This winter there have been no less than 3 Bullock’s Orioles in NC. Each has been a long-staying feeder bird which eventually became quite reliable. But the closest was nearly a 2-hour drive away near Charlotte. Couldn’t quite justify the long ride and standing out in the cold staring at a feeder. I’ve had a lot of experience looking for rarities at feeders and have decided it’s typically my least favorite type of birding. Often you have to spend an extended amount of time staring at a boring feeder looking at chickadees and titmice. And even if the target does show up, it’s not like the bird is unexpected. Not to mention your emotions if the bird doesn’t show up. For example, twice I’ve spent an entire day unsuccessfully looking for a Bullock’s Oriole at a feeder (in NH and ME.) It’s a no-win kind of situation.
But then again, as hockey great Wayne Gretzky once said –
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Or if Wayne Gretzky was a birder he might have
said – “You miss 100% of the birds you don’t chase after”. Despite the Great One's advice, I decided I’d just
wait for one to show up somewhere closer.
But then on February 11 Simon Thompson posted an excellent
picture of a Bullock’s Oriole in Mecklenburg County saying “this fellow is
super reliable”. If I were to chase
after it I’d have to figure out how to look for the bird. With some quick eBird research I found that
the bird was at an eBird hotspot very nicely titled – “stakeout Bullock's
Oriole, Huntersville (2020-2021) Call or text 704-578-4671 for Permission”. I texted the homeowner to get permission, and
found out that the feeders were visible from outside – no need to enter their
house during these Covid times. And I
noticed that my birding friend Bill Hooker had just seen the bird as well. Bill had been trying to talk me into go after an earlier Bullock's, and said this bird was truly quite
reliable. I finally had exceeded the
“activation energy” needed to chase after the bird.
I was out of the house early on the 12th and pulled into the
stakeout spot by 8 AM. I drove around
back and was greeted by a large flock of least 75 Pine Siskins at the
feeders. Pretty impressive! The Oriole was being seen feeding on an
orange attached to one of the feeder poles, and sometimes seen perched in trees
nearby. It was raining a bit so luckily
I could see the feeders right from the driver’s seat in the dry and warm car. I positioned my car to see the orange feeder
as well as all the rest of the feeding station to begin my vigil. With no Oriole at the feeder, I scanned the
trees, but with no luck. Then I looked
back at the orange and there was the male Bullock’s Oriole chowing down. I only had to wait 5 minutes before the bird
arrived. It stayed there for several
minutes before it flew off around the corner of the house. Talk about being reliable…
Bullock’s Oriole was #311 for my NC statelist. In my statebird map below the blue-shaded
states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range. And NC is now my 6th eastern state where I’ve
seen it as a rarity (the tan states).
After spending more time watching the Siskins, including finding a Purple Finch mixed in, I contacted Bill Hooker and met up with him for some quick birding in Rutherford County on the way home. We are both working on our county lists there, and picked up 2 rare Eurasian Collared-Doves in “downtown” Ellenboro, and Coot and Ruddy Duck at the lake at Isothermal Community College. A nice ending to a very nice morning.
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