What Goes Up, Must Fall Back Down

[This article originally appeared in La Voz, the newsletter of the Friends of Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, Vol. 14, No. 3, October, 2016]

I would like to start by apologizing for putting a pun in the title, but I am writing this pre-dawn and I rEGRET nothing. Sorry if that last one flew over your head, it was pretty owlful, but toucan play at puns better than one anyway so if you have anything better please email me! Newton told us why it is when objects go up, they must fall back down. Fall migration is no exception.  September and October is a magical time to be out birding; the hundreds of neo-tropical species that migrate north from the tropics to breed begin to trickle back southward to warmer climates and their wintering grounds. For many species, these wintering grounds are really more of their true home, most spend at least 8 or 9 months of the year in non-breeding areas. These special birds make the perilous trip and leave their habitat behind for the temporary glut of food that comes with Temperate North America’s short summers. Take a Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) for example. These diminutive yellow warblers pass through our area in spring and continue to the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest and Canada to sing their songs, make their nests, and breed. They may have two successful clutches (sets of eggs) over the course of 2 or 3 months, and then the whole family (individually, not like the Griswalds on a road-trip) begin to head back southward. We in Las Vegas usually start experiencing this trickle in late August, and it continues into mid-October. Now an interesting thing to consider is that by breeding, the Wilson’s Warblers have by definition made more of themselves…potentially many more of themselves. Some may be preyed upon en route southward, some will hit windows (see how you can prevent this here), some will be preyed upon by cats (if you like birds, keep your cats indoors!), but still many will successfully make the journey, crossing through our woodlands and safely back to Veracruz, Oaxaca, or Chiapas in Southern Mexico.

Wilson's Warbler in Las Vegas, NM. September, 2013

Every fall when I go out looking for rare eastern migrants I wade through scores of Wilson’s Warblers, potentially dozens on a good day. Cumulatively for the month of September this year I saw, according to my records, approximately 121 Wilson’s Warblers. To give that some perspective I saw 21 in May, I think you get the idea. That excess glut of Wilson's will have to survive the tropical winter in the presence of snakes, tropical species of raptors, even predatory insects. Let your mind run wild with the things that live in the dark jungles of Chiapas or Oaxaca and you get a sense of what these 0.3oz birds will go through before we see them again in May. Anyway, I like fall migration and the physics of neo-tropical birds; what goes up must fall back down.

January Update - San Miguel County, New Mexico Big Year 2016

Big Year Birding and Overview of San Miguel County
Sometime in January of 2016, after my partner and I returned from our 6 week long roadtrip through the Gulf coast region, I decided 2016 would be a fun year to attempt a birding big year for San Miguel County, New Mexico. My goal is two-part; firstly, to see as many species as possible in the calendar year 2016, and secondly, to be more specific, I would like to hit a nice round number of 250 species. In 2015, after being intermittently gone from march-august I got out and birded feverishly from late summer to winter and managed to record 213 species.
A big year is more than just a pokey competition to see lots of birds, it's a challenge to get out and bird often, bird new places, deliberately look for target species, and in the end get to know a place better than you did before.

The backroads of San Miguel County, New Mexico offer the naturalist abundant wild places to explore. Locations with road access can seem as remote and wild as any wilderness I've been in.

For me, that's not a difficult challenge to accept. The region of San Miguel County, New Mexico is a startling study of topographic variation, habitat diversity, the meeting of eastern and western species of fauna, and the chance for way-ward eastern birds to wind-up in our numerous playas and migrant traps. The Las Vegas area itself is unique for its habitat diversity and easy access to different bioregions. Within the Las Vegas Christmas Bird Count circle (a 7 mi diameter circle with the center at the University in the middle of town) one can access; Shortgrass Steppe, Playa Lakes, Riparian Woodland, Wetlands, Pinon-juniper woodland, Juniper Savanna, Ponderosa Pine forest, mountainous streams, and even a few pockets of Mixed Conifer forest. Hardwood forests range from Narrow-leaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) in the upper elevations of the Gallinas River, to Fremont Cottonwood (Populus Fremontii) on the lower reaches, to the Elm groves in town, and even a large patch of Black Locust at McAllister Lake WMA. Going into 2016, I have documented 225 species in this approximately 150 square mile area during the past 5 years or so.

The sun sets to the west of McAllister Lake. The footprints of Sandhill Cranes tell of the day's visitors.

Outside of Las Vegas, the diversity of habitats increases by even more, running from less than 5,000 ft elevation east of Conchas Lake to the east, all the way to 11,600+ feet at Elk Mountain high in the Sangre De Cristo mountains, San Miguel County has one of the broadest spectrums of habitats to be found in the state. The shape of the county also lends itself well to finding good birds. From it's western edge in the Sangre De Cristos, the county line is nearly in the center line of the state. While the county does not run north-south very far, it does run east, far east, to within about 40 minutes of driving from the Texas line. This wide geographic scatter means that eastern birds more common to Texas have a high probability of showing up at a few select habitat locales, namely around Conchas Lake and the surrounding Canadian River.

Hermits Peak looms in the distance as seen from Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge. The stunning habitat diversity within San Miguel County can be seen upon driving into Las Vegas from any directions, it is truly 'Where the Rockies meet the Plains'.

January 2016 Update
We arrived back from our trip on January 15th, 2016. After 6 weeks on the road and a week in Southern Florida kayaking in the Everglades and Florida Keys, the frozen waters of Storrie lake and the Las Vegas NWR playas were a startling contrast. I thus began my big year of birding the next day. As is the seeming ritual at this point, my first birds of the year were in my own yard; Rock Pigeons, Eurasian-Collared Doves and House Sparrows, my faithful neighborhood birds. Dark-eyed Juncos, American Crows, and Common Raven were all additional ticks day #1. Following these initial birds I headed out to Las Vegas NWR, a great spot for winter birds - especially raptors - and was certainly rewarded. Northern Harriers, Bald Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Kestrels all on this tour of the area. Black-billed Magpies and Mountain Bluebirds, year-round residents of LVNWR were also easily found. An increasingly rare species; Snow Geese were also feeding in the Alfalfa feeds near the refuge entrance, joined alongside Canada and Cacking Geese.

While all of the big water bodies in the area were frozen, the marshy areas associated with the Gallinas River were not, especially around the SE Las Vegas Wetlands (hotspot linked in the hyperlink). American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal were feeding in the marshy grasses that line the Gallinas river's old oxbows. The highlight of this first day of birding was the 4 Eastern Bluebirds that were foraging along the Gallinas just west of I-25. We had found Easterns during the Christmas Bird Count, a bit of an oddity given the season, so it was very cool to find them in the dead of winter still in town.

The lifeblood of the Cattle industry in New Mexico, that venerable invention; the windmill.

The following day I headed down below the Caprock to Conchas Ranch, my old study site during my Masters research. The weather was much more agreeable below 6,000 ft, I was in a t-shirt and sweating by 10:00 am as I hiked around the foothills of the Mesa de los Carros. The birds of the Pinon-juniper country were out in force, all four species of expected thrushes; American Robin, Townsend's Solitaires, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, and corvids - good numbers of corvids; Black-billed Magpies, Common Ravens, Western Scrub Jays, and those fascinating birds of the Piñon pine - Pinyon Jays (note the change in spelling, the tree should be referred to as its Spanish name, Piñon, while the bird unfortunately gets its anglicized to Pinyon Jay).

I'm amazed that Pinyon Jays (PIJA) are still occupying the Conchas country, it is relatively low elevation for them, and the populations of Piñon have had massive die-offs since the early 2000s. Pinyon jays cache huge numbers of Pinon nuts each autumn, while they retrieve more than 90% of these seeds, the remainder are left to germinate on the landscape and create the future woodland. It is a fascinating mutualistic relationship that event extends into the reproductive biology of Pinyon Jays, their sexual hormones are triggered by Piñon cones turning the color green - indicating a bountiful harvest the following fall and a good year to breed. Climate change induced drought, exacerbated by Ips confusus (a species of Bark Beetle) outbreaks threaten this relationship. As the fate of the Pinon pine goes, so too does the PIJA. The good news for the tree is that as the primary seed disperser, having active flocks of PIJA around as long as possible will help the trees migrate to more suitable sites. I gave a talk at the New Mexico Ornithological Society annual meeting in Albuquerque in April discussing the potential fate of Piñon woodlands and the iconic Jay that rules over it (abstract found here on the NMOS website).

Pinyon Jay on a Piñon Pine, Conchas Ranch, San Miguel Co., NM, January, 2016.

The road back from the Conchas held some more good first of the year birds; a Sage Thrasher, Curve-billed Thrashers, American Goldfinches, and a pair of Greater Roadrunners out for their mid-morning hunting session. Back on top of the Caprock, I came across my first Western Meadowlark (a year round resident but they remain very inconspicuous during the winter months as I suspect they molt during this time). An immature Bald Eagle also flew above the outskirts of town giving nice looks at their mottled plumage.

Immature Bald Eagle, Highway 104, San Miguel Co., NM, January 2016.

I began teaching on the 19th of January, a nice break in my schedule allowed me to visit the Ponderosa pine woodlands behind Luna Community College, I picked up Williamson's Sapsuckers, Mountain Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches, all year round residents of these forests. A week later I had my first snow related delayed morning of the year and I returned to these woods and had a spectacular morning of birding the fresh snow. My first Red-naped Sapsucker was foraging in the neighborhoods around Luna, and a myriad of new species were added every few minutes ago; Evening Grosbeaks, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Cassin's Finch and even a very early Mourning Dove. I drove back to Luna for my 10:00 Geology 202: Earth History class through fresh snow, still relishing the morning's birds.

Golden-crowned Kinglet foraging in fresh snow, Luna Community College area, San Miguel Co., NM, January 2016.

A very cold and very early season Mourning Dove in the Luna Community College area. I usually do not record Mourning Doves until March, this early bird got a chilling snowstorm as a welcome back! San Miguel Co., NM, January 2016.

An American Robin foraging in a Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum). San Miguel Co., NM, January 2016.

Female Williamson's Sapsucker with her expert camouflage and tell-tale yellow belly. San Miguel Co., NM, January 2016.

I finished January off with 2 more new species for the year at the NMHU Golf Course Pond (eBird hotspot page here), two birds of the marshes that make the golf course pond such a great site; Song Sparrow and Marsh Wren.

January concluded with 63 total species, I was happy with the number given it represented 2 weeks of birding. I did miss several winter species in this month that I was not able to see the rest of the winter, notably American Tree Sparrows, Merlin, Northern Shrike (although I had several shrikes I thought could* have been Northerns), and Ross's Goose.

Las Vegas NWR - Summer Birding in a Wet Year

 The summer of 2015 saw above average precipitation, something like weekly precipiation events from January to July, unprecedented in San Miguel County in recent years. This above average precipitation led to an extensive, early green-up across the region, typically limited to just 6 or 8 weeks of the Monsoon. While I was gone from my home for the better part of March-August, I did get to spend some extended weekends and a few weeks of July off. 

I was able to add several species to my San Miguel county bird list this summer, one of these is a familiar bird in Texas, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. It's long tail streaming behind it like a kite, these active Tyrant flycatchers are related to the kingbirds. Ruby and I saw one in eastern San Miguel county on hwy 104, just before a 2 week trip through Texas where we would end up seeing several hundred along highways and on electric poles throughout the state. 

Scissor-tail Flycatcher, an uncommon bird in New Mexico. Eastern San Miguel Co., New Mexico, Summer 2015

  

We made a quick stop in Variadero to check out some old ranch houses. Bullock's Orioles, Northern Mockingbirds, and Burrowing Owls were all calling these old farms and ranches home. As was a very precocious coyote who was hunting mice, seemingly unaware of our presence. The beautiful songs of the familiar Western Meadowlarks, and the new-to-me for the county Cassin's Sparrow filled the air.

On the county road that encircles Variadero, we also found this Ornate Box Turtle slowly crossing the road, a neat find in the middle of these typically arid plains.

Ornate Box Turtle, near Variadero, San Miguel Co., NM, Summer 2015

 Back closer to Las Vegas, the Las Vegas NWR, Storrie Lake, the Gallinas Riverwalk, and Sebastian Canyon all held good summer birds. I found a Mississippi Kite on the riverwalk, right in the middle of town, a great bird here on the eastern boundary of their typical range. 

Canda Goose, an increasingly local breeder

Las Vegas NWR had it's usual suite of grassland birds, but with water this year, the refuge experienced great numbers of waterfowl sticking around through the summer, breeding Canada Geese, Western Grebes, Pied-billed Grebes, and Eared grebes all raised families on the refuge. Visits by Black Terns and Wilson's Phalaropes reminded one of the refuge's oceanic roots, providing inland habitat for seasonally-tied coastal birds. 

The most famous bird of the refuge's summer was

 Earlier this summer, long-time refuge visitor, birding extraordinaire and past guest speaker Christopher Rustay located an uncommon bird on the refuge, just at the tour loop corner next to McAllister Lake; a Dickcissel. These grassland specialist birds are common throughout the Midwest and eastern Great Plains, preferring grasslands with weedy or shrubby edges, in most years just a handful of these birds are reported across New Mexico, but this year, probably due to the abundant moisture, Dickcissels were reported in amazingly high numbers across Northeastern New Mexico, from Las Vegas NWR north up into Mora, Colfax, and Union counties. 

A male Dickcissel sings his morning buzzy song at Las Vegas NWR, San Miguel Co., NM, Summer 2015

By mid-June the Dickcissel invasion was in full swing and my personal high count at the Las Vegas NWR was nearly 14 individuals, mostly males and in full song. This high number, with the addition of singing is a good indication that the birds were nesting on the refuge, although no nests were ever confirmed. These colorful little songbirds, related to the buntings, superficially resembles a Western Meadowlark, our other common yellow-breasted grassland bird, but differs in its size (being at least half as small as a meadowlark) and short conical bill, a common trait among the buntings. 

Male Dickcissel at Las Vegas NWR, San Miguel Co., NM, Summer 2015

This type of eastern-bird invasion reminds us just how close we are to the bird communities of the Eastern United States, while retaining our very Western-influence birds, like the Stellar Jays and Canyon Wrens of Gallinas canyon. Las Vegas NWR truly is a refuge where the Great Plains meet the Rockies, how lucky to be able to have this jewel in our backyard!

Canyon Wren shakes it out, Gallinas Canyon, Las Vegas NWR, San Miguel Co., NM

Summer in San Miguel County, New Mexico can be an extraordinary time to see breeding birds of the west. Burrowing owls, though increasingly rare in the county are still found in low numbers out on the short-grass plains. These migratory owls are truly unique within their kind in their ground-dwelling habits.

Burrowing Owl near Las Vegas NWR, June 2013.

Barn Swallow, with it's glossy dark blue colors and forked tail, these swift flyers are common birds at Las Vegas NWR from March to October.

Western Meadowlark belting out his gurgling dawn song.

Black-billed Magpie, this 1st year bird shows off his iridescent plumage. Black-billed Magpies are breeding birds throughout the Gallinas River area from Las Vegas to the mountains above town. These quintessential western birds reach their furthest eastern point here in Las Vegas.

Birding the Outer Banks of North Carolina - Pea Island NWR, Cape Haterras Natl. Seashore, and Bodie Isl. Lighthouse

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is a 80+ mile barrier island chain separating the Atlantic Ocean from Pamlico Sound. The Outer Banks lie across Palmico Sound, in some areas more than 20 miles from the mainland continental North America. They are relatively thin barrier island and is one of the most dynamic in the United States. Inlets connect the Atlantic More information on the Outer Banks and their natural history here and a nice 25 minute film on the region from PBS here - Ribbon of Sand. The Outer Banks range in the amount of development and ecological productivity along it's course. The site of the Wright Brother's inaugural flight , Kitty Hawk and nearby Kill Devil Hills are both examples of heavy coastal development. Chain stores, large resort hotels and condos, and at least a dozen putt-putt golf courses fill the northern portions of the islands. As you descend south the pattern of landuse becomes more sustainable and cognizant of the precarious nature of any structure built out here on the edge of the world. I've never seen a place that had such a dichotomy of development, from extremely ecological productive to resort development and thus the importance of our public land systems to wildlife habitat maintenance.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Sunset on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, looking east.

I camped out at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, at the Frisco Campground area. The campground was nice and fair price given how visited this area is. I was lucky enough to enjoy a sunset and a
 sunrise here at Frisco, the beach had an intersting orietation, it actually faced south-southeast. This gave an unusual (for me) beach sunset much closer to the tide-line than the nearly constant north-south orientation of the Padre Island chain in coastal Texas.

Boardwalk to the ocean through a hole in the coastal woodland. Frisco Campground - Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore.

The birding at Cape Haterras Natl. Seashore was very good (eBird checklist here), the campground at Frisco had a cool boardwalk through the sand and small maritime woodlands. Ubiquitous Northern Cardinals and Carolina Wrens called through the woodlands, while Eastern Meadowlarks and raptors patrolled the grasslands leeward of the dunes. I had my first eastern warbler of the trip here, a calling American Redstart. Brown Pelicans patrolled the innter-coastal waters, and a large group of Double-crested Cormorants formation flew from the ocean to the bay above the campground. 

Hatteras Lighthouse, and birder.

I grabbed some southern style biscuit sandwhiches after birding Frisco CG and headed to Hatteras Lighthouse and the Bruxton Woods Trail. The Lighthouse was built in the 18__, originally a few miles up the coast, but was moved to it's present, more stable location a number of years ago. Does this still make it historic? Old Building, New spot? Lighthouse gentrification? I must say, the last time I saw a lighthouse was in Hawaii at Kiluea Point NWR, 500 ft above the crashing breakers of the Pacific, and engulfed by the wings of thousands of Boobies and Frigatebirds. While this lighthouse didn't have the Frigatebirds and Tropicbirds of the pacific, it did host the world's largest gull, Great Black-Backed Gull which I saw a few times while in the area.

The Buxton Woods are just west of the lighthouse, a well developed patch of maritime woodland, or coastal woodlands with Pines, Oaks, and a lively understory of Dwarf Palmetto and brambley shrubs. The woodland has been protected from housing development through a diverse shield of ownership which includes the National Seashore (administered under National Parks, DOI) and the Nature Conservancy, which owns a large parcel of the woodland to the south of the lighthouse.
This is one of these types of places so common along coastlines, where more than 280 species of birds have been reported - mega hotspot. The woodlands act as large stopovers during spring fall migration, but also host some colorful resident birds as I was to find. See the eBird checklist for this visit here.

Just into the trail I stopped for a familiar warbler chip - note and quickly found a nice looking female American Redstart. She was flitting through the Live Oaks foraging in her very redstart pattern, by flicking out her bright yellow outer tail feathers and fanning the bark. This behavior probably helps scare out insects hiding in the many crooks and nannies to be found in a dense coastal woodland canopy.

Female American Redstart, Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

Not far from the redstart was a much more retiring songbird, less active but no less colorful. In a brief moment I saw eye-ring and yellow below, gray above pattern distinctive of a group of superficially similar eastern warblers, then the bird disappeared into the foliage. Some waiting and pishing brought it out again, this time showing yellow lores and reddish streaking on the breast. The bird disappeared quickly but not before a quick photo of my first Canada Warbler. This was to be one of the highlights of the trip, not only for it's beauty, with very distinctive yellow lores and overall slim body structure, but this bird was also fairly uncommon on the Outerbanks outside of spring migration. Canada warbler breed in more northern latitudes on the atlantic seabord and winter in Central America. This bird was in transit south, headed for a world more like a Jimmy Buffet song than the high arctic woodlands.

Canada Warbler, Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

Also within the Bruxton woods was my first Great-crested Flycatcher, very simlar to the other large Myiarchus flycatcher in the southwest (Brown-Crested Flycatcher), these were a fun, loud and conspicuous flycatcher. Blue Jays were also common in these woods, both adults and juvenile birds. Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals rounded out this woodland community. These lush east-coast woodlands contain a multitude of spiders, much more than back in the Western United States. This beautiful species had a nest 3m up in the canopy spanning several meters in width. Impressive seamstress.

Spider. Big Spider. Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

Large showy Common Wood-nymph (more about them here at Butterfliesandmoths.org) were everywhere in the trees, but I also found American Ladies, Common Buckeyes, and more Swallowtails (probably Eastern Tiger Swallowtails). 

Common Wood-Nymph, Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

The Outer Banks, like nearly all barrier islands, are a Dragonfly's dream world, plenty of still water on the islands and no shortage of other insects for dinner provides the perfect environment. This beautiful unknown female was busy munching a horse-fly ad so gave me a nice view of her jeweled eyes.

Female Dragonfly, Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

I left the lighthouse area and drove down a few residential roads with woodland patches and small marshes breaking up the gridded residential development. A baby Snapping Turtle, already with a nice coat of algae on it's shell and a mean temperament - it tried to snap me when I picked it up to move it. I'd expected nothing less from these fearsome prehistoric amphibian predators. I quickly moved him off the roadway and went on my own way towards the Outer Banks' only National Wildlife Refuge, Pea Island NWR.

Baby Alligator Snapping Turtle, still vicious! Bruxton Woods, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

Pea Island NWR

Never have I visited a more important refuge for maintaining suitable wildlife habitat than at Pea Island NWR, I've been to urban refuges, urban green spaces, and reclaimed landfills, but Pea Island is different from those. Were it not for public lands like Pea Island NWR and Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore I fear the entirity of the Outer Banks would resemble the uninhibited urban sprawl that is Kitty Hawk. So with that mindset, I pulled into the visitor center parking area for the refuge, went in side and was pleased to see a wonderful, just the right sized refuge visitor center. Displays of Peregrine Falcons, Oystercatchers and Black Skimmers were spread around the front of the center, with nice bay windows framing the North Pond, a large shallow body of water crawling with birds. After getting some info and chatting with the friendly volunteers/friends members and getting some sweet birding shirts, I headed out to see the refuge.

Mixed company mudflat hangout, Pea Island NWR

The North Pond trail (eBird checklist here!) made it's way west along the edge of the pond, while the birding was good, birds were distant and not great for photography. In a short hour here at the pond I managed to see Bald Eagle, Osprey, Tricolored Heron, Great Egret, and Great Blue Heron, along with Black-necked Stilts and quite a few of my first ever American Black Ducks. The tern-birding was great, with Black Skimmer, Sandwhich Tern, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Least Tern, and Common Tern - impressive diversity of this fun to watch group. Always my coastal favorite, the Black Skimmers were very active, with what appeared to be groups of young birds roaming the water and chasing eachother.

Adult Black Skimmer, Pea Island NWR

 I had my only Whimbrel flyover here at the pond, as well as several Black-bellied Plovers, both quick flybys headed north to a mudflat nearby. While the terns and herons were great here, I didn't see as many shorebirds as I'd hoped, so getting back in the car, I was delighted to find just a couple of miles up the road was a small place to pulloff the very busy NC 12 highway for a cornucopia of shorebirds!

White Ibis, Black Skimmers, Pea Island NWR

A lone White Ibis was hanging out with the full host of terns on nearby mud-flat. The Ibis' long pink bill was a stark contrast with the Skimmer's elongated candy-corn bill. Least Terns were present in good numbers, some where already molting into post-breeding plummage, this was the best look I've ever had at these diminutive terns, the smallest tern in North America. All of the birds I found were juveniles with black bills.

Least Tern with a bottle for scale, Pea Island NWR

 Least Terns are threatened in portion of the range, these birds, probably of the subspecies antillarium are not at present listed as threatened although proposals have been made. High-trafficed Atlantic coast beaches has contributed to a loss in suitable breeding habitat for these birds.

Non-breeding plumage Least Tern, Pea Island NWR

 In contrast to the stationary terns, Semipalmated Plovers were scurring about the mudflats, allowing me get very close to them for some fun flight shots! Not everyday a western birder gets this close to these active little shorebirds.

Semipalmated Plover takes flight, Pea Island NWR

Semipalmated Plover, Pea Island NWR

A medium sized shorebird with an extra-long bill, this Short-billed Dowitcher was in fantastic immature plumage with it's gold-lined feathers and dripping bill. I'd never been able to see the details of this plumage form before. When I see these birds on the Gulf of Mexico in winter they are drabby gray overall, not ornate like this fresh immature.

Immature Short-billed Dowitcher, Pea Island NWR

Perhaps the cutest of all shorebirds was this Piping Plover, there were only a handful present on the flats, and this one that was associating with the SEPL was the most photogenic. I love their orange legs and little nub of a bill. Watching these run about the mudflats is truly a pleasure, their legs move so quickly sometimes they appear like a little fluff ball hovering, stopping, hovering, stopping.

Piping Plover, Pea Island NWR

Pint-sized Piping Plover, Pea Island NWR

The second semipalmated bird of the day (what the hell does semipalmated even mean??) was  Semipalmated Sandpiper. Birds like this are great to get familiar with whenever I'm in the Atlantic coastal areas, they appear in the southwest only infrequently, vastly outnumbered by the stockier billed Baird's and Western Sandpipers.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pea Island NWR

This bird's fairly distinct white eyebrow and relatively thin bill may not look like the most obvious field marks, but in this large group of similiar appearing species a dingy white eyebrow is enough to tease out species. This peep was also not shy at all and let me get a wonderful flight shot, a rare thing for these pint-sized shorebirds.

Semipalmated Sandpiper takes to the air on it's proportionately large wingspan, Pea Island NWR

 The only good flight shot of a Peep (Calidris genus) that I've ever been proud of. These shorebirds have impressive wingspans for their size, helping them in their continent-wide migrations each year (Breeding range in the arctic lattitudes, winters on the northern beaches of South America - View range map here).

Sandwhich terns were roosting on the mudflats along with the other gulls and terns. While Sandwhich terns aren't as big as their cousins the Royal Terns, their odd orange-tipped bill is unique, giving them a fun, butter-dipped bill.

Butter-tipped billed Sandwhich Tern, Pea Island NWR

Royal Tern, a sleek graceful flyer, Pea Island NWR

The birding at the north pond was great not only for its abundant wildlife in these brakish inner-island bodies of water, but it's proximity to ocean-side beach birding. All of Pea Island is like this, the island is extremely narrow, only half a mile wide in some areas, so a quick walk from the same parking spot got me onto the Atlantic's beach.

Observation deck above a portion of Pea Island NWR, the Atlantic is on the horizon.

Ruddy Turnstones and Sanderlings domainted these beaches. Ruddy Turnstones, with their classic algael-mat patterned plumage are a lot of fun to watch forage and scurry about.

Ruddy Turnstone, Pea Island NWR

Ruddy Turnstones are found on beaches across the continent, they winter relatively far north in some locations but the bulk winter in Central America and the Carribean islands. They get their name from their habit of turning over stones 'turn-stone' in rocky shorelines and on their breeding grounds. In my experience both here on the Atlantic and in the highly eroded sandy beaches of the Gulf, they probe into the sand or pick through beach debris in a fashion more typical to other sandpipers.

Ruddy Turnstone lunch, Pea Island NWR

 Ever-present Sanderlins are a lot of fun to watch as they chase and are chased by the ebbs and flows of the ocean surf. These are perhaps the most frequently asked about birds here on the ocean where many tourists and beach-goers see these up close. I think kids are especially drawn in by these birds as they mimic the actions of most children when playig at the surf - who hasn't chased the tide out and ran along side the oncoming surf? Humans and Sanderlins appear to be quite experienced with this.

Beach-scurrier, Sanderling, Pea Island NWR

Gulls were patrolling these nearly empty beaches of Pea Island NWR. As I scanned north and south from around me I could only see a few other beachgoers, mostly at considerable distance. The lack of boardwalks into the beach and bathroom and water facilities, in addition to a full restriction on beach driving keeps many other-wise visitors away. This truly is great for wildlife and the beach conditions themselves.

Herring Gull, Pea Island NWR

 Large Herring Gulls with their huge yellow bills patrolled the beachhead with heavy languid wing-strokes. These huge gulls are not the adept flyers of their couasins, the Laughing Gulls who preform some impressive aerial acrobatics anytime there are humans around with food to fight over.

Laughing Gull, Pea Island NWR

One of the larger shorebirds on both sides of the continent are Willets. They are also perhaps one of the most numerous, these Tringa shorebirds (same genus as the Yellowlegs and Tattlers) are well adapted to variable beach conditions and are not afraid to get into the surf a little. Their adaptability in foraging in at least some ocean surf give them much more available habitat to occupy than the other members of their genus. Learn more about Willets here at allaboutbirds.org. This Willet had gotten drenched by a few crashing waves, letting the salt breeze dry it out closer to shore.

Wet Willet, Pea Island NWR

Beach-grape had taken over portions of the boardwalks and observation decks in this moist environment. This was probably just a few months worth of growth, if it weren't for people maintaining these structures the ocean-side conditions would take it back into the sands.

Observation deck covered in beach grape, Pea Island NWR

Feeding on the insects attracted to the beach grape, this gorgeous female Seaside Dragonlet (More about them here at NJodes.com) was busily preying on fruit flies and horse flies. The bicolored eye pattern and orange banded abdomen are diagnostic for this widespread species. Seaside Dragonlets are unique among the Odonates (dragonflies & damselflies) for being able to breed in salt water, typically in salt marshes like the ones surrounding Pea Island NWR. They are a member of a largely tropical genus of Dragonflies, but their use of saltwater habitats in temperate climates has allowed their range to expand all the way to Nova Scotia. This same species occurs in alkaline bodies of water in New Mexico and West Texas, usually in waters more salty than actual oceanic salt water (I'd recommend Dennis Paulson's Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East/West (2009) as a great Odonata resource).

Seaside Dragonlet, Pea Island NWR

 My last stop in the Outer Banks was to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and boardwalk nature trail. Bodie Island is just south of the bridge between the Outer Banks islands and the famous Roanoke Island, sight of the early English Colonies. The Lighthouse on Bodie Island is set within a beautiful grassy lawn surrounded by marsh. Built in 1872, it sits substantially more inland than other lighthouses in the Outer Banks, and like the other lighthouses has a unique painting pattern, helping ships at sea know exactly which island they were off-shore of. The Bodie Island Lighthouse Visitor Center is nice and well kept, managed by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The 140+ year old Bodie Island Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore.

The birding at Bodie Island was great (Link to eBird Checklist), the nearby marsh had a short board walk extending into it where nearly one hundred crabs fought in the shallow marsh waters, with great views of these gladiators from the observation deck. Hundreds of American Black Ducks lounged in the waters with impressive numbers of White Ibis and Tricolored Herons actively foraging in the area. Semipalmated Plovers and both Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs picked and probed around the marsh. Nearby, a plantation of Loblolly pine had grown tall and provided a nice change of habitat. Here I found Eastern Towhees, Brown-headed Nuthatches, and even a Pine Warbler. 
 
 Lighthouses like Bodie Island's and Hatteras served a great purpose here on the Outer Banks, but did not keep all ships from running aground and sinking off the Outer Banks' coastlines. In fact, the Outer Banks are considered the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' - more about it here on wikipedia, because of their high rate of shipwrecks. This is mostly due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, the combination of warm waters flowing north mixing with colder waters coming south from the arctic can create turbulent waters. The Gulf Stream itself, with its strong northerly current, forced many ships to the inland side of the gulf stream so they could navigate south, this put ships into danger in the shallow near-shore waters.

I managed to not get sunk of the Outer Banks, in a short 36 hour period I was able to experience the off-shore waters, and all of the major birding hotspots on the island itself. I ended up seeing 76 species on or off the Outer Banks in this time period, a full 66 species while making my way from Frisco Campground to Bodie Island, impressive for a limited set of habitat variability. I was able to leave the Outer Banks feeling great about our the National Wildlife Refuge System and the importance they have in conserving these fragile marine ecosystems. With a few hours of daylight left I jetted for Alligator River NWR (next blog) and my last stop in North Carolina before a late-night drive to Raleigh, NC and my flight home.