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.

One Life Bird - Or Was it Two, Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 4-5, 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 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 FL.  These rare vagrants typically appear somewhere in far southern FL which is actually a pretty short flight from their home in the Bahamas – less than 70 miles as the Mockingbird flies.  But this bird was being seen in Cape Canaveral, making it about a 3-hour shorter drive than trying for one that might appear at the southern end of the peninsula.  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.

Now for the research.  The Bahama Mockingbird was being reported daily just outside the eastern end of the Jetty Park campground in Cape Canaveral.  It was first reported on January 10, and it or another one was at the same site from May through August 2022.  The bird was most often seen in a sea grape hedge, or along the edge of a paved parking lot just to the east.  It seemed that most birders just had to put in some time to wait for the bird to appear, often in the company of Northern Mockingbirds.  That seemed pretty straightforward.

What about other possible statebirds nearby?  In the few days before my trip an immature Iceland Gull was being seen daily in the waters just north of Jetty Park, though many birders were missing the bird.  Certainly one to look for.

And then there is the Indian Peafowl.  In 2020, the ABA Recording Standards and Ethics Committee concluded that Indian Peafowl has been established and “countable” in FL since 2007 per their policy “ABA Area Introduced Species”.  (www.aba.org/aba-area-introduced-species)  When the new policy was published I scoured my records but couldn’t find any notes about seeing “peacocks” in FL, though I might remember seeing them in Key West decades ago.  But that would have been before 2007 anyway.  So this possible new life bird has been on my radar screen since the ABA policy came out in 2020.  And sure enough it turns out there were quite a number of Peafowl records just south of Jetty Park.  One to definitely focus on when I got to the area.

Or was it?  In 2022 eBird published an article “Important Changes to Exotic Species in eBird”.  (ebird.org/new/news/important-changes-to-exotic-species-in-ebird)  In this article eBird concluded that Indian Peafowl was a non-countable “Escapee”.  They went on to say that a population of an exotic species is considered to be a non-countable “Escapee” because it is not yet a “population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years”. 

An obvious difference of opinion on the countability of Indian Peafowl.  But as I always say, see the bird first, then figure out if it’s countable.  So I would still look for it on my trip.

And of course there was also statebird potential along my route back from Cape Canaveral.  Though since the Mockingbird and Peafowl were my key targets I would take as long as realistically needed to find them.  If I had time, in FL there were relatively recent reports of Harlequin Duck and Ash-throated Flycatcher at Huguenot Park just east of Jacksonville.  Plus there were several targets in GA and SC along my route home. 

This blog post focuses on my FL searches on this trip.  Searches in GA and SC are summarized in later posts on my blog.

Day 1 – February 4

I stated on the 9-hour drive to Cape Canaveral on the afternoon of February 3rd, making it as far as Brunswick, GA.  That evening while updating my notes on my target birds I noticed several reports from that day of a male Cinnamon Teal at Merritt Island NWR.  That’s just a short distance from Cape Canaveral so definitely one to add to the itinerary if the Mockingbird and Peafowl cooperated.

With the excitement of potential life and state birds in front of me I was out of the hotel before sunrise on the 4th.  And with light traffic nearly the whole way I rolled into Jetty Park a few minutes before 10 AM.  I drove right to the east side of the park, and parked in the paved parking lot mentioned in so many checklists.  There were a couple birders in the area who shared that the Mockingbird was seen earlier in the morning, though not recently.  So I started my vigil especially focused on the seagrape hedge just east of the campground, hoping that the Mockingbird would appear. 

But over the next 2 hours the area was very quiet.  Not only was there no Bahama Mockingbird, but there were no Northern Mockingbirds either.  That was quite disappointing since both species were often seen together.  The closest I got was a Catbird I spotted in the hedge.  Then at about 11 AM a Northern Mockingbird appeared in the hedge and flew over my head to the east.  Then a second one popped out.  Although I hoped the Bahama Mocker would be with them it was not the case.

Then a few minutes later I noticed 3 birders all pointing low in the trees a few feet to the south.  I had met them earlier and they were especially looking for warblers, so I imagined that’s what they had found.  But as I say “bird the birders”, so I went over and asked them what they had.  They had just discovered the Bahama Mockingbird!  Although it just took me a few seconds, it felt like hours before I finally picked it out among the leaves just a few feet off the ground.  I wondered if I had missed it as it flew in from the seagrapes, or perhaps it flew in from the east.  Regardless I had my bird.

A few seconds later it flew to the west and disappeared into the seagrape hedge.  We all got good views of all the key fieldmarks – brown-backed instead of the gray of a Northern Mocker, streaking on the chest and flanks, lack of white patches in the wings, white only in the corners of the tail, and longer tail making it look more like a Thrasher than a Mockingbird. 

Just when we thought we had seen the last of the Bahama Mockingbird it reappeared in the seagrapes, and flew back toward us landing on the ground a few feet away.  The bird hopped right by us – I took this photo with my cellphone as it went by within 3 feet of me.

Later it foraged on the ground just a few feet away and I got this “digi-binned” photo.

What an amazing set of observations!  Certainly worth the wait for a species that I’ve wanted to see for decades. 

With the Mockingbird behind me rather quickly I had plenty of time to pursue my other targets.  Next i drove over to the northeast corner of the park to try for the Iceland Gull, and joined a couple birders already there scoping the offshore waters.  Apparently the Gull was seen early that morning but not since then.  I did quite a bit of scoping and found a number of gulls perched on distant markers and fencing, including both Lesser Black-backs and a Great Black-backed, but no Iceland Gull.  The latest theory was that the target gull was roosting there overnight, and foraging during the daytime somewhere out at sea.  If that were the case, I’d have to wait till later in the afternoon for the Iceland to return. 

Given the apparent timing of the gull I decided to pass on it and pursue my other targets.  While I was closing up my scope I asked the other birders if they had suggestions for my next target – Indian Peafowl.  They very manner-of-factly said to just drive up and down nearby Atlantic Avenue and I would run into them just walking along the road.  A great tip! 

After just a 5-minute ride I reached the northern end of Atlantic Avenue and started the slow drive south.  It was a very busy main thoroughfare through a suburban shopping district, not typically a place where you would be looking for a target bird.  But this was an exotic species very accustomed to human interaction.  I hadn’t driven more than a half mile when I noticed a male Peafowl walking in a small park to the right.  I quickly pulled over and doubled back to get these photos of 2 male Peafowl hanging out in the park.  That was surprisingly easy.

My next target was the male Cinnamon Teal discovered the previous day at Merritt Island NWR.  Although there were no reports of the bird that day, several birders reported it the previous day, and one report included coordinates of the precise location of the bird as it fed with Blue-winged Teal.  So I was hopeful.  However, despite lots of scoping through flocks of an estimated 450 Blue-winged Teal and 250 other dabblers I was unsuccessful in finding the Cinnamon Teal.  And the specific impoundment where it was seen the previous day had no ducks at all.  Notably, I did find a tight flock of 500 Long-billed Dowitchers, chattering away as they often do while feeding.  Here is a picture of one portion of the flock.

It was a bit disappointing to end the day with a miss, but I was still happy to get the Mockingbird and Peafowl.

Day 2 –  February 5

My one FL stop on Day 2 of my trip was at Huguenot Memorial City Park on the coast east of Jacksonville.  My first target here was a Harlequin Duck seen mixed in with Scoters and other seaducks on the north side of a rock jetty at the mouth of the St. Johns River.  And my second target was an Ash-throated Flycatcher seen near the parking area at the east end of the park.  Unfortunately, neither had been seen in about a week so I wasn’t overly optimistic.

When I arrived at the park the wind was howling out of the north.  And it was even worse as I got to the exposed jetty area.  This picture shows the waves overtopping the jetty.

Miserable conditions to find a seaduck.  I tried scanning the mouth of the river thinking that maybe it had relocated to these calmer waters but with no luck.  One consolation was this large flock of 200 Black Skimmers that were pinned down by the wind and tide.

The parking lot where the Ash-throated Flycatcher had been seen was only slightly less windy.  Once again difficult conditions to find a flycatcher.  I walked around the area for close to 90 minutes but found few birds out in the strong winds.  The closest I got was to find a Phoebe foraging within a foot of the ground.

I couldn’t have asked for worse conditions to find my targets.  Both birds were re-spotted a few days later, undoubtedly under much calmer conditions. 

As I headed out of the park on my way to stops in GA, I reflected on the mixed results of the FL portion of my trip.  I’m not used to missing such a high percentage of my targets (4 of 6), but if I was only able to see two, the Bahama Mockingbird and Indian Peafowl were the most important.  And I’ve decided to follow the ABA’s rules for counting the Peafowl.  Afterall, I’ve been following the ABA’s rules for countability of exotics and other species for many decades.  Per the ABA, that brings my ABA Continental list to 765, and 745 in the Lower 48.  And my FL statelist is now up to 332 per the ABA (only 327 per eBird). 

See my next blog post for the GA portion of my February 2023 trip.

7 NC Statebirds in First Half of NC/VA Coastal Trip Including Heermann's Gull and Other Nice Rarities, February 14-15, 2022

The Carolina Bird Club (CBC) had originally scheduled its January 2022 meeting for the NC Outer Banks.  But the Omicron Covid variant had other ideas.  Unfortunately, Covid numbers started to peak just before the meeting, and the CBC not surprisingly cancelled the meeting.  I was really looking forward to the guided field trips, not only to bird the coast, but to also learn about how to bird the area in general.  But if the Covid numbers dropped quickly, maybe I could squeeze in a trip to the coast on my own, perhaps in late February. 

And just as I had hoped, the numbers did indeed improve into February.  So I started to plan a 4-day trip to both the upper NC coast as well as southeastern VA.  Given the long travel times to get to the coast that would give me 2 full days of birding at the coast but just a couple hours on the travel days.  It turned out that I was free February 14 to 17, which lined up nicely with some dry but chilly weather.  This was starting to come together.

Then came the research into possible statebirds.  There were a few rarities being seen in both states, along with a number of regular species I still needed for my state lists.  After quite a bit of research I came up with the following tentative itinerary –

·       2/14 – travel to the NC coast, with afternoon birding at the Alligator NWR for an elusive Ash-throated Flycatcher, along with Golden Eagle and Rough-legged Hawk that were occasionally reported

·       2/15 – birding on the OBX starting with a seawatch at Cape Point, then time searching for a recently reported Snowy Owl near the Oregon Inlet campground, then another seawatch at Jennette’s Pier

·       2/16 – an action-packed day in southeastern VA with stops for a number of stakeouts (Bullock’s Oriole, Brewer’s Blackbird, Iceland Gull, and Common Eider) along with a seawatch at Ruddee Inlet, searches for Vesper Sparrows in Northampton County, and ending the day for Woodcocks at Eastern Shore of VA NWR

·       2/17 – a seawatch at dawn at Little Island Park before starting the drive home

But then as I was just about to finalize my plans came a report of a Mountain Bluebird in Wrightsville Beach– a 2nd state record.  The bird was first spotted on Friday (2/11) and continued reliably into the weekend.  And then on the 12th came a report of the 1st state record of Heermann’s Gull foraging in Mason Inlet at the northern end of Wrightsville Beach, just 10 minutes from the Bluebird.  And this was also the area where Long-tailed Ducks, another of my targets, had been recently reported. 

Wrightsville Beach was much farther south than I was planning to travel, but how could I skip those super-rarities?  I briefly considered changing the whole trip to visit the southern NC coast (including Wrightsville Beach) and the northern SC coast instead of heading north.  But then I wondered if I could start my trip with stops at Wrightsville Beach, then head north to still follow the rest of my original plan.  It would mean less time at each planned stop, but if the birds cooperated, I could squeeze it all in. 

Then there was one last complication – although the Bluebird continued to the 13th, the Heermann’s was not re-found that day despite many people searching.  But I figured the Bluebird and Long-tailed Ducks were still worth the extra travel time, so I kept with my revised plan.  And with that itinerary I hoped for perhaps 4 or 5 new statebirds in each state.

This blog post summarizes the NC portion of my trip. The VA portion is summarized in the next post.

February 14 – Wrightsville Beach

The first stop was the tiny island of habitat on an island just off Wrightsville Beach being visited by the Mountain Bluebird.  The entire area measured less than an acre and a half, consisting of a couple parking lots, a few trees, two small buildings, and a boat launch, with numerous telephone wires overhead.  And the bird had been seen perched on all of these features except the buildings.  The Bluebird had been reported that morning, so I was cautiously optimistic. 

I pulled into the parking lot around noon and was surprised to be the only birder there – I guess I’d have to find the bird on my own.  While the car was rolling to a stop I noticed a small bird perched on one of the cedars, but it was just a Yellow-rumped Warbler.  So I got out of the car to look around and not 10 seconds later noticed a bird perched on the wires – I had the Mountain Bluebird!  That was easy (statebird #1).  I took this phonescoped picture of this most cooperative bird. 

What a beautiful bird!  As I write this blog post the bird is still being seen in this same little area.

My statebird map for Mountain Bluebird is inserted below.  The states where I’ve seen this species in its regular range are shaded in blue.  Cross-hatched OK is the last state where I’ve yet to find it as a regular species.  And now NC is the 5th state where I’ve seen Mountain Bluebird as a rarity (shaded in tan). 

Since the Heermann’s Gull hadn’t been seen for two days I decided to not give it a try, and instead began to focus on my next target - Long-tailed Duck.  One had been seen recently at the Johnny Mercer Pier at Wrightsville Beach, and up to 7 had been seen at Masonboro Inlet at the south end of the island.  I figured my chances would be better looking for a small flock of birds, so I headed off to the inlet.  In any case I needed to find them quickly so I still had time to get to Alligator NWR that day to try for my targets there.

After a 10-minute drive, and a short walk through the dunes, I arrived at the inlet.  The Long-tails had been seen near the north jetty as recently as yesterday, though there were no reports today.  Several other birders were set up with scopes peering out into the inlet when I arrived.  No one had yet found the Long-tailed Ducks, though they had found 3 Great Cormorants and a large flock of 34 Purple Sandpipers.  Nice birds for NC, but not my target.  I searched the north jetty extensively, then searched the inlet and the more distant south jetty, but to no avail. 

Should I call it quits at the inlet and head back to the pier to try there?  Then I realized we were all only looking at the south side of the north jetty.  If we walked up the beach just a short distance we could see the north side of the jetty.  Seemed to be worth the try.  And sure enough, I set up the scope on the north side of the jetty and quickly picked up a flock of 5 Long-tailed Ducks swimming close to the jetty (statebird #2).  Just 3 more states to go to see it in its regular range.

That took a little longer than I hoped, but I still had enough time to make the drive to Alligator NWR and bird there for an hour or so before sunset.  However, when I got to the refuge at about 5 PM, the temperatures had dropped into the upper 30’s and it was quite breezy.  Not the best conditions to try to find a Flycatcher.  I scoured the area for maybe a half hour, but not surprisingly didn’t find the Ash-throated.  Plus I didn’t have a chance to get to the agricultural fields where my target raptors might be.  I would have to revise my schedule the next day to get back to the refuge with more time.  At least I had a pretty good handle on how to bird the area where the Ash-throated Flycatcher was being seen.

February 15 – Outer Banks, Alligator NWR

My first stop of the day was at Cape Point to do an extended seawatch.  In the last week one birder had been doing nearly daily seawatches at the Point finding tremendous numbers of nearly every species one might expect, and some spectacular species including 5 that would be new for my statelist like Razorbill, Parasitic Jaeger, Manx Shearwater, Little Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake.  Plus loafing flocks of gulls near the point sometimes included an Iceland and a Glaucous Gull.  Needless to say, it was a target-rich environment, though I thought I’d be lucky to get just 2 or 3.

I drove to the end of Lighthouse Road near the Point, and at sunrise parked my car at the end of the pavement.  Then I “layered-up” and started my mile-long walk in the soft sand to the Point.  Here’s a look at sunrise along the way.

As I headed south there was lots of activity over the ocean with birds flying by both northbound and southbound.  But rather than stop along the way I headed right toward a large gull flock on the beach near the Point.  Unfortunately, neither white-winged gull was there, though it was nice to see dozens of Lesser Black-backs. 

Then I looked toward the Point and noticed a birder standing on a small sand dune scoping the ocean.  I made my way over to him to join him in the seawatch.  It turns out he was the birder who had done all those recent seawatches, Daniel Irons.  He had driven to the Point getting there a bit before me, though I hadn’t missed anything special.  Here’s the view from the top of our dune looking south.

Although this unmagnified picture may not look too spectacular, the ocean was actually alive with birds, featuring large flocks of Gannets, Forster’s Terns, Bonaparte’s Gulls, Red-throated Loons, and Double-crested Cormorants passing by and feeding not too far offshore.  There was also a flock of gulls just a short distance away at the outflow from Salt Pond but once again my target white-winged gulls were not mixed in.  Soon after I arrived Daniel spotted a Little Gull going by – unfortunately I never got on it.  I watched flocks of Bonaparte’s passing by for the next 30 minutes hoping the Little Gull might return but never spotted it.  That was frustrating. 

During one of the slower times I looked back over to the gull flock and instantly spotted an all gray gull with a white head and red bill flying in – I had re-found the Heermann’s Gull!  (statebird #3)  It was last seen 3 days earlier at Wrightsville Beach, some 145 miles away as the Gull flies.  I got this phonescoped photo of the bird standing behind a Ring-billed Gull.

Unfortunately, it only stayed about 10 minutes before it took off heading east disappearing over the ocean.  In the last year I’ve now seen this Pacific Ocean species in GA, VA, and now NC.  Wonder what’s causing it to show up on the Atlantic coast.

With that excitement behind us we turned our interest back to the seawatch.  Activity had slowed quite a bit after the first 90 minutes or so, but some good birds were still passing by.  Daniel spotted a couple Razorbills and this time I was able to pick them up (statebird #4).  And a bit later I was also able to find a Manx Shearwater that Daniel had picked up (statebird #5).  NC was my 6th state for this species which is regular through most of the Atlantic coast, though not often seen from shore.

Manx map

After about 3 hours on the point I decided to end my seawatch, very happy to have seen 3 new statebirds, including re-finding the Heermann’s Gull.  On the way back I ran into 3 very tame “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrows feeding in the sand - a nice ending for this spot and a welcome break during the long walk in soft sand.

My planned next stop was near the Oregon Inlet Campground to try for a recently reported Snowy Owl.  Unfortunately it had not been reported for 3 days, and since I needed to get back to Alligator NWR, I decided to pass on this low probability target and headed right to the refuge.  Though I certainly kept my eyes open as I passed through the area.  (It turns out that the bird was not seen again after the 12th so I made the right decision.)

I rolled into Alligator NWR at about 12:30 and went right to the western end of Sawyer Lake Rd to search for the Ash-throated Flycatcher.  It had been reported that morning so I was hopeful, but there were also many negative reports over the last several days.  There were only a few reports that mentioned the location of the bird, and all described it as being on the north side of the road along a canal that paralleled the road.  One report mentioned it was with a Phoebe, and another included pictures of the bird eating sumac berries.  I spent nearly 2 hours at this location without seeing the bird.  Though I found a couple Phoebes, sumac berries, and even a Phoebe eating the sumac berries. 

Then I remembered one report saying it responded to taped calls.  I started playing some tape and after a while got a bird to call back several times in response.  It gave a “breep” or perhaps “peek” call which certainly sounded flycatcher-like but was unlike the calls I was playing.  I told myself I’d have to listen to other recordings to see what I was hearing.  That night I went onto the Xeno-canto website and there were many recordings of this call note from Ash-throated Flycatcher.  In fact, there were more of these calls than those similar to the taped calls I was playing in the field.  Here’s a link to the calls on the website-

https://xeno-canto.org/species/Myiarchus-cinerascens

Although I sure wish I had seen the bird, I was confident that I had heard the Ash-throated Flycatcher (statebird #6).  This bird which is principally found in the southwest is prone to vagrancy, and I’ve now added it to my lists in 6 eastern states plus KS.

Then I was off to the ag fields in Alligator NWR where there had been occasional reports of a Rough-legged Hawk, and a few older reports of Golden Eagle.  I was running out of time but spent perhaps a half hour driving along the fields looking for raptors.  I had good numbers of Harriers, Red-tails, and Vultures, but none of my targets.  Though a hovering buteo that turned out to be a Red-tail sure got my attention for a while.  (Ironically later in the day I had a Rough-legged Hawk just across the state line in VA – but I don’t need it in VA.)  And a long-staying Sandhill Crane was nice.  I wanted to stay longer but still planned to do a seawatch from Jennette’s Pier, so I needed to move on.  Unfortunately, I was still paying the price for adding that diversion to Wrightsville Beach.

I rolled into Jennette’s Pier at about 3 PM – lighting and visibility were excellent so now I just needed the birds to cooperate. 

The pier sticks some 900 feet out into the ocean so seabirds can sometimes be pretty close.  At first it was quite slow with just a few Forster’s Terns passing by and both Red-throated and Common Loons on the water.  Then I noticed a Razorbill flying north, then another, and then a small flock.  Over the next 45 minutes I counted 14 flying by, and 2 very distant alcid flocks numbering 42 birds that were probably Razorbills but I entered them as “large alcid sp.”  Then I picked up a group of 3 Razorbills on the water not too far offshore.  While watching them another much smaller alcid flew through my scope field.  I watched it for a couple seconds until it dropped to the water and disappeared in the swells.  It was like a football with rapidly beating wings, with a short neck and small head and bill.  I had found a Dovekie! (statebird #7). 

What a great way to end the NC portion of my trip!  Although I was more than a bit rushed at times, I’m glad I added the side-trip to Wrightsville Beach.  And with 7 new birds that brings my NC list to 320.  The link to the eBird Trip report for this NC portion of my coastal trip is inserted below-

https://ebird.org/tripreport/39063

I could only hope to have similar successes in Virginia!

(My next post summarizes the VA portion of my trip.)