Greetings Tweeters and Carolina Birders!
I am just getting my notes organized from my trip last
week to North Carolina. I spent 10 days in Eastern
North Carolina (mostly east of Raleigh), and got about
7 days of birding in when work was not interruppting
me.
I saw 146 species of birds, 38 of which were lifers!

I went on 2 pelagic trips with Brian Patteson, one out
of Hatteras and one out of Manteo. I would recommend
both. Between the 2 trips, I saw 3 species of
Storm-petrel (Wilson's, Band-rumped, Leach's), 3
Petrel species (Black-capped, Bermuda, Herald), 4
Shearwater Species (Cory's, Sooty, Audobohn's, Manx),
Bridled Tern, and I saw the 3rd recorded occurance of
a Sabine's Gull in NC ;) And Couvier's Beaked Whale
and Sperm Whale.

Pea Island and Bodie Lighthouse provided great looks
atshorebirds (Semipalmated and Baird's Sandpiper,
Sanderling, Dunlin, SB Dowitcher, Willet, Whimbrel,
Hudsonian Godwit) and herons (Little Blue,
Tri-colored, Great and Snowy Egret, White Ibis) along
the OBX, and Cape Hatteras was a great area for Terns!
I had one scope view with 5 species of Tern! (Royal,
Forster's, Common, Gull-billed, Least). One
scope-view over were the Sandwich Terns and Black
Skimmers ;)
And I had the priveledge of seeing a pair of Piping
Plovers during courtship displays!

After my business inland, I had a good day of forest
birds at Goose Creek State Park, picking up many
eastern woodland species and starting on the Warblers.
Then I had a FANTASTIC day on the Croatan National
Forest with John Fussell, where he connected me up
with ALL the breeding Warblers (Pine, Prairie,
Swainson's, Worm-eating, Kentucky, Black-and-White,
Yellow-Throated, Prothonotary) and Vireo (Red-eyed,
White-Eyed, Yellow-Throated) species in the area, and
most of the Woodpeckers(Red-bellied, Red-Headed,
Red-cockaded, Pileated). And then got the Bachman's
Sparrow and Louisiana Waterthrush.

I ended the trip with a visit to Kittyhawk and the
Wright Brother's Monument, and picked up a Field
Sparrow as well!!

A FANTASTIC trip, and I highly recomend it if you are
anywhere near the area!

Feel free to contact me (off-list please!) for any
specifics about my trip, or species lists.

And a great Thank-you to all the C-Birders that helped
me plan my trip, and especially to those I met along
the way! I had a great experience in NC, mostly due
to ya'll !! If you ever make it up to Washington,
give me a yell and we will go out birding!

Guy McWethy

Guy McWethy
Renton, WA
mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com



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