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Southport/Ft. Fisher birding
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Southport/Ft. Fisher birding
- From: Jeff Pippen <jspippen@duke.edu>
- Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 10:10:08 -0500 (EST)
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Birders,
The GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE put on a very cooperative show at the usual spot
in Southport yesterday (16 Mar 02). I also noted at least two races of
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS -- the usual leucophrys race with dark lores and
another race with pale gray lores. This pale lored race had a
pinkish-orange bill, gray wash across the chest, showed a thinner (than
leucophrys) black line behind the eye, and seemed a bit smaller than the
other White-crowneds (perhaps a Gambel's race??). Also still present were
Swamp, White-throated, and Song Sparrows (along with 2 Hispid Cotton
Rats).
At Ft. Caswell, two of the three overwintering WHIMBREL were feeding on
the lawn. Also saw 3 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES there and a 4th shrike was at Ft.
Fisher in the afternoon.
RED-THROATED LOONS were everywhere in the surf yesterday. I counted
dozens in just a few minutes. And a lone BLACK SCOTER flew in and sat on
the water while I was scanning.
At the Oak Island Golf course a Cooper's Hawk was enjoying a freshly
caught breakfast of Boat-tailed Grackle . . .
Around noon I took the ferry over to Ft. Fisher and saw my second OSPREY
of the season. Despite scrutinizing over a thousand cormorants that were
here and there, I couldn't find any Greats. (They were probably the ones
just out of range on the pylons & platforms.)
Between Ft. Fisher and the jetty at the "basin" I tallied 167 AMERICAN
OYSTERCATCHERS, which is a pretty good number for them. Also at Ft.
Fisher I found my first GNATCATCHER of the year.
To finish the day, I went out after dinner to walk around the golf course
in the dark listening for herps. A few Carpenter Frogs were calling and
scores of Southern Toads were trilling away. I slowly walked up to one of
their ponds, and, after waiting a couple of minutes, turned on my
flashlight to see toads sitting near the water's edge spaced about 5-10
feet apart, trilling away, along the entire perimeter of the pond!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jeff Pippen jspippen@duke.edu
Biology Dept. Box 90338
Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 PH: (919) 660-7278
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^