Eastern North Carolina
April 23-30, 2011
Once again, this early-spring outing proves that if your'e not in Texas in April, North Carolina is the place to bird. This was the perfect spring warm-up, for many of us an escape from winter's last grips. All the southern warblers were here for the taking, er, I mean viewing. We even found Grass Pink orchids in bloom and amazing wild Venus Flytrap plants. And we were back home before the rest of the migration happened farther north in May. Here are a few highlights:
- Seventeen shorebird species
- Six tern species
- Pomarine Jaeger
- A Swallow-tailed Kite
- Amazing looks at Red-cockaded Woodpecker
- Seventeen warbler species (not bad for being off the flyway for northern warblers)
- Saltmarsh, Nelson's, Sharp-tailed and Bachman’s sparrows
- Painted Bunting
DUCKS, GEESE, and SWANS
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Black Scoter
Ruddy Duck
PHEASANT, TURKEY and QUAIL
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Northern Bobwhite
LOONS
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
GANNETS
Northern Gannet
PELICANS
Brown Pelican
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
BITTERNS and HERONS
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
IBISES and SPOONBILLS
White Ibis
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
KITES, HAWKS and EAGLES
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Bald Eagle
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
RAILS, GALLINULES, and COOTS
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
Sora
PLOVERS
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson’s Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
SANDPIPERS
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
GULLS, TERNS, and SKIMMERS
Bonaparte’s Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
SKUAS and JAEGERS
Pomarine Jaeger
PIGEONS and DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
CUCKOOS
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
OWLS
Great Horned Owl
GOATSUCKERS
Common Nighthawk
Chuck-will’s-widow
SWIFTS
Chimney Swift
HUMMINGBIRDS
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
WOODPECKERS
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
FLYCATCHERS
Western Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
VIREOS
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
JAYS and CROWS
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
SWALLOWS
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
CHICKADEES and TITMICE
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
NUTHATCHES
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
WRENS
Carolina Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
THRUSHES
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
MOCKINGBIRDS, THRASHERS and ALLIES
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
STARLINGS
European Starling
WOOD-WARBLERS
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Swainson’s Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
TANAGERS
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
SPARROWS and ALLIES
Eastern Towhee
Bachman’s Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
CARDINALS, GROSBEAKS and ALLIES
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
BLACKBIRDS
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
FINCHES and ALLIES
House Finch
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
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