A Month at Home (03Mar - 10Apr2022)

I have been seriously neglecting my North Carolina year list lately, favoring staying home and working in the garden not to mention my actual job.  It's kind of nice to bird casually and not feel the urge to chase any rarities.  That being said, I do get out for some quick local walks.

The Mallard is under appreciated by some, but I still enjoy one in a nice setting.  This one has made Wade Park his home.

American Oystercatcher.  In March I got my fill of Wrightsville Beach knowing that the pay parking would make future visits costly.  They charge over $5 an hour now and they want the full $10 even if you are only there slightly over an hour which is what a walk on the north end usually takes.  So the south end is a good way to spend under an hour.

Horned Grebes always increase in number in March. 

I took one last visit to the sparrow fields at Blue Clay and found another Grasshopper Sparrow in a hedgerow.

Razorbills have been hard to come by this year so I contented myself with this fly-by off the Johnnie Mercer Pier.

One weekend Steve B came down to get Rocky the Mountain Bluebird and I joined him for some beach birding.

Wilson's Plovers are back.

A Northern Pintail fly-by was my only for New Hanover County this year.

The Black-headed Gull on the north end was starting to develop a hood.

Rocky the Mountain Bluebird!  Some kind soul was putting out meal worms for Rocky and he was gorging himself when we pulled up.

That was the last time I saw him but I think he was there until the end of March.

Unfortunately we were unable to pick up a Pacific Loon for Steve and of course one showed up a couple days later on the south end of WB.

Pacific Loon

One way to tell a Pacific from a Common is the head is almost thinner than the neck.  

Bonaparte's come in thick in March but unfortunately no Little Gulls locally this year.

Pacific Loon

Pacific with a Common Loon showing the profile differences.  Common Loons are the Cro-Magnons of the loons and have a much heavier bill.

Horned Grebe

Laughing Gull 

Common Loon almost in breeding condition.

A Scoter fly-by off the pier had some White-winged mixed in.

In Wilmington you can truly say its Spring when the Parulas are back at Airlie singing their buzzy song.

At the south end of Wrightsville Beach there is a large flock of Common Grackles that like to buck the theory that if its a grackle at the beach, its a Boat-tailed.  Interestingly Merlin called this an Antillean Grackle, but it's clearly not.

The local text chain for birders in Wilmington pinged with an American Bittern at the Walmart retention ponds.  I would have never gone there for birds but it was quite birdy.

At one point he/she flew behind a lone stick thinking he/she was blending in.

I have been trying to get a close-up pic of some Lesser Scaup but this far away shot at the Fort Fisher Rocks will have to do.

Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallows at Fort Fisher.

After seeing a report of a Common Murre from Johnnie Mercer, but Sam C and I went down to check it out.  We saw an alcid floating way off in the distance and waited..  Finally it took off and flew by the end of the pier..  A Razorbill.  

Blue-headed Vireo

Prothonotary Warblers show up early and Holly Shelter Rd at the north end of New Hanover county is a good place to welcome them.

Ovenbirds too.

White-eyed Vireo

Prairie Warbler

Pine Warbler doing a Blue-winged impression. 

Blue-gray Gnatty with a snack

It was about this time I was escorted off the gamelands I was in by some hunters claiming it was privately leased hunting land.  These guys were really not friendly and I probably will not try going back, so they win.  Its always a bit dicey getting into a disagreement with armed idiots with trigger fingers so I kept my mouth shut and split.

Yellow-throated Warbler at CB State Park - where I can peep at birds and not worry about getting shot.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets start practicing their amazing robust song in late march.

A female Painted Bunting was an early arrival.  Typically I get the males singing before I see a female or young bird.

This Great Horned Owl chick has since fledged from the Marina area at CB State Park.

Great Times!

Florida (01-02Mar2022)

Initially when I booked my Antarctica trip, I wasn't sure when the return flight was getting in on the first of March so I decided to spend a night in Miami just so I wouldn't be stressing about connections.  It turns out the flight arrived early (predawn), so I could have just booked a same day flight, but south Florida is always a good place to kill some time.  Steve B also had some time so he jumped in my rental car and we headed to the entrance to the Everglades hoping to catch some Lesser Nighthawks that had been seen in the area at dusk and dawn.  We actually made it to the spot just as it was getting light but had no nighthawks.  We did get a Barn Owl hunting but my pics were bad due to early light.  Nearby there were some reports of Brown-crested Flycatchers and a Smooth-billed Ani so we went on the hunt.

It didn't take long before we had some Myiarchus flycatchers and we studied them carefully.  My hearing stinks but Steve clearly heard the Brown-crested call and we didn't hear any Great-crested calls at all.    The birds were all fairly light colored underneath, probably lighter than a Great-crested would be.  I taped some audio of the calls for good measure.

I don't think we would have felt comfortable with the ID if they weren't calling.

Common Ground Doves 

Little Blue Heron

We had seen some reports of a Cassin's Kingbird but still were surprised to find this western species.  

Oh Sweet!! I can add this one to my birds pooping page.

Red-tailed Pennant?  Lifer for me if so.

Wood Stork

We did end up seeing the Smooth-billed Ani from a distance and it disappeared before we could obtain record shots.

Swallow-tailed Kites are always good no matter where you are.

We had White-tailed Kites too, but I will spare you the horrible pics.

In addition to the Cassin's Kingbird we found a group of 3-4 Western Kingbirds.  If you look closely there are 3 in this picture.

It started to warm up so we decided to head out and kill a couple more hours by driving the glades west of the airport looking for Snail Kites but we dipped.

Steve had a flight to catch so I drove him back to the airport and headed to a park south of the airport where there were reports of various exotics. 

I have seen Red-whiskered Bulbuls in California before but I think the ones in Florida are the only countable ones in the ABA.

The park had potential but it was too warm in the afternoon and I hedged my bets and went to my hotel to get some sleep seeing that I basically had not slept in 24 hours.

Refreshed in the morning I headed back to the spot at the entrance to the glades hoping to try one more time for Lesser Nighthawks.  Dipped again!  A met a guy that said they hadn't been seen in several days. However, the Barn Owl was actively hunting and this time I got some pics.

I guess the restoration project worked!

Grasshopper Sparrow

Painted Bunting

Some rain came in and made some rainbows.  I had a little time left so I went to another park south of the airport in a residential area where parrots and parakeets are seen. The park itself was quiet but I could hear parrots in the distance so I followed my ears.

Orange-winged Parrots!  I don't think these are ABA countable but cool anyhow.

South Florida has tons of intermingling Mitred and Red-Masked Parakeets which have created hybrids that no one knows what to do with.  This bird looked more like a Red-masked but its hard to know and they are not countable in ABA anyhow.

Chestnut-fronted Macaw! Yet another non-countable species but very cool.

This looked more like a Red-masked Parakeet based on the amount of red on head and the red wing "shoulders".  Mitred have much less red on head and its more splotchy.  They also lack the red on the wings.

The flock finally flew from the berry laden trees and that reminded me I had a flight to catch.  My journey was ending but I was looking forward to reuniting with the family unit.