Outing #21 - Schenck Forest, Prairie Ridge Ecostation and E. Carroll Joyner Park

10/22/2016

It's getting harder to add new species to the Wake County Project list. Most of the birds I've not yet seen are fairly uncommon, and many of them are trickier to identify than most that I've already listed. As I planned my birding outing for Saturday, October 22nd, I checked the BirdsEye App, as I often do, to see where the unusual species were being found. As had been true for the previous two weeks or more, Schenck Forest seemed to be the hotspot. Reports during the previous week listed Black Bellied Plover (#203 on the frequency list), Gray Cheeked Thrush (#173), Cape May Warbler (#159), Magnolia Warbler (#119), Black Throated Blue Warbler (#105), and Scarlet Tanager (#113). Most of these hadn't been seen for several days, however. There was also an American Bittern (#155) reported at Prairie Ridge Ecostation, which is only a short drive from Schenck Forest. So I decided to bird just part of the Schenck Forest, then to head over to Prairie Ridge to see if I could find the Bittern.

Unfortunately, the trip did not turn up any new species. Probably the best sighting was of three Palm Warblers, which I saw back in March, but which are birds that I haven't seen often here in Wake County. The American Bittern also failed to appear at Prairie Ridge Ecostation.

If you read the comment on my previous blog entry, I was advised by a fellow birder to try going out to see warblers in the afternoon rather than the morning. So the next day, I went back to Schenck Forest, this time arriving closer to noon. Someone had spotted and photographed a Vesper Sparrow there on Saturday (which I managed to miss), so I thought it might be worth going back just to try to get that one, even if I didn't see any warblers.

I was very glad that I went back. Although I didn't find the Vesper Sparrow, I did manage to see a Black Throated Blue Warbler!  It is a beautiful bird.  Dark blue on top, a black throat, and a little white spot on the otherwise blue wings. It landed in a tree less than 10 feet away from me, so I could identify it without the binoculars. It was also one of the first birds I saw after arriving.

127)  Black Throated Blue Warbler

The following Saturday I decided to join a Meetup bird walk with Wake Audubon. The walk was at E. Carroll Joyner Park in Wake Forest, and during the previous week, birders had reported seeing a Merlin there as well as a Swamp Sparrow, neither of which were on my Wake County Project list. I had never been to the park, and wanted to see what it had to offer.

There is a nice pond here (see photo at left) but it was strangely devoid of birds. According to eBird.org, ducks are rarely sighted there, and herons are only occasional visitors. So it's a nice body of water to look at, but definitely not teeming with wildlife.

The busiest area of the park for birds is on the other side of the pond where a set of poles and power lines is found. This area had a lot of different species including Eastern Bluebirds, American Goldfinches, two warblers (but nothing new for the list) and several sparrows. Among these sparrows was a Swamp Sparrow (#61) which is a new species for the Wake County Project list! The Swamp Sparrow was one of only three winter birds on the top 100 list that I had not yet recorded. That leaves only Pine Siskin and American Coot to round out the list of the 100 most commonly reported birds in Wake County.

128)  Swamp Sparrow

Next time around, I'd still like to try to find that American Bittern at Prairie Ridge Ecostation, and there have been a number of Red Breasted Nuthatches sighted in several places around the western side of Raleigh. A friend tells me that there is a pair of them in Baileywick Park that might be easy to find. Perhaps I'll head up there and see if I can see them.