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Jordan, Falls, Crabtree: And a duck falls from the ceiling...



Hi Carolinabirders,

As some of you already know, I decided not to chase that swallow down in
Florida (which some people now think might be a White-rumped Swallow, a
species similar in range and migratory patterns to Fork-tailed
Flycatcher!). When I checked Thursday evening after I finished teaching,
it had last been seen early that afternoon, gaining altitude into a gray
and increasingly windy sky. Looks like I guessed right, sadly; no sign of
it yesterday, or so far today.

Instead, I decided to visit a few of my favorite local lakeshore spots
today. NC 751, the usual route between Durham and Jordan Lake, is being
re-paved between NC 54 and US 64. I later observed, thankfully from the
southbound side, a loooooooong back-up on I-85 northbound going from
Durham toward US 70 and Falls Lake. Folks planning birding trips tomorrow
to the big lakes might want to take alternate routes around these spots.

I started around 9:30 AM at Ebenezer Point; fortunately the cold weather
kept the jet-skiers and speed-boaters home in the morning, only the truly
committed fishermen (who mostly sit still in their boats instead of racing
loudly from one end of the lake to the other) were on the water. And at
first, only gulls were out there with them: I counted 120, of which at
least 25 were Bonaparte's, about 20 were Ring-billed, and the rest too far
away to ID. A string of dark birds in flight got me excited but turned out
to be cormorants. An immature Bald Eagle circled over the shoreline to the
south, and two Killdeer flew out over the lake.

Then, around 10:20, suddenly the other waterbirds appeared. First, as I
was counting gulls, a flock of 35 Aythya ducks crossed my field of view;
most, if not all, were Lesser Scaup. They whizzed around a bit, then
climbed into the sky and out of sight over the trees. I returned to the
water just in time to scope a group of 8-9 large dabbling ducks landing,
but the clash of cold air with warm water distorted the water-level view
too horribly to tell what they were. A Red-breasted Merganser sped over
their heads. Then I suddenly noticed a BIG raft, over 100 birds, slowly
appearing in the distance; they never came close enough to ID through the
distortion either. But a Horned Grebe passed between me and them, and then
a raft of 65 American Coots paddled into view around the point from the
southeast.

I left there and stopped at the Poplar Point wastewater ponds, which
*finally* had some birds! Bufflehead, 1 male and 7 females. Still no Wood
Ducks though, there or anywhere today; am I the only one having a harder
than usual time finding them lately?

To avoid the aforementioned 751 back-up, I took NC 55 north, which took me
close to Lake Crabtree so I stopped there. The temperature-related
distortion wasn't a problem there, but the light was horrible. I managed
to pick out a small cluster of Bufflehead and a slightly larger one of
Ruddy Ducks, but the really big flock of 80-plus birds was too backlit to
see much; maybe somebody can check there when the light's better and tell
me what I missed. Looked like a mixed bag with some Ruddy, some Ring-
necks, and possibly some Redhead. A mixed flock of Ring-billed and
Bonaparte's Gulls on the water in front of them, with a few more Bonies
flying around. One other bird, floating off to the west, looked distinctly
loon-shaped but seemed too small relative to adjacent gulls and
cormorants; maybe another merganser?

The Crabtree boathouse had a nice-looking flower garden with Pineapple
Sage and 2-3 other Salvia species in bloom, plus some asters and roses. No
hummers today, just a butterfly (Lady of some kind), but might be a spot
worth watching... Just before leaving, I spotted movement near the tip of
the grassy spit furthest away, off toward the highway. Unfortunately the
birds were skittish and flushed before I could get within 50 meters, but
that was close enough to pick out 12 Killdeer, 5 Common Snipe, and what
looked like a Dunlin.

I risked airport security to briefly visit Brier Creek Reservior just
north of there. On the east side of the parkway, a small mixed group of
Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks bobbed in the water, and a pair of big
raptors - Red-tails I think - flew from the trees on the far side. On the
west side, the light was again very bad, but I could make out several more
Ruddy Ducks and a raft of what looked like 25 or so more Ring-necks.

Finally headed up to Falls Lake and Rolling View SRA, starting at the tip
of the peninsula scanning westward. Saw mostly more Bonies, 30 or so
flying and one perched on a warning buoy near the point. Then to the beach
near the boat ramp; it seemed empty at first, but then a little call note
alerted me, and I noticed 6 Killdeer hunkered down between the driftwood.
I heard an American Pipit call later, but I think it just flew overhead
and never touched the sand. Offshore, more Bonies, plus 60-plus Ring-bills
in the usual spot between Rolling View and Sandling Beach; a pair of Red-
breasted Mergansers near them. Looking south along the shoreline, where I
usually see no birds, another raft of Ring-bills appeared with a few more
Ruddy Ducks nearby. As I examined them, another immature Bald Eagle
awkwardly winged down and landed on the shoreline, scattering crows;
something dead must have washed up down there. And then a quartet of
Green-winged Teal whizzed into view, looped out over the lake, then curved
around the point and disappeared.

Just as I was returning to the terminal traffic circle where I'd parked, a
big ungainly black bird with a tiny-looking head flapped out of the edge
of the woods. At first I thought it was a vulture, but then raised my
binoculars and saw a Wild Turkey! It came out of the woods near the point
where I had just walked minutes earlier, it must have flown across the
lake after I'd been there. It walked frenetically through the woods past
me, then reached the road and ran down it like an Ostrich, rounding a
curve and disappearing. I hopped in my car to follow, but spotted it again
just in time to see an oncoming pickup truck scare it off the pavement and
into the woods.

I decided to check the swimming area. Once again, the beach looked
unoccupied, but wasn't; a Killdeer called at me as I walked onto the sand.
Then, as it flushed, a second, smaller shorebird flushed with it! The
Killdeer left, but the other bird fortunately landed at the opposite end
of the beach, where I scoped it and eventually saw the yellow legs and
long, droopy bill of a Pectoral Sandpiper! I turned back to the water and
tallied another raft of gulls, this one with 6-7 Herring Gulls amid the
Ring-bills and Bonies, plus a lone Horned Grebe.

I had intended to quit then, but couldn't resist one last stop at Sandling
Beach. I'm usually disappointed there, as the gulls and other waterbirds
always look closer to Sandling when you're watching from Rolling View, but
then don't look much closer after all when you get to Sandling. But this
time I saw some little white specks that looked like they were right off
the beach over there, and the wagtail had been there only a few weeks ago,
and I wanted to stay near a radio and hear the end of the who-stinks-more
bowl between UNC and Duke (where, despite several valiant attempts by UNC
to blow the game, the Dukies grabbed last place with both hands and
refused to let go).

And, as usual (except in the wagtail case), Sandling was disappointing.
The gull raft did look closer, but was floating directly between Sandling
and the sun. THe little white specks near the beach turned out to be more
Bufflehead, and some other ducks further out were too backlit to ID. And a
big raft of dark birds that I spotted as I drove over the NC-50 bridge
turned out to be a big heap of cormorants. With that, I resisted the
temptation to keep birding around Falls Lake and headed back to Duke.

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/