Bird Notes | Mountain plover found on North Carolina’s Outer Banks

While spring at long last looms on the horizon, a plethora of our winter feathered friends continue their seasonal sojourns, and even a few more uncommon winter visitors continue to make their way into the Carolinas. A recent pelagic birding trip found a number of razorbills off the North Carolina coast along with a few dovekies.

A very rare visitor to the Carolinas, a mountain plover, was discovered and photographed on North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Jan. 26, marking N.C.’s first record for the species. South Carolina has one record of mountain plover, a bird photographed in October 2007 at Huntington Beach State Park by Jerry Kerschner.

An interesting flock of geese was found at Wilkesboro, N.C., recently. The flock includes 18 greater white-fronted geese along with five cackling geese, both of which are uncommon visitors to the Carolinas. The flock also has at least two snow geese.

A Eurasian wigeon continues to be seen at Bulls Island in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near Awendaw, S.C.

A common merganser continues to be seen in the Pawleys Island area, most recently in the vicinity of Pritchard’s Landing.

A few red knots are being seen at Huntington Beach State Park north beach area. At least three banded birds have been observed. Several folks have been happy to observe Northern gannets near the end of the jetty, while a number of common and red-throated loons are being observed. White pelicans continue to be seen occasionally in Mullet Pond adjacent to the park causeway.

Several folks have been happy to report American goldfinches appearing at their backyard feeders recently, and a few have reported finding pine siskins as well. At my own feeders in Conway, a few goldfinches have been making sporadic visits, while the number of chipping sparrows has increased significantly, and a few dark-eyed juncos have joined the chippies and white-throated sparrows. A number of folks continue to report hummingbirds and Baltimore orioles visiting their feeders.

Some of you are aware my mom passed away on Feb. 12. Through the years many of you had the opportunity to speak with her while attempting to contact me, and invariably told me how much you enjoyed talking with her. I can honestly say she enjoyed talking with you as well. While she was not a birder by any stretch, over time she developed some appreciation of our feathered friends (and butterflies,) as well as my attempt to provide a small patch of habitat for them. She will be missed.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bird Notes | Mountain plover found on North Carolina’s Outer Banks."