Outing #16 - East Fork Mine Creek Trail and Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve

8/20/2016

As I reported last time, there was only one common summer bird left on the Top 100 list of the most commonly reported species in Wake County that I hadn't yet seen. My nemesis? The seemingly elusive Barred Owl (#98 on the Wake County frequency list). I'd heard it a couple of times this year, but hadn't seen it. A birder friend of mine told me exactly where to go to have the best chance at it (East Fork of Mine Creek Trail, aka Bent Creek Trail, at the pedestrian tunnel), but the three times I tried to see it I struck out.  Apparently, fourth time's the charm!  I was there by 8 AM and got a good look at it.

The photo at left is not the greatest owl photo ever, but if you look in the bottom quarter of it toward the middle, you'll see the Barred Owl. I was relieved to finally get a good look at it. Then, about a week later, I was doing an exercise walk in Umstead Park and saw another one! This one flew across the path about 50 yards in front of me, and looked like it landed in the leaf litter maybe 100 feet off the trail. When I got closer, one of the branches of the Sycamore Trail happened to lead down to where I thought I'd seen the owl come to rest.  As I headed down it, I saw the owl fly up and perch on a limb about 15 feet in the air.  I think it had grabbed something from the forest floor, which it finished off as I approached slowly down the trail. No binoculars with me, so I wanted to get close enough to be sure of the ID. It let me walk right up underneath it, we checked each other out for maybe a minute, then I started backing away and it decided to fly off deeper into the woods. Although I've only seen it there once, it may have a territory that overlaps with this part of the park. I saw it at the place where Sycamore Trail crosses the Graylyn multi-use trail, just a little ways south of the N Turkey Creek trail. The Graylyn entrance is off of Ebenezer Church Road but parking can be tricky to find. Interested birders might have better luck with the Barred Owl at East Fork Mine Creek.

112)  Barred Owl

After the owl, I decided to try my luck at Lake Crabtree County Park. I hadn't been there all summer, but my BirdsEye App reported a couple of species that I hadn't yet seen, such as Caspian Tern (#151), Broad Winged Hawk (#184), Scarlet Tanager (#113) and Tennessee Warbler (#171).  I, however, did not manage to see any of them. I think maybe I arrived too late in the morning, but I'm also less knowledgeable about these birds and don't necessarily know where to look. It seems that I have my work cut out for me now that I've seen most of the more common birds on the Wake County Project list!

A few days after this I went on a bird walk with Wake Audubon to Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve. I had heard of the place but never been there, so wanted to check it out with people who knew what they were doing. I'm really glad I did!  Although the morning started out slowly, sometime after 9 AM the insects picked up and we started to see quite a few different bird species all clustered together.  We saw and heard a total of 38 species, and I picked up a couple of new ones for the Wake County project list, and one new one for my lifelist!  The new species were Prairie Warbler (#111) and Cliff Swallow (#147). We also saw a House Wren, which I struggled to find for several weeks of the summer. Is it odd that I have my best luck with the rarer birds when I'm not actively looking for them anymore?

113)  Prairie Warbler

114)  Cliff Swallow

September is just a couple of days away and that means we should start getting a lot of migratory birds coming through soon. One of my Wake Audubon friends said I should go birding as often as possible in September.  I'll have to see if I can manage at least two outings a week rather than my more typical single outing.

Outing #13 - East Fork of Mine Creek Trail

06/23/2016

A fellow birder read my last post and had some great suggestions for picking up the seven elusive summer birds that I need to round out the top 100 most commonly identified birds in Wake County - Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, House Wren, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, and Barred Owl. Her recommendation for finding the Barred Owl, Acadian Flycatcher, and Wood Thrush - all in one place - was the East Fork of Mine Creek Trail. This trail is also sometimes called the Bent Creek Trail. My birder friend had seen the Barred Owl there four times this year and mentioned that the other two species are also common. Life has been busier than normal for me the last three weeks, so I had to work to squeeze in a visit, but finally did so on June 23rd, and then made a return trip on June 29th.

The East Fork of Mine Creek trail is surprisingly woodsy.  There are houses on three sides of the entrance, but a gentle decline at the outset puts the trail below the surrounding houses and roads, and gives a feel of being a bit further from civilization than is actually the case.

The outing started off very well.  I arrived before 8 AM hoping that the Barred Owls would not be completely settled in to rest for the day yet.  I heard several birds calling on arrival, but the first one to actually make an appearance was the Wood Thrush (#87 on the frequency list)!  I saw a second one maybe 20 minutes later, and saw one of them again on my next visit on June 29th. So it looks like this trail is particularly reliable for Wood Thrush. They seem to hang out in the first part of the trail before the unpaved branch that leads northward on the main part of the Mine Creek Trail.

105)  Wood Thrush

On that same part of the trail, I heard the Acadian Flycatcher calling at least twice, but was never able to spot it. My rule is that I must see a bird to count it, so this one remains unclaimed.  But at least I can return to this trail and try again if I don't find it elsewhere.

I really worked on the Barred Owl. I played a recording of its call from my iBirdPro App every couple of hundred feet along the trail, hoping it would respond. But apparently they were not in a calling mood on either visit.  So no Barred Owls this time around. I did meet a guy who lives near the trail, and he said he hears them a lot at night, and even pointed out a particular stand of trees where they often call from. If I hadn't been so busy, I would have tried to go back toward evening to try again.  Maybe I still will do that. I'd really like to pick that one up.  I've heard them twice this year, but haven't managed to spot one yet.

On my second visit to the trail, I decided to take the unpaved branch of the Mine Creek Trail to see if perhaps the owls had moved over into that area. That part of the trail seems to be even more densely wooded in spots. It is a nice walk, and feels more remote that the East Fork of Mine Creek Trail, but I saw surprisingly few species there.

So I'm left with six species to find this summer if I want to round out those missing species from the Top 100.  Wake Audubon is doing another birding walk at Blue Jay Point County Park tomorrow, and I might check it out. I heard Barred Owls calling there back in February, and they also have hummingbird feeders where I should be able to pick up the Ruby-Throated. I've also heard rumors of Yellow-Billed Cuckoos, which would not only be a new one for the project list, but would also be a new lifer for me.