Field Sparrow
Mocksville, NC
Jan. 2016
click to enlarge

I’m not sure if my backyard really qualifies as a “Trip Report” but I told myself that I needed to post more regularly in 2016. Despite the drizzle I spent half an hour around the house searching for the smaller birds I usually neglect. The larger birds (and mammals) are always easier to find, observe and photograph. So, in 2016 my goal is to challenge myself to look more for the smaller birds, and especially looking for migrant warblers in the spring and fall. The drizzle made me very aware of my camera’s exposure to the elements. Since I will pay off my new camera and lens (Canon 70D with used Canon 100-400) in February I may also need to invest in some weather-proofing. I’ll put that on my to-do list for the spring.

So, out in the drizzle I was able to hear a lot of activity. With the help of the app Larkwire (iPhone version) I am working on birding by ear. I  easily recognized the “regulars” such as the Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren.  In total I saw 14 species with larger quantities of White-throated Sparrows and Northern Cardinals.

Trip List:
(Going forward I would like to keep a running tally of the species I see this calendar year. That is why only a few of the species in the list are numbered.)

Turkey Vulture 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
24. Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
25. Blue Jay 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
26. Carolina Wren 1 (heard only)
27. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
                 I still haven’t seen a kinglet’s crown yet!!
American Robin 5
28. Field Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 3
29. Northern Cardinal 7

Clicking on any of the photos in this post will enlarge them.

Song Sparrow
Pee Dee NWR
Jan. 2016

Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, near Wadesboro, NC, is one of my favorite “local” places to go birding. I can easily spend an entire day here. There is a wide range of habitats from freshwater ponds and marsh to farmland, pine forest and grassy areas.

My normal route usually circles the Wildlife Drive first, in particular to scope for Wood Ducks, and then to Arrowhead Pond via Clark Road to Big Oak Rd. Afterwards, I continue to the area around the silo and Gaddy Covered Bridge via Griffin, Gaddy and Beaver Pond Roads respectively. I usually circle back to do the wildlife drive one more time before leaving the area. I can do this route with various stops in about 3-5 hours depending on the weather and what I’m seeing.

In the back of my mind I knew that all of the Piedmont area was experiencing various amounts of flooding. Too bad I didn’t consider how that might affect my trip today. Many of the surrounding roads were blocked or signed off due to encroaching water or were just plain covered in water. This limited my normal route to just the wildlife drive, which I looped three times, twice in the morning and once in the early afternoon.

Red-Shouldered Hawk, juvenile
Pee Dee NWR
Jan. 2016

Today was unusual in that there were no ducks or herons present. NONE! More than one birder that I met commented on the lack of ducks. Pee Dee NWR is usually my go-to for finding Wood Ducks, although they are quite skittish and I have yet to get satisfactory (IMO) photo of them. Two gentlemen I met on the Wildlife Drive said they had seen a few early in the morning.

The highlight of the day was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk at the last part of the marsh on the Wildlife Drive. It was perched in a small tree just a mere 3-4 yards from the road. The photo opportunities were good despite the shade. Alas, a truck pulled up behind me and did not seem keen to wait. One of the downsides to this wildlife drive (as opposed to say, Bombay Hook NWR or Blackwater NWR) is that the drive is one-way and there are only 2 places along the marsh where you can pull over and let someone pass. During good weather I may have been able to pull to the shoulder enough for him to pass, but with the ground soft and wet, no way!

All in all, today was a lackluster day out but the weather was really nice. Very cold to begin with, but warmed up to a sunny 50 degrees. I normally see between 20-40 species on a good day,  today only 23 🙁 .

Trip List:

Eastern Phoebe
Pee Dee NWR
Jan. 2016

1. Pied-billed Grebes 5
2. Double-crested Cormorant 2 (flying over the marsh)
3. Black Vulture 1
4. Turkey Vulture 1
5. Red-shouldered Hawk 1
6. Red-headed Woodpecker
7. Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
8. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
9. Northern Flicker 1
10. Pileated Woodpecker 1 (heard only….one of the few birds I know by sound 100%)
11. Eastern Phoebe
12. American Crow
13. Carolina Chickadee 1
14. Tufted Titmouse 2
15. Eastern Bluebird
16. American Robin 10
17. Brown Thrasher 1
18. Pine Warbler 1 (seen near the bathrooms)
19. Chipping Sparrow
20. White-throated Sparrow 1
21. Song Sparrow
22. Eastern Towhee 1
23. American Goldfinch

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The King of Camouflage!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Pee Dee NWR
Jan. 2016