Top 10 birds of 2012

2012 was another great year of birds for me.  I saw 390 species of which 59 were lifers.  These numbers are down a bit from last year (405 species with 92 lifers), but that's a function of no travel to foreign continents and diminishing returns on local opportunities for life birds.  And I did significantly better in state, with 301 NC birds this past year compared 283 species in 2011. 

On an even more local level, I was finally able to catch Robert Meehan at the top spot for Durham County.  I'm sure we'll pass the lead back and forth as we each fill "holes" in our respective lists over the coming year. 

My main opportunity for exotic birds this year was a trip to the island of Hispaniola where I birded both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Haiti is an especially under-birded country; the 47 species I spotted there in a few days was enough to make me the second-most prolific ebirder for the country in 2012. 

Like the last two years, I'll celebrate its completion with a narcissistic look back at my 10 awesomest/best/favorite "self-found" birds of the year.  And again, it will be a challenge to see which of my loyal readers has seen the most.  Post your total in the comments below!  Win a prize!

The list...

#10: Least Bittern

This is not an especially rare bird (though it did not make the list of 340 species that Jeff Lemons saw in NC in 2012), but I had wanted to see a Least Bittern for awhile and I managed to cross paths with them on three occasions in 2012.

The first was at Brickhouse Road in Durham where one responded to tape.  This was bittersweet, though...it was great to find this bird in my home county, but I had to place it on my "heard-only" provisional list...

Least Bittern, Viera Wetland, FL

...until a couple months later when I dropped by Viera Wetland in Florida where Least Bitterns are trash birds.

Of course this felt a bit like cheating and I still hadn't seen one in North Carolina...

Least Bittern, Lake Mattamuskeet, NC

...that is until August when I noticed one clinging to some phramites stalks at Lake Mattamuskeet while I was doing field work.

#9: Long-tailed Jaeger

Now this is a bird I probably would not have even been able to identify (or at least without careful study of photos after-the-fact) if Brian Patteson hadn't called it for the boat.  But it was a special sighting for me because it was the best bird we found on my first ever pelagic trip as a spotter.  

Long-tailed Jaeger (immature), pelagic off Cape Hatteras, NC

It also closed out the jaegers for me.  Now if I can just find a South Polar Skua, then I'll have all the Stercorarius that occur in NC.

#8: Ash-throated Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher, Washington County, NC

This is the only bird on the list that wasn't a lifer for me, but it's probably the best bird I found without any help from Brian Patteson or John Fussell this year (and possibly my best ever for NC). 

Also I got pretty good digiscoped photos of it.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

This was immediately after seeing Ed Corey's Say's Phoebe, so it was a pretty good morning for odd flycatchers.

#7: Little Gull

I spotted one of these migrating north in a flock of Bonaparte's Gulls a couple days before my 27th birthday.  Not a bad present from the birding gods!  

Little Gull with Bonaparte's Gulls, Emerald Isle, NC

I was doing some experimenting with digiscoping at the time and managed this shot that captures the dark underwing.  Yeah it looks terrible, but I was happy to get any sort of record given the circumstances (distant bird over choppy ocean moving fast).

Little Gulls are pretty rare.  I guess I should mention that.

#6: Hispaniolan Crossbill

This species is listed as endangered by the IUCN and is odd in that the rest of the members of the Loxia genus, to which it belongs, are found primarily at high latitudes.  These birds managed to persist in the mountains on the Island of Hispaniola and are found nowhere else in the world.

Hispaiolan Crossbill, Dominican Republic

It's a species that can be easily missed, but I was lucky to find flocks in high elevation pine forests in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

#5: Black-billed Cuckoo

Black-billed Cuckoo, Croatan National Forest, Craven County, NC

The bane of many an American birder, the Black-billed Cuckoo, is an enigmatic bird with breeding habits and behavior that are poorly understood.  I met John Fussell out in the Croatan National Forest in July where he had recently heard Black-billed Cuckoos singing. There we found an adult feeding a fledging; the first record of breeding Black-billed Cuckoos in the NC Coastal Plain in more than 100 years.

#4: Bay-breasted Cuckoo (Cua)

One of the coolest birds on Hispaniola is the endemic and endangered Bay-breasted Cuckoo.  It's also an easy bird to miss, so I was thrilled to finally see one in the Sierra de Bahoruco after hearing a few call, but not show themselves.  No photos unfortunately.

#3: Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle, Gull Rock Game Land, Hyde County, NC

One of the better birds I've ever "self-found" and a nice addition to the 2012 Mattamuskeet Christmas Bird Count.  This one was bullying on a Bald Eagle over a flooded field in Gull Rock Game Lands.  Golden Eagle had been on my target list for a couple years now.

#2: Black Rail

One of the most impossible-to-see of all North American birds flushed from my feet in the marsh at Gull Rock Game Land.  I think this was the first ever Black Rail found on the Mattamuskeet Christmas Bird Count.  And it was another species I've been hoping to cross paths with for quite awhile.

#1: Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross, pelagic off Cape Hatteras, NC

Definitely the most famous individual bird I've ever seen was the Black-browed Albatross that showed up for Brian Patteson's boat near Hatteras Inlet last February.  It was one of only a few records of the species for the United States and may have been the first adult of the species ever photographed in North America.  My photo made it into an edition of the American Birding Association's Winging It publication.

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How many of these 10 have you seen?  How many did you see in the past year?  Let me know in the comments!

Free Brown Boobies T-shirt goes to the winner!

Rare birds for Christmas

When I was trying to come up with a Christmas wish list I jokingly included a couple birds I wanted to see: Evening Grosbeak and Golden Eagle.

No luck yet on the grosbeak, but I've crossed paths with a Golden Eagle twice since making the list!

Golden Eagle, Hyde County, NC

Both were in the Lake Mattamuskeet area, but this distant one I found and photographed down in the Gull Rock Game Land territory on the Mattamuskeet Christmas Bird Count.

And the previous day Ed Corey, Kyle Kittelberger and I were able to chase down this Lapland Longspur that Jeff Lewis found on the beach during the Bodie/Pea Christmas Bird Count.

Lapland Longspur, Dare County, NC

Lapland Longspur

And then during the Alligator River Count, we dipped over to Wanchese to see this Eared Grebe that Edmund LeGrande had found sitting right in the harbor.

Eared Grebe, Wanchese, NC

Eared Grebe

Horned and Pied-billed Grebes were in the same area for nice comparisons.

Eared Grebe and Pied-billed Grebe

Together over the course of 4 days and 4 Christmas Bird Counts we saw about 158 species.  Not a bad haul!

My best bird, however, was a Black Rail that I flushed in the marshes in the Gull Rock Game Land.  It was one of those lightning-strike birding moments, when you're just at the right place at the right time.  I wasn't expecting to cross paths with a Black Rail here (and this was the first I've ever seen), but fortunately in my brief view I was able to see white on the bird's back.  That field mark plus it's behavior, like a mouse with feathers and wings, left me without a doubt about its identity.

It was in a narrow strip of marsh bordered by the sound on one side and a channel on the other, so I gathered up the others in my party (6 people total) hoping that if we walked in a line through this area we might be able to flush it into the open.  But these attempts failed.  And we got no response to tapes when we returned at dusk hoping to hear it call. 

I found out later at the Mattamuskeet countdown dinner that John Fussell had surveyed this marsh for Black Rails for years and never found a one. 

This is one of those rare birds that birders hate to report.  There's no hard evidence and, in this case, not even any fellow witnesses.  Reviewing parties will be skeptical (as they should be) and it may not make it into the Christmas Bird Count records even though I submitted a detailed report (it would be a new species for the Mattamskeet CBC, I think).  Frequent reports like this, especially if they aren't accepted and made into "records," are liable to earn one a reputation as a "loose canon."

That's why digital cameras have become almost obligatory for birders and why so many people avoid reporting rare birds altogether. 

Now if I can just find an Evening Grosbeak this winter...is it too much to ask for one that will pose for a photo?

Scope this Scaup

Here's an old-fashioned ID challenge:

Photos taken in Washington County on 12/27/2012.

What do you think?

Two tyranids from out of town

Ed Corey spotted a Say's Phoebe this morning while covering his territory for the Pettigrew Christmas Bird Count.

Say's Phoebe - Washington County

 Luckily Kyle Kittelberger and I were already on our way there to do some birding around Lake Phelps en route to the Outer Banks and were able to refind it easily.

Say's Phoebe

This is only the 10th record of this western flycatcher for North Carolina (and a lifer for me!).  Ed seems to have especially good luck finding vagrant flycatchers.

After scoping a nice assortment of ducks, included a few Common Mergansers, on the lake we drove over to the "Park Office."  While Ed Corey and Kyle were fiddling with gear at their trucks I wandered down toward the water with my scope.

An odd low chup sound coming from the flooded wood edge caught my attention.  A Hermit Thrush perhaps?  But it didn't sound quite right for that...

Ash-throated Flycatcher

 ...and then I realized a Myiarchus flycatcher was staring me right in the face!

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Several years ago this was considered a Mega-rarity in NC, but they have become more regular recently (in fact this is the fourth Ash-throated found in NC this season!).  There are probably 25 to 30 state records, but this might be the first for Washington County.  I saw my first on the causeway at Lake Mattamuskeet.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Kyle played some tapes and the call I heard sounded like his tapes from the Utah population (and not the Texas population).

It was a great day for flycatchers from out west; now we just need to find a Western Kingbird!

An encounter with a 'Cling Rail?'

Last weekend I was down in Dare County, NC with Jeff Pippen and a group of Duke graduate students when we saw this bird in the pond at the Bodie Island lighthouse.


Definitely a large rail...either a King or a Clapper, but which one?  If watch the video with your volume up, you can hear us trying to figure it out.

Of course the harsh back-light makes the bird look like a silhouette in the video, but through binoculars field marks were discernible.  And with heavy cropping and brightness enhancement, they even come out in the photos.

 Jeff and I called this bird a King Rail in the field because of the rusty orange on the chest and neck.

But the more I have shared these photos, the more different reactions I have received.

 Both Clapper and King rails are known to inhabit brackish marshes, so the habitat may not be much help in sorting out the ID.  And there are plenty of records on ebird for both species at this very pond.

So I'm curious as to what YOU would call this bird if you saw it at this spot and why.  A King Rail?  A Clapper Rail?  A 'Cling Rail?'*

Please post your opinions in the comments below or email them to me (scott dot winton at gmail dot com). Hopefully we can all learn something!

*If you would call it a 'Cling Rail,' please be specific about what you mean.  The term 'Cling Rail' gets used in two ways: 1) To refer to rails that we can't ID beyond Clapper/King because we don't have enough information (essentially, 'I can't tell from your crappy photos'); and 2) to refer to Clapper X King hybrids, which have been documented along the Gulf Coast, though I'm not sure how well we understand the frequency and extent of hybridization.

Grasshopper Sparrow visits Krzyzewskiville

After watching Duke handle Winston-Salem State last night in an exhibition basketball game I was walking through Krzyzewskiville to meet my dad at the Sheffield Tennis Center when I noticed a small bird fluttering against a ground-level window.  I easily caught it by hand and brought it into the light...

Grasshopper Sparrow

...a Grasshopper Sparrow ?!?

I got my brother to snap a few iPhone photos and then let it go...

Grasshopper Sparrow

The bird was clearly trying to migrate. Perhaps it struck a window and then got against the northwest face of the building.

This was my first ever Grasshopper Sparrow on migration and an exceptionally late one at that.  There are only 3 prior eBird records of the species in North Carolina for the month of November.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Since birds are known to be portentous (Homer et al., ca. 700 BC), I'll go ahead and declare this to be a good omen for the Duke tennis teams this coming season.  

American Bittern in SWAMP

 Last week I was out in the Duke University SWAMP helping lead a field trip for the Wetlands Ecology and Management class.  I had just explained to the students how we are keeping track of bird sightings in the SWAMP using ebird when not a minute later we stumbled upon a new bird to add to our site list...

American Bittern

 ...to my surprise an American Bittern was prowling around in the aquatic vegetation not 30 feet in front of the bird blind!

American Bittern

It's pretty rare to see one of these away from the coast. 

 And usually they do a better job staying hidden!

American Bittern

The bird seemed pretty unconcerned about curious birders and strolled out into the open to hunt crayfish.

American Bittern

 After gobbling a few small ones, it caught a huge bright red one that looked like a lobster

Blood red legs...

But it proved to be too much for this bird to handle and the bittern had to throw this one back...

a whopper!

 As of posting, this bird has been around for 8 days. It seems to be finding plenty of food and has already weathered some assaults from the resident Great Blue Heron. I wonder if it will stick around through the winter?

More Mattamuskeet Birds: Egret Casting Call

Last weekend after a few days of field work at Lake Mattamuskeet, I squeezed in a bit of birding.  My partner in crime was a master's student from Duke, Holly Davis, who is working on a film about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.  Since she plans to cover the history of the millinery (aka. hat-making) trade, which lead to huge declines in populations of wading birds, we were especially after a Great Egret willing to play a starring role.

Luckily egrets are migrating through this time of year and were rather plentiful around the lake.  After scaring off a good few stage-shy birds, we finally found a real ham with the potential to make it big.

Holly shooting an egret

While Holly was filming, I figured I may as well try out some digiscoping...

Great Egret

Not bad!

Great Egret

There were other egrets around as well including a rather brave Little Blue Heron that landed in front of me.

Little Blue Heron (immature)

These photos are taken with a point-and-shoot (not digiscoped).  The direct light made the white birds blow out, so I cranked down the exposure to try to compensate and ended up with these weird dark shots.  It looks like these were taken at night with a flash, but this was a bright early morning (I'm no photographer, but always open to suggestions!).

Little Blue Heron (immature)

There were loads of other birds around, of course.  At one point I felt like I was trapped in a tornado of thousands of Tree Swallows, there were 6 early Tundra Swans and a Mute Swan of unknown provenance.  Thousands of dabbling ducks were already back in town with all the Eastern species represented and despite rather high water there were some longer-legged shorebirds wading about at the east end.

American Avocets and a Greater Yellowlegs

 The most comical was a Dunlin trying to hang with a flock of Long-billed Dowitchers in water that was just a bit too deep.

Long-billed Dowitchers with Dunlin (3rd from left)

There was a cooperative Wilson's Snipe...

Wilson's Snipe

...and some curious Sedge Wrens...

Sedge Wren

I think Holly got some good footage and I'm looking forward to seeing her film!

What a bird in the hand is worth

Last weekend I went over to the Prairie Ridge Ecostation to try my hand at some bird banding.

I had not handled a live bird for five years, so this was a real treat.  I learned that cardinals can bite very hard and that a bird in the hand is a least worth a good photo opportunity!

Indigo Bunting

We banded nearly 50 birds (a lot!) of a good variety of flavors this morning

Palm Warbler

This was primarily a morning for student (mostly high school) volunteers from the Natural History Museum in Raleigh to see how banding birds works, but John Gerwin was nice enough to let me show up to learn as well (Thanks!).

a Prairie Warbler at Prarie Ridge!

A big thanks to Natalia Ocampo-Penuela for inviting me to come along and teaching me how to band!

Blue Jay

I can't wait until next time!

Carolina Bird Clubbing in Greenville, SC

Last weekend I went down to Greenville, SC to lead a couple field trips for the Carolina Bird Club's fall meeting.  Many migrants follow in Blue Ridge on their way south and I was hoping to find lots of birds bound for the tropics to show to my groups. 

Friday I led a dozen birders around parts of Pickens County, situated in the foothills of the Appalachians near the southern tip of their range.  We began at the Nine Times Preserve, a large swath of mountainside forest owned by The Nature Conservancy, and worked our way up to Sassafrass Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina (a modest 3,800 feet above sea level).

Cape May Warbler

 

Warblers were actually more scarce than I had expected, with this Cape May being one nice exception.  Over the course of a couple days we were able to identify 11 parulids, which isn't bad, but not something I can really brag about on a blog.

Thrushes made a very strong showing, with swarms of Wood and Swainson's covering various fruiting trees with the odd Veery or Gray-cheeked mixed in.  They were joined by other frugivores such as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Scarlet Tanagers...

Scarlet Tanager

...both of which were about as abundant as I have ever seen.


But the group that we did best with was surely the vireos...

Yellow-throated Vireo

On both days we found the four most likely species: Red-eyed, Blue-headed, Yellow-throated, White-eyed.  And on Friday along a stream behind a church we found the coveted Philadelphia Vireo:

Philadelphia Vireo

 It was my first for the United States and my first ever five vireo day!

After a Saturday morning at Table Rock State Park, we finally took a break from pishing up passerines and drove up to Caesar's Head for a hawk watch. 

Hawkwatching

We scored 60 or so Broad-winged Hawks plus a few Red-Tails and accipiters over the course of a couple hours.  It was quite a spectacle watching the hawks appear out of nowhere and spiral up into the sky, but I can only imagine what it's like on one of the 1000+ hawk days!

Check out Nate Swick's account of hawk-watching at Caesar's Head on 10,000 birds (he led a CBC field trip to Caesar's Head the day before me).

A big thanks to Jeff Click for inviting me down to lead, to Irvin Pitts for organizing a fantastic meeting, and to all my participants for being such great and gracious companions.  Hope to see some of y'all again next time!