Outing #28: Yates Mill, Schenck Forest, and Lake Johnson

5/19/2017

I've been slow to report my most recent bird sightings. My wife and I are prepping for a long stay overseas (see below) and I haven't kept up with reporting as I would like. I also missed seeing any new warblers during migration, but did pick up three new species for the Wake County Project list over the past month.

Wood Duck at Yates Mill County Park

The first outing that produced a new species was a Wake Audubon walk at Yates Mill County Park on April 26th. The photo to the left was taken there. The Wood Duck is not a new species for the Wake County list, but this is the first decent photo I've managed to get of a Wood Duck, and since I don't have any other shots from the visit, I thought I'd include it.

The new bird species that we saw on that outing was one I didn't even know enough to be looking for. It was a Grasshopper Sparrow (#157 on the Wake County frequency list). It was seen along a little access road that runs between a property at 4400 Mid-Pines Road and Yates Mill County Park. It spent a good long time perched on a small bush singing away. The call is very distinctive, but I probably wouldn't have recognized it on my own.

145) Grasshopper Sparrow

Deer at Schenck Forest

Two weeks later I made a trip to Schenck Forest hoping to find some warblers that had so far eluded me. I went a little later in the morning than normal, hoping that they might be a bit more active. I didn't manage to spot any new warblers, but I did see several species that were either new for the calendar year, or that I just do not see very often. These included:  Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Ruby Throated Hummingbird. As I was making my way back up the main road that leads out of the forest, I saw a bird that didn't look familiar to me. It had a largish beak, like a female Red Winged Blackbird, but with no striping on the chest, a sort of yellowish-buffy belly, and some dark striping on the head. It turned out to be a female Bobolink (#143 on the frequency list). I would have loved to see a male Bobolink, as this was a lifer for me and the male's color scheme is interesting. But I was pleased to pick up a new bird for the Wake County Project list as well as a new lifer.

146)  Bobolink

I tried three more times to find migrating warblers, once at Umstead Big Lake, once at Lake Lynn Trail, and once at Lake Johnson. I didn't find any new warblers on these three trips, but did manage to see a new species for the Wake County Project list at Lake Johnson.

Snowy Egret at Lake Johnson

One of my birding friends had gotten word that a Snowy Egret had been seen on May 1st at Lake Johnson Park's mudflats. I thought this might be a relatively easy one to see on a quick trip, so I headed out to Lake Johnson around 2 PM to see what I could find.

I didn't know the park very well, so it took some time to figure out how to get in the right position to see the mudflats. But when I did, the Snowy Egret (#176) was right out in the open, walking around and showing off its yellow feet on black legs. I've seen lots of these out in California, but this was my first in Wake County. A nice addition to the Wake County Project list.

147) Snowy Egret

This may be my last post for awhile.  My wife and I will be heading to Thailand for work and will probably not return until July of 2018.  My goal has been to see 180 species over a three year period, and I am currently at the 1 year, 4 month mark with 33 species to go.  Keep an eye out in July or August of 2018 for new posts. The remainder of the project will likely run from August 2018 until the end of March 2020.

Only one bird remains unseen in the Top 100 most commonly reported species in Wake County:  Pine Siskin (#56 on the frequency list).  It has a sporadic winter range and they were scarce here in the county this winter.

I still have 22 species left in the Top 150 that haven't been spotted, though I have tried to see a few of these species more than once:  #101 Great Egret, #113 Scarlet Tanager, #116 - 119 Horned Grebe, Yellow Throated Warbler, Magnolia Warbler; #121-124 Least Sandpiper, Hooded Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush (heard but not seen), Rose Breasted Grosbeak; #127-129 American Pipit, White Crowned Sparrow, Yellow Breasted Chat; #132-135 Swainson's Thrush, Common Loon, Blue Winged Teal, Wilson's Snipe; #137 Blue Headed Vireo, #139 Prothonotary Warbler, #144 Redhead, #146 Canvasback, #148-149 Blackpoll Warbler and Black Throated Green Warbler.  These will be my primary targets when I return from Thailand.

Outing #27 - Lake Crabtree Nature Trail - Southport Entrance

03/26/2017

Sometimes it's good to be lucky. Normally when I go birding these days, I'm fortunate see one new species every two or three outings. When I decided to go to Lake Crabtree's Southport area, I was hoping to get a chance to see a Herring Gull (#112 on the frequency list), which had been eluding me for quite awhile, and I hoped I might get lucky enough to spot one or more of the Red Breasted Mergansers (#126) that had showed up at the Lake a couple of days before. What I did not expect was to find four new species for the Wake County Project list in only 90 minutes!

Lesser Black Backed Gull with Ring Billed Gulls

When we arrived, another birder passed by and told us that she thought she had seen a Great Black Backed Gull (#192). These are fairly uncommon in Wake County, so we excitedly put our scopes up and started looking. The Great Black Backed Gull looks a lot like the dark-mantled gull near the center of the photo at left, but is even larger and has darker feathers. One of my fellow birders managed to get it in her scope, and we could tell from comparing it to another large gull that this was indeed a Great Black Backed. In the meantime, I had found the dark-mantled gull that you see in the above photo, but it was too small to be the Great Black Backed. Turns out, it is a Lesser Black Backed Gull (#182). We asked a couple of birders who know their gulls well to look at some photos we had taken to confirm.  So in a few minutes time, we had two relatively rare gulls to add to the list. The Lesser Black Backed was a new one for my lifelist as well.

141)  Great Black Backed Gull

142)  Lesser Black Backed Gull

We also saw two large juvenile gulls that we thought might be Herring Gulls. It was the comparative size of these gulls with the even larger Great Black Backed that helped us be sure of that first identification. We asked our gull expert friends to verify the juvenile gull photos for us as well, to be sure we had the identification right, and they confirmed. I had missed an adult Herring Gull in flight a few weeks ago on an outing to Schenk Forest. It disappeared behind some trees before I could get my binoculars on it, so I was happy to finally pick this one up at Lake Crabtree and to get some photos besides. This shot was taken through the spotting scope at somewhere between 30x and 48x magnification. The Herring Gull would be the third new species of the day for the Wake County Project list.

143)  Herring Gull

After the gulls and cormorants were flushed by something, we moved along to the main part of the lake to see if we could spot any Red Breasted Mergansers or other ducks out on the water.  I had only seen these once before, out on Lake Lynn maybe three years ago, so I was hoping to see them again. It took some time, partly because they spend at least half the time underwater as a group, but we eventually found 31 Red Breasted Mergansers diving for food down the long axis of the lake. The photo at left is the best I could do because of the great distance. But I think it shows the swept back feathers of the head and the dark breast on some of the ones at the back.

144)  Red Breasted Merganser

Now that March is almost ended, we should expect to see some new species moving through the area. According to the BirdsEye App, Blue Winged Teals have been spotted at Umstead Big Lake and Lake Crabtree County Park during the past week. Common Loon was reported yesterday at Lake Crabtree, along with Horned Grebe and Vesper Sparrow.  A Great Egret, which I have somehow missed up to this point, as well as a Yellow Breasted Chat were spotted yesterday at Lake Raleigh, and a Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow Throated Warbler were seen this past week at Schenck Forest. These would all make great potential targets for me in the coming days and weeks.        

Outing #26 - Umstead Big Lake & Brookhaven Nature Park

03/01/2017

It's great to have friends! One of my birder friends read my last post and gave me some tips for finding the winter species still missing from my Wake County Project list. The weather is warming fast here in Raleigh, and many of these winter species will probably be gone soon, so I've been trying to up may game and get as many as I can before spring migration begins. In the past two weeks, I've been out birding six times! That's pretty unusual for me.  But the trips have paid off as I have three new species to report - one from Umstead Big Lake, one from Brookhaven Nature Park, and one from the backyard of a birder friend.

I went out three of the four days of the Great Backyard Bird Count. My first outing was to Brookhaven Nature Park, where I hoped to see a Red Breasted Nuthatch. Apparently I was there too early, as I didn't hear them call nor see them moving around among the pines. The next day, I went out to Umstead Big Lake, where three American Black Ducks (#141 on the Wake County frequency list) had been reported just the day before. When I pulled into the parking lot and got out, I discovered that a very good birder I know had just arrived in the car right next to me! We had been out birding together a couple of times before, so I followed him to the spot that everyone prefers for seeing ducks. After a bit of looking around, we caught a glimpse of two American Black Ducks (see photo at left). They were too far away to get a decent photo then, so I decided to stay on, head into the woods next to the lake, and see if I could find a spot from which to take a decent photo through my scope. I must have spent at least 90 minutes in there. Got photos of several other duck species, but no really good looks at the American Black Ducks. Then, as I was retracing my steps on my way out of the woods, I stopped at a spot I'd visited before and saw them out on the water.  I hurriedly set up my scope, put on the PhoneSkope attachment, and snapped a few pictures. This one is a little bright, but it shows the features well enough. Note the lighter head on the darker brown body, the dark line behind the eye, and the yellow-green bill.

138)  American Black Duck

On Saturday I joined a Wake Audubon outing that went to North Wake Landfill Park and then Abbott's Creek Greenway. A Lincoln's Sparrow had been spotted at Abbott's Creek a couple of weeks back, and we hoped we might get the chance to see it. We spent quite a long time on one of the bridges in small groups, hoping to get a good glimpse of it. Some of the group did manage to spot it, but it was only up for a moment and I was at another part of the bridge, so I missed it. Close, but no cigar.

My next Wake Audubon outing was more successful. It was a short hike at Brookhaven Nature Park (see photo at left) with the primary purpose of finding a Red Breasted Nuthatch (#108). I had already tried here twice, and once at another location where I heard the nuthatches, but wasn't able to see them. This time, we both heard them and saw them. Well, we heard two of them, and saw one. It was in the pine trees just southwest of the small lake within the park. I hadn't laid eyes on one of these in more than a decade, and was happy to finally check it off the list.

139)  Red Breasted Nuthatch

Outing number five took me to a place I had never visited before - Wilkerson Nature Preserve. A birder friend of mine said she had possibly heard and seen a Vesper Sparrow (#196) there, though it was not a definite sighting. She wanted to go back and have a second look, especially after someone else reported seeing a sparrow there that might have been a Vesper. So three of us headed out there one morning to try to find it. We did hear a sparrow with a call that sounded unusual and might have been the Vesper, but did not get visual confirmation. Sparrows are tough for me, and I'm realizing that if I want to learn to ID these rarer sparrows, I need to learn the calls of all the common sparrows and be able to ID them in a couple of seconds. In many places, they don't spend much time out in the open, so if a sparrow lands, you have to be able to ID them at a quick glance to tell if they are typical or not. If not, you need to quickly assess the markings and be able to remember them before the sparrow is gone again. I think I have some work in front of me if I want to be able to spot the likes of Lincoln and Vesper Sparrows without help.

This morning I visited the house of a birder friend who had reported seeing Baltimore Orioles (#138) at her feeders this week. She told me they weren't very reliable, but she knew I didn't have these yet for my Wake County Project and was nice enough to let me come stand in her living room for an hour and try to spot them. And it took almost exactly that much time for them to make an appearance. When they did, they put on a good show. I saw two mature males, one immature male, and at least one female. They apparently like the suet feeder, and the jelly feeder. It was great to have a chance to see them so up close and personal! I was sure I had seen Baltimore Orioles once before, on a Christmas Bird Count here in Raleigh many years ago, but if so, I never reported it on my lifelist, so either my memory is faulty, or this was a new lifer for me. It brings my Wake County Project list up to 140 species.  Only 40 more to go!

140)  Baltimore Oriole

There were seven species spotted in Wake County in the past week that I don't yet have for my list.  They are: American Bittern (Prairie Ridge Ecostation), Canvasback (Lake Betz), Wilson's Snipe (Lake Johnson), Herring Gull (Shelley Lake), Blue Headed Vireo (Lake Johnson), American Pipit (Yates Mill County Park) and Orange Crowned Warbler (Lake Betz). Unfortunately, I will be out of town until March 10th, so I will have to hope that they are still around when I get back.

Outing #25 - Horse Shoe Farm Preserve & Mid-Pines Road

1/21/2017

I've been in chase mode lately, trying to find the limited numbers of new bird species that I don't yet have for my Wake County Project list. Many of these species are only reported at one or two locations in the county, and often many days apart from each other. I've only been able to bird once a week or so, and a number of my trips have failed to produce new species, but I now have two new finds to report: one from Mid-Pines Road on Jan. 21st, and another from Horse Shoe Farm Preserve on Feb 15th.

Canada Geese Leaving Yates Mill Pond to Forage

Back in late January, I started hearing rumors about four Ross's Geese (#201 on the Wake County frequency list) down around Yates Mill County Park and the Mid-Pines Road area. We don't get many opportunities to see birds this rare - I've only seen two so far that are 200th or later on the frequency list. The Ross's Geese had been seen several times, and one birder reported on eBird that he saw them out on the Yates Mill pond just after the park opened in the morning at 8 AM. That sounded like perhaps the easiest way to see them, so I headed over to the park, was on the bridge by 8:10 AM, but couldn't tell if the Ross's Geese were there or not. As you can see from the photo at left, it was really foggy that morning and there were portions of the pond that I couldn't see. I waited almost an hour for most of the Canada Geese to leave for their morning foraging, and eventually the fog lifted enough for me to see that the Ross's Geese were definitely not on the lake. They must have slept somewhere else that night. So I decided to make my way to Mid-Pines Road to see if they were there.

As I drove up Lake Wheeler Road and prepared to turn on Mid Pines Road, I saw a large flock of Canada Geese to the right, out on the fields just off the road. The land is high next to the road, and then falls away, so some of the geese were visible, but many others were mostly out of sight from the road. I parked near the intersection, got my spotting scope out, and found the highest spot I could to observe them from. It took about three minutes of scanning before I saw the first one, and then a second white goose out among the flock of Canadas. They quickly plodded up the hill to give a nice view of their features. I'd planned to take a photo, but by the time I got the phone adapter set up and attached, they and several of the other geese decided to move on to more fertile foraging grounds. But they were great to see, and I wasn't disappointed with the outing.

136)  Ross's Goose

I tried three times after that to find a new species so I would have at least two to report here.  At the close of January, I went to Abbott's Creek Trail chasing after a Lincoln's Sparrow that was reported by a couple of birders, but no luck. Next, I tried for an Orange Crowned Warbler at Lake Betz.  It was seen three days before and three days after I visited, but not the day I was there. Finally, on Feb 12th, I headed to Schenck Forest with some very talented birders, hoping to see something new. Unfortunately, I missed the Herring Gull that flew high overhead while we were at the little lake along Reedy Creek Road.  It was with a group of Ring Billed Gulls, but I never got my bins on it before they were obscured by trees.  Sigh.  The only consolation was that we saw a river otter swimming in the pond - something I don't think I've ever seen here in the US.

On Valentine's Day, a birder friend of mine sent an e-mail with a tip on where I could find a pair of American Wigeons (#150). They had been seen on the pond in the southwest quadrant of Horse Shoe Farm Preserve. I set out the very next morning hoping to see them. The rain started pouring while I was on the road, and it was very wet by the time I arrived. I donned my raincoat, took my scope and binoculars, and headed out. I went all the way to the southwest end of the park, then began working my way back. Toward the southwest end of the pond, I noticed three Canada Geese, and decided to follow a little side trail to get a closer look. Right there, out on the water, were two American Wigeons. They were unmistakeable. Unfortunately, as I prepared to get my scope out for a photo, I must have made too much noise because they both suddenly flushed and disappeared further down the pond. I wasn't able to reacquire them, but I had seen enough to count them.

137)  American Wigeon

Tomorrow the Great Backyard Bird Count begins - February 17-20. I'm hoping to go out at least three times this weekend to do my part. According to the BirdsEye App, there are eight species that have been spotted in the last 10 days or so that would be new for my list. They are: Common Raven (#170) at Abbott's Creek Trail, Horned Lark (#162) at Mid Pines Road, Wild Turkey (#156) at North Wake Landfill, American Black Duck (#141) at Umstead Big Lake, Wilson's Snipe (#135) at Lake Johnson, Herring Gull (#112) at Lake Crabtree, Red Breasted Nuthatch (#108) at Brookhaven Nature Park, and Great Egret (#101) at Lake Raleigh or Lake Johnson.

Outing #24 - Lake Crabtree Dam

1/16/2017

I haven't been doing as much birding here in Wake County the last couple of months because of busyness at work as well as holiday travel.  Still, I managed to get out four times since my last post but it wasn't until this past Monday (MLK Day) that I managed to pick up a new species for the Wake County Project List.

I first tried to see Red Breasted Nuthatches (#108 on the Frequency List). I've actually tried for these twice (the other time was at Brookhaven Nature Park), but the most recent attempt was at Baileywick Park. A friend had identified them just a few days before, and she told me exactly where to go. It's been a couple of months now, but I think it was the area of the park around Armitage Court. When I got there, I played the call to remind myself what it sounded like, and within a few minutes I could hear two Red Breasted Nuthatches calling to each other off in some distant trees. However, try as I might, I could not find a way to get close enough to them that I could see them in my binoculars. My rule is that I have to see the bird to count it for this project, so while I claim it as a close encounter, I cannot count it as a sighting.

My next outing was to Umstead Big Lake (Dec. 31st) in search of the American Black Duck (#141).  Someone had reported a sighting there only a few days before.  I did see a number of duck species on that outing, and I recommend giving it a look if you haven't been there.  Start at the boat rental area, then head up the powerline track. Be sure to follow some of the animal(?) trails off of the powerline track and toward the water.  There are a number of decent viewpoints in there. I saw quite a variety of ducks, including Ring Necked Ducks, Hooded Merganser (see photo at left), Bufflehead, Gadwall, Green Winged Teal, and Ruddy Ducks.  No American Black Ducks, however.

Last weekend I decided to head to Lake Crabtree, which seemed to have the greatest number of unusual species recently sighted according to the BirdsEye App. There are three possible places to visit - Lake Crabtree County Park, Lake Crabtree Southport, and Lake Crabtree Dam.  Six species had been reported there in the past couple of weeks that I needed for my list, including Greater Scaup (#131), Redhead (#144), Canvasback (#146), American Wigeon (#150), Herring Gull (#112) and American Pipit (#127).

On Jan 15th, I tried the Southport Entrance.  There is a gravel bar out in the water on that side of the lake that is very popular with some birds.  I saw over 500 Ring Billed Gulls, nearly 100 Double Crested Cormorants, and some Hooded Mergansers and Green Winged Teals, but none of the species I was hoping for. So the next day, I decided to try Lake Crabtree Dam.

It was pretty cold at the dam when I arrived, and many of the ducks seemed to be just heading out from the shore area. I saw a lot of Ring Necked Ducks, and a large number of Scaups. There were also over 100 Bonaparte's Gulls out there, which had been a lifer for me just last year.

I checked the Scaups carefully, trying to discern the differences between the Greater and Lesser Scaup, and then I saw this little cluster of four (photo above) and felt certain that I was seeing a pair of Greater Scaups (in back) and two Lesser Scaups in front.  The Greater Scaups are noticeably larger, and the heads are more flattened than the Lesser Scaups.  Finally, a new species for the Wake County Project List!

135) Greater Scaup

I've heard tell of a pair of Ross's Geese down at Yates Mill County Park and nearby Mid-Pines Road, so I'm thinking my next outing might be there to see if I can spot them. They are apparently flocking with the Canada Geese.  I believe that will be a lifer for me if I can manage to track it down.

Outing #23 - Mid-Pines Road and Nearby Inwood Road

11/13/2016

Last winter there were several sightings of a Peregrine Falcon (#186 on the Wake County frequency list) along Mid-Pines Road. I went there three times over the course of a week hoping to see it, but was never successful. However, he's back this fall, so I joined a group of much more experienced birders to see if we could locate him. Turns out, I probably didn't need the help...at least for the falcon. It was perched out in the open in a naked tree, and stayed in place for at least 30 minutes while we looked around at other birds!  But those friends were very helpful in helping me find the other THREE species that I spotted on the day for the Wake County Project list.

The photo at left was taken through my spotting scope using a PhoneSkope attachment and then blown up a bit, so the quality isn't great. But that is a Peregrine Falcon!  To find the location, turn onto Mid-Pines road from Lake Wheeler, pass the pond, the tree-lined creek, and then the 90 degree turn with open fields on all sides. Just beyond the turn you will see a little building with a red roof on the lefthand side of the road.  We were there about 8:20 in the morning and the falcon stayed around until perhaps 9 AM.

131)  Peregrine Falcon

There were a lot of birds to see along Mid-Pines road in addition to the falcon. It was a particularly good day for raptors, as we saw an American Kestrel, Cooper's Hawk, three Red Tailed Hawks, and two Red Shouldered Hawks. In addition to these birds, we also saw at least two Rusty Blackbirds (#140) out in the fields to the east of the road. I would have never gotten these without help from my birding friends.

132) Rusty Blackbird

Next we traveled to nearby Inwood Road to see if we might spot anything new.  I saw my first Dark Eyed Juncos of the season there, along with about 25 Killdeer. Probably the best bird we saw in this area (actually along Chi Road just off of Inwood Rd) was a Loggerhead Shrike (see photo at left). It stayed on the sign long enough for me to set up my scope, attach my PhoneSkope, and snap several photos.  It is a new species for the Wake County Project List.

133) Loggerhead Shrike

Later, along the same road, we saw a hawk chasing after some birds that turned out to be a Sharp Shinned Hawk (#115). This is only the second or third time that I've been able to confirm one of these, and once again I may not have been successful without the help of my birding companions. I have not seen one since I started the Wake County Project, so it is also a new one for the list.

134)  Sharp Shinned Hawk

I checked the BirdsEye App and it looks like the two best places to go this coming weekend if I want a chance at new birds would be Umstead Big Lake (American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Red Breasted Nuthatch) and Lake Crabtree County Park (Common Loon, Least Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, Herring Gull, and Blue Headed Vireo). However, a friend of mine has invited me to Horseshoe Farm Preserve where there is a chance to see Vesper and Lincoln's sparrows.  Both would be new for my lifelist, and probably hard for me to identify without a little expert help. If I see either of them, I'll let you know next time!

Outing #22 - Lake Crabtree County Park

11/05/2016

As usual, I consulted my BirdsEye App to find out which bird species had been spotted nearby over the past week. The obvious destination this time around was Lake Crabtree County Park. Several species had been spotted over the previous two weeks, including Tennessee Warbler (#171), Merlin (#166), Blue Headed Vireo (#137), Wilson's Snipe (#135), Herring Gull (#112), and American Coot (#82). It just so happened that the park was doing its monthly Birding With Vernon walk, so I decided to join up and see what we could see.

We started at the first parking lot. This is the one with the big grassy area separating the unpaved parking area from the lake (see photo at left). The first thing we managed to see were Hooded Mergansers out on the lake. These weren't new (I'd seen them back in February), but it was nice to see them again. We spent quite a bit of time out on the grassy area with the spotting scopes, and also watching sparrows popping up for short periods before diving down into the underbrush again. Then we saw a bird land in the cluster of trees you see in the photo at left. I got my scope on it, but it was partly hidden by leaves. It looked like a small hawk, and at first I guessed it might be an American Kestrel. I moved the scope to try to get a better look, and managed to get a good view of a heavily streaked breast.  It seemed like too much for a Kestrel.  Then it took flight and I got a good view of its gray-blue back and striped tail.  It was my first Merlin ever in Wake County, and a new species for the Wake County Project list.

129) Merlin

Later on the walk, we spotted a cluster of birds swimming in the distance. A quick look through the scope confirmed that they were American Coots!  I still don't know how I missed these last winter, but they were one of only two species left on my Top 100 Frequency List to be checked off.  Having seen them now, all that is left on the Top 100 list is Pine Siskin.

130) American Coot

My plan for the next outing was Mid-Pines Road, which I actually did this past Sunday with very good results.  I'll report what I saw in my next entry, coming soon.