My buddy Marty W has been finding all kinds of cool stuff in Carteret County lately so I decided to take a day on the weekend and make the trip. It ended up being way more cold and windy than I thought it would be, but the birds didn't seem to mind.
I made it up shortly after first light at the Ocean View Cemetery in Beaufort. Some of the recent sightings there included a Western Tanager, Clay-colored Sparrow and Cape May Warbler. I only found the Clay-colored.
Clay-colored Sparrow hanging out with a bunch of Chippers.
Blue-headed Vireo
European Starlings
Orange-crowned Warbler
Blue Jay
I did eventually see a large yellow bird flyby in the cedars but I couldn't get a confirmatory look. I decided to move on.
Just a little down the road, there was a Bullock's Oriole coming to a feeder, and I was able to get permission to drive in and use my truck as a blind in the driveway.
First a nice Baltimore Oriole showed up.
Then this nice Bullock's came in. Note the whitish belly, vague eyeline and little goatee.
Bullock's Oriole
It was almost lunch time at this point and with the wind I was hesitant to make the trip to Shackleford Banks initially, but I figured I had the time anyway so I booked the 1pm ferry. I had about thirty minutes before I needed to go catch it, so I went back to the Cemetery to kill the time.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Another Orange-crowned Warbler.
Still no luck with he Tanager.
The ferry ride over from Harker's Island to Shackleford was less windy than I thought it would be and there were tons of Dovekies swimming and flying around, but I didn't take out the camera due to salt spray. The tide was low when they dropped me off, and that meant I was better off staying on the marsh side of the island to look for birds.
I was able to sneak up to this Red-Breasted Merganser using stealth mode.
What a stunning bird when you are able to get close and see the details.
A small number of Wilson's Plovers winter at Shackleford.
I couldn't believe how many Piping Plover were here. I counted at least 14 but I think there were many more. When I get a chance I will submit this one as I can make out "TOL" on the green leg band.
Red Knots were also abundant!
This Piping Plover had all kinds of bling.
Whimbrel - it is difficult to find birds among the Oyster beds, but with persistence I could have probably found the Bar-tailed Godwit that comes here every year for the past 5-6. I only had a couple hours and I didn't bring a scope.
Marbled Godwit
Wild Horse
Just about when I was going to head back to the ferry I saw this Long-billed Curlew! Such a an amazing bird.
The ferry picked me up and told me they just had to stop at Cape Lookout for a pickup. Well it ended up being a one hour wait because the idiots that he was picking up got lost and couldn't find the ferry landing. I really couldn't understand this because the landing is next to the only big building around which happens to be a really tall lighthouse. You can see the lighthouse from most places on the island. However, when given lemons, make lemonade. The deckhand and I spent the hour filming and photographing a Dovekie that was fishing next to the pier.
The light was really horrible with the setting sun shining directly on the bird, and he only spent about 2 seconds on the surface for every 60 seconds and you never quite knew where it would pop up. The deckhand had a waterproof phone and was videoing the Dovekie underwater and got some great clips. I wish I had asked him to send me some.
Eventually the captain got frustrated with waiting and just brought us back. Poor guys had to go back to Cape Lookout to wait for the idiots after they dropped us off. They probably had to motor back in the dark which is tough because of the many shoals in this area.
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