From: woodford@fourier.ece.cmu.edu (Paul Woodford)
Subject: What I Saw On My Trip To North Carolina
Organization: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:17:52 GMT

I've finally gotten around to writing up What I Saw On My Trip To North
Carolina (in mid-June).  My records are more organized than usual, but I
don't think I'll ever be able to give a trip report ala Ed Matthews...

We headed south from Pittsburgh on I79 on a beautiful Wednesday.  Somewhere
in West Virginia we stopped for lunch at a rest area, where RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRDS gave us the best display I've ever seen.  We continued south
(stopping at the New River Gorge - very impressive) and pulled into Pilot
Mountain State Park near Winston-Salem, NC a little before 9:00.  We fell
asleep and woke up to the songs of wood thrushes (I think).  I also saw my
first-ever BLUE GROSBEAK, and saw and heard a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.  On our
way across NC to the shore, we saw CANADA GEESE at one of the rest stops.

Getting out of the car at my grandmother-in-law's house near Moorehead
City, I immediately saw a BROWN THRASHER and a RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE in the
front yard, both of which turned out to be very common.  A CAROLINA WREN
and CARDINALS often sang in the trees, while the BLUE JAYS tended to sneak
around.  At night we were serenaded to sleep by a CHUCK-WILL'S WIDOW, which
unfortunately I never saw.

On Friday we went to the NC Aquarium just down the road, and from the
observation deck behind it got a good look at three WHITE IBISES, a
TRICOLOR HERON, and a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT - all firsts for me.

Saturday I saw the first of many GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS (another lifer),
and also a LITTLE BLUE HERON stalking on the other side of the canal.
Sunday morning, while having breakfast on the porch, I saw a dull-colored
Baltimore (don't try to tell me it's Northern) Oriole, until I realized it
was really an ORCHARD ORIOLE male with two females - yet another lifer.  A
FLICKER was also hopping along the ground looking for a meal.  Later that
day, a LAUGHING GULL posted itself on a dock piling, and a FISH CROW (which
I may have seen before, but I don't know) called from the trees across the
canal.

On our excursions to the beach, I had good looks at the fishing techniques
of SANDWICH TERNS and ROYAL TERNS (both lifers), and at the formation
flying of BROWN PELICANS.  I saw some immature gulls also, but I gave up
trying to identify any of them.  Unfortunately a combination of weather and
schedule prevented us from going to any of the nearby islands.

On another day I had a good look at an orchard oriole until it was chased
away by a cardinal.  We went canoeing on the canal behind the house one
morning and saw a female orchard oriole with a juv. male, a low-flying
cormorant, and a little blue heron, which was so still it looked fake at
first, perched on a piling.  Returning to the observation deck behind the
NC Aquarium I saw a GREAT EGRET, SNOWY EGRET, and another tricolor heron.
We had a good look at the hunting of this tricolor.  Just before it would
make a jab at something, it would tilt its head almost completely sideways.
Is it trying to see its prey?

Heading up the coast on our way to my in-laws, we saw a GREAT BLUE HERON
hunting in a drainage ditch by the roadside and a great egret in the Dismal
Swamp.  Going across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, we saw Laughing,
HERRING, and GREAT BLACK-BACKED gulls.  Many were hovering about 5' above
the bridge on the leeward side - anyone know why?  At its northern end the
bridge passes over Fishermen Island NWR.  Coming to this island we saw a
*huge* white bird, with black on the very tips of its wings on one side (I
think the top) and black on the tip and edge on the other side - could this
be a white pelican?

Paul Woodford
woodford@ece.cmu.edu