The Rundown

It's about time I posted! I'm about to give you the rundown on my birding adventures since the CBC trip in early May. Since then, we've gotten 19 lifers and the life list is now at 220. Here we go!

After the CBC trip, we birded three more times in May, two of those at Howell Woods in Johnston County, NC. We ended up with one lifer on each visit.

The first visit to Howell Woods yielded one lifer, Mississippi Kite. Other birds included Green Heron, Eastern Wood-Pewee, White-eyed Vireo, Purple Martin, Kentucky and Prairie Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, and Indigo Buntings. The kites made #202.

The second trip to Howell Woods wasn't as great due to limited time. That being said we had Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher (lifer), White-eyed Vireo, Purple Martin, Hooded Warbler, Summer Tanager and Blue Grosebeak. The flycatcher made #203.

We ended up with one more lifer in the month of May, Warbling Vireo. It turns out the pair from last year returned for the second year in a row to Shelley Lake in Raleigh. We were able to pick them up fairly easily to make #204. Only other birds present were a pair of Orchard Orioles.

Then, one June 1st we headed to Mid Pines Rd. in Raleigh in hopes of Grasshopper Sparrows, and they showed. We had great looks at one singing bird through the scope. Later that day, our lifer Fish Crow turned up in our yard! That whole ordeal put us a 206.


Our next outing was a one day trip to the Outer Banks on June 3rd. We got SEVEN lifers: Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Red Knot, Black-necked Stilt, Gull-billed Tern, Northern Bobwhite, and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Other birds included American Black Ducks, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, White Ibis, Bald Eagle and Osprey, Black-bellied, Semipalmated, and Piping Plovers, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Least, Forster's and Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Prairie Warbler. 213 on the list.

I then (without my dad) headed to Myrtle Beach, SC for an AAU tournament. I got lifer Eurasian Collared-Dove in downtown North Myrtle and at Huntington Beach State Park lifers Reddish Egret and Caspian Tern. Also had FOY Cattle Egret, Painted Bunting, Wood Stork, and Anhinga, among others. 216

When I got back to NC, my dad and I successfully chased a Horned Lark on Mid Pines Rd. for lifer 217 then picked up Wood Thrush at Shelley Lake for #218.

Our next outing was a trip to the mountains. I was there for a whole week before my dad arrived and picked up FOY Yellow Warbler, Cliff Swallow, and Baltimore Oriole. The warbler and oriole were both from Valle Crucis Park. Other birds present were Veery, Hairy Woodpecker, Orchard Oriole, Red-eyed Vireo, and Least Flycatcher. Once my dad arrived we headed to Trout Lake and picked saw Chestnut-sided, Black-and White, Black-throated Blue, and FOY Canada Warbler. Also present were Veery and Wood Duck. The next day my dad and I headed to Mount Mitchell SP. Along the way we had numerous Wild Turkey on the Parkway. We also saw a very nice Canada Warbler at Bald Knob Overlook, near Mt. Mitchell. At Mt. Mitchell we had FOY Winter Wren and Red Crossbill. We also saw Black-throated Green and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Cedar Waxwings, and a late pair of male Yellow-rumped Warblers. We continued on the Parkway towards Bull Creek, in hopes for a late Cerulean Warbler. Along the way we had multiple Broad-winged Hawks which was a lifer. At Bull Creek we immediately saw Blackburnian and Worm-eating Warblers and with a little patience a late male Cerulean Warbler for a lifer.

That's how we got our 19 lifers to put us at 220 on the life list and 194 on the year!