South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 3 of 3

In November 2024 I started planning a mid-winter trip to south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, there were 3 mega rarities being seen – Bananaquit, Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately one of the initial triggers for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

See my previous 2 blog posts for summaries of the first two thirds of the trip.

1/13 – Central Florida

With our south FL birding complete, we started our long drive home.  Though of course we would have some birding stops along the way.  Our next set of stops would be at the Merritt Island NWR, first to look for a long-staying Eurasian Wigeon.  This bird was first discovered back in November, and had been seen nearly daily ever since.  Although it was enticing to look for it on our way south through the state, I decided to skip the search for this bird as we headed south so we could use a more inland route through FL for other targets.  Instead, we would look for the Wigeon several days later as we took a more coastal route on the way back north.  That strategy was a bit risky, but I was betting that the bird would stick around at least until we made our return.  And the bird was indeed still being seen daily when we got to the refuge so my gamble paid off.  Many of the eBird reports provided good details on the location of our bird (between stops #2 and #3 of the Black Point Wildlife Drive).  Now we just needed to find that one bird in a large American Wigeon flock.

We finally arrived at the refuge mid afternoon and headed straight for the Wildlife Drive.  There were quite a number of waders near the beginning of the Drive, but there were next to no waterfowl.  Just after we passed stop #2 we got to a lake on the left with good numbers of dabbling ducks in the eastern end, including quite a few Wigeon.  Now the pressure was on.  I started a slow scan of the closer ducks, then the ones a bit farther out, and finally the dabblers in the distance.  There were 50 or more American Wigeon but I couldn’t find the Eurasian.  There were a couple small mangrove islands in the middle of the lake that blocked my view of part of the lake, so I changed my vantage point a couple times but still couldn’t find our target.  I was getting worried.  I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t overlooking the bird; instead it was just in a different location.

We drove a short distance farther along to check the western end of the lake and came upon some more Wigeon.  Did we have the right location now?  Sure enough, within just a minute I had picked out the Eurasian Wigeon.  It was backlit a bit, but the orangey-red head and gray sides really stood out.

That was my 16th state where I’ve seen Eurasian Wigeon, mostly along both ocean coasts.

Our last targets of the day were a pair of American Flamingos wintering in the northern part of the Merritt Island refuge.  Initial eBird reports seemed to suggest that the birds were being seen in multiple locations, but that mostly turned out to be erroneous locations for the checklists.  Instead, a bit of research indicated that they were principally being seen at the south end of the Haulover Canal, most often on a small island called Bird Island.  All the photos showed the birds were quite far away, roosting with Cormorants and Pelicans.  So some distant searching might be necessary.

When we pulled up to the canoe launch area at the south end of the canal we quickly spotted Bird Island about a half mile away, along with the roosting flock of Cormorants and Pelicans.  And even with just binoculars you could see pink dots among the flock.  Scope views confirmed we had the 2 Flamingos.  Good thing they are such large and colorful birds.

Flamingo wasn’t a life bird or even a state bird for any of us, but it was great to see these beautiful birds again for our year lists.  And it sure was easier than my last FL Flamingos in the Everglades at the end of Snake Bight Trail.

1/14 – Central and Northern Florida

As we continued to head north, our first stop of the day was at Blue Spring SP for Florida Scrub-Jays.  The park is in the heart of Scrub-Jay habitat, and that part of central Florida has lots of Scrub-Jay reports in eBird.  But these birds are often in isolated spots, or move through the habitat in small family groups. So you often have to be lucky to run into one of those small wandering flocks.  In any case, it’s not a sure thing to find them on any given trip, even in good habitat. 

In doing my research I found multiple recent reports from Blue Spring, some concentrated near the campground and others from the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  We asked for advice from the ranger at the entrance booth and he said the best spot was the Scrub-Jay Loop trail.  With a name like that how could you go wrong?  We started a slow walk down the trail in nice habitat but didn’t encounter any Jays.  We turned a curve in the trail and Bob spotted a bird foraging in the trail in the distance – we had our first Florida Scrub-Jay.  When we got closer we found 3 birds at this spot.  And a bit farther down the road we ran into another group of 4.  This one perched in the open affording nice, albeit backlit, views.

Later we took a short side trip to the spring and got great views of numerous manatees lounging in the relatively warm waters of the spring. 

Next we headed back to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park for another try for the Swifts and Ash-throated Fly.  The Swifts had been reported several times since our last trip there, but they continued to be seen only sporadically.  The Ash-throated had been reported a couple times too, so we tried to stay optimistic.  But despite nearly an hour of waiting near the southern impoundments the Swifts were once again a no show.  Then we walked to the northwest part of the park where the Flycatcher is typically seen but had only Phoebes.  Rather than doubling back as we did on our first visit, we continued on the loop around the northern impoundment and came back on the eastern side.  We had only walked perhaps 50 yards when we spotted some movement at the edge of the low brush – it was the Ash-throated Flycatcher, nicely captured by Anita in this picture.  (FL statebird #11) 

We were lucky we saw it when we did because it soon slipped down further into the vegetation mostly out of view.  FL was my 8th east coast state (along with KS) where I’ve seen this species as a vagrant.

Our next stop was a home in Gainesville where a female Western Tanager was coming to a feeder.  It took a bit of effort but I was finally able to obtain contact information for the homeowner.  With a quick call it turned out that he was very willing to have us come by his home and watch for his Tanager which had returned for its 3rd consecutive winter.  We watched his feeders through his kitchen window, and after a 30-minute wait, the Tanager dropped in to feed (FL statebird #12), along with several of his Baltimore Orioles.  Once again, here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tanager.

My statebird map for Western Tanager is actually quite similar to the Ash-throated map.

Many thanks to the homeowner for his hospitality!  He also told us about a pair of rare Common Goldeneyes in a nearby pond, which made for a most successful last birding stop in FL. 

1/14 – Coastal Georgia

We had just enough time before sunset for 2 quick stops in southern GA for unusual waterfowl.  The first was a male Common Goldeneye in a small lake along Queens Court just outside of Brunswick.  Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in finding it, though we had at least 150 Ruddy Ducks on the lake.  The bird was last seen a couple days earlier, with a photo showing it sitting on the shore, and the birder commented that it had a bad eye.  It sure didn’t look healthy in that picture; perhaps it passed before our visit on the 14^th.

Our last GA stop was at Blythe Island Park where a White-fronted Goose was hanging out with a small Canada Goose flock.  As we arrived at the park gate it was 5:45 and we all noticed the sign that the gate would close at 6.  But it was a small park so we hoped we would have just enough time to find our target and get out by 6.  We pulled up to the park lake and heard some geese calling in the distance.  It was starting to get pretty dark, but I was able to pick out the White-front in the distance.  We quickly drove over to the campground where we last saw the bird, re-spotted it in with the Canadas (Anita was able to snap this one picture) and got back out just 2 minutes before 6. 

 Can’t get any more efficient than that!

1/15 – Coastal Georgia

Our last full birding day of the trip was focused on several of our targets along the GA coast.  First we headed just a couple miles inland from Brunswick to Paulks Pasture WMA where Henslow’s Sparrows had been seen recently.  I had reached out to a local birder and got precise locations for the birds lurking in wet grasses along a powerline cut.  I donned my boots and rainpants and trudged through the tall grass but came up empty, finding just a Sedge Wren, despite what looked like ideal habitat.  It was nice to find this large patch of pitcher plants that measured at least 3 feet across.

Our next stop was in the Spartina marshes along the causeway to St. Simons for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  We timed our visit to be close to high tide to aid in flushing them out, but we only had one Seaside Sparrow respond to tape.  A Clapper Rail in flight was a nice bonus bird.

Once onto St. Simons we headed to Sandcastle Drive near the airport.  A ditch and small riparian area continued where the road stopped, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow had been seen there recently near a railroad tie retention wall.  This area was quite birdy, and we found birds like Painted Buntings and an Orange-crowned Warbler.  Eventually we found the retaining wall and spotted the Lincoln’s Sparrow skulking in the low brush just below the wall.  (GA statebird #1)  I now just need this species in 4 more states (the cross-hatched states in my statebird map below).

Our next targets were a pair of Western Kingbirds near the south end of the St. Simons airport, just a 5-minute walk from the Lincoln’s Sparrow spot.  They were typically seen perched in a large brush pile, and along the airport fences.  But even though they had been seen in the area for some time, they were only seen infrequently.  In fact, my local contact told me that he had recently spent 3 days looking for them with no luck.  And then the day before we arrived there was a report that they were seen perched on a relatively hidden back side of the brush pile.  Luckily I got directions to reach that portion of the pile, and we headed straight to that spot.  And within a couple minutes I was able to get distant scope views of one of the birds.  (GA statebird #2)  Western Kingbird is another of those typically “western” species that is a regular vagrant to the east coast.

Our last stop on the island was a shorebird hotspot named Gould’s Inlet.  A Snowy Plover had been spotted there recently, but not reported in the most recent couple checklists.  So I wasn’t too hopeful, though looking forward to seeing some big numbers and variety of shorebirds.  As we arrived there were already good numbers of shorebirds on the flats, and more continued to fly in as the tide dropped.  We were able to find 9 species of shorebirds including the only Piping and Wilson’s Plovers of the trip.  And wild estimates of numbers were dominated by 500 Dunlin, 100 Semi Plovers, and 75 Least Sandpipers.  An estimated 300 Black Skimmers were notable as well.  But as expected, we could not find the Snowy Plover.  A flyby flock of Black Scoters were nice as well.

We continued up the GA coast and headed for yet another try for Purple Sandpipers at the Tybee Island North Jetty.  Two had been reported and photographed there on the 13th, so we were actually more hopeful this time than on our first try.  But once again we only found Turnstones and Sanderlings.

1/16 – South Carolina

We made 2 final stops in SC on our last day on the road.  The first was at the Savannah NWR Visitor Center where Bill hoped to find Purple Finch as a new SC statebird.  I wasn’t too hopeful since the last time a Purple Finch was reported there was 12 days earlier at the feeding station.  But I liked Bill’s optimism.  We arrived at dawn and only found squirrels at the feeder.  We started talking about how wintering Purple Finches like to eat tree seeds, especially tulip, sweet gum, and sycamore seeds.  I started looking around and spotted a large gum tree nearby loaded with seed balls.  Sure enough there were 4 birds near the top of the tree that turned out to be Purple Finches.  Like I said, I like Bill’s optimism.

Our last stop was at the Orangeburg Sod Farm where we hoped for Ground Doves, especially around the maintenance buildings.  We found numerous MODOs, but alas no Ground Doves.

Summary of Trip Results

We amassed 213 species on the trip.  When the trip was over we were all briefly in eBird’s top 20 for the ABA Region for the year, and top 5 in FL.  And speaking of FL, we saw 43 of 53 south FL targets. 

Other highlights among our 213 species were:

- South FL Specialties - Short-tailed Hawk, Snail Kite, White-crowned Pigeon, "Great White" Heron, Burrowing Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Florida Scrub Jay, Vermilion Flycatcher, Whooping Crane, "Golden/Carribean" Yellow Warbler, 15 species of wintering warblers

- Exotics - Spot-breasted Oriole, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna, Indian Peafowl, Egyptian Goose, 6 species of parakeets/amazons/macaws

- Rarities - 4 Tropical Kingbirds, Ruff, Brown-crested Flycatcher, 10 Shiny Cowbirds, 2 American Flamingos, Eurasian Wigeon, 2nd record of Gray-headed Swamphen for SC, 5 Cave Swallows, 2 Ash-throated Flycatchers, 2 Western Tanagers, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and a remarkable 18 Western Kingbirds

I ended up with 2 new Lifebirds – Blue-and-yellow Macaw and Orange-winged Amazon - bringing my ABA Continental list to 776 per eBird’s countability rules.  Plus I added 20 new statebirds, much better than the 16 I hoped for:

- SC – added 6 bringing my total to 312

- GA – added 2 with a new state total of 272

- FL – added 12 raising my total to 343

The eBird Trip Report can be found at – ebird.org/tripreport/318837

It sure was a nice break from winter birding in western NC!

South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 1 of 3

I was sitting at home on a cold day in November 2024 thinking ahead to the prospects of the upcoming winter of birding in western NC.  Winter birding in the area can be pretty slow in good times.  But complicating the picture this year was that several of my favorite birding spots were still inaccessible, or completely destroyed, by Hurricane Helene. 

That’s when I started thinking about setting up a mid-winter trip to a southern (and warmer) US location.  I’ve taken several mid-winter trips recently - lower Rio Grande valley In January 2024, Tallahassee in January 2023, and the Atlantic coast of FL in February 2023.  In each case the trips were focused on pursuing 1or more life birds, and were most successful.  So I checked out the eBird ABA Rarities Alert to see if there might be potential life bird targets to pursue this winter.  There was a long-staying Bananaquit near Miami that caught my eye.  Plus, there are quite a number of newly countable exotic Parakeets, Macaws, and Amazons in south FL that would be lifers for me.  The trip was on!

I started planning a south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, I also found reports of 2 exciting South American species being seen in south FL - Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately the initial trigger for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

This blogpost summarizes the first portion of the trip.  The next two posts summarize the rest of the trip.

1/6 - South Carolina

There were an amazing number of rarities being seen in SC as our trip neared.  And even though two initial targets (Eared Grebe and White-winged Dove) were no longer being reported, we still had so many targets that we dedicated most of the first two days of the trip to chasing those SC rarities. 

Our first stop was to try for a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Harbison Pond near Columbia.  This bird had been reliable and seen by many from December 26th through 28th, but then not reported again until January 5th, just in time to put it back on our radar screen.  This western rarity was mostly seen on the eastern side of the small lake, and close to the shoreline.  In fact, most photos showed the bird right at the water’s edge.  So we were cautiously optimistic that the Warbler might actually be pretty easy to spot.

As we drove to Columbia we passed through bands of heavy rain as a strong cold front neared the area.  But luckily the rain had not yet arrived when we got to Harbison Pond, so we had a little dry window to find our target.  We started a slow walk down the eastern side of the lake but the only bird we found was a lone Phoebe.  Making matters worse, then the rain started, along with strong westerly winds.  Even though the bird was typically only seen on the east side of the lake, that area was exposed to the rain and wind.  So we decided to try the protected western side – that was a nice theory but we still couldn’t find our target. 

We went back to the east side and decided to give it one more try.  But this time we had no birds at all.  Just then Anita asked me to check out a bird she spotted high up in a tree in the distance.  Although it was pretty far away I could see the classic head pattern of our target bird – we had the Black-throated Gray Warbler!  (SC statebird #1)  No one had reported the bird foraging that high; wonder if the weather had something to do with it.

My statebird map for Black-throated Gray Warbler is inserted below.  The light blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 5 darker blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

Next we were on to Fort Moultrie on the coast near Charleston.  This spot is well known for its rarities and this January was no exception – Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and LeConte’s Sparrows were all being reported there.  When we arrived we spotted a birder in the distance so we made our way over to her.  She had just seen both flycatchers loosely associating together.  And soon we spotted the Western Kingbird on a low perch in the field – a nice rarity but I had seen one at Fort Moultrie in the past.  We spent a few minutes searching for the Ash-throated but with no luck.  Then I played a couple Ash-throated call notes for this tape-responsive species and it flew right into us (SC statebird #2).  I got these passable digi-bin shots of the two birds perched just a few feet apart.

 

We spent the next 30 minutes searching for the LeConte’s Sparrow, and found a nice flock of foraging Savannahs in about the right location, but we had no luck with our target.

Our next chaseable rarities were a male and female Western Tanager just 20 minutes away at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.  They were seen separately generally foraging in woods near a submarine memorial and nearby across the street.  We had good directions, now we needed the birds to cooperate.

We parked at the memorial and quickly checked the trees there, but had no birds at all.  Then we headed across the road and at least started to find a few birds here and there.  Soon we got to a small wooden bridge that I remembered as being one of the hotspots for the Tanagers.  This spot turned out to be quite birdy, with a number of birds coming out of the brush under the bridge.  Then I noticed a larger bird perched in a bare tree just above the bridge – it was the female Western Tanager.  (SC statebird #3).  It was likely an immature bird with very limited yellow below.  Certainly not the most colorful bird, but still a new statebird.  Here’s a shot of Bob and Bill looking at the Tanager.

Since we found the Tanager so quickly we still had time for one last stop.  There was a male Bullock’s Oriole coming to a nearby private feeder, and even though the general suggestion was to try for this bird in the early morning, we decided to give it a go since we still had time late that afternoon.  We arrived at the residence and headed to the chairs in the backyard to start our vigil.  The homeowners came out to greet us, and put additional jelly in the feeder to entice the Oriole.  And within just a couple minutes the adult male Bullock’s flew in to the feeding station.  I had seen a female in SC a couple years earlier, but it sure was nice to see this beautiful male.

1/7 – Coastal South Carolina

Our first stop of the day was on Edisto Island where up to 2 Long-tailed Ducks had been reported.  Unfortunately, they had not been reported for 4 days, and the locations of the eBird checklists were at multiple spots all along the beach.  So I was a bit worried if we were going to be successful on this search, or at least successful quickly.  But I got a tip that they might be more reliable off the Coots Bar restaurant, so that’s where we started.

When we parked at Coots Bar I looked down the coast to the southwest and was shocked to see numerous jetties jutting out from the beach.  Long-tailed Ducks like to feed along jetties so there could be a dozen or more places to check.  I scanned the first jetty but didn’t find any ducks.  Then Bill said he thought he had them at the next jetty.  Binocular views revealed two small mostly white ducks, and in the scope we confirmed we had the male and female pair of Long-tailed Ducks.  (SC statebird #4)  SC was the last Atlantic coast state where I still needed this species.  The two cross-hatched states in my statebird map (OR, OH), are the last 2 states where I still need this species in its regular range.

We then spent a little time focusing on the shorebirds feeding on the jetties and picked out 2 Knots among the flocks of Sanderlings, Turnstones, and Willets.

As we continued our trek down the coast our next stop was at Bear Island WMA.  And here we quickly picked up Tundra Swans as our key target.  We also kept our eyes open for a White-winged Dove reported there recently, but just found Mourning Doves. 

Our last stop in SC was at the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive in Savannah NWR.  The key target here was a Gray-headed Swamphen which was only the second SC state record.  The bird was first reported some 2 weeks earlier, and was seen daily within 100 yards past port-a-potties located along the drive.  An occasional Cave Swallow or 2 was also reported by some birders in the area, though that target was a pretty long shot.

We quickly found the port-a-potties less than a mile from the beginning of the drive, parked our cars, and began searching the marshes nearby.  Our initial searches yielded numerous Common Gallinules and Coots and a few dabbling ducks, but no big purple marsh birds.  We continued down the road a bit combing through more cattail marshes but still couldn’t come up with our target.  I took a break at one point to look for swallows and found quite a number of Tree Swallows passing quickly by, seemingly in migration.  None looked like possible Cave candidates though all were passing by so quickly that a Cave ID would have been difficult.

We had now come more than 100 yards from the port-a-potties, so I started heading back to recheck the marsh we had just searched.  Just then I spotted a flash of purple color at the edge of the cattails.  I saw a bit more movement and watched as the Gray-headed Swamphen stepped out of the reeds into view.  (SC statebird #5) 

Just as I was getting everyone on the bird, Bill spotted an American Bittern slowly moving through the cattails just a few feet from the Swamphen.  Even when we knew where the Bittern was it was next to impossible to see.

With the Swamphen search complete, I turned back to the swallow search.  As before there were many Trees flying quickly by, but this time I noticed a swallow flying back and forth foraging low over the impoundment.  This one had an orange rump and buffy throat – we had a Cave Swallow (SC statebird #6).  We had at least 3 Caves together at the Swamphen spot, and at least 2 others a short distance down the road.  Each of the Caves were coursing low over the vegetation apparently feeding, while the numerous Trees were flying as if migrating by.  SC was my 5th state seeing Cave Swallow as a rarity.  I’ve also seen the Caribbean group breeding in south FL, and the Mexican group breeding in TX, NM, and LA.

We birded the rest of the Wildlife Drive, finding lots of waterfowl (including a somewhat unexpected pair of Mottled Ducks) and many waders.  And although we wanted to bird there longer, it was time to move on to our next stops.

1/7 – Coastal Georgia

It was now getting late in the afternoon but we had time for 2 quick stops just over the stateline in GA.  The first was at Fort Pulaski to try for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  Although the tide wasn’t high, which is the easiest time to find these elusive birds, we still hoped to find them in the excellent salt marsh habitat at the fort.  But despite playing a lot of tape we were unsuccessful.  Lastly, we headed to the North Jetty at Tybee Island where there were old reports of Purple Sandpipers, Black Scoters, and a Long-tailed Duck.  But we could only find Turnstones and Sanderlings.  Maybe we could try for them on the way back north later in the trip.

1/8 – North Florida

Our first stop in FL was at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville for a long-staying Cinnamon Teal.  Although the bird was seen regularly in a large flock of Blue-winged Teal, there had been no reports of our target since January 2nd.  So I was a bit concerned that it had moved on.  As we walked into the park we saw a group of birders coming out.  They told us that the large flock of Blue-wings had moved on and the Cinnamon Teal likely had gone with them.  When we got to the impoundment where the Teal flock had been we found just 6 Blue-wings.  At least the whole area was very birdy, including this Snail Kite that flew in and perched cooperatively nearby.

Next we were on to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park 45 minutes to the south.  This site had 2 key targets for us: a small number of Vaux’s Swifts that were being seen sporadically, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher.  The Swifts were mostly spotted flying over impoundments at the south end of the park, and the Flycatcher was principally near the northwestern part of the park.  We pulled in and quickly headed to the southern impoundments, but our searches of the skies came up empty.  We noticed a birder in the distance and walked over to him for some local advice.  He mentioned that we just missed the Swifts, as they flew by just 20 minutes earlier.  Surely they would come back, right?  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case over the next 30 minutes. 

We decided to try to change our luck and look for the Flycatcher.  After a short walk toward the northern end of the park we watched and listened to no avail.  We played some tape hoping for a response like we had with the SC bird a couple days earlier, but again with no luck.  Though a couple Eastern Phoebes briefly got us excited. 

After about 90 minutes at the park we decided to cut our losses and head out for one more stop yet that afternoon.  The last stop of the day was about 2 hours to the south in Osceola County where a Whooping Crane had taken up residence with a pair of Sandhills in a subdivision under construction.  This bird was apparently quite reliable, so we hoped we might soon change our luck after missing several consecutive targets. 

When we arrived we first had to drive through a neighborhood of new houses to get to the construction area.  There we found the roads were completed and the subdivision was all laid out, but the houses were not yet under construction.  The Crane was most often reported right in the cul de sac at the end of the road, but there was no obvious tall white bird in site.  Then I looked to the east a bit to a neighboring farm and noticed a white bird in the distance.  With a quick binocular view we confirmed we had our Whooping Crane feeding in the short grass with 2 Sandhills.  (FL statebird #1) 

After watching it feed at the farm for a few minutes it took off and flew right by us, landing in a pond in the cul de sac, giving us great views.  What a great way to end the day!

There was a second Whooping Crane being seen less than 10 miles away.  It turns out that both birds were released in the area in 1999 and had formed a mated pair, but somehow the 2 birds had recently become separated.  You would sure hope that the authorities would try to reacquaint the birds, especially given that the habitat for the one we saw would soon be compromised once construction of the neighborhood was underway.

1/9 – Central Florida

One of the key initial targets for the trip was a Large-billed Tern discovered at the Goodwin WMA.  This South American species was first spotted in the area in the summer of 2023, but then disappeared until being re-found in November 2024.  Interestingly, it or another one spent the summer of 2024 near Naples in the southwestern portion of FL.  Goodwin WMA is only accessible by car on Thursdays, or with a very long walk on Sundays, resulting in a limited number of reports from the area.  The last positive report for the Tern was December 15th, so we weren’t too hopeful.  But with so many birders looking for the Tern, it’s not too surprising that another rarity was found there- a Ruff feeding with other shorebirds in one of the impoundments.  A nice example of the “Patagonia Picnic Table Effect”. 

Now we needed to gain access to the site and find the impoundments where the Tern and Ruff were most likely to be seen.  Not to mention find our target birds!  For this support we turned to David Simpson, one of the local expert birders, and the person who discovered the Tern.  It turns out that he has his own guiding company, and was free on Thursday the 9th, so we hired him for a half day tour.  And since Goodwin is only accessible on Thursdays, we literally planned our entire trip around birding that site the morning of the 9th.

We met David in the parking lot at 8, and birded the immediate vicinity for a while waiting for the gate to open at 9.  A male Vermilion Flycatcher and a Tropical Kingbird were being seen in the area, and we quickly found both birds perched in the same bush.  Later a female Painted Bunting was spotted there as well.  By the time the gate opened at least 20 birders had gathered anxious to get into the site.  We were hopeful that with all those eyes we would find at least one of our target birds. 

Once we got inside we started to get a feel for how immense the site was.   We first drove through several miles of dry savanna until we reached wet impoundments.  Marsh birds and waterfowl were everywhere, including numerous Swamphens and both Gallinules, all the expected waders, and flocks of dabbling and diving ducks.  We spent some time at the impoundment where the Tern would often perch, but we were all realistic that the Tern had most likely moved on.

We eventually made our way to the impoundment where the Ruff and most of the shorebirds were being seen.  There were already at least a dozen birders there by the time we set up the scopes.  Here’s a picture of the impoundment.

After a bit of scanning we eventually spotted the flock the Ruff was likely associating with, but the birds were really far away and most were sleeping.  Mixed in the roosting flock were large numbers of Skimmers, Ring-billed Gulls, and Forster’s and Caspian Terns – though no Large-billed Tern was in the group.  We tried numerous vantage points but mostly just found more sleeping shorebirds.  But after a while we started to find some birds up and about foraging on the flats, including a nice Stilt Sandpiper feeding with both Yellowlegs.  And then as we were about to run out of time, we came upon a large group of mostly Dowitchers feeding a bit closer to us.  And one birder mentioned he might have an interesting bird in the flock.  David looked in that birder’s scope and confirmed they had the Ruff.  It took me a couple anxious minutes but I was finally able to pick it out in the distance.  (FL statebird #2)  FL is the 10th state where I’ve seen Ruff – of course all as rarities.

On our way back out of Goodwin we spotted a couple Snail Kites – a nice way to end the trip to this amazing spot.  Without David’s help we doubt that we would have been able to find the Ruff, let alone find the impoundment where the Ruff was hanging out.

As we continued our drive toward southern FL our next stop was Paul Rardin Park along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee.  This small roadside park had an amazing set of wintering flycatchers, with recent reports including a Vermilion Flycatcher, 2 Western Kingbirds, a Tropical Kingbird, and occasional sightings of the only overwintering Gray Kingbird in the state that year.  Soon after we arrived I spotted a pair of flycatchers on power lines at the edge of the park which turned out to be a Western and a beautiful male Vermilion.  Then another Western joined them.  Soon we were surrounded by Kingbirds, and we counted 4 Westerns and a Tropical, eventually all flying in to perches in the same tree!  Here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tropical with the rising moon in the background. 

We spent some additional time trying to re-locate the Gray Kingbird without success.  That one will have to wait for the breeding season when they’re common in the right habitats.

It was now late afternoon and we had just enough time for a stop at the Sem-Chi Rice Mill.  This spot is well-known for its blackbirds, with large mixed flocks coming to feed on spilled rice.  Our key target here was Shiny Cowbird which was sometimes seen in those flocks.  I had birded here a few years ago, and the protocol was to park at the edge of the parking lot and bird from the edges, staying away from mill operations.  This strategy was confirmed by my more recent contacts as we prepared for this trip.

We pulled into the parking lot and quickly noted a small flock of blackbirds coming into a nearby dumpster.  Just as we started to focus on the birds several employees came out of the buildings and made it quite clear that we weren’t allowed there.  We made a hasty retreat to our cars, and found a safe spot to park just outside the mill property.  Luckily there was a spot where we could still see the dumpster and all its blackbirds.  The birds would fly into neighboring hedges and trees, stage there briefly, then either fly right into the dumpster, or rest briefly on its edge, before dropping into it out of view.  At times the whole flock would be spooked and all would fly away, only to come back to start the process all over again a couple minutes later.  At best that gave us only brief views of any one bird so we had to be quick with the binoculars.

We spent the better part of an hour there watching the almost constant movement of blackbirds dominated by about 100 Red-wings.  We eventually all got good views of at least 3 Shiny Cowbirds (at least 1 male and 2 females), and at least 3 Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  I also got one view of a Bronzed Cowbird but couldn’t get others on it before it flew off.  Wonder what was in that dumpster that the blackbirds liked so much.

The next 2 blog posts summarize the rest of the trip.

Five Statebirds on the Georgia Coast While Returning from a Florida Chase, February 5-6, 2023

In January 2023 I had a most successful birding trip to the FL panhandle.  Not only did I see my first new life bird (White Wagtail) in several years, it was also my first trip to FL from my home base in western NC, greatly expanding my horizons for potential trips.  I was now watching the ABA Rarities eBird alerts more frequently, especially focused on potential lifers.  And the most likely “nearby” location for those additional lifers would be in south FL. 

Sure enough late in January I started to notice reports of a Bahama Mockingbird in Cape Canaveral, FL.  I’ve birded south FL a number of times, picking up several rarities there over the years.  But there has never been a Bahama Mockingbird there during any of my trips.  As a result, this species has been a key target for me.  And with this individual being relatively “close”, at only halfway down the peninsula, it was definitely one to chase after.

And of course, there was also statebird potential along my route back home through GA and SC.  My route would take me along the coast, and with a little research, I found no less than 7 statebird targets in GA.  From south to north I hoped for –

• Bullock’s Oriole coming to a feeder on Jekyll Island,
• Saltmarsh Sparrow near Jekyll Island (and most anywhere along the coast),
• Black Duck with Mottled Ducks in Brunswick,
• Dickcissel coming to feeders in Savannah,
• A White-winged Dove and a Western Tanager at a feeding station on Tybee Island, and
• Black Scoters off the north end of Tybee Island. 

That’s lots of potential for just 2 partial days of birding.  As it turns out I only found 2 of 6 targets in FL, though the 2 I found were lifers.  (See my previous blog post detailing the FL portion of the trip.)  To improve my hit rate in GA I reached out to birding friend Diana Churchill who lives in Savannah for local advice.  She gave me excellent tips to help me find my targets, especially in gaining access to all those private feeders.  

This blog post focuses on my GA searches on this trip.  The SC portion of the trip is summarized in my next post.

Day 2 – February 5

After an early morning stop in FL, where I missed both of my targets, my first GA stop was on Jekyll Island for a Bullock’s Oriole.  This bird had been regular at a feeding station through January 18, before disappearing for 2 weeks.  So it never made it to my radar screen as I prepped for my trip.  But then on February 3 the homeowner reported that it had returned.  So now one to chase, though given its recent history, I wasn’t too overly optimistic.  On a positive note, Diana shared with me that all the homeowner’s feeders were in the front yard and visible from the road.  So no specific access was needed.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the Oriole despite waiting there for 90 minutes.  In fact, there were no Orioles at all, which is a bit odd for coastal GA feeding stations.  A consolation prize was finding a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird that had not been previously reported there.

Next I had planned to look for Saltmarsh Sparrows in the marshes as I left Jekyll Island.  But it’s easiest to see these Sparrows (and their Seaside and Nelson’s cousins) during the highest tides.  And it was now a falling mid-tide, so not the best conditions.  Since I had a full day in front of me, I decided to pass on this pretty common target, and try for it later on a higher tide.

My day wasn’t exactly starting off very well…

My next stop was a small pond in a suburban neighborhood in Brunswick where a Black Duck had been seen with Mottled Ducks and Mallards.  In preparation for IDing these 3 very similar species, the night before I spent some time brushing up on the key field marks that separate them.  Now I had to figure out how to bird the site since it looked like the pond was surrounded by houses and pretty inaccessible.  But finally I found a couple eBird checklists with pretty explicit descriptions, including the access point at the end of a cul de sac.  I was all set. 

Within seconds of arriving I did a quick binocular scan of the pond and picked out 2 pairs of dabbling ducks.  With closer scope views I could tell all 4 were Mottled Ducks.  I made several more scans, this time with the scope, but found no more waterfowl on the water.  Then I looked over to a grassy bank on the right and noticed a pair of Canada Geese along with another pair of dabblers.  One was much darker than all the others, and with scope views I could confirm the ID as a Black Duck (GA statebird #1).  Not only was it significantly darker, but these pictures show its speculum had no white edges. 

My statebird map for Black Duck is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  Iowa is the last state where I’ve yet to see it where it is a regular species (cross-hatched).  The 3 brown-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Black Duck as a rarity.  Although this species is a rarity on the GA coast, it is a regular wintering species in the northern half of the state.

My original planned next stop was a Savannah feeding station where a Dickcissel was an infrequent visitor (it typically didn’t appear until 4 PM or later).  I was a bit ahead of schedule so I had just enough time to squeeze in one additional brief stop before heading to the feeders.  Since it was an afternoon high tide I thought about trying for Saltmarsh Sparrows, but the tide wasn’t particularly high that day.  I guess they’ll have to wait for another trip.  Instead, I decided to move one of tomorrow’s stops up to today -a trip to the north jetty of Tybee Island for long-staying Black Scoters.  Several eBird pictures showed the Scoters right next to the jetty, which was only a 5-minute walk from the parking lot.  So if all went well a quick visit would give me plenty of time to see the Scoters and still get to the Savannah feeders in time.

I pulled into the parking lot for the Tybee Island Marine Science Center at 2:35, and took the short walk to the north jetty.  Not only were there no Scoters there, the jetty was almost completely underwater due to the high tide and waves.  In hopes that the Scoters were still around and just dispersed on the nearby waters, I did a number of quick scans, but the only waterfowl I could come up with were a small group of Buffleheads and 2 Red-throated Loons.  I would just have to come back the next morning which was my original plan.  I just hoped my 20-minute stay at the jetty didn’t make me too late for the Dickcissel.

The Savannah feeding station was in the back yard of Steve and Sandra Calver.  Once again with Diana Churchill’s help I connected with the Calver’s and they were happy to let me come into their yard to look for the Dickcissel.  They mentioned that the target bird appeared at 4:39 PM the previous day, so I was optimistic that my 3:44 arrival time was early enough.  I settled into one of the chairs they had in the yard, and began to take in the show – they had dozens of feeders that were just full of birds.  I had been there no more than 3 minutes when I spotted a large sparrow feeding on a tube feeder filled with millet – I had my target Dickcissel (GA statebird #2).  In my haste I took these two barely passable out-of-focus digi-binned photos of the bird.

Before I could get the bird in better focus it flew off, with a total viewing time of less than a minute.  Good thing I didn’t spend even just 5 more minutes looking for the Black Scoters on Tybee Island.

I’ve now seen Dickcissel in 13 states along the east coast.  It wasn’t too long ago that they were principally a species of the central US.

Since I had my target bird so quickly I thought about heading off to another spot, but decided to stay longer to enjoy the “show” at the feeders.  The Yellow-rumped Warblers were the most numerous bird there, with at least 5 to 10 there all the time.  Another highlight was an adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird that stopped in twice.  But undoubtedly my favorites were the Baltimore Orioles.  There were at least 7 of them – 2 adult males, 1 adult female, 2 immature males, and 2 immature females – though there could well have been more.

At one point the immature female Orioles came in together.  Initially I got excited that I had a Bullock’s, but with good looks at both of these 2 birds I could see solid white wingbars and dull heads making them just Baltimores.  But then I noticed another immature female that had a noticeably brighter orange head.  Luckily it came to a jelly feeder giving excellent close looks at the wingbar.  I could see that the leading edge was notched with black feathers giving it a toothed look – I had found a Bullock’s Oriole (GA statebird #3).  Although I missed the stakeout Bullock’s earlier in the day, I had found one of my own.  I alerted the Calvers and they were able to confirm the bird with photographs the next day.

Since moving to NC I’ve seen Bullock’s Oriole as a rarity at feeders in VA, NC, SC, and now GA.

I spent 90 minutes at the Calvers’ feeding station especially focused on the Orioles, and was able to see the Bullock’s come in one more time.  Though the Dickcissel never returned.  What an excellent way to end the day!

Day 3 – February 6

The plan for GA portion of the day was to make 2 stops, both on Tybee Island.  And since I had 2 targets in SC to pursue, and still needed to make my way home that day, I hoped for quick successes in GA.  I started at sunrise at the home of Deb Barreiro (thanks once again to Diana Churchill’s connections) where she hosted a White-winged Dove seen on a nearly daily basis.  The Dove was often found perched overhead in trees at her house, and sometimes coming to her feeder, often with Mourning Doves.  She also formerly had a Western Tanager in her yard.  But since she had not seen that rarity for a week I was much less optimistic about that one.  Soon after I arrived, Deb met me in her yard and we both spent quite a bit of time searching through her trees for perched Doves.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find any Doves of any variety over my 1 hour and 40 minute stay.

At one point she showed me the area where she used to see the Western Tanager - a hedge along the eastern edge of her lot.  While we were standing there we heard a 3-note call that sounded like the chatter of a Western Tanager.  Did we have the bird?  I stayed along the hedge for the next 10 minutes and heard the same call one more time.  Then I got a brief flash of yellow on a larger bird in trees above the hedge.  Then the bird flew up to a palm tree providing excellent views – it was indeed the winter-plumaged adult male Western Tanager (GA statebird #4).  The bird appeared to be eating fruit of the palm trees, as were a flock of roughly 50 Cedar Waxwings.

My statebird map for Western Tanager is actually quite similar to the map for Bullock's Oriole.  I've seen both species throughout their regular western ranges and in a number of states in the east as a rarity.  GA is now the 8th eastern state where I’ve seen Western Tanager as a rarity.

On one of my later searches for the Dove I once again saw the Tanager, this time perched high up in the live oak over the property.  I never would have thought I would end up missing the Dove but seeing the Tanager.  But if I could only see 1 of them, I’m glad it was the rarer of the 2.

Although I wanted to stay longer and wait for the White-winged Dove to appear, I had a full itinerary ahead of me.  Unfortunately, that included another try for the Black Scoters at the north jetty since I missed them the day before.  This time the tide was lower, and the wind was much lighter, so I was more optimistic than the previous day.  I pulled into the parking lot and started the short walk across the dunes toward the jetty.  In the distance I could see exposed jetty rocks and much calmer seas – things were looking up.  And even before I got to the beach I could see a small group of sea ducks swimming right along the jetty.  Even without optics I knew I had my target Black Scoters (GA statebird #5) – 9 of them.  They were often obscured by swells, but I managed these phone-scoped photos of both male and female birds.   

GA was my last Atlantic Coast state for Black Scoter.

What a great way to end the GA portion of my trip!  And with such a quick stop at the jetty I was back on schedule to pursue my SC targets on the way home.

I ended up seeing 5 of the 6 GA target birds I pursued, which was a huge improvement over my success rate of just 2 of 6 targets in FL.  Couldn’t have done it without the help of Diana Churchill, especially in helping me gain access to those private feeding stations.  And now with the addition of 37 GA statebirds since moving to the region in 2019, that brings my GA state total to 270. 

NC Route Back from the Carolina Bird Club Winter Meeting, January 2020

The winter meeting of the Carolina Bird Club (CBC) was scheduled for the upper SC coast, based in Litchfield Beach, on January 17-18, 2020.  I’ve always loved coastal birding, and really miss not being able to bird the coast regularly now that I’ve moved to the mountains of NC.  So it was a no-brainer to sign up to attend the winter meeting.  I had many potential new statebirds to hope for during the CBC event, 5 of which had been reported recently.  Plus of course I’d have the opportunity to bird while heading to the coast, and on my way back home, especially if I came back using a route through NC.  With a lot of research, I developed an itinerary giving me the opportunity for 4 recently reported targets in SC on my way to the coast, and 9 potential birds in NC on my way back.  Of course I wouldn’t find everything, so I realistically hoped for perhaps 5 new birds for my SC list, and 5 others for my NC list over the long weekend.

And regardless of the number of new birds I might add to my lists, I was really looking forward to an extended birding trip on the coast.

My birding plan heading back from the CBC meeting was to focus on NC targets – with a first full day on the coast and the next day at inland sites.  So I developed an extensive NC itinerary to either chase after recently reported rarities, or to head to good birding locations with the potential for other targets. 

But all that was pending any rarities that might be spotted at the CBC or nearby in SC that could be chaseable.  It turned out that earlier in the week news got out that a Bullock’s Oriole was being seen at a feeder in Pineville, SC.  Not wanting to pass up on a chance at the extremely rare Bullock’s, I decided to try for the Oriole in SC as my first stop before embarking on the NC part of the trip.  Even though it would mean a fair amount of backtracking, and I wouldn’t get to NC till late morning.  So I revised my itinerary to spend only half of the day on the 19^th on the NC coast along with a few hours in the morning of the 20^th, followed by only a partial day birding inland on the 20^th.  It was unfortunate that the weather on the 20^th was supposed to be quite a bit colder and windier, which would likely hamper my birding efforts especially on the coast.

Luckily I did find the Bullock’s Oriole in SC – hopefully the impact of the reduced time available to bird NC later that day would not be too significant. 

This blog post covers the NC portion of the trip on my trip back from the meeting; the previous post summarized the SC portion.

January 19, 2020 – Coastal NC

My first NC target was Wood Stork which is found in very low numbers in winter along or near the southern NC coast.  One or 2 had been reported recently from several spots in that region, initially sporadically from several nearby locations in Sunset Beach.  Plus there were occasional White Pelican sightings from the area.  Then more recently Storks were apparently more reliable from 2 locations in and around Wilmington.  But I would pass by Sunset Beach on my way to Wilmington, so I decided to stop at Sunset Beach first.  I made multiple stops around the Oyster Bay golf course, and the Twin Lakes, but with no luck.  Given that I had less time to bird NC, I was hoping to find a Stork on this first stop, but now I still had to give it a try at least at one of the Wilmington spots. 

Next I was off to Holden Beach where 4 of my targets had been reported recently – Clay-colored Sparrow, Sedge Wren, and Iceland Gull and Parasitic Jaeger from seawatches.  Though I was realistic that none of these were particularly likely.  The downside for the CCSP was that it was only reported once, 23 days earlier.  On the positive side location details were excellent, and my past experience with wintering CCSP rarities is that they will often stick around for quite a while.  The Wren location was sketchy, though there seemed to be a lot of suitable habitat on the island.  And of course you can never guarantee any species on a seawatch. 

Undaunted, my first stop was where the Clay-colored Sparrow had been reported. The eBird post from 12/27 not only included a specific location, but also that the bird was in a flock of Song Sparrows.  I quickly found the location mentioned in the checklist and started to spish – almost immediately Song Sparrows started to pop up.  But after a few minutes of searching, and more than a dozen Songs coming in to investigate, I couldn’t find the Clay-colored.  The bird certainly must have moved on I thought, so I gave up and walked a short distance away to check out a Spartina marsh to try for Sedge Wrens, but again with no luck.  As I headed back to the car, I decided to give the Sparrow one more try.  And with just a couple more sphishes a smaller sparrow popped up – it was the Clay-colored! (NC statebird #1)  Yet another datapoint where a wintering CCSP sticks around for some time.  As shown in my statebird map below, NC is the 8th eastern state, not to mention CA, where I’ve now seen this wide-ranging wanderer as a wintering vagrant.  (Cross-hatched states are those where this species is regular but I have not yet seen it.)

Next I was off to Heron Landing Marsh which was a site of a recent Sedge Wren report.  This marsh looked like an excellent spot for the Wren, and I listened intently for this normally vocal bird, without luck.  Then I decided to take a walk out into the marsh to try more distant portions.  After a few minutes I flushed a small bird that disappeared into a stunted bush at the edge of the marsh.  I finally got a glimpse and noted orange on the head – it was one of the “sharp-tailed” sparrows.  Now I needed much better looks to get an ID.  Finally it moved a bit more in the open and I saw a bright orange chest with somewhat diffuse streaking – it was a Nelson’s Sparrow of the inland race (NC statebird #2).  I spent some more time with this skulking bird to get better looks and started to realize there were actually 2 birds there.  Finally, the second bird gave me a look and it was also a Nelson’s, but this one had very blurry streaks on the orange chest making it an Atlantic race bird – one I’m especially familiar with on their breeding grounds in NH and ME.  Amazing to get one of each race sitting next to each other!  Most of my birding on the southern Atlantic coast was before the Nelson’s/Saltmarsh split, and as a result I don’t have records of whether I had wintering Nelson’s in those states.  So with my move to the region I’m hoping to be able to fill these gaps in my statebird map.  And of course I need them in all the Midwest states where they breed or are a regular migrant.

On my way back to the car I went by a small flock of shorebirds in the salt panne in the middle of the marsh.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but it did include three “Western” Willets.  Some day this might be a split from the “Eastern” Willet, so good to keep it in the bank.

My next planned stop was a fishing pier at Holden Beach to do a seawatch.  Unfortunately the pier was closed so I set up my scope to scan the ocean from the beach at the base of the pier.  But there was nothing on the water and very little flying by.  Rather than continue here, I decided to call it quits pretty quickly, giving me more time for hopefully more fruitful stops in the future.

Now I was on to Wilmington and two more stops where Wood Stork had been reported recently.  The first stop on my route was Greenfield Park and Gardens, though my odds seemed more promising at the farther stop at Reunion Road.  I decided to cross my fingers and hope to find my target at the closer location, saving a bit of time.  Though realistically I figured it could take me the rest of the day to find a Stork at either of these stops. 

Greenfield Park included a lake lined with mature bald cypress trees draped with Spanish moss – a very nice classic southern swamp.  The recent sightings noted that the local Stork would perch in those cypresses.  And the latest report mentioned the bird was on the north side of the lake, “roosting in a cypress tree a few hundred feet east of the viewing shelter with the short boardwalk to it, between the paddleboat dock and the long footbridge”.  That seemed pretty specific, assuming I could find all these landmarks.  When I arrived I was alarmed to see just how many trees there were –would this be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search?  But I quickly found the paddleboat dock, and then headed east on the path along the shoreline.  Soon I found a wooden structure that could well be the viewing shelter mentioned in the post.  I walked out to the shelter on the short boardwalk and was just about to start looking out to the east when something caught my eye at the water’s edge just a few feet away – it was the Wood Stork! (NC statebird #3).  It stayed there for just about a minute before flying over to the other side of the lake, disappearing out of view behind the outer cypresses.  If I had gotten there just minutes later I would have missed it.  I only need Wood Stork in 1 more southeast state where it is regular.

And since it took me less than 5 minutes to find my target, I had time for at least one more stop yet that afternoon.  That could be especially worthwhile since my next target was a stakeout Black-headed Gull at Carolina Beach Lake.  On the positive side this bird had been reported every day for at least a couple weeks, and was in with a small flock of Ring-bills on a rather small pond.  On the negative side this bird was not always at the lake, with some birders needing to wait a considerable amount of time before the bird appeared.  Originally I planned to try for this bird the next morning on the 20th, but now with extra time on the 19^th, I could give it a try both days if necessary.

As I pulled into the park I spotted 4 birders with binocs and cameras all pointed in one direction.  As I always say “bird the birders”, so I quickly went over to them and found out that the Black-headed Gull had just flown in, though it was on the back side of the roof of a gazebo and mostly obscured.  I changed my angle a bit and could see the bird’s head – just enough to see the tell-tale fieldmarks though I could only see 10% of the bird (NC statebird #4).  I took a quick walk to get to the other side of the structure, and quickly spotted it on the roof among Ring-bills, now looking away from me.  Unfortunately seconds later it took off and disappeared off to the north.  During the brief time I saw the immature Black-headed I was able to take this photo holding my phone up to the binocs – not exactly the best “Kodak Moment”.  

Luckily, I’ve seen many Black-headed Gulls over the years especially in the northeast, so I didn’t need great views to confirm the ID (see my statebird map below). 

And since I needed less than 5 minutes to find the Gull, I had at least some time to head to my next planned stops at Fort Fisher just a short distance down the peninsula to the south.  The first stop was the Basin Trail where a Sedge Wren had recently been reported calling from the marsh.  With the help of input from some local birders I figured out how to access the Basin Trail, but soon realized perhaps a half mile of the trail went through marsh habitat that could be suitable for a wintering Sedge Wren.  This one could be problematic, especially given my limited time. 

The first part of the trail went through nice coastal woodlands, but my target was in the marshes ahead so I didn’t stop.  As soon as I came out of the woods I trail began to skirt along the edge of what appeared to be a very nice stretch of marsh.  Sedge Wrens are very responsive to taped calls, and even poor vocal imitations.  So I stopped and made a few imitations of its characteristic “chat” call and almost instantly got a single response.  It was likely a Sedge Wren but I wasn’t going to ID it based on a single call.  Then I waited for a minute or so but heard no further calls.  I tried my imitation again and this time the bird responded with multiple call notes, confirming it as a Sedge Wren (NC statebird #5).  That was far easier than I expected it would be. 

After yet another very quick (and successful!) stop, I still had time for a bit more birding.  I made a quick drive to the southern end of the peninsula at the ferry stop, scanning the rocks and inlet for seabirds.  There were lots of birds but nothing out of the ordinary.

And then at 4:45 I pulled into a parking lot at Fort Fisher overlooking the ocean to do a seawatch.  Visibility was excellent, lighting was great, and there were only gentle swells on the ocean, so I was hopeful.  But on my first few scans I didn’t see much flying by, and only a couple gulls on the water.  And then I spotted a Loon quite a distance out swimming on the surface that caught my attention – its back was much darker than I’d expect for a Common.  My initial gut feel was that it might be a Pacific Loon, a bird I’ve seen a few times as a rarity off the New England coast (and of course on the Pacific coast).  But I needed a lot more details to confirm such a rarity.  I zoomed in and recorded these observations while I watched it over the next 30 minutes -
-  Although it was all alone and I couldn't make direct size comparisons, it didn't look large and heavy enough to be a Common
-  Back was very dark and one solid color - darker than a Common
-  Hindneck was very dark, with a sharp vertical edge separating the dark hindneck and the white foreneck.
-  I could not see a chinstrap - but it was likely too far out to be able to see one even if it were present
-  Bill seemed too small for a Common
-  Way too dark for a Red-throated, and held bill horizontal unlike typical Red-throated

I took a few phonescoped photos, and although the bird was really distant, these three seem to support the ID as a Pacific Loon (NC statebird #6).

Wow – what a way to end the day!  And since I was able to find my last 3 targets so quickly, I was able to bird all my planned coastal locations on the 19th, despite starting my day chasing after the Bullock’s Oriole in SC.  I would have preferred more time birding the coast, but now I could concentrate on my inland targets the next day.

January 20, 2020 – Inland NC

I had two key stakeout targets on my way back home on the 20^th – Lark Sparrow and Western Tanager.  It would have been nice to try for a couple others, like relative longshots Iceland Gull and White Pelican, and Sandhill Crane which would require additional driving time.  But I needed to be sure to leave enough time to find the Sparrow and Tanager as key rarities, and of course still have time for the drive home.  Perhaps I could find these three others more locally somewhere in western NC.

The Lark Sparrow was discovered on the 11th at the Ezell Farm Community Park in Mint Hill, an eastern suburb of Charlotte.  It was seen again on the 12th but not reported for another week.  I had assumed this bird had moved on and had taken it off my target list until it was re-found on the 18th and again the 19th.  It was once again back on my itinerary.  The bird was most often found in and around the fenced community garden at the park, and sometimes in the fields surrounding the garden.  And just as important, it was often reported to be in a flock of Savannah Sparrows. 

I left my Wilmington hotel pre-dawn and arrived at the park around 10 AM.  It had turned noticeably colder and it was rather windy, so I thought it might be a challenge to get the sparrows to perch out in the open.  I could see the community garden a short distance ahead – a small half-acre patch of personal vegetable gardens surrounded by chain-link fencing.  And the garden was in the middle of 30 acres of grassy fields – all suitable habitat for Savannah Sparrows.  I headed right over to the garden, and made a slow loop around the perimeter but didn’t see a single bird.  Then I noticed some nice brushy sparrow habitat to the southeast and spent some time there.  But after a couple minutes I realized that although this area might be good for White-throats and Songs, it wasn’t right for Savannahs – they were more likely in the grassy fields – all 30 acres of them!

A couple reports from the 11th mentioned that the Lark Sparrow was in the grassy field “to the right of the entrance road”.  I guessed that this meant “right” of the road as you walked to the gardens instead of from the gardens.  [Note to anyone reading my post – please don’t give directions that include words like “left” and “right” that are often confusing – use of “east” and “west” are much more definitive.]  I started a slow walk of this field, and flushed 2 individual small sparrows that were likely Savannahs, but found no flock.

I was now walking in the general direction of the gardens and noticed a couple birds up on the telephone wires to the south.  After a few steps in that direction I spotted a small flock of sparrows fly from that area and land in trees to the west.  With a quick scan I realized these were all Chipping Sparrows.  It was a flock of sparrows, but the wrong species.  So I once again turned my attention to the area with the telephone wires and spotted several sparrows in the distance.  As I got closer I realized I had a flock of Savannahs just outside the fenced area – was it the right flock?  Within a couple minutes the entire flock flew to the ground inside the garden area.  As they flew away from me I spotted one larger sparrow with white outer tail patches – that must be the Lark Sparrow, but I wanted a better view.  I got to the other side of the gardens just as the entire flock flew up to perch in the fencing.  There were about a dozen Savannahs and the boldly-marked head of the Lark Sparrow (NC statebird #7).  Here is a shot taken by holding my phone up to my binocs, first uncropped then heavily cropped.

NC was my 8th east-coast state where I’ve seen Lark Sparrow as a rarity.

After taking a few minutes to enter my sightings on the eBird app, I was off to try for my next target – the Western Tanager.  This stakeout bird was coming to a feeder near the center of Charlotte just a few minutes away.  It appeared to be quite regular so I was cautiously optimistic.  When I arrived I found another birder there watching the feeders from her car.  She said I had just missed the bird after it fed at the feeders for several minutes.  Hmm – if I hadn’t stopped to do the eBird checklist at the Lark Sparrow spot I bet I would have gotten there in time.  Are we spending too much time focused on our smartphone eBird app instead of actually birding?  But that’s for another post…

I started my vigil watching the feeders from a short distance away.  The feeders were mounted on the back of a condo complex on a second floor balcony.  This was in a suburban location without much good habitat nearby, so there weren’t many birds in the area.  I waited for about 45 minutes seeing just a couple Chickadees and Cardinals at the feeders.  But then finally the target bird appeared on the feeders (NC statebird #8).  I got this shot of the very photogenic adult male Western Tanager by holding my phone up to my binocs.

It stayed either feeding, or just perched on the feeders out in the open, for the next 10 minutes.  I worried that this large bright yellow bird might be an easy target for a passing Accipter.  Otherwise it seemed to be very contented at the feeders in this rather marginal habitat.  Hopefully it makes it through the winter and returns to its normal breeding range in spring. 

My Western Tanager statebird map is similar to the one for the Lark Sparrow – I’ve seen this species in most of the central/western states in its regular range, plus a number of eastern states as a vagrant.

What an excellent way to end my winter trip to coastal NC and SC, and points between.  I added 8 new statebirds in NC, bringing my list to 285.  That's in addition to 9 statebirds in SC.  All in all, twice what I had hoped for.  And that included seeing several stakeout rarities and finding a couple others on my own. 

I understand the next CBC winter meeting will be in January 2021 in coastal NC.  Can’t wait!