May 27+28, 2008 - Sault Ste. Marie, ON - Morehead City, NC - 1990 km
4:15 p.m., and we're on the road, heading across the bridge into Michigan. Just the start of another long drive. Kirk, John, and I are on our way to Flint, MI, to pick up the fourth member of our party - Tim Snieder. Our trip list gets off to a start with the more common roadside birds, along with Lesser Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, and Mute Swan going over the Mackinac Bridge. Further south, I added Cooper's Hawk and Purple Martin to my year list. We arrived in Flint at the 8 p.m. meeting time, no sign of Tim so we headed for supper. By 8:30, he still wasn't there so we started phoning around. He eventually called me, to say that they made a wrong turn just out of Port Huron (highway 69 and 94), the same mistake that John, Kirk, and I had made coming back from Niagara Falls back in February. He showed up at 10 p.m., just as we were having thoughts of going on. Luckily, Kirk had planned some extra time into the itinerary. We got under way again, and were in Ohio by 11:15 p.m. Not much happened along this part, no birds were out in the dark. I fell asleep around 1, waking up at 3:15 to the sound of "Great Horned Owl just flew across the road!". Damn, I needed that one. 5 minutes later we were in West Virginia, and at 6:15 a.m. we made it into Virginia. I suppose by now it's May 28, so time to start the day list over again. We stopped at a gas station, adding Northern Mockingbird, Indigo Bunting, and Barn Swallow to the trip list. Then it was time to keep moving, and we made it into North Carolina around 7:30 a.m. Four hours and 40 minutes later, we were meeting John Fussell near New Bern, NC, who was to be our guide for the rest of the day and the next morning. Oh, we got Least Tern, Laughing Gull, and Fish Crow in New Bern itself. We headed into Croatan National Forest, and followed John to where he had some goodies staked out for us. At the first stop, we quickly added Great Crested and Acadian Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, and Carolina Wren, all new for the year, along with some other NC forest birds. We headed a little further into the park, and found a Swainson's Warbler singing. We managed to lure him out into the open, where he was quickly joined by his mate, and then another bird, probably from a neighbouring territory. We were able to get great views of this secretive warbler in the undergrowth, and watched as it went to where there was obviously a nest, although the bird didn't want to feed the young with us there, so we moved on. In the next little while, we added Prairie Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Worm-eating Warbler, and Cedar Waxwing to our trip list. Then we moved into different habitat (pine woods), and found Eastern Towhee (both eye colours), Pine Warbler, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Yellow-throated Warbler. We went a little further, back into deciduous habitat, and found Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Northern Parula, but no Kentucky Warblers, our target bird for this stretch. We made it to a new nesting tree of the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, and managed a decent look before it started raining. We waited around for the rain to let up, but it didn't, so we headed for supper, at the Sanitary Restaurant. The restaurant looked out over an estuary-type habitat, with mudflats and saltmarsh, which contained Tricolored Heron, American Oystercatcher, Willet, and Boat-tailed Grackle. Our Black Rail search was called off because of the weather, so we headed to the hotel for the night, and were asleep by 10:30 p.m. Definitely a long two days. 81 species in the day and a bit.
May 29 - Morehead City - Buxton - 448 km
Up early (shortly after 4 a.m.) to meet John Fussell for our Black Rail search that was cancelled the night before. The weather held out for us, and we had a decent morning. At the parking area, we added Chuck-will's-widow to the list, and on the walk into the marsh, found more Prairie Warblers and Eastern Towhees. At the marsh, we listened from the tower, and heard Virginia Rail almost right away. A few minutes later, just as we were about to head down to the marsh, we heard "ki-ki-drr". Black Rail! It was way out in the marsh, and John asked if we wanted to walk out that far to try for it. Of course we did! So, we headed out there, stopping every 100 feet or so to get a bearing on whereabouts it was hiding. Along the way, we added Seaside Sparrow, Clapper Rail, Least Bittern, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, and a few of the herons and terns. We eventually got out to where the rail was hiding, and we were in luck, as it chose a smallish patch of long reeds to hide in, which was surrounded by a bunch of shorter stuff. It was out on a small peninsula of reeds, so we corralled it using John's technique, but it somehow managed to slip between our legs. Did I mention that the Black Rail is only six inches long? That's the size of a Least Sandpiper (or for the non-birders, just a bit bigger than your average computer mouse)! Anyway, after about an hour of waiting for the rail to call, corralling it, then having it slip between or around us, we finally managed to encircle it in a small tent of reeds that was surrounded by flattened reeds that we had trampled on. It hung out in there for a little while, then decided it's cover was rather small, and darted across the open ground into a larger patch of reeds. Black Rail sighted! This is pretty much the hardest breeding bird to actually see in North America (other than the Gray-headed Chickadee up in Alaska), so the four of us were pretty excited. Then it was back into Croatan to find a few more targets that we'd missed the afternoon before. At one of the stops, the others went with John, and I stayed behind to look for something that was making noise. Then a Northern Bobwhite started calling off in the distance, and Tim added a lifer, one that I'd seen in Texas the year before. Before heading back to the pine woods, we found Forster's Tern, 3 flycatchers, Northern Parula, and a few others. In the piney area, we found Pileated, Red-headed, Downy, and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, and Northern Flicker for 5 sp. of woodpeckers in less than 20 minutes. We also found more Brown-headed Nuthatches and added Bachman's Sparrow to the list. Then we headed to an area to see the Venus Flytraps and some other interesting plants, and in the area we also found Worm-eating, Pine, Black-throated Green, and Yellow-throated Warblers, and a few Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Plants included 3 sp. of pitcher plants, some sundews, the venus flytraps, and multiple orchid species. We also found Pinewoods Tree Frog, along with some cricket frogs, and both Wood and Georgia Satyrs on the butterfly front. The negative side of this area were multiple fire ant hills, and some sort of thorny vine which dug into your legs every third step if you weren't careful. Other than those, it was a neat little spot, and I unfortunately have no idea of how to get back to it. After this it was time to head for the coast, and along the way we found Black Vultures in with many kettling Turkey Vultures, as well as multiple hawk and swallow species. Heading over the bridge onto the Outer Banks, we spotted the first of many Great Black-backed Gulls and Brown Pelicans. On the banks, we stopped to scan roadside mudflats for late shorebirds, and had quite a bit of luck with 7 species, including American Oystercatchers and Sanderlings. We also stopped at the Pea Island NWR, where there was an odd 'piebald' Red-winged Blackbird, along with some shorebirds on the other side of the path area. A few people asked us what kind of shorebirds were around, and after talking to them we found out about some Red Knots back at the Bodie Island lighthouse area. So, we got back in the car and headed back up the way we came, stopping at the beach where they'd told us to go. Sure enough, there were some shorebirds, but a lot of people around kept them way down the beach. Once the people left, they wandered closer, and the flocks contained about 10 near-breeding plumaged Red Knots, along with the usual Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones. A ways down the beach I spotted a Whimbrel resting up above the tideline, and offshore good numbers of Northern Gannets were flying by in the northeast winds. One of the highlights at this spot was seeing a 2nd-year Great Black-backed Gull standing beside 2 1st spring Lesser Black-backed Gulls, giving an excellent comparison. Then we headed on to Buxton, to try and get some sleep for the pelagic tomorrow. 94 species today, our highest for the trip.
May 30 - Pelagic #1 out of Hatteras - 38 km
Up at 4:15 a.m. to get ready for the pelagic. We took our seasickness meds, and headed out the door by 5. After getting to the dock, we waited around a bit for everyone to get there and for the deckhands to get the boat all ready for us birders. While we waited, we had both Night-Herons, Royal Terns, Black Skimmers, White Ibis, and Carolina Wren for entertainment. Then it was all aboard, and after ditching our stuff, up to the bow for a briefing on pelagicing. As we headed out of the harbor and then through and out of the inlet, we saw most of the regular terns, along with American Oystercatchers and Brown Pelicans. Then we were at sea, cruising through the waves. Hey, this isn't too bad! (I get motion sickness, but I was feeling good so far, probably because of the meds). Our first pelagic bird was a Wilson's Storm-Petrel cruising quickly by the boat, just a mile or so offshore. Then we stopped to get a look at a Red-necked Phalarope in near-breeding plumage, which was to be our only one for our trip. A little further out, we found some immature Northern Gannets, and then a few Sooty Shearwaters. Soon we had the more offshore birds, like Cory's Shearwater and Manx Shearwater. Then I saw this weird-looking dark bird, pretty far out. Somebody else must have seen it too because a minute later..."Trindade Petrel, 10 o'clock!" I'm pretty sure everyone on board got at least an identifying look at it as it cruised off into the distance. We kept motoring though as we weren't yet in the Gulf Stream, which is where the main action is. Just before getting there, we saw a couple Audubon's Shearwaters cruising by. Then it was into the stream and...nothing. There wasn't enough wind to stir up the petrels, so we motored around, trying to find something good to look at. Then...Leach's Storm-Petrel, off the stern! Everyone rushed to the back of the boat, and we got pretty good looks at our second storm-petrel. A little while later we had a Black-capped Petrel make a pass, and then...Fea's Petrel!!! It made a few passes, and then came zooming right by the boat! Great looks at this rare petrel, but not so great photos. Then it was more quiet, before a full adult breeding plumage Long-tailed Jaeger made a quick, close pass by the boat. Only the second ltja I've ever seen, and the last one was a juvenile! Quite impressive to see the adult. Not too long after that, we had a dark-morph Pomarine Jaeger hang around the boat, quickly followed by a Greater Shearwater. Those two also provided great looks as they were chummed in. Then it was a long while of nothingness, and as I soon found out, most pelagics are like that - a bit of action followed by nothing for a while, then some more action for a bit. Repeat this cycle a few times over the course of the day, and you get a pelagic trip. Once you've been, you can understand why people go on so many trips. You never know what you're going to find. Anyway, after this long nothingness, a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel showed up among the Wilson's that were following the boat. That was our last new species for the pelagic, but there were quite a few more individual birds to come. On the way back in we also had Cory's Shearwaters and a few more Sooty Shearwaters, along with some Northern Gannets again. Non-bird sightings from the day were Bottlenose Dolphins, Loggerhead Sea Turtles, and some very large container ships heading to who knows where. The sea was very calm for the day, except in the morning, and a bright blue sky with full sun all day provided me with a nice red glow of sunburn. Luckily I had put sunscreen on right when I noticed my arms turning red, but I should've put it on earlier... I was a little smarter the next two days and saved myself from a really bad burn. We ended up seeing 15 species of pelagics today, 12 of which were lifers for me! It was our best day for species, but not for numbers. 42 species total.
May 31 - Pelagic #2 - 39 km
Same story as yesterday's morning adventures, and pretty much the same birds pre-trip. We headed out into the inlet, another nice sunrise at our backs. The sea was a little rougher than yesterday, but it calmed down a bit in the afternoon to a small swell. Since I had seen all the expected species plus a few more yesterday, I tried to concentrate more on the photography aspect of seabirding. If you haven't tried it before, it's hard!! Trying to keep your balance without holding onto the rails, pointing a camera at a small (or large) bird that's either flying past or pattering about, and trying to get the camera to focus is a challenge, but it can be rewarding if you get a great shot of a rarity (which I didn't unfortunately). Anyway, our first pelagic species was Northern Gannet, with a few flying by. Then a little offshore we added Cory's and Audubons Shearwaters and Wilson's Storm-Petrels. Out near the Gulf Stream, the flock of Wilson's was joined by a Leach's Storm-Petrel. A little later a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel came in, our first of two for the day. Sooty and Greater Shearwaters came in later, along with a different Pomarine Jaeger from yesterday, this one a 2nd-year bird. 2 distant Fea's Petrels were spotted through the day, I managed to get on both of them but they were too far for any decent looks. Just before noon, a call came on the PA system - "Jaeger coming straight at the stern." I headed back to the stern, hoping for more shots at the Pomarine we'd seen earlier. It was about 100 yards out at this point, and everyone was saying Pom. Then all of a sudden..."SKUA!" as it came close. It hung around the boat for the next 25 minutes or so, giving everyone great looks and photo-ops. That was to be our last new pelagic for the day, and my only lifer as well. Some other highlights of the day were more Bottlenose Dolphins, a Hammerhead Shark lazing about, some Loggerhead Sea Turtles, and a few butterflies, one of which was identified as a Pipevine Swallowtail - more than 30 miles offshore. We ended the day with 34 species, 12 of which were pelagics.
June 1+2 - Pelagic #3 + Hatteras - Sault Ste. Marie, side trip to Lansing, MI area - 2212 km
Once again, up early to head for Hatteras. Bad news greeted us, as they weren't sure if they would run the trip or not. The seas were rough, and the wind was pretty strong. After he got word that other boats were heading out, Brian decided we'd risk it. We had a Coast Guard escort out of the inlet, which gives you an idea of the conditions. 10-15 foot swells, the occasional wave being bigger, and moderate winds made for a rough ride out. Even though I'd taken the meds, I started to feel a little nauseous sitting inside the cabin - think, warm, stuffy cabin full of people, one guy that seems to have gas, and looking out the window to see a wall of water, then sky, then another wall of water, over and over, while trying to keep your balance. Not fun. I decided to head outside, but made the mistake of bringing my binocs with me 'just in case'. I got completely soaked, even though I was sitting on the "dry" side of the boat - out of the wind. The waves crashed up onto the roof, then over to dump on my head. Still, it was better than sitting inside. My binos got pretty salty, and it took more than one wash to get all the salt out of my clothes. My shoelaces are still a little stiff, 3 weeks later. Anyway, on the way out we had Cory's, Audubons, and Greater Shearwater, and Black-capped Petrel, all stirred up by the wind. We had barely gotten out and we'd already seen more Black-caps than the previous two days combined, so we were thinking today would be the Bermuda day...alas, it was not to be, and we didn't even see a Fea's or Trindade. By about 9 I was starting to feel pretty bad, and took a whole pill (I'd only been taking halves before this). It takes about 30 mins to take effect though. Luckily, it took effect about a minute before I would've been adding to the chum, and I didn't throw up. One of the side effects of the scopolamine is drowsiness, and it sure put me right to sleep. An hour of sleep, and some strange dreams later (I wonder if it was that whole pill that gave me the dreams?), I was back in the real world and ready to do some seabirding. The sea calmed down enough to be pleasant for the day, and we managed to see 3 or 4 Band-rumped Storm Petrels along with good numbers of Wilson's, and quite a few of the birds we'd been seeing the past couple days. The only new bird for me was a Sooty Tern that I managed to spot about a second before the spotters did, flying past the boat and giving a brief but decent look. We also had a few Hammerhead Sharks (Scalloped was the species if anyone's wondering) through the day, and some more dolphins and sea turtles. We didn't get to see any whales through the pelagics, although we did see a few hundred Flying Fish all three days we went out. I didn't manage any photos of these guys, they were too quick. They were pretty interesting to watch during the doldrums though, some of them about 10 inches long and could fly over 100 yards, some of them almost microscopic from the boat (really about 1/2 inch long) that could only fly a couple feet! Then it was back to shore, getting in the car, and driving. We stopped at a few shorebird spots on our way off the Banks, one of which yielded our first and only (surprisingly) Snowy Egret of the trip. Just off the banks, we stopped for supper, and after that I fell asleep, and woke up on the other side of NC, heading into Virgina. Then it was sleep on and off as Kirk and John switched off driving, with me waking up somewhere in southern Ohio. Driving through Ohio was pretty uneventful, and we dropped Tim off in Flint with his mom already there and waiting. Then we headed west to Lansing, and north to the Maple River SGA. We didn't find what we were looking for, but added Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak to the day list. Then we headed a little further on to Gratiot SGA, where we had better luck with our targets. Here we found Carolina Wren, Wood Thrush, Tufted Titmouse, and Golden-winged Warbler, all new for MI for me, along with some other birds I don't see too often: Field Sparrow, Blue-winged Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The highlights for me though were Yellow-throated Vireo and Cerulean Warbler, both lifers, bringing my ABA list to 550 with the Cerulean. Then it was time to leave, and we made one final stop at Houghton Lake, finding some Black Terns, before crossing the bridge and me being dropped off, shortly before 10 p.m. Our somewhat whirlwind trip was over, with 4 737 km driven, and unknown miles done by boat (probably about 125-200 or so km per day, so between 350 and 600 km done by boat. We found 169 species, 33 of which were lifers for me! I also added 79 species to my year list. Our trip list is below, lifers for me are in bold.
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Wild Turkey
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Herald (Trindade) Petrel
Black-capped Petrel
Fea's Petrel
Cory's Shearwater
Greater Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Black Rail
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Willet
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Sooty Tern
Least Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
South Polar Skua
Pomarine Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Great Horned Owl
Chuck-will's-widow
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Bachman's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Number of Species: 169