I apologise for the long absence but there was a lot of birding to be done.
My last update, I see, was on Day 11 after a bumper haul at River Park North. Between then and this weekend I was also able to add Kildeer and Loggerhead Shrike to my list, taking my tally 49. 50, you feel, should be an important landmark with a very special bird to recognise the occasion – and so it proved as we made our way in the early morning of Saturday, headed for Lake Mattamuskeet.
Saddened by the late withdrawal of our comrade, @SibyBigYear, due to poor health, we were determined to make the most of the day we had planned out in advance. The trip is not short, roughly 100 miles each way. We set out early in the pre-dawn darkness, Frodo (the car) decidedly chilled at first but later quite toasty. We ensured awakeness courtesy of the audiobook of A Game of Thrones read by some dude (Roy Dotrice).
As we turned onto 264 headed towards Little Washington we spied, up in the tree to the left of the highway, a large foreboding bird. Taking advantage of the deserted roads, we turned around and pulled off to the side. The bird was large and distinctly owl shaped. Alas, we could not get a positive ID on it as it fled from us and found a new home in the safety of a nearby field. Buoyed by this unexpected and delightful sight we repented and resumed our course for Mattamuskeet.
Just a few minutes later we saw another, larger, shape on the wire on our side of the road. We slowed slightly and saw tufts on top of the looming figure. The beast was huge and tufted – identification was easy and @SkulkyMoonDog had her first Pokemon: a Great Horned Owl! Number 50 certainly was more than I could have hoped for indeed.
The rest of the journey passed without any interest until we were perhaps just a couple of miles away from our final destination – in the field to our right was a large, white bird. Even now I can only speculate as to what it was – the options are Great Egret, White Ibis or possibly even a White Stork. We will never know.
Upon arriving at Lake Mattamuskeet we were greeted by a cacophony of sound and a group of birders staring avidly at a grouping of trees right at the entrance (well, side entrance, apparently I turned a little early). We parked at the edge of one of the managed wetland areas and disembarked, feeling optimistic. The first birds we saw were Coots, dozens of the little bleeders. They were everywhere, making their little cooty noises. Overhead and in the distance were large white birds and, on closer inspection, we were able to add the Tundra Swan to our lists.
We wandered over to where the other birders were standing and had a look at the undergrowth, spotting nothing more than shapes and shadows. There is a chance I had a vireo in my binocs for a moment, but then it disappeared into the shrubs, never to be seen again. We looked around just taking in the sights and sounds of this magical place and saw a deer, which could only have been a White Tailed Deer in this neck of the woods, standing cautiously by the side of the road.
@SkulkyMoondog had spotted an interesting grey shape in a tree towards the back of the small wooded area and we studied it for several minutes without any luck, because the guy had his head tucked in. We looked at owls and hawks, since it was the right size but were drawing an utter blank. While we tried to figure out what it could be we were able to catch sight of a few Red Winged Blackbirds, always a welcome sight.
We were still staring at the gray blob with yellow legs when the avid birders walked up towards the cars and took a glance over. One of them informed us we were looking at an immature Black Crowned Night Heron and, as if this was nothing too unusual, kindly set up the scope for us to see. He still had his head tucked in but there could be little doubt. He appeared to be partway between the juvenile and adult plumage but on reflection there really was nothing else he could be. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to see that, so early into our Big Year – that was one of my biggest concerns from my Pokemon list.
As we returned to our car to grab some more food we were greeted by a Great Egret stalking through a small pond – another one of my Pokemon. I could not believe my luck. Two confirmed in the space of a few minutes.
We slowly headed out for the visitor centre located some two miles from the entrance, forcing us to drive along the edge of the water. Oh no! It is, without doubt, the slowest two miles of my life. I believe I have walked two miles faster than we drove it that day. On our way we stopped numerous times gawping at the waterfowl on display. We added the Northern Shoveler, American Widgeon and a few Northern Pintails. The latter are some of the most dapper ducks I have encountered, with lovely neck stripes and strikingly vivid looks.
As we continued along the route we saw a little head, sticking up out of the water. The face was distinctly rodent-like and perhaps similar in size to a cat. We were curious to know what this beasty could be – a beaver perhaps, a large muskrat? We could never get a good look at the guy’s tail, which could have settled the matter once and for all. Our answer would not come until we finally completed the journey to the visitor centre.
We also encountered a Crow, to which normally we would not give a second thought. After reading about @SibyBigYear at the Eagles’ Pond, however, we decided to listen and remember the call with a view to comparing it with sound clips when we got home. It certainly did not sound like a regular crow.
Unbelievably, we saw another rodent, this time much smaller than the first. Without doubt we knew this to be a Muskrat – an unfortunate name for such a cute creature. Small and fluffy, the muskrat sat on the bank preening having just climbed out of the water in front of us. But for everyone else around us, I fear @SkulkyMoondog may have kidnapped the little dude.
We were able to add a Cardinal or two and the Red Tailed and Red Shouldered Hawks to our lists for the day as we reached the visitor centre, already in love with Mattamuskeet, having added nine new species that morning. At the visitor centre we discovered that there is an animal often thought to be a large muskrat or a small beaver, found in the lake – the Nutria, better know to my family and I as a Coypu! We looked closely at the taxidermed face of a Coypu and the Beaver next to it and were thoroughly convinced. It was staggering – I didn’t even know they were a possibility.
Also on display were stuffed version of many birds – sad, but also very inspiring. Most impressive, though, was the mature Bald Eagle – all 31 inches of him – perched for all to see at the heart of the centre. You don’t get a proper appreciation for their size when they are flying, but when they are within arms’ reach it is impossible to deny their magnificence. Next to the Eagle was a Least Bittern – I am genuinely worried that may be the only one I see this year – I hope I am wrong.
We decided hunger was calling and wanted to try out a viewing centre at the heart of the lake on the road which bisects the large body of shallow water. The park is brilliantly laid out and our route back to the road took us on the other side of the wetlands in which the coots and pintails had been. Before we had driven far, though, we saw a small flock of White Ibises overhead, I had not realised they would be in the area and was very happy to see them.
My enjoyment of the Ibises, however, was nothing compared to the next bird we saw. Pausing at the line between the wetland lake and the scrub at the edge we saw another heron. We parked the car and looked hard at that guy utterly confused. He was too small to be a Great Blue Heron, we’d seen one earlier for a good frame of reference. He didn’t really seem to fit the description of any of the birds in our book. After some more reading, though, we realised that the only possibility was an immature Tri-coloured Heron. Nothing else fit the bird in front of us and we were not about to doubt the evidence of our eyes. 3 Pokemon in one day – so far – who knew what the rest of the park held in store?
The remainder of the wetlands held vast numbers of swans, coots, pintails, Canada geese, mallards and a mysterious duck, slightly larger than most. It was dark and that was about all we could say, until it flew. Then we were able to get a swift identification – the American Black Duck. They have a bright blue-green patch on their wings, their only consideration of colour. I had hoped to see them there and I was not disappointed. We continued looking with exuberance but were rewarded with nothing else new.
There was a pair of buses parked near the exit of the drive with binocs and scope pointed eagerly at the water. We looked around and saw little until a couple of dark shapes flapped lazily over the water and the word eagle floated over to us from the other group. We looked at each other, excitedly. There are reports of Golden Eagles over in this area and the two dark shapes now perched in the middle of the lake on a small tree could have been such birds. We quickly grabbed the bird book and locked the binoculars onto the target. After much reviewing we concluded, about the same time as the rest of the troupe, that we were viewing a pair of immature Bald Eagles and not, sadly, their golden cousins. One day…
We saw several other birds, not new to our list, that morning before lunch, but if we list every single one of them in this much detail I’ll be writing for a week.
Our stomachs reminder us about our lunch plans so we headed for the observation deck which was, as it turned out, a completely dull experience. There is a scope there, but it is barely any more powerful than our binocs, and the only thing of view was a Greater Black Backed Gull – a new sighting, though, so not to be sniffed at. We did not each lunch there, as we had intended, because there was nowhere to sit and nothing to look at. Instead we continued on down the road with the hopes of getting to one of the other wetland areas.
We parked up near a bench considering it as a possibility for lunch and saw a small flock of ducks on the left of the road and a single duck on the right. All thoughts of food were abandoned as we investigated the single duck nearest us. Much deliberation took place – eventually we concluded we were looking at a female Ruddy Duck. This confirmation was aided by the more confident identification of a male in the flock on the other side of the road. As we traveled, Mandy pointed out a white head sticking up from the side of the road. With traffic conveniently light, we turned around twice and slowed near the bird. At first all we could see was head and neck, eventually I was able to creep the car close enough to get a good view of the only Snow Goose we confirmed seeing that day.
We gave up on having lunch anywhere on the lake and instead headed for the other wetland area to the west. On our way we saw an American Kestrel (for a moment I thought it could have been a Merlin, but it wasn’t, sadly). We’ve seen them three times so far this year and they are still fascinating every time.
We pulled into the wetland entrance and were genuinely confused as to the location’s credibility. The route followed a canal that fed the massive lake, with levies off to the side looping around the wetland. Alas, during the winter months the levies are off limits to protect the large flocks of waterfowl, but we figured we’d still get some good views of the swans, which would be nice. We ate lunch and set out, knowing it was nearly a mile before the canal reached the start of the wetland.
The temperature rose as we walked and we became increasingly infuriated by the little twittery birds flitting in and out of the shrubs and bushes lining the canal on our side. They moved so fast, ever aware of the glare of binoculars on them and darting away before any ID could be made. We added eight species on that stretch of canal, in the end, three of them were new for the year and indeed new to our life lists. We saw Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows and a few Common Yellowthroats. Don’t let the common fool you, those chaps are magnificent and probably relatively uncommon. The name is also very misleading as most warblers are yellow but this is the only one I know with a big black mask over most of its face.
We reached the wetlands and were frustrated to find that there was no way of seeing the water at all, the view obscured by a border of mature pines. We snuck down the first levy and, I believe, caused a huge mixed flock of geese, ducks and swans to take flight for another area in the park. All in all, the walk was relatively fruitless and not worth the two hours we spent on it. We probably would have been able to see the three new species within a few hundred yards of the car.
Slightly downhearted and tired, we headed back to the visitor centre in search of bathrooms before we took on another wetland area in hopes of seeing the apparently common Wood Ducks, famous for their habitation of Mattamuskeet. As we came close to the building the road was blocked – a crowd had gathered and were staring eagerly into the trees on the other side of a small waterway. There sunning himself luxuriously, was an Anhinga. these birds once held a certain shock value for us but, seeing them almost every visit to River Park North, they have rather lost their thrill. It was startling to see so many people going do-lally. I asked one of them what the commotion was about and he confirmed it was the Anhinga. He started to say they shouldn’t be that far north and that it was surprising. We advised him we saw them all the time. “Are you up from Charleston?” he asked us. “No, we’re over from Greenville,” we replied. The look on his face was rather amusing. He was taken off guard by our regular visitor apparently.
We drove on from the visitor centre to a road previously off limits when we had arrived, they conduct hunts throughout the winter and one such hunt happened that morning. The road is roughly four miles long with lots of little stopping points for hunters to wade into the lake and get shooting. I can’t condone the hunting of such attractive species, but the hunting spots did offer some great birding.
We drove to the far end of the road and strolled along a little boardwalk, nothing other than egrets and a wren or two up that way. We also had some very nice views of some more ibises who were grazing in the shallows on the far side of a hedgerow. We stopped for a little stroll at one of the hunting spots and were greeted by dozens of tiny tree hoppers. Only the Brown-Headed Cowbird was new for us, but we also saw grackles and blackbirds, kinglets and woodpeckers. Very pleasant indeed.
The final part of our journey was to head over to another area of the park, more managed wetlands, with a view to finally locking in one of the park’s signature species – the Wood Duck. We saw several ducks flying in and out of the swampy lake but we had no way of telling what they were due to the failing light. We could hear them, though, and actually recorded the sound on the camera and phone with a view to verifying at home. I thought, once, as a few of them flew in that I caught a glimpse of Wood Duck-like features but I could not be sure.
We drove home, incredibly satisfied with a fantastic day of birding and with the knowledge that a second installment lay ahead. More Game of Thrones accompanied us on the way home, though @SkulkyMoonDog may have missed some of it due to a recurrance of her nocturnal medical condition – sleep.
I can’t remember what the count was at this stage, but it grew massively after day 19.
My Big Year 