Missed My Two Target Birds But Still Got a Statebird, Biltmore Estate, NC, May 13, 2020

The local Blue Ridge Birders text group had been abuzz reporting on good numbers of migrants at the Biltmore Estate, highlighted by a report from Aaron Steed of 85 species in just 4 hours.  Interestingly, this came at a time when migration had slowed in my yard.  Then early on the May 13th came a report of an Olive-sided Flycatcher there, with very specific information on the location.  Since things were slow in my yard, and most importantly since I had an annual pass for the Biltmore, I decided to give it a try.  Though first I had to make a reservation to access the grounds, and luckily there were openings for the very next hour.  And just before I hit the road I got directions to the Black-billed Cuckoo spotted there the previous day.  Both birds had been spotted close to the Lagoon, so with a bit of luck I could possibly come up with 2 possible statebird targets in the same general area.

I arrived at the Lagoon within an hour of the sighting of the Olive-sided, and joined several other birders already on site.  And we soon found the exposed perches where the bird had been spotted on an island in the river.  But unfortunately there was no Flycatcher, as least not right now.  There were plenty of potential perches and habitat in the area, so after a couple minutes we decided to split up and cover more area up and down the river.  I decided to head down river toward yesterday’s Cuckoo location – maybe I could run into both birds.  How lucky would that be?

Just a few minutes later I got a text that the Olive-sided had returned to its original perches on the island.  Although I instantly started to run back to the Olive-sided, it took a lot longer than I had expected – I had covered at lot of territory.  I finally made it back to the island, but unfortunately the bird had just left a few seconds earlier.  Alas, the Cuckoo search took me too far away from the Olive-sided spot and cost me the Flycatcher.  As Maxwell Smart used to say – “Missed it by that much.”  (And by the way, I never even made it to the location where the Cuckoo was seen the previous day.)  Ugh…

The good news was the bird was still around, and it certainly had preferred perches.  So I decided to just stay at the island to wait for the bird to return.  About an hour later I received a text that a Wilson’s Warbler had just been spotted near the other end of the Lagoon, within just a couple hundred yards from where I waited for the Flycatcher to return.  I needed the Warbler for my statelist as well, and started to wonder if I should give up on the Flycatcher to try for the Warbler.  There had been no sightings of the Flycatcher in an hour, and the Warbler had just been spotted.  But I decided to stick with the Flycatcher search as it was the rarer of the two.

My vigil was now going on 2 hours still with no sightings.  And just then I spotted a large dark flycatcher flying across the river, leaving the Biltmore side roughly even with the island.  I followed it in my binocs as it continued across the river and land in a tree on the far side.  It was pretty far away – roughly 500 feet – and I couldn’t be sure of the ID.  It was large and darker above, and it could well have been the Olive-sided.  Though I couldn’t eliminate Phoebe.  Then again no one had spotted a Phoebe in the area.  And I would think that if a Phoebe had been nearby I would have heard it calling before its flight across the river.  A maybe – but not definitive.

At 2 PM I finally threw in the towel on the Olive-sided after a 3-hour wait.  I had not only missed the 2 previously reported targets (1 by less than a minute), but also hadn’t chased after the Wilson’s Warbler.  On a whim I decided to head back to the area where the Warbler was reported, even though it had been 2 hours since I had received the text.  On the way I ran into Bob Butler who said he just had a female Wilson’s at the original location.  With renewed optimism I went to the spot where Bob had his bird but could only find Redstarts.  Once again dejected, but undeterred, I walked a bit further along the river’s edge in nice brushy wet habitat and spotted a glimpse of yellow.  A second later I had a male Wilson’s Warbler in my binocs! 

Wilson’s Warbler was #294 for my NC statelist.  In my statebird map below, the blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular though I’ve yet to see it.  I still need this species in a number of eastern states, as it is much more common in the west.

I briefly thought about returning to the favored perches of the Olive-sided, but decided I had given that one enough of a try.  I may have missed my initial key targets, but at least I was still able to find one new unexpected statebird.  It was a bittersweet trip, though I can only imagine how I would have felt if I hadn’t been able to re-find the Wilson’s Warbler.

Greater White-fronted Goose, Biltmore Estate, NC – December 12, 2019

The Biltmore Estate is probably best known as the largest privately held house in the US, and is still owned by the descendants of George Vanderbilt.  Tours are offered of this giant mansion making it quite an impressive tourist destination.  The Estate is less well-known for its 125,000 acres of woodlands, farms and rivers of excellent habitat, along with many miles of hiking trails.  And all that habitat makes it a great birding hotspot. 

The problem is that accessing the grounds is extremely expensive.  The price to just hike on the grounds is the same as if you were taking a tour of the mansion.  Daily fees are around $100 per person, which some may argue is appropriate for a mansion tour.  But that’s hardly justifiable for a day of birding.  “What about an annual pass?” you may ask.  The annual pass costs more than $200 per person – wow!  In Fall there was a remarkable sighting of a Kirtland’s Warbler at the Biltmore, which stayed for a couple days.  I briefly thought about buying either a daily pass or an annual pass, but couldn’t justify it.  Perhaps I’d feel a little differently if the money was going to some organization that had conservation objectives.  But handing that much of my hard-earned money over to the Vanderbilts – I don’t think so.

Then in November I saw an ad on television mentioning that the Biltmore was running a special on annual passes.  With a bit of research I found out that it was “just” $120.  Maybe it was now justifiable, along with a trip or two in spring to tour the gardens.  So my wife and I bit the bullet and bought annual passes.  Now we just needed to visit enough times to make it worthwhile.

The first birding opportunity came on 12/8 when there was a report of 3 White-fronted Geese with Canadas at the Lagoon at Biltmore.  They were reported there again on the 11th, so apparently chaseable.  I needed to reach out to some of my new birding friends to figure out how to bird the Lagoon, and soon got excellent advice.  Now I was ready for my first birding trip to the Biltmore.

On the morning of the 12^th I took the quick drive to the Estate and then successfully maneuvered my way on the winding roads through the grounds, eventually finding my way to the Lagoon.  When I arrived I was surprised to see how small the lake was.  It is surrounded by a ring of trees, and includes two small wooded islands.  I guess the waterfowl feel protected there, since there are often some good waterfowl reports from the Lagoon.  And there is a dirt road encircling the lake providing numerous close viewing spots.  All in all, great for birding.

The good news this morning was that the lake was covered in Canada Geese, so apparently the key flock of geese was indeed at the lake.  The bad news was that I’d have to find the White-fronts in over 200 Canadas.  Plus portions of the lake were hidden from view behind the islands from any given angle, so I’d need to make multiple stops to cover the whole lake.  I pulled over at the first opportunity and started to scan with my binocs.  And within just a few seconds I spotted the 3 White-fronted Geese swimming together quite close to me.  That was surprisingly easy.  I got these phonescoped photos of these cooperative birds.  

My statebird map for Greater White-fronted Goose is inserted below - solid shaded states are those where I've seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it's regular but I haven't seen it yet.  I still need it in a few states where it is regular in the central and western flyways.  Though I’ve seen it in numerous states in the eastern flyway where it is a rarity.  

Other birds often reported at the Lagoon have been a pair of Egyptian Geese.  Obviously, these aren’t countable in NC, but who knows what the future may bring for this species.  (I've seen them in FL which is the only state where they are countable - for now.)  So after getting good views of the White-fronts I set out to look for the Egyptian Geese.  It took a while, but finally found them tucked behind one of the islands (phonescoped photo below).

One trip to Biltmore – one new NC statebird.  A good start for my annual pass investment.  That gives me 275 in NC – after adding 22 new birds since moving here in late August.