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CBC meeting highlights



Hello All!

Just got home from our weekend in Nags Head.  I would say it was indeed a
success.  Despite cloudy and windy weather Friday, most of our time on the
Outer Banks was gorgeous!  The trips, programs and company were wonderful.
Sorry that more of you did not join us.

We had 160 participants and saw 172 species (preliminary total) of birds.
The full species list and final count will be submitted to the CBC web site
shortly based on additional birds reported to me from today's birding.
Despite the low numbers of waterfowl and shorebirds, we still had a good
diversity of birds.  Highlights included an appearance by the Ash-throated
Flycatcher at Alligator River NWR on Saturday afternoon---at the same time
that a (yet another for Dare Co. this winter !?!) Western Kingbird was
located by Van Atkins fairly close by on the refuge. And the Common
Black-headed Gull remained near the spot where it was initially located last
week for may to see.  Also a Western Grebe was spotted by Jeff Pippen et al.
in the surf off the beach in Duck.  And today some lucky birders got to see
a dark phase Rough-legged Hawk in addition (!) to two light phase
individuals at Alligator River NWR as well.  Additionally, at the
Ash-throated spot this morning, a number of folks were being watched
themselves by a family of four River Otters sitting on the edge of  the
adjacent canal.

A good number of participants had nice looks at more common overwintering
species such as Lesser Black-backed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Horned Grebe,
Peregrine Falcon, Purple Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Palm Warbler,
Orange-crowned Warbler, and both Nelson's and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed
Sparrows.

The pelagic trip had great viewing conditions yesterday. I will defer to
Brian Patteson or Mike Tove to summarize the details of their trip.  They
had great looks at many offshore species--and not just birds either!

Many thanks go out especially to the field trip leaders, beach drivers
(arranged by Pat Moore), the local bird club members (Cape Hatteras Bird
Club and the North Banks Bird Club) that provided us with evening
refreshments, US Fish and Wildlife Service personnel, Nature Conservancy
personnel, NC Audubon Board members, and our program
speakers Mike Tove and Chris Canfield for making the weekend so special.
Without you all, the weekend would not have been possible.

For those who could not be with us, I am sure more details from the weekend
will follow so stay tuned---

Good birding!

Susan Campbell
Whispering Pines, NC