Ruff and Gray Kingbird (12-18Apr2021)

We finally have had a couple of good birds show up after what seemed to be a dry spell, but late winter always seems that way.  In April even a trip to your local park will yield a few year birds each time you go out.

Male Orchard Oriole at Burnt Mill Creek in Wilmington.

Young male Orchard, some of the burgundy is starting to show.

Baltimore Oriole - all these orioles were in the same tree.

I was trying to tell this Anhinga "you got something on your bill near the end" and he just stared at me ignoring the fuzz stuck on his bill as if it wasn't there.

Prairie Warblers never get old.

Great Crested Flycatchers are mostly heard before seen.  

One morning I took a trip to the Bear Garden Tract in Holly Shelter.  What an awesome place!  However, the Swainson's and Kentucky Warblers I was targeting were not there yet.

Red-eyed Vireo

Summer Tanager

Another Great Crested Flycatcher

A Ruff was found up at Morgan Futch Gameland in Tyrrell County (home of the most enthusiastic traffic cops in NC), so I had to make a trip up to see it.  The VOA site in Bear Grass was just a short detour so it wasn't hard to convince myself to stop there first thing in the morning.  I was not disappointed. 

As soon as I got out of my truck I heard multiple Henslow's Sparrows and one was out in the open!

I obtained the best photos in my collection and even made some sound recordings.

Eastern Towhee

I didn't stay long as I had a date with a Ruff.

Wow that was easy!  The Ruff was quite a ways out in an impoundment but once I got there it was easy to spot it especially as there were other shorebirds to compare it to like this Lesser Yellowlegs.

At the time I called this Dowitcher a Short-billed based on the kink in the bill, but now I am questioning my ID.  

Glossy Ibis

Wilson's Snipe

Blue-winged Teal

Caspian Tern

Sleepy Orange Butterfly I think.

The Glossy was keeping one eye on the sky and I was too as Ricky had seen a Golden Eagle earlier in the week.  I saw a couple Bald Eagles but dipped on Golden.

Back home I made some local trips to parks and got some improved pics of a Northern Parula at Oleander Memorial Gardens.

This pregnant Possum was just strolling around in broad daylight and the birds were going cuckoo.

They are kind of cute when not snarling.

I was getting kind of sick of waiting for an ideal Fish Crow pic so this one will have to do so I can put it on my photographed year list.  I hope to get some video later as really you can only separate Fish and American this time of year based on calls unless you are a Crow expert. I assure you it called the trademark Uh-Uh call.

A Gray Kingbird was found up at Pea Island, but I was hesitating to drive 5 hours without knowing for sure it was still there, so I decided to drive 2 hours and bird the New Bern area and only pull the trigger on Pea Island once the bird was re-found.  Wilmington just stinks for migrants and finding things like Wood Thrush or Yellow-throated Vireo can be hard.  I saw some recent reports from a park east of New Bern called Latham Whitehurst and so I checked it out.  What an awesome park!  Lots of old hardwood habitat, and some marshy areas. The only thing it was missing was a fast moving stream.

Wood Duck 

The song of the Wood Thrush is simply enthralling.  I could spend hours listening to the symphony in the wood.

The song of the Yellow-throated Vireo on the other hand is a little grating in my opinion.  Its getting easy to differentiate the song from other vireos because of the burry quality and the slower cadence.

I am going with Carolina Satyr for this one.

I as I was rounding the last part of the loop trail I got the message I was waiting for.  The Gray Kingbird was re-located at Pea Island.

When I got there I was a little disheartened that someone was already there and had not seen it in 45 minutes since arriving.  However, 5 minutes later there it was!

Gray Kingbird fluffing its feathers.

I love it when a plan comes together!

On my way back a Common Raven was found at the Oregon Inlet Campground and when I got there I saw it being chased by Fish Crows in the back dunes.  Unfortunately I didn't get the camera out before it disappeared behind the dunes.  The above pic is a Fish Crow.  I stayed another 30 min but it didn't come back.  It seems it is back again as I write this so hopefully it is there next time I head that way.  It is a Dare County first!

Back home at Carolina Beach SP I found this Southern Pearly-eye - the antennal clubs were all orange.  The Northern has black clubs with orange tips.

Somehow I still didn't have a pic of a Marsh Wren so I settled for this disheveled one.

This Summer Tanager was singing up a storm at the Federal Point cemetery.  I am enjoying getting sound recordings lately.

Whats next?