Ruffed Grouse, Pisgah National Forest, NC, March 15, 2020

Ruffed Grouse can be a very challenging bird to find.  First of all, their preferred habitat includes mature woodlands that are often quite inaccessible.  And even if you can get into their best locales, they often are real skulkers.  But not to worry – in Spring they can often be heard drumming.  Though that is a challenge for me as I have problems hearing those low frequency sounds (even though my high-pitched hearing is still quite good).  Plus a final complication – Ruffed Grouse numbers have dropped significantly over a major portion of their range.  But despite these difficulties, sometimes you can get lucky and find one out in the open, even being quite tame.

The mountains of western NC provide excellent habitat for Ruffed Grouse.  As a result, I’ve been receiving a fair number of eBird Needs Alerts with Grouse sightings.  Few are likely chaseable, so I just treat them as reminders of a future target down the road.  But then came a Needs Alert on March 13 of a sighting by local birder Vicky Burke.  I reached out to her and got a specific location – along the Blue Ridge Parkway on a the trail heading northeast from the Mills River Overlook.  And more importantly, she has twice recently seen one in that same location.  Could this one be chaseable?  I decided to give it a go.  Besides, I haven’t done any birding along the Parkway yet, so this would be an opportunity for me to do some scouting in this area. 

I was out of the house at dawn the next morning and after a short drive I was heading south along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  As I climbed in elevation I got into areas of very thick fog, so as I got to the Mills River Overlook visibility was next to zero – no nice scenery views this morning.  I quickly found the trail suggested by Vicky and was soon taking a slow walk through some really nice habitat.  I spent more than a 90 minutes on this 1-mile trail but with no luck on the Grouse.  Birding was a bit slow at this elevation, but I enjoyed multiple Winter Wrens and singing Juncos.  Plus it was a great walk even though I struck out on my target bird.

It was still early so I decided to check out some more of the Parkway.  A bit farther south I came to the Mt. Pisgah Campground where there were a few reports of Red Crossbills in previous years - another of my higher elevation targets.  There were no eBird reports from the campground yet this year, so no recent news on Crossbills.  So I figured it could be worth a search.  Plus, again it would be a nice scouting effort.  The campground wasn’t open yet this early in the year, so I parked safely nearby and decided to take a slow walk through the campground.

It was great habitat in the campground, with numerous singing Juncos.  Were they already singing on territory?  There were also many calling Golden-crowned Kinglets, along with several in full song.  And Robins were everywhere.  I especially spent a fair amount of birding time focused on the mature conifers around the campground, hoping to hear or see Crossbills.  But even though they were loaded with cones, no Crossbills were around. 

After walking around the two western campground loops I was pretty much seeing more of the same.  So I debated about whether I should walk around the eastern loop as well, but decided I ought to head there especially for more opportunities at Crossbills.  As I turned onto that last loop I spotted some movement on the pavement up ahead.  And just as I got my binocs focused on that spot I heard and saw a whirr of wings – it was a pair of Ruffed Grouse that took off into the woods as they spotted me.  I quickly headed to the edge of the woods where they had disappeared, and could hear some rustling in the leaves, but never got any more visuals on the birds.  Boy was I lucky.  I didn’t find the potentially chaseable Grouse but found 2 other more cooperative birds nearby.  Though I never did find any Crossbills - they could wait for a future trip along the Parkway.

My statebird map for Ruffed Grouse is inserted below.  States highlighted in blue are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular though I've yet to see them.  As I said at the beginning of this post, Ruffed Grouse has been a tough bird for me - I still need it in many states across the country. 

Ruffed Grouse was number 288 for my NC statelist.  And what a great introduction to birding along the Blue Ridge Parkway! 

Brewer’s Blackbird, Fletcher, NC, March 14, 2020

When I participated in the Henderson County Christmas Count in December 2019 I was assigned the territory in and around the town of Fletcher.  This was my first time on the count and I had never birded around Fletcher, so I made a couple scouting trips to try to find the best sites to bird on the count.  One of the sites I found was an area of agricultural fields covering about 150 acres north of Rockwell Drive.  Plus the fields were surrounded by very nice hedgerows and thickets, many of which were posted with signs noting that the lands were designated as conservations areas by the state of North Carolina.  During these scouting trips and the count itself I found good numbers of sparrows in the brush (including uncommon White-crowned), and flocks of Pipits and Killdeer in the fields. 

Given the nice habitat I continued to bird this site throughout the winter and into spring.  On one trip I found a nice flock of Snipe in a wet portion of one of the fields.  And twice I found rare wintering Vesper Sparrows – including 3 together on one visit.  Then I found an excellent wetlands that looked great for rare migrants like Sedge Wren and Nelson’s Sparrow, and maybe even a Virginia Rail.  Though on my visits I only found Swamp Sparrows.  So far at least.

As the weather warmed I would typically spot good-sized flocks of Blackbirds around the fields – both Red-wings and Grackles.  And often there were a few Rusty’s mixed in.  I’m always hopeful for a rare Yellow-headed in with the Red-wings, so I would spend a bit of time scouring those flocks for something different.  That was exactly the case on March 14 when a flock of Red-wings was feeding in the corn stubble.  While watching them leapfrog across the field I spotted a pair of very glossy birds mixed in.  They were roughly the size of the Red-wings so too small to be Grackles.  And it was a gray day so there was no sun to enhance the irridesence of a Rusty.  I quickly thought I might have a pair of male Brewer’s Blackbirds but needed better looks. 

I continued to follow the flock and finally got close enough to re-spot the glossy blackbirds.  They were two very glossy birds, roughly Red-wing sized, with yellow eyes.  (I often say that male Brewer’s remind me of miniature Grackles.)  Plus there were 2 females with them – uniform grayish-tan with dark eyes.  I indeed had found a group of 2 male and 2 female Brewer’s Blackbirds.  A rarity for the NC mountains, though not completely unexpected.

My statebird map for Brewer’s Blackbird is inserted below.  States highlighted in blue are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where Brewer’s is regular though I haven’t yet seen them.  Finally, the tan-colored states of MD and NC are those where I’ve seen Brewer’s as a rarity.  

Brewer’s Blackbird was number 287 for my NC statelist.  And another great bird for the Rockwell Drive ag fields.

Sandhill Cranes, and a Flock (!) of White-fronted Geese, January 25, 2020, Mills River, NC

It was late-morning on January 25th when I received this text from the Blue Ridge Birders group –

“Two Sandhill Cranes flying south to north over Hwy 191 in Mills River.  Coasted in and landed in a flooded field behind a dairy farm.”

With a quick check of eBird I got an exact location – not more than 20 minutes from the house.  Interesting that just a few days earlier, when I wasn’t able to locate any chaseable Cranes in eastern NC, I told myself that I’d just have to get my NC Cranes closer to home.  Now was my chance.

I wasn’t available to head out for a couple hours, but I was optimistic that the target Cranes would still be hanging around.  As I drove along Route 191 I quickly spotted the flooded field mentioned in the text, though I had to drive a short distance past it to find a place to park along this busy road.  After a short walk I was on the shoulder looking north out over the flooded field in the distance.  I did a quick binocular scan but didn’t notice any Cranes – just a number of geese and ducks swimming in the field.  And then I noticed that one of the geese had an orange bill – I had a White-fronted Goose.  With better scope views I realized I had a whole flock of White-fronts – I tallied 23 in total in with about 100 Canadas.  I posted my find to the text group and got a response that a flock of 23 could be a record number for western NC.

Although I was happy to have found the White-fronts, I still hadn’t found my target Sandhill Cranes.  I walked a bit farther along the road to change my viewing angle a couple times, but still couldn’t find the Cranes.

With lots of recent rains there were a number of flooded fields in the area.  And since the spot where the Cranes were found was just a short distance from the Hooper Lane hotspot, I decided to head there to check out flooded fields at that site.  Along the way I called Vicky Burke to alert her of all the good birds.  It turned out she was actually just leaving Hooper Lane when I called.  Although she hadn’t seen any Cranes, she did not check out the flooded field at the eastern edge of Hooper Lane.  She headed to the Route 191 site to check out the White-fronts and of course try for the Cranes, and I continued on to Hooper Lane to check out that one flooded field.

Then not 5 minutes later Vicky called me to say the Cranes were back along Route 191.  I quickly headed back to my car and minutes later I was with Vicky and another birder along 191 looking at the Cranes.  Apparently they had just seen the birds fly back into that flooded field.  I took this very distant photo of the Cranes in the background, and later realized that I could count at least 8 White-fronted Geese swimming in the foreground.  Certainly a rare combination for the mountains of western NC.

My statebird map for Sandhill Crane is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  Nice to fill in NC on the map, where Sandhill was #286 for my statelist.

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!

Carolina Bird Club Winter Meeting, Litchfield Beach, SC and In Route to the Coast, 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.  And the trips I chose especially focused on birding at or near the coast.  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.

This blog post covers the SC portion of the trip; the next post summarizes the NC portion.

In Route to the Meeting, SC, January 16

My first stop on the way to the coast was the Santee NWR Bluff Unit.  For some time, numerous Sandhill Cranes had been detected in the fields at the north end of this area.  Though their numbers had dropped recently, and perhaps they were mostly being seen in the late afternoon using the spot as an evening roost.  A Short-eared Owl was also regular there for a while, but had not been reported in the last few days before my trip.  Plus there were a couple reports of Red-breasted Nuthatch at the site, though this has been a very slow winter for this species.  All things considered, I just hoped to add the Cranes at this stop.

I arrived at the Bluff Unit right on time, and after a short walk through the woods I reached the observation platform to look out over the fields.  And just then there was an explosion of birds flying over the fields – an Eagle had flown low over the area scattering all the ducks.  I tried to scan through all the birds in the air hoping to find Cranes as well, but to no avail.  But then with a quick binocular scan of the distant fields I spotted too gray dots, confirmed with a scope view as 2 Sandhill Cranes foraging in the fields (SC statebird #1).  Just 2 birds though – not the dozens reported a couple weeks earlier.  Good thing that I found them quickly because that would give me more time for future stops.

My statebird map for Sandhill Crane is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  I still need Sandhills in a few more of their regular states, but have seen in in quite a number of eastern states where it is a rarity.  Or perhaps where this expanding species used to be a rarity.

Just after I came down from the platform I ran into SC birder Paul Serridge who was also heading out to try for the Cranes.  He was able re-find that same pair of Cranes, though they flew off just a couple minutes later.  We were both very lucky.  It turned out that Paul’s later targets were the same as mine, so we agreed to stay in touch during those next stops and hoped we would run into each other again later in the day.

My next stop was in Hanahan to try for a pair of Limpkins that had been seen in a wetlands there since last summer.  They are seen either on three small islands close to shore, or foraging on the back lawns of nearby homes.  However, despite their long stay, and the fact that most observations are at a close distance, they are often very difficult to see, and many birders have missed them.  Within minutes of my arrival I did a quick scan of the islands and lawns, but found no Limpkins.  The vegetation on the islands was very thick, so it would be easy for them to hide if they were more than just a couple feet from the island edges.  Now I can see why so many birders have missed them.

An hour had passed and I had many fruitless scans of the vegetation - I was thinking that this would turn out to be an unsuccessful search.  But then an Osprey flew low overhead scattering some waders nearby.  And then I heard a single muffled call that I thought was a Limpkin.  A minute later I heard another call and this time I knew I was hearing a Limpkin.  I peered into the area where I thought the call had come from, and there were 2 Limpkins walking in the thick vegetation of the closest island (SC statebird #2).  I bet during my entire first hour there the birds were perched in a thick tree at the end of the island, seen hear in my iPhone picture, just a few feet away but completely invisible.

I called Paul and alerted him to the sighting, and stayed with the birds until he arrived 20 minutes later.  During that time the birds stayed in the open and were quite tame.  I took this shot of one bird by holding my phone up to my binocs.

Next Paul and I were both off to the Santee Coastal Reserve to try for a Cinnamon Teal that had been seen off and on there for a couple months.  Though once again this target was not easily seen, and had not been reported for about a week.  On the way to the impoundments at the Big Well Trail we made a short stop in the pines and quickly spotted a pair of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.  Not new for my list but it’s always nice to see this endangered species.  I wish we were as lucky with the Teal.  Although I spent 3 hours at the impoundments, the Cinnamon Teal was a no-show.  The bird wasn’t seen the next day on the CBC trip to the spot as well, so maybe it had moved on.

Two new statebirds on day 1 – a great start on the trip.

Upper SC Coast, CBC Meeting, January 17

For the first day of the CBC meeting I had chosen an all-day trip to the upper end of the SC coast, especially focused on seawatches from fishing piers.  Our first coastal stop was at the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier in North Myrtle Beach.  Soon after we arrived one of our birders said he had a Swan swimming on the ocean of all places.  I admit I was skeptical, and initial views of what the birder was looking at made me think it was more likely a white float of some type.  But soon it turned and in profile I could see it was indeed a Swan.  Now what type?  The bird was really far away, and the heat shimmer was difficult, but at one point I saw a hint of orange on the bill making it a Mute Swan (SC statebird #3).  An amazing bird to find on a seawatch.  I’ve now seen this species in quite a number of Midwest and eastern states as it continues to expand from what was formerly a rather restricted range in the northeast.

Other notable birds were a few Black Scoters, and several Red-throated Loons.  But all in all this was a pretty slow stop.

Luckily birding really picked up at the 2^nd Street Pier in Myrtle Beach.  Again there were more Black Scoters – perhaps 200 of them.  With 1 nearby White-winged as well.  Though no Surf’s – my only SC Scoter target.  At one point as I scanned one of the distant Scoter flocks I spotted a distant Jaeger flying right to left.  I was able to get many of the birders on it, and we concluded it was slim enough to be a Parasitic Jaeger (SC statebird #4).  Later I found 1 or perhaps 2 others chasing distant gulls in classic Jaeger fashion.  I love seawatches!  I’ve seen this species in a number of states bordering the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific, but still need it in a number of other coastal states.

We ended the day with about 80 species even though we did minimal landbirding.  All in all an excellent day.

Huntington Beach State Park, SC, CBC Meeting, January 18

Huntington Beach State Park (HBSP) is certainly the premier birding location on the upper SC coast, with a diverse set of habitats resulting in a long list of birds to search for.  I had signed up for the all-day trip to HBSP, which would include considerable time at the beach and looking over the ocean where several potential statebirds had either been seen recently, or could otherwise be possible.

For that reason I was happy to hear that our day would start on the beach.  Our plan was to make the 1.3 mile-long walk to the jetty, birding along the way of course.  And then we would spend time at the jetty where often the best birds are found.  Though the downside was the walk to the jetty that day would be facing into about a 20 knot sustained wind.  At least the temps were in the 40s so it wasn’t too cold. 

As we started our walk up the beach we could see a major movement of birds heading northeast roughly parallel to the beach flying right to left as we looked out over the ocean.  Every stop included many Gannets, gulls, and terns, and a few Loons, almost all heading in that same direction.  It was for that reason that, at one of our stops, 1 specific bird flying caught my attention – it was flying southwest (left to right) and reasonably close to shore.  And more importantly, it was flying with a classic Shearwater flight – flying in almost a “sine curve” approach first low then higher, then low again, etc.  And almost never flapping.  I had a Shearwater, but what kind?  In my roughly 20 seconds of viewing time I could see that it was a uniform dark brown/gray above, and pale below.  That would make it a Manx Shearwater (SC statebird #5).  I didn’t realize till later that Manx is the only realistic Atlantic Shearwater to be seen as a wintering bird off the southern Atlantic coast, certainly consistent with my ID.  That was a surprise not at all on my radar screen.

After nearly an hour fighting the wind, we finally reached the jetty.  And just as we were starting to set up our scopes a birder already there came over and said he had just found a Black Guillemot!  We started to set up our scopes to start to search out over the inlet but the birder said there was no need to - the bird was right below us at the edge of the jetty.  Sure enough, no more than a couple feet off the rocks, and just 20 ft down the jetty, was a winter plumaged Black Guillemot (SC statebird #6).  An extreme rarity for SC, though a bird I’ve seen many times in New England.

Next we turned our focus to the inlet and the jetty on the other side.  Soon we spotted a pair of Scoters – 1 was a female Black, and eventually we were able to tell that the other was a female Surf Scoter (SC statebird #7).  I’ve seen this species in nearly every state where it’s regular and a number of inland states where it is a rarity (in fact it can be seen in every inland state as a rarity).  And SC is now my 20th state where I’ve swept the 3 Scoter species.  

Unfortunately, the Common Eider and Harlequin Duck seen here earlier in the winter had moved on.  And only 1 person noted a fly-by Long-tailed Duck.  I’ll have to wait for future trips to try to add those 3 to my SC list.

We made it back to the cars, and pulled out our sandwiches for a quick lunch break.  We strategized about the afternoon’s activities, and I mentioned that White Pelican was one of my targets, 1 of which was routinely being seen in wetlands at the park.  Not 10 minutes later I heard a young birder in our group call out my name – he had spotted a White Pelican flying overhead.  I got a brief view as it soared overhead, and then it was soon out of sight (SC statebird #8).  Sure enough when we birded the wetlands the Pelican was no longer there – that was most likely the bird we saw overhead at lunchtime.  Boy were we lucky.

Afternoon walks through woodlands yielded a number of species but nothing of note.  That is until I spotted a perched Buteo at a distance.  It was warm chocolate brown below, with just a bit of white streaking in the upper chest, and a dark tail.  We initially thought it was a first year Bald Eagle, but it was way too small.  And upon closer look the tail was somewhat lighter than the chest, with darker bands, and a white terminal tail band.  I took these pretty miserable phonescoped photos.

We decided that it was an immature “Western” Red-tailed Hawk.  Certainly not a new species but an extreme rarity for SC.

We finished our trip with an amazing 86 species – what a day!

In Route From the Meeting in SC, January 19

My birding plan heading back from the CBC meeting was to focus on NC targets – with a first 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 bird 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.  The only CBC rarity to chase was the Guillemot which I already saw.  So what about others in nearby SC?  It turned out that earlier in the week news got out that a Bullock’s Oriole was being seen at a feeder in Pineville (actually not too far from the Limpkins – if only it had been spotted earlier).  And then there was a somewhat cryptic report of an Ash-throated Flycatcher near Charleston.  With no follow-up reports of the Flycatcher, and few details, I decided to pass on that one.  But the Oriole continued, and a quick call to the homeowners revealed that it was quite regular.  So I decided to try for the Bullock’s Oriole as my first stop before embarking on the NC part of the trip.  It would mean a fair amount of back-tracking, meaning I wouldn’t get to NC till late morning, but I didn’t want to pass up on a chance at the extremely rare Bullock’s.

I was out of the hotel pre-dawn, and at 8 AM pulled into the driveway of the homeowners hosting the Oriole.  Actually, they not only had the Bullock’s but 4 Baltimore Orioles as well.  The homeowners couldn’t have been friendlier – hosting me on their back porch to watch the small jelly feeder hanging from the roof.  The Bullock’s was there just 10 minutes before I arrived so I was optimistic.  But 40 minutes later we still had no Orioles of any type.  Finally, a couple Baltimore’s stopped in to feed.  And then I spotted the Bullock’s just a couple feet from the feeder – an adult male in beautiful plumage (SC statebird #9).  It fed on the jelly for a minute or so, and then was off again.  SC was my fifth state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity, along with all its regular states out west.

What a great way to end the SC portion of the trip – 9 new statebirds among 136 total species.  That gives me 262 species for my SC list.

See my next blog post for the NC portion of the January 2020 trip. 

Cackling Goose, Lake Junaluska, NC, 1/11/20

It was a Saturday afternoon on a rainy day and I was just about to head out to the gym.  That is before I got a text that there was a report of a Cackling Goose at Lake Junaluska.  I checked the EMAS listserve and there was a recent post about the Cackling seen among Canadas along Route 19.  Pretty specific, and very timely.  And it wasn’t raining at least right then.  Should I still go to the gym and chase after the Goose tomorrow, or chase after the bird now?  After just a couple quick seconds of weighing the options I changed my plans and headed to “Lake J” – the gym could wait. 

Soon after I left home I rode through a very heavy rain shower, so I started to question my decision.  But as I got closer to my destination the rain slowed down and the roads were nearly dry when I arrived.  As I neared the pullout at the lake along Route 19 I could see the large flock of geese on the water down below.  Now I needed to find the little one mixed in.  There was another birder already there, but after a brief discussion I found out that he had not yet found the Cackling.  Had it flown away?  Perhaps the ID was wrong?  I started to scan the flock and pretty quickly picked out a sleeping bird that was a likely candidate.  It was quite a bit smaller than the Canada’s, but I obviously couldn’t see the shape and size of the bill and head.

Then in just a couple minutes it woke up – short neck, small bill, steep sloping forehead, rounded head.  It was indeed the Cackling Goose.  Here are a couple of my better phonescoped photos showing nice comparisons with the Canadas.

Just as I was about to leave Lake J it started to rain again – timing couldn’t have been any better.  And speaking of timing, I don’t believe this bird was seen again the next day.  All goes to show that it’s often best to chase after a rarity the day it is first spotted.

My statebird map for Cackling Goose is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  I’ve seen Cackling Goose in a number of eastern and western states where it is considered to be a rarity though still need it in several states particularly in the middle of the country where it’s a regular migrant or wintering species.  

Cackling Goose was #277 for my NC statelist.  And it caps off a nice string of rare geese here in western NC following my first Ross’s and White-fronted Geese in December 2019.  Though I missed the SC Cackling Geese in December.  I didn’t chase after those birds until the day after they were spotted – that will teach me.

Lapland Longspur, Hooper Lane, Henderson County, NC, January 4, 2020

I was surprised to find out that Lapland Longpsur is a rarity in western North Carolina.  After all, it was a regular bird in appropriate habitat during my trips to places like Memphis, TN, and neighboring portions of MS and AR, and even farther south in TX.  Since these areas are of more southern latitudes than the NC mountains, why wouldn’t they winter near my new home in western NC as well?  So every time I would find flocks of Pipits (and occasional Horned Larks in Upstate SC), I would listen intently for the rattle calls of a Longspur that might be mixed in.  Yet despite my efforts I had been unsuccessful in my quest to find a wintering Longspur near my new home.

That is until this January at Hooper Lane – one of my favorite new birding sites.  I had just left my car and started to walk east along the edge of one of the ditches through the sod fields when I heard a single soft “tu” call to the north.  I was unfamiliar with this call, and with all the birding by ear I do, chances are that an unfamiliar call could be something interesting.  I stopped to listen more intently and heard the “tu” call again from a different angle.  I was stumped - what was it?  Then I was excited to hear the typical rattle call of a Lapland Longspur that I was very familiar with.  The call was coming from the same direction as the “tu” call, and the bird was flying overhead.  In the next 30 seconds I heard the rattle call three more times, and the tu call a couple more times as well.  The calls were generally coming from the north, as if the bird was flying overhead either looking for a place to land, or just flying through the area.

I alerted the local birding community to the sighting, and soon was joined by another birder.  We spent the next 3 hours covering the area but never re-found the Longspur.  Though we did find a flock of about 125 Pipits in the same general area.  These birds were feeding in grass and would nearly disappear when feeding.  Perhaps the Longspur had joined that flock, or maybe the bird just kept on heading to the north and then left the fields altogether.

Now back to the calls – I’m very familiar with the rattle calls of Lapland Longspurs from my 25+ years of birding in New England (plus birding time elsewhere).  Lapland‘s will regularly mix in with winter flocks of Horned Larks, and I learned to listen for the Longspur calls mixed in with the Larks’ calls especially when the flocks were in flight.  But what about the mystery “tu” call that I was unfamiliar with?  Well it turns out that this call is a regular one for Longspurs as well.  On the website - xeno-canto.org – there is a recording of a similar set of calls.  The 7th recording down from the top, from Norway, which is 15 seconds long, includes typical rattle calls, and also the "tu" calls that I heard that day at Hooper Lane.  Wonder why I had never noticed that call before...

My statebird map for Lapland Longspur is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  Although I’ve seen it in 28 states, I still need it in almost 20 more states where it is a regular wintering species. 

Lapland Longspur was number 276 for my NC state list.  And along with American Bittern and Short-eared Owl, this was my third addition for my NC list from Hooper Lane that was not among the expected species.  Like I said – Hooper Lane is one of my favorite birding sites.