We'll start with our amazing vacation in the Lake Lure area of western North Carolina. For us coastal gals, a week spent exploring the mountains during migration season was a treat! Even though our final tally of 57 species wasn't stellar, we had several interesting encounters that I hope we won't soon forget.
Early in the week we visted Chimney Rock and climbed the stairs all the way to the top (and all the way back down!). Along the way we were serenaded constantly by Red-eyed Vireos and Black-throated Green Warblers. The Black-throated Green was a new life bird for both of us, and although we never actually got to see one, the song was unmistakable. My four-year-old niece even learned the song and kept singing "zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zee" all the way along the trail. At the top of the rock, we had a great fly-by from a Peregrine Falcon.
In another part of the park, we were overwhelmed by the variety of bird songs surrounding us. It was like being on overload! But we could pick out a few that were distinct - like the Hooded Warbler (although we couldn't spot this one either).
Another day we traveled about an hour southwest of Lake Lure to Jackson Park, a county park just outside of Hendersonville. We had heard that this was a migration hot spot and ran into another birder shortly after arriving. He confirmed that it was indeed a great place to see lots of species since the park held a variety of habitats. However, he also said that the last week or so had been decidedly lack-luster. So even though we didn't rack up the number of warbler species expected, we were blessed to have some close-up time with a beautiful Northern Parula, several Indigo Buntings in brilliant plumage, and a couple of female Mallards with ducklings.
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| Northern Parula, photo by Bill Hubick |
On a couple occasions, we took short walks around our vacation home's neighborhood to see if we could meet some of the "locals". A friendly flock of Cedar Waxwings, an excited pair of Palm Warblers, and many Eastern Bluebirds came out to welcome us. There were even the occasional gobbling Wild Turkeys adding their greetings in the distance. This sound was so unusual for us that we broke into giggles everytime we heard it.
Down by the lake shore one afternoon the first thing we noticed were the swallows zooming over the lake and even resting on the beach in small groups. To our surprise many of them were Northern Rough-winged Swallows hanging out with the familiar Barn Swallows. Then over in a nearby pine tree we saw a small bird foraging that turned out to be a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler. After watching it for a while, our id was confirmed when it started singing.
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| Yellow-throated Warbler, photo by Bill Hubick |
Across the road from the local grocery store (local being a 20 minute drive through windy mountainous backroads) was a well-maintained network of trails. We spent a few hours wandering around one day tracking down Hooded Warblers and getting startled by Wild Turkeys gobbling and crashing through the underbrush. We also got to hear a new bird for us, a Broad-winged Hawk. Finding the Hooded Warblers was probably the highlight of our trip. Such gorgeous creatures, just singing their hearts out!
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| Hooded Warbler, Photo by Bill Hubick |
The night before we left we were serenaded by a distant Whip-poor-will. Then while we loaded everyone up in the car at 5am the next morning, a Chuck-wills-widow gave us a great send-off!
We'll try to post more later about our birding adventures in local areas.
Many thanks to Bill Hubick for graciously lending us some photos to illustrate our trip! For more see: www.billhubick.com/
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