Wednesday, June 3, 2015

UPDATE: North Carolina and ABA 400!

     Hello everyone! (If anyone is still checking my blog and waiting for updates) I apologize for my serious lack of posting in the last 2 months. I also apologize for my serious lack of birding during that time as well. Here is an update post to get everyone caught up on things and then (hopefully) I will begin to post with more regularity again. Things have been absolutely insane for me lately. I took my finals, wrapped up my honors thesis (which really cut into my birding time), graduated college, lead tours and birded at the Biggest Week in American Birding, moved back to Dayton, and then drove to North Carolina for a family vacation. I'm sorry for boring you with all this life stuff, I know what you're thinking, get to some birds already!

     Well the biggest week was absolutely loaded with birds and after pitiful months in Feb, March, and April (adding 8 year birds each month, I'm ashamed), it was exactly what I needed. In the 10 days of the festival, I led 4 tours and saw over 200 species of birds. Many new for the year and a single lifer. The infamous Kirtland's Warbler! In fact I got to see 2 beautiful females during the 10 days. One at Oak Openings in Toledo and then another on my way home a few days later in Columbus. Leading tours was a new experience for me. I started slow as I tried to figure out the best way to get 10+ people on a tiny little warbler. As the week went on I began to get much better at guiding large groups of people and it was really a lot of fun. Definitely a learning experience and I want to thank the folks at BSBO. I'm looking forward to next year already!

     That was a very brief update on spring migration. It has already come and gone. Now I am currently enjoying the sweet paradise of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. My family comes to this island every year for a week in the sand and the sun and now some birds also. Coming to NC I needed 4 more lifers to reach 400! However there weren't very many possibilities. I could only think of 4 realistic ones. Swainson's Warbler (in WV), Bachman's Sparrow, Painted Bunting and Gull-Billed Tern. Each one presenting it's own set of problems and issues. Also I had to sneak all of these birds in during family vacation time, not an easy thing to do. So I quickly got my cousin into liking birds, made him an ebird account and boom! I had a new birding partner for the week. First stop, the mountains of WV for SWWA.

     New River Gorge is where we ended up going and immediately Noah thought, "How are we gonna find this thing in all these thick woods?" Ha! We just need to listen and find Rhododendron and that is exactly what we did except nothing was singing. Hmmmm. Just keep walking. After about 30 min I finally hear one singing way out in the distance. Awesome but terrible at the same time. I want to see one of them which I understand doesn't happen very often. Then next thing I know I hear another one behind us and it is much louder. Sounds like he is singing right along the trail so we rush over there. Noah sees the little guy hanging really low in the bush before I do! Sweet! Now pictures? This guy is tucked way in there down low but I do my best to get something. Then I just watched him sing and forage on the ground as I enjoyed my lifer number 397! Next stop, the ocean!

     The beach is probably my favorite place on Earth. It has this incredible calming presence to it with the blue sky and the gentle yet beastly ocean. It also plays host to my favorite group of birds, the shorebirds. My beach house came equipped with these strange super binoculars on a tripod. Perfect for some seawatching. A chair and a beer and I'm set for hours of scanning. Seawatching has proven to be the hardest type of birding I've ever done. Understanding and identifying birds (some of which I don't see often) cruising past is quite difficult. Whoa! What was that?! Long slender wings, large bird. Can't be a shearwater this close to land, can it? No. Hmmmm maybe a gannet? Is that possible? I think so but I'm not certain if that was it. I'll have to find another one. The next day, even closer, a for sure Northern Gannet flies right past!! No pics but still awesome! Lifer 398 and an unexpected one at that. I'm so close, and the next day looks like good weather so I thought I would make a final push. Leaving the nice beach for the woods.

     The Longleaf Pine Savannahs of Croatan National Forest is a special habitat type that is one of my favorites as well. It plays host to the endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker as well as my main target, Bachman's Sparrow. Noah and I get out and start walking a trail, at least we think its a trail. Only about 30 yards in, I immediately hear a Bachman's Sparrow singing. Then it flew across the path and landed high in a pine tree way far away. It disappeared too quickly for pictures. Crap! Did I just miss my only chance at a pic? We kept walking and heard several sparrows calling deep in the shrubs. Then we were greeted by a very cool family of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers. Always a great treat to see. Next thing I know a small brown bird pops up and flies into a small shrub by the path. I know immediately that it was a Bachman's Sparrow and went straight for the camera. Click! Nailed it. Amazing views of this tremendous sparrow. 399. We continue to bird this area for a little while longer then head off in search of 400.

     There have been reports on eBird of Painted Buntings at Fort Macon State Park for several days now and it is only about 10 minutes from the beach house I'm staying at so we head straight there. I don't even know where to begin to look for this bird. I play the song in the car to learn it really quick and then we get out and just do a little birding. A DC Cormorant flew by and then we found a nice little pocket of White Ibis. Carolina Wrens were singing and then I hear it, PAINTED BUNTING. Noah lets go track it down!! We finally get eyes on it as it flies over right into the dead tree we were just at. Mission success, #400. A great feeling and I couldn't have asked for a better bird to be 400. PABU really are quite sunning. I've now let the feeling sink in for a day and really just enjoyed it but now I can't stop thinking about 401 and tracking down a Gull-Billed Tern. Maybe tomorrow!!

     Many year birds have been added and I will do my absolute best to keep this blog updated from now on!





   

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