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Alligator River NWR CBC



Greetings,

    The 1st annual Alligator River NWR CBC was a smashing success Sunday. 
Despite brisk NW winds which made birding a little more difficult, 18 hardy 
birders accepted the challenge and had a great time! 

    In spite of a few unbelievable misses, such as Herring Gull, Great Black-
backed Gull, House Finch (actually, that one's good!), we ended up with 99 
species on the day with another half dozen count-week birds. Our best birds 
were:

8+ Bald Eagles (seen by many observers)
1 BROAD-WINGED HAWK - seen and described well by Kim King-Wrenn!  
Incredible!!
1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - seen by Josh Rose and myself
2 Short-eared Owls - heard by Josh
1 EASTERN KINGBIRD - seen and described well by Amalie Tuffin!  Incredible!!
1 ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER - located by Josh and seen by several birders
1 Vesper Sparrow - seen by yours truly
7 Grasshopper Sparrows - heard by yours truly (chip notes in response to 
tapes)
10 Rusty Blackbirds - seen by Keith Watson and Pat Moore

   Some other interesting sightings (or good counts) were 1310 Tundra Swans, 
615 Green-winged Teal, 1060 N. Pintails, 5 Black Vultures, 63 N. Harriers, 1-
2 Peregrine Falcons, one Merlin, 11 Short-billed Dowitchers, 3 White-
breasted Nuthatches (hard to come by this far east), and 54 Pine Siskins.

    Many thanks to those individuals that came out to help, especially those 
who came a great distance. Also thanks to Dennis Stewart for all he did, not 
the least of which was giving us access to those areas not normally open to 
the public. Thanks!!!

    If any birders are coming down to chase the Ash-throated Flycatcher, 
please consider also hunting for the Eastern Kingbird and the Broad-winged 
Hawk. I realize they don't represent a check-mark on any list, but those two 
birds are actually rarer in winter in N.C. than the Ash-throated Flycatcher! 
 The Kingbird was only a mile or two from the Ash-throated (down Milltail 
Road), and the Broad-winged Hawk was seen from Navy Shell Road off of 
Milltail Road, only another 5 miles or so from the Kingbird.

    Cheers!   Jeff Lewis - Manteo