In the lists below . . .
| | |
| Red-throated Loon | one flew south over the ocean (K) |
| Common Loon | three flew south (K) |
| Pied-billed Grebe | scattered |
| Northern Gannet | about 30/min flying
south in stiff NE wind(K) |
| American White
Pelican | four big birds preening in the sunshine (M) -- breeds on
western lakes, usually winters around the Gulf of Mexico and
California |
| Brown Pelican | lots (K,P) |
| Great
Cormorant | two young birds atop the wreck this week (P) --
wanderers from the north |
| Double-crested Cormorant | hundreds,
often drying wings |
| Great Blue Heron | |
| Great Egret | |
| Snowy Egret | 2 |
| Tricolored Heron | 4 (P, B) |
| White Ibis | 20 (P) |
| Tundra Swan | 500 (P), 10000 (M), only about 10% young as last
week |
| Snow Goose | 100 (P), 9000 (about 25% blue and heterozygote morphs)
(M) |
| Ross's Goose | one
tiny bird with Snows (P) |
| Canada Goose | small flocks (P,
M) |
| Wood Duck | one bird in a
ditch beside the highway east of Tarrboro |
| Green-winged Teal | dense flocks of thousands harried by a Northern
Harrier (M) |
| American Black Duck | lots but
scattered |
| Mallard | scattered (P),
hundreds (M) |
| Northern Pintail | thousands (P,
M) |
| Blue-winged Teal | two (North
Pond, P) |
| Northern Shoveler | small groups (P,
M) |
| Gadwall | small groups (P, M) |
| American Wigeon | thousands, many
feeding near swans and geese (P, M) |
| Eurasian Wigeon | two males in
bright sunshine on North Pond (P) |
| Redhead | 2 (P) |
| Ring-necked Duck | flock of 200 near the
causeway (M) |
| Lesser Scaup | two in North Pond
(P) |
| Black Scoter | 30-40 each
morning flying southward over the ocean (K) |
| Surf Scoter | at least two
each morning with Black Scoters (K) |
| White-winged
Scoter | two headed southward over the ocean (K) -- scarce in
NC |
| Hooded Merganser | small groups
(P) |
| Red-breasted Merganser | just four
headed south (K) |
| Ruddy Duck | only one small group --
usually a common duck (M) |
| Turkey Vulture | scattered |
| Bald Eagle | 6 in
sight at once (including two courting adults and two immatures
scrapping over a dead fish) (M) |
| Northern Harrier | 15 (P, M) |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | two (P, M),
including a female directly overhead after it had chased (but
missed) a female Red-winged Blackbird |
| Cooper's Hawk | one smallish
bird (male) overhead south of Williamston |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 (M) |
| American Kestrel | about 10 on power
lines and exposed trees |
| Merlin | two (P, M), including
a female directly overhead just a minute after the female
Sharp-shin! |
| King Rail | one in a salt-marsh channel
at Oregon Inlet in late afternoon -- rufous foreparts indicated this
species although the habitat was more appropriate for Clapper
Rail |
| American Coot | dense flocks
(P, M) |
| Black-bellied Plover | 150 (P, B,
M) |
| Semipalmated Plover | 4 (P) |
| American Avocet | 400 -- even more than last week all in one dense
flock in North Pond -- this wintering population seems to be doing
well! |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 80 (P, B,
M) |
| Willet | 10 (P) |
| Sanderling | small flocks on beaches (K,
P) |
| Western Sandpiper | hundreds possibly
including some Semipalmated Sandpipers -- on mud flats in South Pond in
the afternoon (P) |
| Least Sandpiper | one studied at close
range (P) |
| Dunlin | hundreds (P, B) |
| Long-billed Dowitcher | 40
in winter plumage -- presumably this species (M) |
| Common Snipe | 2 (M) |
| Laughing Gull | only a trickle of
migrants this week (K, P), about 100 still loafed on mud flats
(M) |
| Ring-billed Gull | widespread, on beach
and inland |
| Lesser Black-backed
Gull | one adult flew southward (K) -- smaller size, slightly paler
mantle compared to nearby Greater Black-backs -- also distinctive hooded
pattern on head -- another European species scarce in winter in
NC |
| Herring Gull | small numbers with GBBG
(K, P, M) |
| Great Black-backed Gull | scattered (K,
P), flock of 100 (M) |
| Royal Tern | 6 (K, M) |
| Forster's Tern | 10 (K), 100 (M) with
gulls and feeding over the lake |
| Rock Dove | feral pigeons around highway
bridges |
| Mourning Dove | scattered |
| Belted Kingfisher | 8 |
| Northern Flicker | few (P, M) |
| Pileated Woodpecker | one called
(M) |
| Eastern Phoebe | 2 (M) |
| Tropical Kingbird |
just as accommodating as last week -- a straggler from Mexico or South
America (P) |
| Horned Lark | one flew over the
Visitor's Center just as we got out of the vehicles! (P) |
| Tree Swallow | swirling flocks
(M) |
| American Crow | lots (M) and
en route |
| Fish Crow | lots (K, P) |
| Carolina Chickadee | 6 formed the
nuclei of several flocks (M) |
| Tufted Titmouse | one with a chickadee
flock (M) |
| Carolina Wren | 4 |
| House Wren | one in shrubs along the
causeway (M) -- only a few stay as far north as NC in winter |
| Sedge Wren | calling in short marsh
(P) |
| Marsh Wren | calling in tall marsh
(PJ) |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | two with
chickadee flocks (M) |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 2 in a chickadee
flock (M) -- only a few stay in NC for winter |
| Eastern Bluebird | on power
lines |
| American Robin | one, north of
Mattamuskeet |
| Northern Mockingbird | few (P,
M) |
| Brown Thrasher | two (M) |
| European Starling | flocks
everywhere! |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | about 50 --
including a few in chickadee flocks |
| Palm Warbler | 15 mostly in
chickadee flocks (P, M) |
| Common Yellowthroat | two (M) |
| Northern Cardinal | 8 |
| Rufous-sided Towhee | 4 |
| Savannah Sparrow | two (P) |
| Song Sparrow | few |
| Swamp Sparrow | lots (P, M) |
| White-throated Sparrow | lots
in flocks with chickadees |
| Dark-eyed Junco | one with
chickadees |
| Red-winged Blackbird | scattered flocks
(P, M) |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 8 (P, M) |
| Boat-tailed Grackle | lots -- both
glossy males and brown females -- big flock on mud flats at
Mattamuskeet (K, P, M) |
| Common Grackle | hundreds of thousands streamed for miles toward Rocky
Mount at dusk (some Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds with
them) |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 20 (M) |
| House Finch | two (P) |
| House Sparrow | two(K) |
| | |
| TOTAL SPECIES | 106 |
| | |