Summer Doldrums (24-27Jun2021)

It's officially summer and the doldrums have set in.  Its taking a ton of chasing just to find one or two year birds and no-one seems to be finding anything rare with the exception of tons of Roseate Spoonbills being seen all over the state.  After my last huge dip for Black Rail at Cedar Island, I was looking for a quick win and headed to Brunswick County to pick up a Roseate Spoonbill.

I got to the nature trail a bit early and the tide had not pushed fully into the mudflats so the Spoonbill was not around.  These baby Green Herons and some more common birds kept me busy while I waited for the tide to fill in.

Finally as I was about to throw in the towel, he/she showed up.

Wood Stork

Round two of the Black Rail search began at Cedar Island pre-dawn on Saturday.  I walked about a mile on the causeway while Matthew W walked from the other direction.  Between the two of us we covered a couple miles of insect ridden marsh with no luck.

Matthew's jeans were covered in biting flies and the mosquitos were thick too.  The section of marsh where someone told me Black Rails were calling in previous weeks was totally burned up from a recent fire.  Some total idiot decided to light the marsh on fire to burn away some of the storm wrack in the middle of rail breeding season.  As if Black Rails already didn't have the cards stacked against them with global warming and habitat loss.  

Black Skimmer 

Least Bittern

After dipping on Black Rail a second time, we headed to Shackleford Banks to try for Reddish Egret.

Presumed Great Horned Owl being chased by a crow.  It didn't take too long to find some Reddish Egrets and we moved in to get closer.

Reddish Egret

First time I ever had three in one photo!

Marbled Godwit

On July 2nd I tried one more time at Cedar Island because this time the wind was north and I figured I would nab it.  No luck!  The biting insects were horrendous and it got light out too fast.  So I decided to salvage the drive and went surfing at Atlantic Beach.  We have had a pretty good stretch of waves lately.  Nothing big but super fun.

I have also been taking advantage of the slow birding to get out on my Stand Up Paddleboard.  On this outing at Fort Fisher I saw a giant Sea Turtle surface right next to my SUP.  I think it was a Loggerhead.

Finally, I have been joining my dogs to catch up on sleep and relax a little.  Looking forward to a trip up to Maine next weekend if Tropical Storm Elsa does ruin our flight plans.

Paco - he is getting so old and sleeps most of the day now but he can still run like the wind and catch a frisbee mid-air.

Rosa- she is also getting old and her Arthritis prevents her from doing much of anything but she still seems to enjoy life in general.