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OBX for Thanksgiving
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: OBX for Thanksgiving
- From: stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu (Stephen J. Perry)
- Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 09:59:10 -0500
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Hi Folks,
Like a number of other subscribers, my wife and I escaped the turkey
massacre by heading to the OBX for live birds and beach-combing. This
was my first trip to the OBX and I was completely blown away by the
fantastic numbers of birds there. While my main center of attention
was Pea Island, I also took the time to do some surf watching which
reaped good rewards. So, no Tropical Kingbird or Ross' Goose showed
up but I still notched up 13 lifers: one advantage of a first visit
to a birding hotspot is that even some comparatively common local
specialities are new and exciting sightings. Highlights included
hundreds of Am avocets, which won both the beauty and grace contests
with their synchronized feeding: a joy to watch. I managed to pick
out the Eurasian wigeon amongst its hundreds of American cousins, and
also got a nice surprise at seeing 2 peregrines perched and beading
the smorgasbord laid in front of them on North Pond. Also got
wonderful views of the Great cormorants up at Oregon Inlet. It's a
peculiar experience seeing birds that are common from where I hail in
the UK being given the superstar treatment over here: which they are
rightly deserving both here and "back home". In the UK, great
cormorants are at best ignored, at worst trapped, poisoned or shot in
the erroneous belief that they deplete fish stocks. Eurasian wigeon
can be found on almost every reservoir and pond in the winter. Yet
the twitching reaches fever pitch when a ring-billed gull or a
killdeer makes an appearance on the shores of the Green and Pleasant
Land!
The sea watching brought me dozens of gannets in all plumages, some
diving, most just flying south. But also there were several groups of
horned grebes and a large flock of scoters that I am tentatively
calling surf scoters as there was no white on the wings, but visible
white on the head on at least some of the birds.
Quick Qs:
I saw dowitchers on Pea Island: was I seeing long or short-billed, or both?
Several peeps were around, but I could not ID them: what were the
likeliest candidates?
Best wishes
--
Steve Perry
Receptor Biology Lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham, NC
stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu