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Birding in the wind!



Howdy!

Our weekends have been so full, and will continue to be so into May, so
Joe and I took a day off yesterday to drive to the Wilmington area for
some coastal birding. WINDY was the word for the day!!! The wind was so
strong, that we had to make sure to hold onto our scope to keep it from
falling!

We weren't prepared for the wind and cold temps, but we had a great time
anyway. Of course I was delighted to see many Common Loons in their
breeding plumage at Figure Eight Island! The ocean was very choppy, so
it was hard to have extended looks, plus, they were in the feeding mode.
There were also Red-throated Loons, but the Common's outnumbered them.
Gannets were soaring close to shore. A few small flocks of Sanderlings,
two Black-bellied Plovers, and eight Willets were also seen on the
beach,
along with Laughing Gulls and Forester's Terns. Ospreys were sitting on
a nest and Purple Martins were flying around the many martin houses
available on the island.

There were lots of people at the Johnnie Mercer Pier area in
Wrightsville Beach. As I was admiring a Common Loon at the end of the
pier, a Dovekie flew by!! I quickly passed the scope to Joe so he could
have a good look to add another bird to our life list! YEAH!! Next we
went further south on Wrightsville Beach to the jetties where Judy
mentioned she had been the day before. Feeding close to shore around a
flock of about 10 Bonaparte's Gulls were two Razorbills!! Another YEAH!!
We've seen them in Maine, so these cute birds were added to our NC list.
Many tours are geared towards the puffins, but I fell in love with the
Razorbills, too!
Fussell's book mentions the jetties as a great spot for Great Cormorant,
so we were happy to see one perched on a post.

Being successful with the coastal birds, we had just enough
light left to bird around Greenfield Lake in Wilmington where we had
wonderful scope views of Cedar Waxwings, Wood Ducks, and an Anhinga,
which must have just returned. The gnatcatchers were talkative, plus, we
saw our first Chimney Swifts of the year.

Happy birding!

Karen Bearden
Raleigh, NC
chickadeebirders@earthlink.net