Every year I make one or two pilgrimages to Shackleford Banks to bag me a European godwit and a Western curlew and also Reddish Egrets. However, the real reason is I love it there. So beautiful and usually totally quiet and solitary. I made good time up into Carteret County and as I was driving across the new section of Highway 70, I noticed the Sandhill Cranes were unusually close to the road so I swung around and re-acquainted myself with them.
I had planned my trip to Shack this winter to coincide with a high tide which makes finding the shorebirds much easier as they rest on the beach usually in large flocks. So I was super disappointed when I arrived at the ferry terminal at Harker's Island to find a sign that the 10:00am ferry was canceled and the next one would be 11:30am. High tide was at 11am so by the time I got there it would already be ebbing and I would risk missing the congregation of shore birds. Oh well, when given lemons make lemonade. I took a walk around the trails near the Core Sound Museum.
These crazy looking Mock Oyster mushrooms (Phyllotopsis nidulans) were all over the place. Apparently they smell bad but I didn't notice.
No idea what these are but pretty cool as well.
Nature is cool.
Semi-palmated Plover
For some reason this House Wren was flagging as rare in eBird. Note the tick on his brow. Apparently birds frequently get ticks and mites.
Even from his good side you could see that the tick was not a small thing.
Downy WP
Periodically I was checking on the ferry and the guy working the window was saying unless some other people showed they would not leave. They needed a minimum of 4 people to shove off. Arrghhh... After considering paying for 4 tickets some cars started to come in and 5 minutes before scheduled departure we had a grand total of 5 people including me. YAY! Off we went.
I must have looked like a crazy person to the other two people that got dropped off on Shack because I took off running to get to the south beach where the birds congregate at high tide. It's a good thing I did because I was running around the bend, I saw huge sections of the flock starting to lift off and fly towards the mudflats on the north end which at that time were starting to reveal themselves. I focused in on the Marbled Godwit flocks knowing that the Bar-tailed Godwit mostly hangs out with them and quickly honed in on a smaller bird in the group. EUREKAAAAaa!
Bar-tailed Godwit leading the pack!
I was so lucky that it decided to fly along the shoreline instead of over the dunes which many of the birds were doing. These shots are great because you can actually see the barred tail which distinguishes it from the Black-tailed.
As I was paying attention to the Bar-tailed, the Long-billed Curlew slipped behind me but I swiveled and got off this distant shot which shows the difference in bills compared with a Marbled. Don't worry dear readers, I managed to hunt the LB down for better pics.
Whimbrels - noticeably shorter bills and plainer plumage.
Oystercatchers
I had over 20 Piping Plovers!
Marbled Godwit
Western SP hanging out with a Dunlin.
Wilson's Plover - there is a pretty good group of over-wintering Wilson's here which is weird because we don't have them further south.
Once I got my fill on the south beach, I crossed the dunes and hiked onto the mudflats trail.
Greater Yellowlegs - the bill didn't look too long and I almost mis-identified it.
Ah that's a better angle, definitely a Greater.
Long-billed Curlew - I suppose this is the same one that was on the beach but its possible there are two.
Great times, I made it just in time for the early boat back so I could get home in time for dinner.
These Wild Turkeys were hanging out on the side of the highway on the way home.
Northern Flicker - Here is a random photo from my front lawn during the week taken through my office window.
Yesterday we finally had some sun so I skipped out a bit early from work and took a quick walk at Burnt Mill Creek.
Rusty Blackbirds were thick
Anhinga
Can't wait for this weekend! 2nd winter pelagic is on for Sunday.
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