Wilson's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) - 20May2016 & 21May2017

The Wilson's Storm-Petrel is the original tiny dancer that Elton John was thinking of when he wrote the song.  These small sea birds spend almost their whole lives out in the deep away from sight of land and eek out a living by picking up small bits and pieces off the surface of the water, all the while dancing a never ending ballet.  The cutest thing is that they have yellow webbing in between their toes.  The best way to see these birds in North Carolina is to head out of Hatteras on a Brian Patteson pelagic boat trip.

Here are some from 2017.

And others from 2016.

Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) - 03Jul2016

Yesterday I experienced one of those magical moments when a bird that has previously eluded me for years has all of a sudden overloaded me with tons of amazing looks and photo opportunities.  I ended up seeing about 30 different Least Bitterns this particular morning at Cedar Island causeway in Carteret County, NC.  I have tried to cut down my hundreds of photos to a handful.  Enjoy!

Young bird.

Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) - 22May2016

El Diablotin, also known as the Black-capped Petrel is a real crowd pleaser.  It brings the effortless flight of Petrels and Shearwaters and takes it to another level.  These birds fly hundreds of miles sometimes without having to flap their wings only to get a snack.  They are super fast and graceful and can be seen harassing jaegers so they are pretty badass.  One of the best places to see them is out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of North Carolina.  Even if you dip on everything but a Black-capped on a pelagic, it is still a good trip.

This one was especially dark.

Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) - 23May2016

Ammodramus sparrows are good sparrows.  I think it's the big heads that make them so interesting.  Actually I am not sure if the head is big or it's just the way the big bill is a continuation of the forehead which makes the head look big. You know what they say about big heads, they hold big brains.  The Grasshopper Sparrow and other Ammodramus sparrows are loners and usually you will only see one or two in an area.  But they are smart and manage to eek out a living.  This guy was at the Beargrass VOA site in NC which is unique in itself.  VOA stands for Voice of America and was a broadcast spot for radio sponsored by the US government during WWII.  The Beargrass site was the last of the VOA sites to be operating.  They finally only this year took down the radio tower and I have heard the State of NC will be taking it over and making it a park.  I hope they keep the habitat maintained for the Henslow's and Grasshopper Sparrows.

Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) - 11Jun2016 and 23Jun2016

The Monk Parakeet is one of those birds that has been in NC for a while but has not yet reached the stable breeding population required to make it "listable".  However, it has reached that designation in Florida and I was recently there so I made a little effort to add them to my list.  This first set of pictures is from Northwest, NC where a pair of Monks has built a small town of stick nests up and down a couple streets.  The residents of Northwest love their 2 Monks and caused an uproar when the local power company threatened to take down the nests. The sad think is they have not been able to fledge any chicks, probably because of all the Starlings stealing the homes and ejecting the eggs.  I hope this pair is able to raise a brood at some point.  I also hope that they are recognized in NC soon so I can add them to that list.

These next two photos are from Markham Park west of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) - 17Jun2016 & 05Sep2017

The Anhinga, also known as Snake-Bird or Water-Turkey is pretty common in Southeastern North Carolina.  It's novelty has somewhat worn off since I have moved here 10 plus year ago.  However, I do remember being in awe when I first saw this bird swimming with only it's snake-like head sticking out of the water.  There is plenty of these in Wilmington, but the best place to see them up close is Twin Lakes in Sunset Beach where I saw this one.  The breeding plumaged males can be quite colorful so I will have to get some better pics in the future.

Here is one from Burnt Mill Creek in Wilmington.

Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) - 27Dec2015 and 23Jun2016 and 30Dec2016

The Smooth-billed Ani is a prehistoric looking bird that can help illustrate the link between dinosaurs or at least reptiles and birds.  The feathers even look like scales.  This first set of photos is from my trip to Cuba in 2016.

This next set is from Eleuthera in the Bahamas where they are quite common.  If you are not careful the call can be mistaken for the creaking of trees in the wind.  These two photos were taken in December 2015.

The next couple photos are from Loxahatchee NWR just West of Delray.  The photos are not the greatest but they satisfy entry on my ABA region listing.  These were taken during a work trip to South Florida in June 2016.