Outing #19 - Harris Lake County Park & Umstead Park

09/10/2016

I haven't been to Harris Lake County Park since May. There's something about this park that I like a lot, despite the long drive. Maybe its the mix of maintained and minimally maintained areas that attracts me. The maintained spaces around the main parking area seem to have a lot of birds in the early morning hours. When that begins to die down, there is still some activity to be found on the minimally maintained trails. This time, I came hoping to find at least one of several species that had been recently reported: Blue Headed Vireo (#137 on the Wake County Frequency List), Yellow Throated Vireo (#136), Yellow Breasted Chat (#129), Magnolia Warbler (#119), and/or Yellow Billed Cuckoo (#106).

I arrived around 7:45 AM and started birding near the open field by the volleyball net. Saw a number of good species here, including four Red Headed Woodpeckers (see photo at left), three Summer Tanagers, and a Hairy Woodpecker. There were a number of little yellow-breasted birds flitting around the trees, most of which were Pine Warblers. Several of them came down to the grass, which had been recently mowed. They seemed to be both chasing insects and wetting their feathers. But I kept checking out the ones in the trees as they would make an appearance, mostly trying to count them, and finally got lucky - olive green back, yellow breast, white belly, two white wing bars, and a more elongated body that would be hard to confuse with a Pine Warbler.  A closer look showed the yellowish spectacles around the eyes that extend forward toward the beak. A Yellow Throated Vireo! There may have been two, but I at least saw one of them well enough to identify it. A lifer for me, as well as a new species for the Wake County Project list.

123)  Yellow Throated Vireo

Around 9 AM I decided to hit the Peninsula Trail and see what I could find. The entire trail is 4.6 miles, so I only walked part of it, then followed some vehicle access roads (unpaved) to get back. The last time I was here there was a Northern Waterthrush out there, but I didn't end up seeing anything new on this day. I might have seen a Common Yellowthroat - some kind of yellow bird with black on the face, anyway - but the glimpse was fleeting and I couldn't identify it for sure. I did see two Eastern Wood Pewees, a bird I was desperately trying to see about a month ago. Otherwise, though, nothing new on the trails.

I finally picked up a Yellow Billed Cuckoo as well, but not at Harris Lake. I was out walking with my wife along the Graylyn Trail at Umstead Park, around 6 PM Sunday when I saw a bird land on an exposed branch about 15 feet into the forest. Long bird, brown upper parts, white below, yellowish beak and the white from the throat seemed to ride up on the neck a bit. I couldn't see the pattern under the tail because of shadows. I was pretty sure, but had to wait until I got home and checked for other possibilities before I was certain. I've heard this one several times over the summer, but this was my first look at it. So now I can add it to the list.

124) Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Several warbler species have already been reported this past week that I haven't seen yet. There's been one report of Black Throated Green Warbler here in Wake County at Schenck Forest. Magnolia Warbler has been spotted in three places:  Harris Lake, Shelley Lake, and Lake Lynn. And Worm Eating Warbler has been reported at Schenck Forest. I don't yet have Baltimore Oriole, which has been seen in three places recently - Lake Crabtree, Meredith College, and Durant Nature Park. Two reports of Bobolink have come through at Prairie Ridge Ecostation and Lake Crabtree Southport.  A Scarlet Tanager was reported at Wilkerson Nature Preserve Park. Red Breasted Nuthatches have been reported at two private locations within the County, and a Philadelphia Vireo at Baileywick Park. No real clustering to be found here, except that Lake Crabtree and Schenck Forest show up twice. Lake Crabtree has also had recent reports of interesting waterfowl, such as American Avocet, Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit, and Stilt Sandpiper. I'll keep an eye out the next couple of days and then decide where best to put my birding energy as I try for species number 125!