weeks prior to we soldiered up.
The house/cabin we secured was awesome. The location was great, up near the TN border, but also close to Valle Crucis and Boone.
Dark-eyed Juncos were the most common birds up in the mountains.
This Barred Owl was hanging out in the forest behind the cabin/house.
One of the weird things about this trip is that COVID was making trips to town to get food a tricky proposition. While we waited for some curbside pickup and trying to avoid the crowds in Boone, we headed to Brookshire Park. What a great place, I would like to spend more time there sometime soon.
This Willow Flycatcher was one of the first birds to greet me at the park and while my family walked on I spent some quality time watching him/her fly catching in the boggy area.
I am starting to get more comfortable with Traillii versus other empidonax flycatchers but still need vocalization to seal the deal within the Traillii complex (Willow and Alder). This one was doing the Wit call which is markedly different than the Peet call that alders do. Also, the habitat was much better than for Alder which prefers higher elevation.
In the morning I managed to convince the family to head to Camp Creek on the Blue Ridge Parkway for our first walk/hike. Melissa and Luke went for a run along the Parkway and George stuck with me for my primary target which happened to be the other Traillii flycatcher. Sam had posted several weeks ago Alder Flycatcher sightings at this spot and I remembered this spot from previous drives on the BRP. A really beautiful high boggy area surrounded by pastures and conifers.
Alder Flycatcher - this one was found quickly as I heard him singing immediately. I will post the audio on the eBird checklist. I have been making more of an effort to record audio which is helping me learn more.
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Many of the birds I found were carrying food to nestlings.
Wood Thrushes were singing their beautiful song and I got some recordings despite the incessant motorcycle traffic. The rain did not do much to discourage the motorheads. What in the world is the point of riding up to the BRP if your intent is to completely drown out the natural sounds with your engine?... ARGH... I have inherited my father's Misophonia. To save you looking up the word, here is the definition :
Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.
I have it bad! Motorcycles on the BRP are probably the biggest source of my anger response, but my poor son also triggers it when he eats his cereal anywhere near me. I feel like a really bad father when I yell at him to stop, but it makes my blood boil. My neighbors pool filter is another big source of annoyance. Maybe I need some medication. For now, birding is my solace.
This Scarlet Tanager was hitting the right notes and I was experiencing the absolute opposite of Misophonia, auditory bliss.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Once my wife and son made it back from their run, they made the suggestion to head over to Linville Falls and they didn't have to twist my arm too much. The entrance to the falls is only several miles from Camp Creek.
Black-throated Green Warbler
I need to start carrying a smaller lens for landscapes. This is the most pulled out shot I could get of the falls and I can confirm they are much taller.
Canada Warbler
BT Green
Canada again.
On the way home we stopped in Valle Crucis, one of my favorite towns in NC and specifically I love the community park. It was kind of wet and the light way bad but I was able to scout out a few good birds and the next morning Melissa and I went for a nice walk in the community park while the boys slept in. I was able to find all the birds from the previous evening and some more too.
White- Breasted Nuthatch - due to the rain, there was no one there which was quite nice actually.
Tons of Yellow Warblers were signing and flying around during a brief pause in the rain.
Then I heard the CHEbek call of a Least Flycatcher and it did not take long to find it. Note the short primary projection on the wing tips and the fairly pronounced eye-ring. I will post the audio to eBird too.
House Wrens were also very vocal.
Baltimore Orioles nest at this park and their song is one of my favorites. The notes are so rich and clear.
Breeding plumage Goldfinches provide some sunshine in an otherwise rainy day.
Once the boys were awake we motivated ourselves for a hike up the Grandfather Profile Trail in the north side of the ridge. I was worried about rain but the whole hike was dry and temps were nice and cool which is nice when you have 2000 feet of elevation change and a 400mm camera to lug.
Blue-headed Vireo
Hermit Thrushes were signing.
As were Winter Wrens.
We took a left off the Profile Trail and followed the ridge up to Calloway Peak which is the highest peak on the Blue Ridge. I guess Mt Mitchell is not technically on the Blue Ridge.
This American Red Squirrel was obviously used to hikers taking a break on the peak and maybe a few handouts. I may have dropped some PB&J by accident.
Yellow-rumped Warbler! One of the few holdouts of his clan that breed in NC.
Juncos also were looking for bread crumbs.
Luckily my wife took a couple of human pictures to document the arrival on the peak because you know I am horrible about scenery pics.
Can't believe Luke is almost as tall as I am now.
Melissa with her new Valle Crucis hat!
On the way down, the family went ahead and I took my sweet time stopping for some birdies.
I usually don't play with flash, but this Winter Wren was asking for it.
Canada Warbler
I think I heard about a dozen Winter Wrens.
Wow, I thought I would get this trip in one post but its a ton of pics. Will finish with my next post.
Cheers
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