Sampson, Johnston, Wayne and Duplin Counties plus a Brunswick Rarity (20-25Feb2023)

This past weekend was spent visiting some of the counties that don't seem to get any love from a birding perspective.  To give you an idea, Samson County appears to have only 6 birding hotspots in eBird and the one with the most birds is Weeks Park in Newton Grove with only 78 species.  The other spots seem to be random spots that people birded on a roadside!  

As a comparison Airlie Gardens in my home county has 239 species and Fort Fisher Spit has 278!  

Much of the reason for that is habitat but lots of it is also the fact that people just don't bird Sampson County very hard.  This is despite Sampson county being the 2nd largest county in NC at 944 square miles which is 4 times larger than New Hanover!

First some pics from during the week....

On Monday Melissa took a nice walk on the south end of Wrightsville with me.

Razorbills were working the rip right at the southern tip.

The American Oystercatchers seem to already be claiming territory for nesting.

Bonaparte's Gull

Another day also at the south end there were a couple Great Cormorants on the rocks.

Meanwhile at the north end, the gull flocks have been getting huge.

Thousands of gulls come streaming in from the dump inland and the ocean side as well.  Unfortunately they all stay over at Figure 8 Island because of all the dog walkers at Wrightsville.

I have been diligently scanning for white-winged gulls (Glaucous or Iceland) with no luck.

Saturday was going to be raining and crappy weather but I had to wake up super early (5am) to bring George to a parking lot in town to hand him off to some friends for his regatta in Charleston so I figured why not take advantage and keep driving.

My first stop would be the aforementioned Weeks Park in Newton Grove, Sampson County.

Even though it's the second largest county, there are only 63k people in it.  Its mostly farm land with basically no gamelands or state parks.  I neglected to take pics in Weeks Park.  It's basically a small postage stamp park with a ball field and some Basketball courts, nothing crazy interesting and somewhat sad for Sampson that this was the best hotspot.  I hadn't planned to visit Johnston County but I was now very close to one of my favorite places in NC, Howell Woods!  So I decided to head over and see what it was like in the winter.  In the spring it comes alive with breeding species like Wood Thrushes and Kentucky Warblers.  In the winter apparently its all about the Fox Sparrows!

On the way I stopped at some fields near some of the historic Battlefields in the area and picked up a flock of American Pipits but it was raining and they were pretty far out.  For you Civil War buffs, here is a link about the famous Bentonville Battlefield which is in this area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonville_Battlefield

This kind of history doesn't really interest me much.  Johnston County is more populous than Sampson with over 200k people and it is 790 square miles which makes it the 10th largest county.  I suppose the reason it is more populous is its proximity to Raleigh and also the fact that it straddles Interstate 95.

I was mainly focusing my time in the lower parts, but will probably head further north later in the year.

Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center is a bit of a misnomer because they are constantly having hunting in there and they cordon off the areas when hunts are on and I rarely see any learning activities going on.  That being said, it still is an amazing tract of land with some great big hardwoods and successional habitat.  It's owned and run by Johnston County Community College.

https://www.johnstoncc.edu/howellwoods/

When I pulled up it was very quiet from a human standpoint and the rain had mostly stopped. 

I couldn't believe how many Fox Sparrows were hanging around the parking area.

But I was there to take a walk so off I went.  

I only walked the inner loop and did 2.5 miles.  Unfortunately there was hunting going on outside the inner loop so I couldn't visit some of my favorite spots.  

This Bigfoot cut out was strategically placed behind some trees so when I finally caught it in my peripheral vision it actually succeeded in making me jump.

There wasn't anything else of note except some other common sparrows and woodpeckers.  So I hit the road again and started driving in the general direction of Wayne County.  It didn't take long for me to find some more farm fields with some Pipit activity.

Finding Pipits actually isn't that easy.  As you can see from this uncropped shot, it would be easy to miss Pipits in this field unless you study it closely.

American Pipit - once I found them I parked on the side of the road and waited for them to come to me.  It was starting to rain again so I was happy to sit in the car and watch/wait.

Many of the farm fields in the area had a purple blanket of flowers which was quite stunning.  This picture underwhelms but you get the idea.

In Mount Olive I stopped at a small park in the middle of town and watched from the truck as common birds flew around.

Mount Olive is a town in Wayne County near the border of Duplin County.  They are most famous for their pickles and pickle festival!

https://www.mtolivepickles.com/

Luke used to love these pickles so the label is very familiar to me.  I will have to visit the pickle festival this year.  Looks like it is in April.

Wayne County is the 30th largest county in NC and has over 100k people mainly thanks to Goldsboro which is a fairly large town.  I will probably head back sometime soon as Goldsboro has a decent wastewater treatment plant with some good birds.

My final planned county for the day was Duplin County.  

Duplin county is the 9th largest county in NC at 816 square miles and has about 60k people in it.  When I research hotspots in eBird I found a park called Cabin Lake State Park near Beulaville.  It was still raining but I had an umbrella and I like exploring parks when there are no people around.

I set off on the 2 plus mile walk around Cabin Lake and never ran into another person the whole time!

The trail was a little squishy but I had some knee high boots to keep me dry.

There were some nice bridges over creeks and oxbows on the lake.

I was having a good time despite low bird activity.  I got an alert of a Heermann's Gull at Caswell Beach, NC which was about an hour and a half away but an hour closer to home.   At first I decided I would pass because I had the state first Heermann's Gull last year at Wrightsville and I didn't think it was worth chasing this one for a county tick.

So I finished my walk at a leisurely pace but then got hungry and visited a local taco place in Beulaville and got myself a Torta.  By the time I was back on the road it was 1:30pm and I decided that I may as well head to Caswell Beach while I listed to a podcast.  I had nothing better to do on a rainy Saturday as I can't really work in the yard when its raining.

When I arrived at Caswell Beach, I ran into Ricky D, Trevor S and Bob C just getting ready to leave.  They had been looking for a while where the Heermann's was last seen with no luck.  So we decided to split up and head in opposite directions.  Ricky went further east down the beach and Trevor, Bob and I drove over to the Yaupon Pier in Oak Island which is about a mile west from Caswell. 

Plenty of Red-throated Loons were swimming around and there were tons of Gannets and Pelicans fishing.

I finally spotted the Heermann's about a couple hundred yards out in the ocean and alerted Bob and Trevor and called Ricky.

It took off from the water with a Great Black-backed Gull friend and flew west along the beach.  Luckily it touched down on the beach and when Ricky joined us we walked down to get some closer looks.

Every couple minutes it would go out and join the pelicans trying to get some craps but it would circle again and land next to his GBBG friend.  It really looked as though they were some kind of odd couple.

High fives all around.  This was a NC bird for Ricky and Trevor and Bob.  

Not a bad Saturday despite the rain but only a couple year birds for me.

Sunday was uneventful but beautiful so I stayed home and worked all day in the yard.  I have been neglecting it lately so it needed a lot of love.  I am starting to get my spring garden ready for planting.  I probably will wait one more week to clear any chance of a frost.

Larry Birds at 25 counties down and 75 to go!  That's 25% done for those of you a little rusty on math.

What's next??

NC Gives me the Finger(s) and I dip in Dare and Washington Again (13-19Feb2023)

My plan to visit the five Finger Counties in NC this President's Day weekend was almost foiled by my continuing bad luck with the Swainson's Hawk in Dare County.   I spent more than a full day looking for it and other things at Alligator before I pulled the plug and went on my real mission which was to visit the five finger counties of far north eastern NC bordering on Virginia. 

The Finger Counties are five "fingers" formed by counties bordered by rivers with similar names which drain down into Albemarle Sound. I visited them in order from east to west, but first let's go through some pics from earlier in the week and then my misadventures in Washington and Dare counties.

Razorbills have been coming into the inlets and hanging out on the inside of the intracoastal waterway in Wilmington.

Horned Grebe at Masonboro Inlet.

A million dollar view only accentuated by the Pacific Loon on the right and Common Loon on the left.

I can't get enough of Bonaparte's Gulls despite their omnipresence. 

Ring-billed Gulls are looking snappy now and will be leaving soon for their summers up north in the Niagara area.

Forster's Tern - the pirate of Sterna not by behavior but by virtue of the eye-patch.

ARrgghhhh!

Pacific Loon on the left?  Not the most convincing one.

I left bright and early on Saturday morning (my 47th birthday) and arrived at the Cresswell ponds just around 8am.  I was absolutely ecstatic that all the geese were hanging out close to the road on the grass but as soon as I pulled up and parked the whole lot of them were scared by a Bald Eagle or something and they all flew out to the middle of the pond which made looking for rarities downright difficult.

I did finally find some Cackling Geese including this one in the middle right of center.  That was not an auspicious start to the day.... The pain only continued.

I arrived at Alligator at around 9:30 am only to hear that the Swainson's had just been seen soaring at Link Rd and took off into parts unknown.  Ughh..

I basically spent all day at Alligator getting crappy views like this of soaring raptors but I was unable to convince myself that any of them were anything other than Red-Tailed Hawks.

I did however pick up this Merlin which was surprisingly new for the year.

Immature Red-tailed Hawk

The Merlin flew across the road and posed in better light in the Maple trees.

An American River Otter was a nice find in the canals bordering Wildlife Drive.

Eastern Painted Turtle

Even Northern Harriers were making me look twice as some had tails shorter than I would expect.

At around 3pm someone reported a Thick-billed Murre at Jeannette's Pier.  I thought the odds of getting there in time were slim but I was getting frustrated waiting for the Swainson's Hawk so I took off.

As expected, the Thick-billed had moved on and the only person to see it was the guy who reported it.  There were plenty of Razorbills and it was fun to catch up with some peeps I hadn't seen in a while.  

I did go back to Alligator to try and look for the hawk hoping it would roost just before dark and I did find a hawk that looked good way back in the pines but when I got out of my truck it flushed.  

After a burger at Bro's Sandwich Shop, I tried for Saw Whets at Bodie but struck out again.  Admittedly I didn't try very hard.  I prefer to get my Saw Whets in the mountains.

Sunday morning like a true glutton for punishment, I headed back to Alligator and tried again for several hours but failed again and again to find the Swainson's.  I was not the only one dipping, there were many birders there looking as well.  The few people that have been reporting it have been long distance soaring views which I don't really like because birds can easily confuse the observer depending on posture.  What I don't understand is several folks have reported details like the number of primary feathers on the open wing in flight but then say they couldn't get a picture due to distance.  Maybe their cameras aren't any good.

A Red Wolf was a good consolation.  Note the red radio collar which is the easy way to ID it from the more common Coyote.

Common Yellowthroat

This very light juvenile Red-tailed Hawk has been fooling many people but the markings on the belly and the fact that the wings are short compared to the tail seal the deal.

I finally pulled the plug for good at around 11am and headed to Jeannette's to check and see if any interesting alcids had showed up.

A huge flock of Cormorants numbering in the thousands was fun to watch fly by the end of the pier.

Some of the Razorbills had very slim bills and I couldn't help wonder if some people report Murres by accident.

Bottlenose Dolphin

Here is one of those very thin-billed Razorbills.

And another.

It was fun but frustrating to come up empty with a day and a half of looking.  So I finally decided to continue on my primary mission which was to visit some new counties.  In fact, it was almost cathartic to be able to decide for good that the year effort would no longer be focused on numbers of birds and instead only to visit all counties.  Those of you that have been following me for years will know that I always go hard at the beginning of each year to see if I would be on pace for a Big Year.  Up until now, I had continued to entertain it but now I see I am almost 20 birds behind the pace of the prior Big Year at this time in February.  Part of it is luck but most of it is the fact that there were more rarities being reported in past years.

The plan was to head north from Nags Head and take the bridge over into the Finger Counties.  First up was Currituck county which actually has two fingers with the far eastern one of them originating in Virginia and ending down in Dare County near Duck.  The main western finger in Currituck is bordered by Currituck Sound on the east and the North River on the west side.

The population is relatively small with around 24k people and the land mass is also small at 261 square miles making it the 87th largest county in NC.  The county seat is Currituck.

I somewhat randomly chose Maple Park in Currituck county as my first spot.  It ended up being nothing special in terms of birds.  Perhaps most of the issue was simply that I was visiting in the middle of the day.  In fact initially I was having trouble finding anything but some Canada Geese but I found a trail leading into the woods and did end up getting a handful of common birds.  The park is pretty huge with pond habitat, marsh, athletic fields and even an airport landing strip nearby.

Next up was the Senior Boardwalk in Camden County which was marginally more interesting with an old rickety boardwalk leading through a cypress swamp and bordered by Sawyer's Creek where it meets the Pasquotank River.  I was the only one there for the whole time I walked around.  Its a small trail but quite nice.

Kind of a weird name for a trail but I guess it starts at a Senior Living center.

The seat of Camden County is you guessed it, Camden.

Camden County is the fourth least populated county in NC with only 10k people and the 8th smallest in area with only 240 square miles.  Maybe before the year is through I will head back and visit the Great Dismal Swamp with my kayak.  I have always wanted to visit this large cypress swamp in one of the most northern parts of its range.

My camera typically has a hard time with Winter Wrens because of the mottled plumage throwing off the sensors, but this guy was cooperative and allowed multiple shots.

Up next was Pasquotank County!  Pasquotank County has 4 times as many people (40k) as Camden but is even smaller with only 226 square miles.  This is by virtue of the fact that Elizabeth City is in Pasquotank and is a pretty good sized town although I think the name including "city" is a little much.  I would love to spend some more time exploring Elizabeth City, it has a really nice main street and the parks are top notch.  Pasquotank county is bordered by the Pasquotank River on the east side and the Little River on the west side.

I chose to visit a park called Fenwick-Hollowell Memorial Wetland Area right on the Pasquotank River as it had recently hosted a Lark Sparrow. The original finder of the bird had the presence of mind to specify the location which was entrance #3 to the wetland.  I didn't know where that was but figured that I would find out when I got there.  It was easy as pie!  

Lark Sparrow right where advertised - walkway #3.  The park itself was really nice with a boardwalk weaving through a marsh bordering the Pasquotank River.

At first I thought I had lucked into some Muskrats because these guys were so small.  It didn't register that they were young ones.....

Until I saw them next to mom!

Even after spending a half hour at each park, I realized I may be able to visit all the fingers at my current pace.  I had two more counties to go.  This was easier than I thought because Route 17 runs right through all these counties and the parks are mostly near to the 17.  This is the same Route 17 that runs all the way to Wilmington so it was good to know I was getting closer to home.

Next up was Missing Mill Park in Perquimans County!  This park sits right in downtown Hertford, NC which also looked like a really nice small town with a picturesque draw bridge and a sleepy vibe.

Perquimans County is the 10th smallest county in NC at 247 square miles and again one of the least populous with only 13k people.  When my buddy Bob called me and I told him I was in Hertford, he told that it was home to the legendary Jim "Catfish" Hunter.  I am not a baseball fan so I had to look it up.

https://www.catfishfoundation.org/jch/

Interesting...

An old barge on the waterfront with an old bridge skeleton on it.

This boardwalk has seen better days!

The picturesque town of Hertford where time stands still.

Who would have thought the best bird of the trip would swim out into the Perquimans River in downtown Hertford.

Greater White-fronted Goose!   It was nice to find this bird after so much heartbreak in missing the Swainson's Hawk and I took it as a sign from the birding gods that I would be more rewarded for my county birding than I would in trying to rack up big year numbers.

Just as I was about to leave, this Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in chasing some Starlings.

I had just enough time to visit one more finger county before dark.  Chowan county is literally the smallest in NC at only 172 square miles.   The population is also small at 14k people with Edenton being the only reason it doesn't have much less.  The Chowan River hems in the county on the west side.

I saw on eBird that the Edenton Fish Hatchery was a good hotspot but I neglected to research that you can't get into it after hours.  Oops.. I birded around the perimeter fence and read some of the interpretive signs.  This fish hatchery is one of the most important hatcheries in the state for Striped Bass and American Shad.  They hatch them and then release them into the nearby rivers.

I will definitely go back to this spot which looks to have tons of potential.

It was time to hit the road as the sun started setting.

Sunsets never look as good on photos as they do in person.  About 30 minutes into my drive my stomach started sending me signals and I spied a BBQ on the side of the highway.

Hmm.... Porky's?  I decided to roll the dice and give it a try without googling it.  I want to get out of my comfort zone and try some places that are not just based on good reviews so i can get the full local experience even if it means its not a good experience.

The food was simultaneously delicious and disgusting (fatty and unhealthy food and not the most clean of places).  I had a half rack of ribs, some collared greens and some kind of cabbage dish.  I felt sated but a little guilty when I left and headed back on the road.  

Great times and 5 more counties down for a total of 21 counties out of 100!