Day one of North Carolina trip - Brown-headed Nuthatch and Big Year movie!

This afternoon around 1:30 pm my mom and I pulled out of New Hope Virginia, North Carolina bound with eyes on the Franklin's Gull and Brown-headed Nuthatch.  Around 6:00 pm we pulled into Chapel Hill North Carolina and arrived at the health food store.  As luck would have it I discovered a "birdy" area right around the parking lot of the food store.  House Finch, American Goldfinch, but my eyes were looking for a nuthatch.  I saw an interesting bird fly into the tree and I looked carefully at it.  Clearly a nuthatch but I didn't have binoculars so I couldn't tell what kind.  But then thank god I heard it call - Brown-headed Nuthatch!  Number 367 for my Junior Big Year.

We got everything we needed in the shop and continued on, to a movie theater to check when the Big Year was playing in case we wanted to go see it tomorrow after I search for the Franklin's Gull.  Luck would have it, I arrived at 7:02 pm and the Big Year started playing at 6:50 pm.  That means we where there in perfect time to arrive just in time but miss the previews.  We got tickets and in we went.  We still had to see some previews but fortunately didn't miss any of the Big Year.  It was a wonderful movie with some amazing bird scenes (talk about the fallout on High Island Texas!  My gosh!) I also loved the scene of the Great Gray Owl in the snow.  Just awesome!  For any birders that haven't seen it yet, I HIGHLY SUGGEST it. 

We're now in the Doubletree Hotel of Durham North Carolina, but are you sure this is a hotel?  It's as big as a house!  And are you sure this is 3 stars?   It's good enough to be a 4-5!  We got it on Hotwire for $52 per night but it's normally about $150 per night (which in itself seems low for this room!)

We're right in position to get up in the morning and go to the Farrington Road Bridge where the Franklin's Gull is being seen.  I hope to get it early so we can explore the area, bird other places, etc. tomorrow but we'll be on site all day to wait for the bird if that's what it takes.

I will likely get to 368!

More exciting news:

I asked for help on the Carolinas birding list for directions, etc. to the Franklin's Gull.  Many people have responded and BIG THANKS to all of them - now it will be easy to find the bird!

Someone told me that they read on this blog that I need Brown-headed Nuthatch.  And yes I do.  He said that if I learn the call it's easy in the pines along the lake that the Franklin's is at.  That's excellent news as it makes for a likely 2 year birds which will put me at 368 for the year, just 32 away from 400!  In Arizona I'll dash through 400.  Eyes are on the end of year number!  402?  406?  410?  January 1st, 2012 12:00:00 am will tell!:)  No, not December 31st, 2011 11:59 pm because what if I heard an unusual owl calling in the last minute of 2011?  Yes, unlikely, EXTREMELY unlikely, but you don't count your number until the year is officially over!

The chase is on!

I just got notified of a Franklin's Gull that is being seen daily from a certain bridge near Chapel Hill North Carolina.  This is a rare straggler to the east and a bird that I need for my year list.  Tomorrow, Saturday Oct. 22 my mom and I are taking off to NC!  We plan to search for the bird (and find it) on Sunday and return home Monday.

We have the hotel and everything booked, we're all set if I can get the printer working to print up the information!

I plan to post each day with updates.  Franklin's here I come!

Mid-October overview

It's now early/mid October and I only have 2.5 months left in my Junior Big Year.

It's been over a month since my last year bird (Red-necked Phalarope, number 366 on September 10).  Truthfully, this is not surprising super surprising.  Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Blue-winged and Connecticut Warblers (other than an odd vagrant) would be the only birds that I could possibly still pick up in my area.  Those are very tough and it's now late for them.  I won't really get any more new year birds in may home area other than possibly Northern Goshawk if I get really lucky.

I'm at 366 for the year and 400 is my goal for the year's end but if I get in the 390s somewhere I'm solidly happy.  I'm over 350, my original goal, what more can I ask?

Brown-headed Nuthatch will be the easiest year bird I still can pick up.  It is very easy on a certain trail in Chincoteague Virginia, a place I'm visiting this November.

Northern Goshawk will nearly certainly be placed on my year list one way or another.  In late October or early November I'm making a quick run up to Waggoner's Gap Hawk Watch in Pennsylvania where I should be able to get a gos.  If not I have a couple of backup options.  Goshawks do rarely migrate through this area.  The local Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch (where I've been spending most of my time lately) records one or two most years.  Arizona has a population of Goshawks and with luck I can possibly get one.

On my trip to Chincoteague Va in November I'll be stopping over at some awesome birding islands with the Monticello Bird Club.  These islands can hopefully host several easy year birds: Great Cormorant, Purple Sandpiper, one or both of the Sharp-tailed Sparrows, and possibly an oddity.  

Arizona will nearly surly get me 20-30 year birds.

I should make 400 but you never know.  What if weather scrues up Chincoteague, the Islands, or Arizona and diminishes the number of year birds I get?  There's always iffs.

On another note, I may have to subtract a bird from my year list: Northern Hawk-Owl.  The one and only individual I have this year was the injured one I rescued and found alive on the side of a road in Alaska (see August entries in my blog for more information in the post titled Day eleven of Alaska trip - Welcome to Denali I would say!).  Because the bird was found injured, unable to fly along side of the road I don't know if it's countable or not.  If any of you readers have info on this, please comment and let me know.

UPDATE OCTOBER 14 2011: last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Monticello Bird Club in which I'm on the board of directors for.  This month's speaker was Bob Ake, who did a Big Year in 2011 and ended up with the second highest record for a Big Year (731)!  I asked Bob about my Northern Hawk-Owl and he said that I can keep it on my list.  He said that since I was the one to find it on the road and stumbled upon it it counts.  If someone else had found it, taken it and then told me about it and I came to see "their" bird it wouldn't count, but this wasn't the case so fortunately I'm still at 366 not 365!  

Until 367 or more news.

KestrelSwan

The Red-necked Phalarope adventure, it's number 366!

When I was in Alaska, I went to a pond that was apparently to be full of Red-necked Phalaropes.  Despite my several tries, none.  A couple of days ago, here in Virginia where they're way off course one was reported about an hour from where I live, I went to look and no phalarope.  Did they just like to avoid me? I didn't know.  So today, the third good chance, a phalarope was reported just 30 minutes from my house.  Would I finally get it this time?  We went and looked in high hopes.  As I pulled up, among the Wood Ducks, with my naked eye, I spotted my long-eluded target, the phalarope!  The jury was still out on it's ID when I got there but it was thought to be a Red-necked.  It didn't really matter to me though as Red-necked, Red, or Wilson's would all 3 be lifers for me.  We stayed a while, several other birders were there including some of my friends.  After I left with good photos and a life bird in hand, I headed to Shenandoah National Park where I saw a Black Bear.  When I got home the email came out from one of the area's best birders, the case had been solved, it was a Red-necked Phalarope.  Lifer for me and year bird 366!

They're coming like crazy, Summer T. new on list!

This morning I attended a bird walk at Ivy Creek Natural Area with the local Monticello Bird Club which I'm part of.  Ivy Creek is on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains than what I live on in the city of Charlottesville.  For some reason, although still uncommon Summer Tanagers are present on the Charlottesville side of the mountain but occur only extremely rarely on my side of the mountain.  Because of this I do not have it yet this year.

I really was hoping for a Summer Tanager on the Ivy Creek walk today and soon into the walk I asked leader Peter Brask what the chances were for one today.  He said basically almost no chance as he's never seen one there.  Oh well I thought.  About half way through the walk someone called out a female tanager. Obviously, I assumed a Scarlet Tanager as it's the only common tanager there.  But to my delight, Stauffer Miller one of the if not the most experienced birder on the walk said that it didn't have black wings and he heard it's call and that it was a Summer Tanager!  The female Sum.T gave several nice looks at it perched near the tops of small trees.  Lifer for me and year bird 365!

As I've said before, I'm completely happy with any number between 375 and above for total number of birds at year's end and I'm nearly 100 PERCENT that I'll get over 375 but I'd really love to get 400.  In order to get that, things have to click.  Yes, I'm going to Arizona and if all goes as planned that should be over 25  new birds.  That gets me within arm's reach of 400.  We're going to Chincoteague Virginia and area, that should bag me about 3-5 new birds.  The numbers are inching up. In addition to these 2 trips, unexpected birds are crucial.  Unless everything goes perfect with Arizona and Chincoteague (30+ new birds in Arizona, 5+ in Chincoteague) which is unlikely, I can't reach 400 on these 2 trips alone.  This is where unexpected or hard-to-get birds come into role.  I'm doing amazing with unexpected birds right now. Just since I've been back from Alaska 2 weeks ago I've added 6 new birds(which is totally unbelieveble, thus the title "they're coming like crazy!", 4 of which were unexpected (Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites, Baird's and White-rumped Sandpipers), 1 a 50/50 chance I thought I'd get it this year (Summer Tanager), and 1 an important but near-sure bird (Pectoral Sandpiper).    If this trend continues, 400 is a piece of cake.  If few more of these birds come, I'll end up somewhere in the upper 380s or 390s which is TOTALLY AWESOME.

Until 366 or more news.

KestrelSwan

Pectoral364!

One of the last birds that I thought that I could fairly easily pick up in my home area this year was the Pectoral Sandpiper.  Yesterday evening, on my way to Harrisonburg, a city about 30 minutes away from here I stopped at Leonard's Pond, a great birding location to look for shorebirds.  I scanned the pond.  Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer!  I counted 25.  Then I noticed another bird, a largish sandpiper.  I got my scope on it.  Oh ye baby, that's a Pectoral!  I saw the brown or whatever you call it extending way down the underside.  No question!  I was 100 percent sure but since I have trouble IDing shorebirds I was just a bit like "no other birder saw it, can I be sure?" but I was.  And later I found out that an amazing experienced birder Allen Larner stopped by that pond last evening as well and saw a Pectoral in addition to a few Least Sandpipers which I thought I also saw..so I did get my shorebirds ID'd correctly.

Pectoral Sandpiper is year bird 364!