Over the past 7 days I have seen well over 130 different species of birds. Needless to say I am exhausted, but far from birded out. Now, for your blopophilic pleasure, I will outline all of the different trips I have been on during the last week, and... hopefully capture the excitement and thrill of the chase.
*Note: a simple solution of 2 parts vinegar to 3 parts water can be used to clean up the drool from your desk that will no doubt accumulate as you read of the "excitement and thrill".*
Day 1: Sunday 11/02
Today I went with the North Banks Bird Club, which is the local club here for Corolla, Kitty Hawk, KDH, and Nags, down to Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. Our trip was spearheaded by Jeff Lewis, who is the Pres. of the NBBC and an excellent birder. Mattamuskeet sits SW of where I live on the OBX and is the largest natural lake in NC. It constitutes ~40,000 acres and was drained for farmland in the early part of the 20th century. Later the lake was allowed to refill and was turned into a Wildlife Refuge to support wintering waterfowl. Believe it or not, before it was drained, the lake was 120,000 acres. Three times as large as it is now.
I have to say that our trip was a success. I saw 90 different species and my first ever Orange-crowned Warbler, which winter down at Mattamuskeet in the hedges and thickets along the roadsides of Hwy. 94. I actually listed all of the birds that I viewed as well and for a nominal fee I will happily relate the entire list to you, only joking. In the mix on our windy trip were ducks, geese, swans, warblers, hawks, falcons, vultures, swallows, shorebirds, woodpeckers, sparrows and even flycatchers.
Not a bad trip to say the least, although the "Country Cookin" restaurant that we stopped at for Sunday brunch could have done with an overhaul... to an Italian place.
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