October was a great birding month for me in my new home in
the mountains of western North Carolina.
I birded several days a week at nearby hotspots, and most every day just
in my own yard.
I added 10 new species
to my NC list in October, about half being rarities needing details in eBird.
Short summaries of each of my additions are
provided below.
10/1 – Nashville Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo – Yard
My yard continues to be an excellent birding spot, with many
migrants passing through the yard virtually every day.
The month started off with a bang with
additions of both Nashville Warbler and a Philadelphia Vireo, the latter
considered to be rare per eBird.
I had 1
or 2 Philadelphia’s in the yard each day for the next 3 days.
My statebird map for Nashville Warbler is
inserted below – I’ve seen it in the shaded states, and still need it in the
cross-hatched states where it is a regular species.
10/6 – Northern Waterthrush – Jackson Park
My first birding trip in the area was a birdwalk run by the local
Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society (EMAS) at the Beaver Lake sanctuary.
A couple of the folks in my group spotted a
Northern Waterthrush but I missed it.
Hence it was a bit of a nemesis bird for a couple months until I finally
caught up with one on my first trip to Jackson Park.
It turned out to be the first of several I
had in the month.
10/9 – Peregrine Falcon, Dickcissel – Warren Wilson College
A Dickcissel spotted in a sunflower field at Warren Wilson
College provided my first opportunity to chase after a local rarity.
Luckily I had attended an EMAS field trip to
this spot so I knew where the field was and how to bird the site.
I arrived early the next morning and met up
with a couple other birders also searching for the target bird.
There were many Indigo Buntings, and a couple
Blue Grosbeaks, but no Dickcissel.
Most
of the birds would be seen either flying out of the field to the adjacent
trees, or flying back into the sunflower field.
But in most cases the birds would frustratingly instantly disappear into
the vegetation; only occasionally would a few individuals sit out into the open
for even a quick view.
After an hour of searching I thought about leaving the
sunflower field and birding elsewhere, but decided to focus on my real target –
the Dickcissel.
I continued to try to ID
the birds coming and going from the field from various vantage points, and at
one point spotted a Peregrine Falcon overhead – a nice consolation prize, but
still not the target.
Then at the 2-hour
point I again thought about calling it quits.
But then I realized that the Buntings that were flying into the field
were changing their MO and were actually sitting in the open for a while –
maybe the Dickcissel might do the same I thought.
And sure enough, just a couple minutes later the
2 other birders and I all spotted the Dickcissel perched atop a sunflower.
Then again it might not have been “the”
Dickcissel – this bird seemed to be paler below than the one photographed the
day before.
A second bird perhaps?
In any case, my strategy to focus on my
target rarity, rather than to divert my attention to more general birding,
proved to be the right one.
As shown in
my statebird map below I’ve seen Dickcissel in most of its regular range generally in the
central portions of the country, and have found it as a rarity in a number of
eastern states.
10/10 – Connecticut Warbler – Jackson Park
Local birder Dave Minnich and I were planning a birding trip
for the 10th, and decided to try Jackson Park based on a couple reports of a
Connecticut Warbler there.
The bird had
been reported near the southern end of the Warbler Trail, so that’s where we
started our trip.
But it was pretty slow
in that area, and we continued our walk along the trail all the way to its
northern end.
Shortly after we turned
around and started our walk south back down the trail we heard a set of odd
chip notes.
And just then I spotted a
Connecticut Warbler just off the trail.
This was perhaps a half mile from the earlier sighting so likely a
different bird.
The bird was seen again
later that day by several other birders, and in fact continued to be seen for
over a week – though as is often the case with these skulkers, it was not seen
by everyone.
10/12 – Warbling Vireo – Yard
During one of my nearly daily stints birding in my yard I
spotted a Vireo that instantly caught my eye – brownish back, faint eyeline,
white throat, and only a bit of yellowish wash on the flanks.
Earlier in the month I spent a lot of time
watching Philadelphia Vireos to make sure they weren’t Warbling Vireos.
And today’s bird was definitely a Warbling
and not a Philadelphia, or Red-eyed for that matter.
This species is not only rare for NC, but it
was also quite late for one, so it was a nice find.
I just need to see this wide-ranging species
in a couple more southeastern states.
10/18 - Lincoln’s Sparrow – Warren Wilson College
My targets on this trip to Warren Wilson were fall
sparrows.
Earlier in the month a
Nelson’s had been reported from a wet ditch in the middle of the fields (why
didn’t I chase it?), plus it was time for Lincoln’s to be arriving.
So a sparrow search was on!
I headed to the ditch as soon as I got to the
site and soon had a number of Songs, Swamps and Savannahs.
Then in the distance a Lincoln’s popped out
and gave nice views.
Later I had several
other Lincoln’s there – I guessed at least 3.
I also had another at the nearby gardens, and 2 at the sunflower
field.
Interesting that this species is
considered to be a rarity in eBird.
10/24 – American Bittern, Vesper Sparrow – Hooper Lane
A Vesper Sparrow was reported at the sod farms at Hooper
Lane, though without a specific location.
There are numerous weedy ditches throughout the site so I planned to
work the ditches and hope I ran into the Vesper, or maybe I should say
a
Vesper.
But shortly after I arrived at
the farm I heard a Greater Yellowlegs in the distance.
I located it in a wet area in the distance,
and decided to get closer to it to grab a photo, and look for other
shorebirds.
I snapped this passable
photo holding my phone up to my binocs.
A bit later I spotted a pair of shorebirds overhead which
turned out to be a White-rumped Sandpiper and an American Golden-Plover – both eBird
rarities.
But neither was new for my NC
statelist.
Unfortunately, by the time I
went back to looking for my target Vesper Sparrow I had run out of time.
Though the shorebirds were certainly a nice
consolation.
So I was back a couple days later to give it another
try.
This time I started at the
southernmost ditch and started heading west, flushing sparrows along the
way.
But it was just the regulars – lots
of Savannahs, a few Songs, and a couple Swamps – so my interest started to wane.
I was just about to give up when I flushed an
American Bittern from the ditch – this addition wasn’t even on my radar screen.
I still need this reasonably common species
in quite a number of states across the country.
Later in that same ditch I spotted a sparrow in the distance
with a white eye-ring.
I initially thought
I had a Vesper, but realized it was too small.
Then it turned to face me and it had a buffy chest with no striping – a
Grasshopper Sparrow.
Nice!
But still no Vesper.
Next it was on to another ditch, with more Savannahs and
Songs.
Then I spotted another
Grasshopper Sparrow – only my second and third I’ve ever found in fall
migration.
And the hits kept coming – I
turned to look at the pool where the Yellowlegs had been a couple days earlier
and spotted 4 shorebirds.
I needed to
get closer to identify them as Pectoral Sandpipers – my 6th shorebird species
there that week.
I was out of time and started to head back to the car along
the ditch I birded earlier.
I wasn’t
watching the sparrows too closely since I had seen them all on my first
pass.
But just then I spotted a larger
sparrow fly into the ditch from the nearby field.
And after just a couple seconds it popped
into the open and was a Vesper Sparrow.
Although it took me a while to finally get my target, I’m not
complaining since I found so many other goodies along the way.
I ended the month with a NC statelist of 270 – I’ve added 19
new birds to my list since moving here just over 2 months ago.
I continue to be amazed at how many good
birding spots there are within 45 minutes of my house.
And speaking of my house, my yard list as of
10/31 stands at an amazing 92 species.
This includes 22 species of warblers and 6 vireo species as the fall
migration through my yard was outstanding.
What a tremendous start to my time here in the Carolinas!
