The November Big Day

Ali Iyoob, one of my usual birding buds and Big Day partners-in-crime, and I left Chapel Hill , NC about 2AM on November 12 for a full day of extreme birding. If you read yesterday’s post, you know what I’m talking about- a Big Day. We were chasing after the previous November state record, which then was 125 species. Me, I was running on just over 2 hours of sleep…having to awaken before 1AM in order to travel from Southern Pines to Chapel Hill for our scheduled departure time. Why so early? Because we had to arrive at Lake Mattamuskeet NWR at dawn, which was a good three and a half hour drive from Chapel Hill. Along the way, we had planned several stops to try for owls, in particular Barred Owls, which would be harder to find in the evening closer to the Outer Banks. After several unsuccessful roadside stops, a Barred Owl finally sounded off in response to my hooting by a random patch of woods in Washington County.

The route we would take on this Big Day begins at Lake Mattamuskeet NWR and ends at Pea Island NWR, with a possible dusk stop at Alligator River NWR, time permitting (access is prohibited after dark).  This route, in general, is my favorite route to do on a Big Day. Potential for uncommon or rare birds is high. This area of the state hosts incredible numbers of waterfowl in the winter, which is good news for a Big Day run.

We got to our starting point, the beginning of Wildlife Drive at Lake Mattamuskeet, a few minutes later than we would have preferred. Nonetheless, we began checking off birds quickly. Tundra Swan, American Robin, Swamp Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, etc. Soon thereafter, Ali found a late (or possibly overwintering) Northern Parula in with some Palm Warblers. A nice bonus bird for the day. Slowly driving down Wildlife Drive, I thought I heard the chipnote of an Orange-crowned Warbler out the window. Sure enough, as we stopped the car it popped out only about 15 feet away. Our first for the day, although we would see many more later in the morning. One thing that struck us along the first portion of Wildlife Drive was the sheer numbers of Tree Swallows present. Now, there are always large numbers of Tree Swallows here in late fall and winter, but nothing like this. I’m talking MASSIVE flocks. Our best guess was that the big flock along Wildlife Drive contained 10,000-15,000 birds.

Landbirds can be hard to come by along this Big Day route, which is it’s only real drawback. The outer banks lack a number of passerine species that are common on the mainland, such as Eastern Bluebird and Tufted Titmouse, thus it is necessary to try and check off as many species of landbirds as you can, as early as you can.  As a result, we made a stop at the refuge office, the area round which usually holds mixed species flocks in winter, as well as Red-headed Woodpeckers on occasion. No luck on the woodpeckers, but we did come across a big mixed species flock almost immediately. Northern Cardinal, Hairy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Downy Woodpecker, Winter Wren, the new birds kept rolling in. Several of these we wouldn’t see again the rest of the day. From here we continuted to the photography blind about a half mile down a gravel road, where we promptly encountered another MASSIVE flock of Tree Swallows. And yes, we picked through them as carefully as we could with our tight schedule, but did not find any additional swallow species mixed in. Here, flyby Common and Forster’s Terns, as well as a few species of waterfowl, were new for the day’s list. After finishing the loop around Wildlife Drive we proceeded to the causeway where we were hoping to find a few late warblers to add to the day’s tally. A couple of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers would have to suffice. The Lake Mattamuskeet causeway is a 3-4 mile portion of NC Hy 94 that cuts N-S directly across the lake, and the small trees and thick brush on both sides of the road provide extraordinary habitat for late, overwintering, or vagrant passerines. Species such as Bell’s Vireo and Ash-throated Flycatcher have been found here in recent years, as well as an absolutely astounding array of overwintering warbler species. We weren’t lucky enough to find anything rare on our short visit here, but did pick up several more usual species that were new for the day. 79 so far, right on schedule. A constant ceiling of Tree Swallows seemed to be feeding over the entire length of the causeway. We estimated a total of about 40,000 swallows at Lake Mattamuskeet this morning, but I think this was probably a conservative guess.

Next up was a visit to North Shore Rd., where we would make several quick roadside stops in hopes of stirring up a few landbirds that we had missed so far. This road parallels the north shore of the lake for several miles beginning at Hy 94 in Fairfield, and eventually veers slightly away from the lake and towards Engelhard. Our new birds here included Eastern Towhee, Turkey Vulture, a lone male Rusty Blackbird, and a Peregrine Falcon that flew pretty much right in front of our faces.

Onward to Alligator River NWR, where we were banking on picking up 5-10 new species for the day, mostly open country birds such as Eastern Meadowlark and Field Sparrow. Along the drive there, we added a Savannah Sparrow on a powerline, several feasting Black Vultures, and our first Eastern Bluebirds of the day (finally!).  At Alligator River, we added Sedge Wren, Eastern Meadowlark, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Field Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco. Tally for the day was up to 94, again right on target. After about 20 minutes of birding here, we turned onto Long Curve Road to exit the refuge and return to Hy 64. What a surprise we got when suddenly there was a Bobcat sitting peacefully in a field not 25 meters off the road! It was nice enough to let us stop the car, get out, and spend several minutes photographing it before it decided to slowly and nonchalantly meander back into the brush, stopping to mark its territory several times in the process. Wow! I have never seen a Bobcat anywhere close to this cooperative before. And I doubt that I ever will again!

First stops on the outer banks included Roanoke Island and Nags Head, where we added a handful of birds, among them our first Rock Pigeons of the day and a few beach birds to boost our total well over 100. We were beginning to get worried now however, because we just could not seem to find a House Sparrow despite desperately searching. Ordinarily, I would probably be thrilled to not see a House Sparrow, since I view them as an extreme nuisance species. But on a Big Day, every bird counts, and House Sparrow would be a terrible miss.

Next up was the Bodie Island lighthouse, where we quickly found the staked out drake Eurasian Wigeon, as well as several Hooded Mergansers, Tricolored Herons, and a Clapper Rail, all of which were new for the day. We were quite struck upon watching an adult Great Black-backed Gull take a small female duck (most likely a Green-winged Teal or American Wigeon) by the neck and thrash it around repeatedly. The duck appeared to go limp after enduring this for a minute or two. On the walk out, we were surprised to flush a Lincoln’s Sparrow from underneath the boardwalk. Another great bonus bird for the day.

We quickly stopped at Coqiuna Beach, right across the road from the Bodie Island lighthouse, where we added Piping Plover (which can be easy to miss at this time of year), Common Loon, and a flyby Black Scoter.  On from there to the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, where we struck out on House Sparrow for the last time. This would be one of our worst misses for the day. In the area was our first Snowy Egret for the day as well as a brief glance at a Nelson’s/Saltmarsh Sparrow that Ali flushed from a small patch of marsh. After leaving here, we spotted a Glossy Ibis feeding in the marsh on the north end of the Hy 12 Oregon Inlet bridge. This species is very difficult to find on the outer banks this late in the season, and definitely an unexpected bonus bird for the day. The south end of Oregon Inlet is known to be a great place to look for Purple Sandpiper and Great Cormorant during the winter, but neither had arrived yet as of our visit. We did add Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstone here. Onward to Pea Island NWR.

We were expecting to pick up an array of new species at Pea Island, and immediately found a flock each of American Avocets and American White Pelicans from North Pond. A flyover Short-billed Dowitcher and heard-only Royal Tern were also new for the day. South Pond gave us Black-crowned Night-Herons, and the ocean access across from South Pond had 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (3 adults) sitting on the beach. By now, it was getting close to dusk and we had 128 species. Still time to get to Alligator River NWR again and quickly try for owls and woodcock before dark.  We were briefly delayed on Pea Island when the car got stuck in some deep sand on the road shoulder. Thanks to the help of three conveniently nearby birders, we were able to push it out and continue on our quest with only five minutes lost!

Great Horned Owl proved to be an easy find at Alligator River NWR right around dusk, and we flushed two woodcocks from the road shoulder on the refuge as we drove past. Eastern Screech-Owl was a no show, and would turn out to be another miss for the day. Only too late did we get a tip on a surefire place for them in Manteo. After grabbing a cheap bite to eat at McDonald’s, we headed back to the Bodie Island Lighthouse where we would crash in the car for the night, just as Kenn Kaufman did in Kingbird Highway! More birding was on tap for tomorrow morning, including Ash-throated Flycather, Annna’s Hummingbird, Henslow’s Sparrow, and Northern Goshawk chases. We ended our Big Day with 130 species, a new November record for the state of North Carolina! We unfortunately had some very silly misses, which would have boosted our tally up to137- American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Blue Jay, Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, and Sora. The next day, we found and photographed the Ash-throated Flycatcher, but struck out on our other three targets. Goshawk was a long shot anyways. Christmas Bird Count season is coming up and boy, do I have a lot of birding planned…