Bombay Hook

 

   We went to Bombay Hook on the last day of our trip. Once we left there we had a long painful drive home. Like almost everything else we did on this trip, going to Bombay Hook had been on my bucket list for years. Bombay Hook is a National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. From Assateague Island it is a two hour drive. Once off of the main highway, it is pretty drive through farms and rural areas to get there. There is an admission fee. I think it was five dollars. Like most wildlife refuges, there is a wildlife drive. It is a loop road with one or two stems that branch off. The road has many pull offs along the route to get out and enjoy the wildlife. 

    There are a couple of hiking trails. We had planned on going down them, but the flies were so bad that it was impossible to walk. There were multiple species of horseflies, deerflies, and others that made it impossible to enjoy most of the refuge. Some of the flies would fly around your head, while others would bite you. So as you can imagine, we did most of the birding from the car. The flies were really bad at some parts of the refuge, while at others there were only a few. Unfortunately, most of the places we stopped the flies were unbearable. But fortunately, the place that we saw Black Necked Stilts was one of the few spots where we were left alone. 

   The main goal of going to Bombay Hook was to see Black Necked Stilts that nest there. I knew there were many other fun birds to see such as Black Skimmers, Royal Terns, Carolina Chickadees which live there. I would have been happy to see them, but if I didn't see any Stilts, I would have considered the trip to Bombay Hook a disappointment. Luckily, we saw many Black Necked Stilts and as I mentioned above, they were in places we could get out of the car. 

   We did the wildlife drive four times taking about an hour each time. It was only 12:30 pm when we decided to head home which put us in Connecticut suburbs of NYC at 5 pm, not our smartest decision. While at Bombay Hook, we did get to enjoy  some other good birds. As I said, we saw Skimmers and Royal Terns. We saw many Eastern Kingbirds and an Orchard Oriole. The best way to describe our experience was- I got great looks at Black Necked Stilts and we made the best of the day while being limited by flies. 

North Carolina Herps

 

It is pretty obvious that I have been looking for reptiles a lot lately. When I was in North Carolina that was no different. Anytime I stumbled on a reptile or amphibian I took photos of it. If I didn't know what it was, at least I could get a photo and identify it later.  I knew there was a chance to see gators at Alligator River NWR and I'd see many species of turtles there. Other than that, I really didn't know what to expect. 

   

   I was vey happy to find a couple species of lizards and two species of snakes. I saw the Cottonmouths within a couple miles of my campsite in the Hattaras area. I was probably more surprised to see the Rat Snakes at Alligator River. I've been there five days now, and have only seen snakes on one of them.

   All in all, I had a great time chasing herps. I could go on and on about the Cottonmouths I saw, but I already did that. Looking for reptiles and amphibians is just another thing for me to appreciate in nature. 

Missing are photos of Five Lined Skink. I saw two, but they wee too quick for me to get a photo.

 

Yellow Bellied Slider

Melanistic Yellow Bellied Slider 

Four of the eleven Cottonmouths I saw

Cottonmouth at Alligator River

Baby Red Eared Slider

American Toad

Spotted Turtle

Eastern Glass Lizard, a legless lizard
in our campsite one morning

Broad Headed Skink, 
above and a different one below

The first Eastern Rat Snake we saw

...and a second one

Eastern Box Turtle

American Alligator,
Alligator NWR

Full photo of the Box Turtle

A shy Mud Turtle, I waited but it didn't
come out if its shell, so I moved it across the road

These frogs are Squirrel Tree Frogs.
I do not know why one has smooth skin
and others have rougher skin but
they are the same species

This pic and the one below are of Northen
Red-Bellied Cooters. Seen at the 
Yorktown Battlefield

 

"My" "Good" Birds from North Carolina

 Obviously, a big reason I went to North Carolina was to see birds. The whole trip was built around my two pelagics. Obviously that didn't work out so well since I was so sick on one, that I didn't go on the other eating $180. However, I did get some great birds on the trip. I had three lifers. I got one of them on the boat trip.  I already wrote about the Black Necked Stilts at Bombay Hook, so I won't talk about them for more than a couple of sentences here. If nothing else, scroll to the bottom to see the amazing Barred Owls, they were awesome.

   I got my first lifer on our drive down to Virginia stopping in Connecticut. It was Monk Parakeet. I tried for them on my way down to Washington DC in March but dipped. Since they were only two miles off of the highway in Bridgeport we stopped again. We saw four or five Monk Parakeets (yes, these are naturally wild birds). After we watched them for a while, we ate supper at the picnic tables near the ocean while listening to them squawk.

   My second lifer was on the pelagic trip to the Gulf Stream. We came across a Brown Booby. One was actually in Rhode Island for a couple months last year. You needed to charter a boat to see it, but timing was never right for me. The Brown Booby on the pelagic was seen early in the morning. I had already gotten sick, but managed to get vertical for five minutes to see it. I got one good photo as it flew by the boat and three blurry ones.

   My last lifer was on our last day in North Carolina. Phil Rusch had researched places to go birding. They found out a Red Cockaded Woodpecker was near Alligator River. When I found out about this, we altered our plans a little. We got up extremely early to go chase this bird before making the four hour drive to Assateague Island. Phil's friend David gave me the GPS coordinates, and Scott gave me landmarks to tell me exactly what trees to look for. It took almost thirty minutes for the woodpecker to show up, but it was awesome and walked up multiple trees with us watching. 

Other "Good" Birds

   A "good bird" is really in the eye of the beholder. While most people wouldn't chase a cardinal around here, it would be a big deal to see one in Oregon. So I went down there hoping to see some species that would be a big deal up here, but are more common down there. For example, if a Prothonotary Warblers shows up in Rhode Island everyone goes to see it. Usually one to three will come thru each year. However, in swamps in North Carolina, they are as common as Robins on our front lawn. There are hundreds along the roads at Alligator River. So what may not be a good bird to others, may be a good or even great bird for me. Which is why "My" is in quotes in the title of this post.

Prothonotary Warbler

                                                                    Bobwhite

                                                                 Sandwich Tern

Blue Grosbeak

Eurasian Collared Dove

I was really surprised to find this bird on Okracoke Island. We were walking through\

a suburban neighborhood on our way to a conservation area when I spotted it.

Fun facts about me seeing a King Rail (the two photos below). I had never seen or heard one until this year. I got my lifer one in March while looking for Sika Deer at Blackwater NWR in Maryland. I only heard it, didn't see it. Then in May, my buddy Sue Palmer found one at Trustom Pond in RI. I got to see it and had a great look at it. It counted as a state bird. Then in NC, Phil Rusch got four of them calling in a little marsh near my campground. I got to hear all of them even though we didn't see any. Then! I found my own where we saw all of the Cottonmouths. So after going my life without seeing or hearing one. I get a lifer, then two months later I see one and it is a RI state bird. Then I hear four more, then I find one myself. Just a crazy statistic.

A rarer bird around here, Brown Thrashers were very common in the mid-Atlantic states. 

If I took the time, I'm sure I could have gotten "perfect" photos

                                                                          Common Galinule

Not a good photo, but a photo upgrade of an Audubon's Shearwater

   Below are photos of three common species. The White Ibis is common in the south. So common, that even for me, I've seen a lot. The Orchard Oriole and Eastern Kingbird are common in New England, but they are photo upgrades so I'm including them.

Orchard Oriole, 
Bombay Hook NWR

Eastern Kingbird,
Bombay Hook NWR

Other than lifers, Black Necked Stilt was the species I most wanted to see on my trip. I really wanted a good picture. I don't think I got close enough for any great photos, but I'm happy with what I got.

   Lastly, we ran across some Barred Owls that were hanging around the road. There must have been a nest with juveniles close because they were feeding during the day. We drove up and down the road multiple times looking for bears. We didn't stay with the owls for more than a couple of minutes. None the less, they were awesome. I'm sure I could have watched many fascinating behaviors if we stayed with them. The seemed unfazed by people watching them. But being around any nesting birds is not my style, especially owls. So I am more than thrilled to have gotten the photos I got. None of the photos have been enhanced in any way.